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Well, as if we needed one more reason to get our environmental act together, arecent U.N. report warns that the number and size of dead zones in the ocean isincreasing.
如果我們需要一個(gè)理由一起進(jìn)行環(huán)保行動(dòng)，那么這個(gè)理由就是聯(lián)合國(guó)最近的發(fā)布的一個(gè)報(bào)告警告說(shuō)海洋死區(qū)的數(shù)量在不斷增多，面積在不斷增大。
Dead zones are regions of oxygen-deprived water, where nothing can live.
海洋死區(qū)是指海水中的氧氣被消耗減少，以致沒(méi)有東西能夠生存。
They'recaused by an excess of nutrients-usually nitrogen-released into the water.
它們是由排入水中的過(guò)剩的營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)引起的-這種物質(zhì)常常是氮。
When sewage, farm fertilizers, and emissions from vehicles and factories get washedinto the ocean, you get what experts call a “nitrogen cascade”.
當(dāng)污水，農(nóng)田肥料，以及車(chē)輛和工廠的排放物被沖刷入海中時(shí)，就形成了專(zhuān)家所謂的“氮容器”。
Tiny free-floating organisms known as plankton feed on all that untreated nitrogen, and multiply to such an extent that they deplete the oxygen supply inthe water.
像浮游生物這些自由浮動(dòng)的微小生物就是以未經(jīng)處理的氮為食。它們繁殖到了如此的程度，以致于耗盡了水中供應(yīng)的氧氣。
While fish may be able to swim away and avoid suffocation, slower-moving and bottom-dwelling creatures like lobsters, clams, and oysters often can't.
盡管魚(yú)可以游走避免窒息，但是那些緩慢移動(dòng)和底棲的生物，列如：龍蝦，蛤蚌，和牡蠣卻不行。
Also, the ocean might be a large place, but right now there are 146known dead zones, some of which span tens of thousands of square miles.
或許海洋是一個(gè)廣闊的地方，但是目前已知的海洋死區(qū)已有146個(gè)，其中一些跨度數(shù)萬(wàn)平方英里。
One ofthe worst is where the Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of Mexico, anddumps fertilizer runoff from the Midwest.
最嚴(yán)重的地方之一是密西西比河流入墨西哥灣的地方，這里傾倒著從中西部流失過(guò)來(lái)的肥料。
Oh,no.Is there anything we can do?
噢，不。有沒(méi)有什么我們可以做的呢？
We can reduce nitrogen emissions from cars andfactories, and implement better sewage treatment.
我們可以減少汽車(chē)和工廠氮的排放量，并且實(shí)施更好的污水治理方法，
We can plant new forest andgrasslands to soak up extra nitrogen and keep it out of the water.
種植新的森林和草地來(lái)吸收多余的氮，并使氮遠(yuǎn)離水源。
And we candevelop alternative energy sources that aren't based on burning fossil fuels.
我們還可以開(kāi)發(fā)不以化石燃料燃燒為基礎(chǔ)的替代能源。
