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The Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, home to an incredible diversity of sea life. It's the largest coral reef in the world, covering more than 345,000 square kilometers.
大堡礁是世界七大自然奇觀之一，也是蘊育種類多得驚人的海洋生命的搖籃。它是世界上最大的珊瑚礁，在海底面積超過三十四萬五千平方公里。
But lately, the reef is losing more and more of its living outer layer. That's according to recent research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
但最近，珊瑚礁的活體外層正逐漸消失。這是從近期刊登在《美國國家科學院院刊》上的研究得來的。
Looking back to 1985, scientists found that the number of living polyps has declined from more than 25 percent of the reef's surface to just under 14 percent. Most of that loss has come in the last decade or so in areas where humans live closest to the reef.
追朔到1985年，科學家們發現水螅珊瑚的數量由原來占珊瑚礁表面積的25%降至14%以下。其中大多數珊瑚礁是在過去十年間消失的，而且均分布在離人類居住區最近的地方。
The problem is the number of challenges facing the reef. There's coral bleaching due to the hot temperatures induced by human-caused climate change. There's our sewage and agricultural runoff flowing into the sea. There are even outbreaks of coral-chomping starfish, aided and abetted by human activity.
問題在于珊瑚礁所面臨的威脅有多嚴重。人類活動引起溫室效應，氣溫升高則導致珊瑚礁褪色。人類不斷向大海排放污水和農業廢水，甚至還會推波助瀾地招來啃食珊瑚的海星群。
Not all is lost. The relatively pristine northern end of the reef shows that coral could recover, given the chance. For that to happen, we all will have to do more to combat climate change.
并不是所有的珊瑚礁都在消失。相對原始的大堡礁北端顯示，只要有條件珊瑚礁是可以恢復的。為了還原珊瑚礁，我們將采取更多行動來抵抗氣候變化。
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