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The oceans are turning acidic.
海洋正在變酸。
Surface waters absorb carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels.
表層的海水吸收由于燃燒化石燃料產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳。
And those CO2 molecules react with the seawater to make carbonic acid.
而后這些二氧化碳分子和海水發(fā)生反應(yīng)產(chǎn)生碳酸。
Voila, a more acidic ocean.
瞧，一個(gè)更酸的海洋就此形成。
That's big trouble for tiny plants and animals in the sea that make shells.
這對(duì)于這片大海中生活微小的動(dòng)植物外殼的產(chǎn)生是個(gè)大麻煩。
Because acidic water makes it harder to produce those shells.
因?yàn)楹Ｋ乃嵝院茈y產(chǎn)生這些殼體。
And once the shells do form, the acidic water also corrodes the shells.
并且一旦外殼形成后，酸性水也會(huì)進(jìn)行腐蝕。
Many marine biologists have thus been anxious that climate change may mean an end to coral reefs.
因此許多海洋生物學(xué)家擔(dān)心氣候的變化可能意味著珊瑚礁的滅絕。
But a set of experiments undertaken in Hawaii, Moorea and Okinawa give new hope, at least in the Pacific.
但是在夏威夷，莫雷阿島和日本沖繩進(jìn)行的的一系列實(shí)驗(yàn)使得我們?nèi)计鹆诵孪Ｍ辽僭谔窖罂梢浴?/div>
Four common corals and algae were subjected to conditions that mimic oceans if CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere reached 1000 ppm, more than double the levels today.
在模擬海洋環(huán)境中，如果大氣中的CO2濃度達(dá)到百萬(wàn)分之一千，也就是現(xiàn)如今水平2倍的話，4種常見(jiàn)的珊瑚和藻類就會(huì)受到影響。
And three out of the four could still easily form their hard calcium shells even in such an acid ocean.
然而4種中的3種即使在這樣的酸性海洋中，也仍然可以較容易的形成硬鈣質(zhì)的外殼。
That doesn't mean ocean acidification won't be bad for corals and algae.
這并不意味著海洋酸化不會(huì)對(duì)珊瑚和藻類造成危害。
But it does mean that across the Pacific some of these organisms can tough it out.
但這的確表明一些橫跨太平洋的生物能夠堅(jiān)持過(guò)去。
Whether other organisms, including us humans, could thrive in a 1000 ppm CO2 world is another question.
是否包括人類在內(nèi)的其他生物，可以在濃度達(dá)到百萬(wàn)分之一千的CO2世界里過(guò)活也是個(gè)問(wèn)題。
