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Call for action to save wildlife
全球百萬物種瀕臨滅絕
Humans share Earth with many different kinds of wildlife. However, many of our animal and plant friends may not be around for much longer.
人類與各種各樣的野生生物共享一個地球。但許多我們的動植物朋友很快或許都將不復存在。
According to the first comprehensive report on biodiversity released by the United Nations in May, 1 million of Earth's 8 million species are threatened with extinction, including amphibians, marine mammals and insects.
聯合國今年5月發布的首份全面生物多樣性報告顯示，在全球八百萬物種中，有一百萬正瀕臨滅絕，其中包括了兩棲動物、海洋哺乳動物、昆蟲等等。
Humans are mainly to blame for the danger. According to the report, the world's population has more than doubled (from 3.7 to 7.6 billion) in the last 50 years. Humans have used more than a third of the world's land and 75 percent of freshwater supplies to grow crops and keep livestock. As a result, there are fewer habitats and fewer natural resources available as well as more pollution.
人類是產生這一威脅的主要原因。該報告認為，在過去的50年間，世界人口增加了一倍（從37億增至76億）。人類使用了全球超過1/3的土地和75%的淡水資源來種植農作物，飼養牲畜。結果導致（動植物的）生活環境和自然資源不斷減少，污染日漸增多。
Because of human activities, the global rate of species extinction over the past 50 years has been already "at least tens to hundreds of times higher than it has averaged over the past 10 million years", the report noted.
由于人類活動的原因，過去50年間全球物種滅絕的速度“和過去1000萬年間的平均速度相比，已經快了至少數十至數百倍”，該報告指出。
The species extinction could have serious influences on ecosystems.
物種滅絕會對生態系統產生嚴重影響。
"When you lose a species, think of it like a fabric, and you're taking and plucking one of the strings," Brett Scheffers, an ecologist at the University of Florida, US, told NBC News. "Over time, the fabric gets looser and less stable. These are the types of changes we're observing where entire ecosystems collapse."
“一種生物滅絕時，就像你扯了一件紡織品的一根線頭一樣，”美國佛羅里達大學的生物學家布雷特·舍費爾斯在接受美國全國廣播公司新聞頻道采訪時表示。“隨著時間的流逝，這件紡織品會變得日益松垮，不再成型。我們所觀察的這些變化正是導致整個生態系統瓦解之處。”
These developments lead scientists to believe that there could be a sixth mass extinction, the first to be caused by humans, according to the Guardian. There have been five mass extinctions before, the last being 65 million years ago. That time it was the dinosaurs that died out.
據《衛報》報道，這些事態的發展讓科學家們擔心會發生第六次生物集群滅絕，這也是由人類所引發的首次。此前共有五次生物集群滅絕，最近的一次發生在6500萬年前。當時導致了恐龍滅絕。
"The evidence is clear: The future will be bad for us if we don't act now. There is no future for us without nature," Sandra Diaz, coauthor of the report, told National Geographic.
“證據顯而易見：如果現在不開始行動，未來將會對我們很不利。沒有大自然，我們也就沒有未來可言，”該報告的合著者之一桑德拉·迪亞茲在接受《國家地理》雜志采訪時表示。
To deal with the problem, many countries have taken action. For example, don't buy products made from illegal wildlife parts and reduce water waste.
許多國家都采取了措施來應對這一問題。比如，不要購買用非法的野生生物部位制成的產品以及減少水資源浪費。
"Each individual action has a ripple effect and every person can make a difference – through a mass we can turn the tide," said Claudia Sobrevila, from Global Wildlife Program, according to official website of the World Bank.
“每一個個體行動都會產生連鎖反應，每個人都能帶來改變 —— 眾人拾柴火焰高，”來自全球野生生物項目組的克勞迪婭·索伯勒維亞在世界銀行官網上表示。
