美国国家公共电台 NPR--Scientists are worried about what climate change means for marine reptiles

Scientists are worried about what climate change means for marine¹ reptiles²

Transcript³

Hotter summers in Florida are causing more sea turtles to be born female. Scientists there are concerned about what the gender⁴ imbalance could mean for turtle populations.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

With one of the subtleties⁵ of climate change - this is not a wildfire or a storm. It is a change in the weather that affects wildlife in Florida. Record heat there encourages the breeding of more female sea turtles and fewer males. This story explains how the heat affects turtles' gender and also why it matters. Here's Cathy Carter from our member station WUSF in Tampa.

CATHY CARTER, BYLINE⁶: Each morning from May to the end of October, which is Florida's sea turtle nesting season, scientists and volunteers comb 35 miles of shoreline in Sarasota County. They look for turtle tracks from mothers coming ashore⁷ to lay their eggs or evidence that baby hatchlings have emerged.

ALEXIS FERRARA: So we're just going to go and look for the nest that hatched.

CARTER: That's marine biologist Alexis Ferrara. When she gets to the nest, she crouches⁸ down and finds a hole in the sand.

FERRARA: So I can see the tracks coming out of this one. Hopefully, they've made it to the ocean.

CARTER: Sometimes, the bright lights of hotels and condominiums on the beach confuse the baby turtles, and they crawl away from the sea. Scientists say coastal⁹ development is the biggest threat to sea turtles right now. But they say global warming is another risk to the species. That's because, unlike humans, sea turtles don't have sex chromosomes¹⁰. Their gender is determined¹¹ by the temperature of their nests.

JAKE LASALA: Warmer temperatures will produce more females, and cooler temperatures will produce more males. The adage¹² is hot chicks and cool dudes.

CARTER: That's Jake Lasala. He's with Mote¹³ Marine Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program in Sarasota. And he says Florida's beaches are home to more loggerhead turtle nests than any place in the world. And studies of the state's sea turtle population show that over the last several years, the majority are female. As Florida's summers become hotter - they've been trending warmer for the past two decades - the beach sand where these eggs incubate has also heated up. And Lasala says that's concerning.

LASALA: If there are too many females, then your population can start to decline because the males can't keep up with the number of females. If the temperature continues to increase further, then you will start to see the death of hatchlings because eggs can't develop after a certain temperature.

CARTER: And he says Florida isn't the only area where heat affects the sex of sea turtles. A 2018 study found that 99% of the green sea turtle hatchlings on the islands of Australia's Great Barrier Reef were female.

LASALA: So this isn't a new thing. It's just we are now seeing it on a larger scale.

CARTER: It could be decades before the full impact of this gender imbalance plays out. It takes about 25 years for a sea turtle to reach sexual maturity¹⁴. And while the marine reptiles are still considered a threatened species, their numbers have been rebounding¹⁵. That's because state wildlife agencies and nonprofit groups have been working to protect nests from predators¹⁶ and beachgoers.

FERRARA: Hey. My patrollers have a hatchling that was found by the Ritz.

CARTER: Back onshore, biologist Ferrara takes several calls about stranded¹⁷ hatchlings.

FERRARA: They are going to meet you at the pavilion to give it to you.

CARTER: The turtles are given a health checkup before being released into the Gulf¹⁸ of Mexico - each a tiny success story. And even if the Earth keeps getting warmer, Lasala says all hope may not be lost. He says sea turtles have a strong survival instinct. This past summer, a female loggerhead laid eggs far north of Florida on the cooler sands of the Jersey¹⁹ Shore.

For NPR News, I'm Cathy Carter in Sarasota, Fla.

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 subtleties   

细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等

参考例句：

• I think the translator missed some of the subtleties of the original. 我认为译者漏掉了原著中一些微妙之处。
• They are uneducated in the financial subtleties of credit transfer. 他们缺乏有关信用转让在金融方面微妙作用的知识。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

8 crouches   

n.蹲着的姿势( crouch的名词复数 )v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He crouches before rabbit hutch, shed sad tear for the first time. 他蹲在兔窝前，第一次流下了伤心的眼泪。 来自互联网
• A Malaysian flower mantis, which crouches among flowers awaiting unsuspecting prey. 一只马来西亚花螳螂，蜷缩在鲜花中等待不期而遇的猎物。 来自互联网

9 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

10 chromosomes   

n.染色体( chromosome的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chromosomes also determine the sex of animals. 染色体也决定动物的性别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Each of four chromosomes divide longitudinally. 四种染色体的每一种都沿着纵向分裂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 adage   

n.格言，古训

参考例句：

• But the old adage that men grow into office has not proved true in my experience.但是，根据我的经验，人们所谓的工作岗位造就人材这句古话并不正确。
• Her experience lends credence to the adage " We live and learn!"她的经验印证了一句格言: 活到老，学到老！

13 mote   

n.微粒；斑点

参考例句：

• Seeing the mote in one's neighbor's eye,but not the beam in one's own.能看见别人眼里的尘埃，看不见自己眼里的木头。
• The small mote on her forehead distinguishes her from her twin sister.她额头上的这个小斑点是她与其双胞胎妹妹的区别。

14 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

15 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

16 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

18 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

19 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。