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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Algae1 seem harmless enough. These precursors2 to plants thrive throughout the world's waters. But these single-celled plants have global consequences. We can thank them for oxygen in the atmosphere, oil in the lithosphere3 as well as dead zones in the oceans and now even a dead horse in France.
That's right. The fumes4 from decomposing5 algae on a French beach killed a horse and rendered its rider unconscious this past summer. And poisonous tides caused by algal blooms make eating shellfish dicey at times as well as causing mass die-offs of fish, birds and even sea-going mammals. Plus, according to a new theory, that might just be a small taste of the plants' killing6 ability.
James Castle and John Rodgers of Clemson University think that such algal blooms—triggered by warming water or an increase in nutrients—might be behind the five largest mass extinctions in Earth's history.
Usually asteroid7 impacts or massive volcanism get the blame, paired with climate change, but it may be the subsequent bloom in toxic8 algae that really drove death. There's plenty of evidence for such blooms in the geologic9 record.
Of course, it remains10 unclear whether algal blooms caused die-offs or merely coincided with them. And it's most likely that some combination of factors, including poisonous algae perhaps, helped wipe out 90 percent of all marine11 life some 250 million years ago, for example.
The bad news? Such murderous algae is on the march again thanks to a changing climate, creeping northward12 into newly warmer U.S. waters. Beware the killer13 algae!
1 algae | |
n.水藻,海藻 | |
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2 precursors | |
n.先驱( precursor的名词复数 );先行者;先兆;初期形式 | |
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3 lithosphere | |
n.陆界,岩石圈 | |
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4 fumes | |
n.(强烈而刺激的)气味,气体 | |
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5 decomposing | |
腐烂( decompose的现在分词 ); (使)分解; 分解(某物质、光线等) | |
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6 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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7 asteroid | |
n.小行星;海盘车(动物) | |
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8 toxic | |
adj.有毒的,因中毒引起的 | |
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9 geologic | |
adj.地质的 | |
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10 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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11 marine | |
adj.海的;海生的;航海的;海事的;n.水兵 | |
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12 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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13 killer | |
n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者 | |
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