新奇事件簿 气球成海鸟死亡最致命塑料

Scientists have made an alarming discovery about what kinds of pollution are most harmful to seabirds. A study led by Australia's Institute for Marine¹ and Antarctic Studies discovered that balloons were the deadliest kind of plastic for seabirds.The research team said balloons were 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than hard plastics. They found that while balloons and other soft plastics accounted for only 5 per cent of plastics ingested, they were responsible for more than 40 per cent of deaths among seabirds. Lead researcher Lauren Roman said: "Hard plastic fragments may pass quickly through the gut², but soft plastics are more likely to become compacted and cause fatal obstructions³."

科学家发现了哪些种类的污染物对海鸟伤害最大，这一发现令人担忧。海洋与南极洲研究学院的一项研究发现气球是对海鸟最为致命的一种塑料。研究团队表示气球对海鸟的致命几率是硬塑料的32倍。他们发现虽然气球和其他软塑料仅占食入塑料的5%，却造成了40%多的海鸟死亡。首席研究员劳伦·罗曼称：“硬塑料碎片可以迅速通过内脏，但软塑料更有可能被压缩并造成致命障碍。”

The study examined 1,733 dead seabirds and found that more than a quarter of the deaths were attributed to eating plastic. Ms Roman explained that plastic is becoming an increasing threat to seabirds. She said: "Marine debris⁴ ingestion is now a globally recognized threat....We suggest that reducing the presence of balloons and balloon fragments in the ocean would directly reduce seabird mortalities." LiveScience.com said: "With an estimated 280,000 tons of floating marine debris worldwide, about half of all seabird species are thought to ingest plastic on a daily basis. Birds are especially likely to swallow dangerous balloons because they closely resemble squid, according to the study."

该研究对1733只死海鸟进行检查并发现超过四分之一的死亡归咎于吞食塑料。罗曼解释到塑料对海鸟的威胁与日俱增。她表示：“现在海洋废弃物摄入是一种全球公认的威胁...我们建议减少气球和气球碎片在海洋中的存在，这样将直接减少海鸟死亡。”LiveScience.com表示：“全球范围内预估有280000吨漂浮的海洋垃圾，据认为，约有一半的海鸟种群每天都会吞食塑料。研究称，鸟类可能尤其喜欢吞咽危险的气球，因为气球和鱿鱼长得很像。”

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 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

3 obstructions   

n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠

参考例句：

• The absence of obstructions is of course an idealization. 没有障碍物的情况当然是一种理想化的情况。 来自辞典例句
• These obstructions could take some weeks to clear from these canals. 这些障碍物可能要花几周时间才能从运河中清除掉。 来自辞典例句

4 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。