英语听力：自然百科 南极臭氧层空洞面积创新高

 Researchers have made some interesting discoveries near Antarctica. A team of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey and University of Hamburg have published the first comprehensive inventory¹ of sea and land animals near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in and around the South Orkney Islands. 

 

The inventory published in the Journal of Biogeography concluded there are more than 1200 known marine² and land species in the area. Scientists claim this is more species than that are found in the Galapagos Islands, contradicting a long-held notion that waters around the poles have less biodiversity than those in more tropical and tempered climates. 

 

The documented species include five that are new to science. The team spent 7 weeks aboard the RRS James Clark Ross in 2006, trawling and diving in the icy waters, where they say they observed more than 800 species living on the seabed.  

 

The scientists claim the islands have little evidence of invasive species, and that the biodiversity has remained nearly unchanged in the 100 years the islands have been studied. But the temperature of the ocean around Antarctica as well as the atmosphere temperature on the Antarctic Peninsula has continued to increase, making it one of the most rapidly warming areas on the planet. 

 

The research was done in conjunction with the census³ of marine life, a ten-year international study which began in 2000 that aims to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of marine organisms in the world's oceans.

1 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

2 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。

3 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。