VOA慢速英语2009-SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Scientists Say Arctic Ice

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will tell about ice loss in the Arctic Sea. We also will tell about a campaign to improve treatment of snakebites. And we report on an effort to save wild lions in Africa.

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VOICE ONE:
　
Scientists say melting Arctic Sea ice threatens native animals

American scientists say ice covering the Arctic Sea continued to shrink last winter. The scientists say they recently found that older, thicker sea ice was increasingly replaced with new ice. The new ice is thinner and melts faster than the older ice.

The scientists work for the American space agency and the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder¹, Colorado. The two government agencies have been studying Arctic Sea ice from space since nineteen seventy-nine. One of the scientists says the past six years have shown the lowest Arctic sea ice cover ever measured.

VOICE TWO:

The study found an average ice cover of about fifteen million square kilometers in March. That is seven hundred thirty kilometers above the record low set three years ago. But it represents a loss of about five hundred ninety thousand kilometers from the yearly average between nineteen seventy-nine and two thousand.

Scientists say ninety percent of all Arctic sea ice is only one or two years old. This is up from forty to sixty percent in the nineteen nineties. The newer ice, experts say, is less resistant² to melting during the summer months.

VOICE ONE:

The amount of ice cover and its thickness are two measures of the health of the Arctic Sea. Arctic sea ice is important because it throws sunlight back into space, keeping the sea cold. The ice also cools the air. But when the ice melts, the sun warms ocean waters.

Walter Meier is a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center. He says a warmer Arctic and thinner sea ice changes the balance between the normally cold Arctic and warmer areas. He says changes to the ice cover also affect Arctic wildlife and people who depend on the local environment. The melting has already threatened native animals like the polar bear. Arctic melting could also affect Earth's climate.

Professor Meier also says the possibility of ships being able to move through newly unfrozen parts of the Arctic could lead to losses of natural resources. He says the competition this could create may also threaten international security.

VOICE TWO:

The study follows a separate report by the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric³ Administration and the Joint⁴ Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean. That study used computers and current ice-level information to predict future ice levels. The findings predicted that most of the Arctic's summer ice could disappear in thirty years.

Parts of Antarctica are also believed to be melting because of climate change. Satellite images show an ice bridge that held a huge Antarctic ice shelf in place recently broke apart.

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VOICE ONE:
　
Laboratory workers in Costa Rica collect venom⁵ from a highly poisonous fer-de-lance snake. The venom is used to make a treatment for the snake's bite.

More than four million people around the world are bitten by snakes each year. At least one hundred twenty-five thousand of these people die. Almost three million others are seriously injured. Doctors and researchers say the world does not provide enough good treatment for poisonous snakebites. To help improve the situation, experts have formed a project called the Global Snakebite Initiative.

Poisonous snakebites are common in rural areas of many developing countries with warm climates. Many victims are agricultural workers and children in Asia and southern Africa. Shortages of antivenom medicines, the treatment for snakebite, are common there. Existing supplies may not be high quality or developed correctly for local needs.

VOICE TWO:

Ken⁶ Winkel directs the University of Melbourne's Australian Venom Research Unit. He and university scientist David Williams are among the organizers of the Global Snakebite Initiative. Other project leaders are from Britain, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Singapore.

The International Society of Toxinology supported the Initiative at the recent World Congress of Plant, Animal and Microbial Toxins⁷ in Recife, Brazil.

Doctor Winkel says antivenom treatment is too costly⁸ for many poor people who need it most. The drugs are developed from the venom of poisonous snakes.

VOICE ONE:

The Global Snakebite Initiative is working to increase the availability of good quality antivenom treatments and improve medical training for patient care. Another goal is to help manufacturers of antivenom medicines improve their products.

The project also wants communities to learn about snakebites and first aid. It wants more research and reporting systems. And it aims to help national health officials choose antivenoms for their countries' special needs.

The antivenom that cures the bite of one kind of snake may not be effective for another kind of snake. And the medicines for a cobra bite in the Philippines may not work for someone bitten by a similar snake in West Africa.

Experts look forward to improvements in worldwide treatment for snakebite. But they say the best ways to reduce death and injury from snakebites are education and prevention.

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VOICE TWO:
　
A male lion in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya

Up to two hundred thousand lions lived in Africa twenty years ago. Today, fewer than thirty thousand lions live there, many in protected areas. But environmental activists⁹ are working to save the animals. And, the activists have some unexpected helpers.

Members of the Maasai people have stopped killing¹⁰ lions and now are protecting them. Maasai herders care for cattle, sheep and goats on the Mbirikani Group Ranch¹². This community-owned ranch is in southeastern Kenya. It covers more than one hundred twenty one thousand hectares.

Maasai warriors¹³ in their late teenage years, twenties and early thirties are called murran. The murran normally gain fame and honor if they kill a lion. But some of them now defend the animals and work to keep them alive. The murran are called Lion Guardians¹⁴. They are part of a scientific and environmental-protection group called Living with Lions.

VOICE ONE:

The Lion Guardians help herders find lost sheep, goats and cows. They observe the movement of lions and warn herders of their presence. Sometimes the guardians intervene and break up lion-hunters.

If a lion does kill a herd¹¹ animal, the Maasai receive money from a program that repays herders for losses. The program has lessened¹⁵ the traditional conflict between herders and lions.

The murrans can follow a lion for hours without needing to drink water. They also learn radio work. That knowledge helps them find lions wearing radio collars. Scientists place the devices around the lions' necks so they can follow their movements.

Some guardians also learn to read and write so they can keep records of their work. Others keep records using pictures.

VOICE TWO:

The Lion Guardians have been facing an especially difficult situation in recent times. Herders in Kenya are suspected of killing lions with a pesticide¹⁶ product, Furadan. They reportedly pour the product on dead animals that lions eat. Furadan makes the lions unable to move, then causes a painful death.

Laurence Frank is a lion expert with the University of California at Berkeley. He says up to seventy-five wild Kenyan lions may have died this way during the past five years. Professor Frank heads the Living with Lions group.

In reaction to protests, the manufacturer of Furadan stopped all sales of it in Kenya. But environmental activists worry that the pesticide is already in stores and people's homes. Farmers use it to protect crops from insects, worms and mites¹⁷.

VOICE ONE:

African lions are also threatened by human expansion into areas that once were wild lion country. Other enemies are hunters who kill lions for their body parts. The parts are then used in traditional medicines and souvenirs.

And, diseases sometimes kill large numbers of lions. Infectious animal tuberculosis¹⁸, for example, has established itself as a threat to lions in southern Africa. Researchers also blame long periods of dry weather and heavy rain. Some scientists say climate change makes this worse.

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VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and Brianna Blake, who was also our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Transcripts¹⁹, MP3s and podcasts of our programs are at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

2 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

3 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

12 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

13 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

14 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

15 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

16 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

17 mites   

n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨

参考例句：

• The only discovered animals are water bears, mites, microscopic rotifers. 能够发现的动物只有海蜘蛛、螨和微小的轮虫。 来自辞典例句
• Mites are frequently found on eggs. 螨会经常出现在蛋上。 来自辞典例句

18 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

19 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句