VOA常速英语2007-Scientists: Climate Change Could Affect World Fo

Maryland, south of Washington, DC
15 October 2007
 

Scientists are predicting there could be a global food crisis in this century if climate change continues unabated. VOA's Jeff Swicord reports.

Buddy¹ Hanse has been farming on land south of Washington, DC, his entire life. He is also deputy secretary of agriculture for the state of Maryland.

"The corn we are harvesting will go to feed the poultry² industry on the Eastern Shore of Maryland," Hanse said.

But this year's crop of corn is falling far short of normal yields. "We have had a lot of difficulties in the weather in this crop," added Hanse.  "We were very dry earlier."

Maryland and much of the eastern United States was in a severe drought all summer long.  Hanse says his normal yield is 260 bushels of corn per hectare.  This year, he estimates he will only yield 30 bushels. "The kernels³ are a little smaller," notes Hanse.  "You know, the cob is a lot shorter than it would usually be.  Normally the cob would be ten or eleven inches [25 to 27 centimeters] long and fatter.  There is less rows of corn on this cob then there would be in a good year."

There is no scientific evidence to link this year's drought to climate change.  However, the drought shows how a change in the weather can affect food supply.

A study released by the Center for Global Development shows that climate change could cause global food production to decline from 5 to 20 percent by the year 2080, and even higher in some countries. "Something like 30 to 40 percent in India for example, and something like 20 percent or more in Africa and Latin America," said study author William Cline.

Maryland's Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary⁴ in the United States.  More than 250 species of fish and shellfish live in these waters.  Some, like blue crabs⁵ and stripped bass⁶, are highly prized food sources. U.S. government statistics show that food yields from the bay have been in decline in recent years, mostly due to water pollution and over fishing. 

At the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the bay's Eastern Shore, there is evidence that climate change is affecting the spawning⁷ and nursery areas for finfish and crabs.  More than 3,000 hectares of marshland are now underwater due to sea-level rise.

Dixie Birch with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says studies have been done that link the sea level rise to climate change. "The marsh⁸ areas, the wetland areas, are important to provide habitat for everything all the way up to the birds and even humans, because we consume the crabs and the fish that are taken out of these waters," she said. 

Birch says the sea level in the bay will continue to rise, and that will further erode⁹ the bay's food production. "We would lose the numbers of blue crabs and the fishery resources the folks depend on like flounder and snapper and other species," she adds.

Buddy Hanse says farmers in the U.S. will be able to adapt to climate change.  That may not be the case with other subsistence farming communities in the developing world.  The Center for Global Development says food production will need to increase in the next half century to keep up with the rise in population.

"There are crops that you could grow that don't have the water requirements that corn has - hay and sorghum¹⁰ and soybeans," notes Hanse.  "And you learn to adjust to things," he adds.

1 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

2 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

3 kernels   

谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点

参考例句：

• These stones contain kernels. 这些核中有仁。
• Resolving kernels and standard errors can also be computed for each block. 还可以计算每个块体的分辨核和标准误差。

4 estuary   

n.河口，江口

参考例句：

• We live near the Thames estuary.我们的住处靠近泰晤士河入海口。
• The ship has touched bottom.The estuary must be shallower than we thought.船搁浅了。这河口的水比我们想像的要浅。

5 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 spawning   

产卵

参考例句：

• Encounter sites have a small chance of spawning a "Commander" NPC. 遭遇战地区有很小的几率遇到NPC指挥官。
• Instantly revives your Champion at your Spawning Pool, 9 minute cooldown. 立即在出生地复活你的英雄，冷却时间9分钟。

8 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

9 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

10 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。