欧美人文风情第303篇:看不见的海洋污染:微塑胶

 In many ways, plastic is the perfect material—we can make it strong and rigid¹ enough to build spaceships and replace bones, 就许多方面来说，塑胶是完美材料－－我们可以让它强韧坚固到足以建造宇宙飞船和替代骨骼，

or thin and flexible enough to make shopping bags that weigh as much as a nickel but carry up to eight kilograms. 或让它够轻薄且有弹力，可以做出和五分钱硬币重量相同但却能耐重到八公斤的购物袋。

And unlike other materials, plastic doesn't rust² or rot. 和其它材料不一样，塑胶不会生锈或腐坏。

It can last for centuries, even when we only need it to last a few seconds. 它可以存在好几世纪，即使当我们只需要它存在几秒钟时。

We make tons of plastic precisely³ because it's cheap, durable⁴ and yet expendable. 我们正是因为塑胶便宜、耐用但又可抛弃才大量制造。

But the features of plastic that make it so useful to us have also transformed life in the oceans, 不过这些让塑胶对人类而言如此有益的特性也改变了海洋中的生命，

where as much as 10 percent of our discarded plastic, millions of tons per year, ends up. 我们抛弃的塑胶有差不多百分之十，也就是每年数百万吨，最后沉入海洋。

Big pieces of plastic are definitely bad news for marine⁵ animals like whales, albatross, and sea turtles, 大型塑胶对像鲸鱼、信天翁和海龟这些海洋动物来说无疑是坏消息，

which risk getting tangled⁶ in the debris⁷ or ingesting large pieces of it. 牠们会有困在垃圾残骸或吞下大块塑胶的风险。

Yet, despite the publicity⁸ about huge garbage patches in the sea, most of the ocean's plastic isn't big. 然而，尽管人们关切大面积的海洋垃圾带，大多数的海洋塑胶并不庞大。

Our castaway shopping bags and soda⁹ bottles get weakened by sunlight and torn apart in the wind and the waves into little bits of plastic confetti. 我们丢弃的购物袋和汽水瓶会因阳光变脆弱，接着在风及海浪中被分裂成微小的塑胶碎屑。

On the microscale, though, it's still super durable. 虽然体积变得极为微小，塑胶还是能撑超级久。

The microorganisms that decompose¹⁰ ripped-up bits of wood and seaweed down into simpler organic compounds can't easily digest plastic. 将木头和海草碎屑分解成更简单的有机化合物的微生物无法轻易消化塑胶。

So while the plastic confetti gets broken into smaller pieces, it doesn't go away. 所以尽管塑胶碎屑被分解成更小块了，它还是不会消失。

It just spreads out over time, which is why we've found microplastics pretty much everywhere in the oceans, 它只会随着时间扩散，这也就是为什么我们几乎在海洋的每个角落都发现微塑胶，

from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and from the seafloor to the surface. 从北极到南极，从海底到海面。

Unlike the easy-to-observe impacts of large plastic trash, 和大型塑胶垃圾很容易就能观察到的影响不同，

the effects of microplastics are as subtle and difficult to trace as the fragments themselves. 微塑胶的影响就和那些碎屑本身一般微妙且难以追踪。

The durable fragments can serve as new real estate on which small ocean creatures grow and multiply, 这些能存在很久的碎屑可以作为小型海洋生物生长和繁殖的新家，

or choke slightly larger ocean creatures that think the plastics are food, 或让以为这些塑胶是食物的稍大型海洋生物噎死，

or attract and collect toxic¹¹ chemicals which become introduced into the food chain if the particles are eaten, 或引来和收集若塑胶颗粒被吞下时就会进到食物链的有毒化学物，

and probably a million other problems we haven't noticed yet, 或许还有一百万个我们还没注意到的其它麻烦，

because we've only recently started paying attention to all these microplastics in the oceans. 因为我们是在最近才开始注意到海洋里这所有微塑胶。

But it's undeniable how much plastic trash we've introduced into marine ecosystems¹², 不过我们带给海洋生态系统多少塑胶垃圾是无可否认的事实，

and the wonderful durability¹³ of plastic guarantees it'll be an issue for years to come. 而塑胶极佳的耐用度也保证了它在未来几年会是一项议题。

It's possible we can decrease further impacts by switching to biodegradable plastics, 我们有可能可以藉着改用可生物分解塑胶、

dumping less plastic in the oceans, or cleaning up the patches of sea most strewn with plastic. 丢较少塑胶到海洋里来减低更长远的冲击，或清理散布最多塑胶的海洋区。

But until we do, the question is, Will the oceans be plastic enough to deal with our favorite material? 但直到我们那样做之前，问题是，海洋有跟塑胶一样顽强到能对付我们最爱的材料吗？

 

1 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

2 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

3 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

4 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。

5 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。

6 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

7 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。

8 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

9 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

10 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。

11 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

12 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

13 durability   

n.经久性，耐用性

参考例句：

• Nylons have the virtue of durability.尼龙丝袜有耐穿的优点。