新闻周刊:人类食用太多鸡肉已改变地球生物圈(1)

We Eat so Much Chicken That We've Altered Earth’s Biosphere¹

人类吃了太多的鸡肉，以至于已经改变了地球生物圈

BY HANNAH OSBORNE

作者：汉娜·奥斯本

Humans eat so much chicken that it will become a marker of the Anthropocene era, a study has found. With over 21 billion broiler chickens in existence, human production of the species has fundamentally reconfigured Earth’s biosphere, researchers say.

一项研究发现，人类食用大量鸡肉，鸡肉将成为人类时代的标志。研究人员称，人类生产的210亿只肉鸡从根本上改变了地球生物圈的结构。

Carys Bennett, from the U.K.’s University of Leicester, and colleagues were looking at how humans have altered the biosphere—the parts of Earth where life exists. They considered that with over 21 billion broiler chickens in existence, the industrial production of this species would have had a major impact on the planet.

来自英国莱斯特大学的卡莉斯·班尼特和同事们正在研究人类是如何改变生物圈的，生物圈是地球上存在生命的地方。他们认为，超过210亿只肉鸡的存在使这这一物种的工业生产将对地球产生重大影响。

Chicken consumption rose dramatically from the 1950s. Since then, the size and shape of the species—including changes to their skeleton, bone chemistry and genetics—has changed far beyond the wild chicken ancestors they were domesticated² from.

自20世纪50年代以来，鸡肉消费量大幅上升。从那以后，这些物种的大小和形状——包括骨骼、骨骼化学成分和基因的变化——已经发生了很大的变化，远远超出了它们被驯化的野鸡祖先的范围。

Further to this, broiler chickens cannot survive without “intensive human intervention”—its rapid growth of leg and breast muscle means its organs, including the heart and liver, are smaller than normal. This restricts their function and, in turn, the chicken lifespan.

除此之外，肉鸡如果没有“密集的人类干预”是无法生存的——鸡腿和胸肌的快速增长意味着它的器官，包括心脏和肝脏，都比正常的要小。这就限制了它们的功能，反过来也限制了鸡的寿命。

In their study published in Royal Society Open Science, researchers argue that because we engineered the species, and because it has become such a major feature of food consumption, it will be considered a marker of the Anthropocene—the proposed geological age where human activity is the dominant³ influence over the planet.

发表在《英国皇家学会开放科学》上的一项研究中，研究人员认为，因为我们改造了这个物种，而且鸡已经成为食物消费的一个主要特征，所以鸡将被视为人类时代的一个标志——这个被提出的地质时代表明人类活动是对地球的主要影响。

1 biosphere   

n.生命层，生物圈

参考例句：

• The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
• The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。

2 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。