VOA慢速英语: 研究表明气候变化影响着鸟类迁徙

Study Shows Climate Change Is Affecting Bird Migration
研究表明气候变化影响鸟类迁徙
Recently, a small group of birdwatchers spent three weeks around Mount Vernon, the home of the first president of the United States, George Washington. They were busy counting wild birds on Mount Vernon’s wetlands, south of Washington, D.C. They began in the middle of December and worked until the beginning of January.
最近，一组鸟儿观察者在美国第一任总统乔治华盛顿的家乡——弗农山附近观察鸟儿。他们忙于统计弗农山湿地和华盛顿特区南部的野生鸟类。十二月中旬，他们开始这项工作，会持续到一月初。
The birdwatchers were among 70,000 volunteers who collected information for the National Audubon Society, a U.S. conservation group. They counted birds in more than 2,400 areas in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean Sea and other parts of the Americas.
这些鸟类观察人员是为美国一家保护组织——奥杜邦协会搜集信息的志愿者，这一组织的志愿者有7万人。他们在美国、加拿大、加勒比海地区和美国其他一些地区等超过2400个地方统计这些鸟类。
The Audubon Society’s first “Christmas Bird Count” took place 115 years ago in 1900. At that time, a man named Frank Chapman suggested a new Christmas tradition -- that people count birds instead of shooting them around the holiday.
1900年，115年前奥杜邦协会第一次进行“圣诞鸟类统计”。那时候，一位弗兰克·查普曼建议增加一个新的圣诞传统——在假日，人们应该统计鸟类，不应该射杀它们。
American Stuart Davis is a long-time birdwatcher and has even traveled to other countries in search of birds. He was excited about the birds he saw at Mount Vernon.
美国的斯图亚特·戴维斯长期以来观察鸟，他到别国旅行来寻找鸟。对于在弗农山看到的鸟儿，他十分激动。
“They come in so many different shapes and sizes. Their feathers are so beautiful. They do remarkable things, like their acrobatic flying.”
“这些鸟儿形状不同，大小不一，它们的羽毛很漂亮。它们能够做各种有趣的动作，比如鸟儿的特技飞行。”
In the trees across the Potomac River, the small group of birdwatchers saw a bald eagle -- the national symbol of the United States. The bald eagle was once considered endangered, but its population has grown in recent years.
横跨波托马克河的树上，有一组观察鸟儿的人员，他们观察美国的国鸟——秃鹰。秃鹰一度被认为处于危险中，但是最近几年秃鹰的数量有所增加。
Harry Glasgow has taken part in the Christmas Bird Count for the past 10years. This year, he was one of the volunteer birdwatchers at Mount Vernon.
哈里·格拉斯哥已经加入到圣诞节数鸟这个活动中有10多年了。今年，他是弗农山鸟儿观察的一名志愿者。
“I think it’s a tremendous use of a lot of unofficial talent around the nation to keep track of birds. Birds are one of the surest indicators -- or barometers -- of the health of the ecology.”
“我认为这是全国很大程度上使用非正式人员来跟踪、观察鸟儿。鸟儿是生态环境健康的指示物——或者说是晴雨表。”
Last year, the bird count recorded over 66 million birds of 2,403 different species.
去年，鸟类统计记录6600万只鸟，2403种不同种类的的数据。
Gary Langham is chief scientist with the National Audubon Society.
盖瑞·郎汉姆是奥杜邦学会的首席科学家。
“The Audubon climate report says that half the birds in North America -- 314 out of 588 species -- are seriously threatened by climate change. The impacts sort of cut across all birds, all sizes, all kinds, all places.”
“奥杜邦学会的气候报道称北美588种鸟中大概有314种，接近一半的鸟类因为气候变化受到严重威胁。气候变化影响到各个地方、不同种类、不同大小的鸟类。”
Information from the bird counts has shown that birds are staying farther north during the winter months because of warmer weather. Birdwatcher Jaime Reidy has noted the difference close to Washington, in the state of Virginia.
鸟类统计信息显示因为气候变暖，冬天，鸟类在北方地区待得时间更长了。鸟类观察家杰米·瑞迪指出这种不同情况跟佛吉尼亚州的华盛顿地区情况相似。
“You get to see them at odd times of the year, a little earlier, staying a little later.”
“这一年你们能看到这些鸟的时间有点特别，它们来得更早，待的时间更长。”
Gary Langham says other conditions are affecting bird populations.
格雷·郎汉姆称其他因素也会影响鸟类的数量。
“You can imagine the birds that live along the beach or along the rocky shoreline as sea levels are rising around the world. That is impacting them, you know, doubly so.”
“你可以想象随着海平面的上升，世界各地待在海滩或者海岸线的鸟会受影响。气候会极大地影响鸟类。”
David Yarnold is president of the Audubon Society. In his words, “Christmas Bird Count data is becoming important not only in documenting current climate change, but in predicting the future effects of climate change on North American bird populations. If we know what to expect, we can start taking actions now to do something about it.”
大卫·亚诺德是奥杜邦学会的主席。用他的话说：“圣诞鸟类统计数据不仅仅在记录当前的气候变化方面越来越重要，而且在预示气候变化对北美鸟类数量的未来影响方面也很重要。如果能够预测到问题，我们现在就能采取行动做一些事情。”
I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
我是凯利·简·凯利。
This story was based on a report from VOA’s Deborah Block and information from the National Audubon Society. Hai Do wrote it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
conservation – n. the protection of animals, plants and natural resources
indicator - n. a sign that shows the condition or existence of something
species - n. a group of related animals or plants that is smaller than a genus
impacting - v. having a strong and often bad effect
doubly - adv. much more than usual or previously; to a much higher degree than usual; twice as much
documenting - v. creating a record of something through writing, film or photography
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