气候变化导致世界各地的蜜蜂消失

气候变化导致世界各地的蜜蜂消失

You might not pay much mind to a bumblebee if you see one as you go about your day. They rarely have any interest in humans and are typically content to clumsily flutter between flowers and do their own thing. But if you think you’ve been seeing less of them lately, that’s because they’re disappearing at an incredibly alarming rate.

如果你在日常生活中看到一只大黄蜂，你可能不会太在意。它们很少对人类感兴趣，通常满足于笨拙地在花丛中飞舞，做自己的事情。但如果你认为你最近看到的越来越少，那是因为它们正以惊人的速度消失。

New research published in Science suggests that climate change is causing bumblebees across North America and Europe to disappear at a rate far greater than had previously been feared. The insects, which are vital pollinators and a crucial cog in the wheel that drives the world as we know it, are in trouble.

发表在《科学》(Science)杂志上的一项新研究表明，气候变化正导致北美和欧洲大黄蜂的消失，其消失速度远超人们此前的担忧。昆虫是重要的传粉者，是驱动我们所知的世界的轮子上的一个重要齿轮。

As BBC reports, the research draws a bold link between the progress of climate change and the rapid change in the number of bumblebees in Europe and North America.

据BBC报道，这项研究大胆地将气候变化的进展与欧洲和北美大黄蜂数量的快速变化联系起来。

The researchers compared bumblebee surveys and studies dating as far back as 1901 with more recent research up to 2014. What they discovered was that while bumblebee populations appeared stable for a long time, a huge drop in the numbers began in the year 2000 and continued through to the most recent data available. In fact, the population is estimated to have dropped by over 30 percent compared to what it was in 1974 and prior.

研究人员将1901年的大黄蜂调查和研究与2014年的最新研究进行了比较。他们发现，虽然大黄蜂的数量在很长一段时间内都保持稳定，但从2000年开始，大黄蜂的数量开始大幅下降，并一直持续到最近的数据。事实上，据估计，与1974年及之前相比，人口下降了30%以上。

“The new study adds to a growing body of evidence for alarming, widespread losses of biodiversity and for rates of global change that now exceed the critical limits of ecosystem resilience,” the study says.

该研究称:“越来越多的证据表明，生物多样性的大规模丧失令人担忧，全球变化的速度现在已经超过了生态系统恢复能力的临界极限，这项新研究为这些证据提供了新的证据。”

Going forward, limiting the use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals might not be enough to keep the important pollinators like bumblebees around. If we continue to lose these vital organisms at the current rate, we could see greater impacts on agriculture and the food chain in general far sooner than anyone would have guessed.

展望未来，限制杀虫剂和其他有害化学物质的使用可能不足以让大黄蜂等重要的传粉者继续存在。如果我们继续以目前的速度失去这些重要的生物体，我们就会看到农业和整个食物链受到更大的影响，其速度之快是任何人都想不到的。