 北極熊的危機
Crisis for Polar Bears
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A huge white polar bear is an impressive animal. It can swim long distances in icy water and spend much of its life traveling across the Arctic ice. The Arctic ice is where polar bears usually live, hunt seals, and find their mates. But the Arctic sea ice is melting as our planet warms. Hunting seals on the decreasing Arctic ice fields is difficult. If a polar bear can't find any seals, it may starve.
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| 體型壯碩的白色北極熊令人過目難忘，牠可以在冰水中長泳，花費一生中大半的時間橫跨北極冰原。北極冰原是北極熊們棲息、獵食海豹和交配的場所。但是，隨著地球暖化，北極冰原也逐漸融化。在日漸狹窄的冰原上獵食非常困難。北極熊如果無法獵捕到海豹的話，就很有可能會餓死。 |
Polar bears are on the American government's list of threatened species. They get special protection. The U.S. Secretary of the Interior, has warned that the decreasing Arctic sea ice is the biggest threat to polar bears. |
| 北極熊名列美國政府瀕臨絕種的動物行列之中，牠們應受到特別保護。美國內政部曾提出警告，說明北極的融冰將是北極熊所要面臨的巨大威脅。 |
The vast Arctic and Antarctic ice caps are like giant mirrors. They reflect a lot of sunlight into space. The polar ice helps to keep the Earth cool. The huge areas of polar ice balance and maintain our climate. Scientific observations have shown that the average time the Arctic ice covers Canada's western Hudson Bay is decreasing because of global warming. In that area, the polar bear population has decreased from 1,200 to 900 during the last three decades. Biologist Andrew E. Derocher from the University of Alberta has discovered that the Western Hudson Bay polar bears are likely to become extinct in about 25 to 30 years. If we can stop global warming, we can protect the habitat of polar bears. To maintain the Earth's polar ice caps, we need to decrease our production of greenhouse gases. |
| 廣闊的北極和南極冰帽就像巨大的鏡子一樣，它們將大量的陽光反射到大氣中。北極的冰讓地球得以保持涼爽。北極的大片冰原讓氣候平衡和穩定。科學家們發現，受到地球暖化的影響，覆蓋在加拿大的西哈德遜灣上的北極冰原正在減少，過去30年來，該區的北極熊數量從1,200隻減少到900隻。亞伯達大學的生物學家安德魯•德羅切發現，西哈德遜灣的北極熊可能在25到30年間絕跡。假如我們能夠阻止地球暖化，就能保住北極熊的棲息地。要保住地球的北極冰帽，我們必須減少溫室氣體的產生。 |
A crisis is a time of great trouble. What we do to protect the Arctic ice will also help to save polar bears and many other species. Perhaps the truth is that by helping polar bears, we can also help to protect our own species.
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| 我們所面臨的是充滿困難的危機時刻。對於保護北極冰原所做的努力，不只能保護北極熊，也能拯救許多生物。或許當我們幫助北極熊時，我們事實上也保護了人類自己。 |
