地球未来很“凄惨”？100万个物种正遭受灭绝威胁

一份由联合国生物多样性和生态系统服务政府间科学政策平台发布的报告显示，如今在全世界800万个物种中有100万个正因人类而遭受灭绝威胁，全球物种灭绝的“平均速度已经数十甚至数百倍于千万年前”。

One million of the planet's eight million species are threatened with extinction by humans, scientists warned Monday in what is described as the most comprehensive assessment of global nature loss ever.

科学家们本周一（5月6日）发布了迄今为止最全面的一份全球自然损失评估报告，报告警告称，地球上800万个物种中有100万个正因人类而遭受灭绝威胁。

Their landmark report paints a bleak picture of a planet ravaged by an ever-growing human population, whose insatiable consumption is destroying the natural world.

这份具有里程碑意义的报告描绘的灰暗图景显示因全球人口增长而遭受破坏的地球，人类无止境的消费正在毁掉大自然。

insatiable [ɪn'seɪʃəb(ə)l]：adj.贪得无厌的；不知足的

The global rate of species extinction "is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years," according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a UN committee, whose report was written by 145 experts from 50 countries.

联合国生物多样性和生态系统服务政府间科学政策平台（IPBES）发布的这份报告由来自50个国家的145名专家撰写。报告称，全球物种灭绝的“平均速度已经数十甚至数百倍于千万年前”。

Shrinking habitat, exploitation of natural resources, climate change and pollution are the main drivers of species loss and are threatening more than 40% of amphibians, 33% of coral reefs and over a third of all marine mammals with extinction, the IPBES report said.

报告称，日渐缩小的栖息地、自然资源过度开采、气候变化和污染是地球物种损失的主因，这些因素正在威胁全世界40%以上的两栖类动物、33%的珊瑚礁和1/3以上的海洋哺乳动物，它们都面临灭绝风险。

amphibian [æm'fɪbɪən]：n. [脊椎]两栖动物

"The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever," said Sir Robert Watson, IPBES chair, adding that "transformative change" is needed to save the planet.

“所有物种赖以生存的生态系统正以史无前例的速度恶化”，IPBES主席罗伯特·沃森先生表示。他补充说，为了保护地球，人类需要进行“转型变革”。

The report comes six months after the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the world has less than 12 years to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming.

半年前，联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会提醒说，人类只有不到12年的时间来避免灾难性的全球气候变暖。

Just as with climate change, humans are the main culprits of biodiversity damage, altering 75% of Earth's land and 66% of marine ecosystems since pre-industrial times, according to the report.

该报告称，除导致气候变化外，人类还是破坏地球生物多样性的“元凶”之一，自前工业社会以来，人类已改变了地球75%的土地和66%的海洋生态环境。

culprit ['kʌlprɪt]：n.犯人，罪犯

The report emphasizes the disastrous impact of population growth and rising demand. It notes that the world's population has more than doubled (from 3.7 to 7.6 billion) in the last 50 years, and gross domestic product per person is four times higher.

报告强调指出，人口增长和需求上升造成了灾难般的影响。在过去50年间，全球人口已经增加了一倍多（从37亿增加到76亿），人均国内生产总值增长到此前的4倍。

More than a third of the world's land and 75% of freshwater supplies are used for crop or livestock production, it noted.

如今，全世界1/3以上的土地和75%的淡水正被用于农作物种植和牲畜饲养。

"[There is] very little of the planet left that has not been significantly altered by us," Sandra Diaz, co-author of the report and professor of ecology at the University of Córdoba, told cnn. "We need to act as stewards for life on Earth."

报告合著者之一、科尔多瓦大学生态学教授桑德拉·迪亚兹告诉美国有线资讯网说：“如今地球上已经没有什么没被人类明显改变过了。我们需要做地球生命的管理员。”

steward ['stjuːəd] n.管家；乘务员

Diaz said countries in the Global North are particularly to blame for nature damage due to their "unsustainable" levels of consumption, especially when it comes to fishing and logging.

迪亚兹说，由于“不可持续的消费水平”，特别是渔业和伐木业，地球北部的国家对自然的损坏有更大责任。

Despite the ominous picture "it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global," said Watson, adding that this would require an overhaul of economic systems and a shift in political and social mindsets.

沃森表示，尽管前景黯淡，“现在做出改变还不算迟，但我们必须从地方到全球，在每个层面开始行动起来”。他补充说，这需要彻底改变经济制度，并转变政治和社会理念。

ominous ['ɒmɪnəs]：adj.预兆的；不吉利的

Diaz said that governments should implement drastic changes now to avoid a "dire future" in 10-20 years when their "food and climate security [is] in jeopardy."

迪亚兹说，政府应实行大规模变革，以避免10到20年内的“悲惨未来”，届时人类的“食品和气候安全可能陷入危险”。

The IPBES report comes ahead of two high-level summits in 2020 where world leaders will scale up their climate and environment protection goals. That is when China will host the UN convention on biodiversity to set new 20-year targets and when the signatories of the 2017 Paris Agreement to keep global warming to less than 2 degrees will revise their commitments.

该报告的发布正值2020年全球两场高级别峰会前夕，届时各国领导人将提升其气候和环境保护目标。一是中国将主办联合国《生物多样性公约》缔约方大会，以设定未来20年新目标，二是2017年《巴黎气候协定》签署国将重新修订全球变暖幅度的承诺（此前承诺为将全球平均升温控制在2摄氏度以内）。

signatory ['sɪgnət(ə)rɪ]：n.（协议的）签名人，签约国