Australia’s Great Barrier Reef hit by ’worst’ bleaching

澳大利亚大堡礁“严重”白化

The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce says 95% of reefs from Cairns to Papua New Guinea are now severely bleached.

国家珊瑚白化工作组指出：从凯恩斯到巴布亚新几内亚沿岸，95%的珊瑚礁发生了严重的白化现象。

It says only four reefs out of 520 have no evidence of bleaching.

据说在全部520座珊瑚礁中，只有4座没有发生白化。

Unesco voted not to put the reef on its World Heritage in Danger list last year, but green groups want the decision reassessed.

去年联合国教科文组织投票决议不把大堡礁列入世界濒危遗产名录，但是一些绿色组织希望重新评估这个决定。

Coral taskforce convener Professor Terry Hughes told the BBC his team was yet to find the southern border where the bleaching ended.

珊瑚白化工作组的发起人Terry Hughes教授告诉BBC：他的团队还没有找到白化现象在南部延伸的边界。

"Tomorrow we will continue further south from Cairns to Townsville about 400km (250 miles) and spend the day scoring another 150 reefs," Professor Hughes said.

Hughes教授说：“明天我们会从凯恩斯往南到汤斯维尔再走400公里(250英里)，再检查150座珊瑚礁”

Mass coral bleaching

大片珊瑚白化

Coral bleaching is caused by rising water temperatures resulting from two natural warm currents

珊瑚的白化现象是由两个自然暖流引起的海水升温导致的。

It is exacerbated by man-made climate change, as the oceans are absorbing about 93% of the increase in the earth’s heat

人类活动导致了气候的变化，进而引起了海水温度的上升，因为海洋吸收了全球热量增加值的93%。

Bleaching happens when corals under stress drive out the algae known as zooxanthellae that give them colour

“虫黄藻”能够给珊瑚染色，而在高温压力下珊瑚会排出这种藻类，从而发生白化现象。

If normal conditions return, the corals can recover, but it can take decades, and if the stress continues the corals can die

如果气候恢复正常的话，珊瑚能够变回原来的颜色，但这往往需要几十年的时间。而如果高水温的情况持续下去的话，珊瑚就会死亡。

The current worldwide bleaching episode is predicted to be the worst on record

据预测，现在全世界范围内的珊瑚白化现象是有记录以来最严重的。

Experts say it is too early to tell whether the corals will recover, but scientists "in the water" are already reporting up to 50% mortality of bleached corals.

有学者表明现在断言珊瑚能不能恢复还为时尚早，但是经过实地考察的科学家们的报告指出白化珊瑚有超过50%的死亡率。

Climate change and the effects of El Nino are being blamed for the rise in sea temperatures that causes coral bleaching.

全球变暖和厄尔尼诺被认为是导致海水升温和珊瑚白化的罪魁祸首。

"What we’re seeing now is unequivocally to do with climate change," Professor Justin Martin University of Queensland told the ABC.

昆士兰大学的Justin Martin教授告诉ABC电视台：“全球变暖是珊瑚礁白化的重要原因”

"[At] the Paris climate change meeting, essentially the whole world has agreed this is climate change, and we’re seeing climate change play out across our reefs".

“在巴黎的气候变化会议上，从根本上来讲，全世界都同意这是气候变化的结果，我们可以看到全球变暖正在对我们的珊瑚礁造成毁灭性的影响”

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) spokesperson Nick Heath said the unspoiled northern section of the reef had acted as a vital bank of genetic material to reseed areas further to the south.

世界野生动物基金会(WWF)发言人Nick Heath说大堡礁北部没有白化的区域已经成为了向南部推进物种多样性和生物遗传物质的重要来源。

"We have been working to save the reef in [recent] years, and we always took for granted that we had the bank in the northern quarter that was safe, and seemed resilient in previous bleaching episodes, but now it’s cooked to an inch of its life," Mr Heath told the BBC.

Heath告诉BBC：“尽管近年来我们已经采取了很多措施来保护珊瑚礁，但是我们一直理所当然地认为北边的地方很安全、不会被白化，而且以前白化现象的好转也让我们放松了警惕。但是现在它已经危在旦夕了”

The Department of the Environment said state and federal governments were investing a projected A2bn dollars over the next decade to protect the reef.

环境部门表示州政府和联邦政府预计在未来10年内投资一个20亿澳元(合15亿美元;10亿英镑)的项目来保护大堡礁。