第2932期:Icebergs may destroy wildlife habitats

The giant iceberg split off the Antarctic ice shelf in 2017. Named by scientists as A68a, it has since drifted towards South Georgia, a remote British island in the south Atlantic.这座巨大的冰山于2017年从南极冰架崩离。这座被科学家命名为A68a的冰山随后向南大西洋上的偏远英属岛屿南乔治亚岛漂去。Satellite images show it is still largely intact, some 150 kilometers long and 48 kilometers wide.卫星图像显示它基本完好无损，长约150公里，宽约48公里。It's on course to hit South Georgia in around 30 days. Its shallow depth means it could drift very close to the island.它将在约30天后抵达南乔治亚岛。吃水浅意味着它可能会非常靠近岛屿漂流。This video from the organization Penguins International shows the island's huge penguin colonies.这段来自国际企鹅组织的视频展示了岛上庞大的企鹅群落。Key feeding grounds for penguins and seals could be blocked off, says scientist Geraint Tarling of the British Antarctic Survey.英国南极调查局的科学家杰兰特·塔林指出，企鹅与海豹的关键觅食区域可能遭到阻断。That means they have to go a lot further, they need to go around the iceberg, or to actually go further to find sources of food.这意味着它们必须走得更远。它们需要绕过冰山，或者真的要走得更远才能找到食物来源。And that time is quite critical at this particular period of their life cycle.在它们生命周期的这个特定时期，这段时间相当关键。They have to get back to their chicks and pups in short amounts of time so that they don't starve in the interim.它们必须在短时间内回到幼崽身边，以免它们在此期间挨饿。The iceberg could stick around for a decade and change the entire ecosystem.这座冰山可能会停留十年之久，并改变整个生态系统。These are globally significant populations of these species. If these species fail in this particular area, then the numbers globally are going to go down quite dramatically.这些物种的种群数量在全球范围内具有重要意义。如果这些物种在这一特定领域灭绝， 那么全球的数量将会大幅下降。Iceberg carving in Antarctica is a natural process but it's changing with global warming, says Tarling.塔林说，南极洲的冰山崩解是一种自然过程，但这一现象正随着全球变暖而发生变化。The rate at which this is happening is increasing. And so, this might become more of a usual thing into the future.这种情况发生的速度正在加快。因此，在未来这可能变得更加常见。The iceberg could also damage South Georgia's valuable fishing industry.冰山还可能破坏南乔治亚州宝贵的渔业。The hope is that changing weather patterns could yet divert it into the open ocean. 人们希望，不断变化的天气模式或许能将这座冰山引向开阔海域。