11.3英语。。。。

一日外刊

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保护生态环境

In the 1950s and 1960s farmers, municipalities and even homeowners were widely spraying the insecticide DDT to kill pests. The chemical also polluted the food web and destroyed the eggs of Bald Eagles. By the early 1970s America’s national symbol was almost extinct. Concern for the birds helped to prompt Congress to pass the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which was enacted on December 28, 1973. More than 1,600 animals and plants have been listed as threatened or endangered, and more than 60 species have recovered enough to be taken off the list—including the Bald Eagle.

在20世纪50年代和60年代，农民、市政部门乃至普通家庭都大量使用杀虫剂DDT来消灭害虫。这种化学品不仅污染了食物链，还导致了白头海雕的蛋壳变薄。到了20世纪70年代初，这种美国的国鸟已经濒临灭绝。人们对鸟类的担忧推动了国会通过《濒危物种法》（ESA），该法于1973年12月28日正式生效。有超过1600种动植物被列为受威胁或濒危状态，而目前已有60多种物种恢复了生机，从名单上摘除，其中就包括白头海雕。

The ESA is now 50 years old. It is a vital part of our nation’s conservation efforts, but it comes into play only when a species is nearly gone. The act is an emergency room(ER) for revitalizing species already in dire condition. Just as preventive medicine keeps people out of the ER, there is much we can do to prevent our vulnerable creatures from needing the act in the first place. Recent studies have shown convincingly that the best way to protect species is to protect their ecosystems and habitats. Yet climate change is stressing ecosystems mightily, and urban, suburban and rural sprawl are eliminating natural habitat fast.

ESA已经存在了50年。该法案是美国自然保护的重要组成部分，而它只能在物种快要灭绝时才能起到作用。该法案就像一个急救站，用来拯救那些已经濒危的物种。就像预防性医疗可以让人们避免进入急救站一样，我们也可以做很多事情来避免让脆弱的生物资源需要这样的法律保护。最近的研究有力地证明了，保护物种的最佳途径是保护它们所依赖的生态系统和栖息地。但是，气候变化对生态系统造成了严重的影响，城乡建设也在快速地破坏自然环境。

To preserve habitats is to preserve species. To that end, we must greatly expand our conservation efforts. Reviving a species is difficult and costly and can disrupt human communities. And according to the National Wildlife Federation, roughly one third of all vertebrates and vascular plants are in danger of vanishing. If we preserve habitats, we won’t need to triage so many plants and animals.

保护栖息地就是保护物种的前提。为此，我们必须加大我们的自然保护力度。拯救一个物种是艰难的、代价高昂的，而且可能影响人类社区的发展。美国国家野生动物联合会的统计显示，约有三分之一的脊椎动物和