科学美国人60秒:微塑料干扰牡蛎繁衍后代-托福听力下载

　　科学美国人60秒中文翻译：

　　As many as 12 million tons of plastic waste end up in the world's oceans every year, according to a 2015 estimate in the journal Science. 2015年《科技》杂志估计世界上每年有1200万的塑料垃圾流入海洋。

　　Over time, wind and waves grind and chew that plastic trash into tiny bits of what's called "microplastic"—which happen to be about the same size and shape as the micro algae that filter feeders like oysters snack on. 而随着时间的推移，风和海浪的侵蚀及不断冲刷会将这些塑料垃圾变成极小的微塑料—而这些微塑料的大小及形状又恰巧和牡蛎等滤食动物食用的微型海藻相同。

　　Meaning oysters can ingest it. 这就表示牡蛎能够将这些微塑料消化。

　　To find out the effects of consuming the debris, researchers at the French Institute for Ocean Studies raised oysters in water polluted with plastic microbeads, in concentrations similar to those observed in field studies. 为了探究牡蛎消化这些塑料造成的影响，法国海洋研究所的研究人员使用被塑料微粒污染过的水饲养牡蛎，这种环境和现场观察到的研究类似。

　　The shellfish sucked up the six-micrometer-wide plastic particles extremely efficiently—as they evolved to do with the tiny algae. 由于是通过进食这些微小的藻类进化，因此这些贝类非常快速的就将这些直径6微米宽的塑料粒子消化吸收。

　　Two months later, the oysters exposed to microplastics produced half as many eggs and slower swimming sperm than did oysters that fed on algae alone. 2个月后，相比仅以藻类为食的牡蛎，进食微塑料的这种牡蛎产生的卵子数量减半，同时精子的游动速度减慢。

　　Perhaps, the researchers say, because plastic interferes with the oysters' energy uptake. 研究人员表示或许是因为塑料对牡蛎吸收的能量产生了影响。

　　And the offspring of the plastic-eaters were also smaller and slower-growing than the progeny of control oysters. 因此这些以塑料为食牡蛎的后代们体积变的更小，同时也减慢了增长速度。

　　The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 这项研究已在《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表。

　　The scientists say oysters will probably survive in spite of plastic pollution—they're still prolific reproducers. 科学家们表示尽管面临塑料污染，但牡蛎仍能存活—这种动物仍然多产。

　　But until we clean up our act, there's no question we're giving them a raw deal. 即使人类改变自己的行为，但毋庸置疑牡蛎仍遭遇不公正的待遇。

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