气球是对海岛最致命的塑料制品

缪兰

Scientists have made an alarming discovery about what kinds of pollution are most harmful to seabirds. A study led by Australias Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies discovered that balloons were the deadliest kind of plastic for seabirds. The research team said balloons were 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than hard plastics. They found that while balloons and other soft plastics accounted for2 only 5 percent of plastics ingested3， they were responsible for more than 40 percent of deaths among seabirds. Lead researcher Lauren Roman said， “Hard plastic fragments4 may pass quickly through the gut5， but soft plastics are more likely to become compacted6 and cause deadly obstructions7.”

关于哪种污染对海鸟的危害最大，科学家们有了一个令人震惊的发现。澳大利亚海洋与南极研究所主导的一项研究发现，气球是对海鸟最致命的一种塑料制品。该研究小组表示，气球杀死海鸟的可能性是硬塑料的32倍。他们发现，虽然气球和其他软塑料仅占塑料摄入量的5%，但它们占海鸟死亡原因的40%以上。首席研究员劳伦·罗曼说：“硬塑料碎片可能会快速通过肠道，但软塑料更容易被挤压并导致致命阻塞。”

The study examined 1，733 dead seabirds and found that more than a quarter of the deaths is caused by eating plastic. Ms. Roman explained that plastic is becoming an increasing threat to seabirds. She said， “Marine debris8 ingestion is now a globally recognized threat...We suggest that reducing the presence of balloons and balloon fragments in the ocean would directly reduce seabirds death.” LiveScience.com said， “With an estimated 280，000 tons of floating marine debris worldwide， about half of all seabird species are thought to ingest plastic on a daily basis. Birds are especially likely to swallow9 dangerous balloons because they closely like squid10， according to the study.”

該研究调查了1，733只死海鸟，发现四分之一以上的死亡归因于食用塑料。罗曼女士解释说，塑料正在成为对海鸟的日益严重的威胁。她说：“海洋垃圾摄入现在已成为全球公认的威胁……我们建议减少海洋中气球和气球碎片的存在将直接减少海鸟的死亡率。”网站LiveScience.com称：“根据研究，全世界估计有28万吨漂浮的海洋垃圾，大约有一半的海鸟被认为每天吞食塑料。鸟类特别容易吞下危险的气球，因为它们非常像鱿鱼。”

Notes

1. deadly  adj. 致命的;非常的;死一般的;adv. 非常;如死一般地

2. account for （比例）占

3. ingest  vt. 摄取;咽下;吸收

4. fragment  n. 碎片;片段或不完整部分

5. gut n. 内脏;肠子

6. compact vt. 使简洁;使紧密结合

7. obstruction  n. 障碍;阻碍;妨碍

8. debris   n. 碎片，残骸

9. swallow   v. 吞下;咽下

10. squid  n. 鱿鱼;乌贼

▲Questions：

[1]Do you think balloon fragments are dangerous to seabirds？你认为气球碎片对海鸟很危险么？

[2]What should we do to deal with the balloon fragments？我们应该怎么处理气球碎片呢？

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