地球最後的凈土也遭污染！南極洲發現塑料和有害化學物質……

Antarctica: plastic contamination reaches Earth"s last wilderness

南極洲：塑料污染「到達」地球最後一片荒野

來源：英國《衛報》 翻譯：世界播

Traces of microplastics and hazardous chemicals found in majority of snow and ice samples taken earlier this year.

在今年早些時候採集的大部分冰雪樣本中發現了微量塑料和有害化學物質。

Thilo Maack takes snow samples on Greenwich Island in the Antarctic to test for environmental pollutants. Photograph: Paul Hilton/Paul Hilton / Greenpeace

Thilo Maack在南極的格林尼治島採集雪樣本，以檢測環境污染物。攝影:保羅·希爾頓/保羅·希爾頓/綠色和平組織

Plastic and traces of hazardous chemicals have been found in Antarctica, one of the world』s last great wildernesses, according to a new study.

一項新的研究表明，研究人員在南極洲發現了塑料和有害化學物質，這是世界上最後的幾片荒野之一。

Researchers spent three months taking water and snow samples from remote areas of the continent earlier this year.

今年早些時候，研究人員花了三個月的時間從大陸偏遠地區採集了水和雪的樣本。

These have now been analysed and researchers have confirmed the majority contained 「persistent hazardous chemicals」 or microplastics.

目前已經對這些物質進行了分析，研究人員證實，其中大部分都含有「持久性危險化學物質」或微塑料。

The findings come amid growing concern about the extent of the plastic pollution crisis which scientists have warned risks 「permanent contamination」 of the planet.

這一發現正值人們對塑料污染危機程度日益擔憂之際。科學家們警告稱，塑料污染危機可能給地球帶來「永久性傷害」。

Earlier this week, the UN warned it is one of the world』s biggest environmental threats and said although 60 countries were taking urgent action more needed to be done.

本周早些時候，聯合國說，儘管有60個國家正在採取更為迫切的行動，但其警告稱，這是世界上最大的環境威脅之一。

The new report by researchers at Greenpeace is part of global campaign to create the world』s biggest ocean sanctuary in the seas around Antarctica to protect the fragile ecosystem from industrial fishing and climate change.

綠色和平組織研究人員的最新報告是全球保護行動的一部分，目的是在南極洲周圍海域創建世界上最大的海洋保護區，以保護脆弱的生態系統免受捕撈業和氣候變化的影響。

Frida Bengtsson, of Greenpeace』s Protect the Antarctic campaign, said the findings proved that even the most remote areas of the planet were not immune from the impact of manmade pollution.

綠色和平組織保護南極運動的Frida Bengtsson說，這些發現證明即使是地球上最偏遠的地區也無法免受人為污染的影響。

「We need action at source, to stop these pollutants ending up in the Antarctic in the first place, and we need an Antarctic ocean sanctuary to give space for penguins, whales and the entire ecosystem to recover from the pressures they』re facing,」 she said.

她說:「我們需要從源頭上採取行動，首先阻止這些污染物進入南極。我們需要一個南極海洋保護區，為企鵝、鯨魚和整個生態系統提供空間，讓它們從海洋污染的壓力中恢復過來。」

Seven of the eight sea-surface water samples tested contained microplastics such as microfibres. Seven of the nine snow samples tested contained detectable concentrations of the persistent hazardous chemicals – polyfluorinated alkylated substances, or PFAS.

在測試的8個海水樣本中，有7個含有微塑料，如微纖維。在測試的9個雪樣中，有7個樣品含有可檢測到的持久性有害化學物質——聚氟化烷基化物質(PFAS)。

Researchers said the chemicals are widely used in many industrial processes and consumer products and have been linked to reproductive and developmental issues in wildlife. They said the snow samples gathered included freshly fallen snow, suggesting the hazardous chemicals had come from contaminated rain or snowfall.

研究人員說，這些化學物質廣泛應用於工業過程和消費品中，並與野生動物的生殖和發育問題密切相關。他們說，收集到的雪樣本中包括剛剛下的雪，表明危險的化學物質來自受污染的雨或降雪。

Prof Alex Rogers, a specialist in sustainable oceans at the Oxford Martin school, Oxford University, said the discovery of plastics and chemicals in Antarctica confirmed that manmade pollutants were now affecting ecosystems in every corner of the world.

牛津大學牛津馬丁學院可持續海洋專家亞歷克斯?羅傑斯教授表示，南極洲塑料和化學物質的發現證實，人造污染物正在影響世界各地的生態系統。

And he warned the consequences of this pervasive contamination remained largely unknown.

他警告說，這種無孔不入污染的後果在很大程度上仍不為人知。

「The big question now is what are the actual consequences of finding this stuff here? Many of these chemicals are pretty nasty and as they move up the food chain they may be having serious consequences for the health of wildlife, and ultimately humans. The effects of microplastics on marine life, likewise, are largely not understood,」 he said.

「現在的主要問題是，在這裡發現這些污染物的實際後果是什麼?」這些化學物質中有許多是非常有害的，當它們沿著食物鏈移動時，它們可能會對野生動物的健康造成嚴重影響，最終危及人類。同樣地，微型塑料對海洋生物的影響在很大程度上是不為人知的。

The samples were collected during a three-month expedition to the Antarctic aboard the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, from January to March 2018. Photograph: Christian ?slund/Christian ?slund / Greenpeac

這是2018年1月至3月為期三個月的南極考察中，綠色和平組織的「北極日出」號船所採集的樣本。照片:克里斯蒂安·阿斯倫德/克里斯蒂安·阿斯倫德/格林佩克

There is relatively little data on the extent of microplastics in Antarctic waters, and researchers said they hoped this new study would lead to a greater understanding of the global extent of plastic and chemical pollutants.

目前還沒有相關數據表明南極水域塑料微粒的範圍。研究人員表示，他們希望這項新研究能讓人們對遍及全球的塑料和化學污染物有更深入的了解。

Bengtsson said: 「Plastic has now been found in all corners of our oceans, from the Antarctic to the Arctic and at the deepest point of the ocean, the Mariana trench. We need urgent action to reduce the flow of plastic into our seas and we need large-scale marine reserves – like a huge Antarctic ocean sanctuary which over 1.6m people are calling for – to protect marine life and our oceans for future generations.」

本特松說:「從南極到北極，再到海洋最深處的馬里亞納海溝，我們在海洋的各個角落都發現了塑料。我們需要採取緊急行動，減少塑料流入我們的海洋，我們需要大規模的海洋設施——比如超過160萬人呼籲建立的巨大南極海洋保護區——目的是為子孫後代保護海洋生物和海洋。

微信關注「世界播」，天下大事盡在掌握！中英雙語呈現，還可以加強英語學習哦！這事你怎麼看？歡迎留言探討！
喜歡這篇文章嗎？立刻分享出去讓更多人知道吧！

本站內容充實豐富，博大精深，小編精選每日熱門資訊，隨時更新，點擊「搶先收到最新資訊」瀏覽吧！

請您繼續閱讀更多來自 世界播 的精彩文章: