全球变暖将使人类变矮
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全球变暖将使人类变矮 自然社会英语阅读
global warming could make humans shorter, warn scientists who claim to have found evidence that it caused the
world's first horses to shrunk nearly 50 million years ago。
in fact, a team from the universities of florida and nebraska says it has found a link between the earth
heating up and the size of mammals -- horses, in this case, the last time the world heated up。
the scientists used fossils to follow the evolution of horses from their earliest appearance 56 million years
ago。
as temperatures went up their size went down, and vice versa; at one point they were as small as a house cat,
said dr jonathan bloch, curator of the florida museum of natural history, was quoted by the "daily mail" as saying
the scientists say that the current warming could have the same effect on mammals -- and could even make humans
smaller。
"horses started out small, about the size of a small dog like a miniature schnauzer. what's surprising is that
after they first appeared, they then became even smaller and then dramatically increased in size, and that exactly
corresponds to the global warming event, followed by cooling。
"it had been known that mammals were small during that time and that it was warm, but we hadn't understood that
temperature specifically was driving the evolution of body size," dr bloch said in the "science" journal。
科学家警告说，全球变暖可能会使人类变矮。科学家宣称已经找到证据：近5000万年前全球变暖就曾让世界上最早的马个头变
小。
事实上，来自佛罗里达州和内布拉斯加州的大学的一支研究团队称，他们已经找到地球变暖和哺乳动物个头之间的联系。这一
案例中马变矮的现象是上一次全球变暖时发生的。
科学家用化石来追溯马从5600万年前诞生至今的进化历程。
随着气温的上升，马的个头变小，反之马的个头就变大。《每日邮报》援引佛罗里达自然历史博物馆馆长乔纳森?布洛赫博士的
话说，它们曾一度像家猫那么小。
科学家称，当前的全球变暖可能也会对哺乳动物产生同样的影响，甚至可能会让人类的个子也变小。
布洛赫博士在《科学》杂志中写道：“马最初的个头很小，和一只小狗的个头差不多，大约也就像一只迷你型雪纳瑞犬那么大
。令人惊讶的是，在马诞生后过了一段时间，它们的个子变得更小，之后个头又显著变大，而这些变化与全球变暖和变冷正好是相
对应的。
“我们已经知道哺乳动物在那个时期个头较小，而那个时期气候也较暖，但我们还未意识到正是温度驱动着身体大小的进化。
地球变暖已停止或将进入小冰河期 自然地理英语阅读
the supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years。
the figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the thames in the 17th century。
based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the met office and the university of east anglia climatic research unit. it confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.
meanwhile, leading climate scientists yesterday told the mail on sunday that, after emitting unusually high levels of energy throughout the 20th century, the sun is now heading towards a ‘grand minimum’ in its output, threatening cold summers, bitter winters and a shortening of the season available for growing food。
solar output goes through 11-year cycles, with high numbers of sunspots seen at their peak。
we are now at what should be the peak of what scientists call ‘cycle 24’ – which is why last week’s solar storm resulted in sightings of the aurora borealis further south than usual. but sunspot numbers are running at less than half those seen during cycle peaks in the 20th century。
analysis by experts at nasa and the university of arizona – derived from magnetic-field measurements 120,000 miles beneath the sun’s surface – suggest that cycle 25, whose peak is due in 2022, will be a great deal weaker still。
according to a paper issued last week by the met office, there is a 92 percent chance that both cycle 25 and those taking place in the following decades will be as weak as, or weaker than, the ‘dalton minimum’ of 1790 to 1830. in this period, named after the meteorologist john dalton, average temperatures in parts of europe fell by 2c。
however, it is also possible that the new solar energy slump could be as deep as the ‘maunder minimum’ (after astronomer edward maunder)， between 1645 and 1715 in the coldest part of the ‘little ice age’ when, as well as the thames frost fairs, the canals of holland froze solid。
新的温度数据显示，地球在过去的15年间并无变暖。这一数据发布后，人为引起全球变暖的“共识”受到了不利挑战。
数据显示，人类甚至有可能面临小冰河期，堪与17世纪泰晤士河上举行霜降会的70年降温相提并论。
上周，英国气象局和东安格利亚大学气候研究中心悄无声息地发布了这些基于3万多个监测站的数据，确认世界温度上升趋势止于1997年。
昨日主流气候学家对《星期日邮报》称，太阳在整个二十世纪都发出异乎寻常的高能量，现在正走向太阳辐射输出的最低值，人们将面临冷夏、严冬以及粮食种植季节缩短的威胁。
太阳辐射输出完成了十一年的周期，高峰期出现大量的太阳黑子。
我们现在正处于科学家所谓的第24个太阳活动周期的高峰期，这就是为什么上周的太阳风暴导致比平常更偏南的地方出现北极光。但是太阳黑子的数量少于二十世纪的太阳活动周期峰值的一半。
美国宇航局和亚利桑那大学的专家分析，从太阳表面以下12万英里的磁场测量推断，第25个太阳活动周期的高峰期将在2022年，太阳辐射将大大削弱。
据英国气象局上周发布的报告，第25个太阳活动周期以及随后数十年间的太阳辐射，有92%的可能性达到1790年至1830年间的“道尔顿最低点”，甚至更弱。在这段以气象学家约翰?道尔顿命名的时期里，欧洲部分地区的平均温度下降了2摄氏度。
然而，这次新的太阳能量暴跌也可能达到“蒙德最低点”(以天文学家爱德华?蒙德命名)的幅度，即1645年到1715年间“小冰河期”最冷的时候，那时泰晤士河、荷兰运河都冰封冻结。
哈勃望远镜发现“天使羽翼”：自然科学知识双语阅读
the nice thing about an infinite space such as, for instance, the one in which we live, is that you can find basically anything if you look hard enough.
在我们生活的这个无垠的宇宙中，的确有那么一件好事，那就是无论你想找什么，只要你努力去找，基本上都能找到。
to that end the hubble space telescope often proves handy for discovering celestial objects shaped like everything from a sea horse, the letter x, tadpoles and flying saucers.
正因为这样，哈勃太空望远镜常常能轻而易举地找到一些神迹，从海马，到字母x，从蝌蚪到飞碟，各种形状的神迹都能被它发现。
since it's christmas it seems appropriate that the ageing space camera turns its attention to finding seasonally-shaped nebulas.
圣诞节将至，一把年纪的哈勃望远镜也应该把注意力转向寻找与圣诞有关的星云了。
the bipolar star-forming region spotted by hubble is actually two giant, super-hot streams of gas blasting outwards from a central star. but what it looks like is a beautiful, ghostly angel ring.
哈勃这次发现的这片产星区有两极，是由一颗中央星向外延展所形成的超高温气流。看起来就像是美丽而诡异的天使羽翼。
you know, if you look really hard. the image is credited to nasa, esa, and the hubble heritage team. but we won't be happy until we see a galaxy shaped like santa. hubble, it's over to you.
如果你仔细看的话，就能看出它的形状。这一图像已经提交给了美国宇航局、欧洲航天局和哈勃望远镜遗产团队。不过，如果我们看不到长得像圣诞老人的星系，我们是不会满意的。所以，哈勃，靠你咯!
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