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Turn the Tide
力挽狂澜
By Aran Baker
文/阿兰·贝克
For Mick Baron, the giant kelp forests of Tasmania were a playground, a school and a church.
对米克·巴伦来说，塔斯马尼亚的巨型海藻森林是一座游乐场、也是一所学校，一座教堂。
The former marine biologist runs a scuba-diving center on the Australian island's east coast,
这位前海洋生物学家在这个澳大利亚岛屿的东海岸经营着一家潜水中心，
and rhapsodizes about the wonders of the seaweed's dense habitats.
兴奋地诉说了这个充满海藻的地方的奇妙之处。
"Diving in kelp is one of the most amazing underwater experiences you can have,"
“在海藻里潜水是世界上最赞的水下体验之一，”
the 65-year-old says, likening it to flying through the canopy of a terrestrial rain forest.
这位65岁的老人说，称其好比从陆地上热带雨林的树冠上飞过一般。
"You won't find a single empty patch in a kelp forest ...
“到了海藻林里，你就连一块空地找不出来……
From the sponge gardens on the seafloor all the way up to the leaves on the surface, it's packed with life."
从海底海绵一般的花园一直到水面上的各种叶子，中间活跃着各种生物。”
Or rather, it was.
更确切地说是，曾经活跃着各种生物。
In late 2015, a marine heat wave hit eastern Australia,
2015年末，一股海洋热浪袭击了澳大利亚东部，
wiping out a third of the Great Barrier Reef, and the kelp forests Baron had been exploring for most of his life.
足足摧毁了三分之一个大堡礁，还有巴伦探索了大半生的海藻林。
"We were diving in a nice thick forest in December," says Baron.
“12月份我们还在一片茂密的（海藻）森林里潜水，”巴伦说。
"By end of March, it looked like an asphalt driveway."
到了3月底，那里就已经像个沥青车道似的了。”
Recurring heat waves have prevented kelp and coral from recovering;
反复出现的热浪妨碍了海藻和珊瑚的恢复；
marine temperatures on Australia's east coast are on average 2°C higher than a century ago,
澳大利亚东海岸的平均海洋温度已经比一个世纪前高出了2°C，
an increase scientists attribute to rising greenhouse-gas emissions.
科学家们将上升原因归结到了温室气体排放增加这一问题之上。
"The ocean is deceptively fragile," says Baron.
“海洋并没有看上去那么顽强，”巴伦说。
"Two degrees doesn't sound like much,
“两度听起来不算多，
but not many species can handle that kind of temperature change."
但能适应这一温度变化的生物并不多。”
Baron, a gregarious, bearded and perennially sunburned Australian,
巴伦，一个爱交际，留着胡子，常年晒得黝黑的澳大利亚人，
introduced generations of divers to Tasmania's kelp cathedrals.
将塔斯马尼亚的海藻教堂推荐给了一代又一代的潜水爱好者。
His own grandchildren, he says, will have to learn about them from his YouTube videos.
但他自己的孙儿孙女，他说，却只能从他的YouTube视频中了解这一海藻教堂了。
Nearly 95% of eastern Tasmania's kelp forests are gone, a preview of what is to come for the ocean as a whole.
塔斯马尼亚东部近95%的海藻森林都已经消失，整个海洋的命运可见一斑。
"Tasmania's kelp forests are the poster child for what climate change means for our oceans," he says.
“气候变化对我们海洋意味着什么，塔斯马尼亚的海藻森林就是典范，”他说。
"What is happening here is what will happen everywhere else in a decade or two."
“这里正在发生的事情就是其他地方一二十年后会发生的事情。”
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
