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The color of the ocean has changed significantly over the last 20 years, and human-caused climate change is likely responsible, according to a new study.
一项新的研究指出，在过去的20年里，海洋的颜色发生了显著的变化，而人为导致的气候变化很可能是罪魁祸首。
More than 56% of the world's oceans have changed color to an extent that cannot be explained by natural variability,
世界上超过56%的海水的颜色已经发生了改变，其程度无法用自然变异来解释，
said a team of researchers, led by scientists from the National Oceanography Center in the UK and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, in a statement.
由英国国家海洋学中心和美国麻省理工学院的科学家领导的一组研究人员在一份声明中如是说。
Tropical oceans close to the equator in particular have become greener in the past two decades, reflecting changes in their ecosystems, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
这项于周三发表在《自然》杂志上的研究指出，靠近赤道的热带海洋在过去20年里变得尤其绿色，反映出这些海域生态系统的改变。
The color of the ocean is derived from materials found in its upper layers.
海洋颜色源于海洋上层的物质。
For example, a deep blue sea will have very little life in it, whereas a green color means there are ecosystems there, based on phytoplankton, plant-like microbes that contain chlorophyll.
举例而言，深蓝色的海洋几乎没有生物存在，而绿色的海洋则意味着有基于浮游植物的生态系统的存在，浮游植物是一种含有叶绿素的类似植物的微生物。
The phytoplankton form the basis of a food web that supports larger organisms such as krill, fish, seabirds and marine mammals.
浮游植物是支撑磷虾、鱼类、海鸟和海洋哺乳动物等大型生物的食物网的基础。
"It's not clear exactly how these ecosystems are changing," said study co-author Stephanie Dutkiewicz.
研究报告的合著者斯蒂芬妮·杜特科维奇称：“目前还不清楚这些生态系统是如何变化的。”
Ocean ecosystems are finely balanced, and any change in the phytoplankton will send ripples across the food chain.
海洋生态系统处于微妙的平衡状态，浮游植物的任何变化都会在整个食物链中产生连锁反应。
"All changes are causing an imbalance in the natural organization of ecosystems. Such imbalance will only get worse over time if our oceans keep heating," she told CNN.
杜特科维奇在接受CNN采访时表示：“所有的变化都会导致生态系统的自然组织失去平衡。如果我们的海洋持续升温，这种不平衡只会随着时间的推移变得更糟。”
While the researchers are still working to unpack exactly what the changes mean, what is clear, they said, is that the changes are being driven by human-induced climate change.
虽然研究人员仍致力于解开海洋颜色变化之谜，但他们指出，有一点是确定无疑的，那就是该变化是由人为导致的气候变化引起的。
The researchers monitored changes in ocean color from space by tracking how much green or blue light is reflected from the surface of the sea.
研究人员通过跟踪记录海洋表面反射的绿光或蓝光的量，从太空中监测了海洋颜色的变化。
They analyzed color variation data from 2002 to 2022,
他们分析了2002年至2022年的海洋颜色变化数据，
and then used climate change models to simulate what would happen to the oceans both with additional planet-heating pollution and without.
然后使用气候变化模型来模拟海洋在有额外的温室气体污染和没有污染的情况下会发生什么。
The color changes matched almost exactly what Dutkiewicz predicted would happen if greenhouse gases were added to the atmosphere – that around 50% of our oceans would change color.
结果，海洋颜色的变化几乎与杜特科维奇预测的完全一致，当大气中加入温室气体时，大约50%的海洋会改变颜色。
