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Mass bleaching events were unheard-of a half century ago, but they've been increasing in frequency and severity since the 1980s. By some estimates, the world has lost half of its coral cover since 1950.
大规模白化事件在半个世纪以前是闻所未闻的，但自20世纪80年代以来，白化的频率和严重性一直在增加。据估计，自1950年以来，全世界的珊瑚覆盖面积已经减少了一半。
The coral reefs of the Florida Keys have suffered a sharp decline since the 1970s, primarily because of disease and bleaching, both of which are directly linked to increasing ocean temperature, Dr. Manzello said. "You talk about canaries in the coal mine," he said. "These canaries have been dying now for 40 years."
曼泽洛博士说，自20世纪70年代末以来，佛罗里达礁岛的珊瑚礁数量急剧减少，主要原因是疾病和白化，而这两者都与海洋温度上升直接相关。"珊瑚礁就像煤矿里的金丝雀，"他说。"这些金丝雀逐渐死去，已经持续40年了。"
The losses have inspired scientists and enthusiasts to intervene, propelling the field of coral restoration. Ken Nedimyer, for example, stepped away from a successful business as a tropical fish wholesaler some 20 years ago to throw himself into growing staghorn and elkhorn coral in offshore nurseries and planting them on Florida's reef.
这些损失促使科学家和珊瑚爱好者进行干预，推动了珊瑚复育工作的发展。例如，肯·尼迪迈尔20多年前放弃了他非常成功的热带鱼批发生意，转而投身于近海复育场的麋角珊瑚和鹿角珊瑚的养育工作，并将珊瑚种植在佛罗里达州的珊瑚礁上。
He went on to found Coral Restoration Foundation and then a newer nonprofit group, Reef Renewal USA, which he still runs. He has dealt with bleaching and hurricanes before, but these past couple of weeks have shaken him like never before. "I don't really know how to process it," Mr. Nedimyer said.
他后来创立了珊瑚复育基金会，然后又成立了一个比较新的非营利性组织--美国珊瑚礁复兴组织，目前他仍在运营该组织。尼迪迈尔曾经遇到过白化和飓风的情况，但过去几周给他带来了前所未有的震撼。"我真的不知道该怎么处理。"尼迪迈尔说。
To be clear, he hasn't stopped working. It has been a whirlwind of gathering genetic samples, finding space for coral in tanks on land, applying for emergency permits to move nurseries to deeper, cooler water.
需要说明的是，他并没有停止工作。他马不停蹄地去收集基因样本，在陆地上的水箱中为珊瑚腾出地方，申请紧急许可、将复育场转移到更深更冷的水域。
But for the first time, he said, he's questioning whether such efforts can be successful over the long term. Last year, greenhouse gas emissions in the US went up, not down. Globally, emissions were on target to hit a record high. "I keep thinking, what's it going to take to get people's attention?" Mr. Nedimyer asked.
但他表示，这是他第一次对这种努力能否在长期内取得成功而感到质疑。去年，美国的温室气体排放量上升而非下降。全球范围内，排放量创下历史新高。"我一直在想，怎样才能引起人们的注意？"内迪迈尔先生问道。
David Obura, a marine biologist and co-chairman of the coral specialist group for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, praised certain restoration efforts but noted that without climate action, they are all but useless.
海洋生物学家、国际自然保护联盟珊瑚专家小组的联合主席大卫·奥布拉赞扬了某些复育工作，但他指出，如果没有气候方面的行动，这些努力几乎都是徒劳。
"With the main drivers of impact continuing to rise, they may just ‘buy time' for just a few years," Dr. Obura wrote in an email. "It is of course critical to attempt this, but this must not distract focus on addressing what and who is causing the problem."
"随着主要驱动因素的继续上升，他们可能只是‘争取到'几年的时间而已。"奥布拉博士在一封电子邮件中写道。"这些尝试当然是至关重要的，但这绝不能分散人们对解决问题成因的关注。"
As the natural warming cycle of El Nino is compounded by climate change, he expects "several years of massive coral bleaching" around the world. Beyond Florida, bleaching is already underway in reefs off the Bahamas, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Mexico and Panama.
由于厄尔尼诺现象的自然升温周期与气候变化叠加，奥布拉博士预计世界各地将出现"为期数年的大规模珊瑚白化"。除了佛罗里达州，巴哈马、伯利兹、哥伦比亚、哥斯达黎加、古巴、萨尔瓦多、墨西哥和巴拿马的珊瑚礁都已经开始白化。
Ms. Thomasson returned to Looe Key on Friday, getting her first look at the reef where she'd hoped to one day plant the now-dead young coral from the nursery. Thickets of wild elkhorn and mounds of brain coral were bleached or already dead.
周五，托马森回到了卢礁岛，首先就去看了珊瑚礁，她之前希望有一天能把复育场里的幼年珊瑚移植到这里，然而这些珊瑚现在都已经死掉了。一丛丛的野生鹿角珊瑚和一堆堆的脑珊瑚要么已经白化，要么已经死亡。
She clung to the knowledge that her group's sites in the Upper Keys were faring better, so far. Ms. Thomasson is determined to keep working on coral restoration, but she needs an ocean hospitable to corals for them to return to.
基金会的高礁岛复育场的情况要好得多，至少目前是这样，托马森就靠着这个信息继续坚持下去。托马森决心继续致力于珊瑚复育工作，但她需要一个适合珊瑚生存的海洋，让珊瑚重新回到海里。
"It's up to everyone else to demand climate action right now," Ms. Thomasson said. "Not in a year, not tomorrow, but right now. Actually yesterday."
"一切就看其他人能否现在立刻就采取气候行动。"托马森说，"不是一年之后，也不是明天，而是现在。实际上昨天就应该行动。"
