IG听力2022 part4音频
[00:00.43] Speaker 1. The National Geographic Explorers’ Festival is held every year in Washington DC.
[00:07.78] Scientists and explorers discuss their successes.
[00:11.85] They network with each other and share concerns about our planet that needs people like them to save it.
[00:18.40] One of the youngest speakers to take part this year was Emma Camp, a marine scientist.
[00:24.07] She has just finished a two-year study of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
[00:29.38] Here is Emma talking about the challenges facing the Great Barrier Reef.
[00:40.53] Speaker 2. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is home to over 7,000 marine species.
[00:47.37] It has huge economic and cultural value and supports eco-services such as fishing.
[00:53.55] This underwater city, made up mostly of coral and full of life and colour, is turning white and derelict.
[01:02.77] Warmer, more acidic and low-oxygen water is so badly affecting the coral that we don’t know if coral will exist in the future.
[01:10.74] Within three years we have lost a third of the Great Barrier Reef.
[01:15.51] Climate change is affecting reefs globally.
[01:20.30] Coral are living organisms related to jellyfish.
[01:23.66] Their survival relies on tiny seaweed, or algae,
[01:27.29] which live in them, and this is what gives the coral their red colour.
[01:31.11] Under stress, such as warmer, more acidic water with less oxygen,
[01:36.06] the algae will leave the coral.
[01:39.61] However, in my research I have discovered that there are certain types of coral
[01:44.22] that exist and thrive in the kind of warm,
[01:46.16] higher acidic water we are beginning to see all over the world.
[01:50.95] I have started a project of transplanting some of these ‘super-survivor’ coral to reefs
[01:55.91] that are being damaged by rising sea temperatures.
[01:59.35] My project aims to find out how they survive and whether they could help other reefs.
[02:06.00] With my team, we have already set up a ‘multispecies coral nursery’ off the coast of Australia.
[02:12.37] These nurseries consist of mesh fences
[02:14.95] with cuttings of different types of coral attached to them
[02:17.42] and they are weighed down as close to the sea floor as possible.
[02:21.13] However, all this requires further international funding and support.
[02:25.92] And it may not even work.
[02:28.31] The Great Barrier Reef is huge,
[02:30.70] it is approximately the size of Italy and subject to different stresses like those I mentioned earlier.
[02:36.81] However, I really hope it does work.
[02:40.00] We are talking about one of the wonders of the natural world,
[02:43.44] visible from outer space and worth millions of pounds in tourism each year.
[02:48.40] It deserves to be given a chance.
[02:52.12] We need to be cautious and not too optimistic about our project,
[02:56.10] in case sceptics use this as an example of us underestimating the planet’s ability to survive whatever the conditions.
[03:02.38] Some people will look for an excuse
[03:04.77] to do less,
[03:06.10] so we need to be honest and not give a false sense of security.
[03:11.41] It is important we lower carbon emissions to save coral reefs,
[03:15.13] that’s our number one priority, I think,
[03:18.06] but we must also look at alternative strategies we can use in addition to that.
[03:22.57] For me, it’s about raising awareness of what’s going on in our oceans,
[03:27.35] so really, it’s more about exposure than money.
[03:32.13] These are global issues and we need to get multinational companies and sponsors involved.
[03:38.24] I have been fortunate in having been promised funding and support for my project,
[03:42.76] although it did not win first prize at the festival.
[03:47.54] People often ask how I got interested in this rather specialised field of study.
[03:53.12] I went on a snorkelling holiday with my family to the Bahamas when I was just seven.
[03:58.69] I vividly remember putting on a mask
[04:01.08] and for the first time seeing this whole world teeming with life you couldn’t see from above water,
[04:06.93] this complex coral network.
[04:10.12] At the time, I just appreciated its beauty,
[04:13.47] but as I got older, I started to understand how important that ecosystem is.
[04:19.05] So many humans and creatures rely on it, they all interact with the reef.
[04:25.42] The best-case scenario is that in 50 years’ time we will have thriving coral reefs, serving their function.
[04:33.93] We will have an even healthier marine environment than we do now,
[04:37.29] which respects biodiversity.
[04:40.48] The worst-case scenario is that we’ve lost coral reefs as we know them.
[04:45.54] I don’t want to tell my future grandchildren that this was a privilege I had,
[04:49.25] but they won’t have, because we didn’t do enough when we had the chance.
[04:53.50] We must not give up trying!
[04:56.43] Let’s be the individuals who make it their commitment in life to do everything they can to protect the reefs.
[05:01.73] I am optimistic about the future,
[05:04.39] but I am aware that the planet is now at a crossroads.
[05:08.29] Thank you for listening.
[05:14.93] Speaker 1. Although Emma’s project narrowly missed out on being one of the five prize winners, or laureates,
[05:21.30] the judges were so impressed that she was made an ‘associate laureate’,
[05:25.56] which means that her project will receive funding.
[05:29.00] Last year, she was also announced as one of 17 young leaders for the sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations.
[05:37.51] It’s a two-year position and she has already addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
[05:42.99] Her opening words were:
[05:44.75] ‘We, the young, are the next custodians who will inherit the planet and pass it on to our children,
[05:51.92] and there’s a real commitment to make sure young people’s voices are heard.’
