研究：第六次物种大灭绝进度比预想的快

最新研究指出，地球第六次物种大灭绝正在发生，而且正在加速推进。科学家们担心，物种减少会对地球生态系统产生巨大影响，对人类的生存构成真正的威胁。下面韦博翻译具体说说：

The sixth mass extinction is not a worry for the future. It's happening now, much faster than previously expected, and it's entirely our fault, according to a study published week.

第六次物种大灭绝并不是对未来的担忧。根据本周发表的一项研究，这一切正在发生，比之前预期的要快得多，而且完全是人类造成的。

Humans have already wiped out hundreds of species and pushed many more to the brink of extinction through wildlife trade, pollution, habitat loss and the use of toxic substances. But the findings published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) show that the rate at which species are dying out has accelerated in recent decades.

由于野生动植物贸易、污染、栖息地丧失和有毒物质的使用，人类已经导致数以百计的物种消失，并将更多的物种推向灭绝的边缘。发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上的研究结果表明，近几十年来，物种灭绝的速度已在加快。

Gerardo Ceballos González, a professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and one of the authors of the study, said approximately 173 species went extinct between 2001 and 2014.

墨西哥国立自治大学的生态学教授杰拉尔多·塞巴罗斯·冈萨雷斯是这项研究的作者之一。他说，在2001年至2014年间，大约有173个物种灭绝了。

"173 species is 25 times more extinct species than you would expect under the normal, background, extinction rate," he told CNN in an email. He and his team found that in the past 100 years, more than 400 vertebrate species went extinct. In the normal course of evolution, such extinctions would have taken up to 10,000 years, they said.

他在发送给美国有线电视新闻网的电邮中写道：“这是正常物种灭绝速度下灭绝数量的25倍多。”他和他的团队发现，在过去的100年里，超过400种脊椎动物灭绝了。他们说，在正常的进化过程中，这样的灭绝可能需要长达1万年的时间。

Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests. There have been five mass extinction events in the Earth's history, each wiping out between 70% and 95% of the species of plants, animals and microorganisms. The most recent, 66 million years ago, saw dinosaurs disappear.

物种大灭绝正如其名字所暗示的那样严重。在地球历史上发生过五次大灭绝事件，每一次都导致70%到95%的植物、动物和微生物物种灭绝。最近的一次发生在6600万年前，恐龙灭绝了。

The past events were caused by catastrophic alterations of the environment, including massive volcanic eruptions or collision with an asteroid. The sixth mass extinction -- the one happening now -- is different: Scientists say it's caused by humans.

过去的大灭绝事件是由环境的灾难性变化引起的，包括大规模的火山爆发或小行星撞击地球。而如今正在发生的第六次物种大灭绝则不同：科学家表示，这次大灭绝是由人类引起的。