How much is a whale worth?
The world’s largest whales are more than mere evolutionary marvels.?
世界上最大的鯨遠(yuǎn)不僅是進(jìn)化史上的奇跡。
By sequestering carbon in the ocean, they can help humanity fight climate change—an ecosystem service that may be worth millions of dollars per whale, according to a new analysis by economists with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).?
根據(jù)國(guó)際貨幣基金組織經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的最新分析，鯨魚(yú)通過(guò)將碳封存在海洋內(nèi)，幫助人類對(duì)抗氣候變化，因此，每頭鯨所提供的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)服務(wù)價(jià)值可高達(dá)上百萬(wàn)美元。
sequester: 使……隔絕；把……藏起來(lái)；The jury were sequestered during the trial. 審判期間，陪審團(tuán)被隔離開(kāi)來(lái)。?Everything he owned was sequestered.??他所有的財(cái)產(chǎn)都被扣押了。
A team of economists led by Ralph Chami, an assistant director of the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development, wanted to change the way we think about whales by quantifying the benefit they provide us in dollars and cents.?
由國(guó)際貨幣基金組織能力發(fā)展研究所助理總監(jiān)，拉夫爾·沙彌領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的一個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家團(tuán)隊(duì)想要通過(guò)將鯨魚(yú)給我們帶來(lái)的價(jià)值等價(jià)到美元、美分，來(lái)改變?nèi)藗儗?duì)鯨魚(yú)的認(rèn)識(shí)。
The analysis hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific paper, and there are still important scientific knowledge gaps in terms of how much carbon whales can capture.?
他們的分析報(bào)告還未在業(yè)內(nèi)的科學(xué)論文上發(fā)表，而且，關(guān)于鯨群究竟能吸收多少碳，仍然存在很大的科學(xué)知識(shí)空缺。
But based on the research that’s been done so far, it’s clear to the economists that if we protect great whales, it will reap major dividends for the planet.
但根據(jù)目前的研究情況來(lái)看，經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家可以明確表態(tài)，如果大型鯨魚(yú)受到保護(hù)，我們的星球?qū)@益頗豐。
reap：收到(好處，報(bào)答）the company is poised to reap the benefits of this investment.該公司做好準(zhǔn)備收獲這一投資的收益。
dividend：回報(bào)，收益；Good eating habits will pay dividends later on in life. 保持良好的飲食習(xí)慣，將來(lái)會(huì)受益的。
“We have to agree whales are an international public good,” he says.
他說(shuō)：“我們必須承認(rèn)，鯨魚(yú)的存在對(duì)整個(gè)國(guó)際社會(huì)都是有益的?！?/p>
Great whales, including the filter feeding baleen and sperm whales, help sequester carbon in a few ways.?
大型鯨魚(yú)，包括濾食性須鯨和抹香鯨，都能通過(guò)一些方式儲(chǔ)藏碳。
They hoard it in their fat and protein-rich bodies, stockpiling tons of carbon apiece like giant, swimming trees.?
它們把碳偷偷藏在它們的脂肪，以及富含蛋白質(zhì)的身體部分，它們就像是會(huì)游泳的參天大樹(shù)一般，囤積起上噸的碳。
hoard: 秘藏（貴重物品等）?The case involves a hoard of silver and jewels valued at up to ￡40m.??此案涉及價(jià)值高達(dá)4000萬(wàn)美元的白銀和珠寶的收藏品。
When a whale dies and its carcass descends to the bottom of the sea, that stored carbon is taken out of the atmospheric cycle for hundreds to thousands of years, a literal carbon sink.
當(dāng)一頭鯨死去，沉入海底，它體內(nèi)的碳在接下來(lái)的成百上千年都無(wú)緣參與大氣循環(huán)，這就是字面意義上的碳匯。
carbon sink: 碳匯， A carbon sink is a natural reservoir that stores carbon-containing chemical compounds accumulated over an indefinite period of time? 是指能夠無(wú)限期累計(jì)及儲(chǔ)存碳化合物（特別是二氧化碳）的天然倉(cāng)庫(kù)。
A study published in 2010 estimated that eight types of baleen whales, including blue, humpback, and minke whales, collectively shuttle nearly 30,000 tons of carbon into the deep sea each year as their carcasses sink.?
根據(jù)2010年發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究估計(jì)，八種須鯨，包括藍(lán)鯨、座頭鯨和小須鯨，在它們的尸體下沉?xí)r，每年累計(jì)向深海運(yùn)送近3萬(wàn)噸碳。
If great whale populations rebounded to their pre-commercial whaling size, the authors estimate this carbon sink would increase by 160,000 tons a year.
如果巨型鯨魚(yú)的數(shù)量能夠恢復(fù)到商業(yè)捕鯨之前，作者估計(jì)碳匯每年將增加16萬(wàn)噸。
While they are alive, whales might do even more to capture carbon, thanks to their jumbo-sized excrement.
多虧了它們巨大的糞便，它們生前可能還能捕獲更多的碳。?
excrement: 排泄物，糞便??the pollution of drinking water by untreated human excrement?未經(jīng)處理的人體排泄物對(duì)飲用水的污染
Great whales feed on tiny marine organisms like plankton and krill in the ocean’s depths before surfacing to breathe, poop and pee—and the latter activities release enormous plume of nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron, into the water.?
巨型鯨在浮出水面呼吸、排便和撒尿之前，會(huì)吃海洋深處的浮游生物和磷蝦等微小海洋生物，而而它們的排泄物則包含了大量的營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)，包括氮、磷和鐵。
poop: vt. 排便；The dog just pooped in the kitchen!?狗剛在廚房拉屎了！
n.排便；dog poop on the sidewalk?便道上的狗屎
So-called poo-namis stimulate the growth of phytoplankton, marine algae that pull carbon out of the air via photosynthesis.
這種所謂的長(zhǎng)時(shí)間大量排便，將促進(jìn)浮游植物、海藻的生長(zhǎng)，后者通過(guò)光合作用從空氣中吸收碳。
When phytoplankton die, much of their carbon gets recycled at the ocean’s surface. But some dead phytoplankton inevitably sink, sending more captured carbon to the bottom of the sea.?
當(dāng)浮游植物死亡時(shí)，大部分它們捕獲的碳都會(huì)在海洋表面得以循環(huán)，但一些死去的浮游植物不可避免地會(huì)下沉，從而將更多捕獲的碳送到海底。
Another study from 2010 found that the 12,000 sperm whales in the Southern Ocean draw 200,000 tons of carbon out of the atmosphere each year by stimulating phytoplankton growth and death through their iron-rich defecations.
2010年的另一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，南半球海洋的12,000頭抹香鯨， 每年通過(guò)排泄富含鐵的糞便， 促進(jìn)浮游生物的生長(zhǎng)和死亡，從大氣中帶走了20萬(wàn)噸的碳。
defecation: n. 排便， The drug's side effects can include involuntary defecation.??此藥物的副作用可能包括無(wú)意識(shí)的排便。
defecate：v. 排便，? I'll still defecate in my pants. 我還是會(huì)把大便拉在褲子上。
Altogether, Chami and his colleagues estimated that each of these gentle giants is worth about $2 million over its lifetime. The entire global population of great whales? Possibly a one trillion dollar asset to humanity.
沙彌和他的同事們估計(jì)，這些性情溫和的巨型動(dòng)物在它們的一生中，每個(gè)都能夠創(chuàng)造出總計(jì)200萬(wàn)美元的生態(tài)價(jià)值。全世界的鯨魚(yú)數(shù)量有多少？它們很可能能給人來(lái)帶來(lái)等價(jià)于1萬(wàn)億美元的資產(chǎn)。
trillion：萬(wàn)億；a 4 trillion dollar debt. 一筆4萬(wàn)億美元的債務(wù)。
極多； they yammering of trillions of voices. 無(wú)數(shù)的哀嚎聲。
