Climate change
气候变化
Claws!
魔爪初现！
Crabs are invading the shallow waters of the Southern Ocean
螃蟹入侵南大洋浅水区
Mar 3rd 2011 | palmer, Antarctica | from the print edition
ANTARCTICA is a peculiar place. For instance, unlike those in most parts of the planet, the ocean depths around it are warmer, at 5ºC or so, than the shallows near the coast. Here, the temperature hovers around 0ºC and can drop to -2ºC. As a consequence, the animals of the Antarctic continental shelf have been free for millions of years from the attentions of predators, such as crabs and sharks, that cannot cope with the cold. The result is an unusual bunch of sea lilies, brittle stars, giant ribbon worms and molluscs that are armoured only with thin, soft shells.
南极是个奇特的地方。例如不像地球上大部分其他地区，南极周边较深的海水温度比靠近海岸的浅水温度高，能达到约5ºC。而浅海，温度在0ºC上下，最低能到-2ºC。因此，在不能适应寒冷的肉食动物如海蟹、鲨鱼的关注下，南极大陆上的动物已经自由自在了几百万年。这种气候造就了不同寻常的海百合群落、海蛇尾、巨大的海带和只有薄壳的软体动物。
But not, perhaps, for much longer―for crabs are on the march. In the past few years several groups of researchers have spotted king crabs on the continental slope of Antarctica. This slope, which connects the deep ocean with the continental shelf, and whose waters have an average temperature of between 1ºC and 5ºC, is a marginal habitat for king crabs. They die when the temperature drops below 1ºC because they are then unable to process magnesium ions. In small quantities, these ions are needed for energy metabolism. Too many, though, act as a narcotic that eventually kills the animal. Worryingly for sea-lily lovers, the latest research suggests the crabs may be creeping up the slope.
然而，好日子可能不会长久了――因为蟹的入侵。过去几年，有几组研究者注意到南极大陆坡上的拟石蟹。在连接深海和大陆架的大陆坡上，海水温度在1ºC 到5ºC之间，勉强满足拟石蟹的生长条件。当温度低于1ºC时，它们会因为不能处理镁离子而死掉。它们需要少量镁离子进行能量代谢，而镁离子太多的话也会作为一种麻醉剂，最后使它们死翘翘。令海百合爱好者担心的是，最新的研究表明，螃蟹们正在爬上大陆坡。
The expedition which made this discovery ended in January. On it, Sven Thatje of Britain's National Oceanography Centre and his colleagues found hundreds of king crabs―beasts that grow to up to 20cm across, excluding their spindly legs―in waters that had been crab-free on the previous survey, in 2007. They did so by towing a submersible called SeaBED, which belongs to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Massachusetts, along a 30-nautical-mile transect of Marguerite Bay, off the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula.
发现这一现象的探险已于1月结束。不列颠国家海洋中心的Sven Thatje和他的同事在2007年发现了几百只拟石蟹，这些以前在水中的螃蟹长成20厘米、有细长腿的怪物，它们在大陆坡上闲逛。人们使用马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的"海床"号潜水器，沿着位于南极西海岸玛格丽特湾30海里的横截面进行了这项研究。
As SeaBED cruised over its eponymous target, its cameras took pictures every three seconds and its sensors measured the temperature, salinity and depth of the water. The result is 130,000 images showing hundreds of king crabs, together with details of their immediate environments. All of the crabs were still on the continental slope, but some of them were in shallower water than any seen in 2007. The question, yet to be answered, is whether that was a result of the vagaries of sampling, or because local waters are warming up.
正如"海床"号的命名意义，它的摄像机每3秒拍摄一张照片，同时它的传感器还能探测温度、咸度和水深。130,000多张图像显示了几百只拟石蟹，聚集在这种环境下。大部分螃蟹还呆在大陆坡上，但有少数出现在2007年内从未出现过拟石蟹的浅海。这到底是偶然现象还是水温升高的结果，还有有待解答。
Warming there has certainly been. Since the 1950s, when records began, the average temperature of the ocean to the west of the Antarctic peninsula has gone up by 1ºC. That has expanded the region in which king crabs might live. How much longer it will be before they invade the rich uplands of the continental shelf is hard to say. But, like the monsters in a bad sci-fi film, they are coming.
那儿的气温已经升高了。自从1950年代开始记录以来，南极半岛西面大洋海水的平均温度已经上升了1ºC。因而扩展了拟石蟹的生长区域。它们多久后会入侵富饶的大陆坡高地还不好说。然而，就像科幻电影里的邪恶怪物，他们就要来了
气候变化
Claws!
魔爪初现！
Crabs are invading the shallow waters of the Southern Ocean
螃蟹入侵南大洋浅水区
Mar 3rd 2011 | palmer, Antarctica | from the print edition
ANTARCTICA is a peculiar place. For instance, unlike those in most parts of the planet, the ocean depths around it are warmer, at 5ºC or so, than the shallows near the coast. Here, the temperature hovers around 0ºC and can drop to -2ºC. As a consequence, the animals of the Antarctic continental shelf have been free for millions of years from the attentions of predators, such as crabs and sharks, that cannot cope with the cold. The result is an unusual bunch of sea lilies, brittle stars, giant ribbon worms and molluscs that are armoured only with thin, soft shells.
南极是个奇特的地方。例如不像地球上大部分其他地区，南极周边较深的海水温度比靠近海岸的浅水温度高，能达到约5ºC。而浅海，温度在0ºC上下，最低能到-2ºC。因此，在不能适应寒冷的肉食动物如海蟹、鲨鱼的关注下，南极大陆上的动物已经自由自在了几百万年。这种气候造就了不同寻常的海百合群落、海蛇尾、巨大的海带和只有薄壳的软体动物。
But not, perhaps, for much longer―for crabs are on the march. In the past few years several groups of researchers have spotted king crabs on the continental slope of Antarctica. This slope, which connects the deep ocean with the continental shelf, and whose waters have an average temperature of between 1ºC and 5ºC, is a marginal habitat for king crabs. They die when the temperature drops below 1ºC because they are then unable to process magnesium ions. In small quantities, these ions are needed for energy metabolism. Too many, though, act as a narcotic that eventually kills the animal. Worryingly for sea-lily lovers, the latest research suggests the crabs may be creeping up the slope.
然而，好日子可能不会长久了――因为蟹的入侵。过去几年，有几组研究者注意到南极大陆坡上的拟石蟹。在连接深海和大陆架的大陆坡上，海水温度在1ºC 到5ºC之间，勉强满足拟石蟹的生长条件。当温度低于1ºC时，它们会因为不能处理镁离子而死掉。它们需要少量镁离子进行能量代谢，而镁离子太多的话也会作为一种麻醉剂，最后使它们死翘翘。令海百合爱好者担心的是，最新的研究表明，螃蟹们正在爬上大陆坡。
The expedition which made this discovery ended in January. On it, Sven Thatje of Britain's National Oceanography Centre and his colleagues found hundreds of king crabs―beasts that grow to up to 20cm across, excluding their spindly legs―in waters that had been crab-free on the previous survey, in 2007. They did so by towing a submersible called SeaBED, which belongs to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Massachusetts, along a 30-nautical-mile transect of Marguerite Bay, off the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula.
发现这一现象的探险已于1月结束。不列颠国家海洋中心的Sven Thatje和他的同事在2007年发现了几百只拟石蟹，这些以前在水中的螃蟹长成20厘米、有细长腿的怪物，它们在大陆坡上闲逛。人们使用马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的"海床"号潜水器，沿着位于南极西海岸玛格丽特湾30海里的横截面进行了这项研究。
As SeaBED cruised over its eponymous target, its cameras took pictures every three seconds and its sensors measured the temperature, salinity and depth of the water. The result is 130,000 images showing hundreds of king crabs, together with details of their immediate environments. All of the crabs were still on the continental slope, but some of them were in shallower water than any seen in 2007. The question, yet to be answered, is whether that was a result of the vagaries of sampling, or because local waters are warming up.
正如"海床"号的命名意义，它的摄像机每3秒拍摄一张照片，同时它的传感器还能探测温度、咸度和水深。130,000多张图像显示了几百只拟石蟹，聚集在这种环境下。大部分螃蟹还呆在大陆坡上，但有少数出现在2007年内从未出现过拟石蟹的浅海。这到底是偶然现象还是水温升高的结果，还有有待解答。
Warming there has certainly been. Since the 1950s, when records began, the average temperature of the ocean to the west of the Antarctic peninsula has gone up by 1ºC. That has expanded the region in which king crabs might live. How much longer it will be before they invade the rich uplands of the continental shelf is hard to say. But, like the monsters in a bad sci-fi film, they are coming.
那儿的气温已经升高了。自从1950年代开始记录以来，南极半岛西面大洋海水的平均温度已经上升了1ºC。因而扩展了拟石蟹的生长区域。它们多久后会入侵富饶的大陆坡高地还不好说。然而，就像科幻电影里的邪恶怪物，他们就要来了
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