Crop-damaging insects, bacteria, fungus and viruses are moving poleward by nearly three kilometres each year, helped by global warming, a study has said.
作物害蟲、細菌、真菌與病毒在全球暖化助長下，每年朝南北兩極推進近3公里，一份研究指出。
A team at Britain’s University of Exeter trawled through two huge databases to chart the latitude and dates for the earliest record of 612 crop pests.
英國艾克斯特大學團隊檢視2個龐大的資料庫，標示出612種作物害蟲最早紀錄的活動緯度與年代。
Since 1960, these pests have been heading either northwards or southwards at a rate of around 2.7 kilometres yearly.
自1960年以來，這些害蟲以每年約2.7公里的速率，朝南或朝北前進。
They move into land that opens up for habitat because of higher temperature and its impact on local weather.The distance is an average figure, as some pests have travelled faster or slower than this.
由於高溫及其對當地天氣的衝擊，這些害蟲移入可提供棲息的土地。這樣的遷徙距離是平均數據，有些害蟲行進速度較快或較慢。
Over the last half-century, global surface temperatures have risen by an average of 0.12 degrees Celsius per decade.
在過去半世紀，全球地表溫度每10年平均升溫攝氏0.12度。
Countries at higher latitudes have more resources than economies in tropical zones in combating the problem, and regions that previously were too cold for agriculture will also open up to the plough.
緯度較高國家在對抗病蟲害的問題上，要比熱帶地區的經濟體擁有更多資源，而此前因過於寒冷而不利於發展農業的地區，也將廣開成為耕地。
Even so, the peril of advancing pests should not be under-estimated, as these countries are the planet’s biggest and most productive crop growers, says the paper.
即便如此，仍不應低估害蟲危險性，因為這些國家是地球最大也是農產最豐者，該報告指出。
"If crop pests continue to march polewards as the Earth warms, the combined effects of a growing world population and the increased loss of crops to pests will pose a serious threat to global food security," said one of the authors, Dan Bebber.（AFP）
「如果作物害蟲隨著地球暖化繼續向極地挺進，全球人口增加與越來越多作物因蟲害而減產的綜合效應，將對全球食物安全造成嚴重威脅」，作者之一丹．貝博說。（法新社）
新聞辭典
polewards︰副詞，向地球兩極地。例句︰Under current global warming, land animals and plants are migrating polewards at a rate of about 6 kilometers a decade.（在當前全球暖化下，陸地動植物以10年約6公里的速度朝南北極移居。）
open up︰動詞，提供、使…可利用、開放。例句：The chance meeting opened up new possibility for me.（那次邂逅為我提供新的可能性。）
underestimate︰動詞，低估，under為字首表示次於、低於、不足，例如underhanded（人手不足的。）
資料來源 http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=712785&day=2013-09-11
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