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What human activity has the biggest impact on the planet?
人类的活动对我们所居住的这颗星球产生的最大影响是什么？
I took an informal poll of New Yorkers: Driving, day to day commuting. Eating too much meat.
于是我在《纽约人》杂志上进行了一项非正式的调查，回答真是五花八门：驾车，每天上下班。吃太多肉。
Using too many resources, I think. Factory farming. Driving.
我想是消耗过多的资源，工厂制造和农业耕作驾车。
Here's something I didn't hear: killing off the world's top carnivores, like tigers, wolves and bears.
还有一些我们没有听到的回答：致使世界上位于生物链金字塔尖上的肉食动物消亡，比如老虎、狼和熊等。
Scientists say it's an overlooked problem with effects that ripple through ecosystems in unexpected ways.
科学家表示这是我们人类所忽视的一个问题，现在已经出现一些以意外方式波及到整个生态系统的现象。
When otters disappear, for example, urchins take over, decimating kelp forests.
比如当水獭消失，海胆数量会上升，海藻丛会被大量消耗殆尽。
Researchers reviewed the conservation status of 31 of the world's largest carnivorous mammals.
研究人员们研究了31种世界上最大型的肉食类哺乳动物现在的生存状态。
They found that some two-thirds are threatened, living on a fraction of their former range.
他们发现大约三分之二的这类动物面临生存威胁，与之前的生存区域相比现在它们的地盘大幅减少。
And nearly all are decreasing in number, apart from a few exceptions, like grizzlies and black bears.
而且除了少数以外，几乎每个种类的数量都在减少，比如说北美洲灰熊和黑熊。
Their analysis appears in the journal Science.
这项研究已在《科学》杂志上发表。
The loss of top carnivores could alter the dynamics of disease and wildfires, they say, and have unintended consequences for ecosystems.
顶级生物链上的肉食动物数目下降将改变疾病和野火发生的动态变化规律，研究人员们表示，还会对生态系统造成的非预期影响。
So either we learn to coexist with these predators or their disappearance may come back to bite us.
所以，要么我们学会和这些肉食动物和谐共存，要么它们的消亡会最终让我们品尝到自己种下的恶果。
