Spring arrived incredibly early this year, according to a botanist who monitors the blooming patterns of flowers。
古人云“春江水暖鸭先知”,但今年的春季似乎来得特别早,植物学家在观测研究了鲜花盛开的情况后得出了这一结论。
Cristol Fleming says she believes the appearance of flowers up to two months early is down to the changes created by global warming。
植物学家Cristol Fleming认为,由于温室效应全球变暖,导致了一些植物开花的时间提早了将近两个月之多。
Experts have started calling the shift in the times that plants bloom "season creep" and using decades of research have charted how much earlier it is happening。
专家学者们开始讲类似的植物提前现象称为“季节前移”,他们在分析了近几十年来的研究所得出的结果表明了这种情况的确正在发生。
The leaves of the English oak are appearing sooner, meaning that winter moths are coming out earlier and, because the birds that eat them are still flying north, they have already turned from caterpillars and into moths。
橡树枝叶发芽的时间越来越早,这意味了冬蛾出现的时间也更早,因为专吃冬蛾还在向北迁徙中,这使得该类物种顺利地由毛毛虫变成蛾。
Their research is matched by that of researchers in Korea tracking cherry blossom and the U.S., which records its findings at the Smithsonian Institution's National Herbarium every year。
科学家们的研究结果与韩国对樱花的监测不谋而合,另外,美国国家植物协会的发现也充分证明了这点。
A 2005 analysis of 100 of the most popular flowers, 90 bloomed up to 44 days sooner than they did 20 years ago, according to the Washington Post。
一项2005年的研究发现,在100种常见花卉中,有90种的开花时间要比20年前提前了近44天。
'There is always variation from year-to-year in nature。
“年复一年,大自然总会发生变化。”
'And I don’t want to sound alarmist that spring is coming earlier and earlier,” said Fleming, who is in her 70s. “But, boy, every year, we do feel it.'
“我并不是想要危言耸听,但是春季的确来得越来越早了,”七十多岁的Fleming说,“并且每年我们都能感觉得到。”
Meanwhile Remote Sensing Systems has shown that March 2011 was the coolest March since 1994.
与此同时,遥感系统的显示,2011年的三月是自1994年以来,气温最低的三月份。
It was 0.026C cooler than average - the first month that has been cooler than average since June 2008.
今年三月的气温较常年的平均值低0.026摄氏度,这也是自2008年6月以来,首次出现气温低于平均气温的情况。
Ms Fleming worries that plants' life cycles are speeding up。
Fleming担心植物的生命周期正在加快之中。
Her concern is that their insect pollinators won't be able to cope with the Earth's changing habitats。
她所担忧的是昆虫传播花粉的速率将无法与其栖息地变化的情况相适应。
'Unlike animals, plants can't just get up and move。
“与动物不同,植物无法移动。”
'If they end up in a climate that's too warm, well, they'll just die.'
“如果它们生长的环境变得越来越热,它们最终只能死亡。”