【摘要】小編給大家?guī)?018年翻譯資格考試中級筆譯模擬題：氣候變化對家畜的影響，希望對大家有所幫助。
漢譯英
氣候變化對家畜的影響——加拿大的視角
加拿大有9萬多家家畜企業(yè)，2000年現(xiàn)金收入超過170億美元。家畜業(yè)對加拿大經(jīng)濟(jì)舉足輕重，但是，有關(guān)氣候變化對家畜業(yè)影響的研究卻相對不足。
對家畜而言，氣溫通常是最為重要的生物氣候因素。溫度較高對家畜業(yè)既有益處，也有風(fēng)險。這種益處在冬季尤為明顯，因為溫度較高，就會降低家畜飼養(yǎng)要求，提高幼畜存活幾率，節(jié)約能源成本。然而在夏季，溫度上升的風(fēng)險就會凸現(xiàn)，熱浪可能置牲畜于死地。例如，熱浪來襲時，美國經(jīng)常有大批小雞死亡的報道。熱浪對牛奶生產(chǎn)、肉制品質(zhì)量以及奶牛繁殖也很不利。另外，研究表明，夏季氣溫較高會抑止家畜的食欲，從而影響其體重增長。
如阿巴拉契亞地區(qū)的一項研究表明，夏季平均氣溫上升5攝氏度，會導(dǎo)致奶牛、肉牛和奶制品產(chǎn)業(yè)產(chǎn)值減少10%。
假設(shè)濕度適宜，較高的氣溫和二氧化碳濃度通常會提高草場和草原的生長率。據(jù)估計，大氣中二氧化碳濃度翻一番，草場產(chǎn)量就會平均增長17 010，在較冷的地區(qū)和濕度較低的草場上增長率更高。然而，研究結(jié)果地區(qū)差異很大，而物種構(gòu)成的變化，也會使氣候變化對家畜放牧的實際影響有所不同。比如，多項研究指出，未來氣候變化，尤其是極端氣候情況的出現(xiàn)，會助長外來物種侵入草場，從而降低草的營養(yǎng)價值。
干旱引起的濕度虧欠增加，會迫使牧場主減少牲畜存欄數(shù)，以保護(hù)草場。2001年的干旱就迫使許多草原牧場主大量宰殺病弱牲畜。2002年曾有人預(yù)言，許多草原將不再能放牧，而其他草原的正常放牧能力也將下降20-30%。
雖然有關(guān)極端氣候事件對家畜影響的現(xiàn)有文獻(xiàn)相對較少，但毫無疑問，暴風(fēng)雨、暴風(fēng)雪和干旱是影響家畜業(yè)的重要因素。除了對牲畜的直接影響外，暴風(fēng)雨會導(dǎo)致電力供應(yīng)中斷。
那些高度依賴電力的農(nóng)場的日常運作，將受到嚴(yán)重影響。例如，1998年安大略省東部和魁北克南部遭受暴風(fēng)雪時，許多產(chǎn)奶場因缺電無法使用擠奶機(jī)器，從而威脅奶牛的健康(因為可能導(dǎo)致乳突炎)，并對農(nóng)戶收入造成嚴(yán)重?fù)p失。牛奶無法在合適的溫度下存放也導(dǎo)致了銷售收入的減少。此外，缺電還容易導(dǎo)致谷倉通風(fēng)不暢，供暖不足，使奶牛易于患病。
參考譯文
Impacts of Climatic Changes on Livestock: A Canadian Perspective
There are more than 90,000 livestock operations in Canada, which accounted for more than $17 billion in farm cash receipts in 20001.Despite the economic importance of livestock operations to Canada2, relatively few studies have examined how they could be impacted by climate change. 3
Temperature is generally considered to be4 the most important bioclimatic factor for livestock. Warmer temperatures are expected to present both benefits and challenges to livestock operations. Benefits would be particularly evident during winter, when 5 warmer weather lowers feed requirements, increases survival of the young, and reduces energy costs. Challenges would increase during the summer, however, when heat waves can kill animals. For example, large numbers of chicken deaths are commonly reported in the United States during heat waves. 6 Heat stress also adversely affects milk production, meat quality and dairy cow reproduction. In addition, warmer summer temperatures have been shown to suppress appetites in livestock and hence reduce weight gain. For example, a study conducted in Appalachia found that a 5?C increase in mean summer temperature7 caused a l0% decrease in cow, calf and dairy operations.
Provided there is adequate moisture, warmer temperatures and elevated CO2 concentrations are generally expected to increase growth rates in grasslands and pastures. 8 It is estimated that a doubling of9 atmospheric CO2 would increase grassland productivity by an average of 17%, with greater increases projected for colder regions and moisture-limited grassland systems. However, study results tend to vary greatly with location, and changes in species composition may affect the actual impacts10 on livestock grazing. For instance, studies have noted future climate changes, particularly extreme events, may promote the invasion of alien species into grasslands, which could reduce the nutritional quality of the grass.
An increase in severe moisture deficits due to drought may require producers to reduce their stock of grazing cattle to preserve their land, as exemplified by the drought of 2001 when many Prairie producers had to cull their herds. For the 2002 season, it was predicted that many pastures would be unable to support any grazing, while others would be reduced to 20-300/o of normal herd capacity.
There is relatively little literature available on the impacts of extreme climate events on livestock. Nevertheless, storms, blizzards and droughts are an important concern for livestock operations. In addition to the direct effects on animals, storms may result in power outages that can devastate farms that are heavily dependent upon electricity for daily operations. This was exemplified by" the 1998 ice storm in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, when the lack of power left many dairy farms unable to use their milking machines. This threatened the health of the cows (due to potential mastitis) and caused significant revenue losses. Milk revenue was also lost through the inability to store the milk at the proper temperature.12 Furthermore, the lack of electricity made it difficult to provide adequate barn ventilation and heating, thereby making the animals more susceptible to illness.
