《中英對照讀新聞》 U.S. to crack down on ocean noise that harms fish 美國將取締傷害魚類的海洋噪音

◎蔡子岳

The ocean has gotten noisier for decades, with man-made racket from oil drilling, shipping and construction linked to signs of stress in marine life that include beached whales and baby crabs with scrambled navigational signals.

海洋近幾十年來愈來愈吵，鑽油、船運、建築等人為噪音，對海洋生物構成壓力，包括鯨魚、螃蟹由於四面八方混雜的導航訊號而擱淺。

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The United States aims to change that as a federal agency prepares a plan that could force reductions in noise-making activities, including oil exploration, dredging and shipping off the nation’s coast.

美國將由一個聯邦級機構提出計畫，改變這種情況，要求各類製造噪音的活動，包含探勘、打撈，以及美國沿岸船運等，都必須降低噪音。

The draft plan calls for developing noise limits and setting up a standardized listening system. It would also call for the creation of an online archive of noise data that could hold thousands of hours of recordings, which scientists could then cross-reference against data on where marine life congregates.

這項計畫的草案呼籲研擬噪音上限，並成立標準化的監聽系統。計畫也要求建立線上噪音資料庫，以保存上千個小時的錄音，俾使科學家可將這些噪音，與令海洋生物聚集而來的聲音，作交叉比對。

The plan urges more research on the effects of noise on sea creatures and more coordination with environmental and industry groups, the military and government.

這項計畫籲請對海洋生物受噪音影響的效應做更多研究，以及環境、產業團體、軍方及政府等各部門間更多的合作。

Noise also takes on greater urgency with Arctic seas increasingly open to shipping and development with the melting of ice from global warming.

因全球暖化，北極海融冰更多，船運也更容易通過，噪音的影響就也更迫切需要研究。

新聞辭典

crack down：動詞片語，壓制、打擊。例句：The library is cracking down on people who lose their books.（圖書館要嚴罰把書弄丟的人。）

racket：名詞，噪音。例句：They were making such a racket outside that I couldn’t get to sleep.（他們在外頭大吵特吵，我沒辦法睡著。）

call for：動詞片語，呼籲、要求。例句：Calls for an end to the North’s ban on same sex marriage found colourful voice on the streets of Belfast.（終止同性婚姻禁令的呼聲，在北愛爾蘭首府貝爾法斯特街頭繽紛展開。）