2018年翻译考试英语笔译中级模拟题：气候变化对家畜的影响
汉译英
气候变化对家畜的影响——加拿大的视角
加拿大有9万多家家畜企业，2000年现金收入超过170亿美元。家畜业对加拿大经济举足轻重，但是，有关气候变化对家畜业影响的研究却相对不足。
对家畜而言，气温通常是最为重要的生物气候因素。温度较高对家畜业既有益处，也有风险。这种益处在冬季尤为明显，因为温度较高，就会降低家畜饲养要求，提高幼畜存活几率，节约能源成本。然而在夏季，温度上升的风险就会凸现，热浪可能置牲畜于死地。例如，热浪来袭时，美国经常有大批小鸡死亡的报道。热浪对牛奶生产、肉制品质量以及奶牛繁殖也很不利。另外，研究表明，夏季气温较高会抑止家畜的食欲，从而影响其体重增长。
如阿巴拉契亚地区的一项研究表明，夏季平均气温上升5摄氏度，会导致奶牛、肉牛和奶制品产业产值减少10%。
假设湿度适宜，较高的气温和二氧化碳浓度通常会提高草场和草原的生长率。据估计，大气中二氧化碳浓度翻一番，草场产量就会平均增长17 010，在较冷的地区和湿度较低的草场上增长率更高。然而，研究结果地区差异很大，而物种构成的变化，也会使气候变化对家畜放牧的实际影响有所不同。比如，多项研究指出，未来气候变化，尤其是极端气候情况的出现，会助长外来物种侵入草场，从而降低草的营养价值。
干旱引起的湿度亏欠增加，会迫使牧场主减少牲畜存栏数，以保护草场。2001年的干旱就迫使许多草原牧场主大量宰杀病弱牲畜。2002年曾有人预言，许多草原将不再能放牧，而其他草原的正常放牧能力也将下降20-30%。
虽然有关极端气候事件对家畜影响的现有文献相对较少，但毫无疑问，暴风雨、暴风雪和干旱是影响家畜业的重要因素。除了对牲畜的直接影响外，暴风雨会导致电力供应中断。
那些高度依赖电力的农场的日常运作，将受到严重影响。例如，1998年安大略省东部和魁北克南部遭受暴风雪时，许多产奶场因缺电无法使用挤奶机器，从而威胁奶牛的健康(因为可能导致乳突炎)，并对农户收入造成严重损失。牛奶无法在合适的温度下存放也导致了销售收入的减少。此外，缺电还容易导致谷仓通风不畅，供暖不足，使奶牛易于患病。
参考译文
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.
