[E420]Saharan Dust Brings Bacterial Blooms to the Caribbean
Saharan Dust Brings Bacterial Blooms to the Caribbean
By Christopher Intagliata
Residents of the southern U.S. might be familiar with this dusty summer phenomenon[1]:
[TV Weather montage[2]: "We are breathing dust that at one point originated over Africa… Dust particles[尘粒;灰尘颗粒物;尘埃粒子] are carried 15,000 feet into the atmosphere… Another dust cloud[尘云;尘雾;沙尘团] from Africa's Sahara Desert[撒哈拉大沙漠] has made it all the way to Houston[休斯顿(美国得克萨斯州港市)]."]
The dust clouds surf on trade winds[3] towards the Caribbean[加勒比海]. And since the dust is rich in minerals[矿物质], like iron, it's like an airborne delivery of fertilizer[4] to marine life[海洋生物] there.
"So when you get this pulse of iron that comes, it's a micronutrient[微量营养素], a trace metal[微量金属] that's needed by all of life that's all of a sudden available, at least for a short amount of time." Erin Lipp, a microbiologist[微生物学家] at the University of Georgia[乔治亚大学]. She and her team studied the phenomenon, sampling waters in Barbados[巴巴多斯(拉丁美洲国家)] and the Florida Keys[佛罗里达礁岛群]. And they found that these fertilizer dumps seem to encourage bacterial blooms. Including Vibrio[弧菌(一种S形霍乱菌)] species, some of which can cause cholera[霍乱] or food poisoning[食物中毒].
"Vibrio and probably other bacteria that are really capable of responding to this feast that's provided to them, they just use it quite rapidly. So within that first 24 hours you see a very big population spike[5] of these bacteria." A spike of five to 30 times their usual numbers. The finding is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
If all this makes you want to skip the oysters[6] after a sandstorm[沙暴;大风沙], "I would say that is a personal decision. But summer in general is the riskiest time to eat oysters." For now, she says, there's really no evidence to link Saharan dust[撒哈拉尘] to your risk of a bum oyster. So keep calm, and slurp on[7].
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注释
[1]dusty summer phenomenon 夏天尘土飞扬的现象
[2]montage [mɒn'tɑːʒ; 'mɒntɑːʒ]
a piece of work produced by combining smaller parts, or the process of making such a work 蒙太奇，剪輯；蒙太奇手法
The ads feature a montage of images - people surfing, playing football and basketball.
這些廣告是一組剪輯在一起的影像——人們在衝浪、踢足球和打籃球。
[3]trade wind 信风，贸易风（稳定吹向赤道再向西）
strong winds that blow all the time towards the equator and then to the west
[4]fertilizer ['fɜːtɪlaɪzə]
a natural or chemical substance which is spread on the land or given to plants, to make plants grow well 肥料
[5]spike：a higher level of something
If price spikes continue, people will not be able to afford the new houses they want.
[6]oyster ['ɒɪstə]
a large flat sea creature that lives in a shell, some types of which can be eaten either raw or cooked, and other types of which produce pearls (= small round white precious stones) 牡蛎，蚝
[7]slurp [slɜːp]
to drink a liquid noisily as a result of sucking air into the mouth at the same time as the liquid 咕嘟咕嘟地喝，出声地喝
Do try not to slurp.
喝东西时尽量别出声音。
I wish you wouldn't slurp your soup like that.
我希望你喝汤时不要发出那种声音。
He slurped down his coffee.
他咕嘟咕嘟地把咖啡喝完了。
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From 60-Second Science