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A new study suggests that the climate change diet might not be good for polar bears.
一项新的研究表明，气候变化饮食可能会对北极熊不利。
With Arctic sea ice declining, many polar bears have to go to land for their diets during parts of the summer.
随着北极海冰的减少，许多北极熊不得不在夏季的部分时间里去陆地上觅食。
A study looking at Hudson Bay polar bears tried to figure out if the creatures can keep their healthy weight levels on such a diet.
一项针对哈德逊湾北极熊的研究试图弄清楚，北极熊能否靠这种饮食保持健康的体重。
Researchers found that the majority of the creatures are losing weight no matter what they do to try to increase it.
研究人员发现，无论它们如何努力增加体重，大多数北极熊的体重都在下降。
Some bears find a lot of food — berries, eggs, sea birds and even caribou antlers.
有些北极熊发现了很多食物——浆果、蛋、海鸟，甚至驯鹿鹿角。
But such foods take a lot of effort.
但寻找这样的食物需要付出很大的努力。
The bears use so many calories trying to eat that they end up losing weight and burning more energy than they take in, the study says.
该研究称，北极熊在进食时消耗了太多卡路里，结果是它们的体重减轻了，燃烧的能量比它们摄入的更多。
The findings appeared recently in the publication Nature Communications.
这项研究结果最近发表在《自然通讯》杂志上。
Other bears go into a time of semi-hibernation.
其他北极熊进入半冬眠状态。
But they also lose weight.
但它们的体重也在减轻。
So either way – eating different foods or sleeping a lot – does not work, said the study's lead writer Anthony Pagano of the U.S. Geological Survey.
该研究论文的主要作者、美国地质勘探局的安东尼·帕加诺表示，因此，无论是吃不同的食物还是睡得太多，这两种方法都不起作用。
Researchers found that 19 of the 20 bears studied dropped an average of 21 kilograms over three weeks of being studied.
研究人员发现，在被研究的20头北极熊中，有19头北极熊的体重在被研究的三周内平均减轻了21公斤。
The research observed their calorie intake, energy use and respiration in the wild.
这项研究观察了它们在野外的卡路里摄入量、能量消耗和呼吸。
The bears lost about 7 percent of their body mass on average in just 21 days, the study found.
研究发现，在短短21天内，这些北极熊的体重平均减轻了7%。
Polar bears try to keep up their weight in the summer after a spring when they eat a lot and gain weight.
北极熊试图在春天过后的夏天保持体重，那时它们吃得很多，体重会增加。
In the area of the Hudson Bay where researchers studied, lack of sea ice has meant polar bears are on land three weeks longer than in the 1980s, Pagano said.
帕加诺表示，在研究人员做研究的哈德逊湾地区，缺乏海冰意味着北极熊在陆地上的时间比20世纪80年代长了三周。
Usually, polar bears eat high-fat seals while based on sea ice near where the seals are.
通常，北极熊会在海豹所在的海冰附近吃高脂肪的海豹。
Hunting is especially good in the spring when seal pups are young and have not yet learned to swim away from the ice base, Pagano said.
帕加诺表示，在春季，当海豹幼崽还很小，还没有学会游泳离开冰基地时，最适合狩猎。
Last September, when Arctic sea ice hit its yearly low, there was about 2.6 million square kilometers less sea ice than the same time in 1979, the National Snow and Ice Data Center says.
美国国家冰雪数据中心称，去年9月，当北极海冰面积达到年度低点时，海冰面积比1979年同期减少了约260万平方公里。
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service lists polar bears as a threatened species "due to the loss of its sea ice habitat."
美国鱼类及野生动植物管理局将北极熊列为濒危物种，原因是北极熊失去了海冰栖息地。
"This paper clearly shows that polar bears cannot adapt to the pace of change in the Arctic and that the bears are already using everything they have to stay alive," said University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher.
阿尔伯塔大学生物学家安德鲁·德罗彻说：“这篇论文清楚地表明，北极熊无法适应北极变化的速度，它们已经在竭尽全力维持生存。”
Derocher was not part of the research but suggested it was important and done well.
德罗彻没有参与这项研究，但他表示，这项研究很重要，而且做得很好。
"This is concerning because of course it really does raise the question of when will the individual bears run out of energy," Derocher said.
德罗彻说：“这令人担忧，因为它确实提出了一个问题，那就是北极熊什么时候会耗尽能量。”
While research shows that some of the bears will survive, "other bears were basically right on the edge of where they would potentially suffer from starvation and subsequent death."
虽然研究表明，其中一些北极熊会幸存下来，但“其他北极熊基本上就在它们可能遭受饥饿和随后死亡的边缘。”
Overall, the research shows that it is unlikely polar bears can adapt to living on land, Derocher said.
德罗彻说，总体而言，该研究表明北极熊不太可能适应陆地生活。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
