【BBC英語教學】研究稱全球人造物重量將超過所有活生物重量

科學家們說，到2020年12月底，人造物體的總重量可能會超過生物的總重量。

From plastic bottles, to bricks and concrete – the weight of all the things humans produce to build homes, roads and machines has been doubling every twenty years.

從塑料瓶、磚頭到混凝土，人類為了建造房屋、道路和機器而生產的物體的重量每二十年翻一番。

At the same time, the weight of all living things, known as biomass, has been falling slightly, mainly due to the loss of forests.

與此同時，所有生物的重量，即生物量，都略有下降，其主要原因是森林的減少。

Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Israel have calculated that by the end of the year, the world will have reached a crossover point where human-made stuff outweighs that of living things.

以色列魏茨曼科學研究所（Weizmann Institute of Sciences）的研究人員經計算得出，到今年年底，世界將到達一個轉折點，即人造物體的總重量超過生物的總重量。

The amount of concrete, bricks, wood, metal and other objects weighs in at over a teratonne.

目前，混凝土、磚頭、木頭、金屬和其它物體的重量超過一太噸（一百萬兆噸）。