Endangered Monarch Butterflies
On January 13, 2002, a storm swept through the mountains of Mexico where monarch butterflies winter in pine and fir trees. Temperatures dropped, and the combination of wet and cold caused the death of an estimated 500 million butterflies, which lay in piles up to one meter deep beneath the trees. “In one terrible day, 70 to 80 percent of all the monarchs that return to the Eastern United States in the spring were dead,” says the international edition of The Miami Herald, But now, another threat is looming1. In spite of the Mexican government’s creation of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, the butterfly habitat is being eroded by illegal logging2. Some 44 percent of the reserve has already been affected. Although these hardy creatures survive a 4,000-kilometer migration, only time will tell if they are able to survive the gradual loss of their wintering grounds.
1 loom - принимать угрожающие размеры
2 logging - заготовка и транспортировка леса
Источник: School English
Читать еще в этой рубрике:
|
