SSS 2008-03-07

（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirskey, Got a minute?

 Here is another reason to stop global warming to keep the Burmese pythons in Florida. Burmese pythons have been turning up in south Florida in recent years. Perhaps you've seen the famous photo of a python ripped apart by its efforts to ingest a large alligator¹. Apparently² people with pythons as pets have been getting rid of the snakes when they get too big by dumping them in the Everglades. And in 2003, biologists confirmed the presence of a breeding population of the slithering serpents in Everglades National Park which skeeves me out because I spent a lot of time there. I'm not afraid of timid alligators³ but hungry Burmese pythons give me the willies. Anyway the US Geological Survey recently did an analysis of potential temperatures around the country by the end of this century and then analyzed⁴ where Burmese pythons would be comfortable based on their home territory from Pakistan to Indonesia. The result: pythons could colonize⁵ a third of the U.S. Did I mention that they can be over 20 feet long and 250 pounds?-- might be the best motivation to do something about climate change.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirskey.