新托福阅读材料：SatellitespiesvastalgalbloominBalticSea

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　　近年来，全球各地的人们都在极端天气下饱受煎熬，酷暑、严寒、洪水、强风……事实上，如果人类再继续肆无忌惮的破坏地球环境的话，人类将为自己的行为付出更大的代价。

) L1 Q6 c/ _5 T: y　　A satellite image has revealed the scale of a vast algal bloom spreading in the Baltic Sea.

　　The potentially toxic bloom, covering 377,000 sq km, could pose a risk to marine life in the region, warn scientists.

9 A2 J! A. {/ I4 a* M6 D　　They added that a lack of wind and prolonged high temperatures had triggered the largest bloom since 2005.
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　　The affected area stretches from Finland in the north to parts of Germany and Poland in the south.

　　The image, captured earlier this month, was recorded by a camera on the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite.

　　Researchers monitoring the spread of the blue-green algae said such blooms had spread over the Baltic Sea each summer for decades.
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  R) {5 H0 D2 ]4 f: A* G　　They added that fertilizers from surrounding agricultural land were being washed into the sea and exacerbating the problem.

6 ^. K5 e- b, D' [　　This has led to a process called eutrophication, in which the additional nutrients stimulate rapid growth of phytoplankton - microscopic free-floating marine plants.
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0 s& v1 g8 F/ k: v. p　　This accelerated growth also reduces the amount of oxygen available to other plant and animal species in the affected area; raising fears that it could destabilise fragile marine ecosystems.
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　　As well threatening certain species, blue-green algae can also pose a risk to human health, and officials are advising people not to bathe in areas where the algae is visible.

( f9 e+ S& O! H, ~　　However, researchers said the current bloom would quickly break up with the arrival of strong winds, as the resulting waves would disperse the algae.