科學家：氣候變遷威脅法國松露生存 Climate change threatens French truffle, say scientists

Scientists said on Tuesday they had proof that climate change was hitting the Perigord black truffle, a delight of gourmets around the world.

科學家週二表示，他們掌握到氣候變遷衝擊佩里戈黑松露的證據。黑松露是廣受全球老饕喜愛的美食。

Trufflers have long suspected that global warming is affecting Tuber melanosporum -- dubbed "the black diamond" on account of its colour and extraordinary price -- in its native habitat in southwestern France, Spain and Italy.

松露採集者早就懷疑全球暖化已影響法國西南部、西班牙、義大利等天然產地的黑松露，黑松露因其顏色與昂貴價格，被稱為「黑色鑽石」 。

A century ago, French trufflers notched up a harvest that, according to legend, reached 1,000 tonnes in a year. In the 1960s, truffle yields were still 200-300 tonnes annually. But in recent years, they have been a meagre 25 tonnes or so, prompting retail prices to rocket to as high as 2,000 euros a kilo.

一個世紀前，據傳法國松露採集者的收穫可達到一年1000噸；在1960年代，松露的收穫量每年仍有200到300噸。但到了近年，收穫量僅剩微薄的25噸左右，導致零售價格飆高至一公斤2000歐元。

In a letter to the journal Nature Climate Change, Swiss scientists said they now had clear data that drier summers were to blame, as this affected the oak and hazelnut trees on which the prized fungi grows.

瑞士科學家在寫給「自然氣候變遷」期刊的信中表示，現在有清楚的數據顯示，原因就在於夏季氣候更乾燥，影響到珍貴黑松露菌生長的榛子樹和橡樹。

The team found that harvests in France’s Perigord and in Spain’s Aragon region fell at roughly the same pace from 1970-2006, and this trend was in line with an overall decline in summer rainfall.

研究團隊發現，法國佩里戈與西班牙亞拉岡地區在1970年至2006年期間，收成量以大略相同的速度下降，與全球夏季雨量減少的趨勢一致。

Harvests in northern Italy’s Piedmont and Umbria also retreated, but not as badly as in France and Spain, and this correlated with relatively higher levels of summer rain in those regions. （AFP）

義大利北部的比第蒙與恩伯利亞產量也同樣減少，但降幅沒有法國與西班牙大，與這兩個地區夏季雨量相對高的情況符合。（法新社）

新聞辭典：

notch up：片語，達到、創下。例句：He notched up fifteen years’ service with the company.（他在公司服務已達15年。）

meagre：形容詞，不足的、貧乏的。例句：I wonder how does he support his family on his meagre salary. （我真想知道他怎麼靠微薄的薪水養活一家子。）

rocket：動詞，迅速上升、猛漲。Sales of milk in supermarkets are rocketing. （超市的牛奶買氣強強滾。）