Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin!
大家好！欢迎来到脑洞大开的生命奇想！
So, the Internet has been around for a while now and it’s undeniably a great tool.
互联网出现几十年来，已经成为我们非常实用的工具。
It gives us easy access to information, allows for global communication, but most importantly,
有了互联网，我们获取信息更加便捷，全球通信也成为现实，更重要的是
it’s given us an endless amount of cat pictures to scroll through.
互联网让我们得以浏览谷歌上无穷无尽的猫咪照片。
I mean, just look at all those little faces!
看这些可爱的小脸！
Anyway, cats are pretty important animals.
好了，猫真的很重要。
Even though they may seem to be pretty lazy, they actually have a major effect on our lives.
虽然猫看起来懒洋洋的，但是它们真的对你的生活有很大的影响。
To show how, let’s consider this: “What would happen if every cat on the Earth suddenly died?”
不信的话，思考一下，如果地球上所有的猫都突然回喵星会怎么样？
Besides man's panic and confusion, let’s start with this consequence.
且不说人类的恐慌与困惑，我们先来看一下这个影响。
Cats are predators, as you may know if you’ve ever received a “gift” at your doorstep.
猫是食肉动物，收到过门口的“礼物”的人应该都知道这一点。
You know, like a dead small animal. In fact, each year, up to 20 billion small mammals are killed by cats, including rodents and rabbits.
比如，小哺乳动物的尸体。事实上每年都有200亿小型哺乳动物死在猫的魔爪下，其中就包括啮齿动物和兔子。
So, if there were no more cats, these small mammal populations would quickly rise.
所以，如果没有猫，这些小型哺乳动物的数量会激增。
But how does that affect humans? Well, let’s take a look at Macquarie Island.
但是这跟人类有什么关系呢？来看一下麦夸里岛的例子。
In the year of 2000, cats were completely eradicated. After, the rabbit population drastically increased, devastating much of the vegetation.
2000年，这里的猫被全面剿灭。之后，兔子数量激增，大量植被造到破坏。
Not only did the rabbits change the island’s landscape, but it also cost over $24 million dollars to remedy, which humans will have to pay for.
兔子改变了岛上的自然景观，而且修复被它们破坏的植被需要2400多万美元，而这些都要人类来承担。
Pretty cat-astrophic, am I right?!
没猫真是悲惨，对不对？
Oh, okay, I'm sorry. Let's, let's move on. And then we have the rats. On some islands, cats were eradicated to protect the seabird population.
哈哈哈，好了，我们继续。还有老鼠。有一些岛屿为了保护海鸟将猫捕杀殆尽。
But, with the resulting increase in rat population, the seabirds were still under attack.
可是，老鼠的数量因此激增，海鸟还是会遭到袭击。
So, even though the cats were gone, the rats took over their job.
没有了猫，老鼠接了班。
But what about your household pets? Well, one study shows that, over a ten-year period,
那么家养的猫呢？一项研究显示，十年中，
cat owners were 30% less likely to die from a heart attack compared to non-cat owners.
养猫的人死于心脏病的概率比不养猫的要小30%。
The same is probably true of dogs, but the study didn’t have enough data to say anything conclusively.
狗也有这个作用。不过研究数据不足，因此未得出结论性的成果。
Regardless, having a cat can help relieve stress and anxiety, so without them, your risk for a heart attack may be higher.
无论如何，养猫可以缓解压力和焦虑，没有猫，患心脏病的风险可能会高一些。
Basically what I’m saying is that cats are awesome, except when they knock over stuff for no reason.
其实我就是想说猫很伟大！无缘无故打翻东西的时候除外。
But without them, both our personal lives, and the ecosystem may be very different.
没有猫，我们的生活和生态系统都会是另一番模样。
What animal do you think would have the biggest affect on Earth if it were suddenly gone?
你觉得还有哪种动物突然消失的话会给地球带来极大的影响？
Are you a car person？Dog person? Let me know in the comment section below
你是猫奴还是狗奴？欢迎在下方评论区告诉我。
and bonus point, a thousand bonus point if you can tweet me any pictures of your cat.
在推特上发给我你家猫咪的照片还可以获得福利哦~很多很多的福利。
I could always go for more cat photos.
可爱的猫咪照片永远不嫌多。
As always, I’m Blocko and this has been Life Noggin. Don’t forget to keep on thinking!
我是宝高，这里是脑洞大开的生命奇想。思考不要停！