外刊听读 | 全球最大冰盖加速融化

International scientists warn that the world's largest ice sheet in Antarctica is losing ice much more quickly than they had thought.

国际科学家警告称，世界上最大的南极冰盖融化的速度比他们想象的要快得多。

A recent study by Australian and other researchers described what could happen if targets to limit global temperature increases are not met.

澳大利亚等国的研究人员最近的一项研究描述了如果限制全球气温上升的目标没有实现可能会发生的情况。

Nerilie Abram is a professor at the Australian National University's Research School of Earth Sciences.

诺瑞里·亚伯兰是澳大利亚国立大学地球科学研究学院的教授。

She was a co-writer of a study that recently appeared in the publication Nature.

她是最近发表在《自然》杂志上的一项研究的合著者。

She warned that the melting of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet could be disastrous.

她警告说，东南极冰盖的融化可能是灾难性的。

Abram said, "By 2500, East Antarctica could contribute up to 5 meters of sea level rises on top of the sea level rise that we will already have had from Greenland and West Antarctica."

亚伯兰说：“到2500年，东南极可能会在格陵兰岛和西南极 已经造成的海平面上升的 基础上使得海平面再上 升5米。 ”

The East Antarctic Ice Sheet holds the majority of world's glacier ice.

东南极冰盖拥有世界上大部分的冰川冰。

It was thought to be less affected by worldwide temperature rises compared to the ice sheet in West Antarctica or Greenland.

人们认为，与南极洲西部或格陵兰岛的冰盖相比，它受全球气温上升的影响较小。

The study by Abram and other researchers says that if the temperature rise is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, the East Antarctic Ice Sheet should remain sta ble.

亚伯兰等研究人员的研究表明，如果气温升幅控制在2摄氏度以内， 东南极冰盖应该会保持稳定。

In other words, it should remain generally the same size.

换句话说，它的尺寸应该会大体保持不变。

But the researchers warn that warmer temperatures could cause more melting and increase worldwide sea level by many meters.

但研究人员警告称，温度升高可能会导致更多冰融化，进而使全球海平面上升许多米。

Abram said, "It gives us even more of a reason to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to not exceed that 2-degree warming level."

亚伯兰说：“这让我们更有理由确保我们会尽一切努力把气温升幅控制在2摄氏度以内。”

The Paris Climate Agreement, signed in 2015, aims to limit global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius.

2015年签署的《巴黎气候协定》旨在将全球变暖控制在2摄氏度以下。

Another Antarctica study published in Nature drew from research by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.

另一项发表在《自然》杂志上的有关南极洲的研究出自美国国家航空航天局加州喷气推进实验室的科学家的研究。

The scientists found that the edge of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet has been losing ice faster than natural processes can replace it.

科学家发现，东南极冰盖边缘的融冰速度超过了自然形成的速度。

The edges of an ice sheet are known as ice shelves.

冰盖的边缘被称为冰架。

They extend from the ice sheet into the water.

它们从冰盖延伸到水中。

They are permanent floating sheets of frozen freshwater.

它们是永久的淡水浮冰。

Ice shelves take thousands of years to form.

冰架的形成需要数千年的时间。

They hold back glaciers that would otherwise easily fall into the ocean and cause sea levels to rise.

它们阻挡了那些很容易落入海洋并导致海平面上升的冰川。

For the JPL study, the researchers examined over 50,000 kilometers of the Antarctic coastline.

在喷气推进实验室的研究中，研究人员考察了5万多公里的南极海岸线。

They found that the loss of ice from coastal glacier pieces breaking off into the ocean was nearly the same as the loss of ice due to thinning of the continent's large ice shelves.

他们发现，沿海冰川断裂后进入海洋的冰的损失量几乎与由大陆大冰架变薄造成的冰的损失量相同。

The thinning of the ice is a result of warming ocean water underneath.

冰层变薄是由地下海水变暖造成的。

Taken together, the two processes have reduced the mass of Antarctica's ice shelves by 12 trillion metric tons since 1997.

自1997年以来，这两个过程加在一起已经使南极洲冰架的质量减少了12万亿吨。

That is double the earlier estimate of 6 trillion metric tons.

这是早先估计的6万亿吨的两倍。

"Antarctica is crumbling at its edges," said JPL scientist Chad Greene, a lead writer of the study.

该研究的主要作者之一、喷气推进实验室科学家查德·格林说：“南极洲的边缘正在崩塌。”

Eric Wolff is a professor at the University of Cambridge in Britain.

埃里克·沃尔夫是英国剑桥大学的教授。

He said of the JPL study, "if we keep to the 2 degrees of global warming that the Paris agreement promises, the sea level rise due to the East Antarctic ice sheet should be modest."

他在谈到喷气推进实验室的研究时说，“如果我们坚持《巴黎协定》所提出的将全球变暖控制在2摄氏度以内的承诺， 那么由东南极冰盖造成的海平面上升幅度应该不会太大。 ”

But, he said, failure to limit global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, would risk "many meters of sea level rise over the next few centuries."

但是，他说，如果不能限制全球变暖和减少温室气体排放， “ 在未来的几个世纪里，海平面可能会上升数米”。

I'm Ashley Thompson.

阿什利·汤普森为您播报。

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