地球"腰围"变粗 都是全球变暖惹的祸

　　The Earth is putting on 'weight' around its 'midriff' - and global warming is to blame.

　　你相信吗？地球的腰围正在变得更粗，这全都是全球变暖惹的祸。

　　Melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland is adding volume to the oceans and this extra water is being pulled towards the Equator, adding to the girth at the widest part of our planet, according to scientists.

　　科学家们宣称，全球气候变暖使得南极和格林兰岛的冰川加速融化，并流入大洋，这部分“多出来”的水随着地球自转，都流向了赤道地区，从而使得地球的“腰围”增加。

　　Earth had been 'slimming down' following the Ice Age, which finished about 20,000 years ago.

　　早在20000年前，地球正值冰河时期，那时的“腰围”可以说是比较苗条。

　　During this geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, the weight of ice sheets was so great that they deformed the Earth's crust and mantle, causing it to bulge at the middle.

　　在这一地质时期过程中，地球的表面以及大气层的温度都在降低，冰原冰川的重量如此之大，以至于迫使地壳和地幔发生了变形，使得两者中部发生了隆起。

　　The Earth isn't completely spherical - land at the North Pole is a number of kilometres nearer to the core of the planet than land at the Equator.

　　事实上，气球并非是一个完美的球体，北极地区要比赤道地区更加接近地心，两地之间的这一差距大概是在数公里。

　　And it was believed that the rebound effect following the Ice Age would result in our planet becoming more of a perfect sphere.

　　据信，由于在冰川时候之后的“反弹”的作用力，我们的地球正在向一个正规的球体逼近。

　　The 'bulge' at the Equator had been shrinking by less than a millimetre a year, according to National Geographic.

　　美国国家地理学会的数据显示，赤道每年都在以不到一毫米的速度“萎缩”。

　　But by looking at measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, it was found that this effect was reversing.

　　不过美国宇航局重力恢复与气候试验卫星的量测结果显示，这种“反弹”的效果正在受到全球变暖的影响，瘦下去的“肚子”又长了回来。

　　'There's something else going on that offsets [the shrinking of the Earth's girth],' said John Wahr, a geophysicist at the University of Colorado.

　　美国科罗拉多州大学地球物理学家John Wahr说：“目前有一些因素抵消了这一趋近正球体的过程。”

　　The rate of melting ice at the North and South Poles - which totals 382 billion tons of ice a year - is counteracting the 'slimming' effect.

　　每年，北极和南极的冰川都在加速融化，并且达到了3820亿吨，这些融水都使得地球的“腰围”不减反增。