研究：安第斯山脉冰川以前所未见的速度缩小

A new study finds that the glaciers across the Andes in South America are shrinking at a speed not seen before in the history of human civilization.
一项新研究发现，南美洲安第斯山脉的冰川正在以人类文明史上前所未见的速度缩小。

This discovery surprised scientists.
这一发现让科学家们感到惊讶。

At first, they only planned to study the current conditions of glaciers and how they changed through history.
最初，他们只计划研究冰川的现状及其在历史中的变化。

"We thought this result was decades away," said Andrew Gorin.
“我们以为这个结果还需要几十年才能出现，”安德鲁·戈林说。

As lead writer of the study, he first thought the results were an accident.
作为该研究的主要作者，他最初认为这些结果是偶然的。

But later he and his team confirmed the results with more samples.
但后来他和他的团队通过更多的样本确认了这些结果。

Gorin said that the shrinking of glaciers is happening even faster than experts had thought.
戈林说，冰川的缩小速度比专家们预想的还要快。

He and a team of scientists carbon-dated bedrock that had been recently exposed by shrinking glaciers.
他和一组科学家对最近因冰川缩小而暴露的基岩进行了碳测年。

They measured beryllium-10 and carbon-14 nuclide levels and found that concentrations were nearly zero.
他们测量了铍-10和碳-14的核素水平，发现其浓度几乎为零。

He explained that if the rock can “see the sky” it collects these nuclides.
他解释说，如果岩石能“看见天空”，它就会积累这些核素。

He added that the decay rate of these nuclides shows that the rock had not been exposed during the Holocene Era.
他补充说，这些核素的衰变率表明，在全新世期间，这些岩石没有暴露在外。

This era dates back 11,700 years but could go back even further.
这个时代可以追溯到11,700年前，但可能更久远。

"I would bet my whole life savings that in fact, these glaciers are smaller than they've been since the last interglacial period," Gorin said.
“我敢用我的全部积蓄打赌，这些冰川实际上比上一个间冰期以来的任何时候都要小，”戈林说。

The last interglacial period ended about 115,000 years ago.
上一个间冰期约在115,000年前结束。

The study collected data at four glaciers across the Andes.
该研究在安第斯山脉的四个冰川上收集了数据。

These glaciers make up 99 percent of the world's tropical glaciers.
这些冰川占全球热带冰川的99%。

They are more affected by changing weather because they are regularly at or near freezing point.
由于这些冰川经常处于或接近冰点，它们更容易受到气候变化的影响。

"We think this is the canary in the coal mine, that this is going to happen everywhere before long and maybe sooner than we thought," Gorin said.
“我们认为这就是煤矿中的金丝雀，表明这种情况将在不久的将来在各地发生，甚至可能比我们想象的还要早，”戈林说。

(Canary in the coal mine is an expression that warns of danger.
“煤矿中的金丝雀”是一个警告危险的表达。

Coal miners would use a canary to tell if the oxygen levels in a coal mine were dangerous.)
煤矿工人曾用金丝雀来判断煤矿中的氧气水平是否危险。）

Researchers published the new study in the journal Science on August 1.
研究人员于8月1日在《科学》杂志上发表了这项新研究。