VOA常速英语:Antarctica Losing Ice Faster Than Thought

Daily temperatures everywhere in the world rise and fall according to the local weather, so it is hard to notice the average annual rise of a degree or two. But Professor Martin Siegert of Imperial College in London the co-author of the new study,says when we look at the impact of rising temperatures on Antarctica the picture is dramatic.
世界各地的每日气温根据当地天气而升降，所以很难注意到一两年的平均年增长率。 但伦敦帝国理工学院的马丁·西格特教授也是这项研究的合著者，他说，当我们考虑温度上升对南极洲的影响时，这幅画就变得很引人侧目。

“We’re noticing the ice sheets being lost reducing in mass. We’re seeing wind patterns that are changing.We’re seeing ocean temperatures increasing, ocean acidity increasing, changes to biodiversity.In fact everything that we look at in Antarctica and we’ve got records going back several decades, now are pointing to change.”Computer models, based on more than 150 measurements made on the ground and from space over the last 30 years, show an alarming trend from 1992 to 2011 Antarctica lost an average of 76 billion tons of ice each year.
我们注意到冰盖正在大量减少，风向正在改变，海洋温度升高。我们观测到海洋酸度增加，生物多样性发生变化。事实上，我们在南极观测到的一切，我们有几十年前的记录，现在都显示出变化。根据过去30年来在地面和太空中进行的150多次测量建立的计算机模型显示出令人担忧的趋势，从1992年到2011年，南极洲每年平均损失了760亿吨冰块。

But in the five years that followed the annual loss nearly tripled to more than two hundred nineteen billion tons.“So it’s completely possible for Antarctica to contribute several tens of centimeters in this century.”Scientists say the main culprit is the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,but if we act now there may still be a chance to reverse the trend.“And so we have to ask ourselves is, is that the world that we want our future to be like?And of course the answer is it can’t be, it can’t be that.
但是，在接下来的五年里，年损失几乎增加了两倍，达到二千一百九十亿吨。因此，南极冰川完全有可能在本世纪消失几十厘米。科学家们说，罪魁祸首是向大气中排放二氧化碳，但如果我们现在采取行动，或许仍有机会扭转这一趋势。因此，我们必须扪心自问的是，我们希望我们的未来是什么样的世界？当然答案是不可能的，不是这样的。

And what we’re saying in this paper is we need to recognize that Antarctica is changing and is heading a certain way and we need to act now. Choices we make now are going to shape what the future of the southern continent is going to be like.”But some say it may already be too late, the study shows some of the ice shelves have been irreversibly lost and the rise in acidity of the ocean water is likely to lead to the extinction of some marine life.
我们在本文中所说的是，我们需要认识到南极洲正在改变，正在走向某种特定的道路，我们现在需要采取行动。我们现在做出的选择将塑造南方大陆的未来。但是有些人说已经为时已晚，研究表明一些冰架早已不可逆转地消失了，海水酸度的上升可能会导致一些海洋生物的灭绝。

George Putic VOA News
VOA记者乔治采访报道。