VOA慢速英语听力：南极海冰降至历史新低 Sea Ice in Antarctica Falls to Record Lows

VOA慢速英语听力：南极海冰降至历史新低 Sea Ice in Antarctica Falls to Record Lows.

Sea ice in the Antarctic area fell to a record low this year. The drop is a result of rising temperatures worldwide. And there is no quick fix to make up for the damage, scientists said recently in a new study.

Antarctica’s minimum summer ice cover, which last year dropped below 2 million square kilometers for the first time since satellite monitoring began in 1978, fell further to a new low in February.

The scientists’ findings appeared in the publication Frontiers in Environmental Science.

Anna Hogg of the University of Leeds in Britain was one of the study's co-writers. When speaking about the melting icebergs and shelves, she said "It's going to take decades if not centuries for these things to recover. There's no quick fix to replacing this ice."

She told a group of reporters, "It will certainly take a long time, even if it's possible."

This year's sea ice minimum is 20 percent lower than the average over the last 40 years. The sea ice loss represents an area nearly 10 times that of New Zealand, said Tim Naish of the Antarctic Research Center at New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington. Naish was not part of the study.

Naish added that in some cases we are getting close to important large changes that could lead to serious consequences for future generations.

The warming of Earth's surface driven by the burning of fossil fuels has made Antarctica more likely to suffer from extreme events. And the effect is almost "certain" to get worse, the study said.

Climate change will "lead to increases in the size and frequency" of heatwaves, ice shelf collapses and declines in sea ice, it said.

The study drew on recent evidence from scientific studies of the Antarctic Ocean, atmosphere, cryosphere and biosphere.

The exact effects of climate change on Antarctica and the surrounding ocean have been uncertain. Scientists have had problems measuring how much the Earth’s warming is affecting the thickness of Antarctic ice.

But from events such as the fast decline in sea ice, it is "scientifically reasonable" to assume that extreme events are going to become worse as temperatures rise worldwide, said Martin Siegert of the University of Exeter, another study co-writer.

Last year, an "atmospheric river" coming from Australia pushed heat and moisture into Antarctica. The result was temperatures up to 38.5 Celsius above normal, the largest variance from the norm the world has ever experienced.

Siegert described the temperature increase as "absolutely astonishing.” Siegert added that if the event had happened during the Antarctic summer, instead of winter, it would have caused melting on the surface of the East Antarctic ice sheet, which has so far been saved from melting.

Siegert used the term fragile, meaning easily broken or damaged, to describe Antarctica.

"Antarctica is fragile as an environment, but extreme events test that fragility," he said. "What we're deeply concerned about is the increase in intensity and frequency of extreme events and the …. influences that they have in other areas."

I’m John Russell.

参考译文：
南极地区的海冰今年降至创纪录的低点。这一下降是全球气温上升的结果。科学家最近在一项新研究中表示，没有快速的解决方案来弥补这种损害。

南极洲夏季的最小冰覆盖面积，去年首次自1978年卫星监测开始以来跌破了200万平方公里的记录，今年2月份又进一步降至新低。

这些科学家的研究结果发表在《环境科学前沿》杂志上。

英国利兹大学的安娜·霍格（Anna Hogg）是这项研究的合著者之一。在谈到正在融化的冰山和冰架时，她表示：“这些事情要恢复可能需要几十年，甚至可能需要几个世纪。没有快速解决方案来替代这些冰。”

她对一组记者说：“即使可能，这肯定需要很长时间。”

今年的海冰最小值比过去40年的平均水平低了20%。新西兰维多利亚大学南极研究中心的蒂姆·奈什（Tim Naish）表示，海冰损失面积几乎是新西兰的10倍。奈什没有参与该研究。

奈什补充说，在一些情况下，我们正在接近可能会对未来几代人产生严重后果的重要大变化。

由化石燃料燃烧引起的地球表面变暖使得南极洲更容易受到极端事件的影响。该研究称，这种影响几乎“肯定会变得更糟”。

气候变化将“导致高温、冰架崩塌和海冰减少的规模和频率增加”。

这项研究汇集了最近关于南极洋、大气、冰圈和生物圈的科学研究的证据。

关于气候变化对南极洲及其周边海洋的确切影响一直存在不确定性。科学家一直难以衡量地球变暖对南极冰层厚度的影响。

但从诸如海冰快速下降等事件中，可以“在科学上合理地”假设随着全球气温升高，极端事件将变得更加严重，埃克塞特大学的马丁·西格特（Martin Siegert）说，他也是该研究的合著者之一。

去年，一股来自澳大利亚的“大气河流”将热量和湿气带入南极洲。结果，温度比正常情况高出38.5摄氏度，这是世界上迄今为止最大的偏差。

西格特形容温度的上升是“绝对令人惊讶的”。他还补充说，如果这种事件发生在南极夏季而不是冬季，它将导致东南极冰盖表面融化，而目前这一部分尚未融化。

西格特用“脆弱”一词来形容南极洲，意指易于破碎或受损。

他说：“南极洲作为一个环境是脆弱的，但极端事件会对其脆弱性进行考验。”“我们非常担心的是，极端

事件的强度和频率增加，以及它们在其他领域的影响。”

我是约翰·拉塞尔。

Words in This Story

monitor -- v. to watch or observe for a special purpose over a period of time

shelf -- n. a flat area of rock, sand, etc., especially underwater

decade – n. a period of 10 years

consequence -- n. something that happens as a result of an action

fossil fuel -- n. a fuel (such as coal or oil) that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals

certain – adj. used to say that something will definitely happen

frequency – n. the number of times that something happens during a particular period

variance – n. an amount of difference or change

astonishing – adj. causing a feeling of great surprise or wonder