Melting glacier 南極冰川加速消融

學習要點

有關 “speed（速度）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

What is this melting glacier called?

文字稿

This one Antarctic glacier is the size of the UK and is already responsible for five percent of world sea level rise. And the rate the Thwaites Glacier is melting has accelerated fivefold in the last 30 years.

這個南極冰川的面積相當於英國的面積，它已經造成瞭全球海平面上升5%。在過去的30年裡，思韋茨冰川的融化速度加快瞭五倍。

Last year, a team of British and American scientists set up camp on the glacier. It is one of the most remote places on Earth.

去年，一支由英國和美國科學傢組成的團隊在這個冰川上紮營。這是地球上最遙遠的地方之一。

By measuring the gravitational pull of the seabed under the ice, they discovered a network of deep channels, a key step in understanding why the glacier is changing so rapidly.

通過測量冰層下的海底重力，他們發現瞭縱橫交錯的巨大通道，這是理解為什麼冰川變化得如此迅速的關鍵一步。

This is what they think is happening. A series of huge channels – some almost a kilometre below the ice – allow the warmer, deep ocean water to flow up to the front of the glacier, melting it increasingly rapidly.

科學傢們認為冰川加速消融的原因是：海底有巨大的通道，其中一些通道在冰下約一千米，這些巨大的通道讓暖流湧向冰川前端，使冰川融化得越來越快。

Another team of scientists worked from an icebreaker ship at the front of the glacier. Exceptional sea ice break-up last year, meant they could survey over 2,000 square kilometres of the sea floor in front of the Thwaites ice shelf.

另一組科學傢在冰川前端的一艘破冰船上展開瞭工作。由於去年海冰破裂的程度甚高，他們得以在思韋茨冰架前勘察超過2000平方公裡的海底。

Kelly Hogan, Marine Geophysicist, British Antarctic Survey
It’s so important to understand what’s going on in Antarctica today, particularly these big glaciers like Thwaites, because they are changing really quickly as the climate warms and as they melt, they are feeding more and more water to our global oceans, which is increasing the rate of sea level rise.

凱莉·霍根英國南極調查局海洋地球物理學傢
“瞭解南極現在發生瞭什麼是非常重要的，特別是像思韋茨這樣的大型冰川，因為隨著氣候變暖，它們的變化十分迅速，而隨著這些冰川的融化，有越來越多的海水註入全球海洋，從而加快海平面上升的速度。”

There is up to three and a half metres of sea level rise locked up in the ice here in West Antarctica. That’s enough to reshape the map of the Earth, flooding many of the world’s greatest cities.

西部南極洲的冰層在消融後可導致海平面上升將近3.5米。這足以重塑地球版圖，淹沒諸多世界著名城市。

Understanding why this remote area is changing and how quickly it will do so, is essential if the world is to prepare for the rising waters to come.

如果人們要為即將到來的全球海平面上升現象做好準備，那麼瞭解這一偏遠地區為什麼會發生變化以及變化的速度則至關重要。