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However, these ice caps are thicker than the Arctic ice cap. They are also on land. Both of these factors slow down the melting process to an extent. However, enormous pieces of the ice sheets in both places have already broken off. Scientists claim that if the entire Greenland ice sheet melts, the result would be an increase of 6 to 7 meters in sea level.
但是，這些冰帽比北極冰帽更厚，而且還在陸地上。這在某種程度上減緩了融化的過程。然而，在這兩個地方，大片的冰層已經破裂。科學家宣稱，如果整個格陵蘭島的冰層融化，將會使海平面上升6至7米。
At this point, let us look at another universal law of nature. We find in nature a massive and complex interconnectedness and interdependency of things. This interconnectedness applies to warming in the Arctic in a variety of ways. People who live in the northernmost regions are experiencing serious effects of this melting right now. In some areas, homes and roads are built on permafrost, ground that has been frozen for thousands of years. Cases are now being reported of buildings collapsing as the permafrost melts. Some roads have become impassable at certain times of the year.
在這一點上，讓我們來看看另外一個自然法則。我們發現，自然界的事物相互依存、有著緊密而復雜的內在聯系。這種內在聯系也以多種不同的方式表現在北極的氣候變暖現象中。現在，那些住在極北地區的人們正經受著冰川融化的嚴重影響。在一些地區，房屋和道路都是建立在凍結了數千年的凍土上面的。有報道稱，目前隨著凍土的融化，已出現了建筑物倒塌的情況。有些道路在每年特定的時期無法通行。
CO2 is an extremely prevalent, humanly created form of greenhouse gas. There is far less methane in the atmosphere, but it is much more potent in terms of the greenhouse damage it causes—about 20-25 times more potent. Both methane and CO2 are locked in the permafrost. As the ground thaws, these gases are being released in very large quantities, adding even more rapidly to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
二氧化碳是人類創造的、一種極其普遍的溫室氣體。大氣中的甲烷非常少，但是它所造成的溫室效應破壞性卻極強——大約是二氧化碳的20至25倍。甲烷和二氧化碳都被封鎖在凍土中。隨著凍土的解凍，這些氣體被大量釋放出來，使大氣層中的溫室氣體急劇增加。
