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The bright orange beaks of Gentoo penguins
有著亮橙色嘴巴的金圖企鵝
are a much more common sight on the Peninsula these days.
近些年來 在半島上愈發(fā)常見了
I always used to know them as residents
我過去一直以為它們是南極大陸北端
of the slightly warmer islands north of the Antarctic.
更溫暖的地方的居民
But they've moved south in numbers.
可是它們卻已大量南下
There are thought to be ten times
據(jù)說 現(xiàn)在半島上
more Gentoos on the Peninsula now
金圖企鵝的數(shù)量
than just 30 years ago.
是三十年前的十倍
The Peninsula has warmed a great deal,
半島氣溫上升了許多
but the same is not true further south.
可是更南端的地方卻并非如此
The Antarctic continent
南極大陸
is smothered by the world's greatest ice sheet.
蘊藏著世界上最大的冰原地帶
One and half times the size of Australia
有一個半澳大利亞那么大
and up to three miles thick.
并且有三英里厚
A staggering 75% of the Earth's fresh water
令人震驚的是 地球上75%的淡水
is locked up in this ice.
都儲藏在這里
Global sea levels would rise
假如這些冰全都融化
by some 60 metres if all this was to melt.
海平面將會上升六十米
But what chance is there of that happening here in the coldest,
但在地球上最寒冷最危險的地方
most hostile place on Earth?
上述現(xiàn)象發(fā)生的概率有多大呢
The ice beneath me, up here on top of the ice cap,
佇立冰原之巔 厚厚的冰雪在我足下
is so thick that I am short of breath,
海拔如此之高
simply because of the altitude.
使我有些呼吸不暢
This is midsummer
現(xiàn)在是盛夏時節(jié)
and the average temperature is some 20 degrees below freezing.
平均溫度卻在零下二十度左右
And I can tell you it feels much lower than that.
而感覺上卻遠遠低于這個溫度
And even the worst predictions don't suggest
就算是作最壞的猜測
that the air is going to warm enough to melt the ice.
氣溫也不會暖到足以融化這些冰雪
But now, scientists are asking a different question.
而現(xiàn)在 科學家們提出了新的疑問
Could the speed at which the Antarctic ice
更暖的海洋水溫
flows off the land be increased by a warmer ocean?
會不會造成南極冰加速流出冰原呢
