2007年VOA标准英语-Greenland Ice Reveals Evidence of Global Warmin

By Kane Farabaugh
Kangerlussuak, Greenland
24 July 2007
 

Greenland's glaciers show evidence of global warming

Periods of global warming and cooling have caused the terrain² of Greenland to change over time -- part of the natural process of the Earth's evolution.  But as VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports, scientists who work in Greenland are concerned that evidence they are finding today in the ice indicates that mankind could be causing a change in Greenland's natural evolution -- for the worse.

Eighty-five percent of Greenland, the world's largest island, is covered in ice. It is also home to ten percent of the world's ice mass.

The Jacobshaven Glacier¹, at nine kilometers a year, it is currently the world's fastest-moving glacier.  Historians and scientists believe this mass of draining ice produced the iceberg³ that sunk the Titanic⁴ ocean liner in 1912.  It is also a glacier that could contribute to sinking coastlines of major countries if it were to melt completely.

Greenland is the fastest-warming location on the planet.  The average temperature here is four degrees Fahrenheit⁵ warmer than it was a decade ago.  If continued warming caused most of Greenland's ice to melt, sea levels would rise roughly 20 feet [six meters].  Scientists looking at satellites believe southern Greenland is currently losing 25 cubic miles [104 cubic kilometers] of ice per year.

These statistics have placed Greenland at the center of the global warming debate.

Jorgen Peter Steffensen

Jorgen Peter Steffensen is a professor at University of Copenhagen. He says, "In all humankind's existence it has been a basic thing of life that climate has changed."

In Kangerlussuak, the hub of scientific activity in Greenland, Steffensen is preparing for a summer on Greenland's ice sheet. He studies cross sections of the packed ice -- called ice cores -- that he gathers from drilling deep inside the ice sheet. "So whatever falls as snow on the ice cap never goes away.  It just piles up.  And therefore, the ice cap, the massive ice you have covering Greenland, is a beautiful layer cake of snowfall upon snowfall nicely piled up over the eons."

Summit is the tallest point in Greenland.  It sits on top of 3,300 meters of ice.  It is 400 kilometers from land.  It is one of several locations where ice core samples are gathered.

In this barren, frozen expanse, scientists like Roger Bales take advantage of the pristine⁶ conditions to gather data that will help other scientists, like Steffensen, understand the evidence in the ice core samples. "This is a very clean station.  As you know, there's pollution in cities but there's also global pollution, so we come here to one of the cleanest places in the Northern Hemisphere to really understand what's happening globally."

What is happening globally over the years is that the temperature is rising.  Summit ice core samples give scientists an idea of how fast the ice melted during certain periods, and how much carbon and gas was in the atmosphere when the snow fell.

It might be hard to fathom⁷ that the planet is getting warmer -- while standing⁸ in sub-zero temperatures in one of the coldest places on Earth.

Greg Huey

But almost every scientist who works here has come to the same conclusion, either by evidence gathered in the ice, or by data collected by experts on the atmosphere. One of them, Greg Huey,  comments, "Global warming is a fact in the scientific community."

What is not conclusive⁹ is whether or not mankind is responsible.

"I don't think that the concept of global warming -- it's not controversial in the scientific community.  It's here -- people might argue about how fast it is or what steps to take, but no one argues that greenhouse gas emissions¹⁰ and the planet is warming, and unless we want to live in a very different climate for our children and grandchildren we're going to have to do something about the carbon in the atmosphere," says Huey.

Steffensen adds, "To filter out whether this present warming is a natural variation or is man made -- that is impossible.  But if there is a very strong correlation¹¹ between our emissions and the heating we see today, so do we dare not to?"

Much of the research being conducted in Greenland today helps provide sound, scientific evidence to lawmakers and leaders around the world.

"We want people to know that the atmosphere is changing.  We are, we have these global atmospheric¹³ measurements and the evidence is solid for that.  It provides I think a sound basis for decision makers¹² on which to base mitigation measures," Bales adds.

But what scientists like Steffensen fear most is the unknown. "Instead of a gradual warming, we could have something terrible happen.  And the worst thing we would like now, with six billion people in the world, is unpredictability.  That would be the worst.  That is what I fear -- is the unpredictability, and it could be triggered by our actions."

1 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

4 titanic   

adj.巨人的，庞大的，强大的

参考例句：

• We have been making titanic effort to achieve our purpose.我们一直在作极大的努力，以达到我们的目的。
• The island was created by titanic powers and they are still at work today.台湾岛是由一个至今仍然在运作的巨大力量塑造出来的。

5 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

6 pristine   

adj.原来的，古时的，原始的，纯净的，无垢的

参考例句：

• He wiped his fingers on his pristine handkerchief.他用他那块洁净的手帕擦手指。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

7 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

10 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

11 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

12 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。