VOA常速英语2015--海平面上升未来不可逆转（在线收听）

Scientists: Rising Sea Levels Not Reversible in Foreseeable Future 海平面上升未来不可逆转

LONG BEACH, CALIF.—

Scientists say the sea levels are rising and will continue to do so indefinitely.  Coastal communities around the world are already feeling the impact of the rising waters. Many cities and towns are adapting to this new reality. Their response has been photographed and is being presented at an exhibit called Sink or Swim: Designing for a Sea Change.

Devastating storms and floods are part of a new reality around the globe, said oceanographer and president of the Aquarium of the Pacific, Jerry Schubel.

破坏性风暴和洪灾是全球新现实的一部分。

“Global climate change is resulting in rising seas, coastal flooding and increasingly powerful storm surges,” he said. 

“全球气候变化导致海平面上升、海岸洪灾和越发强大的风暴。”

A video of the rising water produced by the aquarium shows how low-lying places around the world that flood historically are the areas that are immediately vulnerable to the sea level change. Meteorologist Dan Cayan with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego said recent trends will continue.

太平洋水族馆制作的视频显示，全世界历史上经历过洪灾的低洼地区很快就要受到海平面变化的影响，斯克里普斯海洋研究所气象学家丹·卡延说：

“In the last couple of decades it’s risen at a greater rate.  We think very confidently it will accelerate in the next several decades,” said Cayan.

“过去几十年海平面上升得很快，我们非常确信未来几十年将上升得更快。”

Scientists estimate by the end of the century, the seas will rise by an average of almost a meter around the world and continue to climb.

科学家预测截止本世纪末，全世界的海平面将平均上升一米。

“Sea level rise will not end in 2100.  It’s an ongoing problem, as the planet adjusts to a new, essentially a new energy balance because of greenhouse gases,” said Cayan.

“海平面上升并非到2100年就结束了，这是个持续的问题，因为地球在调整以适应温室气体造成的新的能量平衡。”

Cayan said greenhouse gases are warming the planet, “and as the climate warms, the potential for unleashing stored water on Earth, largely in Greenland, Antarctica, holds a lot of potential sea level rise in the future."

卡延说温室气体令地球升温，“随着气温的上升，那么未来地球上可能会释放出储藏的水，主要是格陵兰和南极很有可能出现海平面上升。”

How people around the world are affected by flooding and how they are adapting to the rising sea is shown in the photo exhibit Sink or Swim, said guest curator Frances Anderton.

目前我们已经面临了海平面上升的问题，但同时我们还希望能生活在海岸线附近，海岸线已经上升很高了。

f the rising seas but that is coupled with our desire to live on coast lines. There is an intense level of development on coastlines,” said Anderton.

名为“成败全靠自己”的图片展展示全世界人们如何受到洪灾的影响，以及他们如何应对海平面上升。

One photo in the exhibit, taken in Bangladesh by Jonas Bendiksen, shows students attending a floating school on a wooden boat. Another photo, taken by Iwan Baan, features a more high-tech floating building from the Netherlands, a contemporary house boat made of aluminum and glass. 

在孟加拉国，学生们去漂浮学校上学。荷兰出现了一座更高科技的漂浮建筑，这座屋船。

Scientists say city planners in coastal communities must continue to come up with innovative ways to adapt to rising seas. Through futuristic infrastructure and buildings that are water-friendly, communities will better withstand the fiercer storms of the changing environment and minimize human suffering.

科学家称沿海社区的城市规划者们需要提出创新办法来适应新环境，通过建造未来派的水友好型基础设施和建筑来将破坏和人类苦难减少到最低。