新奇事件簿 北冰洋或将在十年内消失（在线收听）

A new report on global warming predicts the frozen Arctic Ocean will soon be like a normal sea in the summers. There are shocking changes happening in the polar environment and its fragile eco-systems. For millions of years, the sea around the North Pole has been frozen all year round. Recent research from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Catlin Atlantic Survey show things are changing fast. They predict that within a decade, the Arctic will be largely ice-free in the summer. They base their prediction on the rate at which the sea ice is currently thinning. The lead researcher, Professor Peter Wadhams, said: "The area is now more likely to become open water each summer, bringing forward the potential date when the summer sea ice will be completely gone."

据最新报告预测，北冰洋或将在夏季成为一片汪洋。极地环境和脆弱的生态系统发生了巨大变化。数百万年以来，北极地区冰雪四季不化。据“世界野生动物基金会”和“卡特林大西洋研究中心”近期研究表明，北极地区瞬息万变。据他们预测十年之内，北冰洋或将在夏季成为一片汪洋。该预测是根据目前冰雪融化速度推算的。研究主任皮特·瓦德汉姆表示：“每年夏天，这片区域很有可能成为一片大海，夏季冰面也可能完全消失。

An ice-free Arctic will have consequences for the whole world’s weather patterns. The Arctic sea ice is a key part of the Earth’s climate system. Experts call it Earth's “refrigerator”. They said that as it disappears, the world will become a lot warmer. Scientists are still unclear exactly what changes there will be to our weather. Forecasters predict an increase in all kinds of disasters and extreme weather events. These include massive flooding, much more dangerous hurricanes and the spread of the world’s deserts. These new findings provide an urgent call for world leaders to act. The timing of the WWF report is a reminder to those attending the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Rich countries will face pressure to agree to reduce their carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020.

冰面的消失对全球气候产生影响。北极冰面是全球气候系统的关键。专家称其为地球的“冰箱”。称随着冰面消失，气候会逐渐变暖。关于气候会遭受哪些变化，科学家对此还不清楚。有气象学家预测，各种自然灾害和极端天气会增多。包括洪涝灾害，飓风以及沙漠化。这一发现为全球领导人敲响警钟。WWF的这份报告对即将在12月哥本哈根举行的联合国气候峰会提了醒。在压力面前，发达国家或将同意在2020年前将碳排放减少40%。