2006年VOA标准英语-Melting of Earth’s Poles Confirmed

By Paul Sisco
Washington, D.C.
24 November 2006
 
watch Polar Melting report

2007 is International Polar Year. It's an international effort to spur scientific research at the most forbidding places on Earth, primarily because many in science consider the North and South Poles essential to life on the planet.

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Antarctica mountains

The delicate balance between sun, water, and ice hugely impacts life on planet Earth; hence growing concerns over global warming, and a concentrated effort by scientists to accelerate polar research.  This year, there was documented evidence of significant melting at both poles.  And the U.S. Space Agency, NASA, and others, confirm the Earth has warmed nearly two degrees since 1900. That may not sound like much, but warming temperatures fuel extreme weather patterns.  And a recent study suggests continued global warming could raise sea levels several meters by the end of the century.

The poles are strange, beautiful places, where the sun moves sideways, nights last for months, and bone-chilling winds scar the landscape.  The North Pole is an ice sheet floating on the Arctic Ocean; a volatile¹ terrain² inhabited by fascinating creatures above and below the ice.  The colder South Pole sits atop the massive, frozen continent of Antarctica.  The southern ice sheet is over 2200 meters thick, on average.  That amounts to 90 percent of the world's ice and 70 percent of its fresh water.  Beneath these frigid³ waters researchers find a world teeming⁴ with life. 

Dale Anderson a scientist with the Carl Sagan Center says, "Most of this area has never been explored or seen with human eyes.  The surprising thing for me was just to find the great diversity of life that we find under the ice."

Life -- such as fish with a natural antifreeze that keeps their blood from freezing and huge jelly fish with tentacles⁵ fifteen meters long. More, along the sea floor: a silent, eerie⁶ forest thick with microscopic⁷ life. 

Researcher George Simmons adds, "Upon landing on the bottom I realized that the entire bottom quaked around me, much like landing on a big bowl of Jello⁸ [gelatin]."

"These microbial mats that we see in the lakes in the Antarctic may resemble communities that may have lived on Mars billions of years ago," says Anderson.

Scientists say these icy polar waters have much to teach about the mysteries of life on our world and perhaps on distant worlds as well.

1 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

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 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

4 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

5 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

7 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

8 jello   

n.凝胶物，果冻

参考例句：

• We have ice cream,pie,cake or jello.我们要冰淇淋、馅饼、蛋糕或是果冻。
• She likes jello very much.她很喜欢吃果冻。