地球的未来正在快速融化的格陵兰岛上书写

Earth’s Future Being Written in Fast-Melting Greenland

Ocean scientist David Holland calls Greenland “the end of the planet.”

The New York University professor is mostly talking about Greenland’s location in the North Atlantic. But in many ways, it is where the planet’s future is being written.

Holland spoke¹ with The Associated Press during his recent visit to the world's largest island. The ice he was standing² on is thousands of years old. It will be gone within two years, adding more water to already rising seas around the world.

Summer this year is hitting Greenland hard, with record-setting heat and melting ice. By the end of the summer, more than 400 billion metric tons of ice will have melted or broken off from Greenland’s huge ice sheet, scientists estimate. That is enough water to cover the nation of Greece about 35 centimeters deep.

Among the most affected³ places is Helheim, one of Greenland’s fastest-shrinking glaciers⁵. It sits on the southern edge of the island. It has shrunk 10 kilometers since scientists first measured it in 2005.

Many researchers say what is happening is a combination of man-made climate change and natural, but strange weather events. Glaciers here always shrink in the summer and grow in the winter.

This year is coming near, but not yet passing the extreme summer of 2012. that is Greenland’s worst year in modern history for melting, scientists report.

Ruth Mottram is a Danish climate scientist. She said nearly all of the 28 Greenland glaciers she is measuring are shrinking, especially Helheim. At Helheim, the ice, snow and water seem endless. The only thing that gives a sense of Helheim’s massive size is the helicopter carrying Holland and his team. It looks like a small red mark against the glacier⁴’s 70-meter-tall ice cliffs.

Just next to the cliffs are what remains⁶ of Helheim’s sea ice, snow and icebergs⁷. These remnants create a mostly white expanse, with a mix of shapes. But in some places, bright-blue water forms on the surface.

The helicopter’s pilot, Martin Norregaard, looks for ice covered with dirt. That tells him the ice is firm enough for the helicopter to land on. Pure white ice could hide a deep hole that would lead to a cold and deadly dive.

Holland and his team climb out of the helicopter and set up equipment that lets researchers follow Helheim’s movements over time. Such efforts also may help them better understand why salty, warm ocean water attacking the underside of the glacier has been rising to the surface.

“It takes a really long time to grow an ice sheet, thousands and thousands of years, but they can be broken up or destroyed quite rapidly,” Holland said.

The small town of Kulusuk is a 40-minute helicopter ride away from Helheim. Mugu Utuaq lives in Kulusuk. He says winter weather there used to last as long as 10 months when he was a boy. Now, winter can be as short as five months. That matters to Utuaq. He is among the top dogsledders in Greenland. And he needs hard ice to race his 23 dogs.

“People are getting rid of their dogs because there’s no season,” said another local man, Yewlin. He used to run a sled dog team for tourists at a hotel in nearby Tasiilaq. But that is no longer possible.

The melting glaciers and warmer weather are noticeable, said Kulusuk Mayor Justus Paulsen. The 58-year-old added that his home is much different from his childhood.

That is not necessarily a bad thing for Paulsen. “We like it because we like to have a summer.”

But scientists like Holland who study glaciers see the bigger picture. It is not good news, Holland said. Not for Kulusuk. And not for Earth in general.

“It’s kind of nice to have a planet with glaciers around,” Holland said.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

location - n. a place or position

cliff - n. a high, steep surface of rock, earth, or ice

rapidly - adv. happening in a short amount of time

get rid of - phrasal verb. to do something so that you no longer have or are affected or bothered by

tourist - n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 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。

5 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 icebergs   

n.冰山，流冰( iceberg的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The drift of the icebergs in the sea endangers the ships. 海上冰山的漂流危及船只的安全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The icebergs towered above them. 冰山高耸于他们上方。 来自辞典例句