格陵兰岛现在的融冰速度是上世纪90年代的7倍

格陵兰岛现在的融冰速度是上世纪90年代的7倍

The Greenland ice sheet's losses have accelerated so fast since the 1990s it is now shedding more than seven times as much ice each year, according to 89 scientists who use satellites to study the area.

89名使用卫星研究该地区的科学家表示，自上世纪90年代以来，格陵兰冰盖的消融速度如此之快，现在每年的消融量是以前的7倍多。

The sheet's total losses nearly doubled each decade, from 33 billion tons per year in the 1990s to an average now of 254 billion tons annually. Since 1992, nearly 4 trillion tons of Greenland ice have entered the ocean, the new analysis found, equivalent to roughly a centimeter of global sea-level rise.

这个岛的总损失几乎每十年翻一番，从1990年代的每年330亿吨增加到现在的平均每年2540亿吨。新的分析发现，自1992年以来，近4万亿吨的格陵兰冰流入海洋，大约相当于全球海平面上升一厘米。

While a centimeter may not sound like much, that uptick is already affecting millions.

虽然一厘米听起来不多，但这种上升已经影响了数百万人。

The results, from a scientific group called the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE), were published Tuesday in the journal Nature.

研究结果发表在周二的《自然》杂志上。

The research suggests an alarming pace of change for the Earth's second-largest body of ice, which could theoretically drive more than 20 feet (6 metres) of sea-level rise over a millennium.

这项研究表明，作为地球上第二大的冰体，其变化速度之快令人担忧，从理论上讲，这将导致海平面在一千年内上升超过20英尺(6米)。

The recent Greenland losses, the experts suggest, match a more dire sea-level projection outlined by the United Nations' chief climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Under that high-end scenario, Greenland could contribute about 16 centimeters, or around half a foot, to ocean levels by 2100.

专家们认为，最近格陵兰岛的损失与联合国主要气候科学机构政府间气候变化专门委员会(Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change，简称ipcc)提出的更可怕的海平面预测相符。在这种高端情景下，到2100年，格陵兰岛可能为海平面贡献约16厘米，或约半英尺。

Much more sea-level rise would then come from melting in Antarctica and smaller glaciers around the world, along with the expansion of ocean water that stems from warmer temperatures.

更多的海平面上升将来自于南极洲的融化和世界各地更小的冰川，以及由于温度升高而导致的海水扩张。

It is not yet clear whether these other components of the sea-level equation are also following the high end, or worst-case, path, however, and the current study was focused only on Greenland. (While Greenland is the biggest contributor to sea-level rise at the present moment, Antarctica ultimately has a larger long-term potential to raise seas.)

然而，目前尚不清楚的是，海平面公式的其他组成部分是否也遵循高端路线，或最坏情况，目前的研究只集中在格陵兰岛。(虽然格陵兰是目前海平面上升的最大贡献者，但南极洲最终有更大的长期海平面上升潜力。)

Sea-level rise would only continue — and, perhaps, accelerate further — after 2100.

2100年后，海平面只会继续上升，而且可能进一步加速。

Greenland is the world's largest island, covered with a continuous sheet of ice produced by many thousands of years of snowfall. The ice sheet's size rivals that of Alaska, and its center is well over a mile thick.

格陵兰岛是世界上最大的岛屿，覆盖着由数千年降雪形成的连续冰层。冰盖的大小堪比阿拉斯加，其中心厚达一英里多。

The ice flows outward under its own weight toward the ocean, but because of Greenland's mountainous and rocky coastline, it usually reaches the sea in fingerlike glaciers that extend outward through fjords. These fjords are partially submerged valleys, which were themselves excavated over vast stretches of geological time by the glaciers' movement.

冰在自身重量的作用下向外流向海洋，但由于格陵兰岛多山和多岩石的海岸线，它通常通过峡湾向外延伸的指状冰川到达海洋。这些峡湾部分是被淹没的山谷，是冰川运动在漫长的地质时期中挖掘出来的。

Several large glaciers account for the biggest ice losses — with Jakobshavn Glacier, in central Greenland, leading the way. But there are hundreds of glaciers overall, and now more are losing ice as warming seas come in contact with them through the fjords.

几个巨大的冰川造成了最大的冰川损失，其中位于格陵兰岛中部的雅各布港冰川首当其冲。但总体上有数百个冰川，现在随着变暖的海洋通过峡湾与它们接触，更多的冰川正在消融。

The ice sheet itself is also being exposed to warming air temperatures. Most of Greenland has warmed by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) already, compared with the late 19th century, according to a Washington Post analysis of the globe's fastest-warming regions.

冰盖本身也暴露在变暖的气温下。根据《华盛顿邮报》对全球变暖最快地区的分析，与19世纪末相比，格陵兰岛大部分地区已经变暖了2摄氏度(3.6华氏度)以上。

That is double the global average rate of warming.

这是全球平均变暖速度的两倍。