瑞典最高峰变矮了

瑞典最高的山峰在不祥的山脉重塑中失去了统治地位

It's not as if the world needed another symbol for the climate crisis, but now Sweden has one all to itself. After years of rising temperatures and back-to-back summer heatwaves, the southern peak of Kebnekaise, Sweden's former tallest mountain, has melted into subservience.

这并不是说世界需要另一个标志来应对气候危机，但现在瑞典有了一个完全属于自己的标志。在经历了数年的气温上升和连续不断的夏季热浪之后，瑞典前最高山峰Kebnekaise的南峰已经融化成了一座附属山。

For decades, the glacier atop this iconic summit has been in retreat, and now measurements show it has been dethroned as the nation's tallest point. It's neighbour, the ice-free northern peak, now reigns victorious.

几十年来，这个标志性的山顶上的冰川一直在退缩，现在的测量显示，它已经不再是瑞典最高点。它的邻居，无冰北峰，现在取得了胜利。

"This is the lowest height ever measured," says Gunhild Ninis Rosqvist, a geographer who focuses on changing polar environments at Stockholm University.

斯德哥尔摩大学的地理学家冈希尔德尼尼尼斯罗斯克维斯特(GunhildNinisRosqvist)说：“这是有史以来测量的最低高度。”

"Over the past 50 years, the height of Kebnekaise's southern peak has decreased by 24 metres."

“在过去的50年里，Kebnekaise南峰的高度下降了24米。”

And recently, things have only been getting worse. In the past decade alone, the melt rate has been roughly one metre per year.

最近，情况越来越糟。仅在过去的10年里，冰川融化的速度大约为每年1米。

The southern peak's fall from grace has been coming for a while now. Just last year, the northern peak came neck-and-neck with the southern peak and researchers suspected that it might have even slipped past, although measurements were not accurate enough to say for sure.

南峰的衰落已经有一段时间了。就在去年，北峰和南峰并驾齐击，研究人员怀疑它甚至可能已经滑过了，尽管测量数据不够准确，不能确定。

This year, the measurements were more exact. At the end of this summer, researchers at Stockholm University announced that the southern peak was, in fact, 1.2 metres (4 feet) shorter than the northern peak. Currently, it stands at just 2,095.6 metres (around 6,875 feet).

今年，测量结果更加精确。今年夏末，斯德哥尔摩大学的研究人员宣布，南峰实际上比北峰矮1.2米(4英尺)。目前，它的高度只有2095.6米(约6875英尺)。

The height of this glacier fluctuates by about three metres between summer and winter, and September is when it's at its lowest. Over the winter, it's likely to gather more height by building up a nice pack of snow and ice, but the overall trajectory is unmistakable. The melting rate has only increased in recent years and it shows no signs of slowing down.

这座冰川的高度在夏季和冬季之间波动约3米，9月是它的最低点。在冬天，它可能会聚集更多的高度，形成一个漂亮的冰雪包裹，但整体轨迹是明确无误的。融化速度只是近年来才有所增加，而且没有放缓的迹象。