北极科考任务面临着新的挑战

冠状病毒和早期冰川融化，给北极气候变化任务带来了新的挑战

They prepared for icy cold and trained to be on the watch for polar bears, but a pandemic just wasn’t part of the program.

他们为严寒做好了准备，并接受了北极熊警戒训练，但冠状病毒并不是计划的一部分。

Now dozens of scientists are waiting in quarantine for the all-clear to join a year-long Arctic research mission aimed at improving the models used for forecasting climate change, just as the expedition reaches a crucial phase.

现在，数十名科学家在隔离区等待着所有人加入为期一年的北极研究任务，目的是改进用于预测气候变化的模型。目前，北极考察队正进入一个关键阶段。

For a while, the international mission looked like it might have to be called off, as country after country went into lockdown because of the virus, scuppering plans to bring fresh supplies and crew to the German research vessel Polarstern that’s been moored in the high Arctic since last year.

一段时间以来，这一国际任务看起来可能不得不取消，因为一个又一个国家因为病毒而进入封锁状态，破坏了为德国研究船“极地斯特恩号”(Polarstern)带来新鲜补给和船员的计划。该船自去年以来一直停泊在北极高地。

News of the pandemic caused jitters among those already on board, said Matthew Shupe, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado and co-leader of the MOSAiC expedition.

科罗拉多大学(University of Colorado)大气科学家、马赛克探险队(MOSAiC expedition)联合负责人马修•舒佩(Matthew Shupe)表示，病毒的各种消息让已经在船上的人感到不安。

Organizers at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Ocean Research managed to fly out a handful of people via Canada last month. The rest of the crew will be exchanged with the help of two other German research ships that will meet the Polarstern on the sea ice edge.

上个月，阿尔弗雷德·韦格纳极地和海洋研究所的组织者设法让一小部分人乘飞机通过加拿大。其余船员将在另外两艘德国研究船的帮助下交换，这两艘德国研究船将在海冰边缘与研究船会合。

That upcoming rendezvous will force the Polarstern to abandon its current position for three weeks at a critical time in the Arctic cycle.

即将到来的集合地点，将迫使研究船在北极任务的关键时刻，放弃当前位置长达三周。

“We are on the cusp right now of the onset of the sea ice melt season and that’s a really important transition,” said Shupe.

舒佩说：“现在正处于海冰融化季节的开始，这是一个非常重要的时期。”。

“That could happen when the ship is gone,” he said. “It’s a distinct risk we face.”

他说：“船不在的时候可能会发生这种情况。这是面临的最显著问题。”

To avoid missing out on key data, researchers will leave some instruments behind, including an 11-meter (36-foot) tower used for atmospheric measurements and hope that it’s still there when they return.

为了避免遗漏关键数据，研究人员将留下一些仪器，包括一个11米(36英尺)的用于大气测量的塔，希望研究船返回时它仍在那里。

Adding to the problem is the fact that the sea ice is cracking up and moving about earlier than anticipated, a sign of possible future changes to the Arctic if global warming continues.

另外一个问题是，海冰的破裂和移动比预期的要早，这表明如果全球变暖持续下去，北极地区未来可能会发生变化。

“It’s challenging,” said Shupe. “But we need to face that challenge in order to get these kind of measurements.”

“这很有挑战性，”舒佩说。“但我们需要面对这一挑战，才能获得此类测量结果。”

Scientists on the 140-million-euro ($158 million) expedition have already gathered valuable data since setting out last September with 100 researchers and crew from 17 nations including the United States, France, China and Britain.

自去年9月出发以来，这项耗资1.4亿欧元(1.58亿美元)、来自17个国家(包括美国，法国，中国和英国)的100名研究人员和工作人员的科学家已经收集了很多有价值的数据。