VOA慢速英语--世界冰川融化的速度比以往任何时候都快

The world's glaciers² are melting quickly.

Scientists from the magazine Nature looked at 20 years of satellite data of the world's 220,000 mountain glaciers. They found that since 2015, glaciers have lost 298 billion metric³ tons of ice and snow per year. That is 31 percent more than 15 years ago, and enough ice melt to put Switzerland under 7.2 meters of water each year.

Scientists say the melting is caused by climate change. They have long warned that warming temperatures are shrinking⁴ glaciers around the world.

Romain Hugonnet studies glaciers at ETH Zurich and the University of Toulouse in France. He led the report. The thinning rate of glaciers is twice as high as it was 20 years ago, and "that's enormous⁵," he said.

Half of the world's glacier¹ melt is in the United States and Canada.

Alaska's melt rates are "among the highest on the planet," Hugonnet said. Alaska's Columbia Glacier is losing about 35 meters a year, he added.

Almost all of the world's glaciers are melting. Even glaciers that used to be solid are now melting, such as ones in Tibet.

The melting "mirrors" the worldwide increase in temperature and is from the burning of coal, oil and gas, Hugonnet said. Some smaller glaciers are totally lost. Two years ago, scientists, activists⁶ and government officials in Iceland even held a funeral for a small glacier.

The study is the first to use satellite images to examine all of Earth's glaciers that are not connected to ice sheets in Greenland or the Antarctic⁷. Past studies looked at just a small number of the world's glaciers.

Shrinking glaciers are a problem for millions of people who use regular glacial melt for drinking water. Very fast melting can also cause deadly floods in places like India, Hugonnet said.

But the biggest threat to the world is rising sea levels. The world's oceans are already rising from climate change because water expands when it gets warmer. Glaciers are responsible for 21 percent of sea level rise. Melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica also cause sea level rise, but to a lesser⁸ amount.

Mark Serreze is director of the American National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Colorado. He thinks "sea level rise is going to be a bigger and bigger problem as we move through the 21st century." The NSIDC was not involved in the study.

Scientists said that it could take tens or even hundreds of years to regrow melted glaciers.

Twila Moon studies glaciers at the NSIDC. She is not confident the glaciers can regrow, even if there is a worldwide reduction⁹ in emissions¹¹ and the planet's temperature is controlled.

"We're at a point where we're trying to keep as much ice as possible and slow that rate of loss," she said.

Words in This Story

glacier – n. a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land

enormous - adj. very great in size or amount

mirror - v. to be very similar to (something)

emission¹⁰ – n. the act of producing or sending out something (such as energy or gas) from a source

1 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。

2 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）

3 metric   

adj.公制的，米制的，十进制的；n.度量标准，公制，米制，十进制

参考例句：

• In the metric system,measurements are made in metres and liters.在公制中，用米和升作计量单位。
• The metric system is fit to all of the world. 公制适用于全世界。

4 shrinking   

a.畏缩的，犹豫不决的

参考例句：

• She purposely made the dress larger to allow for shrinking when it was washed. 她故意把衣服做大一些，以防洗时缩水。
• I can't imagine why a dynamic young woman like her is marrying a shrinking violet like him. 我不能想像，像她这样一个充满活力的年轻女子为什么会嫁给他这样一个胆怯害羞的人。

5 enormous   

adj.巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• An enormous sum of money is injected each year into teaching.每年都有大量资金投入到教学中。
• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 Antarctic   

adj.南极(区)的；n.(the A-)南极洲，南极圈

参考例句：

• The Antarctic is a mountainous area.南极洲是一个多山的地区。
• It is well known that penguins live in the Antarctic.企鹅生活在南极洲是众所周知的。

8 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

9 reduction   

n.减少，减低，减缩；减少，减低

参考例句：

• Reduction in income tax will be welcomed with open arms.减少所得税将受到热烈欢迎。
• You will have a reduction for cash.付现金可以打折扣。

10 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

11 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。