时差N小时 南极曾是一片森林?(上)

Dear A Moment of Science, I know that around 250 million years ago the Earth was a lot hotter than it is today.

亲爱的科学一刻，我知道大约在2.5亿年前，地球要比今天热的多的多。

So I'm wondering what that meant, exactly?

所以，我就在想这到底意味着什么?

How did the planet¹ look different than it does today?

那时的地球相比今天而言有多大的不同呢?

Well, the Earth was different in lots of ways hundreds of millions of years ago.

几亿年前的地球与今天相比在很多方面都有所不同。

One major difference linked to warmer global temperatures was that Antarctica was not the icy, barren² waste land it is today.

最主要的一个差异与全球温度有关，那就是南极当时并不像今天这样是一片被冰雪覆盖的荒芜之地。

In fact, it was covered by forest.

事实上，当时的南极是一片森林。

Really? What kind of forest?

真的吗？什么样的森林呢?

That's what scientists are trying to figure out.

科学家们也在试图寻找答案。

Fossilized leaf impressions seem to show that mats of leaves once covered the ground.

从树叶化石的痕迹来看，当时的地表被层层的树叶所覆盖。

1 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

2 barren   

adj.贫瘠的，不（生）育的，没有结果的

参考例句：

• The place used to be a stretch of barren land.早先这里是一片不毛之地。
• The barren land could produce little food.那贫瘠的土地几乎不长庄稼。