Arctic Melt (北極圈融化)
　　Earth's North and South Poles are famous for being cold and icy. Last year, however, the amount of ice in the Arctic Ocean fell to a record low.1
　　地球的北極和南極以寒冷而聞名。然而，在去年北冰洋的冰的數(shù)量跌到歷史最低點(diǎn)。
　　Normally, ice builds in Arctic waters around the North Pole each winter and shrinks during the summer. But for many years, the amount of ice left by the end of summer has been declining.
　　通常情況下，北極的冰在冬天擴(kuò)大，在夏天縮小。但多年來(lái)，即使夏天結(jié)束后，冰的數(shù)量依然在減少。 Since 1979, each decade has seen an 11.4 percent drop in end-of-summer ice cover2. Between 1981 and 2000, ice in the Arctic lost 22 percent of its thickness -- becoming 1.13 meters thinner.
　　自1979年以來(lái)，在夏天結(jié)束后冰覆蓋量每十年下降11.4%。在1981年到2000年期間，北極冰的厚度減少22%——變得只有1.13米的厚度。
　　Last summer, Arctic sea ice reached its skimpiest levels yet. By the end of summer 2007, the ice had shrunk to cover just 4.2 million square kilometers. That's 38 percent less area than the average cover at that time of year. Andit's a very large 23 percent below the previous record low, which was set just 2 years ago. This continuing trend has scientists concerned.
　　上個(gè)夏天，北極的海冰量已經(jīng)達(dá)到了最低水平。到2007 年夏末，冰的覆蓋面積已經(jīng) 縮小至 420 萬(wàn)平方公里。與往年的同期相比減少了38%的面積。比兩年前的歷史最低點(diǎn)還少23%。這一持續(xù)的趨勢(shì)引起了科學(xué)家們的擔(dān)心。
　　There may be several reasons for the ice melt, says Jinlun Zhang, an oceanographer at the University of Washington3 in Seattle. Unusually strong winds blew through the Arctic last summer. The winds pushed much of the ice out of the central Arctic, leaving a large area of thin ice and open water4.
　　華盛頓大學(xué)的海洋學(xué)家說(shuō)，有幾種原因?qū)е铝吮�的融化。去年夏天異常�?qiáng)勁的大風(fēng)吹過(guò)北極。大風(fēng)使大量的冰離開(kāi)北極中心，留下了大面積的薄冰和沒(méi)有冰覆蓋的海面。
　　Scientists also suspect that fewer clouds cover the Arctic now than in the past. Clearer skies allow more sunlight to reach the ocean. The extra heat warms both the water and the atmosphere. In parts of the Arctic Ocean last year, surface temperatures were 3.5℃Celsius warmer than average and 1.5℃ warmer than the previous record high5.
　　科學(xué)家猜測(cè)北極上空的云比往年要少。更加晴朗的天空讓更多的陽(yáng)光直接照射在大海上。海水和大氣都更加的熱。去年在北冰洋的一些地方，海面溫度比平均值高出3.5攝氏度，比以前的紀(jì)錄還高1.5攝氏度。
　　With both air and water getting warmer, the ice is melting from both above and below. In some parts of the Beaufort Sea6, north of Alaska and western Canada, ice that measured 3.3m thick at the beginning of the summer measured just 50 centimeters by season's end.
　　隨著空氣和海水的轉(zhuǎn)暖，冰的上下都在融化。在波弗特海的某些地方、阿拉斯加北部和加拿大西部，夏季開(kāi)始時(shí)測(cè)量的冰厚度是3.3米，在夏季結(jié)束的時(shí)候再次測(cè)量時(shí)只有50厘米。
　　The new measurements suggest that melting is far more severe than scientists have seen by just looking at ice cover from above, says Donald K. Perovich, a geophysicist at the U. S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H.7
　　“新的測(cè)量表面，冰的融化程度比科學(xué)家僅僅從冰面看到的情況更加嚴(yán)重” ，新罕布什爾州漢諾威市美國(guó)陸軍寒冷地區(qū)研究和工程實(shí)驗(yàn)室的地球物理學(xué)者唐納德說(shuō)。
　　Some scientists fear that the Arctic is stuck in a warming trend from which it may never recover.
　　一些科學(xué)家擔(dān)心北冰洋變暖的趨勢(shì)可能不會(huì)逆轉(zhuǎn)。
　　詞匯：
　　Arctic n.北極，北極圈;adj.北極的
　　the Arctic Ocean 北冰洋 shrink v.萎縮;縮小，減少 oceanographer n.海洋學(xué)家 skimpy adj.缺乏的，不足的 centimeter n.厘米 geophysicist n.地球物理學(xué)家
　　注釋 中華考試網(wǎng)
　　1. fell to a record low: 跌到歷史最低點(diǎn)。record 作形容詞時(shí)，意思是“空前的，創(chuàng)記 錄的”。Record low 的反義詞是 record high: 歷史點(diǎn)。
　　2. ice cover: 冰覆蓋量
　　3. University of Washington: 華盛頓大學(xué)，創(chuàng)建于 l861 年，座落在美國(guó)華盛頓州西雅圖 市東北角，所以又稱(chēng)西雅圖華盛頓大學(xué)，是美國(guó)著名的公立研究型大學(xué)。
　　4. open water: 沒(méi)有冰覆蓋的海面
　　5. record high : 見(jiàn)注釋1。
　　6. the Beaufort Sea: 波弗特海，是北冰洋邊緣海，位于美國(guó)阿拉斯加州東北岸和加拿大 西北岸，海中島嶼稀少，有無(wú)島海之稱(chēng)。
　　7. Hanover，N.H：新罕布什爾州漢諾威市。N.H.是 New Hampshire 的縮寫(xiě)。該州位于美 國(guó)新英格蘭地區(qū)。