Penguins enjoy the sunshine on a warm Antarctic day. CFP
Antarctica is known for being a vast land of ice and snow, a place too cold for most life. Despite this, the continent is slowly starting to turn warm. According to the Guardian, the Antarctic has registered a new high temperature for the first time on record, prompting fears of climate instability in the world’s iciest place.
众所周知，南极洲是一片被冰雪覆盖的广阔土地，气候酷寒，大多数生命难以生存。然而，这片大陆却正在逐渐变暖。据《卫报》报道，南极测得了有气象记录以来的最高温，引发人们对于全球极寒之地气候不稳定的担忧。
On Feb 9, Brazilian researchers at Seymour Island reported a temperature of 20.75 C on the icy continent of Antarctica. It was almost a full degree higher than the previous record of 19.8 C, taken on Signy Island in January 1982.
2月9日，巴西研究人员在处于严寒地带的南极洲西摩岛记录下了20.75摄氏度的高温。这比先前西格尼岛1982年1月记录的19.8摄氏度高了将近1摄氏度。
This record-breaking reading was taken at a monitoring station in the northern part of Antarctica. According to Brazilian soil scientist Carlos Schaefer, the temperature was documented during a 20-year-long research project. The focus of this project is to study the effect that climate change has on the permafrost within the region. Permafrost is soil that stays frozen for at least two years.
这一破纪录的数据是在南极洲北部的一所监测站测得的。巴西土壤学家卡洛斯·谢弗称，这一气温纪录被收录于一个长达20年的研究项目。该项目的关注点在于研究气候变化对于该地区永久冻土的影响。永久冻土指的是冻结至少两年的土壤层。
Although this is a first record high for Antarctica, Schaefer stressed that “We can’t use this to anticipate climatic changes in the future. It’s simply a signal that something different is happening in that area.”
尽管这一记录刷新了南极洲气温的最高值，谢弗强调称：“我们无法用这个记录预测未来的气候变化，这只是个信号，表明这个地区正在发生一些不同寻常的变化。
But in fact, the last high temperature reading was in the 19 C range. These higher temperatures can cause ice and glaciers in Antarctic regions to melt. The Antarctic peninsula – the long finger of land that stretches towards Argentina – is most dramatically affected. Scientists saw glaciers that have retreated by more than 100 meters in Discovery Bay where the snow melted in little more than a week, leaving dark exposed rock. This melted ice leads to a rise in sea levels that can threaten the safety of coastal areas. It’s believed to be behind an alarming decline of more than 50 percent in chinstrap penguin colonies, which are dependent on sea ice.
但事实上，之前的最高温记录还在19摄氏度的范围内。这些高温天气会导致南极洲地区的冰雪与冰川融化。南极半岛是个延伸向阿根廷的狭长地带，这里受到的影响最大。科学家们发现，探索湾的冰川已经后退了100多米，地面的积雪用一周多的时间就化得裸露出深色的岩石。这些融化的冰雪会导致海平面上升，威胁沿海地区的安全。人们认为，这也是依赖海冰的帽带企鹅数量急剧下降超过50%的背后原因。
Like American writer Ernest Hemingway once said, “The Earth is a fine place and worth fighting for.” We should do everything we can to help save our planet. Otherwise, it may become too hot for us to fix.
正如美国作家欧内斯特·海明威所言：“地球很美好，值得我们为之奋斗。”我们应当做一切力所能及的事来保护我们的星球。否则，地球或许将陷入我们无法挽回的高温之中。
