格陵兰冰原

今时今日，格陵兰冰原的迅速融化将会使大量的淡水注入北大西洋，造成海洋环境的变化。

Today , rapid melting from the Greenland ice sheet would send massive amounts of fresh water into the North Atlantic Ocean , changing the marine environment .

北部冰冠有750英里宽，两英里厚，体积正好是格陵兰冰原的一半。

Seven hundred and fifty miles across , and up to two miles thick , the northern cap has a volume just half that of the Greenland ice sheet .

但是更迅速的变暖导致的南极和格陵兰冰原的加速融化意味着如今海平面上升的最坏情境是1.2米。

But the accelerated melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland caused by faster warming means the worst case is now put at1.2 metres .

此次评估报告鉴定了格陵兰冰原以及南极洲西部冰原不断加剧的消融速度，新的研究认为冰层的消失是不可逆的，一旦消消失将会是永久性的。

The report identified increased loss of Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets , and new research suggesting that once gone that ice might not be able to recover .

美国太空总署最近发布的卫星影像显示，单是2007年夏天，格陵兰冰原就有五千五百二十亿吨的冰融化了。

The American space agency , NASA , recently revealed satellite images showing that this summer alone , 552 billion tons of ice had melted from the Greenland ice sheet .

它指出，如果全球气温较工业化之前的水平上升2°C，将可能造成毁灭性后果：格陵兰岛冰原迅速融化，多达三分之一的动植物物种面临灭绝。

It pointed out the potentially devastating effects of rapid melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the likely extinction of up to a third of plant and animal species if global temperatures increased by 2 ° C above pre-industrial levels .

这包括山岳冰川、覆盖南极洲西部和格陵兰的冰原以及北冰洋的海冰。

This includes mountain glaciers , ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland , and Arctic sea ice .

随着全球变暖，这种机制正加速格陵兰岛冰原消失和海平面上升。

This mechanism is accelerating the loss of Greenland ice and therefore sea level rise in response to global warming .

而在今年7月，卫星数据显示格陵兰岛冰原表面在超过四天后97%已经变成了融雪，这个速度已经超过了以往的任何历史记录。

In July , satellite data showed that 97 percent of the surface of the Greenland ice sheet had turned to slush over four days , a rate faster than at any time in recorded history .

冰河学家4月18日发布了第一份关于格陵兰岛冰原渗水的研究报告，解释了冰原表面的夏季融水是如何到达冰原底部，并充当了冰层滑入大海的润滑剂的。

Glaciologists on the 18 April publish the first account of the plumbing of the Greenland ice sheet . It explains how meltwater that forms on top of the ice in summer reaches the base of the sheet and lubricates its flow into the sea .

格陵兰岛的冰原融化，也可能需要数百年时间，这值得庆幸，因为冰原融化将使海平面升高4到6米，甚至更多。

The likelihood was also that it would take centuries for the Greenland ice sheet to melt , which was fortunate , as such melting would raise sea levels by 4m to 6m , or more .