Title:Antarctica Has Lost Nearly 3 Trillion Tonnes of Ice Since 1992

The Antarctic may have lost nearly 3 trillion tonnes of ice since the early 1990s, according to a landmark study published in the journal Nature.

根据在《自然》杂志上发表的一项具有里程碑意义的研究，南极自1990年代初以来可能损失了近3万亿吨的冰。

The new findings are the result of the most complete satellite survey of Antarctic ice sheet change to date, involving 84 scientists from 44 international organizations (including NASA and the European Space Agency).

新的发现是迄今对南极冰层表变化进行的最完整的卫星调查的结果，共有44个国际组织（包括美国航天局和欧洲航天局）的84名科学家参加。

The researchers estimate that ice loss in the period between 1992 and 2017, could be as high as 2,720 billion tonnes (although the number may also be as low as 1,390 billion tonnes, due to uncertainties in the data).

研究人员估计，1992至2017年期间冰层流失量可能高达27,200亿吨（尽管由于数据的不确定性，这一数字也可能低至13,90亿吨）。

Worryingly, the paper demonstrates that the rate of ice loss has tripled in recent times. Prior to 2012 the continent was losing ice at a rate of around 76 billion tonnes per year. But in the period between 2012 to 2017, the figure jumps to a staggering 219 billion tonnes per year. This equates to a 0.6 mm annual rise in global sea levels (in total, sea levels are rising about 3 mm a year, according to NASA).

令人担忧的是，该文件表明，近来冰层流失率增加了两倍，在2012年之前，该大陆每年冰量减少约760亿吨。但在2012至2017年期间，这一数字每年猛增2,190亿吨，相当于全球海平面每年增加0.6毫米(美国航天局称，总体而言，海平面每年上升约3毫米)。

Knowing how much ice Antarctica is losing is critical to understanding how climate change will affect humanity both now and in the future, given the fact that the continent contains enough frozen water to raise sea levels by 58 meters. This is more than enough to completely submerge coastal cities around the world, but even much smaller rises will severely affect these populations.

鉴于南极洲有足够冰冻的水足以将海平面提高58米，了解气候变化将如何影响人类现在和将来这一点至关重要。这足以完全淹没世界各地的沿海城市，但即使小得多的增长也会严重影响到这些人口。

"We have long suspected that changes in Earth's climate will affect the polar ice sheets,"  Andrew Shepherd from the University of Leeds, who led the research, said in a statement.  "Thanks to the satellites our space agencies have launched, we can now track their ice losses and global sea level contribution with confidence.

在一份声明中说：“我们早就怀疑地球气候的变化将影响极地冰盖。”利兹大学的Andrew Shepherd领导这项研究。"由于我们的空间机构发射的卫星，我们现在可以充满信心地追踪其冰层流失和全球海平面贡献。“

"According to our analysis, there has been a steep increase in ice losses from Antarctica during the past decade, and the continent is causing sea levels to rise faster today than at any time in the past 25 years,"  he added.  "This has to be a concern for the governments we trust to protect our coastal cities and communities."

他补充道：“根据我们的分析，过去十年，南极冰层流失率急剧上升，而今天南极洲的海平面上升速度快于过去25年的任何时间。“这必须引起我们信任的政府的关切，以保护我们的沿海城市和社区。

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Shepherd told Newsweek that there is a combination of factors that have led to the increased rate of ice loss in recent years, all of which are indicators of climate change. They include Antarctic glaciers speeding up in the wake of ice shelf collapse, warming waters in the Amundsen sea—which lies to the west of the continent—and reduced ice sheet growth in East Antarctica.

Shepherd对新闻周刊说，近年来导致冰层流失率的各种因素交织在一起，所有这些都是气候变化的指标。它们包括南极冰架崩塌后冰川加速、位于大陆西部的阿蒙森海暖水以及南极洲东部冰盖增长下降。

Summer clouds swirl in around the Staccato Peaks of Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula. High snowfall and strong weather gradients in this mountainous area make assessment of glacier mass balance particularly challenging.   Hamish Pritchard, BAS

在南极半岛Alexander岛Alexander岛StaccatoPeaks周围飘荡着夏季的云云，这一山区的高降雪和很强的气候梯度使得对冰川质量平衡的评估特别具有挑战性。

He adds that the new results have implications for predicting global sea level rise in the future. Based on data gathered for the period between 1992 and 2011, Antarctica was heading towards the lower range of IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) projections, which pointed to a global sea level rise of a just few centimeters by 2100. Now, the continent looks to be tracking towards the upper range, which would mean a rise of 15 centimeters by the end of the century.

他还说，新的结果对预测未来全球海平面上升有影响。根据1992年至2011年期间收集的数据，南极洲正朝着气专委(政府间气候变化专门委员会)预测的较低范围方向发展，该预测表明，到2100年全球海平面上升几厘米。现在，非洲大陆有望走向上层距离，这意味着到本世纪末将上升15厘米。

Twila Moon, a research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado, who was not involved in the study, said the research was further confirmation that Antarctica is losing ice at an "increasingly fast pace."

科罗拉多大学国家冰雪数据中心的研究科学家Twila Moon说，这项研究进一步证实，南极正在以“越来越快的速度”流失冰球。

"Continued ice loss in Antarctica is of great concern for humanity, affecting coastal communities, people, and infrastructure," she said in a statement. "The good news is that limited climate change can slow the rate of ice loss, and there are many proven actions that can reduce climate change and be implemented immediately. The time is now for all of us to act."

她在一份声明中说：“人类极为关切南极持续丧失冰层，它影响到沿海社区、人民和基础设施。"好消息是，有限的气候变化可以减缓冰层流失的速度，而且许多行之有效的行动能够减少气候变化并立即付诸实施，现在是我们大家采取行动的时候了"。