熱浪襲擊格陵蘭島，融化了110億噸冰

熱浪襲擊格陵蘭島，融化了110億噸冰

The record-breaking heat wave that covered much of Europe has now settled over Greenland. The warm temperatures have accelerated the melting of the country's ice sheet and caused extreme ice loss.

席卷歐洲大部分地區(qū)的創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄熱浪現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)在格陵蘭島登陸。溫暖的氣溫加速了該國冰蓋的融化，并造成了極端的冰損失。

Greenland's ice sheet — which covers 80 percent of the island — typically melts in summer, beginning around the end of May. This year, however, it began earlier in the month and has been melting since then, primarily because the country has seen abnormally high temperatures. Greenland's capital city of Nuuk recorded temperatures in the high 50s this week; normal temperatures are about 10 degrees cooler.

格陵蘭島的冰蓋覆蓋了全島80%的面積，通常在夏季融化，大約從5月底開始。然而，今年的冰川在本月早些時候開始融化，自那以來一直在融化，主要原因是該國經(jīng)歷了反常的高溫。格陵蘭島首府努克本周的氣溫達(dá)到50多度;正常溫度要低10度左右。

Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Scientists say the ice sheet had its biggest melt of the year on Thursday when it lost 11 billion tons of surface ice to the oceans, CNN reports. That's roughly what would fill 4.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to the news site.

據(jù)美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)報道，科學(xué)家們表示，周四，冰蓋發(fā)生了今年最大的一次融化，向海洋流失了110億噸表面冰。據(jù)新聞網(wǎng)站報道，這大約相當(dāng)于440萬個奧運會規(guī)模的游泳池的容量。

Although the melt has likely peaked, it isn't over.

盡管融化可能已經(jīng)達(dá)到頂峰，但還沒有結(jié)束。

"The long-term forecast is for continuing warm and sunny weather in Greenland, so that means the amount of the ice loss will continue," Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist with the Danish Meteorological Institute, told the Associated Press. (And for a deeper dive into what's at play and what to expect, the Polar Portal, which is run by Danish research institutions, offers a much deeper explanation.)

丹麥氣象研究所的氣候科學(xué)家Ruth Mottram對美聯(lián)社說:“長期的預(yù)測是格陵蘭島將持續(xù)溫暖和晴朗的天氣，這意味著冰的損失將會繼續(xù)。”(為了更深入地了解正在發(fā)生什么，以及預(yù)期會發(fā)生什么，由丹麥研究機(jī)構(gòu)運營的極地門戶網(wǎng)站提供了更深入的解釋。)

The heat wave that caused the melt is the same warm air from north Africa that triggered the heat wave in Europe last month, setting records in at least a dozen countries.

造成冰川融化的熱浪和上個月在歐洲引發(fā)熱浪的北非暖空氣一樣，至少在十幾個國家創(chuàng)下了紀(jì)錄。

July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded, and not just in Europe. A record-breaking heat wave settled over the East Coast and Midwest, affecting about one-third of the population of the U.S. and causing widespread power outages.

2019年7月是有記錄以來最熱的一個月，不僅是在歐洲。一股破紀(jì)錄的熱浪席卷美國東海岸和中西部，影響了大約三分之一的美國人口，并造成大面積停電。

This NASA image shows wildfire smoke over Russia in July 2019. The blanket of smoke was created by multiple fires extending across central and northern Asia. (Photo: NASA)

The hot, dry weather has also caused massive forest fires in Russia with high winds spreading the flames to nearly 11,580 square miles (30,000 square kilometers) of land, according to the AP.

據(jù)美聯(lián)社報道，炎熱干燥的天氣還導(dǎo)致俄羅斯發(fā)生大規(guī)模森林火災(zāi)，大風(fēng)將火勢蔓延至近11580平方英里(30000平方公里)的土地。

Wildfires have also been burning across Alaska and Greenland, fueled by high temperatures and strong winds.

在高溫和強(qiáng)風(fēng)的推動下，阿拉斯加和格陵蘭島也發(fā)生了野火。

NASA has warned how these fires might play a role in global warming.

美國宇航局警告稱，這些火災(zāi)可能會在全球變暖中發(fā)揮作用。

"One fire here and there is not a big deal, as far as immediate local weather and climate impacts," said Santiago Gassó, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in a release. "But when you have so many fires continuously emitting, the smoke remains in the atmosphere for so long that it can actually change temperature profiles for several days and has a meteorological and climatic impacts."

美國國家航空航天局戈達(dá)德航天飛行中心的大氣科學(xué)家圣地亞哥·加索在一份新聞稿中說:“只要發(fā)生一場火災(zāi)，對當(dāng)?shù)靥鞖夂蜌夂虻闹苯佑绊懖⒉淮?。但?dāng)有這么多火災(zāi)持續(xù)排放時，煙霧會在大氣中停留很長時間，它實際上可以在幾天內(nèi)改變溫度分布，并對氣象和氣候產(chǎn)生影響。”