國家地理:融化的北極正使一場新的冷戰(zhàn)升溫(1)

Late on a gray November afternoon Marvin Atqittuq, a newly elected patrol commander in the Arctic community of Gjoa Haven, stood on the frozen sea outside town and called his troops in for a meeting. A frigid wind flicked snow in from the south, and it was about 20 below zero, cold but not that cold for the Arctic. The company of some 20 Inuit men and a few women gathered around with rifles slung over their shoulders, dressed in hand-sewn jackets of caribou hide or pants made of polar bear fur or wearing the usual store-bought stuff, which was far less warm but namuktuk, good enough for now.

11月某個天色灰暗的午后，北極地區(qū)約阿港鎮(zhèn)新選出的巡邏指揮官馬文·艾奇圖克站在鎮(zhèn)外冰凍的海面上，呼喊他的部隊前來集合。南方吹來的寒風(fēng)帶來陣陣飄雪，氣溫約為攝氏零下30度，雖然冷但在北極地區(qū)還不算太冷。由大約20名因紐特男子和幾名婦女組成的連隊集合在一起，他們肩上掛著步槍，身上穿著手工縫制的北美馴鹿毛皮夾克和北極熊毛皮褲子，或一般店家賣的雖不及毛皮暖和但“namuktuk”的衣物--意思是目前夠用。

Atqittuq pulled on a pair of sealskin gloves and outlined the plan for the day. The group was part of the Canadian Rangers, a reserve component of Canada's armed forces, and Atqittuq would now lead them on his first mission as their commander: a weeklong patrol by snowmobile down the treeless coast of King William Island. There would be GPS training, military-style target practice, search-and-rescue scenarios, and plenty of hunting and ice fishing.

艾奇圖克戴上海豹皮手套，簡要說明當(dāng)天的計劃。這群人隸屬加拿大巡邏民兵，為加拿大后備部隊的一支。艾奇圖克現(xiàn)在首次以指揮官身分帶領(lǐng)他們執(zhí)行任務(wù)。他們將騎著雪地摩托車，沿著威廉國王島上沒有樹木的海岸線進(jìn)行為期一周的巡邏。期間將進(jìn)行GPS訓(xùn)練、軍式打靶練習(xí)、搜索救援模擬演練，也會經(jīng)常打獵和冰釣。