If the polar ice caps were to melt, what would happen to the level of the ocean? 每月一问：如果极地冰帽融化，海平面会有何变化？
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2004年10月02日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年7月29日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：324
课文朗读
课文讲解
Bonnie and her friend Frank are watching a television program about global warming: 邦妮和她朋友法兰克正在看电视上一个关于全球暖化的节目：
B: We’re doomed!
完蛋，我们死定了！
F: If the burning of fossil fuel and global warming don’t end life on Earth, what will?
如果燃烧石化燃料和全球暖化都没办法终结地球上的生物，还有什么会呢？
B: Maybe an ice age?
或许来一次冰河时期会吧？
F: Hey, I saw The Day After Tomorrow, too! So, what would happen to sea level if the polar ice caps melted?
嘿，我也看了电影「明天过后」！所以如果极地冰帽融化的话，海平面会发生什么变化？
B: Scientists estimate that the melting of the East and West Antarctic Ice Sheets, in combination with melted-off from Greenland, would cause an average worldwide increase of 74meters.
科学家估计如果南极洲东西冰层融化了，再加上格陵兰岛冰层融化释出来的水，将使得全世界的海平面平均升高74公尺。
F: Shouldn’t the ice at the North Pole be part of that calculation?
北极的冰层不也应该计算在内吗？
B: No. If that ice melted, it wouldn’t really affect sea level because it’s frozen seawater itself. It’s like an ice cube in a glass of water. Melted or not, the total volume of liquid in the ocean would remain relatively constant.
不用。如果那个地方的冰层溶解，不会真正影响到海平面高低，因为它本身就是固态的海水，就像一杯冰水里的冰块。不管它溶不溶解，整个海洋中水的总体积始终是相当固定的。
F: I see. It’s freshwater ice from the continents that, if melted, would cause a surge of water to enter the oceans.
我懂了。是来自于陆地的淡水所结的冰层如果融化了，会产生大量的水流进海洋去。
B: Right. As for how much dry land would be lost, it’s difficult to say. It would take a global coastline survey to make the calculation. Plus, some landmasses, especially Antarctica, would rise with reduced weight of the ice.
没错。至于会丧失掉多少干地，那很难说。若要计算，必须先测量全球的海岸线才能计算数值。再说，有些陆地，尤其是南极洲，会因为少了冰层的覆盖而露出地表来。
F: We’re goners!
我们完蛋了！
B: Just eat your ice cream.
专心吃你的冰淇淋。
－by E.D. Stalph
Vocabulary
单词发音
doomed [dumd] adj. 天数已尽的；难逃一死的
fossil [ˋfɑs!] fuel 化石燃料（如煤、石油、天然气等）
ice sheet 大冰原
melted-off 熔化出来的东西
freshwater [ˋfrɛʃ͵wɔtɚ] adj. 淡水的
surge [sɝdʒ] n. 高涨
as for 至于, 说到
coastline [ˋkost͵laɪn] n. 海岸线
landmass [ˋlænd͵mæs] n.【术语】地块﹐大陆〔块〕
goner [ˋgɑnɚ] n. 即将死去[陷入绝境]的人
Sentence of the Day
You reap what you sow. – traditional saying
种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。
reap [rip] v. 收割（庄稼）；收获