科学家揭开格林兰岛维京人消失之谜

A cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the island, scientists claim. 科学家表示，格林兰岛在12世纪时出现了气温骤降的现象，这也许可以解释曾经居住在此的维京人为何会销声匿迹。

Researchers reconstructed temperatures by examining lake sediment cores in west Greenland dating back 5,600 years.

研究者通过对于格林兰岛以西的湖泊的沉积物进行检测，以追溯5600年前当地的气候状况。

Their findings indicated that earlier, pre-historic settlers also had to contend with vicious swings in climate on icy Greenland.

他们的发现表明，在早至史前时期，定居在此的人类不得不面对在冰天雪地的格林兰岛上变化无常的恶劣气候的挑战。

Average temperatures plunged 4C (7F) in just 80 years from about 1100.

研究发现，在1100年内的80年中，平均气温降低4摄氏度。

Such a shift is roughly the equivalent of the current average temperatures in Edinburgh tumbling to match those in Reykjavik, Iceland.

It would have been a huge setback to crop and livestock production.

这样一种极端恶劣的气候的变化相当于从爱丁堡、苏格兰目前的平均气温，骤降到冰岛雷克雅维克的地区的气温，同时对于农业生产和牲畜的影响更是不言而喻。

Lead researcher Dr William D'Andrea, of Brown University, Rhode Island, said: 'Climate played (a) big role in Vikings' disappearance from Greenland.

来自美国罗德岛布朗大学的威廉·迪安德瑞亚博士主导了这项研究，他说：“在维京人从格林兰岛上销声匿迹的这一过程中，气候的变化扮演着重要的角色。”

'There is a definite cooling trend in the region right before the Norse disappear.'

“在这些股挪威人消失以前，格林兰岛的气温的确变得更加寒冷了。”

Researchers have scant written or archaeological records to work out why Viking settlers abandoned colonies on the western side of the island in the mid-1300s and the eastern side in the early 1400s.

曾经定居在格陵兰岛的维京人在13世纪中叶以及14世纪初陆续开始从到西部和东路陆续前移离开此地，关于究竟是出于何种原因，目前已经很难找到相关的书面资料以及考古证据了。

Conflicts with indigenous Inuit, a search for better hunting grounds, economic stresses and natural swings in climate, perhaps caused by shifts in the sun's output or volcanic eruptions, could all be factors.

或许是与因纽特人发生了冲突，或希望寻找到更好的狩猎的环境，或是出于经济压力和自然气候的波动，也许是因为光照的条件或火山的爆发，这些都是有可能促成维京人从格林兰岛消息的因素。

Scientists have previously suspected that a cooling towards a Little Ice Age from the 1400s gradually shortened growing seasons and added to sea ice that hampered sailing links with Iceland or the Nordic nations.

此前，科学家曾怀疑，可能是由于14世纪时气候正逐渐进入了一个小的冰川时期，四级组建缩短，而海洋开始结冰，从而对于连接冰岛和古挪威的海上之路造成了阻碍。

The study, by scientists in the U.S. and Britain, added the previously unknown 12th century temperature plunge as a possible trigger for the colonies' demise.

这份有英国和美国科学家联合参与的研究发现了之前未曾了解到因素，12世纪时的气温骤降或是诱发维京人从此地消失。

Vikings arrived in Greenland in the 980s, during a warm period like the present.

维京人在公园980年时迁徙到了格陵兰岛，当时的气温比较温暖，就如同现在这样。

Dr D'Andrea said: 'You have an interval when the summers are long and balmy and you build up the size of your farm, and then suddenly year after year, you go into this cooling trend, and the summers are getting shorter and colder and you can't make as much hay.'

迪安德瑞亚博士说：“在一开始的时候，夏季的时间较长，气候温和，这有利于发展和扩大农业，不过突然之间，夏季的时间越来越短，气温也越来越低，这将影响到对粮草的积累产生负面作用。”

The study, published in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also traced even earlier swings in the climate to the rise and fall of pre-historic peoples on Greenland starting with the Saqqaq culture, which thrived from about 4,500 years ago to 2,800 years ago.

这项研究还追溯了早期的气候变化对于生活在格林兰岛上史前人类的兴衰所造成的影响，在4500到2800年前，这里曾经出现过了Saqqaq文化。

Scientists fear that the 21st century warming is caused by climate change, stoked by a build-up of greenhouse gases from human activities.An acceleration of warming could cause a meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet, raising world sea levels.

科学家们担心，由于生产生活所排放的温室气体所导致的全球变暖将导致21世纪的气候变化，这有可能加速格林兰岛冰盖的融化和崩溃，同时使得全球海平面升高。