南极的气温又创新高了，像开了暖气一样

Climate experts stationed at an Argentine research base in a northern part of Antarctica have just logged the highest temperature on record for the typically frozen continent.

南极洲北部阿根廷研究基地驻扎的气候专家刚刚记录了这个通常冰封的大陆有记录以来的最高温度。

According to preliminary data from the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization, temperatures on the Antarctic Peninsula just hit 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit, or 18.3 degrees Celsius. That figure tops the previous record of 17.5 degrees Celsius set in March 2017.

联合国世界气象组织的初步数据显示，南极半岛的温度达到了64.9华氏度，也就是18.3摄氏度。这一数据超过了2017年3月份17.5摄氏度的高温记录。

While such temperatures might be considered pleasant under different circumstances—say on a picnic or hiking trip—this is Antarctica we’re talking about, home to the most inhospitable environments on the planet.

虽然在其他情况下这个温度还是很舒适的，比如野餐或徒步，但我们说的是南极呀，那里的环境是地球上最不适宜居住的。

Rising temperatures are alarming there because Antarctica, for one thing, contains the vast majority of Earth’s freshwater ice, along with Greenland.

那里不断上升的气温令人担忧。首先，因为南极和格陵兰有着地球上绝大多数的淡水冰。

Moreover, according to the WMO, temperatures in this particular area have warmed some 3 degrees Celsius over the last 50 years, and 87% of the nearby glaciers have retreated during that period.

而且世界气象组织称，这个特定区域的气温在过去50年里上升了3摄氏度，附近87%的冰川都缩小了。

Worse, the retreat is accelerating. And when glaciers melt, bad things happen: Ice flowing from Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, for example, is thought to be a major contributor to sea-level rise.

更糟糕的是，冰川还在继续缩小。冰川融化的后果很严重，比如大家都认为从南极思韦茨冰川流出的冰是海平面上升的主要原因。

Some climatology experts on Twitter are referring to this week’s warm temperatures as a “heat wave,” which is not a word you want to hear associated with Antarctica.

一些推特上的气候学专家把本周的高温称为“热浪”，你一定不希望南极和这个词扯上关系。