The South Pole has warmed three times faster than the rest of the planet in the last 30 years due to warmer tropical ocean temperatures, new research showed Monday.
周一,有新研究表明,由于热带海洋温度升高,南极在过去30年内的变暖速度是地球其他地方的3倍。
Antarctica's temperature varies widely according to season and region, and for years it had been thought that the South Pole had stayed cool even as the continent heated up.
南极气温的季节差异和地区差异很大,多年来一直以为即使全球气温升高,南极也会保持低温。
Researchers in New Zealand, Britain and the United States analysed 60 years of weather station data and used computer modelling to show what was causing the accelerated warming.
新西兰、英国和美国的研究人员分析了气象站60年的数据,并利用计算机模拟来展示加速变暖的原因。
They found that warmer ocean temperatures in the western Pacific had over the decades lowered atmospheric pressure over the Weddell Sea in the southern Atlantic.
他们发现,数十年来西太平洋海水温度升高使南大西洋威德尔海上空的大气压力降低。
This in turn had increased the flow of warm air directly over the South Pole - warming it by more than 1.83C (about 3.3F) since 1989.
这一现象增加了南极上空的暖空气流量,使南极气温从1989年开始上升了超过1.83摄氏度(约3.3华氏度)。
Authors of the research said the natural warming trend was likely boosted by manmade greenhouse gas emissions and could be masking the heating effect of carbon pollution over the South Pole.
此次研究的作者说人为排放的温室气体有可能加速了自然变暖趋势,从而掩盖了南极上空碳污染的加热效应。
"While temperatures were known to be warming across West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula during the 20th century, the South Pole was cooling," said Kyle Clem, a researcher at Victoria University of Wellington, and lead study author.
惠灵顿维多利亚大学的研究人员及主要研究作者Kyle Clem说:“虽然都知道在20世纪南极洲西部和南极半岛的气温在升高,但南极一直很凉爽。”
"It was suspected that this part of Antarctica... might be immune to/isolated from warming. We found this is not the case any more," he told AFP.
他对《法新社》说:“我们怀疑南极的这一部分可能不受气候变暖影响。但我们发现情况有变。”
The data showed that the South Pole - the most remote spot on Earth - was now warming at a rate of around 0.6C (1.1F) a decade, compared with around 0.2C (0.4F) for the rest of the planet.
数据显示地球上最偏远的南极,正在以十年升温约0.6摄氏度(1.1华氏度)的速度变暖,而地球上其他地区温度升高约0.2摄氏度(0.4华氏度)。