科学家争相保存冰芯

Scientists are racing to collect ice cores

刘立军 供稿

TRANSCRIPT

Scientists are racing to collect ice cores as the earth's warming melts large areas of ice known as glaciers and ice sheets. Some scientists say there is very little time left. And, in some cases, it is already too late.

Late last year, chemist Margit Schwikowski and a team of international scientists attempted to gather ice cores from the Grand Combin glacier. In 2018, they had visited the area and took a small test core. The core was in good shape, said Schwikowski, head of a chemistry group at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland. The core had well-preserved atmospheric gases and chemical evidence of past climates. But, in the two years it took for the scientists to return with a full drilling set-up, some of the information that had been trapped in the ice had disappeared. The sudden change "tells us exactly how sensitive these glaciers are," said Schwikowski. "We were just two years too late."

The mission on Grand Combin shows the major difficulty scientists face today in collecting ice cores.

Some glaciers are disappearing faster than expected, leading scientists to do missions sooner, rethink where to target next, and plan about increased storage.

The United Nations says almost all of the world's glaciers are becoming smaller.

In its most complete climate report to date, published in August, the UN said that human actions are "very likely the main driver of the near-universal retreat of glaciers globally since the 1990s."

About 10 percent of the land area on earth is currently covered with glacial ice, says the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

If a glacier is melting, it means it also is not storing atmospheric gases from today for scientists to study in the future.

Beyond gases, scientists say they may be able to use ice cores to study the DNA of ancient bacteria and viruses that could come back as the world warms.

Frozen insects and plant material could also reveal histories of the world's forests.

Another team of scientists, whose findings were published in July in Microbiome, found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in two ice core samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China.

The findings identified genetic codes for 33 viruses. At least 28 of them were new to scientists.

That team of scientists included U.S.-based ice core experts Lonnie Thompson and Ellen Mosley-Thompson, who are husband and wife.

Lonnie Thompson said he plans to increase his ice core storage facilities at Ohio State University.

Some of the cores Thompson and his team have collected are the only remaining ice from some glaciers.

Thompson used the term archive - meaning a place where records or materials are kept - to talk about ice.

"Ice has a wonderful archive of not only the climate, but also the forcings of the climate," the major causes of climate change, Thompson said.

"Those histories are at risk as the earth warms and the glaciers retreat."

I'm John Russell.

VOCABULARY

1. glaciers n. a large mass of ice, formed by snow on mountains, that moves very slowly down a valley 冰川

2. plateau n. an area of flat land that is higher than the land around it 高原

3. archive n. a collection of historical documents or records of a government, a family, a place or an organization; the place where these records are stored 档案；档案馆；档案室。例如：the National Sound Archive 国家音响档案馆

4. retreat v. to move away or back 离开；离去；退去；后退。例如：The flood waters retreated slowly.

洪水慢慢地消退。

QUESTIONS

Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).

1. Scientists are racing to collect ice cores as the earth's warming melts large areas of glaciers and ice sheets.

2. Some glaciers are disappearing faster than expected, leading scientists to do missions sooner, rethink where to target next, and plan about decreased storage.

3. The United Nations says all of the world's glaciers are becoming smaller.

4. In its most complete climate report to date, published in August, the UN said that human actions are "very likely the main driver of the near-universal retreat of glaciers globally since the 1990s."

5. About 5 percent of the land area on earth is currently covered with glacial ice, says the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

6. If a glacier is melting, it means it also is not storing atmospheric gases from today for scientists to study in the past.

7. Beyond gases, scientists say they may be able to use ice cores to study the DNA of ancient bacteria and viruses that could come back as the world warms.

8. Another team of scientists found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in three ice core samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China.

9. Ellen Mosley-Thompson said she plans to increase her ice core storage facilities at Ohio State University.

KEY

Read the statements. Then listen to the news and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).

(T) 1. Scientists are racing to collect ice cores as the earth's warming melts large areas of glaciers and ice sheets.

(F) 2. Some glaciers are disappearing faster than expected, leading scientists to do missions sooner, rethink where to target next, and plan about decreased storage.（正确表达）Some glaciers are disappearing faster than expected, leading scientists to do missions sooner, rethink where to target next, and plan about increased storage.

(F) 3. The United Nations says all of the world's glaciers are becoming smaller. （正确表达）The United Nations says almost all of the world's glaciers are becoming smaller.

(T) 4. In its most complete climate report to date, published in August, the UN said that human actions are "very likely the main driver of the near-universal retreat of glaciers globally since the 1990s."

(F) 5. About 5 percent of the land area on earth is currently covered with glacial ice, says the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. （正确表达）About 10 percent of the land area on earth is currently covered with glacial ice, says the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

(F) 6. If a glacier is melting, it means it also is not storing atmospheric gases from today for scientists to study in the past. （正确表达）If a glacier is melting, it means it also is not storing atmospheric gases from today for scientists to study in the future.

(T) 7. Beyond gases, scientists say they may be able to use ice cores to study the DNA of ancient bacteria and viruses that could come back as the world warms.

(F) 8. Another team of scientists found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in three ice core samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China. （正确表达）Another team of scientists found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in two ice core samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China.

(F) 9. Ellen Mosley-Thompson said she plans to increase her ice core storage facilities at Ohio State University. （正确表达）Lonnie Thompson said he plans to increase his ice core storage facilities at Ohio State University.

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