北極科考任務(wù)面臨著新的挑戰(zhàn)

冠狀病毒和早期冰川融化，給北極氣候變化任務(wù)帶來了新的挑戰(zhàn)

They prepared for icy cold and trained to be on the watch for polar bears, but a pandemic just wasn’t part of the program.

他們?yōu)閲篮龊昧藴蕚?，并接受了北極熊警戒訓(xùn)練，但冠狀病毒并不是計劃的一部分。

Now dozens of scientists are waiting in quarantine for the all-clear to join a year-long Arctic research mission aimed at improving the models used for forecasting climate change, just as the expedition reaches a crucial phase.

現(xiàn)在，數(shù)十名科學(xué)家在隔離區(qū)等待著所有人加入為期一年的北極研究任務(wù)，目的是改進用于預(yù)測氣候變化的模型。目前，北極考察隊正進入一個關(guān)鍵階段。

For a while, the international mission looked like it might have to be called off, as country after country went into lockdown because of the virus, scuppering plans to bring fresh supplies and crew to the German research vessel Polarstern that’s been moored in the high Arctic since last year.

一段時間以來，這一國際任務(wù)看起來可能不得不取消，因為一個又一個國家因為病毒而進入封鎖狀態(tài)，破壞了為德國研究船“極地斯特恩號”(Polarstern)帶來新鮮補給和船員的計劃。該船自去年以來一直停泊在北極高地。

News of the pandemic caused jitters among those already on board, said Matthew Shupe, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado and co-leader of the MOSAiC expedition.

科羅拉多大學(xué)(University of Colorado)大氣科學(xué)家、馬賽克探險隊(MOSAiC expedition)聯(lián)合負責(zé)人馬修•舒佩(Matthew Shupe)表示，病毒的各種消息讓已經(jīng)在船上的人感到不安。

Organizers at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Ocean Research managed to fly out a handful of people via Canada last month. The rest of the crew will be exchanged with the help of two other German research ships that will meet the Polarstern on the sea ice edge.

上個月，阿爾弗雷德·韋格納極地和海洋研究所的組織者設(shè)法讓一小部分人乘飛機通過加拿大。其余船員將在另外兩艘德國研究船的幫助下交換，這兩艘德國研究船將在海冰邊緣與研究船會合。

That upcoming rendezvous will force the Polarstern to abandon its current position for three weeks at a critical time in the Arctic cycle.

即將到來的集合地點，將迫使研究船在北極任務(wù)的關(guān)鍵時刻，放棄當(dāng)前位置長達三周。

“We are on the cusp right now of the onset of the sea ice melt season and that’s a really important transition,” said Shupe.

舒佩說：“現(xiàn)在正處于海冰融化季節(jié)的開始，這是一個非常重要的時期。”。

“That could happen when the ship is gone,” he said. “It’s a distinct risk we face.”

他說：“船不在的時候可能會發(fā)生這種情況。這是面臨的最顯著問題。”

To avoid missing out on key data, researchers will leave some instruments behind, including an 11-meter (36-foot) tower used for atmospheric measurements and hope that it’s still there when they return.

為了避免遺漏關(guān)鍵數(shù)據(jù)，研究人員將留下一些儀器，包括一個11米(36英尺)的用于大氣測量的塔，希望研究船返回時它仍在那里。

Adding to the problem is the fact that the sea ice is cracking up and moving about earlier than anticipated, a sign of possible future changes to the Arctic if global warming continues.

另外一個問題是，海冰的破裂和移動比預(yù)期的要早，這表明如果全球變暖持續(xù)下去，北極地區(qū)未來可能會發(fā)生變化。

“It’s challenging,” said Shupe. “But we need to face that challenge in order to get these kind of measurements.”

“這很有挑戰(zhàn)性，”舒佩說。“但我們需要面對這一挑戰(zhàn)，才能獲得此類測量結(jié)果。”

Scientists on the 140-million-euro ($158 million) expedition have already gathered valuable data since setting out last September with 100 researchers and crew from 17 nations including the United States, France, China and Britain.

自去年9月出發(fā)以來，這項耗資1.4億歐元(1.58億美元)、來自17個國家(包括美國，法國，中國和英國)的100名研究人員和工作人員的科學(xué)家已經(jīng)收集了很多有價值的數(shù)據(jù)。