北冰洋有重要的军事意义
[00:04:46]as it's the shortest route between North America and Russia.
因为这里是北美和俄罗斯之间最短的通道
[00:14:23]Since the late 1950s,
自上世纪五十年代末起
[00:16:05]British, US and Russian submarines
英国 美国和俄罗斯的潜艇
[00:18:44]have been patrolling the Arctic Ocean.
就在北冰洋巡逻
[00:20:39]But as well as looking out for enemy activity,
他们在探查敌军的动向的同时
[00:27:00]they've also been measuring the thickness of the ice,
也在测量冰面的厚度
[00:30:04]critical when looking for a place to surface.
因为这关系到他们在何处浮出水面
[00:36:03]When scientists got permission
当科学家获得准许
[00:37:41]to look at the submarine crew's records,
查看潜艇船员的记录时
[00:40:07]they discovered that the ice has been thinning fast.
他们发现冰面在急速变薄
[00:43:10]In fact, it's nearly halved in thickness since 1980.
事实上 从1980年起已减少近一半
[00:51:42]Across most of the Arctic Ocean,
北冰洋大部分的冰面
[00:53:36]there are now just a couple of metres of ice.
现在只有几米厚了
[00:57:18]It's so thin that it could
冰面实在太薄
[01:02:35]melt away almost entirely in the summertime,
到了盛夏时节很可能会全部融化
[01:05:18]and that includes the ice at the North Pole.
北极的冰也难以幸免
[01:09:11]If current trends continue, then there will be
如果持续下去 在未来几十年里
[01:11:52]open ocean here by summer's end,
到了夏末
[01:14:03]some time within the next few decades.
这里就完全变成海洋
[01:19:38]So, the days of the Arctic Ocean being covered
北冰洋被冰层覆盖的岁月
[01:22:11]by a continuous sheet of ice seem to have passed.
似乎已一去不返
[01:26:14]Whether or not that's a good or bad thing, of course,
当然 这究竟是好是坏
[01:29:30]depends on your point of view.
每个人的观点不同
