冰冻星球（2011）

在他们遗体的附近
Sixteen kilos of rocks and fossils,
人们发现了他们收集的十六公斤重的
specimens that they had dragged back with them
岩石 化石和样本
were discovered close to where they died.
之后44年中 再没人去过极地
Nobody stood at the Pole again for 44 years,
直到1956年
until 1956,
这里建起了第一个科学基地
when the first scientific base was established here.
美国海军组成的小团体
A small party from the United States Navy
将物资空运而来
landed supplies by plane
帮他们建起了阿蒙森-斯科特南极站
so they could build the first Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,
就是这贫瘠冰地上的六间小木屋
six wooden huts in the midst of the barren icecap.
同年 一个科学团体在此越冬
That same year, a science party over-wintered,
成为第一批
the first humans ever to
经历最长最黑暗严冬的人类
experience the longest, darkest winter on Earth.
简陋的木屋在七十年代
The old wooden huts were replaced in the 1970s
被换成大的圆顶屋
with this gigantic dome.
但在2010年 这个圆顶
But this, too, has been superseded,
跟南极洲其他人工物品的命运一样
its panels dismantled and removed without trace in 2010,
被彻底拆除
as every manmade item must be in Antarctica.
现在的南极站
The most recent South Pole Station
被建成能抵御极度严寒
is designed to withstand extremes.
侧面的弧形设计 可以抵御狂风
Its curved sides funnel the wind and it stands on stilts
这里的雪以每年20厘米的速度积累
that can be raised to accommodate the build-up of snow,
而下方的支架足以让建筑远离冰冻的地表
which accumulates at a rate of 20 centimetres every year.
这些与当年阿蒙森和斯科特所面对的
All this is a far cry from the bleak white emptiness
满目苍凉 大相径庭
that confronted Amundsen and Scott.
他们看到今天的科技水平 定会瞠目结舌
They would be truly amazed to see what exists here today.
科学走过漫长的一个世纪
Science has come a long way in the last century,
但用不同方式来到这里的人们
yet the goals of those who
实际上怀揣着相同的目标
come here are in many ways still the same.
在这里 科学家望向天空
This is a place where scientists look to the skies,
每天两次放出气象气球
releasing weather balloons twice a day
收集大气臭氧层的重要数据
to collect vital data about the level of ozone in our atmosphere.
南极也是地球上空气最清新的地方
The South Pole is also said to have the cleanest air on Earth,
在过去五十年里
which has been sampled here
大气研究实验室一直在此取样
at the Atmospheric Research Observatory for the last 50 years,
为二氧化碳这一类气体
giving a long-term baseline for gases
给出了长♥期♥的基线数据
such as carbon dioxide, or CO2
这些数据对于现代气候科学而言至关重要
data that is crucial to modern climate science.
气候变化可以说是现在的一个热点话题
Climate change is a really hot topic right now
因此监测二氧化碳水平就变得非常重要
and it's really important that we monitor the levels of CO2.
基本上 我们想弄清楚它增加了多少
Basically, we want to know how much it's increasing
尼克·摩根
美国国家海洋和大气管理署
或者减少了多少 又或者...
or how much it's decreasing or...
长♥期♥观测记录充分显示了它的变化情况
This long-term record really displays that very well.
尤其是在这里
Especially down here,
我们能监测到较准确的全球平均水平
we get a really good global average
因为这里不存在局部环境影响
because there's no local influences.
我们不必在城市附近
We can tell what the level is
监测到它在大气中水平
without being right next to a city.
在这里 我们不仅能研究
And it's not just the current climate
当前的气候状况
which can be studied here.
南极的冰川地貌
The ice of the South Pole
是研究人类过去的最佳地点
is the perfect place to investigate our past.
这是冰立方设备厂站
This is the IceCube facility,
为庞大的地下探测系统提供动力
the powerhouse for an enormous underground system of sensors
它将原生态的南极冰川
that uses the pristine Antarctic ice
作为一个天然实验室
as a natural laboratory
在里面研究宇宙的开端
in which to study the beginning of the whole universe.
冰立方占地一立方千米
IceCube covers a cubic kilometre
被深埋在地底下
but is buried deep below the surface.
用加热的钻头来融化洞口
A heated drill is used to melt holes
直达冰盖下方2.4公里处
one and a half miles down into the icecap,
这一过程大约费时四十八小时
a process that takes about 48 hours.
洞内埋有一连串的光探测器
Into the holes are lowered chains of photo detectors,
用于寻找幽灵般 穿梭在冰层中的微小粒子
which look for tiny ghost-like particles passing through the ice.
这些粒子叫做中微子
The particles are called neutrino,
形成于数十亿年前宇宙诞生之时
formed billions of years ago after the birth of the universe.
要探测到中微子是极其困难的
Neutrinos are extremely difficult to detect,
但当它们穿过地球
but as they pass through
进入晶莹剔透的冰层
the Earth and enter the pure, transparent ice,
有时候会撞击原子
they occasionally crash into atoms,
闪耀出微小的蓝色火花
sparking tiny flashes of blue light
从而揭示了它们的存在
that reveal their existence.
冰立方是一个中微子望远镜
IceCube is a neutrino telescope.
劳拉·格莱斯顿
威斯康辛大学
就像普通望远镜一样
So, it's like a regular telescope.
我们想要勾勒出宇宙的样子
We're trying to make an image of the universe,
不是用光 而是用粒子
but instead of using light, we're using particles.
通过探测这些粒子的走向
What they learn from mapping the direction of these particles
能让他们用一种独特的视角
will provide a fascinating insight
来审视宇宙和时间的起源
into the cosmos and the very beginning of time.
南极洲的冰川能帮助我们理解过去
While Antarctica's ice can help us understand our past,
也包含了与现在息息相关的信息
it also holds information which is very relevant to the present.
这架远程DC-3飞机建造于1942年
This long-range DC-3 plane was built in 1942,
备有现代化的探地雷达
but has been fitted with very modern ground-penetrating radar,
可以穿透冰层进行有效的探测
which can effectively see through the ice.
这架飞机是个移♥动♥实验室
The plane is a mobile lab,
科学家能从这里勾勒出未经勘探的景象
from which scientists can map the miles of unexplored landscape,
不仅仅对于表层
not just at the surface,
还可深入直达冰层和岩石层的交接处
but deep below, where the ice meets rock.
这架飞机被称作空中地测平台
This airplane is called an Aero Geodesical Platform.
杰米·戈林鲍姆
德克萨斯大学
像这样一个平台
And a platform like this allows you
可以实现多个数据集的结合
to combine multiple data sets.
在这里我们有十四台仪器同时运行
In this case we have 14 instruments, operating simultaneously.
我们飞过的这片南极地区
And each of them has a role in characterising
其地质特性和冰河特征
the geology and the glaciology
将由这些仪器记录下来
in the Antarctic region that we're flying in right now.
大部分覆盖南极洲的冰层
Much of the ice that covers Antarctica
厚度都超过四公里
is over two and a half miles thick.
它们掩盖了山脉 火山和湖泊
It cloaks mountain ranges, volcanoes and lakes
在某些地方
and in places,
它的重量压得冰面远低于海平面
its weight depresses the land far below sea level.
真不可思议 如果没有这些仪器
It's just incredible, the things that are down there
你绝对想不到下面还会有那些东西
that you would just never know without these instruments.
当你看向窗外
When you look out the window,
一眼望去 除了冰还是冰
all you see is ice as far as the eye can see,
但你很可能正在飞越
and you very well may be flying over
跟洛基山一样巨大的山脉
a mountain range the size of the Rockies.
在南极洲的经历真的非常特别
Being in Antarctica is just a very special experience.
作为此项目的成员 我深感荣耀
It's an honour to be a part of a programme
获取这么重要的数据
that is acquiring such important data
建立起对自然环境的认知
for building understanding of our natural environment
这些真的很难
that's hard to reach.
南极洲的冰不是静止的 而是流动的
Far from being static, Antarctica's ice is on the move,
从冰原最厚实的部分流出
flowing out from the thickest part of the ice sheet
一直流向海岸
towards the coast.
而且 冰的流速非常快
What's more, the ice is changing fast.
很难想像 如果这些冰都融化了
It's hard to imagine, but if all this ice melted,
会让地球的海平面上升超过六十米
it would contribute more than 60 metres to our global sea levels.
像这样的科研项目很重要
Scientific programmes like this one are vital.
在预测这大♥片♥冰川的未来
We need to know the volume of this ice
以及对人类的影响之前
and better understand how it behaves
我们需要知道这块冰川的体积
before we can predict the long-term future of this icecap
并更深入地了解它是如何运动的
and what that in turn means for the rest of us.
冰川入海的地方
The place where change is happening most rapidly
即冰原的边界处
is around the edges of the ice sheet,
是变化最快的地方
where the ice flows out over the sea.
现在这里是科学家们
And that is where much scientific attention
关注的焦点
is now being focused.