高普考/三四等/高員級◆英文題庫下載題庫

閱讀 先中再英
一，
對於那些懷疑人類改變地球氣候能力的人，應該看看北極，並且感到害怕。不需要查閱記錄以了解氣溫和大氣二氧化碳濃度。北極海覆蓋的冰川的變化讓這個過程呈現出極為明顯的變化。
在過去的30年中，夏季所融化的極小覆蓋率已降低了一半，體積减少了四分之三。根據目前的趨勢，到2040年時，北極海的夏季將基本上沒有覆冰。
Those who doubt the power of human beings to change Earth’s climate should look to the Arctic, and shiver. There is no need to pore over records of temperatures and atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations. The process is starkly visible in the shrinkage of the ice that covers the Arcti...

閱讀 先中再英
一，
對於那些懷疑人類改變地球氣候能力的人，應該看看北極，並且感到害怕。不需要查閱記錄以了解氣溫和大氣二氧化碳濃度。北極海覆蓋的冰川的變化讓這個過程呈現出極為明顯的變化。
在過去的30年中，夏季所融化的極小覆蓋率已降低了一半，體積减少了四分之三。根據目前的趨勢，到2040年時，北極海的夏季將基本上沒有覆冰。
Those who doubt the power of human beings to change Earth’s climate should look to the Arctic, and shiver. There is no need to pore over records of temperatures and atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentrations. The process is starkly visible in the shrinkage of the ice that covers the Arctic ocean.
In the past 30 years, the minimum coverage of summer ice has fallen by half; its volume has fallen by three-quarters. On current trends, the Arctic ocean will be largely ice-free in summer by 2040.
二，
對於氣候变化懷疑論者来说，他们可能会耸耸肩。甚至有些人可能會慶幸：北冰洋无冰带来了一个縮短自亞洲太平洋沿岸到欧洲和美洲大西洋沿岸的航行路線的便捷之路，并且可能勘探出全球五分之一未發现的石油和天然气储量。
Climate-change sceptics will shrug. Some may even celebrate: an ice-free Arctic ocean promises a shortcut for shipping between the Pacific coast of Asia and the Atlantic coasts of Europe and the Americas, and the possibility of prospecting for perhaps a fifth of the planet’s undiscovered supplies of oil and natural gas.

三，
然而，这种反应是极其错误的(是痴人說夢)。忽略石油和天然气的低价值意味着在北极地区搜索不再划算。或者，所谓的海上通道只能带来一点点贸易。正确的反应是恐惧。北极不仅只是氣候變化的领头羊，而且它還是其中的演员。
Such reactions are profoundly misguided. Never mind that the low price of oil and gas means searching for them in the Arctic is no longer worthwhile. Or that the much-vaunted sea passages are likely to carry only a trickle of trade. The right response is fear. The Arctic is not merely a bellwether of matters climatic, but an actor in them

四，
目前地球正在经历的全球变暖是由大气中的某些气体（尤其是二氧化碳）引起的。二氧化碳吸收太阳辐射热，但是它又会抵消辐射在大气中的热量，这样就会让热量停留在空气、水和陆地上。更多的二氧化碳就等于更多的升温——这是一个简单的公式。不过事情并不简单，许多反馈环节使情况变得复杂起来。有些反馈环节会减缓暖化程度，而有些会加速它。
The current period of global warming that Earth is undergoing is caused by certain gases in the atmosphere, notably carbon dioxide. These admit heat, in the form of sunlight, but block its radiation back into space, in the form of longer-wave-length infra-red. That traps heat in the air, the water and the land. More carbon dioxide equals more warming--a simple equation. Except it is not simple. A number of feedback loops complicate matters. Some dampen warming down; some speed it up. Two in the Arctic may speed it up quite a lot.

五-1
第一個循環反饋機制是海水比冰更暗，會吸收熱量而非反射至宇宙空間。這使得結冰更易被融化，又會使海水更多暴露，進而加速融冰。因此，北極地區溫度比地球其他地區上升得更快。
2015年在巴黎關於氣候變遷的協議旨在防止全球表面平均溫度比工業化前高2°C以上，但即使完全執行，北極海域的冬季氣溫還是會上升5°C至9°C。 

One is that seawater is much darker than ice. It absorbs heat rather than reflecting it back into space. That melts more ice, which leaves more seawater exposed, which melts more ice. And so on. This helps explain why the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet. The deal on climate change made in Paris in 2015 is meant to stop Earth’s surface temperature rising by more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
In the unlikely event that it is fully implemented, winter temperatures over the Arctic ocean will still warm by between 5°C and 9°C compared with their 1986-2005 average.

五-2
而第二個循環反饋機制則涉及土地，北極大部分覆蓋永凍土，被凍住的土壤中鎖住了許多有機物質。
如果永凍土消融，其有機成分便有可能透過火災或腐爛釋放，呈現二氧化碳或甲烷的形式（甲烷是比二氧化碳更強的溫室氣體），進而加速全球氣候變遷。而火災產生的“黑碳”，若沉積在冰上，會使其更黑暗，加速融化。
The second feedback loop concerns not the water but the land. In the Arctic much of this is permafrost. That frozen soil locks up a lot of organic material.
If the permafrost melts its organic contents can escape as a result of fire or decay, in the form of carbon dioxide or methane (which is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2). This will speed up global warming directly--and the soot from the fires, when it settles on the ice, will darken it and thus speed its melting still more.