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Global warming is now increasing at a phenomenal rate, so much so that it could reach a point of no return. Scientists have found that there is more carbon dioxide and methane—the two major greenhouse gases—in the atmosphere now than there has been for 650,000 years.
现在，全球变暖的速度异常惊人，已达到一种无法挽回的程度。科学家们发现，大气中的两种主要温室气体——二氧化碳和甲烷——含量已经超过了65万年来的整体水平。
So far, the earth has warmed an average of 6℃ above pre-industrial levels, which does not sound like very much. However, the warming is not uniform in all parts of the planet. It is much greater in the polar regions, and this is already having serious consequences. Land and water absorb most of the solar energy that reaches it, whereas ice reflects most of it back into space. The increase in greenhouse gases warms the atmosphere, with the result that less snow and ice form and they melt more quickly. A cycle is created: as the ice and snow melt, the sea and land absorb an increasing amount of heat, causing even more melting. In the Arctic, this process has recently speeded up to the point where it is happening at a rate 10 to 15 times faster than it had been for the previous several decades. Huge chunks of the polar ice caps are breaking off, accelerating the process even further and causing the sea level to rise.
到目前为止，地球的平均温度比工业革命前高出6℃，这听上去并不是很多。然而，气候变暖在全球各地并不均匀。极地地区变化更大，已经带来了严重后果。土地和水会吸收大部分到达其表面的太阳能，而冰却将大部分反射回太空中。温室气体增多了，气候变暖了，结果雪和冰变少了，融化也变快了。于是形成了这样一种循环：由于冰雪消融，海洋和陆地吸收的热量会增加，进而致使融化进一步加剧。在北极，最近这一过程已经加速到前几十年的10到15倍。大块的极地冰帽正在融化，极大地加速了这一过程，并使海平面不断上升。
Essentially the same process is occurring in Greenland and in the Antarctic.
事实上，同样的过程也发生在格陵兰岛和南极洲。
