‘At first, the idea does sound crazy’: meet the scientists trying to refreeze the Arctic
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#1
A pioneering geoengineering experiment conducted on Arctic sea ice near Cambridge Bay in northern Canada has yielded its first promising results.
一項在加拿大北部靠近劍橋灣的北極海冰上進行的前瞻性地球工程實驗，已經取得了其首批令人期待的成果。
#2
The project, operated by a British company called Real Ice and funded by the United Kingdom government, aims to combat accelerating ice loss by artificially thickening the polar ice sheet.
這項由一家名為 Real Ice 的英國公司營運並由英國政府資助的計劃，旨在透過人工增厚極地冰蓋來應對加速流失的冰層。
#3
Andrea Ceccolini, the project leader, emphasized that such outcomes would have seemed inconceivable merely a year ago.
專案負責人安德里亞·塞科利尼強調，這樣的成果在僅僅一年前似乎還是不可思議的。
#4
Five months prior to the observation, researchers had endured temperatures plunging to minus forty degrees Celsius while drilling holes into the sea ice.
在進行觀察的五個月前，研究人員在海冰上鑽孔時，忍受了驟降至攝氏零下四十度的低溫。
#5
They subsequently pumped approximately fifty thousand tonnes of ocean water onto the frozen surface, where it solidified almost instantaneously.
他們隨後將大約五萬噸的海水抽到冰凍的表面上，海水在那裡幾乎瞬間凝固了。
#6
According to recent measurements, this technique succeeded in augmenting the existing ice depth of one and a half metres by roughly fifty centimetres.
根據最近的測量結果，這項技術成功地將現有一點五公尺的冰層厚度增加了大約五十公分。
#7
The thickened ice has demonstrably resisted early seasonal melting more effectively than untreated areas nearby.
經增厚的冰層已顯著比附近未經處理的區域更有效地抵抗了早期的季節性融化。
#8
The visual contrast between treated and untreated ice was striking during the team's recent inspection.
在團隊最近的考察中，經處理與未經處理的冰面之間的視覺對比非常顯著。
#9
Whereas the artificially thickened sections remained a brilliant white with a light dusting of reflective snow, adjacent areas had already deteriorated into sky blue meltwater ponds.
然而，人工加厚的部分仍保持著帶有輕微反射雪花的亮白色，而鄰近區域卻早已退化成天藍色的融冰池。
#10
Ceccolini noted that one could literally point to the boundary separating the two dramatically different surfaces.
塞科利尼指出，人們真的可以用手指著區分這兩個截然不同表面的邊界。
#11
Were this approach to prove scalable, it could represent a significant breakthrough in environmental solutions for the climate crisis.
倘若這種方法被證明可行，它可能代表著應對氣候危機之環境解決方案的重大突破。
#12
However, the broader environmental context remains deeply concerning for scientific research teams working in the region.
然而，對於在該地區工作的科學研究團隊來說，更廣泛的環境背景仍然深深刻地令人擔憂。
#13
Temperatures in Cambridge Bay, known as Ikaluktutiak in the Inuit language, have exceeded five degrees Celsius, far surpassing the typical range of minus six to one degree.
在因紐特語中被稱為伊卡盧克圖蒂亞克的劍橋灣，其氣溫已超過攝氏五度，遠遠超過了零下六度至一度的典型範圍。
#14
Ceccolini cautioned that conditions were severely out of balance, a phenomenon not confined to this single location but indicative of wider Arctic climate change.
塞科利尼警告說，情況嚴重失衡，這種現象不僅限於這單一地點，還預示著更廣泛的北極氣候變化。
#15
Not only is sea ice vanishing at an unprecedented rate, but its disappearance is also amplifying global warming through reduced reflectivity of solar radiation.
海冰不僅正以空前的速度消逝，其消失還透過太陽輻射反射率的降低，進而加劇全球暖化。