Last month, an unprecedented new low was reached after decades of decline. Indeed, the ice cap’s area has decreased by half since the 1980’s, when summer sea-ice still extended over roughly seven million square kilometers, as opposed to less than four million today.
今天，一场更加惨痛的北极悲剧正在上演：北极地区的海洋冰盖正在融化。上个月，几十年的逐渐消融造成了史无前例的冰盖存量新低。其实1980年代后海洋冰盖区已经缩减了一半，那时的夏季海冰还可以覆盖约7百万平方公里的面积，而现在却只剩下4百万。冰盖面积萎缩至少已经持续1500年了。