When I served in 1995 on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific group that periodically assesses the science of global warming, there was overwhelming evidence that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere had increased markedly since the beginning of the industrial revolution, that human activity had contributed significantly to those increases, and that they would have profound effects on climate and sea levels. But few saw, for instance, the Artic ice cap melting as rapidly as now seems to be the case.
当我在1995年任职于“政府间气候变化专门委员会”（Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change），这个定期对全球变暖的科学研究进行评估的科学机构时，有令人震惊的证据表明温室气体在大气中的集中程度自工业革命开始已经显著增加。还有证据表明人类活动在很大程度上造成了这种集中。温室气体集中度的增加会对气候和海平面产生强烈的影响。但几乎没有人认识到北极冰盖以现在的速度融化也与此有关。