研究表明地球轨道如何影响冰河期
📖 逐句对照翻译
A recent study suggests the next ice age will likely begin in about 11,000 years unless emissions change the effects of natural climate cycles.
一项最新研究表明，除非排放改变自然气候循环的影响，否则下一次冰河期可能会在大约11000年后开始。
An ice age is a period of reduced temperatures causing ice to cover large areas of the northern and southern parts of the world.
冰期是指气温下降导致世界北部和南部大片地区被冰覆盖的时期。
A group of scientists studied changes in the shape of the Earth’s orbit around the sun, the tilt of the Earth’s axis and the movement of the axis itself, called a wobble.
一组科学家研究了地球绕太阳运行轨道形状的变化、地轴的倾斜以及地轴自身的运动（称为“摆动”）。
These three motions are believed to happen in cycles.
据信，这三种运动是循环发生的。
The Serbian scientist Milutin Milankovitch developed a theory about 100 years ago that these cycles affected Earth’s long-term climate.
大约100年前，塞尔维亚科学家米卢廷·米兰科维奇提出了一种理论，认为这些周期影响了地球的长期气候。
The team noted that small changes in Earth’s orbit around the Sun caused predictable cycles of warming and cooling over a period of about 100,000 years.
研究团队指出，地球绕太阳轨道的小幅变化导致了约10万年周期内可预测的变暖和变冷循环。
These findings permitted the team to determine how the three factors of tilt, wobble, and the shape of Earth's orbit might have affected the Earth’s climate over the last 900,000 years.
这些发现使团队得以确定倾斜、晃动和地球轨道形状这三个因素在过去90万年间如何影响地球气候。
The group published its findings in Science on February 27.
该小组于2月27日在《科学》杂志上发表了他们的发现。
The scientists examined a million-year record of climate by looking at ice sheets across the northern half of the world and deep ocean temperatures.
科学家们通过研究北半球各地的冰盖和深海温度，考察了一百万年来的气候记录。
They then compared this data with small but regular changes in Earth’s orbit over time.
随后，他们将这一数据与地球轨道随时间发生的微小但规律的变化进行了比较。
The lead writer of the study is Stephen Barker, a professor at Cardiff University in Britain.
该研究的主要作者是英国卡迪夫大学的教授斯蒂芬·巴克。
He told the French News Agency (AFP) that for many years it has been difficult for scientists to show exactly how small changes in Earth’s orbit have led to huge changes between warm and cold periods.
他告诉法新社，多年来，科学家一直难以确切展示地球轨道的小变化如何导致冷暖时期之间的巨大变化。
Earth is believed to go through cycles of ice ages and warm periods.
地球被认为会经历冰河期和温暖期的循环。
The last ice age is thought to have ended around 11,700 years ago.
上一次冰河期被认为在大约11700年前结束。
Scientists, such as Milankovitch, have long seen a connection between Earth's orbit and climate.
像米兰科维奇这样的科学家早就发现地球轨道与气候之间存在联系。
However, researchers have struggled to precisely date when each of the climate changes happened.
然而，研究人员一直难以精确确定每次气候变化发生的时间。
It has also been difficult for them to know exactly which orbit positions affect the start and stop of cold or warm periods.
他们也很难确切知道哪些轨道位置会影响寒冷或温暖时期的开始和结束。
Barker said his team of researchers studied slow changes in temperature over long periods of time instead of only looking at shorter periods of change between cold and warm climates.
巴克说，他的研究团队研究的是长时间内温度的缓慢变化，而不是只关注寒冷和温暖气候之间较短时期的变化。
Barker told AFP, "We would expect a glaciation to occur within the next 11,000 years, and it would end in 66,000 years' time."
巴克告诉法新社：“我们预计下一次冰期会在未来1.1万年内出现，并将在6.6万年后结束。”
Lorraine Lisiecki is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a co-writer of the study.
洛林·利谢茨基是加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的教授，也是该研究的合著者。
She said the study shows that changes in climate over tens of thousands of years are not random.
她说，这项研究表明，数万年来气候的变化并非随机。
The team aims to expand its findings to investigate the long-term effects of human activity on climate.
该团队旨在扩展其研究发现，以探究人类活动对气候的长期影响。
They also want to find out how it might affect Earth’s natural climate cycles.
他们还希望弄清楚这可能如何影响地球的自然气候循环。
I’m Andrew Smith.
我是安德鲁·史密斯。
Issam Ahmed wrote this story for Agence-France Presse.
伊萨姆·艾哈迈德为法新社撰写了这篇报道。
Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.
安德鲁·史密斯为VOA英语学习频道改编了它。
