(单词翻译:单击)
Last month, hundreds of researchers from all over the world started the largest-ever Arctic expedition aboard a ship just over 500 kilometers from the North Pole.
上个月，来自世界各地的数百名研究人员一同登上了位于北极以外500公里之处的科考船，开启了史上规模最大的一次北极考察之旅。
What makes this project even more unique is that the entire ship will be frozen, embedded in sea ice for an entire year.
更为独特的是，整艘船将被冻结在冰海上整整一年时间。
So it begs the question, why are they even doing this?
这就引出了一个问题，他们为什么要这么做?
For starters, it’s the most ambitious climate change expedition ever attempted of the Arctic.
首先，这次考察是在北极开展的有史以来最雄心勃勃的一次气候变化考察。
The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, or MOSAiC,
“北极气候研究多学科漂流计划”，简称MOSAiC计划，
will be studying the effects of a warming climate on the central Arctic’s atmosphere, ice, ocean, and ecosystems.
将研究气候变暖对北极中部的大气、冰、海洋和生态系统等方面的影响。
By drifting with the ice for a year,
研究小组将通过为期一年与冰层一起漂流这种形式，
the team will be able to collect the necessary information to create better climate models
收集必要的信息，建立更准确的气候模型，
to help inform what the Arctic will look like as it continues to warm.
帮助了解北极在持续变暖的过程中会是什么样子。
“For us, there are a number of knowns and unknowns.
“对我们而言，这次考察已知和未知的因素都有很多。
The knowns are that we are going out to the Arctic with all kinds of instrumentation,
已知的是我们会带着各种各样，
more than there’s ever been on a ship before out in the Arctic.
比以往去北极上的船所带的都要多的仪器到北极考察。
We know we’re going to get a lot of first measurements of many types of data.
我们也知道，这次会诞生很多首次得以测量的数据类型。
It’s our first look at things like winter time aerosol properties, first look at like scanning cloud radar measurements.
这也是我们首次研究冬季的气溶胶特性，首次展开扫描云雷达测量。
Then there's a lot of unknowns, and those are really related to the conditions that we're going to encounter there.
同时也有很多未知因素，那些就要看我们遇到怎样的情况了。
So the sea ice, we’re really at the mercy of the sea ice.”
所以，真的完全取决于海冰的状况。”
When they arrived at their destination,
科考团队抵达目的地时，
the German icebreaker, called Polarstern, chose the perfect ice floe to attach itself to,
德国破冰船“极地之星”号选择了一块完美的浮冰挂靠，
a crucial part of this mission since the ice needs to withstand the weight of heavy instruments.
这也是此次任务的一个关键部分，因为被选中的浮冰需要承受沉重仪器的重压。
This ice floe will serve as the so-called ‘ice camp’ for the expedition’s experiments and a landing strip for research planes.
这块浮冰将为本次的科考实验提供所谓的“冰营”，同时还要充当科研飞机的起降跑道。
Once frozen in place, the scientists will have to set up camp quickly, as winter is coming for roughly 150 days,
一旦冻结就位，科学家们就要迅速安营扎寨，因为长达150天左右的漫长寒冬即将到来，
and come November, they'll be operating in complete darkness.
到了11月，他们就要在一片漆黑中工作了。
And that is when nature takes over.
届时，就一切都是大自然说了算了。
Drifting at about 7 km per day,
这艘船将会以大约每天7km的速度漂流，
the frozen ship hopes to follow the path taken by ice floes along a phenomenon called the transpolar drift.
最好能沿着浮冰漂流的路线漂流，这一路线就是所谓的“北极贯穿流”现象。
This path will allow the ship to drift from the pole and move south towards the Fram Strait,
沿着这条路线，考察船就能从北极往南，
located east of Greenland, where the expedition will come to a close.
漂向位于格陵兰岛东部的弗拉姆海峡，本次探险就将在那里画上句号。
The ship will have about 100 people aboard at a time.
这首船一次可载100人左右。
It will be frozen in place, in complete darkness, while research continues.
它将被冻结在一个固定的位置，冻结在一片漆黑之中，但研究并不会停止。
And the Polarstern will be at the center of most of MOSAiC’s research,
“极地之星”破冰船上装有各种用于测量和观察环境的实验室和技术设备，
containing laboratories and technical equipment onboard to take measurements and observe the environment.
是此次MOSAiC计划大部分研究的核心组成部分。
At the base camp, experiments will be divided into different hubs like ROV City,
在大本营，实验会被分配到不同的中心，
which will use remotely operated vehicles to observe marine organisms and collect water samples from beneath the ice.
比如使用远程控制的工具来观察海洋生物，并从冰层下收集水样的ROV城，
Or MET city which will measure the composition of the atmosphere using tethered balloons,
或者用系绳的气球来测量大气成分的MET城，
which will continuously float 2km above the camp.
这种气球能一口气在营地上空飞行2km远。
On top of all the research,
所有研究中，最重要的一项研究是
the Polarstern will have a distributed network of observational sites operating within a 50 km radius of the ship,
他们会在“极地之星”方圆50km的范围内布局一个观测点网络，
which will be equipped with remote and autonomous sensors to collect additional oceanic, ice, and atmospheric data.
那些观测点都会配备远程和自主传感器，收集有关海洋、冰和大气的更多数据。
“At the end of our year in the Arctic, we’re going to learn a lot about the new Arctic system.
“为期一年的北极考察结束的时候我们会对北极的自然体系有一个新的认识。
With thinner sea ice, with the interactions that are adapting themselves to the change,
随着海冰越来越薄，随着适应这种变化的各个因素的相互作用，
we’re going to learn a lot about how the Arctic is manifesting.”
我们会对北极的变化有更进一步的了解。”
And in the spirit of collaboration, the researchers will upload their information to a database,
本着协同合作的精神，研究人员还会将他们获取的信息上传到数据库，
making it accessible to their hundreds of MOSAiC colleagues worldwide.
供世界各地同在为这一计划奋斗的数百名同行使用。
So we’ll just have to wait and see the anticipated results of this expedition that could help us better map the future of our planet.
这次科考的结果将有助于我们更好地描绘未来世界，就让我们拭目以待吧。
Are there any other scientific expeditions that you’d like to see us cover, let us know down in the comments.
还想看我们报道其他的科学考察？那就在评论中告诉我们吧。
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