The processes that drive the behavior of the world「s ice sheets may be different in intensity or type than those that drove melting in the past, he said.

因为相比于此前导致冰川融化的行为，人类未来对冰川的影响其剧烈程度或者形式可能都会是不同的。

「For large periods of time the north was uninhabitable because of ice sheets coming and going, so there was less opportunity for culture to develop independently up there,」 says von Petzinger.

「由于冰川来临，北部在很长一段时间中都不适宜居住，所以独立发展的人类文明在那里出现的几率比南部小。」梵佩金·格尔这样说。

They also found this discrepancy disappeared around 19, 000 years ago, which is also when the ice sheets began to melt.

他们还发现这种差异消失在19,000年之前，同时也是冰原开始融化的时间。

Human effects on the climate notwithstanding, the cycle will continue to turn, the interglacial will some day come to an end - and the ice sheets will descend again.

人类对于气候有一定影响，但循环将会继续下去，总有一天间冰期将会结束，到那时冰层又将卷土重来。

Ice flows more readily as it warms, so a warming climate can increase ice flows on ice sheets much faster than previously thought, said the study authors.

该研究的作者说，由于变暖，冰流动更加流畅，因此，变暖的气候可使冰层上冰块流动速度比以前想象的要快得多。

He also discussed how the rapid and accelerating retreat of the world」s glaciers and ice sheets dramatically illustrates the nature of the changing climate.

他也探讨了世界冰山以及冰盾迅速的融化也急剧说明气候变化的本质。

A gap in two large ice sheets would create a connection from lands near present day Alaska, through Alberta and into the continental United States.

在两个大冰原之间有个裂缝，将今天的阿达斯加州、亚伯达（加拿大西部的一个省）和美国大陆连接在一起。

If either of these ice sheets were to melt significantly, sea levels could rise by an order of meters (many feet), drowning coastal cities.

如果这两大区域的冰川大量融化，海平面会大幅上升(许多英尺)并淹没沿岸城市。

The ice sheets collapsed because the climate warmed quickly.

冰盖崩溃是因为气候暖化迅速。

The presence of ice on Mars is not a surprise, although the purity and extent of the buried ice sheets is.

在火星上存在冰这并不足以令人惊讶，令人惊讶的是冰的纯度之高和埋藏冰原的范围之广。

For the response of the ice sheets to a still warmer world, older periods in geologic time offer parallels.

对于冰川对变暖世界的回应，以前的地质时期也出现过相似的状况。

The project is intended to precisely measure the changing thicknesses of sea ice and ice sheets to monitor how they「re responding to global warming.

该项目的目的是精準的测量出海冰厚度及冰架的变化情况，用以检测全球变暖对它们的影响。

Thinning penetrated deep into the interior of the ice sheets and continues to spread as ice shelves melt into the sea.

变薄的现象已经远远渗透到冰原的腹地，而且随着冰架向海中延伸，冰川变薄的范围也在扩大。

The new study showed ice sheets like the Greenland ice sheet can respond to such warming on the order of decades rather than the centuries projected by conventional thermal models.

这项新的研究显示，像格陵兰冰盖这样的冰层对这种变暖趋势的反应在几十年内就会显现，而非传统的热模型所预测的那样百年后才会出现。

The current trend of global warming is pushing Earth back from its ice Age 「icehouse」 conditions-with large ice sheets and many glaciers-to a 「greenhouse」 with little ice overall, Barker noted.

当前全球变暖的趋势又促使地球由「冰室」——有许多大冰原和冰川，转变为「温室」——冰量总体上减少。巴克尔说。

Together, these ice sheets are currently responsible for less than half of sea level rise, which is currently at about 30 millimetres a decade.

这些冰盖目前导致不到一半的海平面上升，每年约上升30毫米。

There are plenty of reasons this idea wasrejected early -- not the least of which is that ice sheets move, a lot, soradioactive material could end up in floating in the sea as icebergs.

这一想法遭到拒绝的原因很多，其中一个原因便是冰原会发生移动，导致放射性物质会像冰山一样在海洋中漂浮。

A new analysis halves longstanding projections of how much sea levels could rise if Antarctica」s massive western ice sheets fully disintegrated as a result of global warming.

一项新的分析指出，全球变暖，南极洲西侧大冰川融化，导致海平面上升的预期值要比原先的减半。