Now the world's largest iceberg has broken away from Antarctica and is approaching the British territory of South Georgia, home to large penguin and seal colonies. Fishermen and authorities are bracing for impact. Georgina Ranard reports.

世界上最大的冰山現(xiàn)已從南極洲脫離，并正在向英屬南喬治亞島靠近。這片島嶼是大批企鵝和海豹的棲息地。漁民和有關(guān)部門正在為可能的沖擊做好準(zhǔn)備。以下是喬治娜·拉納德的報(bào)道。
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This is the world's largest iceberg and probably the laziest. For decades it loitered, stuck in Antarctica. But one day in December, A23A finally broke free.

這是世界上最大的冰山，也許也是最“懶”的冰山。它滯留在南極洲幾十年，但終于在某個(gè)12月的一天，名為A23A的冰山脫離了冰架，自由漂流。

Now captured in satellite pictures, it is speeding into Iceberg Alley, a place where icebergs go to die. But here, right in its path, lies the British territory of South Georgia.

如今，從衛(wèi)星圖像中可以看到，它正快速駛向“冰山走廊”——冰山的“終點(diǎn)站”。然而，它的前進(jìn)路線正好經(jīng)過(guò)英屬南喬治亞島。

Ice is a way of life for sailors and fishermen there, but they can't ignore something the size of A23A.

對(duì)于當(dāng)?shù)氐乃趾蜐O民來(lái)說(shuō)，冰山早已是日常生活的一部分。然而，面對(duì)像A23A這樣龐然大物，他們無(wú)法輕視。

“There's an iceberg over that way. You have to have a very healthy respect for the ice, because if you don't, it will get you. It can come out of nowhere, and you get something the size of A23A. When it comes along and deposits these thousands of tons of ice, they just kind of hang around the island, and it does make things a lot more tricky.”

“那邊有座冰山。你必須對(duì)冰山保持足夠的敬畏，因?yàn)槿绻贿@樣，它會(huì)讓你措手不及。冰山可能會(huì)突然出現(xiàn)，像A23A這樣巨大的冰山，它帶來(lái)的數(shù)千噸冰會(huì)在島嶼周圍停留很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，這確實(shí)讓事情變得更加復(fù)雜?！?/b>

The chunks could also block coasts where seals go to feed, putting half the world's king penguins and millions of seals at risk.

這些冰山碎片可能會(huì)堵塞海豹覓食的海岸線，從而威脅到全球一半的帝企鵝以及數(shù)百萬(wàn)只海豹的生存。

But in danger, there is opportunity. Last year, British researchers on this ship seized the chance to visit A23A.

然而，危險(xiǎn)之中也孕育著機(jī)遇。去年，英國(guó)研究人員抓住機(jī)會(huì)，乘船靠近A23A展開研究。

“It's a really amazing experience. It's unlike anything that I've ever seen before. You just kind of see a massive wall that is way higher than you are.”

“這是一場(chǎng)極其令人驚嘆的體驗(yàn)，與我以前見過(guò)的任何事物都截然不同。你面前是一堵龐大的冰墻，高得讓你無(wú)法想象?！?/b>
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Now it's really difficult to get up close to the world's largest iceberg, but I think I found the next best thing. And I have to handle these really carefully, but in here is water that melted straight off the giant iceberg.

雖然很難直接接近這座世界上最大的冰山，但我認(rèn)為我找到了最接近的方法。我手中小心翼翼地操作著的，是直接從這座巨型冰山融化下來(lái)的水樣。
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In this lab, scientists are finding out how icebergs affect the ocean's carbon cycle.

在實(shí)驗(yàn)室中，科學(xué)家們正研究冰山如何影響海洋的碳循環(huán)。

It's unlikely that A23A was caused by climate change because it calved a long time ago, in 1986. But as climate change progresses and the ice sheets become more unstable, more giant icebergs will form.

A23A并非因氣候變化而產(chǎn)生，因?yàn)樗缭?986年就已經(jīng)從冰蓋分離。但隨著氣候變化的加劇，冰蓋變得愈加不穩(wěn)定，未來(lái)將形成更多的巨型冰山。

“So being able to see icebergs like this giant iceberg and study them allows us to understand the impact that they're going to have on the ocean and everything around them — the wildlife, the islands, and kind of the Earth as we know it.”

“研究像A23A這樣的巨型冰山，能讓我們理解它們對(duì)海洋、周圍生態(tài)系統(tǒng)、島嶼，乃至我們熟知的地球的影響。”

In South Georgia, the battle with the ice rages on. And there, on the horizon, the big one lurks, closing in on the fragile island.

在南喬治亞島，人們依然在與冰山作斗爭(zhēng)。而就在地平線上，這座巨大的冰山正逐漸逼近這個(gè)脆弱的島嶼。

Georgina Ranard, BBC News

——喬治娜·拉納德，BBC新聞

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