071 南极洲

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Antarctica is a huge, cold, inhospitable place at the bottom of the earth

南极洲是位于地球底部的一个巨大、寒冷且不适宜居住的地方。

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Who would want to go there?

谁会想去那儿呢？

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Lots of people, in fact!

但事实上，很多人都想去！

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Explorers and scientists have always been drawn

to this mysterious continent.

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Nations have claimed pieces of the ice-covered land

一些国家声称对这片冰雪覆盖的土地的部分区域拥有主权。

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Now it's even a popular destination for tourists

如今，它甚至成了游客们的热门目的地。

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Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent on earth

南极洲是地球上第五大的大陆。

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It's also the coldest place on earth

它也是地球上最冷的地方。

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Yes, it's even colder than the Arctic!

是的，它甚至比北极还要冷！

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The lowest temperatures in the world have been recorded here — below

-90 degrees Celsius.

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Antarctica's fierce winds can make it feel even colder!

南极洲凛冽的狂风会让人感觉更加刺骨！

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Most of the land is covered by the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which contains

90 percent of the world's ice.

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It's a dramatic, glacial landscape with icebergs breaking off into the sea

这是一幅壮观的冰川地貌，巨大的冰山不断崩裂坠入大海。

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The ice averages over two kilometers in thickness

冰层平均厚度超过两公里。

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Hidden under its snowy surface are deep, dangerous cracks

在白雪覆盖的表面之下，隐藏着危险深邃的冰裂。

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Ice isn't the only feature of the landscape

冰并非这里唯一的地貌特征。

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Rock and soil cover a small part of the land — less than a half percent

岩石和土壤只覆盖了这片大陆极小的一部分——不到0.5%。

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There are mountains and volcanoes too

这里也有山脉和火山。

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And Antarctica is actually a desert!

而且南极洲实际上是一片荒漠！

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That's because it receives only about 150 millimeters of

precipitation each year.

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Of course that usually falls as snow

当然，那通常是以雪的形式降下。

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Under these harsh conditions, there isn't much plant life

在这样严酷的条件下，植物并不多。

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Mosses and algae are some of the few plants that can survive

苔藓和藻类是少数能够存活下来的植物。

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But there is abundant animal life

但这里的动物却非常丰富。

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Fish, whales, seals, and penguins all call Antarctica their home

鱼类、鲸鱼、海豹和企鹅都把南极洲当作自己的家。

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Antarctica is the only continent without a native human population

南极洲是唯一没有原住民的大陆。

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Yet people were fascinated by it even before it was discovered

然而，人们甚至在发现南极洲之前就为它着迷。

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Before the age of exploration in the fifteenth century

在15世纪的大探险时代之前，

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Europeans were sure they knew what the world looked like — even though

they hadn't seen most of it yet!

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They decided that the northern and southern hemispheres contained

the same amount of land.

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Sixteenth-century maps showed a huge landmass in the far south

十六世纪的地图上，在遥远的南方显示有一片巨大的陆地。

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Mapmakers didn't know what this land looked like or exactly where it was

制图师们不知道这片土地的样子，也不确定它的确切位置。

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But that didn't stop them from drawing it!

但这并没有阻止他们把它画出来！

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In 1773 Captain James Cook became the first explorer to sail

into the Antarctic Circle.

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By the 1820s several explorers had seen Antarctica

南极圈的探险家。

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During the early twentieth century, men risked their lives

exploring the continent.

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Who would be the first to reach the South Pole?

20世纪初，人们冒着生命危险

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In 1911 two expeditions raced to the pole

探索这片大陆。

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Roald Amundsen of Norway arrived in December

谁会成为第一个到达南极点的人？

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He was followed by Robert Falcon Scott of the United Kingdom

a month later.

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Sadly, Scott and four men died on the way back

挪威的罗尔德·阿蒙森在12月抵达。

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By the late 1950s, several countries had established research

stations in Antarctica.

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Seven countries even claimed parts of Antarctica

and some claims overlapped.

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But no one was actually in charge

可悲的是，斯科特和四名队员在返程途中遇难。

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Scientists didn't want Antarctica to become a place of conflict

到20世纪50年代末，多个国家在南极洲建立了

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They wanted people to work together peacefully

研究站。

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So the Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959

有七个国家甚至对南极洲部分地区提出主权要求，其中一些区域还是重叠的。

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The treaty doesn't allow military activity or nuclear testing

and disposal in Antarctica.

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More than fifty nations have now signed the treaty

科学家们不希望南极洲变成冲突之地。

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Today approximately thirty countries run seventy-five research stations

他们希望人们能和平共事。

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Scientists study everything from marine life to astronomy

to climate change.

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No one lives permanently in Antarctica

该条约不允许在南极洲进行军事活动、核试验，

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Scientists come and go

以及核废料处置。

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Their numbers are the greatest from December

to March—summer in Antarctica.

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Scientists aren't the only people who visit

现在，大约有三十个国家运营着七十五个研究站。

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More than 45,000 tourists arrive each year to see the ice and wildlife

科学家们的研究范围从海洋生物到天文学，

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If they're hoping to see polar bears, they return home disappointed

再到气候变化。

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Polar bears live in the Arctic

没有人在南极洲永久居住。

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But they may see emperor penguins

科学家们来来去去。

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These birds can be found in only one place on earth — Antarctica!

他们人数最多的时候是从12月