時差N小時:北冰洋的淡水湖憂患(下)

　　Most marine organisms are adapted to the ocean’ssalt concentration. Just as humans cannot drinksaltwater, plankton and other small marine creaturesfloating with the currents cannot survive in freshwater. These organisms form the base of the arcticfood chain. If they die, the small fish that feed onthem die. Larger fish and mammals that feed on thesmall fish also lose their food source. Even themighty polar bear would be at risk of starvation.The freshwater lake could have an even largerimpact on Earth’s climate if it emptied into theNorth Atlantic quickly. Ocean currents that move heat around the globe are sensitive tosaltwater concentrations. Because fresh water floats on top of saltier water, a large influx offresh water could slow the currents and alter temperature and weather patterns. At thepresent time, the arctic lake’s size is equivalent to the amount of fresh water the Atlanticreceives in a year. It isn’t a threat to global climate now, but it’s an important lake forscientists to watch.

　　大多數(shù)海洋生物都適應(yīng)了海洋的鹽分濃度。正如人類不能喝鹽水，浮游生物和其他小型海洋生物，漂浮的電流不能在淡水中生存。這些生物體形成的北極食物鏈的基礎(chǔ)。如果他們死了，小的魚，養(yǎng)活他們的死亡。較大的魚類和哺乳動物，飼料的小魚也失去了他們的食物來源。威猛的北極熊甚至?xí)I死的危險。如果北大西洋迅速清空，淡水湖泊，可能對地球氣候的影響更大。洋流移動世界各地的熱敏感，鹽水的濃度。因為浮頂水咸淡水，淡水的大量涌入可能會放慢電流和改變溫度和天氣模式。目前，北極地區(qū)湖泊的大小相當(dāng)于大西洋的淡水量在一年中接收。它不是現(xiàn)在全球氣候變化的威脅，但它是一個重要的湖泊，科學(xué)家觀看。