Antarctica is supposed to be an extremely cold place. The annual mean temperature of the snow-laden continent's central area is -57 degrees Celsius (?70.6°F); even the coast averages around -10°C (14°F).
南極應(yīng)該是極寒之地，這個(gè)冰雪覆蓋的大陸的中心地帶年平均溫度是-57攝氏度（?70.6華氏度），沿海平均溫度約為-10攝氏度（14華氏度）。

But on February 6, the weather station at Esperanza Base on the Antarctic Peninsula - the northernmost tip of the content - logged the hottest temperature ever recorded on the mainland, at 18.3°C (64.9°F).
但2月6日，位于南極大陸最北端南極半島的阿根廷基地的氣象站記錄了這片陸地有史以來(lái)最高溫度——18.3攝氏度（64.9華氏度）。

It beat out the former record of 17.5°C, from 24 March 2015.
打破了2015年3月24日17.5攝氏度的紀(jì)錄。

This latest heatwave lasted for about a week, and images of Eagle Island, taken by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8, have now captured a pretty depressing picture of its impact.
最近的高溫持續(xù)約一周，Landsat 8（美國(guó)陸地衛(wèi)星計(jì)劃的第八顆衛(wèi)星）上的陸地成像儀拍攝的鷹島照片顯示了高溫產(chǎn)生的影響，情況不容樂(lè)觀。

The tiny Eagle Island is located just off the coast of Graham Land in the Antarctic Peninsula. The record-high temperatures have resulted in a large amount of Eagle Island's ice cap melting into the sea, while areas towards the middle of the island saw melt ponds form astonishingly quickly.
鷹島這座小島位于南極半島的格雷厄姆海岸附近。本次創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的高溫導(dǎo)致鷹島冰蓋大量融化入海，靠近半島中心的一些地區(qū)出現(xiàn)了融化的冰池，形成速度驚人。

"I haven't seen melt ponds develop this quickly in Antarctica," says Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College.
尼科爾斯學(xué)院的冰川學(xué)家Mauri Pelto說(shuō)：“我從未見(jiàn)過(guò)南極融化池形成速度如此之快?！?/div>

"You see these kinds of melt events in Alaska and Greenland, but not usually in Antarctica."
“在阿拉斯加和格陵蘭島都能看到這種融化現(xiàn)象，但南極不常見(jiàn)。”

Pelto also notes that the source of this melt event - persistent high temperatures significantly above freezing - is not typical of Antarctic weather patterns. Nevertheless, these have become more common recently.?
Pelto也表示融化現(xiàn)象的根源，也就是明顯高于冰點(diǎn)的持續(xù)高溫，并非是典型的南極氣候模式，但最近卻越來(lái)越常見(jiàn)。

In total, snow pack on Eagle Island had over 10 centimetres (4 inches) of melt in the span of just a few days - between February 6 and February 11.?
鷹島的積雪在2月6日至11日的短短幾天內(nèi)總共融化了十多厘米（4英寸）。

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翻譯：菲菲