听起来不可思议，最新研究报告指出，北极可能在今年夏天出现冰层完全融化的奇景，将是人类有史以来首见。

美国科劳拉多州博尔德市「国家冰雪数据中心」的资深科学家薛瑞兹表示，受全球暖化影响，北极区冰层有五成的机率，在今年九月暂时完全融化，速度比预期快很多。尽管北极融冰可能不会对人类产生立即的影响，但北极熊将连立足之地都没有了。

薛瑞兹指出，「几年前，我们认为北极全面融冰应发生在二○五○年至二一○○年间，最近则认为会提前到二○三○年，现在却可能提早到今年九月。」他说，就科学角度而言，北极只是地球上的一个点，但是象征意义重大：「北极应是冰天雪地，不该变成一片汪洋。」

http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR4/4403709.shtml

法新社

North Pole may briefly have no ice this summer: US expert

WASHINGTON (AFP) ─ There could be a brief time this summer when there is no ice on the North Pole, a US scientist said Friday, blaming global warming that has melted the Arctic ice sheet over decades.

"We could have no ice at the North Pole at the end of this summer," Mark Serreze, a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, told AFP.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iU9UOmEQ5-DXROTg33PsMch2Xopg

美联社

This summer may see first ice-free North Pole

There's a 50-50 chance that the North Pole will be ice-free this summer, which would be a first in recorded history, a leading ice scientist says.

The weather and ocean conditions in the next couple of weeks will determine how much of the sea ice will melt, and early signs are not good, said Mark Serreze. He's a senior researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.

The chances for a total meltdown at the pole are higher than ever because the layer of ice coating the sea is thinner than ever, he said.

"A large area at the North Pole and surrounding the North Pole is first-year ice," Serreze said. "That's the stuff that tends to melt out in the summer because it's thin."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hU5i54pX9VdxAcD6Mo3VfWZDWfyQD91ILU4G1

其他国际媒体对此的关注：

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-no-ice-at-the-north-pole-855406.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372542,00.html

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/27/content_8450341.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/06/27/eaice127.xml

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/27/1650207

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080627/iceless_north_080627/20080627?hub=World

全球暖化问题已经成为地球面临的最大危机，诺贝尔奖创办人的曾侄孙麦克·诺贝尔博士Michael Nobel在台北圆山饭店，呼吁世人发展提高能源使用效率科技、不吃肉及发展替代能源来拯救地球。

http://udn.com/NEWS/NATIONAL/NAT5/4339881.shtml