气候接近“临界点”，科学家正在憋“大招”，攻击Uber公司的黑客信息被曝光了！
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With new evidence that catastrophic climate-change "tipping points" are nearing from surging sea levels as polar ice melts to spiking temperatures as methane escapes thawing permafrost — scientists are quietly planning for the unthinkable.
有新的证据表明灾难性的气候变化是“临界点”。从极地冰川融化引起的海平面上升，到甲烷从融化的永久冻土中逸出，气温急剧上升，科学家们正在悄悄地憋“大招”。
"Extreme climate change risks are under-explored," Luke Kemp, a researcher with the Center for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, warned at a pioneering conference on the theme at the University of Exeter this week.
“人们对极端气候变化的风险研究还不够深入”，剑桥大学生存风险研究中心的研究员卢克·坎普本周在埃克塞特大学举行的一次开创性会议上警告说。
“Climate scholars have strong incentives to err on the side of least drama,” he noted." You don't want to be branded an alarmist." But with fossil fuel emissions still going up and climate-fueled disasters multiplying, it's time for an "honest assessment of the risks and what can be done," he told an audience stunned into silence by frank assessments of looming threats.
“科学家们在这一问题上不愿惹事生非。”他补充道，“大家都不想被贴上危言耸听的标签。”但随着化石燃料排放量仍在上升，气候引发的灾难成倍增加，现在是“坦诚地评估风险和行动起来”的时候了。一名听众在听到气候变化的种种威胁后震惊地陷入沉默。
A study published last week in the journal Science found that four dangerous planetary tipping points are "likely" above 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) of warming compared to pre-industrial temperatures — a level that could be passed within a decade.
上周发表在《科学》杂志上的一项研究发现，地球上存在四个危险的临界点。与工业化前相比，全球变暖的温度将在未来十年超过1.5摄氏度（2.7华氏度）。
Tipping points happen when a small change — such as an incremental increase in global temperature — sparks a rapid, often irreversible transformation, scientists say.
科学家们说，当一个微小的变化——比如全球气温的逐渐上升——引发了一场通常是不可逆转的快速转变时，就会出现临界点。
One — accelerating melting leading to the eventual collapse of the Greenland ice sheet — may have already been triggered, some believe, setting in motion 7 meters (23 feet) of sea level rise over time, enough to swamp key coastal cities.
一些人认为，一个因素可能已经被触发，即加速融化导致格陵兰冰盖的最终崩溃，随着时间的推移，海平面上升了7米（23英尺），足以淹没主要的沿海城市。
David King, former chief scientific adviser for Britain and founder of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, an expert panel, said he thinks "the Arctic circle tipping points are now passed."
英国前首席科学顾问、专家小组气候危机咨询小组创始人戴维·金认为“北极圈的临界点现在已经过去了。”
With the Arctic having warmed by 3 C — well above the global average, which is already about 1.3 C, he said — risks are also growing that large amounts of methane trapped in thawing permafrost could be released.
北极变暖了3摄氏度，远高于全球平均水平，全球平均气温达到1.3摄氏度左右，他说，冻结在融化的永久冻土中的大量甲烷可能会被释放，这一风险也在增加。
Adding much more of that potent greenhouse gas to the atmosphere could drive an unstoppable cycle of higher global temperatures and more melting, King told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
向大气中排放更多的温室气体可能会导致全球气温上升和更多融化的不可阻挡的循环，金告诉汤森路透基金会。
"If all of that is released, we'll see temperatures rise 5-8 C (8-14F) over 20 years," he said, adding this would be "extraordinarily destructive to the future of humanity," likely causing food system collapse and displacing billions of people.
“如果所有这些气体都被释放，我们将看到气温在20年内上升5-8摄氏度（8-14华氏度），”他说，这将“对人类的未来造成极大的破坏”，可能会导致粮食系统崩溃，并导致数十亿人流离失所。