11. Arctic and Antarctic sea ice volumes both fall to an all-time low

北极和南极海冰量均降至历史最低水平

17 November

11月17日

This year saw the arrival of the long-awaited El Nino, the periodic shift in warm water across the Pacific that brings torrential rain to Central and Latin America and drought to parts of Asia and Africa. Planetary temperatures spiked, putting an end to talk of a "pause". A plot of the Arctic plus Antarctic showed sea ice this autumn to be tracking 4m km2 (the size of western Europe) below the normal average. The ice doesn't lie. If we don't take this seriously now, our children will ask us why.

今年出现了人们期待已久的厄尔尼诺现象，即为中美洲和拉丁美洲带去降水、给亚洲和非洲部分地区带去干旱的太平洋热带水域的周期性变化。地球气温结束了短暂的“休息”，迅速飙升。北极和南极的监测图记录到今年秋季海冰面积比正常平均值低了400万平方公里 12. Scientists modify photosynthesis to boost crop yield

科学家改良光合作用提高作物产量

18 November

11月18日

Last month scientists at Illinois University made a breakthrough that could herald a second green revolution for world agriculture – they improved the efficiency of photosynthesis, the process by which plants turn sunlight into the biomass that is the source of all our food.

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