The gravity of our planet is changing too.

地心引力也在變化中

Hey guys, Amy here for DNews.

嘿大家，我是Amy，這裡是DNews

Gravity is pretty neat; it’s the force that stops us from floating off the planet.

地心引力非常巧妙，這個力量讓我們不會飄離地球

But it’s not a constant, uniform force.

但地心引力不是一直那麼穩定

The strength of gravity actually varies very slightly at different points on the globe because of things like the planet’s rotation, the existence of mountains, and deep ocean trenches.

地球上的每個點上的地心引力都有點不同，影響因素包含地球轉動、山脈還有海溝

And it turns out that the Earth’s gravitational environment isn't constant in its variety,either.

但地心引力在各種變化中似乎也不是一直很穩定

According to data from the European Space Agency’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite,

來自歐洲太空署地球重力場和海洋環流探測衛星的資料

the loss of polar ice to climate change is affecting the gravitational environment.

氣候變遷導致極區的冰融化，影響了引力環境

The melting ice in question is the Antarctic ice sheet.

這裡討論的融冰是南極的冰蓋

The largest mass of ice on Earth, it covers more than 8.5 million square miles and contains around 90 percent of the Earth’s fresh water.

南極冰蓋是地球上最大的冰，它附蓋了超過850平方英里，佔了全球百分之九十的淡水資源

Scientists looking at the ice sheet often divide it into catchment basins to better understand how the ice in each basin changes and discharges into the ocean,

觀察冰原的科學家常把冰原分成許多集水區，以便了解各集水區的變化和觀察流到海裡的過程

and it turns out to be quite a bit.

結果非常驚人

Ice loss to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has increased by a factor of three on a yearly basis since 2009.

西南極冰蓋自2009年起，基於三個因素，每年融冰都增加，

The combined loss of ice between 2009 and 2012 caused a noticeable dip in the gravity field over this region.

2009年到2012年總共的融冰，造成南極地區顯著的磁場下滑

Between 2011 and 2014, Antarctica has shrunk by more than four million cubic feet.

2011至2014，南極已縮水超過400萬立方英呎

And the loss of ice means the area is becoming less dense, and that means that the pull of gravity is slightly less strong in the region than it once was.

融冰讓這區域不再那麼緊密，也表示了引力跟之前相比也削弱了許多

But it’s not like you’re going to float off the planet if you get too close to the Antarctic Peninsula,

這不表示一靠近南極，你就會地從表浮起來

though you might weigh slightly less.

但你的體重會稍稍下降

Still, it’s pretty significant that climate is actually affecting the gravity on our planet.

顯然氣候變遷正影響著地心引力

So, what do you think?

所以，你覺得呢？

Is losing a little weight in a specific part of the globe worth the damage to the climate?

值得拿氣候變遷來換較輕的體重嗎？

Let us know in the comments, and for more DNews every day of the week don’t forget to subscribe.

留言讓我們知道。想知道更多DNews，別忘了訂閱我們的頻道