Documenting how animals stay alive in a melting world

Penguins, polar bears and amazing overhead photography can only mean one thing ‑ the second season of BBC’s documentary Frozen Planet is finally here!

企鹅、北极熊再度出镜，俯拍摄影视角绝美，这些只意味着一件事——BBC（英国广播公司）纪录片《冰冻星球》第二季终于和大家见面了！

In this follow-up to 2011’s Frozen Planet, the new six-part series called Frozen Planet II revisits the Arctic and Antarctic. It also gives a view into the secret wildlife dramas that play out in all the world’s coldest areas, such as high mountains and frozen deserts.

继2011年的《冰冻星球》之后，共六集的全新纪录片《冰冻星球2》再次造访南北两极。该片还为人们展示了在诸如冰封高山、冰雪沙漠等世界上最寒冷的地区，野生动物上演着怎样隐秘的生活剧情。

It took the team over three years to make videos of Siberian tigers in Russia walking over great distances to hunt for black bears. In China’s Wolong National Nature Reserve, the team brought to light giant pandas doing handstands to mark their scent.

摄制团队花了三年多时间，拍摄下俄罗斯东北虎长途跋涉捕食黑熊的视频。在中国卧龙国家级自然保护区，摄制组还拍到了喜欢用“倒立”做气味标记的大熊猫。

While there are lighter moments, the ever-changing frozen planet is a central theme of the documentary. Mark Brownlow, the series’ executive producer, points out that Frozen Planet II is not just about capturing nice footage, but also “[drawing] attention to changes going on now”.

《冰冻星球2》虽然不乏一些轻松的时刻，但仍将不断变化的冰冻星球作为核心主题。该纪录片的执行制片人马克·布朗罗指出，《冰冻星球2》不仅要捕捉绝佳的镜头，还要“吸引人们注意到现在正在发生的变化”。

The series shows the great challenges caused by climate change that many polar animals now face. For example, pups of harp seals in the Arctic Ocean rely on sea ice for the first six weeks of life. However, the sea ice of today melts and breaks up sooner in spring. As a result, groups of seal pups fall off the ice into the ocean before they have learned how to swim. Meanwhile, chinstrap penguin chicks use their fur to stay warm. Due to a warming Antarctica, however, more rainy days have led to them suffering from hypothermia.

《冰冻星球2》展示了气候变化为那些依赖极寒环境生存的动物带来的巨大挑战。例如，生长于北冰洋的竖琴海豹宝宝，出生后前六周需要在浮冰上生活。然而，由于如今冰面在春季融化、碎裂的速度加快，成群的海豹宝宝在学会游泳之前就从冰上掉入了海里。而帽带企鹅的幼崽则依靠自身的皮毛保暖，然而，随着南极洲变暖，雨天变多，小企鹅们会因冰冷的雨水而导致体温过低。

Despite this, Frozen Planet II tells us that there is still hope. Professor Alun Hubbard is a glaciologist from Norway. He has spent over 30 years studying the movement of ice along Greenland’s coastline. Although there has been much more ice melting there over the last 20 years, he believes that all these processes can still be turned back. “Consume less ... think more sensibly about the journeys we take and the food we eat. Figure out a lifestyle that is sustainable,” he warns us.

虽然前路堪忧，《冰冻星球2》还是告诉大家，我们仍保有希望。来自挪威的冰川学家艾伦·哈伯德教授花了30多年时间，研究格陵兰岛海岸线上冰川的运动。尽管在过去的20年里，那里的冰融化了很多，但他相信所有这些过程仍然可以逆转。哈伯德警示我们称，“节制消费……对出行和进食做出更理智的思考，找到一种可持续的生活方式。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报》高一896期