紐時賞析／北極暖化 毒水染紅阿拉斯加河川

Warmer Arctic Is Sending Toxic Runoff Into Alaska’s Rivers

北極暖化  毒水染紅阿拉斯加河川

Record-setting temperatures and rainfall in the Arctic over the past year sped up the melting of permafrost and washed toxic minerals into more than 200 rivers across northern Alaska, threatening vital salmon runs, according to a report card issued by federal scientists.

美國聯邦科學家發布的年度評估報告指出，過去一年北極地區出現破紀錄的高溫與降雨，加速了永凍土融化，並將有毒礦物沖入阿拉斯加北部200多條河流，威脅到對當地重要的鮭魚洄游。

The report, compiled by dozens of academic and government scientists and coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, documented rapid environmental changes from Norway’s Svalbard Island to the Greenland ice sheet and the tundra of northern Canada and Alaska.

報告由數十名學者與政府科學家共同撰寫，並由美國國家海洋暨大氣總署統籌，記錄了從挪威斯瓦爾巴群島、格陵蘭冰原，到加拿大與阿拉斯加北部苔原地區的環境快速變化。

Between October 2024 and September 2025, the period from when the ground begins to freeze until the end of summer, surface air temperatures were the warmest on record dating back 125 years, the report found.

報告指出，從2024年10月至2025年9月、地表開始結冰到夏季結束的這段期間，地表氣溫創下125年有紀錄以來的最高值。

“The Arctic region has a powerful influence on Earth’s ecosystem as a whole,” said Steve Thur, NOAA’s assistant administrator for research and acting chief scientist.

美國國家海洋暨大氣總署研究副署長、代理首席科學家史蒂夫．瑟爾表示：「北極地區對整個地球生態系具有強大的影響力。」

This year’s 153-page report is coming out despite a shift at the agency, including a focus on commercial aspects of the ocean. In April, the Trump administration proposed eliminating NOAA’s research arm. Over this year’s study period, there was a record amount of precipitation, both snow and rain, averaged across the region.

今年4月，川普政府提議裁撤NOAA的研究部門。儘管NOAA政策重心轉向海洋的商業價值，長達153頁的報告仍如期發布。研究期間，北極地區平均降水量（包括降雪與降雨）同樣創下歷史新高。

“To see both of these historical records being set in the same year is quite remarkable,” said Matthew Druckenmiller, a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, and a lead author of the report.

報告主要作者之一、科羅拉多州國家冰雪資料中心資深科學家馬修．德魯肯米勒表示：「兩項歷史紀錄竟在同一年被刷新，情況相當罕見。」

“Since 1980, the Arctic annual air temperatures have warmed nearly three times faster than the rest of the planet,” Druckenmiller said. He said the warming is affecting the timing and amount of rain and snow in the Arctic, which affects fisheries, wildlife and residents.

德魯肯米勒指出，自1980年起，北極地區的年平均氣溫升高速度，幾乎是全球其他地區的三倍。這種升溫正在改變當地降雨與降雪的時間與總量，進而影響漁業、野生動物與居民生活。

The permafrost that covers much of the Arctic’s land surface has been melting since the early 2000s, and researchers have now discovered toxic chemicals leaching into rivers in northern Alaska as the permafrost melts.

覆蓋北極大部分陸地的永凍土，自2000年代初期開始融化。研究人員如今發現，隨著永凍土融解，有毒化學物質正滲入阿拉斯加北部的河川。

The troubling phenomenon was first noted in 2019 and has now been seen in more than 200 river basins north of Alaska’s Brooks Range mountains, according to Joshua Koch, a research hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey.

美國地質調查所水文學家約書亞．柯克表示，這一令人憂心的現象最早於2019年被發現，如今已出現在阿拉斯加布魯克斯山脈以北、超過200個流域。

“We started to see some of these streams turning orange,” Koch said. “These are really pristine areas that don’t have impacts from mines or from human activity.”

柯克說：「我們開始看到部分溪流變成橘色。這些地區本來非常原始，並未受到礦業或人類活動的影響。」

文／Eric Niiler，譯／國際中心

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張佑生

全球暖化、北極創下百年來最高溫，幾乎不是新聞；但融化後的水流入河川竟然有毒，就非同小可。Runoff指的是雨水、融雪等未滲入土壤、直接流入河川的水，學術與環保報導常以「逕流」稱之：Reduced runoff means less water for irrigation.本文最深的一層也許是：汙染不一定來自人類直接排放，可能是氣候變遷「解封」了自然中的毒性物質。

執全球大氣與海洋研究牛耳的美國NOAA，在研究部門(research arm)可能遭裁撤前，仍按時交出調研報告，暗示政策與專業之間的拉鋸。Despite/in spite of後面通常接名詞，前者更正式些。

機構正將重心轉向海洋的商業面向(commercial aspects)，講白了，就是把海洋視為可開發、可創造經濟收益的產業資源，而非單純科學研究或環境保育的對象，政策重心從「研究海洋」轉向「利用海洋」。

配稿的「動態定價」(dynamic pricing)值得學習，指企業依據需求、競爭者價格、使用者行為等因素即時調整價格的策略，運用演算法(algorithm)，而演算法定價(algorithmic pricing)可延伸「演算法黑箱」(algorithmic opacity)議題。