据美国电视新闻网（CNN）8日报道，全球气候变暖正导致北极圈格陵兰岛的冰川加速融化。然而，“具有讽刺意味的是”，冰川融化后的陆地因为拥有能推动绿色能源转型的的丰富矿产，正成为美国亿万富豪们争先恐后前往的“淘金地”……
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CNN：随着冰层的消失，亿万富翁们正在格陵兰岛资助一场大规模的“淘金”活动
Some of the world's richest men are funding a massive treasure hunt, complete with helicopters and transmitters, on the west coast of Greenland.
The climate crisis is melting Greenland down at an unprecedented rate, which -- in a twist of irony -- is creating an opportunity for investors and mining companies who are searching for a trove of critical minerals capable of powering the green energy transition.
CNN报道称，这群富翁包括亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯（Jeff Bezos）、彭博创始人迈克尔·布隆伯格（Michael Bloomberg）、“微软之父”比尔·盖茨（Bill Gates）等，他们相信在格陵兰岛的迪斯科岛（Disko Island）和努斯瓦克半岛（Nuussuaq Peninsula）的地表之下，有足够多的矿产资源，能为数亿辆电动汽车提供动力。
A band of billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates, among others, is betting that below the surface of the hills and valleys on Greenland's Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula there are enough critical minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles.
美国矿产勘探公司“Kobold Metals”首席执行官科特·豪斯（Kurt House）告诉CNN：“我们正在（格陵兰岛）寻找一个能成为世界上第一大或第二大的镍矿床、钴矿床。”
报道称，这家勘探公司使用机器学习和人工智能技术来寻找原材料，得到了诸多亿万富豪的支持。该公司正与英国矿业巨头蓝鸦矿业（Bluejay Mining）合作，在格陵兰岛寻找制造电动汽车和储存可再生能源的大型电池所必需的稀有贵金属。
“Kobold Metals”公司员工在格陵兰岛，图源：CNN
"We are looking for a deposit that will be the first- or second-largest most significant nickel and cobalt deposit in the world," Kurt House, CEO of Kobold Metals, told CNN.
The billionaire club is financially backing Kobold Metals, a mineral exploration company and California-based startup, the company's representatives told CNN. Kobold is partnered with Bluejay Mining to find the rare and precious metals in Greenland that are necessary to build electric vehicles and massive batteries to store renewable energy.
CNN报道指出，北极地区陆地上和海洋中的冰川消融，呈现出一个独特的矛盾现象：格陵兰岛是受气候变化影响的核心地带；而为了解决气候危机开展的搜寻稀有贵金属的行动，再次让格陵兰岛受到影响。
The Arctic's disappearing ice -- on land and in the ocean -- highlights a unique dichotomy: Greenland is ground zero for the impacts of climate change, but it could also become ground zero for sourcing the metals needed to power the solution to the crisis.
蓝鸦矿业首席执行官斯滕斯加德告诉CNN：“格陵兰岛气候变化的后果和影响令人担忧。但总体来说，气候变化让格陵兰岛的勘探和采矿变得更容易。” 他表示，由于气候变化使海洋的无冰期变长，更便于开采团队将重型设备和矿产运往全球市场。
"It is a concern to witness the consequences and impacts from the climate changes in Greenland," Bluejay Mining CEO Bo Møller Stensgaard told CNN. "But, generally speaking, climate changes overall have made exploration and mining in Greenland easier and more accessible." Stensgaard said that because climate change is making ice-free periods in the sea longer, teams are able to ship in heavy equipment and ship out metals out to the global market more easily.
陆地上冰层融化，从而让被冰雪覆盖成千上万年的地面裸露出来，也让这里成为“挖矿”的潜在目的地。
Melting land ice is exposing land that has been buried under ice for centuries to millennia -- but could now become a potential site for mineral exploration.
美国北极研究委员会主席迈克·斯弗拉加 (Mike Sfraga) 评论道：“随着冰川融化的加剧，毫无疑问未来会有更多的土地被利用，其中一些土地可能具有矿产开发的潜力。”
"As these trends continue well into the future, there is no question more land will become accessible and some of this land may carry the potential for mineral development," Mike Sfraga, the chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission, told CNN.
另据丹麦和格陵兰地质调查局的数据，格陵兰岛地下可能富含着煤炭、铜、金、稀土元素和锌等多种矿产资源。该机构称，格陵兰政府已经对“整个无冰地区”进行了多次资源评估，因此政府已经认识到“该国可以通过矿产开采实现国民经济多元化”这一潜力。
Greenland could be a hot spot for coal, copper, gold, rare-earth elements and zinc, according to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. The government of Greenland, according to the agency, has done several "resource assessments throughout the ice-free land" and the government "recognizes the country's potential to diversify the national economy through mineral extraction."
不过，格陵兰岛消失的冰层，不断上升的海平面，仍然是令科学家们非常担心的问题。
In the meantime, Greenland's vanishing ice -- which is pushing sea level higher -- is a great concern for scientists who study the Arctic.
研究表明，北极的变暖速度是全球变暖速度的2-3倍。格陵兰岛大部分位于北极圈内，全岛约80%的土地被冰盖覆盖。2020年，科学家们发现，格陵兰岛的冰盖已经融化到无可挽回的地步。
根据美国国家冰雪数据中心的数据，仅今年7月15日至17日三天时间，格陵兰岛融化的冰量每天多达约60亿吨——足以填满720万个奥运规模的游泳池。CNN报道称，如果格陵兰冰盖全部融化的话，可以使全球海平面上升7.5米。（戳这里回顾）
综合来源：CNN，央视财经
