The World Water Day Warning
来自世界水日的警告
在过去的15000年里，中国西北青藏高原的一座冰川为一些不寻常的“客人”举办了一场聚会：一群冷冻病毒，其中28种是现代科学所不知道的。
如果气候变化引发冰川持续消融，也许会给人类带来一次深重灾难。
第28个世界水日
“Water and climate change”
（水与气候变化）
1977年，“联合国水事会议”，向全世界发出严重警告：水不久将成为一个深刻的社会危机，石油危机之后的下一个危机便是水。1993年1月18日，第四十七届联合国大会作出决议，确定每年的3月22日为“世界水日”。
气候变化影响水资源。在全球许多区域， 气候变化带来的降水变化和冰雪融化正在影响水资源和水质。由于冰川持续退缩，影响径流和下游的水资源，全世界200条大河中近1/3的河流径流量减少。高纬度地区和高海拔山区的多年冻土层正在变暖和融化。在亚洲，气候变化已经对冰川、积雪、冻土、河流和湖泊产生了不同的影响，亚洲面临的关键风险主要体现在河流、海洋和城市洪水增加，对亚洲的基础设施、生计和居住区造成大范围破坏。
全球气候变化，青藏高原首当其冲，倘若冰川持续融化，或许会带来难以预料的灾难。本文即是一次对人类行为的严重警告。
Glacier ice archives fifteen-thousand-year-old viruses
冰川“存档”一万五千年的病毒
For the past 15,000 years, a glacier on the northwestern Tibetan Plateau of China has hosted a party for some unusual guests: an ensemble of frozen viruses, many of them unknown to modern science.
在过去的15000年里，中国西北青藏高原的一座冰川为一些不寻常的“客人”举办了一场聚会：一群冷冻病毒，其中许多是现代科学所不知道的。
Scientists recently broke up this party after taking a look at two ice cores from this Tibetan glacier, revealing the existence of 28 never-before-seen virus groups.
科学家们最近对西藏冰川的两个冰芯进行了研究，发现了28种以前从未见过的病毒群。
Investigating these mysterious viruses could help scientists on two fronts: For one, these stowaways can teach researchers which viruses thrived in different climates and environments over time, the researchers wrote in a paper posted on the bioRxiv database on Jan. 7.
研究人员在1月7日发表在bioRxiv数据库上的一篇论文中写道，研究这些神秘的病毒可以在两个方面帮助科学家：首先，可以告诉研究人员，随着时间的推移，哪些病毒可以在不同的气候和环境下存活。
"However, in a worst-case scenario, this ice melt [from climate change] could release pathogens into the environment," the researchers wrote in the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed. If this happens, it's best to know as much about these viruses as possible, the researchers wrote.
“然而，在最坏的情况下，(气候变化造成的)冰川融化可能会向环境释放病原体。”研究人员研究报告(尚未经过同行评审)中写道，“如果发生这种情况，最好尽可能多地了解这些病毒。”
Icy research
冰川研究
Studying ancient glacial microbes can be challenging. That's because it's extremely easy to contaminate ice core samples with modern-day bacteria. So, the researchers created a new protocol for ultraclean microbial and viral sampling.
研究古代冰川微生物可能具有挑战性，这是因为现代细菌很容易污染冰核样本。所以，研究人员创建了一种新的超清型微生物和病毒采样方案。
In this case, the two ice core samples from the Guliya ice cap on the Tibetan Plateau were collected in 1992 and 2015. However, at those times, there weren't any special measures taken to avoid microbial contamination during the core drilling, handling or transport.
本研究分别于1992年和2015年采集了青藏高原古里雅冰冠的两个冰芯样本。然而，在那个时候，并没有采取任何特别的措施来避免在钻井、搬运或运输过程中微生物污染。
In other words, the exterior of these ice cores was contaminated. But the insides were still pristine, the researchers wrote in the study. To access the inner part of the cores, the researchers set up shop in a cold room — the thermometer was set at 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 5 degrees Celsius) — and used a sterilized band saw to cut away 0.2 inches (0.5 centimeters) of ice from the outer layer. Then, the researchers washed the ice cores with ethanol to melt another 0.2 inches of ice. Finally, they washed the next 0.2 inches away with sterile water.
换句话说，这些冰芯的外部被污染了。但研究人员在研究报告中写道，它们的内部仍然很原始。为了进入冰芯的内部，研究人员在一个寒冷的房间里设置了温度计，温度设定在23华氏度(零下5摄氏度)，然后用一个消过毒的环形锯切去外层0.2英寸(0.5厘米)的冰。然后，研究人员用乙醇清洗冰芯，再融化0.2英寸的冰。最后，他们用无菌水将接下来的0.2英寸冲洗干净。
After all of this work (shaving off about 0.6 inches, or 1.5 cm of ice), the researchers reached an uncontaminated layer that they could study. This method held up even during tests in which the researchers covered the outer layer of the ice with other bacteria and viruses.
经过所有这些工作(刮掉约0.6英寸，或1.5厘米的冰)，研究人员终于获得了他们可以展开研究的未受污染的冰层。即使在研究人员用其他细菌和病毒覆盖冰层的实验中，这种方法仍然有效。
The experiment revealed 33 groups of virus genuses (also known as genera) in the ice cores. Of these, 28 were previously unknown to science, the researchers said. "The microbes differed significantly across the two ice cores," the researchers wrote in the study, "presumably representing the very different climate conditions at the time of deposition."
实验发现在冰芯中有33组病毒属。研究人员说，其中有28组以前不为科学界所知。研究人员在研究报告中写道:“两个冰芯上的微生物差异显著，这可能代表了冰芯沉积时非常不同的气候条件。”
It's no surprise that the glacier held these mysterious viruses for so long, researchers said.
研究人员说，这些神秘的病毒在冰川里保存了这么长时间，这并不奇怪。
"We are very far from sampling the entire diversity of viruses on Earth," Chantal Abergel, a researcher in environmental virology at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, who wasn't involved with the study, told Vice.
法国国家科学研究中心的环境病毒学研究员尚塔尔·阿贝格尔(Chantal Abergel)对Vice网站说:“我们离采样地球上所有的病毒还很远。”不过，他没有参与这项研究。
As human-made climate change melts glaciers the world over, these viral archives could be lost, the researchers noted. Research into ancient viruses "provides a first window into viral genomes and their ecology from glacier ice," the researchers wrote in the study, "and emphasizes their likely impact on abundant microbial groups [today]."
研究人员指出，随着人类造成的气候变化导致世界各地的冰川融化，这些病毒档案可能会丢失。研究人员在研究报告中写道，对古代病毒的研究“为从冰川中研究病毒基因组及其生态提供了一个窗口，并强调了它们(在今天)对大量微生物群的可能影响。”
英文来源：bioRxiv、www.livescience.com
January 22, 2020
2020年1月22日刊载
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