2026年5月12日 美国东部时间07:41:15 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/法新社
为濒危帝企鹅提供更严格保护，以及如何管控日益增长的旅游业，成为周二在日本开幕的南极问题谈判的首要议题。
近60个《南极条约》缔约国的官员将在广岛举行年度会议，讨论如何保护和管理这片脆弱的大陆。
这片大陆及其丰富的野生动物受到1959年签署的《南极条约》保护，该条约将南极定为科学与和平之地，同时冻结了各国的领土主张。
“在南极日益受到气候变化等全球挑战影响的当下，在广岛举行的这场讨论尤为重要，”南极条约秘书处执行秘书弗朗西斯科·贝尔古诺在周二的新闻发布会上表示。
贝尔古诺警告称，南极“在调节地球气候和海洋方面发挥着关键作用”，并呼吁各方“着眼长远、审慎管理、秉持国际互信”。
他补充道：“在此做出的决策有助于确保人类在南极的活动得到妥善管控、符合环境责任要求，并以科学为导向。”
据时事通讯社报道，包括美国、中国、俄罗斯和乌克兰在内的约50个国家的约400名政府官员和研究人员将参加此次会议。
今年最受关注的议题之一将是帝企鹅的保护现状。上个月，国际自然保护联盟（IUCN）将帝企鹅列为濒危物种。
环保组织世界自然基金会（WWF）呼吁在广岛会议上将帝企鹅定为特别保护物种，这可能会对给企鹅带来压力的航运和旅游业施加限制。
帝企鹅的数量大幅下降，主要原因是气候变化导致它们栖息、觅食和繁殖的海冰提前消融。
“如果我们现在不采取行动，这些冰雪上的标志性物种很可能在本世纪末走向灭绝，”世界自然基金会极地与海洋首席顾问罗德·唐尼在一份声明中说道。
但目前尚不清楚此次会议能否就升级保护措施达成共识，多位消息人士称，在广岛会议上不太可能就此做出决定。
另一个高度优先的议题是游客数量的激增——2024至2025财年到访南极的游客接近12万人次。与会代表将讨论对特定区域或活动实施限制的可能性，以及设定游客配额的可行性。
专家警告称，现有管理框架并未考虑到该地区旅游活动日益多样化的现状，如今的旅游活动已从皮划艇、热气球观光延伸至摩托车骑行。
“如何规范和管理南极旅游业已成为关键议题，”本次会议主席、日本外务省的上山秀树说道。
为南极敲响警钟
科学家们在8月发出警告，气候变化导致的南极突变以及可能不可逆的变化，可能会使全球海平面上升数米，并给“后世子孙带来灾难性后果”。
更广泛地说，发表在国际同行评审科学期刊《自然》上的一项研究显示，由数十位顶尖专家完成的现状综述揭示了该地区正在加速发生的变化，这些变化往往既是全球变暖的诱因，也是其结果。
该研究的作者建议，限制二氧化碳排放量，进而将全球变暖幅度控制在1.5摄氏度以内，“是势在必行的”，以此减轻并应对南极及南大洋突变带来的广泛影响。
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/nature-penguins-in-antarctica/
Emperor penguins in focus as Antarctica talks start in Japan
May 12, 2026 07:41:15 EDT / CBS/AFP
Greater protections for endangered emperor penguins and how to manage growing tourism are topping the agenda at talks on Antarctica opening in Japan on Tuesday.
Officials from the nearly 60 countries that are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty are meeting in Hiroshima for annual discussions on protecting and managing the fragile region.
The continent and its abundant wildlife are protected under the 1959 treaty, which designates it as a land of science and peace, while freezing territorial claims.
“The discussions taking place here in Hiroshima are especially important at a time when Antarctica is increasingly affected by global challenges such as climate change,” Francisco Berguno, executive secretary of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat, told a news conference Tuesday.
Berguno warned the continent “plays a critical role in regulating the Earth’s climate and oceans” and urged “long-term thinking, careful management, and international trust.”
“Decisions taken here help ensure that human activity in Antarctica remains carefully managed, environmentally responsible and scientifically driven,” he added.
Around 400 government officials and researchers from some 50 countries, including the United States, China, Russia and Ukraine, were toi take part in the meeting, according to Jiji Press.
Among the most closely watched issues this year will be the status of emperor penguins, which last month the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared endangered.
Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is urging that the animal be designated a specially protected species at the Hiroshima meeting, which could put restrictions on shipping and tourism that are adding pressure to the penguins.
Their numbers have plummeted primarily due to climate change that causes the sea ice where they live, hunt and breed to break up earlier in the year.
“These icons on ice may well be heading down the slippery slope towards extinction by the end of this century unless we act now,” WWF’s chief advisor for polar and oceans, Rod Downie, said in a statement.
But it remains unclear if the meeting can reach consensus on upgrading protections, with some sources saying a decision was unlikely in Hiroshima.
Also high on the agenda will be a sharp rise in tourists — almost 120,000 visited Antarctica in 2024-25 — and delegates will mull potential restrictions on areas or activities, as well as possible quotas.
Experts warn existing frameworks don’t take into account the increasing diversity of tourist activity in the region, from kayaking and hot air ballooning, to motorbiking.
“How to regulate and manage tourism in Antarctica has become a key issue,” said Hideki Uyama of Japan’s foreign affairs ministry, the meeting’s chair.
Ringing alarm bells about Antarctica
Scientists warned in August that abrupt and potentially irreversible changes in Antarctica driven by climate change could lift global oceans by meters and lead to “catastrophic consequences for generations.”
More broadly, a state-of-knowledge review by a score of top experts revealed accelerating shifts across the region that are often both a cause and effect of global warming, according to a study published in Nature, a peer-reviewed international scientific journal.
The study’s authors suggest that limiting CO2 emissions, and in turn preventing global warming from exceeding at least 1.5 degrees Celsius, “will be imperative” to reduce and prepare for the broad effects of abrupt Antarctic and Southern Ocean changes.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/nature-penguins-in-antarctica/
