It will be a dark Christmas for the people of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, who have grown used to going without sunlight for more than two months each year. The city is in the Arctic Circle, the highest circle of latitude on Earth. Because of the Earth’s slight tilt (倾斜), the Arctic Circle is either fully exposed to the sun or completely shaded from it at different times of the year as the planet orbits. In late November, the sun sets for the final time as the Arctic Circle enters two months of “polar nights”— a phenomenon in which night lasts for more than 24 hours.
对于阿拉斯加乌特恰格维克的人们来说，将度过一个黑暗的圣诞节，他们已经习惯了每年两个多月没有阳光的生活。这座城市位于地球上纬度最高的北极圈。 由于地球的轻微倾斜， 随着地球的自转， 在一年中的不同时间 段， 北极圈要么完全暴露在太阳下，要么完全 照射不到太阳 。 11月下旬，随着北极圈进入两个月的“极夜”，太阳最后一次落山，这种现象的夜晚持续时间超过24小时。
A video clip from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, taken from a sea ice camera at Utqiaġvik, showed the strange experience of 24 hours without sun. The sky turned from pale to bright blue, before complete blackness came on for several hours. The waves crashed against “landfast ice” — frozen seawater that is stuck to the coast in cold climates — while a few people and cars moved about. The glimmer (微光) of pale blue light seen at the start of the clip is known as “civil twilight”, when the light from the sun is just barely visible but the sun itself has not risen above the horizon (地平线).
阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯分校的一段视频剪辑是从乌特恰格维克的海冰相机拍摄的，展示了24小时无太阳的奇特体验。天空从苍白变成了明亮的蓝色，然后黑暗持续了几个小时。海浪撞击着“登陆冰”，即在寒冷气候下滞留在海岸的冰冻海水，一些人和汽车四处移动。视频开始时看到的淡蓝色微光被称为“民用曙暮光”，即来自太阳的光线几乎看不见，但太阳本身还没有升到地平线以上。
Utqiaġvik, which is the northernmost city in the US, will not experience another sunrise until about 1:09pm local time on January 23, 2024. Even then, the sun will only be up for about an hour. After that date, daylight hours will get longer and longer throughout spring until reaching “midnight sun” — the opposite of polar night. At that point, Utqiaġvik will see 24 hours of sunlight each day for several months.
乌特恰格维克是美国最北端的城市，直到当地时间2024年1月23日下午1点09分左右才会再次出现日出。即便如此，太阳也只会升起大约一个小时。在那之后，整个春天的白天时间将越来越长，直到极昼现象发生——与极夜相反。到那时，乌特恰格维克将在几个月内每天看到24小时的阳光。
University of Alaska Fairbanks explained its Utqiaġvik sea ice camera helps to monitor not just day to day conditions but also longer-term environmental changes.
阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯分校解释说，其乌特恰格维克海冰相机不仅有助于监测日常条件，还有助于监测长期环境变化。
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