中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 In this March 25, 2012, file photo a couple enjoy a sunny afternoon against the backdrop of the Midtown skyline from Piedmont Park in Atlanta. |
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It's been so warm in the United States this year, especially in March, that national records weren't just broken, they were deep-fried. Temperatures in the lower 48 states were 8.6 degrees above normal for March and 6 degrees higher than average for the first three months of the year, according to calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That far exceeds the old records. The magnitude of how unusual the year has been in the US has alarmed some meteorologists who have warned about global warming. One climate scientist said it's the weather equivalent of a baseball player on steroids, with old records obliterated. "Everybody has this uneasy feeling. This is weird. This is not good," said Jerry Meehl, a climate scientist who specializes in extreme weather at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "It's a guilty pleasure. You're out enjoying this nice March weather, but you know it's not a good thing." It's not just March. "It's been ongoing for several months," said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Ashville, N.C. Meteorologists say an unusual confluence of several weather patterns, including La Nina, was the direct cause of the warm start to 2012. While individual events can't be blamed on global warming, Crouch said this is like the extremes that are supposed to get more frequent because of manmade climate change from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Normally, March averages 42.5 degrees across the country. This year, the average was 51.1, which is closer to the average for April. Only one other time — in January 2006 — was the country as a whole that much hotter than normal for an entire month. In March, at least 7,775 weather stations across the nation broke daily high temperature records and another 7,517 broke records for night-time heat. Combined, that's more high temperature records broken in one month than ever before, Crouch said. "When you look at what's happened in March this year, it's beyond unbelievable," said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
美國今年天氣十分暖和，特別是三月以來，溫度居高不下。這不僅是破紀錄的高溫，而且熱度灼人。 據(jù)美國國家海洋和大氣管理局的測算，美國南部48個州今年三月的溫度比正常水平高了8.6華氏度，前三個月的平均溫度比平均水平高出了6華氏度。這遠遠超出了歷史記錄水平。 美國今年是如此反常，讓一些氣候?qū)W家感到擔憂，此前他們已經(jīng)對全球變暖提出過警告。一位氣候?qū)W家稱，這就像服用了類固醇興奮劑的棒球運動員刷新歷史記錄一樣，事有異常。 專門研究極端天氣的氣候?qū)W家杰里?米爾說：“大家都有這種不安的感覺。這太詭異了，情況不妙。這是一種讓人無法開懷享受的愉悅。你在戶外享受著這美好的三月天氣，但是你知道，這不是件好事。”米爾在科羅拉多州博爾德的國家氣候研究中心工作。 并不只有三月份如此。 氣候?qū)W家杰克?克勞趣說：“這種高溫已經(jīng)持續(xù)了幾個月。”克勞趣在國家海洋和大氣管理局位于北卡羅來納州阿什維爾的國家氣候數(shù)據(jù)中心工作。 氣候?qū)W家稱，包括拉尼娜現(xiàn)象在內(nèi)的幾種氣候類型的異常交匯是導致2012年初以來溫暖天氣的直接原因。盡管不能將個別事件歸因于全球變暖，但克勞趣稱，就像燃燒煤油等化石燃料、人為導致的氣候變化引發(fā)的極端天氣一樣，這種極端天氣只會愈加頻繁。 正常情況下，美國三月的平均氣溫為華氏42.5度。今年美國三月的平均氣溫為51.1度，這更接近往年四月的平均溫度。這種整個月氣溫大大高于正常水平的情況在美國只出現(xiàn)過一次——在2006年一月。 三月期間，美國至少7775個氣象站測得的日最高氣溫打破記錄，還有7517個氣象站測出的夜間氣溫破了紀錄。克勞趣說，二者加在一起，這一個月打破的高溫記錄比往年都要多。 維多利亞大學的氣候?qū)W家安德魯?韋佛說：“如果你好好看看今年三月的天氣情況，你會覺得太難以置信了。” 相關閱讀 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: magnitude: 大小；強度 steroid: 類固醇 obliterate: 擦掉……的痕跡；沖刷（掉） confluence: 匯合 |
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