多国发生洪灾 科学家警告气候变化影响

    India, Japan, China, Turkey, and the United States have reported severe flooding in recent days.
    印度、日本、中国、土耳其和美国最近几天都报告了严重的洪灾。

    Schools in New Delhi were closed Monday after heavy monsoon rains hit the Indian capital. At least 15 people died in landslides and flash floods over the last three days. To the north, the Beas River overflowed, carrying vehicles downstream as the river flooded neighborhoods.
    印度首都新德里周一遭遇季风雨,学校停课。在过去的三天里,至少有15人死于山体滑坡和山洪暴发。在北部,比亚斯河泛滥,河流淹没了社区,卷走车辆顺流而下。

    In Japan, heavy rain fell on the southwestern island of Kyushu, causing floods and mudslides. Two people reportedly died and at least six others were missing. Local TV showed damaged houses in the city of Fukuoka and muddy water in the Yamakuni River.
    日本西南部的九州岛降下暴雨,引发洪水和泥石流。据报道,有两人死亡,另有至少六人失踪。当地电视台播放了福冈市受损的房屋和山国川的浑浊河水。

    On Turkey's mountainous Black Sea coast, heavy rains caused rivers to overflow. Landslides and flooding damaged cities in the area. In southwestern China, at least 15 people were killed by flooding in mountainous areas.
    在土耳其多山的黑海沿岸,暴雨导致河流泛滥。山体滑坡和洪水破坏了该地区的城市。在中国西南部的山区,至少有15人死于洪水。

    And in the United States, areas of New York state's Hudson Valley and Vermont also reported heavy flooding.
    而在美国,纽约州哈德逊河谷地区和佛蒙特州也报告了严重的洪水。

    The Associated Press (AP) reports that scientists are saying storms are forming in a warmer atmosphere. They say this is making extreme rainfall more common. The scientists predict that additional warming will cause more bad weather.
    据美联社报道,科学家们表示,风暴是在温暖的大气层中形成的。他们说,这使得极端降雨更加普遍。科学家们预测,进一步的变暖将导致更多的恶劣天气。

    The scientists say warmer air holds more water, or moisture. More moisture might result in storms creating more precipitation depending on several other conditions. Scientists blame carbon dioxide and methane, two forms of carbon gases, for trapping heat in the atmosphere.
    科学家们说,温暖的空气含有更多的水汽。更多的水汽可能会导致风暴,产生更多的降水,这取决于其他几种情况。科学家们指责二氧化碳和甲烷这两种形式的碳气体将热量捕获在大气中。

    What scientists call climate change is not the cause of the storms creating rain. Instead, they say storms are forming in an atmosphere that is becoming warmer and wetter.
    科学家们所说的气候变化并不是风暴产生降雨的原因。相反,他们说风暴是在越来越温暖和潮湿的大气中形成的。

    Rodney Wynn is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay, Florida. He said, "68 degrees Fahrenheit can hold twice as much water as 50 degrees Fahrenheit." Wynn said warm air expands, making it able to hold more moisture.
    罗德尼·韦恩是佛罗里达州坦帕湾国家气象局的气象学家。他说,“68华氏度所能容纳的水是50华氏度的两倍。”韦恩说,温暖的空气会膨胀,从而能够容纳更多的水汽。

    U.S. space agency NASA says on the Global Climate Change part of its website that, for every one degree Celsius that the atmosphere warms, it can hold about seven percent more moisture. NASA also says the average global temperature has increased by at least 1.1 degrees Celsius since 1880.
    美国宇航局在其网站的“全球气候变化”部分表示,大气每变暖一摄氏度,其水汽就会增加约7%。美国宇航局还表示,自1880年以来,全球平均气温至少上升了1.1摄氏度。

    Brian Soden is a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Miami. He said, "...As these storms form in warmer environments that have more moisture in them, the rainfall increases."
    布莱恩·索登是迈阿密大学的大气科学教授。他说:“……随着这些风暴在更温暖、湿度更大的环境中形成,降雨量也会增加。”

    "As the climate gets warmer, we expect intense rain events to become more common," Soden said. "It's not surprising to see these events happening, it's what models have been predicting ever since day one."
    索登说:“随着气候变暖,我们预计强降雨事件将变得更加普遍。看到这些事件的发生并不奇怪,这是模型从第一天起就一直在预测的。”

    Gavin Schmidt is a climate scientist and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City. He said the areas that are facing the effects of climate change are different from the ones where warming gases are being released. He said the places where flooding takes place are not prepared for bad weather.
    加文·施密特是一位气候科学家,也是位于纽约市的美国宇航局戈达德空间研究所所长。他说,面临气候变化影响的地区与释放温室气体的地区有所不同。他说,发生洪水的地方没有为恶劣天气做好准备。

    Most of the effects "are happening in places that don't have good infrastructure, that are less prepared for weather extremes and have no real ways to manage this," Schmidt said.
    施密特说,大多数影响“发生在没有良好基础设施、对极端天气准备不足、没有真正方法应对的地方”。

    I'm Dan Novak.
    我是丹·诺瓦克。(51VOA.COM原创翻译,请勿转载,违者必究!)