[ti:Study: Extreme Weather Likely to Put Pressure on Power Systems] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A group of scientists are warning that weather extremes in the future [00:05.72]and growing demand could lead to a drop in power supplied from renewable energy. [00:14.52]In a new study, researchers considered how 13 extreme weather models would affect cities in Sweden. [00:24.88]Their findings were recently published in Nature Energy. [00:31.00]Many scientists have partly blamed human activities for rising world temperatures and an increase in extreme weather events. [00:43.00]The world's power systems are expected to face pressure [00:47.44]as more of the world's population chooses to live in cities, the study predicts. [00:55.36]The United Nations has estimated that 68 percent of people will live in cities by 2050. [01:05.16]That compares to about 55 percent who live in cities currently. [01:12.20]One of the biggest expected pressures to face power systems [01:16.72]will be an increase in the use of air conditioning systems because of rising temperatures. [01:24.96]The research team created a series of climate models to predict how electricity demand [01:32.32]was likely to rise and fall in 30 Swedish cities during severe weather events. [01:41.52]The models showed "significant" breaks in system performance and a high risk of power blackouts. [01:51.40]Dasun Perera is with the Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology in Switzerland. [02:01.52]He was a lead writer of the study. [02:04.72]Perera said in a statement, "We observed that current energy systems are designed in a way [02:12.84]that makes them highly susceptible to extreme weather events such as storms and heat waves." [02:22.12]The researchers found that extreme weather will make it difficult to balance the demand for power with production. [02:32.44]"This will make it difficult to match the energy demand and renewable power generation," Perera said. [02:42.00]"Dealing with the effects of climate change is going to prove harder than we previously thought." [02:50.40]Perera told the French Press Agency AFP that extreme weather events [02:56.44]could reduce the reliability of power supplies by up to 16 percent. [03:03.68]This, he said, could easily lead to "blackouts resulting in huge economic losses." [03:12.92]Perera said that energy experts do not consider the effects of extreme climate events [03:19.92]when planning and designing energy systems. [03:25.40]In a separate article published in Nature Energy, U.S. and European researchers noted [03:32.80]that traditional energy models often fail to consider extreme weather. [03:40.16]The researchers called on world governments to consider the short-term risks of extreme heat and cold [03:48.28]when planning and building energy systems. [03:52.88]They said the creation of such systems would require "new thinking, new experiments, [04:00.20]and, quite possibly, new combinations of tools." [04:05.76]The researchers added: "This is a tall order to be sure, but there is no risk in trying." [04:14.64]I'm Bryan Lynn. [04:16.76]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM