纪录片《地球劫难日》 第08期 无夏之年

Courtillot now began to wonder what such a volcanic¹ monster would do to life on earth.

Courtillot想知道这么大规模的火山爆发对地球上的生物会造成什么影响。

Were the Siberian Traps the Permian killer²?

西伯利亚地盾是否就是二叠纪杀手呢？

Though nobody had ever seen a flood basalt eruption³, he did have one clue.

尽管没人见过泛布玄武岩喷发，他却找到了一条线索。

Just over 200 years ago, in a region of Iceland called Laki,

就在200年前，在冰岛的一个叫做拉基的地方，

a tiny but similar eruption altered the climate of the Northern Hemisphere.

一场类似的小规模火山爆发改变了整个北半球的气候。

Benjamin Franklin, the America Ambassador in Paris at the time, recorded the effect on Europe's climate.

当时还是美国驻法大使的本杰明·富兰克林，记录下了它对欧洲气候的影响。

The skies were clogged⁴ with volcanic ash.

空中密布着火山灰。

It was a summer when the sun never shone.

整个夏季暗无天日。

Snow fell during August.

8月份就下起了大雪。

That winter was one of the worst winters in living memory.

那年冬天是我记忆中最糟的一个冬天。

That winter of 1783/1784 there were strange fogs, brown fogs,

1783-1784年的那个冬天出现了奇怪的褐雾，

snow, unusual amounts of snow fell and actually the winter continued onto the next summer.

雪下的特别大，冬季一直延续到第二年夏天。

This was called the year without a summer.

那年被称为无夏之年。

There was no grape, no wine, the wheat didn't ripen⁵

没有葡萄，没有葡萄酒，小麦颗粒无收，

and actually that foul⁶ weather was observed in North America and in Japan and China.

这种恶劣的天气甚至影响到了北美和日本以及中国。

1 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

4 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

5 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

6 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！