纪录片《侏罗纪之谜》 第17期 超级季风

There is a word for this type of climate: monsoon¹,

这类气候有一个称谓，季风

but Judy's theory is that this was a monsoon like no other, a mega-monsoon.

Judy的观点是它不是一般季风，而是超级季风

The word monsoon comes from an Arabic word that means season,

“季风”这个词来自阿拉伯语，意思是季节

so a mega-monsoon is where that really goes to extremes.

超级季风则是非常极端的气候

This climate of extremes, veering² from very wet to very hot and dry, was unique to the super-continent.

这类极端气候--从湿润多雨到酷热干旱，是超大陆的一大特点

One of the things that would have been characteristic of this very strong monsoonal³ system

必须提到一点，这种强大无比的季风系的特点

is that you would have had a similar climate over a very large part of the world,

表现为世界上大片地区都有类似的气候

so this would have been a world in which the environments were not particularly diverse.

也就是说当时世界上的环境并不是很多变

According to the theory, a uniform world led to uniform animals.

根据这种观点，相同的世界造就了相同的动物

This was why the early dinosaurs⁴ lacked variety

这也是早期恐龙种类很少的原因

and as long as the super-continent existed nothing much was going to change,

只要超大陆不复存在，很多情况就会发生变化

but then of course something did change.

当然，后来的确发生了变化

As the super-continent broke up areas that had been landlocked for millions of years would have been surrounded by water.

随着超大陆的崩解，原先封闭的内陆地区逐渐被水包围。

1 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

2 veering   

n.改变的；犹豫的；顺时针方向转向；特指使船尾转向上风来改变航向v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的现在分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• Anyone veering too close to the convoys risks being shot. 任何人改变方向，过于接近车队就有遭枪击的风险。 来自互联网
• The little boat kept veering from its course in such a turbulent river. 小船在这湍急的河中总是改变方向。 来自互联网

3 monsoonal   

季风的

参考例句：

• In the east, the water is mainly oceanic with relatively minor dilution from direct monsoonal rainfall and runoff from small streams. 东部水域主要为海水，而直接的季候雨及小溪溢流，把海水稍为冲淡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• China has a marked continental monsoonal climate characterized by great variety. 中国有明显的大陆性季风气候的特点是种类繁多。 来自互联网

4 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》