VOA慢速英语2019 美国在过去20年创造高温多于低温2倍记录（在线收听）

Report: US Set Twice as Many Heat Records as Cold in Last 20 Years

A new examination of temperatures in the United States shows that there were two times more heat records set in the past 20 years than cold ones.

对美国气温进行的一项调查表明，过去20年里创下高温记录的次数比低温记录高出了两倍多。

The Associated Press analyzed temperature information collected by 424 weather stations across the country.

美联社分析了全国424个气象站收集的气温信息。

The analysis included temperature information from 1920 to 2008. It found that, most decades during the 20th century had close to an even ratio of hot to cold records.

这项分析包含了1920年到2008年的气温信息。分析发现，20世纪期间，大部分的每个10年的冷热记录都比较平均。

But since 1999, 87 percent of the weather stations had more hot records than cold. And, 42 stations reported having at least five hot records for every cold one since 1999. At 11 stations, the hot-to-cold ratio during the period was 10-to-1 or greater.

但是从1999年起，87%的气象站的高温记录都比低温记录要多。并且，自1999年以来，有42个气象站报告的高温记录至少是低温记录的5倍。有11个气象站在此期间的高低温比例达到了10：1或更高。

One place with the greatest difference in hot and cold records was the Southern California city of Pasadena. It went 19 years between cold records, the analysis found. It set a low temperature record last month for the first since June 5, 1999.

高低温记录差异最大的地方之一是南加州的帕萨迪纳市。分析发现，该市在两个低温记录之间间隔了19年。上个月，该市创下了1999年的6月5日以来的首次低温记录。

Between those two record-cold days, Pasadena set 145 hot records. That included the city’s all-time heat record of 45 degrees Celsius set last year.

在这两个低温记录之间，帕萨迪纳市创下了145个高温记录，其中包括去年该市创下的45摄氏度的历史最高记录。

The AP says it has shared its analysis with experienced climate and data scientists. Several experts say results of the examination support earlier scientific research. And, the information provides further evidence that human-caused climate change has led to higher temperatures over the years, the experts said.

美联社声称已经向经验丰富的气候和数据科学家分享了它的分析。有几位专家表示，这次调查结果支持了早期的科学研究。专家们表示，这些信息进一步证明，人为引起的气候变化导致多年来气温升高。

The use of such data is very important to identifying the long-term effects of climate change, climate scientist Deke Arndt told the Associated Press. He is the head of climate observation for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

气象学家德克·阿尔恩特（Deke Arndt）是美国国家海洋和大气管理局气候观测方面的负责人，他对美联社表示，使用这类数据对于确定气候变化的长期影响来说非常重要。

Arndt noted, for example, that the first two months of 2019 showed twice as many cold records than hot ones - the exact opposite of the results in AP’s analysis. However, he said such short-term differences are not as valuable as true climate trends measured over many years.

阿尔恩特举例说，2019年头两个月的低温记录是高温记录的2倍，跟美联社的分析结果完全相反。不过，他表示这种短期差异并不像多年来测量的真实气候趋势那样有价值。

Arndt said the AP analysis shows the United States has been in a steady period of major warming for a long time. He added that this trend is expected to continue “to explore and break the warm end of the spectrum much more than the cold end.”

阿尔恩特表示，美联社的分析显示，美国长期以来一直处于大变暖的稳定时期。他补充说，预计这种趋势会继续“探索和打破温度范围的高温端，次数会远远超过低温端。”

Former Weather Channel expert Guy Walton also gave his thoughts on the findings. Walton, who has been studying hot and cold extreme records since 2000, told the AP he thinks the results show an unmistakable trend. “You are getting more extremes. Your chances for getting more dangerous extremes are going up with time,” he said.

前天气频道专家盖伊·沃尔顿（Guy Walton）也对调查结果发表了看法。自2000年以来一直研究极端高低温记录的沃尔顿对美联社表示，他认为结果表明了明显的趋势。他说：“气温正变得更加极端。随着时间的推移，创下更多危险极端温度的可能性也在上升。”

Arndt noted that such temperature extremes could have many different effects on people’s lives. These include financial effects such as increased hospital stays, higher energy usage and farm losses. A recent study involving 22 U.S. states found that each summer, about 36,000 people seek hospital treatment because of extreme heat.

阿尔恩特指出，这种极端温度可能会对人们的生活产生许多不同的影响。其中包括财务影响，如住院时间的增加，能源使用量增加和农场损失。最近一项涉及美国22个州的研究发现，每年有3.6万人因极端高温而寻求住院治疗。

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

analyze – v. to carefully study something to learn about its parts, what the parts do, and how they are related to each other

data – n. information or facts

trend – n. a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common

spectrum – n. all ideas, opinions or possibilities that exist