VOA慢速英语2019 中国台湾省和菲律宾近年来为何少有遭遇台风（在线收听）

Why Fewer Typhoons Are Hitting Taiwan(China), Philippines

Weather experts say Taiwan and the Philippines have experienced fewer typhoons in recent years.

气象专家表示，中国台湾省和菲律宾近年来很少遭遇台风。

The reduced storm activity may be be the result of higher water temperatures and changes in upper-atmosphere winds.

这种风暴活动的减少可能是因为水温升高和高空气流变化的结果。

Taiwan, which sits in the western Pacific, normally gets hit hard by three to four typhoons each year between the months of June and October. Each storm can kill five to 10 people and can cause major damage.

坐落在西太平洋的中国台湾省通常会在每年6到10月间遭受三到四次台风的重创。每次台风会造成5到10人遇难，并可能会造成重大损失。

Taiwan's neighbor to the south, the Philippines, can get up to 20 typhoons per year.

中国台湾省的南邻菲律宾每年会遭遇高达20次台风。

The storms bring winds strong enough to blow down trees, and rainfall that can quickly turn streets into rivers. They usually cause mass evacuations and widespread transportation problems.

这些暴风雨带来的大风足以吹倒树木，降雨又会迅速将街道变成河流。它们通常会导致大规模疏散和广泛的交通运输问题。

The systems are called cyclones and hurricanes in other parts of the world.

这些天气系统在世界其它地方被称之为飓风。

For the past three years, Taiwan and the Philippines have missed their historical average typhoon counts. Weather officials say one of the main reasons for this is higher water temperatures in the mid-Pacific, where such storms form. In addition, wind directions have changed in the upper-atmosphere and are blowing more typhoons to the north.

在过去3年里，中国台湾省和菲律宾遭遇的台风未达到其历史平均次数。气象官员表示，造成这种情况的主要原因是此类风暴形成的太平洋中部的水温升高。此外，高空气流方向也发生了变化，把更多台风吹向了北方。

Jason Nicholls is an international weather expert with U.S.-based forecasting company AccuWeather. Nicholls told VOA that weather officials have seen a general warming of waters in the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific in recent years.

贾森·尼科尔斯是美国爱酷气象预报公司的国际气象专家。尼科尔斯对美国之音表示，气象专家发现近年来印度洋和太平洋地区的水域普遍升温。

Nicholls added that ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean have been warming up since 2017. He said this caused typhoons to form in areas to the north and east of Taiwan and the Philippines.

尼科尔斯表示，2017年以来，太平洋中东部的海洋温度一直在升高。他说，这导致台风在台湾和菲律宾的北部以及东部地区形成。

Upper-atmosphere winds pushed the storms north. Most of this year's 21 typhoons in Asia moved north to reach Japan, South Korea and China. The most severe, Typhoon Hagibis, killed 80 people in eastern Japan earlier this month.

高空气流将这些台风吹向北方。亚洲今年21次台风中的大部分都移到了日本、韩国和中国大陆。最强台风海贝思本月初在日本东部造成了80人死亡。

Western Pacific waters have been somewhat cooler this year, Nicholls said. This means fewer storms have formed near the eastern coasts of Taiwan or the Philippines.

尼科尔斯表示，今年西太平洋水域的温度有所降低。这意味着中国台湾省或菲律宾东部沿海形成的风暴减少。

Asia's deadliest storms each year often reach the Philippines, including 2013's super-typhoon that killed 6,340 people. So far this year, no major typhoons have hit the country. It has experienced weaker tropical storms, however.

亚洲每年最致命的暴风雨通常会袭击菲律宾，包括2013年造成6340人死亡的超级台风。今年截至目前尚没有大型台风袭击该国。但是该国遭遇了较弱的热带风暴。

Chen Meng-shih is a forecaster with Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau. He told VOA more northward-moving typhoons are likely to continue as long as "Pacific Ocean high pressure is weak and higher north."

陈孟实（音译）是中国台湾省中央气象局的预报员。他对美国之音表示，只要“太平洋高压很弱并且北部偏高，”台风就可能继续向北移动。

Many scientists have blamed rising ocean temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic on a combination of natural conditions and man-made climate change. Man-made causes include the burning of coal, oil and gas.

很多科学家将太平洋和大西洋的海洋温度升高归咎于自然条件和人为气候变化两者结合导致的结果。人为原因包括燃烧煤炭、石油和天然气。