专家:今年厄尔尼诺现象或是史上最强

Experts: El Nino Could Be the Strongest on Record 专家:今年厄尔尼诺现象或是史上最强

Weather experts say this year could be one of the strongest El Nino events in recorded history.

Experts say El Nino could mean severe weather conditions in many parts of the world. In eastern Africa, for example, Kenya and Uganda are preparing for possible flooding. Yet two countries further south, South Africa and Malawi, are already dealing¹ with extremely dry weather.

El Nino is Spanish for “the child.” It usually begins in December, near the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. In fact, the weather event was named in his honor.

El Nino develops when winds off the west coast of South America weaken. This permits warm water in the western Pacific to expand toward the east and the Americas. At the same time, clouds and rain over the warm water move east, too.

El Nino conditions normally appear only about two times every 10 years. Usually, El Nino conditions continue for about 12 to 18 months. They bring warm weather to some areas. These areas become wetter than normal, while others become drier.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warns that many people are at risk from hunger, disease and water shortages resulting from El Nino. In east and southern Africa, it warns, up to 11-million children could be affected².

East African countries usually receive heavy rainfall during an El Nino. Southern Africa usually has little rainfall, which may lead to wildfires or drought conditions.

Onesmus Ruirie is a weather expert with the Kenya Meteorological Department. He explains how these different weather events can result.

“What happens is that during an El Nino, the weather pattern changes. And for East Africa, we have a very warm equatorial Indian Ocean. And if the Indian Ocean is very warm due to evaporation³ of the ocean water, we have that water blown to the continental⁴ East Africa. And that is why you have a lot of rain in East Africa. But to the south, that denies them the moisture. So that tends to be dry in the southern Africa.”

Weather changes caused by El Nino depend on the strength of the condition. In the early 1980s, a strong El Nino was linked to dry weather in Australia and Asia, rain and flooding in South America and high temperatures in much of the United States. Ten years later, a smaller El Nino caused trouble in parts of the U.S. It was linked to severe floods in the Southeast and the Middle West.

Tom Di Leberto is a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric⁵ Administration in Washington, D.C. He says this year could be the third strongest El Nino on record. But, we will not know for sure until early 2016 when all the weather records are examined.

Words in This Story

moisture - n. a small amount of a liquid (such as water) that makes something wet or moist

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

4 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

5 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。