VOA新闻杂志2022--拉尼娜现象重来澳大利亚将迎来大量降雨

Australia Prepares for More Rain After La Niña Confirmed

Australia's government weather agency¹ is predicting unusually heavy rains in the coming months linked to an ocean event.

The Bureau² of Meteorology said the weather-affecting event known as La Nina is happening for the third straight year and would likely last into next year.

La Nina is produced by currents in the Pacific Ocean. It is known in Australia to produce wet, windy summers. During La Nina, sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean are cooler than normal while waters in the western tropical³ Pacific are warmer than normal. That situation creates moisture⁴ that brings rain to eastern and central Australia.

The weather event was among other reasons that would bring an "80 percent chance of above average rainfall for many parts of the eastern half of Australia," the bureau said in a statement.

The warning affects the country's east coast. Many people in the east are still rebuilding after floods linked to the most recent La Nina conditions, which continued into early 2022.

Extreme weather in Australia brought its worst fires in years in late 2019 and early 2020. That was followed by two La Nina events which pushed rivers beyond their limits and flooded thousands of homes.

Mark Gibbs is a professor with Queensland University of Technology's Institute for Future Environments. He said: "This is not good news for communities, businesses, homeowners, and renters who are living or operating out of buildings and dwellings⁵ that are at risk from inundation⁶."

He added that this "may be particularly problematic for those that are still recovering from recent floods, especially in light of the present challenges in securing⁷ the services of builders and building suppliers."

Words in This Story

moisture — n. amounts of water or liquid that makes something wet

renter –n. a person who pays the owner of property to use it

inundation — n. to cover with flood water

challenge — n. a difficult problem or situation

1 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

2 bureau   

n.提供或收集消息的机构；局，司，处；署

参考例句：

• The weather bureau makes daily reports on weather conditions.气象局每天报告天气状况。
• The Tourist Bureau arranged everything for our journey to Rome.旅游局已为我们去罗马旅行准备了一切。

3 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

4 moisture   

n.水分；降雨量；水气；湿气

参考例句：

• This tree drank up more moisture than that one.这棵树吸收的水分比那棵树多。
• The moisture in the air makes it humid today.今天空气中水气大，天气很潮湿。

5 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 inundation   

n.the act or fact of overflowing

参考例句：

• Otherwise, inundation would ensue to our dismay. 若不疏导，只能眼巴巴看着它泛滥。
• Therefore this psychology preceded the inundation of Caudillo politics after independence. 在独立后，这一心态助长了考迪罗主义的泛滥。

7 securing   

保护( secure的现在分词 )； （使）获得； 使安全； 担保

参考例句：

• She did not take into account how much liberty she was securing. 她并不考虑自己已获得了多少自由。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Longfellow was lucky in securing a professorship of modern languages at Harvard. 朗费罗能够在哈佛大学当上现代语言教授是出于幸运。