VOA科学技术2023--UN: This Summer Has Been the Hottest on Record

UN: This Summer Has Been the Hottest on Record

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says Earth just had its hottest summer ever in the Northern Hemisphere¹.

Summer ends on September 22 this year in the world's northern half.

Last month was the hottest August ever recorded with modern equipment since 1979. It was also the second hottest month ever measured, behind only July 2023. The WMO and the European climate service Copernicus made the announcement Wednesday.

August was about 1.5 degrees Celsius² warmer than pre-industrial averages. That is the limit world leaders have said the world must not pass. Scientists, however, are more concerned about temperature increases over many years and not just a few months.

So far, Copernicus said 2023 has been the second hottest year that it has recorded, behind only 2016. But the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer, a website, reported that daily September temperatures are higher than those recorded for the same period in earlier years.

The WMO also said the world's oceans were the hottest ever recorded at nearly 21 degrees Celsius. Water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface.

"The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. "Dog days of summer" is an expression used to describe the time of hot and humid weather during the summer. The expression might have come from ancient Greece when extreme heat was said to drive both dogs and humans insane³.

Scientists blame the heat on the burning of coal, oil and natural gas and the added influence from El Nino for the warming climate. El Nino is a temporary warming of the southern Pacific Ocean that affects weather worldwide. The weather event changes weather around the world and even more so in its second year.

Climatologist Andrew Weaver⁴ was not surprised by the numbers. He said governments have not taken global warming seriously enough. He expressed concern that the public will forget the issue when temperatures fall again.

"It's time for global leaders to start telling the truth," said Weaver who is a professor at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria in Canada. "We will not limit warming to 1.5 Celsius; we will not limit warming to 2.0 Celsius. It's all hands on deck⁵ now to prevent 3.0 Celsius global warming."

Copernicus Climate Change Service Director Carlo Buontempo said the high temperatures were "not only new extremes" but continuing "record-breaking conditions."

While the world's air and oceans were setting⁶ records for heat, Antarctica continued to set records for low amounts of sea ice, the WMO, the United Nations weather agency⁸, said.

"Antarctic⁷ sea ice extent⁹ was literally¹⁰ off the charts, and the global sea surface temperature was once again at a new record," WMO's secretary-general, Petteri Taalas, said in a statement.

Taalas added, "It is worth noting that this is happening BEFORE we see the full warming impact¹¹ of the El Nino event."

Words in This Story

bark –v. to make a short, loud noise similar to the call of a dog

all hands on deck –idiomatic expression to call for everyone in a group to become involved

off the charts –idiomatic expression an area that has not been explored or experienced¹² before; unknown territory

impact –n. the influence of something

1 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

2 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

3 insane   

adj.蠢极的，荒唐的，精神错乱的，疯狂的

参考例句：

• Insane people are sometimes dangerous.精神病人有时非常危险。
• The letter made her insane with jealousy.那封信使她妒忌得发疯。

4 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

5 deck   

n.甲板；公共汽车一层的车厢；纸牌；vt.装饰

参考例句：

• Let's have a walk round the deck.我们去甲板上散步吧。
• The sea wind swept over the deck.海风席卷过甲板。

6 setting   

n.背景

参考例句：

• The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
• Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。

7 Antarctic   

adj.南极(区)的；n.(the A-)南极洲，南极圈

参考例句：

• The Antarctic is a mountainous area.南极洲是一个多山的地区。
• It is well known that penguins live in the Antarctic.企鹅生活在南极洲是众所周知的。

8 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。

9 extent   

n.程度，范围，限度；广度，宽度，大小

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent. 这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• What's the extent of the damage? 损坏的程度如何?

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 impact   

n.冲击，碰撞；影响；vt.装紧，压紧

参考例句：

• The computer had made a great impact on modern life.计算机对现代生活产生了巨大的影响.
• How will the war impact on such a poet?战争对这样一个诗人会产生什么影响？

12 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。