VOA科学技术2024--Experts Propose a Stronger ‘Category 6’ for Hurricane

Experts Propose a Stronger ‘Category 6’ for Hurricane

　　There have been a few very powerful ocean storms in the last 10 years. The expectation of more to come has some experts proposing a new category of large hurricanes: Category 6.

　　Studies have shown that the strongest tropical storms are getting more powerful because of climate change. The traditional five-category Saffir-Simpson scale was created more than 50 years ago.

　　But two scientists suggested in a new study that the scale may not show the true power of the strongest storms. They propose a sixth category for storms with winds faster than 309 kilometers per hour.

　　The study recently appeared in the Proceedings¹ of the National Academy of Sciences.

　　Currently, storms with winds of 252 kilometers per hour or higher are Category 5. The study's writers said that this grouping does not do enough to warn people about the greater dangers from storms with even stronger winds.

　　Still, several experts told The Associated Press that they do not think another category is needed. They said it could even send the wrong message to the public because the new proposed category is based on wind speed. Water is by far the deadliest part of hurricanes.

　　Since 2013, five storms had winds that would have put them in the new category, with two hitting the Philippines. All five happened in the Pacific Ocean.

　　As the world warms, such large storms become more likely.

　　"Climate change is making the worst storms worse," said Michael Wehner, the study's lead writer. Wehner is a climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkley National Lab in California.

　　There are not more storms because of climate change, but climate change makes the strongest more intense. The proportion of major hurricanes among all storms is increasing. That is because the oceans are getting warmer, said Brian McNoldy. He is a hurricane researcher at Florida's University of Miami. He was not part of the research.

　　Experts have proposed a Category 6 several times over the years, especially since 2013's Typhoon Haiyan reached 315 kilometers per hour over the Pacific. The study said that Haiyan "does not appear to be an isolated² case."

　　Storms with high enough wind speed are called hurricanes if they form east of the international dateline. They are called typhoons if they form to the west of the line. They are known as cyclones³ in the Indian Ocean and Australia. There have been five storms that had 309 kilometer per hour winds since 2013.

　　Jim Kossin is a climate and hurricane researcher who was an author of the study. He said if the world keeps to five storm categories, people will misjudge the risks as storms get larger and more powerful.

　　Pacific storms are stronger because there is less land to weaken them and more room for storms to grow more intense. That is not the same situation in the Gulf⁴ of Mexico and in the Caribbean, Kossin noted⁵.

　　Jamie Rhome is deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Florida. He said that, when warning people about the storms, his office warns people about individual dangers. These dangers include "storm surge, wind, rainfall, tornadoes⁶ and rip currents, instead of the particular category of the storm." The categories, he added, only provide information about the dangers from wind.

　　Words in This Story

　　hurricane — n. an extremely large, powerful, and destructive storm with very strong winds that occurs especially in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean

　　scale — n. a device that is used for weighing people or things

　　proportion — n. an amount that is a part of a whole

　　isolated — adj. happening just once

　　author — n. a person who has written something

　　surge — v. to suddenly increase to an unusually high level

1 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网