VOA今日美国2023 极端高温、野火和风暴表明气候危机来临

（单词翻译）

The Earth set unofficial record high temperatures last week.

上周，地球创下了非官方的高温纪录。

Scientists said they were a clear sign of how pollutants¹ released by humans are warming the environment.

科学家表示，这是人类排放的污染物正在使环境变暖的一个明显迹象。

But the heat is also just one way the planet is telling us something is seriously wrong, they added.

但他们补充说，高温也只是地球告诉我们一些严重问题的一种方式。

"Heat sets the pace of our climate in so many ways ... it's never just the heat," said Kim Cobb.

金·科布说：“高温在很多方面决定了气候变化速度……不仅仅是高温。”

She is a climate scientist at Brown University in Rhode Island.

她是罗德岛州布朗大学的一名气候科学家。

Dying coral reefs, more intense storms, and the wildfire smoke that much of North America experienced this summer are other signs of climate troubles.

濒临死亡的珊瑚礁、更强烈的风暴和今年夏天北美大部分地区经历的野火烟雾都是气候问题的其他迹象。

"The increasing heating of our planet caused by fossil fuel use is not unexpected, but it is dangerous for us humans and for the ecosystems² we depend on. We need to stop it, fast," said Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

波茨坦气候影响研究所的斯特凡·拉姆斯托夫说：“化石燃料的使用导致地球变暖并不出人意料，但这对我们人类和我们赖以生存的生态系统来说是危险的。我们需要尽快阻止它。”

Other recent natural events also show that climate change has entered new territory.

最近发生的其他自然事件也表明，气候变化进入了新的领域。

Most of the planet is covered by oceans, which have taken in 90 percent of the recent warming caused by planet-warming gases such as carbon dioxide and methane³.

地球的大部分面积被海洋覆盖，海洋吸收了最近由二氧化碳和甲烷等温室气体造成的90%的热量。

In April, worldwide ocean temperature rose to 21.1 degrees Celsius⁴, which scientists believe was caused by a combination of planet-warming gases and the early El Nino formation.

今年4月，全球海洋温度升至21.1摄氏度，科学家认为这是由温室气体和早期厄尔尼诺现象共同造成的。

El Nino is a period of warming Pacific Ocean waters.

厄尔尼诺现象发生时，太平洋海水会变暖。

Newly published data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service documented "exceptionally warm" ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic.

哥白尼气候变化局最新公布的数据记录了北大西洋“异常温暖”的海洋温度。

And it documented "extreme" sea heat waves near Ireland, Britain, and in the Baltic Sea.

它还记录了爱尔兰、英国和波罗的海附近的“极端”海洋热浪。

High levels of wildfire smoke are more common on the West Coast.

高浓度的野火烟雾在西海岸更为常见。

But, recently, several rounds of wildfire smoke from wildfires in northern Canada brought dangerous air quality levels to eastern North America.

但最近，加拿大北部野火产生的几轮野火烟雾给北美东部带来了危险的空气质量水平。

Scientists say that climate change will make wildfires and smoke more likely and intense and that the East Coast will see more of it.

科学家表示，气候变化将会使野火和烟雾更有可能发生，变得更强烈，东海岸也将会经常受到野火烟雾的影响。

The current El Nino formed a month or two earlier than usual.

目前的厄尔尼诺现象比往常提前了一两个月形成。

It replaced La Nina that, with its cooling of Pacific waters, kept worldwide temperatures down.

它取代了拉尼娜现象，拉尼娜现象使太平洋海水温度下降，使全球气温下降。

That means that it will have more time than usual to strengthen.

这意味着它将有比往常更多的时间来加强。

The World Meteorological Organization predicts there is a 98 percent chance that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record.

世界气象组织预测，未来五年中至少有一年是有记录以来最热的一年，可能性为98%。

One of these years would beat temperatures from 2016 when an exceptionally strong El Nino was present.

其中有一年的气温将超过2016年的气温，当时出现了异常强烈的厄尔尼诺现象。

Scientists are watching Antarctic sea ice shrink to record lows.

科学家观测到南极海冰面积缩小到历史最低。

On June 27, about 11.7 million square kilometers were covered by the ice sheet.

6月27日，冰盖覆盖面积约为1170万平方公里。

Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center found that the amount was almost 2.6 million square kilometers less than average for that date for the period from 1981-2010.

科学家分析来自美国国家冰雪数据中心的数据后发现，这比1981年至2010年同期的平均面积少了近260万平方公里。

Put another way, an area nearly four times the size of the American state of Texas was gone from the ice sheet.

换句话说，几乎有美国得克萨斯州面积四倍大的冰盖消失了。

I'm Gregory Stachel.

格雷戈里·施塔赫尔为您播报。