【看纪录片学单词】地理类 --《全球怪象》之极端旱涝的原因

近两年，美国西德州经历了极端的干旱和湿润天气，几乎颠覆了气候记录。为何现在干旱地区更加干旱，湿润地区更加湿润？人类活动造成全球气温上升的同时也改变了什么？为何降雨不规律，但降雨来临时，雨量却更大，来势也更猛烈？...



近两年，美国西德州经历了极端的干旱和湿润天气，几乎颠覆了气候记录。为何现在干旱地区更加干旱，湿润地区更加湿润？人类活动造成全球气温上升的同时也改变了什么？为何降雨不规律，但降雨来临时，雨量却更大，来势也更猛烈？

【Line 1】 These fields should be white, covered in blooming cotton. But all that's blowing in the wind is dust. 这些土地本该种满了白色的棉花，但是现在随风飘扬的只有尘土。

★ blooming  a.盛开的



【Line 2】 Matt Farmer has been growing cotton here for most of his life, andhe's been looking in desperation for any sign of rain. 马特·法默大半辈子都在这里种植棉花，而他现在迫切地希望能够下雨。

★ desperation  n.绝望



【Line 3】 Matt recorded this raging dust storm on his camera phone. This duststorm was so huge it made the local news 55 miles away. 马特用他的手机拍下了沙尘暴肆虐的画面。这场沙尘暴极其巨大，88公里外的当地新闻都进行了报导。

★ raging  a.猛烈的



【Line 4】 We are seeing an incredible drought. This is the worst drought in climate history for this region, only four inches of precipitation, and the worst drought before this - eight inches about 70 years ago. That should give you a pretty good idea of how severe this is. We've never ever had a drought like this. 这是一场罕见的大旱，这是该地区有史以来最严重的干旱，只有10厘米的降水，在此之前最严重的那次，即70年前的干旱也有20厘米的降水。这下你知道这次干旱有多严重了，从没有过这样的干旱。

★ drought  n.干旱

★★★ precipitation  n.降水

★ severe  a.严重的



【Line 5】 Global weirding is a phrase she helped popularize. One of the clues to the weirding of the West Texas weather lies right under her feet. “全球怪象”这一说法是她帮助普及的，西德州古怪天气成因的一个线索就藏在她脚下。

★★ weird  a.奇怪的，不寻常的

★★ popularize  v.普及



【Line 6】 As the soil becomes drier and drier, the drought gets worse and worse. And that gets amplified because there's no moisture left in the soil to evaporate into rain. 随着土地越来越干，干旱也越来越严重。由于土壤中没有水分蒸发形成降雨，旱情恶性循环。

★ amplify  v.增强，扩大

★ moisture  n.水分，湿气

★★ evaporate  v.蒸发



【Line 7】 Over the years, the weather here naturally swings between wet anddry. But the swing has never been this extreme, rewriting the record books in the space of 12 months. So how can it be record-breaking wet and dry at virtually the same time? 多年来，当地气候在干燥与湿润间自然交替，但交替从未如此极端，以至在一年内彻底颠覆了气候记录。究竟为何极端的旱涝天气会几乎同时出现。

★ swing  v.摇摆，转变

★ virtually  ad.几乎



【Line 8】 The weather here has all the hallmarks of global weirding. It may not rain as often or as regularly, which makes droughts possible. But when it does rain, it's heavier and more intense. 当地天气拥有全球怪象的所有特征，这里或许不常降雨，雨水也不规律，这使干旱成为可能，但降雨来临时，雨量却更大，来势也更猛烈。

★★★ hallmark  n.标志，特征

★ intense  a.强烈的，剧烈的



【Line 9】 One of the changes we've seen is that the average humidity of ourplanet has increased by 4%. Warmer air holds more water vapor. So, on average, our atmosphere is 4% more humid than it used to be 30 or 40 years ago. 我们观察到的一个变化是全球平均湿度上升了百分之四，温暖的大气能容纳更多水蒸气，因此平均来讲，大气较三四十年前湿度增加了4%。

★★ humidity  n.湿度

★ humid  a.潮湿的

★★ watervapor  水蒸气



【Line 10】 It's these storms, or lack of them, that trigger the extreme dry and wet weather in West Texas. In the future, scientists expect this pattern of drought and flooding to be played out across the planet. 正是这些风暴，或缺少这些风暴，造成了西德州极端干旱或湿润的天气。科学家认为，这种旱涝交替的极端气候将在未来影响全球。

★★ trigger  vt.引发



【Line 11】 Our planet's a really complex place. So as we increase the temperature of our planet, we are changing the dynamics of our atmosphere, we are changing the way our weather systems move across the country. Our sub-tropical zones are expanding. Our dry areas of the world are actually growing. So we are changing how water gets distributed around our planet. Places that are already dry are getting drier. Places that are already wet are getting wetter. And our extremes are getting stronger in both directions. 地球十分复杂，我们造成气温上升的同时也改变了大气的动力学，以及天气系统在国内运动的方式。亚热带在扩张，全球干旱地区在扩大。我们改变了全球降水的分布，干旱地区更加干旱，湿润地区更加湿润，两种天气都更加极端。

★★★ dynamics  n.动力学

★★★ sub-tropical zones  亚热带地区

★ distribute  vt.分布

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