While US Freezes, Much of the World Experiences Record Heat

While US Freezes, Much of the World Experiences Record Heat

当美国遭遇严寒时，世界上许多地方却正在经历创纪录的高温

【听力音频】

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　　By Dan Friedell

　　18 January 2024

　　Many parts of the world have experienced record-high temperatures in recent days.

　　But much of the United States is dealing with extremely cold weather, thanks to what is known as a polar vortex.

　　A map showing world temperatures over the last several days had a dark red color in the Arctic, Asia, the Middle East, South America and parts of Africa. The dark red means the temperatures are 7 degrees Celsius warmer than the average from just over 20 years ago.

　　The United States is one of the only places on the map that is dark blue, meaning very cold.

　　In the state of North Dakota, wind chills reached minus 56 degrees Celsius. Last week in the state of Missouri, a professional American football game took place as temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius.

　　On the other side of the world, the world's top tennis players are playing in unusually warm weather in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian Open is taking place as the city records temperatures nearly 7 degrees warmer than average.

　　The African nation of Oman is in the northern hemisphere, where it is winter. It recently set a record for the warmest January night at 26.4 Celsius. Parts of the southern hemisphere are experiencing warmer-than-usual weather, too. Argentina set a record for warmest January night at 27.3 degrees Celsius.

　　Climate scientists say these extreme temperatures are due to warming in the Arctic.

　　They say warming temperatures in the Arctic affect the weather all around the world. The pattern called a polar vortex is not unusual in the Arctic. However, experts say as temperatures in the north warm, the polar vortex widens and affects Canada and the United States.

　　Jennifer Francis is with the Woodwell Research Center in Massachusetts. She is a leading researcher in the theory of Arctic Amplification, which links the periods of cold weather to climate change.

　　She said, "When the Arctic is off-the-charts warm (like now), we're more likely to see frigid cold invade places like Texas that are ill-equipped to deal with it," she said.

　　Francis added, "Rapid Arctic warming is one of the clearest symptoms of human-caused climate change."

　　Judah Cohen works for Atmospheric Environmental Research, a commercial weather company near Boston, Massachusetts. He compared the polar vortex to an ice skater doing a spin.

　　When a skater spins very quickly, the "vortex" winds stay close to the skater. But if the skater slows down, the winds lose their tight circle.

　　"All the cold air then gets released away from the center of the polar vortex," Cohen said.

　　When that happens in January, the target of the cold air is the United States. Cohen said the current polar vortex is stronger and longer lasting than usual.

　　Marshall Shepherd is a meteorology professor at the University of Georgia. He said that right now, there is a "complex interaction within our climate system."

　　"Winter will always bring us cold weather, but like the warm season, it may be changing [in] ways that we understand and [in] ways that we are still learning about," Shepherd said.

　　The weather experts said the extreme cold in the U.S. will change to unusually warm weather in several days. But another polar vortex is expected to hit at the end of January.

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

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　　作者：Dan Friedell

　　日期：2024年1月18日

　　近日，世界上许多地方都经历了创纪录的高温。

　　然而，由于所谓的极地涡旋，美国的大部分地区正在应对极度寒冷的天气。

　　一张显示过去几天全球温度的地图上，北极、亚洲、中东、南美和非洲的部分地区呈现出深红色。这种深红色意味着这些地区的温度比20年前的平均温度高出7摄氏度。

　　美国是地图上为数不多的呈深蓝色的地方，这意味着天气非常寒冷。

　　在北达科他州，风寒指数达到了零下56摄氏度。上周在密苏里州，一场职业美式足球比赛在温度降至零下20摄氏度的情况下进行。

　　在世界的另一边，世界顶级的网球选手们正在澳大利亚墨尔本的异常温暖的天气中比赛。澳大利亚公开赛正在进行，而该城市的温度比平均温度高出近7摄氏度。

　　非洲国家阿曼位于北半球，现在是冬季。它最近创下了26.4摄氏度的1月最高夜间温度记录。南半球的部分地区也正在经历比平时更暖和的天气。阿根廷创下了27.3摄氏度的1月最高夜间温度记录。

　　气候科学家们表示，这些极端温度是由于北极地区的升温。

　　他们说，北极地区的温度升高影响了全球的天气。被称为极地涡旋的现象在北极并不罕见。然而，专家们表示，随着北方的温度升高，极地涡旋扩大并影响到了加拿大和美国。

　　詹妮弗·弗朗西斯在马萨诸塞州的伍德韦尔研究中心工作。她是北极放大理论的主要研究者，该理论将寒冷天气的周期与气候变化联系起来。

　　她说：“当北极地区的温度超常升高（就像现在这样），我们更有可能看到寒冷的天气侵袭像德克萨斯这样无法应对寒冷的地方。”她补充说，“北极地区的快速升温是人为气候变化最明显的症状之一。”

　　犹大·科恩在马萨诸塞州波士顿附近的一家商业天气公司大气环境研究工作。他将极地涡旋比喻为滑冰运动员的旋转动作。

　　当滑冰运动员快速旋转时，"涡旋"的风会紧紧围绕着运动员。但如果运动员放慢速度，风就会失去它们的紧密圈。

　　“所有的寒冷空气都会从极地涡旋的中心释放出来，”科恩说。

　　当这种情况在1月发生时，寒冷空气的目标就是美国。科恩说，当前的极地涡旋比平常更强烈，持续时间也更长。

　　马歇尔·谢泼德是乔治亚大学的气象学教授。他说，现在，我们的气候系统中存在着一种“复杂的相互作用”。

　　“冬天总会带给我们寒冷的天气，但就像温暖的季节一样，它可能正在以我们理解的方式和我们仍在学习的方式发生变化，”谢泼德说。

　　天气专家们表示，美国的极端寒冷天气将在几天后变为异常温暖的天气。但预计1月底将再次出现极地涡旋。

　　我是Dan Friedell。

　　Dan Friedell根据美联社的一篇报道为英语学习者改编了这个故事。

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　　本故事中的词汇

　　wind chill –n. 基于外部风速和温度的寒冷测量

　　off-the-charts –expression. 无法根据预期的数字进行测量

　　frigid –adj.极度寒冷的

　　spin –v. 围绕中心点进行圆周运动

　　meteorology –n. 研究天气和天气模式

　　interaction –n.两种事物混合时的组合