您现在的位置: Language Tips> Easy English> Odd Question  
 





 
什么是厄尔尼诺和拉尼娜现象
[ 2007-10-17 16:08 ]

 

专题推荐:词解十七大

 

大家对厄尔尼诺这个词应该都不陌生,它指的是赤道中、东太平洋海水表面温度偶尔增暖并导致气候异常的现象;而拉尼娜现象正好和它相反,指的是赤道附近东太平洋水温异常下降并导致气候异常的现象。这两种现象都会给人类带来很大的灾难。

 
Pic from NASA 

The El Nino of '97-98 was one of the most devastating weather cycles, bringing with it more energy than a million Hiroshima bombs. It killed nearly 2,100 people worldwide. As if that wasn't bad enough, El Nino was followed by one of the worst La Nina cycles in recent history - the very next year.

El Nino is a weather pattern that passes through the Equatorial Pacific Ocean every couple of years. In the past 98 years, there have been 23 El Nino systems recorded. El Nino is associated with warmer ocean currents but that's not all that happens when this system passes through.

Air pressure changes during El Nino cause higher temperatures and when they are combined with warmer ocean currents, evaporation takes place at a greater speed. All these elements combined lead to drastic changes in normal weather patterns and abnormal amounts of rain during an El Nino cycle. These rainstorms take place within the Equatorial Pacific Ocean - causing massive flooding for the countries in that area, including the United States, Peru and other parts of South and Central America. While the Eastern Pacific area is being pummeled by extra rain, areas like Australia, Indonesia and India deal with severe drought. This is because much of the moisture that is normally dispersed around the world is evaporating too quickly and staying within the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Just like everything in the world, El Nino has an opposite, too. La Nina is a weather system that hits the Pacific Ocean between December and March. While there are mild winters and flooding associated with El Nino, the complete opposite is true when La Nina arrives. La Nina brings harsh winters with drought and abnormally low temperatures.

There was a time when these two weather patterns were responsible for thousands of deaths. During the El Nino cycle in 1789, 600,000 people died in one region of India due to severe drought. Thanks to modern science, scientists are now able to predict when we will see these weather systems pass through. This doesn't mean we can necessarily lessen the physical damage they cause but hopefully their predictions will help to save more lives in the future.

Hiroshima bombs:广岛原子弹

Equatorial:赤道附近的

Pummel:连续击打

(来源:coolquiz.com 英语点津 Annabel 编辑)

我想了解更多趣味百科知识

 
 
相关文章 Related Stories
 
 
 

本频道最新推荐

     
  为什么下雪时天气暖
  You are the smartest fish I've ever seen!
  Dog burger
  为什么老了脾气好
  飞蛾为什么扑火

论坛热贴

     
  开个题目大家扯:hotel & restaurant
  追求某人
  请教工商年检如何翻译
  How to translate “中国老字号”into English?
  "港股直通车"怎么翻译?
  两免一补怎么说?