时间:2019-01-13 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2011年(十二月)


英语课

US Sets Extreme Weather Records in 2011


 


Extreme weather cut a path of destruction across the United States in 2011.



For Bill Wing, it began 12 months ago, on New Year’s Day, as he surveyed the damage from a tornado 1 that touched down in Cincinnati, Arkansas.



“It sounded like a freight train coming," he says. "We weren't in the direct path of it. You could feel the wind moving and the shaking, more like an earthquake for us.”



That tornado was among 1,600 that crisscrossed the nation in 2011. Twelve weather-related disasters accounted for $1 billion or more each in economic losses, a new record, according to Chris Vaccaro, spokesman for the National Weather Service.



“We’ve seen historic events of nearly every weather category," says Vaccaro. "So in terms of snow storms, and hurricanes and floods and droughts, all of these events this year ranked in the top three or even the highest ever recorded.”









Margie Sisemore cleans after a tornado destroyed several homes in the small town of Cincinnati, Arkansas. That tornado was among 1,600 that crisscrossed the US in 2011.




The extreme weather affected 2 millions of people, claimed 1,000 lives, resulted in 8,000 injuries and totaled more than $52 billion in economic losses. The most costly 3, according to David Brown, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 4 Administration, was the year-long drought that continues to grip southern plains states.



“We’re looking at $6 to $8 billion in damage from agricultural losses, from fire losses, in places like Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma and if the drought persists for the next several months, as we expect it will, those damages will only increase.”



Vaccaro says a growing population and expanding infrastructure 5 account in part for the damages, but also large-scale cyclical weather patterns came into play in 2011. “First and foremost was La Nina in the eastern Pacific which altered our standard storm patterns. And we also had a pattern in the Arctic called the Arctic Oscillation.



That was a big factor in the winter and spring months, allowing cold air to flow into the United States that helped spawn 6 snow storms and also support the tornado season.”








In 2011, Texas farmers contended with a year-long drought which continues to grip southern plains states.




While there is no evidence to connect global warming with specific local weather events, Vaccarro says this past year’s weather extremes are consistent with what climate experts are projecting for the long-term. Warming temperatures provide more energy and water in the atmosphere and consequently trigger more intense droughts, heavier rainfall and stronger storms.



Peter Altman, climate and clean air campaign director for the Natural Resources Defense 7 Council, expects the situation to get worse as global temperatures continue to rise. He advocates action to reduce climate changing emissions 8 and mitigate 9 their impact.



“We’ve got to better prepare ourselves to manage these kind of weather events, whether they are droughts, wildfires, heat waves, floods, and that means in terms of emergency management in providing the kind of health assistance that you need in the aftermath of those kinds of events.”



The 2011 weather extremes could be the “new normal,” says Vaccaro with the National Weather Service. The agency is taking steps to build a weather-ready nation, which calls on a growing network of partners in the public and private sector 10 to work together to prepare for future disasters.



n.飓风,龙卷风
  • A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
adj.大气的,空气的;大气层的;大气所引起的
  • Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
  • Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施
  • We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
  • We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设,发展各类群众文化。
n.卵,产物,后代,结果;vt.产卵,种菌丝于,产生,造成;vi.产卵,大量生产
  • The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
  • These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体)
  • Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
  • Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。
vt.(使)减轻,(使)缓和
  • The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
  • Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形
  • The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
  • The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
学英语单词
a bundle
acrolith
adjustable link
affinity study
airwoman
akihabara
amazonstones
anticholinesterase agent
antioquia
armour piercing fin stabilized sabot tracer
arsenical autimony fahlore
automatic adressing
average tater
back to nature
balance-dynamometer
bandage-fixing therapy
be the apple of someone's eye
bivvies
Bizcocho
Bloemendaal
blood berries
boatswain birds
breast implants
bull mica
C.W.O cash with order
cacotrophy
chernivetska oblast
clear-story
compulsory savings
cormidium (pl. -dia)
crossed vortex
cylinder algebra
default behavior
doiras
exteroceptive impulses
family artamidaes
family Tilletiaceae
flapperdom
flow plasticity
fluidemol
gas-proof motor
genus pyrethrums
Golyamo Shivachevo
gozle
Great Ayton
homeophony
Hsa Mong Hkam
impartings
increase of ordinate
jade workshop
kill stolen
Labyrinthus osseus
lasting appeal
library planning
lithostratigraphic classification
local resources
logically impossible
loop lock
loose lips sink ships
lubricating oil storage tank
main tree
management strategy
methods time measurement system
multi-nationalism
Nervus cutaneus antebrachii lateralis
neutronium
newsflash
nizan
numeric display unit
oblique ligament
orillion
paste egg
paying-in slip
peckle
perhydrogenated rosin
photographic map
postherpetic
pradu wood
provincially administered municipality
radiate ligament of costal head
radiophysicist
reamending
recurrent failures
reformationists
retrocaval ureter
S-MAO
samkhya
scattered rock
scattering of x-ray
siron
sororize
straight-rail billiards
Sāmbhar L.
three-vaned
ultrahigh speed pulse repeater
upside-down cake
Uralean
vidalin
walk over
winch platform
Winscombe
Winterboro