2021年经济学人 冬季的天气--雪(2)

Monster snowstorms interest Mr Wood, too, such as the great white hurricane of 1888, during which hundreds of people in the north-eastern United States died of hypothermia. Paralysing winter storms were disasters for cities like New York and Philadelphia, which initiated¹ their own local “arms race against nature”, experimenting with crude ploughs to clear streets and with substances from cinders² to grape extract and salt to de-ice them. Snow also spurred the development of subway systems that burrowed³ beyond the reach of winter weather.

伍德先生也对巨大的暴风雪产生了兴趣，比如1888年的白色飓风，当时美国东北部有数百人死于体温过低。对于纽约和费城这样的城市来说，冬季风暴是能引发瘫痪的灾难，当地为此发起了“与自然的军备竞赛”。人们试验用粗糙的犁清理街道，用煤渣、葡萄提取物和盐等物质除冰。降雪还刺激了地铁系统的发展，政府在冬季天气影响不到的地方挖掘地铁系统。

The atmospheric⁴ forces that created such blizzards⁵ remained unknown until Ooishi Wasaburo, another Japanese scientist, discovered chaotic⁶ eddies⁷ in the upper atmosphere, now known as the jet stream, in the 1920s. When the frigid⁸ jet stream bumps hard against humid air generated by the Gulf⁹ Stream in the Atlantic, meteorological mayhem results. Given the complexity¹⁰ of the atmosphere—and the spotty nature of the available data on it—snow forecasting will always remain an inexact science, Mr Wood contends.

人们对于造成如此巨大的暴风雪的大气力量一直未知，直到另一位日本科学家大石和三郎于20世纪20年代发现了高层大气中的混乱漩涡（现在称为急流）。寒冷的急流猛烈撞击大西洋湾流产生的潮湿空气会引发气象灾害。伍德认为，鉴于大气的复杂性和大气现有数据的不确定性，降雪预测将永远是一门不精确的科学。

His scattershot chapters touch on the impact of erratic¹¹ snowfall on the water crisis in California and on winter fun everywhere. He offers some frustratingly¹² disjointed speculation¹³ about how climate change will alter future snowfalls. The short answer is that there will probably be more snow in places where humidity increases, and less where temperatures become too high to sustain it.

伍德书中的零散章节谈到了不稳定的降雪对加州水危机以及各地冬季乐趣的影响。针对气候变化将如何改变未来的降雪，他提出了一些令人沮丧的不连贯的推测。简而言之，在湿度增加的地方可能会有更多的降雪，在温度过高而无法维持太多湿气的地方，降雪量可能会减少。

And he reflects, if briefly¹⁴, on snow’s delights and peculiar¹⁵ allure¹⁶. Why do people either love it or hate it? Many long for it, Mr Wood proposes, because of the splendid isolation¹⁷ that it enforces. As with the pandemic, a white-out can be overwhelming. It can also direct attention inward, and help people return to themselves.

而且，即使雪很短暂，伍德也还是思考了雪的乐趣和独特的魅力。为什么人们对雪有爱有恨？伍德先生认为，许多人热爱雪是因为雪能够让他们与世隔绝。就像新冠疫情一样，暴风雪可能势不可挡。雪还可以让人们专注内心，帮助人们回归自我。

1 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

2 cinders   

n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道

参考例句：

• This material is variously termed ash, clinker, cinders or slag. 这种材料有不同的名称，如灰、炉渣、煤渣或矿渣。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rake out the cinders before you start a new fire. 在重新点火前先把煤渣耙出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 burrowed   

v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的过去式和过去分词 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The rabbits burrowed into the hillside. 兔子在山腰上打洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She burrowed her head into my shoulder. 她把头紧靠在我的肩膀上。 来自辞典例句

4 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• 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。

5 blizzards   

暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 )； 暴风雪似的一阵，大量（或大批）

参考例句：

• Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天，我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
• Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。

6 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

7 eddies   

（水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Viscosity overwhelms the smallest eddies and converts their energy into heat. 粘性制服了最小的旋涡而将其能量转换为热。
• But their work appears to merge in the study of large eddies. 但在大旋涡的研究上，他们的工作看来却殊途同归。

8 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

11 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

12 frustratingly   

参考例句：

• Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网

13 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

14 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

15 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

16 allure   

n.诱惑力，魅力；vt.诱惑，引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• The window displays allure customers to buy goods.橱窗陈列品吸引顾客购买货物。
• The book has a certain allure for which it is hard to find a reason.这本书有一种难以解释的魅力。

17 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。