纽约时报 热浪天气席卷印度 逾36人死亡(2)

A recent analysis of climate trends in several of South Asia’s biggest cities

对南亚几个一线城市的气候趋势分析发现，

found that if current warming trends continued, by the end of the century,

如果当前的气候变暖趋势继续恶化，

heat and humidity levels would be so high that people directly exposed for six hours or more would not survive.

本世纪末的气温和湿度将高到人直接暴露在室外6个小时就将面临生命危险的水平。

The latest victims of this year’s weekslong heat wave were 4 people, ranging in age from 69 to 80,

今年的热浪天气已经持续数周，最近又新增了4名受害者，他们年龄均在69~80岁之间，

who died on Tuesday during a journey on a train that lacked air-conditioning.

死亡时间都是周二且都死于（北方邦）一列没有空调的火车上。

Despite the extreme temperatures, the death toll¹ this year has been small compared to previous years.

尽管出现了这样的极端高温天气，今年的死亡人数与往年相比反而有所减少。

More than 6,000 people have died because of heat waves in India since 2010, according to government data.

政府数据显示，自2010年以来，印度已有逾6000人死于热浪天气。

The worst toll came in 2015, with more than 2,000 deaths.

其中，死亡人数最多的一年是2015年，死亡人数超过了2000人。

While the heat waves have continued, the number of immediate² heat deaths has significantly declined since then —

那以后，虽然热浪天气仍在继续，但中暑直接死亡的人数已明显下降——

375 were recorded in 2017, and only 20 in 2018.

记录显示，2017年的人数为375人，2018年只有20人。

But official death tolls³ often fail to capture the full lethality⁴ of a heat wave.

但官方公布的死亡人数往往无法完全反映热浪的致命程度。

One study by public health researchers found that in the normally hot city of Ahmedabad, in western India,

公共卫生研究人员的一项研究发现，在天气通常都很炎热的印度西部城市艾哈迈达巴德，

as temperatures soared in May 2010 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit⁵,

2010年5月气温飙升至118℉时，

there was a 43 percent increase in overall mortality, compared to the same period in previous years.

与前几年同期相比，总体死亡率上升了43%。

Yet officials and analysts⁶ attribute the decline in recorded deaths to increased precautions by the government since 2015.

但官员和分析人士将统计的死亡人数的下降归因于自2015年以来政府加强了预防措施上。

Government officials have urged Indian employers to reduce and change work hours during heat waves,

政府官员已经敦促印度企业单位，尤其是建筑工地之类的户外工作场所，

particularly in outdoor areas such as construction sites,

减少并调整热浪期间的工作时间，

and have provided free drinking water in particularly vulnerable and crowded areas.

还在特别容易受高温影响，人流量又很大的地区为大家提供免费饮用水。

Mr. Srivastava said the disaster management authority had set a goal this year of keeping the death toll to single digits⁷.

斯里瓦斯塔瓦说，灾害管理局为今年设定的目标是将死亡人数控制在个位数。

But the country’s huge national election complicated the efforts, he said,

但他说，该国规模巨大的全国大选加大了这些努力的难度，

because government workers who were needed to issue the warning measures were instead deployed⁸ on election duty.

因为本该通报警告措施的政府工作人员被派去执行选举任务了。

In the western state of Gujarat, officials were bracing⁹ for extreme weather of a different sort:

在西部的古吉拉特邦，官员们正准备应对另一种极端天气：

A major cyclone¹⁰ was approaching with winds over 100 miles an hour.

一场时速逾100英里的热带气旋风暴正在逼近。

Flights and train journeys were canceled, and about 300,000 people were evacuated¹¹.

航班和火车已被取消，约30万人被疏散撤离。

But early Thursday it appeared that the cyclone might skirt the city.

但照周四早间的情形来看，飓风可能会绕过这座城市。

It was the second major storm facing India this year.

这是印度今年面临的第二个大气旋了。

In March, another cyclone in eastern India.

今年3月，印度东部（的奥里萨邦）就已经遭遇了一次强气旋。

The early warning system worked remarkably¹² well there,

那一次，当地的早期预警系统表现极为出色，

with the government evacuating¹³ about a million people and avoiding the widespread deaths caused by past storms.

政府疏散了约100万人，避免了重蹈风暴造成大面积死亡的覆辙。

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 tolls   

（缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏

参考例句：

• A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
• The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。

4 lethality   

n.致命性，毁坏性

参考例句：

• Modern weapons have greater range, accuracy, speed, and lethality than anything ever dreamed of before. 现代的武器比从前所梦想的任何武器射得更远，射得更准，速度更快，而且更具有杀伤力。 来自辞典例句
• The Mk 46 provides long-range lethality while engaging small, high-speed, surface targets. 该系统在舰船遭遇小型高速水面目标时将提供远距离的致命杀伤力。 来自互联网

5 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

10 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

13 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？