VOA新闻杂志2023--Record-breaking Hot Summer Is Only Half Over

Record-breaking Hot Summer Is Only Half Over

At about summer's halfway¹ point, scientists say the world's record-breaking heat and weather extremes are both unprecedented² and unsurprising.

American and European meteorologists also expect a hotter-than-normal August and September.

Gavin Schmidt is a NASA climate scientist. He told The Associated Press, "The heat waves that we're seeing in the U.S. and in Europe, in China are demolishing⁴ records left, right and center. This is not a surprise."

"We're going to be seeing this pretty much this year and into next year," Schmidt said. Along with human-caused climate change, there is also the natural El Nino warming of the Pacific Ocean.

Here is a look at what has happened so far this summer:

Record-breaking heat

The month of June this year was the hottest June on record in the world. Scientists say July has been so hot that even before the month was over they could say it was the hottest month on record. In some places, the heat has been deadly.

In Phoenix⁵, Arizona, the last day of June and each day of July has been at least 43 degrees Celsius⁶. The area also set records for the longest period with temperatures at 32 and higher.

El Paso, Texas, had 44 days of 37-degree heat. Schools closed in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico a month earlier than normal as temperatures reached 45 degrees.

Beijing, China experienced 27 days of 35 degrees in July. That came after three 40-degree days in June.

Heat records fell all over southern Europe. Sardinia, Italy, hit 47 degrees. Palermo in Sicily broke a record that goes back to 1791 by 2 degrees.

Spain reported nearly 1,000 extra deaths from the heat by mid-July, mostly among older people.

Too much rain

More than 10,000 people had to be evacuated⁸ in central Hunan province in China. Heavy rainfall there caused at least 70 houses to collapse⁹. In Yichang, rain caused a landslide¹⁰ that buried a construction site and killed at least one person.

Australia's Queensland desert got 13 times its normal monthly July rain in just one day.

Thousands of people were evacuated from Delhi in India as rains caused floods and landslides¹¹. Heavy rain and flooding caused several deaths in northeastern states of the U.S.

Wildfires and smoke

Too little rain in Greece and Spain worsened wildfires. In the Canary Islands, a fire caused 4,000 people to evacuate⁷ and 400 firefighters battling it.

Hot and dry conditions caused about 160 wildfires to break out in Israel in early June.

In northern Quebec, Canada, wildfire smoke spread to create the world's dirtiest air in cities like New York and Washington, D.C.

As of late July, more than 600 wildfires were out of control in Canada. A record 123,000 square kilometers burned, and fire season is not nearly done. That is an area larger than North Korea.

Water temperatures

Water temperatures in the Florida Keys and off the Everglades hit the high 30s.

The North Atlantic had hot spots that alarmed scientists. The world's oceans as a whole were the hottest ever in June and got even hotter in July. In Antarctica, sea ice broke record-low levels.

Ocean temperatures take a long time to warm up and cool down, said Victor Gensini who teaches meteorology at the University of Northern Illinois. He added that it does not look good for the rest of the summer.

A hot forecast

U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Rosencrans expects above normal temperatures for the next three months.

The only possible relief he sees, especially in the hot Atlantic and Gulf¹² of Mexico, is if a hurricane or tropical storm moves through. But the height of hurricane season in September has not even started.

With the summer's weather extremes so far, University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann had one question: "How on God's Earth are we still burning fossil¹³ fuels after witnessing all this?"

Words in This Story

unprecedented — adj. not done or experienced before

meteorologist — n. a scientist that deals with the atmosphere and with weather

demolish³ — v. to damage so that it cannot be repaired

evacuate — v. to remove from a dangerous place

hurricane — n. an extremely large, powerful, and destructive¹⁴ storm with very strong winds that occurs especially in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean

fossil fuel — n. energy in the form of gas, coal and oil that is taken from the ground and comes from the breakdown of old matter

1 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

4 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

5 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

8 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。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

11 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

12 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。

13 fossil   

n.化石，食古不化的人，老顽固

参考例句：

• At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.时间隔得这么久了，很难确定这化石的年代。
• The man is a fossil.那人是个老顽固。

14 destructive   

adj.破坏（性）的，毁灭（性）的

参考例句：

• In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
• It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。