Earth and Sky:Climate Puzzles 气候之迷

Climate Puzzles 气候之迷

Scientists who predict Earth's future climate wish they knew how climate has changed in the past few thousand years. Learn more about modeling global climate -- today on Earth and Sky.

JB: This is Earth and Sky. Most scientists agree that humans are having an impact on Earth's climate. But they're also still discovering natural ways that global climate changes.

DB: For example, the sun doesn't give us exactly the same amount of heat each year -- and the sun's heat is just one factor, what scientists called one "parameter¹" -- needed to create computer simulations that show how climate changes -- and how it might change in the coming century. Drew Shindell models climate at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.

Drew Shindell: We had some observations showing that the wind speeds had increased when the sun got brighter in a particular region of the atmosphere. And then they decreased as the sun dimmed. And we'd never really been able to reproduce² this in the model. We'd put in a brighter sun and nothing really happened to the winds in this region. . . We finally were able to add in ozone³ chemistry, so that as the sun got brighter you also created more ozone in the sunlit regions, and immediately the winds got faster exactly in the region where it happened in the data. So to us that was really thrilling.

JB: Shindell said that, even with supercomputers, it took his team about a month to simulate⁴ how Earth's climate changes over 50 years.

DB: For more about predicting climate change with computer models -- come to today's show at earthsky.org. Our thanks to the National Science Foundation -- where discoveries begin. We're Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.

1 parameter   

n.参数，参量

参考例句：

• It is the parameter of distribution.这就是分布参数。
• One parameter which always comes into play is the national economy.国民经济是一个经常起作用的参量。

2 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

3 ozone   

n.臭氧，新鲜空气

参考例句：

• The ozone layer is a protective layer around the planet Earth.臭氧层是地球的保护层。
• The capacity of ozone can adjust according of requirement.臭氧的产量可根据需要或调节。

4 simulate   

vt.模仿，模拟，假装，冒充

参考例句：

• The wood had been painted to simulate stone.木头上刷了漆以看起来像块石头。
• A sheet of metal was shaken to simulate the noise of thunder.猛力抖动金属片以模仿雷声。