PBS高端访谈:美国多地出现极端高温天气

Hari Sreenivasan: Wildfires in California are burning homes and prompting¹ evacuations. A fire that started last night in Goleta, west of Santa Barbara, forced nearly 2,500 people to leave their homes. And in San Diego county², a fire that broke out yesterday morning has burned hundreds of acres. Fighting these fires has been much more difficult due to extremely high temperatures. In southern California, a heat wave yesterday broke records. In downtown Los Angeles, it was 108, a record for the day. And two airports there reached all-time highs: Burbank airport at 114 degrees; Van Nuys airport hit 117 degrees. But California was not alone.

Global temperatures reached extreme highs this past week, something scientists have been warning of as part of the effects of climate change. This map, from the University of Maine, shows maximum temperatures around the globe yesterday. In the northern hemisphere³, July is off to a record-breaking start. In Canada, authorities⁴ said that at least 50 people died from heat-related illnesses in the province of Quebec. The largest city there, Montréal, had a record high temperature of 97.9 degrees on Monday. In the U.S., a heat dome⁵ brought the northeast and Midwest record temperatures. Combined with the humidity⁶, it pushed the feels like temperatures above 100 degrees. In Denver, Colorado, the city tied its record all-time high of 105 degrees on June 28.

Meanwhile, a new world record was set in the Middle East last week. Along the coast of Oman, the temperature never dropped below 108.7 degrees over a 24-hour period. And in Glasgow, Scotland⁷, the temperature reached a record-breaking 89.4 degrees on June 28. That's more than 20 degrees hotter than its usual mild summer temperature.

 

1 prompting   

n.暗示，提示；刺激，鼓励；煽动，驱使v.推动，提示，鼓舞(prompt的现在分词)

参考例句：

• He wrote the letter without further prompting. 他不用人再催促就写了信。
• They blow the coals in secret, prompting me to revenge. 他们暗地里火上加油，激励我报复。 来自辞典例句

2 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

3 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

4 authorities   

n.当局，权力，权威；权威( authority的名词复数 )；权力；学术权威；[复数]当权者

参考例句：

• They interceded with the authorities on behalf of the detainees. 他们为被拘留者向当局求情。
• At his instigation we conceal the fact from the authorities. 我们受他的怂恿向当局隐瞒了事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

6 humidity   

n.湿度，潮湿，湿气

参考例句：

• The house is not comfortable tonight ,because of the high humidity.由于湿度高，今晚屋子里不舒服。
• It's difficult to work because of the humidity.由于空气潮湿，工作很困难。

7 Scotland   

n.苏格兰

参考例句：

• He has been hiking round Scotland for a month.他围着苏格兰徒步旅行了一个月。
• Scotland is to the north of England.苏格兰在英格兰之北。