海洋变暖导致飓风增加英语美文

Scientists have quantified for the first time the link between warming oceans and increased hurricane activity. The research at University College London shows that a 0.5°C increase in sea surface temperature – which is within the range expected over the next few years – would cause a 40 per cent increase in North Atlantic hurricanes.

The mathematical study, published in Nature yesterday, also finds that local sea surface warming was responsible for about 40 per cent of the increase in Atlantic hurricane activity (relative to the 1950-2000 average) between 1996 and 2005. During that period the sea surface warmed by 0.27°C. Other factors would have caused the remaining 60 per cent of storm activity.

Matt Huddleston, climate change specialist at the UK Met Office said: “This paper is important in that it suggests the link between tropical storms and the warm Atlantic surface waters is perhaps stronger than realised in recent decades, and this has huge implications for the impacts of potentially damaging hurricanes on infrastructure in the US and the financial markets globally.”

科学家日前首次对海洋变暖与飓风活动增加之间的关系进行了量化分析。伦敦大学学院(University College London)的研究显示，海洋表面温度每升高0.5摄氏度(这一幅度处于未来几年海洋变暖幅度的预期范围之内)，将导致北大西洋的飓风数量增加40%。

这项研究昨日发表在《自然》(Nature)杂志上。这一数学分析还发现，相对于1950年至2000年的平均水平，在1996年至2005年间，大西洋的飓风活动更加频繁，其中大约40%的原因来自于当地海洋表面变暖。在此期间，海洋表面温度上升了0.27摄氏度。导致飓风活动增加的另外60%的原因来自其它因素。

英国气象局(Met Office)的`气候变迁问题专家马特?赫德莱斯顿(Matt Huddleston)表示：“这份研究非常重要，它表明，热带风暴与温暖的大西洋表层之间的关系可能比我们过去几十年所认为的更强;而且，这充分暗示了可能极具破坏力的飓风对美国基础设施和全球金融市场的影响。”