賈朋群 編輯
“We’ve detected unexpected decreases in the lower part of the stratospheric ozone layer, and the consequence of this result is that it’s offsetting the recovery in ozone that we had expected to see.”
“我們探測(cè)到平流層臭氧層下層意外的減少,其后果是它正在抵消掉我們一直期待看到的臭氧恢復(fù)?!?/p>
——一直以來(lái),南極臭氧洞的逐步恢復(fù)被認(rèn)為是現(xiàn)代環(huán)境治理(指1987年《蒙特利爾條約》的簽訂和實(shí)施)的成功案例,但是,近日一支由22位科學(xué)家組成的國(guó)際專家組對(duì)此提出了質(zhì)疑,位于瑞士達(dá)沃斯物理氣象觀象臺(tái)科學(xué)家William Ball如是說(shuō)。他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的這個(gè)國(guó)際專家組更多地關(guān)注人口眾多的低緯地區(qū),發(fā)現(xiàn)那里的臭氧含量發(fā)生了難以解釋的下降。相關(guān)的研究論文已經(jīng)在Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics上發(fā)表。
“The long-term temperature trend is far more important than the ranking of individual years, and that trend is an upward one.”
“溫度的長(zhǎng)期趨勢(shì)較某個(gè)年份的排名重要得多,而這個(gè)趨勢(shì)是向上的?!?/p>
——據(jù)世界氣象組織分析,2016年全球溫度較工業(yè)化前升高了1.2℃,是最暖年;而2017年升高的幅度為1.1℃,是非厄爾尼諾年的最暖年,會(huì)提高全球年溫度。針對(duì)這些數(shù)據(jù)記錄和分析,世界氣象組織秘書(shū)長(zhǎng)Petteri Taalas發(fā)表了自己的看法。
“This is almost certainly a conservative estimate. Our extrapolation assumes that sea level continues to change in the future as it has over the last 25 years. Given the large changes we are seeing in the ice sheets today, that’s not likely.”
“這幾乎肯定是一個(gè)保守的估計(jì)。我們的推斷假設(shè)海平面未來(lái)的變化是過(guò)去25年的持續(xù)。考慮到我們今天見(jiàn)到的冰蓋大的變化,這幾乎是不可能的?!?/p>
——美國(guó)學(xué)者在最新的研究中指出,全球海平面升高的速度在最近幾十年里在加速而非保持平穩(wěn)升高。研究借助NASA和歐洲衛(wèi)星數(shù)據(jù)得出到2100年,全球海平面將升高65 cm。談到這個(gè)結(jié)果,最新發(fā)表在PNAS上的相關(guān)研究論文的第一作者Nerem的話中不無(wú)更多的憂慮。
“Much of what we currently know about Southern Ocean cloud, aerosol, and precipitation properties comes from satellite-based estimates, which are uncertain and have undergone few comparisons against independent data. The data collected during SOCRATES will also enable us to evaluate current satellite data over the Southern Ocean, as well as potentially help in the design of better satellitebased techniques.”
“我們目前針對(duì)南大洋云、氣溶膠和降水特征的認(rèn)識(shí)很多來(lái)自基于衛(wèi)星的估計(jì),具有不確定性且很少和獨(dú)立數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行比較。SOCRATES項(xiàng)目期間收集到的數(shù)據(jù)還能讓我們?cè)u(píng)估當(dāng)前南大洋衛(wèi)星數(shù)據(jù),有可能幫助設(shè)計(jì)出更好的基于衛(wèi)星的技術(shù)。”
——2018年伊始,南大洋云、輻射、氣溶膠傳輸試驗(yàn)研究(Southern Ocean Clouds, Radiation, Aerosol Transport Experimental Study,SOCRATES)國(guó)際項(xiàng)目持續(xù)6周的外場(chǎng)試驗(yàn)如期開(kāi)展,多方位獲取的數(shù)據(jù)使此次外場(chǎng)試驗(yàn)被寄予很大希望,其意義如試驗(yàn)合作負(fù)責(zé)人,來(lái)自華盛頓大學(xué)的Roger Marchand所言,具有一定的開(kāi)創(chuàng)意義。
“The Weather Channel is a great fit with our portfolio. We’re going to invest to provide weather news nationally and globally.”
“天氣頻道與我們的投資方向高度吻合,我們將在國(guó)家和全球天氣新聞上投入?!?/p>
——據(jù)媒體報(bào)道,1993年成立,總部位于洛杉磯的媒體公司Entertainment Studios出資3億美元購(gòu)得天氣頻道的母公司天氣集團(tuán),這也是該集團(tuán)歷史上最大的一起收購(gòu)。該媒體公司的擁有人Byron Allen先生用上述簡(jiǎn)約的語(yǔ)言詮釋了這一收購(gòu)。據(jù)悉,天氣頻道公司擁有400位雇員,Entertainment Studios一年來(lái)一直尋求收購(gòu)該公司,并且在過(guò)去3~4個(gè)月著手實(shí)施。Byron Allen先生還表示,這一收購(gòu)只是其在未來(lái)5年投資數(shù)十億美元兼并媒體資產(chǎn)戰(zhàn)略的一部分。不過(guò),這筆并購(gòu)并不包括天氣集團(tuán)流行的數(shù)字和移動(dòng)銷售部分,如Weather. com網(wǎng)站等,后者于2015年以大約25億美元的價(jià)格被IBM購(gòu)買(mǎi)。
“I’m super excited. I think, at the same time, really humbled. I’m a forecaster and meteorologist at heart. I’ve been telling everybody I’ve wanted to do this since I was 7 years old. We’re in the heart of preparedness season. So I’m going to really hit the ground running, talking to folks about preparedness for the hurricane season. It’s going to be a quick ramp-up.”
“我超級(jí)激動(dòng)。我想,同時(shí)也感到責(zé)任重大。我在心底是一名預(yù)報(bào)員和氣象學(xué)者。當(dāng)我7歲時(shí)就一直告訴他人我想研究氣象。我們位于颶風(fēng)季的中心,所以我確實(shí)要積極著手做好準(zhǔn)備,告知人們應(yīng)對(duì)颶風(fēng)季節(jié)。這將是一個(gè)快速的過(guò)渡期。”
——美國(guó)媒體以《一名資深預(yù)報(bào)員被選中統(tǒng)領(lǐng)美國(guó)颶風(fēng)中心》為題,報(bào)道了在新颶風(fēng)季節(jié)來(lái)臨前,美國(guó)颶風(fēng)中心新主任到任的信息。面對(duì)媒體,這位預(yù)報(bào)員出身的美國(guó)氣象局官員如是說(shuō)。據(jù)悉,該中心前任主任是2012年到任的Rick Knabb,自2017年5月他又回到之前工作的天氣頻道公司。
“This process is similar to what happens when you put oil and water in a container, with the oil floating on top because it’s lighter and less dense. The same happens near Antarctica with fresh glacial meltwater, which stays above the warmer and saltier ocean water, insulating the warm water from the cold Antarctic atmosphere and allowing it to cause further glacial melting. We found that in this way increased glacial meltwater can cause a positive feedback, driving further melt of ice shelves and hence an increase in sea level rise.”
“這一過(guò)程和你在容器里加入油和水類似,油會(huì)因?yàn)檩^輕和比重小而浮在上面。同樣的情形發(fā)生在南極附近,冰川融化的淡水,保持在較暖和更咸的海水上面,將暖水與寒冷的南極大氣隔離開(kāi),并使得冰川進(jìn)一步融化。我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這一增加冰川融水機(jī)制能引起正反饋,帶來(lái)冰蓋持續(xù)融化,因而使得海平面加速提升。”
——澳大利亞和日本學(xué)者在最新的研究中,揭示了之前被忽視的冰川融化和海平面上升的過(guò)程,即冰川融化水使得海洋表面層鹽度下降,浮力增加,避免了冬季與深層海水的混合,使得深層暖海水繼續(xù)從下方融化冰川,研究論文的第一作者,博士生Alessandro Silvano解釋了這一機(jī)制。
2018年世界氣象日,圍繞主題“weather-ready,climate-smart”各方政要及專家詮釋和表達(dá)了對(duì)主題的理解和認(rèn)識(shí)。
“Now more than ever, we need to be weather-ready, climate-smart and water-wise. This is because the ever-growing global population faces a wide range of hazards such as tropical cyclone storm surges, heavy rains, heat waves, droughts and many more. WMO is therefore working to establish a global and standardized multi-hazard alert system in collaboration with National Meteorological and Hydrological Services worldwide.”
“目前我們比以往更需要天氣有序、氣候智能和水智慧。這是因?yàn)槿蛉丝诓粩嘣鲩L(zhǎng)面對(duì)更廣泛的災(zāi)害,如熱帶氣旋風(fēng)暴潮、暴雨、熱浪、干旱等。因此,WMO致力于和全球國(guó)家氣象及水文部門(mén)合作,建議全球化和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的多災(zāi)種預(yù)警系統(tǒng)。”
——WMO秘書(shū)長(zhǎng)Petteri Taalas闡述了2018年氣象日主題的意義所在,表達(dá)了WMO體系將把工作的重點(diǎn)從天氣如何預(yù)報(bào)轉(zhuǎn)移到更加關(guān)注天氣造成什么結(jié)果上來(lái)。
“[We] take our commitment to delivering life-saving information to people in need even further with AccuWeather Ready, to educate and inform people with new weather preparedness updates and tools when it matters the most, personalizing the weather so people can improve their lives.”
“我們更進(jìn)一步借助AccuWeather的有序平臺(tái),努力向需要的人提供保護(hù)生命的信息,當(dāng)出現(xiàn)險(xiǎn)情時(shí)向人們展示和傳播災(zāi)害預(yù)防的新知識(shí)和工具,個(gè)性化天氣信息讓人們改善其生活?!?/p>
——美國(guó)天氣企業(yè)之一AccuWeather氣象學(xué)者和產(chǎn)品經(jīng)理Becky DePodwin借氣象日表達(dá)了該公司的理念和價(jià)值所在。
“Scientists are now worried that unless accelerated action is taken by 2020, the Paris goal may become unattainable. I am beginning to wonder how many more alarm bells must go off before the world rises to the challenge. Climate change is still moving much faster than we are. ”
“科學(xué)家目前擔(dān)心,除非在2020年前加速采取行動(dòng),否則巴黎目標(biāo)無(wú)法達(dá)到。我現(xiàn)在開(kāi)始懷疑,在世界接受挑戰(zhàn)前還需要增加多少敲響的警鐘。氣候變化還在比目前更快的速度向前推進(jìn)。”
——在世界氣象日后一周,聯(lián)合國(guó)秘書(shū)長(zhǎng)在紐約總部和記者談起氣候變化巴黎協(xié)定及相關(guān)目標(biāo)時(shí)做出了上述表態(tài)。語(yǔ)氣中透露了一些無(wú)奈和對(duì)未來(lái)更多的憂慮,希望以此態(tài)度喚醒更多的人認(rèn)真對(duì)待氣候變化問(wèn)題。
Advances in Meteorological Science and Technology2018年2期