英语六级阅读理解练习：气候环境

　　As a result of this phenomenon. known as El Nino, more rainfall than normal is likely thiswinter across some areas of the United States, with unusually warm or cold weather in otherparts of the country.

　　Currently the phenomenon is marked by a warm pool of water along the equator extendingfrom the International Date Line nearly to the coast of South America. That water is nearly 4.degrees Fahrenheit above normal. explained Vernon Kousky of the climate center.

　　This warm water "spreads almost a quarter of the way around the globe. So it's massive and ithas an impact on our weather. It has a global influence... because it disturbs the atmosphere",said Dave Rodenhuis. director of the climate center.

　　"E1 Nino is probably the most important climate event beyond the annual cycle of seasons", headded.

　　Because the changes tended to be first noticed around Christmas, the phenomenon was givenche name El Nino, which is Spanish for child, a term often used to refer to the baby Jesus.

　　The phenomenon occurs every three to five years, sometimes in a mild form and sometimesstrongly affecting weather patterns worldwide. Details of its cause are not fully understood, butwhen it occurs. unusually warm air can be pumped into Canada. Alaska and the northern UnitedStates. At the same time, conditions tend to be wetter than normal along the US SoutheastCoast and the Gulf of Mexico. And the Atlantic and Caribbean hurricane season tends to bemilder than usual.

　　The strong El Nino of 1982-1983 was blamed for worsening the devastating drought in Africa,causing a series or severe winter storms to come ashore in California, spawning the firsttyphoon to strike French Polynesia m 75 years-followed by five more in Five months-delugingPeru and Ecuador with torrential rains and promoting the worst drought in two centuries inAustralia.

　　Overall damage was estimated at between $2 billion and $8 billion by a United Nations analysisand the death toll topped l,500 worldwide.

　　美国全国气象局在星期一发表报道称，[1]大量温暖的海水正在引起大气变化，这可能会导致全球天气在未来几个月内出现异常。

　　[1]这就是所谓“厄尔尼诺”现象造成的结果，它可能会在今年冬天给美国一些地区带来超常多的降雨，而在这个国家其他地方则会有异常温暖或异常寒冷的天气。

　　目前这一现象的一个标志是，沿赤道一带从国际日期变更线附近伸展到南美海岸的大范围内出现温暖的海水。气候中心的Vernon Kousky解释道，水温比正常约高出华氏4度。

　　[2]这些暖水“几乎伸展到环绕地球四分一的地方。其容积巨大，会对气候产生影响。其影响是全球性的……因为它扰乱了大气”，气候中心主任Dave Rodenhuis如是说。

　　“厄尔尼诺现象也许是除每年的季节变化之外最重要的气候现象，”他补充道。

　　[3]因为水温变化常常先在圣诞节前后引起人们的注意，所以这一现象被命名为“厄尔尼诺”，“厄尔尼诺”是西班牙语“孩子”的意思，通常用来指“圣婴”。

　　这种现象每隔三到五年出现，有的时候来得比较温和，有的时候则会强烈影响全球的天气模式。[4]人们至今还未完全了解这一现象的成因，但它出现时，异常温暖的空气会被吹送到加拿大、阿拉斯加和美国北部。同时，美国东南海岸和墨西哥湾沿岸会有超常的降水。而大西洋和加勒比海的飓风会变得相较温和。

　　[5]1982-1983年的强厄尔尼诺现象是许多自然灾害的罪魁祸首;它使非洲毁灭性的干旱进一步恶化，造成一系列强烈冬季风暴侵袭加州海岸，生成75年来首次吹袭法属玻利尼西亚的台风——随后在五个月内再有五次——还为秘鲁和厄瓜多尔带来多场豪雨造成泛滥，并在澳大利亚促成两个世纪来最严重的干旱。

　　据联各国的一项分析表明，当时造成的总损失在20亿到80亿美元之间，全世界的死亡人数则高达l500人以上。