Monday, July 22, topped the charts as the hottest day ever recorded on the planet. But that's not the worst part.
7月22日星期一是地球上有记录以来最热的一天,位居榜首。但这还不是最糟糕的部分。
Sunday, July 21, had actually just broken the same record. Monday turned out to be even hotter.
7月21日,星期天,其实才刚打破最高温记录。而紧随其后的周一竟然更热。
Speaking of hellish weather that's all our fault, have you noticed how wacky rain has gotten?
说到地狱般的天气,这都得怪我们,你注意到雨下得有多奇怪了吗?
Like, speaking personally, it feels like we're seeing way more torrential downpours and unpredictable forecasts than we used to.
我个人觉得,现在我们看到的倾盆大雨和难以预测的天气预报要比过去多得多。
Scientists say they've found proof suggesting that this really is the case and that climate change is to blame.
科学家们表示,已经有科学证据表明情况确实如此,他们认为气候变化是罪魁祸首。
I know, shocking. What a plot twist.
我知道,令人震惊。真是跌宕起伏啊。
A study published last Thursday in Science found that daily global rainfall variability has been increasing since the 1900s to the tune of about 1.2 percent per decade.
上周四发表在《科学》杂志上的一项研究发现,自20世纪90年代以来,全球日降雨变率一直在增加,大约每十年增加1.2%。
Rainfall variability is a measurement that tells you how uneven the quantity and pacing of our precipitation is.
降雨变率是一个测量数据,它能表明降雨量和降雨速度有多么不均匀。
So, for example, if you have higher variability, you get droughts and downpours instead of a more chill assortment of sunny and rainy days.
例如,如果降雨变率更高,就会出现干旱和暴雨,而不是更温和的晴雨天交替。
The researchers behind the study say our greenhouse gas emissions are largely to blame.
这项研究背后的研究人员表示,温室气体排放是主要原因。
As our atmosphere gets warmer it's also able to hold more moisture, which means it gets more humid-and that water has to go somewhere.
随着大气变暖,它也能够容纳更多的水分,这意味着它会变得更加潮湿——而这些水必须到达某个地方。
But while the world might be literally and figuratively on fire, it still manages to be really cool despite all of our best efforts.
但是,虽然世界真的像一个烧着熊熊大火的火炉,虽然我们尽了最大努力,它依然是相当凉爽的。
Last week researchers reported that unassuming mineral deposits found in the deep sea hold a cheeky little secret: they can produce oxygen in total darkness.
上周,研究人员报告称,在深海中发现的不起眼的矿藏隐藏着一个小秘密:它们可以在完全黑暗的环境中产生氧气。
I could probably nerd out about this for the rest of our airtime, but SciAm's own Allison Parshall is going to join us next month to tell us all about it, so I will save all the nerdery for then.
接下来我们可能会经常谈论这个话题,但《科学美国人》的艾莉森·帕夏尔下个月会加入我们,给我们进行详细介绍,所以我会把所有的细节留到那时再说。
In public health news, a study published last Thursday reports that the H5N1 virus, one of the viruses that causes bird flu, is being transmitted between mammals.
在公共卫生新闻中,上周四发表的一项研究报告称,H5N1病毒,一种导致禽流感的病毒之一,正在哺乳动物之间传播。
Cornell University researchers say the data shows H5N1 has been passing from cow to cow, as well as from cows to cats and at least one unlucky raccoon.
康奈尔大学的研究人员表示,数据显示H5N1一直在牛与牛之间传播,也在牛与猫之间传播,至少还有一只不幸的浣熊也被感染了。
While there isn't yet any evidence of human-to-human transmission, the worry is that a virus that's getting better at spreading among mammals might eventually adapt to jumping between very specific mammals, meaning us.
虽然目前还没有任何证据表明这种病毒会在人与人之间传播,但令人担忧的是,一种在哺乳动物中传播能力越来越强的病毒,最终可能会适应在特定哺乳动物之间传播,这意味着我们人类也可能会被感染。
People. We're mammals.
人类。我们是哺乳动物。
The official tally for human cases this year is at 10, but dairy herds in 13 states have experienced outbreaks and there's a lot of concern that this is going to get a lot worse.
今年人类感染病例的官方统计数字为10例,但13个州的奶牛群已经爆发了疫情,人们非常担心情况会变得更糟。
In other troubling epidemiology news, earlier this month, health officials announced that analysis of wastewater samples taken from Gaza in June revealed the presence of poliovirus.
还有其他一些令人不安的流行病学新闻,本月早些时候,卫生官员宣布,对6月从加沙采集的废水样本进行的分析显示存在脊髓灰质炎病毒。
The World Health Organization has said there is a high risk the virus will spread within Gaza, and even internationally, without prompt intervention.
世界卫生组织表示,如果不迅速采取干预措施,病毒在加沙内部甚至国际上传播的风险很高。
The strain detected isn't wild poliovirus, but a strain known as vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.
检测到的病毒株不是野生脊髓灰质炎病毒,而是一种被称为2型疫苗衍生脊髓灰质炎病毒的病毒株。
This strain comes from the weakened virus used in oral polio vaccines.
这种毒株来自口服脊髓灰质炎疫苗中使用的弱化病毒。
The oral vaccine works well if immunization rates are high, which used to be the case in the Palestinian territory-the WHO estimated almost 100 percent immunization coverage in 2022.
口服疫苗在免疫接种率高的情况下效果良好,以前巴勒斯坦的接种率就比较高——世卫组织估计2022年该国的免疫接种覆盖率几乎达到100%。
But in rare circumstances, the weakened virus used in the vaccine can revert to a form that causes illness and even paralysis among the people it infects and be spread back through the population.
但在极少数情况下,疫苗中使用的弱化病毒可能会恢复到引发疾病甚至瘫痪的形式,并由感染者传播给人群。
Crowded living conditions, poor sanitation and, above all else, a decreased vaccination rate all make this more likely.
拥挤的居住条件、恶劣的卫生条件,以及最重要的是,疫苗接种率的下降,都使得这种情况更有可能发生。
And those conditions are present right now in Gaza.
而加沙就面临着这些情况。
Immunization coverage has dropped significantly in the last few months as people have been displaced, and the majority of water and sanitation facilities in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed since October 2023.
在过去的几个月里,由于人们流离失所,免疫接种覆盖率大幅下降,自2023年10月以来,加沙的大部分水和卫生设施已被损坏或摧毁。
United Nations agencies say that only 16 out of the strip's 36 hospitals are still considered partially functional.
联合国机构表示,加沙地带的36家医院中,只有16家仍被认为在部分运转中。
So it's not surprising that routine vaccinations have all but ground to a halt.
因此,常规疫苗接种几乎完全停滞也就不足为奇了。
That's left thousands of young children vulnerable to infection and has created the scenario where this vaccine-derived polio virus can spread.
这使得成千上万的幼儿易受感染,并导致口服疫苗衍生的脊髓灰质炎病毒有了传播能力。
While no human cases of paralysis have been identified in Gaza so far, experts are worried this situation could escalate quickly.
虽然到目前为止尚未在加沙发现人类瘫痪病例,但专家担心这种情况可能会迅速升级。
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "a ceasefire is essential to allow an effective response."
世界卫生组织总干事谭德塞在X(原名推特)上写道,“停火对有效应对这种情况至关重要。”
And this is a sentiment we're hearing from more and more healthcare providers.
而且,越来越多的医疗保健提供者都在提出这个观点。
A letter from medical experts recently published in The Lancet estimated that the death toll in Gaza could end up being about 186,000, if not more.
医学专家最近在《柳叶刀》上发表的一封信估计,如果情况不得到改善,加沙的死亡人数最终可能达到约18.6万人,甚至更多。
And that's even if Israel ended its military campaign immediately.
即便以色列立即结束其军事行动,死亡人数也会达到如此之高。
That's not just counting people killed directly by artillery but also taking into account the cascading effects of potential outbreaks of illnesses like polio as well as the impacts of other factors, including mass displacement, loss of infrastructure and malnutrition.
它不仅包括直接被炮火炸死的人数,还考虑到了小儿麻痹症等潜在疾病爆发所产生的连锁反应,以及包括大规模流离失所、基础设施损失和营养不良在内的其他因素的影响。