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ADAM: So, Michelle, shall we make a start on our presentation?
亚当：那么，米歇尔，我们可以开始准备演讲了吗？
We haven't got that much time left.
我们没有那么多时间了。
MICHELLE: No, Adam.
米歇尔：不，亚当。
But at least we've done all the background reading.
但至少我们已经阅读了所有的背景资料。
I found it really interesting.
我发现这真的很有趣。
I'd never even heard of the Laki eruption before this.
在此之前，我甚至从未听说过拉基火山喷发。
ADAM: Me neither.
亚当：我也是。
I suppose 1783 is a long time ago.
我想1783年是很久以前的事了。
MICHELLE: But it was a huge eruption and it had such devastating consequences.
米歇尔：但这是一次巨大的火山喷发，造成了如此严重的后果。
ADAM: I know.
亚当：我知道。
It was great there were so many primary sources to look at.
能有这么多一手资料可供查阅，这真是太好了。
It really gives you a sense of how catastrophic the volcano was.
这让你真正感受到那次火山喷发的灾难性后果。
People were really trying to make sense of the science for the first time.
人们真的是第一次试图理解这门科学。
MICHELLE: That's right.
米歇尔：没错。
But what I found more significant was how it impacted directly and indirectly on political events, as well as having massive social and economic consequences.
但我发现更重要的是，它如何直接和间接地影响到政治事件，并对社会和经济产生了巨大的影响。
ADAM: I know. That should be the main focus of our presentation.
亚当：我知道。这应该是我们演讲的重点。
MICHELLE: The observations made by people at the time were interesting, weren't they?
米歇尔：当时人们的观察很有趣，不是吗？
I mean, they all gave a pretty consistent account of what happened, even if they didn't always use the same terminology.
我的意思是，他们对所发生的事情都给出了相当一致的描述，尽管他们并不总是使用相同的术语。
ADAM: Yeah. I was surprised there were so many weather stations established by that time.
亚当：是的。令我惊讶的是，当时已经建立了这么多气象站。
So, you know, you can see how the weather changed, often by the hour.
所以，你知道，你可以看到天气是如何变化的，通常是按小时记录的。
MICHELLE: Right. Writers at the time talked about the Laki haze to describe the volcanic fog that spread across Europe.
米歇尔：对。当时的作家们用“拉基阴霾”来形容蔓延到整个欧洲的火山雾。
They all realised that this wasn't the sort of fog they were used to-and of course this was in pre-industrial times-so they hadn't experienced sulphur-smelling fog before.
他们都意识到这不是他们所习惯的那种雾——当然这是在前工业时代——所以他们以前没有经历过硫磺味的雾。
ADAM: No, that's true.
亚当：的确如此。
MICHELLE: Reports from the period blamed the haze for an increase in headaches, respiratory issues and asthma attacks.
米歇尔：这一时期的报道将头痛、呼吸问题和哮喘发作的病情增加归咎于雾霾。
And they all describe how it covered the sun and made it look a strange red colour.
它们都描述了雾霾是如何遮住太阳，并导致太阳看起来像是奇怪的红色。
ADAM: Must have been very weird.
亚当：那时一定很奇怪。
MICHELLE: It's interesting that Benjamin Franklin wrote about the haze.
米歇尔：本杰明·富兰克林写了关于雾霾的文章，这很有趣。
Did you read that?
你读了吗？
He was the American ambassador in Paris at the time.
他当时是美国驻巴黎大使。
ADAM: Yeah. At first no one realised that the haze was caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.
亚当：是的。起初，没有人意识到雾霾是由冰岛的火山喷发造成的。
MICHELLE: It was Benjamin Franklin who realised that before anyone else.
米歇尔：本杰明·富兰克林比任何人都更早意识到这一点。
ADAM: He's often credited with that, apparently.
亚当：显然，人们常常把这归功于他。
But a French naturalist beat him to it.
但一位法国博物学家抢在了他前面。
I can't remember his name.
我想不起来他叫什么名字了。
I'd have to look it up.
我得去查一查。
Then other naturalists had the same idea-all independently of each other.
然后，其他博物学家也有同样的想法——他们都是独自得出的结论。
MICHELLE: Oh right.
米歇尔：哦，对了。
We should talk about the immediate impact of the eruption, which was obviously enormous-especially in Iceland, where so many people died.
我们应该谈谈火山喷发造成的直接影响，显然是巨大的——特别是在冰岛，有这么多人死亡。
ADAM: Mmm. You'd expect that-and the fact that the volcanic ash drifted so swiftly but not that the effects would go on for so long.
亚当：嗯。你会预料到这一点——还有火山灰飘散得如此之快，但你不会预料到，喷发后造成的影响会持续这么长时间。
Or that two years after the eruption, strange weather events were being reported as far away as North America and North Africa.
或者说，在拉基火山喷发两年后，远至北美和北非的地方都有反常天气事件的报道。
MICHELLE: No. I found all that hard to believe too.
米歇尔：是的，预料不到。我也觉得这很难相信。
It must have been terrible-and there was nothing anyone could do about it, even if they knew the ash cloud was coming in their direction.
这一定很可怕——任何人都无能为力，即使他们知道火山灰云正朝着他们飘来。
