《中英對照讀新聞》2006 sees weather records broken across the globe 2006年全球氣候異常頻傳

◎胡立宗

Many parts of the world experienced extreme record-breaking weather conditions in terms of heat, rainfall or drought, a report by the World Meteorological Organization said.

世界許多地區遭遇極端氣候侵襲，包括破紀錄的高溫、降雨或乾旱，國際氣象組織公布的報告指出。

This year is estimated to be the sixth warmest on record, according to WMO’s Status of the Global Climate in 2006 report, although final figures would be produced in March.

儘管最後確定的數據明年3月才會完成，但根據國際氣象組織2006年「全球氣候情況」報告，今年預計將成為史上第6高溫的一年。

Arctic sea-ice was rapidly disappearing. The extent of ice cover in September 2006 was the second-lowest recorded at 5.9 million square kilometers, just short of the 2005 record. It was decreasing at a rate of 8.6 per cent a decade.

北極冰層正快速消失。2006年9月冰層範圍只有590萬平方公里，創下史上第2低的紀錄，僅高於2005年測得的大小。每年冰層以8.6%的速度消失。

Meanwhile, the hole in the ozone layer was equal in size to the previous record of 2000 with recovery not expected for another 50 to 60 years.

同時，臭氧層破洞的面積則與2000年的紀錄相等，至少還要50到60年才能恢復。

Parts of Europe, including England, the Netherlands and Denmark saw the hottest autumn since records began in the 17th century. Some European countries also had record-breaking summers. The US experienced its warmest January to September while seeing historic floods in New England in May.

歐洲部分地區，包括英格蘭、荷蘭、丹麥，都經歷了自17世紀有紀錄以來最熱的秋天。一些歐洲國家也出現破紀錄的炎夏。美國1到9月氣溫也創新高，新英格蘭地區5月則是遭到史無前例的大洪水侵襲。

新聞辭典

in terms of：就…而言，依…的觀點。In terms of integrity, he is far below the average.（就操守而言，他實在達不到一般標準。）

on record：有紀錄的，（採訪）可存證的。off record，不具名、不記錄（的採訪），背景說明。

at a╱the rate of：以…的速率。Future wide-band network could transfer data at a rate of 200 megabyte per second.（未來的寬頻也許可以用每秒200M的速度傳送資料。）