Vermont flooding worsened by climate change

山東 顧 芳

佛蒙特州蒙彼利埃市及其周邊社區(qū)的街道變成了湍急的河流，由氣候變化引發(fā)的強降雨會更頻繁地發(fā)生。

主題語境：自然環(huán)境 篇幅：346詞 建議用時：7分鐘

1Streets in Montpelier, Vermont and surrounding communities turned into rushing rivers recently, a dramatic display of what could happen more often as climate change fuels heavier rainfall events.While flooding at the scale seen in Vermont remains rare in individual communities, extreme rainfall events happen more often in the Northeast and much of eastern America and are expected to occur even more frequently in the decades, several experts said.

2Heavy rainfall events could increase in the Northeast by an additional 52% by the end of the century, a study warned.“The number of wet days that experience extreme rainfall—the top 1% of wet days—is increasing quite significantly,” said the study's lead author Christopher Picard.

3“These big increases in rainfall events aren't just happening in the Northeast,”said Ken Kunkel, an atomospheric sciences professor.“They're happening in much of the eastern half of the US and in other parts of the world.Globally, more places have seen increases in rainfall, and the evidence is pretty strong that it's due to global warming.”

4The weather service reported 9.2 inches of rain fell in Calais, Vermont, with rainfall amounts over five inches widespread in the region.The Winooski River in Montpelier rose 15 feet in a day and nearly 100 road closures were reported.

5“While it's difficult to decisively say anything about one event, this is completely consistent with increasing rainfall in the Northeast and part of that being driven by climate change,” said Jonathan Winter, associate professor of geography at Dartmouth.

6“Warmer temperatures affect the movement of the jet stream and moisture (濕 氣)flow from the Gulf of Mexico and other large water bodies.Hotter oceans put more warmth and more moisture into the atmosphere,” Kunkel said.Record heat is occurring in the North Atlantic this summer.Marine heat waves covered 40% of the world's oceans in June, and that number was expected to increase to 50% by the end of summer.

Reading Check

1.Which of the following can describe future extreme rainfall?

A.Severe but local.

B.Slight and average.

C.Common and wide.

D.Frequent but regional.

2.What was the direct result after the flood of the Winooski River?

A.Most roads were ruined.

B.Transportation was delayed.

C.Goods price went up instantly.

D.The weather service broke down.

3.What did Kunkel try to express in paragraph 6?

A.More water is found in the air.

B.Record heat makes the air drier.

C.Heat waves in Marine come to a stop.

D.Rising temperatures make oceans hotter.

4.What is the purpose of the text?

A.To show that climate change worsens Vermont flooding.

B.To show that record heat occurs in the North Atlantic.

C.To prove that streets in Vermont desire for repair.

D.To prove that it's time to control global warming.

Language Study

Ⅰ.日積月累

dramaticadj.引人注目的

displayn.表現(xiàn)

fuelv.給……提供燃料；加強；刺激

significantlyadv.顯著地

evidencen.證據(jù)

decisivelyadv.果斷地

consistentadj.與……一致的；連貫的

due to 因為；由于

have an opportunity for 有機會……

Ⅱ.單句填空

1.We know well the pattern of ________ could happen when we suffer from floods.

2.House prices have gone up ________ 10% in the past three years.

3.There is enough evidence ________ global warming is changing the world.

4.The results are entirely consistent ________ our earlier research.

5.More frequent climate changes are bringing ________ (heavy) rainfall events.

6.Most of this explosive growth ________ (occur) in developing countries now.