第1698期:Controlling the weather

The weather affects all of us. An unexpected downpour or hot spell can be annoying, but when conditions are more extreme, it can severely impact agriculture, transport infrastructure and our homes. It's no surprise that for centuries scientists have tried to control the weather – but is it really possible?

天气影响我们所有人。一场意想不到的倾盆大雨或炎热天气可能会令人讨厌，但当情况更加极端时，它会严重影响农业、交通基础设施和我们的家园。几个世纪以来，科学家们一直试图控制天气，这并不奇怪——但这真的可能吗？

Due to climate change, there are more regular occurrences of heatwaves, which cause droughts, and torrential rain, which is responsible for flooding. Although humans are the cause of much of it, maybe we have a solution too? For example, China, the UAE and the USA are at the forefront of research into methods of producing rain in drought-stricken areas. And some scientists are even thinking about investigating technologies which could cool the entire planet.

由于气候变化，导致干旱的热浪和引发洪水的暴雨更加频繁。虽然人类是其中很大一部分的原因，但也许我们也有解决办法？例如，中国、阿联酋和美国在研究干旱地区的造雨方法方面走在前列。一些科学家甚至正在考虑研究可以为整个地球降温的技术。

It might sound like science fiction, but weather modification is nothing new. In the 1940s, scientists discovered that dropping particles of silver iodide into cloud tops, made the tiny water droplets condense and could stimulate precipitation. That's called cloud seeding. This is a technique still being tested today with the aim of producing extra rainfall and, therefore, water for drought-affected farmers.

这听起来像是科幻小说，但人工影响天气并不是什么新鲜事。在 1940 年代，科学家发现将碘化银颗粒滴入云顶，使微小的水滴凝结并可以促进降水。这就是所谓的云播种。这项技术今天仍在进行测试，目的是产生额外的降雨，从而为受干旱影响的农民提供水源。

Other ideas for keeping nature at bay include using lasers to generate clouds and for controlling thunderstorms. One idea involved firing laser pulses into thunderclouds in an attempt to suck out lightning in a controlled manner. This was unsuccessful. New research into solar geoengineering has also begun. This type of climate engineering involves sunlight being reflected back to space to limit or reverse human-caused climate change.

其他阻止自然的想法包括使用激光产生云层和控制雷暴。一个想法涉及向雷云发射激光脉冲，以试图以可控的方式吸出闪电。这是不成功的。对太阳能地球工程的新研究也已经开始。这种类型的气候工程涉及将阳光反射回太空以限制或逆转人为造成的气候变化。

Despite all this ongoing research, there's no conclusive evidence that our weather can be controlled. Chris Bell, a lecturer in meteorology at the University of East Anglia, told BBC Future: "We may, one day, have the technology to control the weather, but it will be in thousands, not hundreds, of years." So, for now, we still need to rely on Mother Nature to control our weather.

尽管正在进行所有这些研究，但没有确凿的证据表明我们的天气是可以控制的。东英吉利大学气象学讲师克里斯贝尔告诉 BBC Future：“有一天，我们可能拥有控制天气的技术，但那将是数千年，而不是数百年。”因此，就目前而言，我们仍然需要依靠大自然来控制我们的天气。

词汇表

downpour 暴雨
hot spell 一段短暂持续的高温天气
extreme 极端的
climate change 气候变化
heatwave 热浪
drought 干旱
torrential rain 倾盆大雨
flooding 洪水
drought-stricken 遭受旱灾的，受旱灾影响的
cool 降温，（使）变凉
weather modification 人工影响天气
silver iodide 碘化银
condense （使）凝结
precipitation 降水
cloud seeding （为进行人工降雨而作的）播云
rainfall 降雨
thunderstorm 雷雨
thundercloud 雷雨云
lightning 闪电
solar geoengineering 太阳地球工程
sunlight 阳光
meteorology 气象学
Mother Nature 大自然