突发性干旱：为什么需要预警和缓解技术
突发性干旱：为什么需要预警和缓解技术
A new study on flash droughts published in journal Nature Climate Change on March 2, 2020 explored the impact of this extreme climate phenomenon. The study explored current knowledge about flash droughts and existing processes to predict and mitigate their occurrence.
一项关于突发性干旱的新研究于2020年3月2日发表在《自然气候变化》杂志上，探讨了这种极端气候现象的影响。这项研究探讨了目前关于突发性干旱的知识，以及预测和减轻其发生的现有过程。
Flash droughts could occur in weeks and stay on for months (subseasonal to seasonal time periods), according to the study conducted by a multi-institutional collaboration, including the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
根据包括劳伦斯·利弗莫尔国家实验室在内的多机构合作进行的研究显示，突发性干旱可能在数周内发生，并持续数月(从季节性到季节性)。
Flash droughts had severe impacts and occurred when regular drought conditions rapidly intensified. This made it more urgent to accurately identify the physical processes behind their origins.
突发性干旱造成了严重影响，并在常规干旱迅速加剧的情况下发生。这就迫切需要准确地识别其起源背后的物理过程。
Early-warning systems (EWS) that could identify trends in climate and sources of water were needed to detect the emergence or probability of the occurrence of flash droughts, according to the study.
根据这项研究，需要能够识别气候和水源趋势的预警系统(EWS)，来检测突发性干旱的出现或发生的可能性。
Droughts were the most complex and least understood of all climate extremes. They could extend to entire regions from a few kilometres and continue for decades, according to the study.
干旱是所有极端气候中最复杂、最难理解的。研究显示，它们可能从几公里延伸到整个地区，并持续数十年。
The need for EWS and drought monitoring was “the foundation of effective, proactive drought policy,” according to Angeline Pendergrass, a climate scientist and the study’s lead author.
气候科学家、该研究的主要作者Angeline Pendergrass说，对EWS和干旱监测的需要是“有效、积极的干旱政策的基础”。
There was little known about flash droughts — or ‘hidden hazards’ — when compared to research available on long-term droughts, according to the study, which cited the example of a flash drought in the Midwest region of the United States in 2012.
这项研究以2012年美国中西部地区的突发性干旱为例，指出与对现有的长期干旱研究相比，人们对干旱(或“潜在危险”)知之甚少。
The flash drought doubled the extent of abnormally dry conditions to more than 60 per cent in August that year from 30 per cent in May.
当年8月，突如其来的干旱使异常干旱状况的范围扩大了一倍，从5月的30%增至逾60%。
The significant impact this caused in agriculture caught the attention of the US government, according to the study.
研究显示，这对农业造成的重大影响引起了美国政府的注意。
Flash droughts were the focus of research in China and Australia too, the study noted.
该研究指出，在中国和澳大利亚，突发性干旱也是研究的重点。
In 2018, one such flash drought de-vegetated the entire landscape and caused livestock numbers to dip to their lowest in a century in Australia’s south Queensland, according to the study.
根据这项研究，2018年，一场突如其来的干旱使整个地区植被减少，导致澳大利亚南昆士兰的牲畜数量降至一个世纪以来的最低水平。
