Punishing heat waves gripped three continents on Tuesday, breaking records in cities around the Northern Hemisphere less than two weeks after the Earth recorded what scientists said were likely its hottest days in modern history.
周二，酷暑席卷三个大洲，打破了诸多北半球城市的高温记录，而就在不到两周前，科学家才称地球出现了可能是现代历史上最热的几天。
Firefighters in Greece scrambled to put out wildfires, as parched conditions raised the risk of more blazes throughout Europe. Beijing logged another day of 95-degree heat, and people in Hangzhou, another Chinese city, compared the choking conditions to a sauna. From the Middle East to the American Southwest, delivery drivers, airport workers and construction crews labored under blistering skies. Those who could stay indoors did.
希腊的消防员紧急出动扑灭野火，炎热天气也增加了整个欧洲的火灾风险。北京又迎来35度高温的一天，另一座中国城市杭州的居民则将这种闷热形容为桑拿天。从中东到美国西南部，送货司机、机场工作人员和建筑施工队在酷热之下劳作。能待在室内的人都不再出门。
The temperatures, afflicting so much of the world all at once, were a withering reminder that climate change is a global crisis, driven by human-made forces: the emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
世界上如此多地区同时遭遇高温天气，是在尖锐地提醒人们，气候变化是一场全球危机，并受到人为因素的推动：主要由燃烧化石燃料引起的温室气体排放。
The planet has warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century and will continue to grow hotter until humans essentially stop burning coal, oil and gas, scientists say. The warmer temperatures contribute to extreme weather events and help make periods of extreme heat more frequent, longer and more intense.
科学家表示，地球自19世纪以来已经升温约1摄氏度，而且还将继续变暖，直到人类停止燃烧煤炭、石油和天然气。气温升高会导致极端天气，并使极端高温期变得更频繁、更漫长也更剧烈。
Also affecting this year’s conditions is the return of El Niño, a cyclical weather pattern that, depending on the sea surface temperature and the pressure of the air above it, can originate in the Pacific and have wide-ranging effects on weather around the world.
影响今年气候的还有厄尔尼诺现象的回归，这种周期性天气模式取决于海面温度以及海上气压，它可能来自太平洋，会对全球各地的天气产生广泛影响。
For hundreds of millions of people on Tuesday, the heat was hard to escape. In the United States, Phoenix broke a nearly half-century-old record on Tuesday, with the city’s 19th consecutive day of temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). Elsewhere around the country, hot and humid conditions were expected to worsen along the Gulf Coast and throughout the Southeast.
对于数以亿计的人们而言，周二的高温无处可避。在美国，菲尼克斯连续19天气温超过43.3摄氏度，打破了近半世纪以来的高温记录。而在美国其他地方，墨西哥湾沿岸和整个东南部地区预计将会更加湿热。
Wildfires raged on for yet another week in Canada, having burned a staggering 25 million acres so far this year, an area roughly the size of Kentucky. With more than a month of peak fire season to go, 2023 has already eclipsed Canada’s annual record, from 1989.
加拿大的野火又持续了一周，今年到目前为止野火已蔓延多达上千万公顷的土地，大约相当于整个肯塔基州。距离火灾高峰季节结束还有一个月时间，但加拿大2023年的火灾频率已经超过了自1989年以来的年度记录。
Fires also forced evacuations in villages south, west and north of Athens, burning an estimated 7,400 acres of forest in Greece despite aerial water bombardments to bring the blazes under control.
大火还迫使雅典南部、西部和北部的村庄进行了疏散，尽管通过航空灭火控制了火势，但希腊仍有约3000公顷的森林被烧毁。
节选自《纽约时报》：Heat Waves Grip 3 Continents as Climate Change Warms Earth
1. grip 表示（情绪或形势）对…产生强烈影响
例：Terrorism has gripped the country for the past two years.
两年来恐怖主义一直笼罩着这个国家。
2. scramble 艰难地（或仓促地）完成，常用搭配为scramble to do sth.
例：They were scrambling to give the impression that the situation was under control. 他们急于给人一种形势已得到控制的印象。
3. wide-ranging 范围大的，广泛的
例：a wide-ranging discussion 内容广泛的讨论
4. rage (on) 表示（暴风雨、战斗、争论等）猛烈地继续；激烈进行。
例：The battle raged on(= continued). 战斗仍在激烈进行。
5. bombardment 表示轰炸，轰击。常用搭配为aerial/artillery/naval bombardment（空中/炮火/海上轰炸）
例：The bombardment continued for a terrible nine hours.
轰炸可怕地持续了九个小时。
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