巴黎冲上四十度：这个夏天，欧洲为什么这么热？

最近，整个西欧，热"炸"了。

Recently, all of Western Europe has 'exploded' with heat.

我们说的，是一场，

What we're talking about is

非常厉害的热浪。

a very intense heatwave.

热浪，就是连续好多天的高温。

A heatwave is high temperatures lasting many days in a row.

不是热一天，

Not hot for one day,

而是热一个多星期，甚至更久。

but hot for over a week, or even longer.

这次热浪，覆盖了很多国家。

This heatwave has covered many countries.

法国、西班牙、葡萄牙、

France, Spain, Portugal,

意大利、英国、德国，全都中招。

Italy, the UK, Germany — all hit.

我们来看几个数字，

Let's look at a few numbers,

你就知道有多夸张了。

and you'll see how extreme it is.

在法国，今年，

In France, this year,

巴黎的气温，

Paris's temperature

预计会第一次，

is expected, for the first time,

在六月份，超过四十度。

to exceed forty degrees in June.

要知道，巴黎平时的夏天，

Mind you, Paris's summers are usually

是很舒服的。

very comfortable.

而在西班牙和葡萄牙，

And in Spain and Portugal,

有的地方，

in some places,

温度可能冲到四十五度。

the temperature may hit forty-five degrees.

意大利那边也好不到哪去，

Italy isn't doing any better either —

连佛罗伦萨，

even Florence

都可能到四十度。

might reach forty degrees.

那么问题来了：

So here's the question:

欧洲为什么，

why is Europe

今年这么热？

so hot this year?

这背后，有一个关键的原因，

Behind this is one key cause,

气象上，叫做"热盖"，

called in meteorology a 'heat lid',

英文里有个更形象的说法，

and in English there's a more vivid term,

叫"热穹顶"。

called a 'heat dome'.

我给你打个比方。

Let me give you a metaphor.

你可以把它，

You can imagine it

想象成一口，

as a giant pot

倒扣在天上的大锅。

turned upside down over the sky.

正常的时候，

Normally,

天上的空气，是流动的。

the air in the sky flows.

热气上去，凉气下来，

Hot air rises, cool air descends,

互相交换。

exchanging with each other.

但是现在，

But right now,

一大团又干又热的高气压，

a huge mass of dry, hot high pressure

牢牢地停在了西欧上空，

has firmly parked over Western Europe,

而且好多天，都不挪窝。

and for many days, it won't budge.

它就像那口大锅，

It's like that big pot,

把热气死死地，

pressing the heat down hard,

扣在了地面附近。

trapping it near the ground.

太阳每天暴晒，

The sun bakes it every day,

锅里的温度，

and the temperature inside the pot

就一天比一天高，

climbs higher day by day,

散都散不出去。

unable to escape.

更糟的是，

What's worse,

这次的热空气，

this round's hot air

很多是从北非，

is largely from North Africa,

也就是撒哈拉沙漠那边，

that is, the Sahara Desert,

飘过来的。

drifting over.

本来就热，又被锅扣住，

Already hot, then trapped under the pot,

两个一叠加，

the two stacking together

就成了现在这种，

have produced the current

要命的高温。

deadly high heat.

说到"要命"，

Speaking of 'deadly',

这可不是夸张。

this is no exaggeration.

高温，是会死人的。

High heat can kill people.

尤其是老人、小孩，

Especially the elderly, children,

和本来就有病的人。

and people who are already ill.

他们的身体，

Their bodies

很难调节这么极端的温度。

struggle to regulate such extreme temperatures.

就在上个月的那波高温里，

In just last month's wave of heat,

西班牙一个国家，

in Spain, one country,

就有一百多人，

more than a hundred people

因高温而死亡。

died because of the high heat.

法国也有多人遇难。

France also had several deaths.

这些数字背后，

Behind these numbers

都是一个个，活生生的人。

are individual, living people.

面对高温，各国政府，

Facing the heat, governments of every country

也纷纷拉响了警报。

have also sounded the alarm.

有的发出红色预警，

Some issued red alerts,

提醒大家尽量别在中午出门；

reminding everyone not to go out at midday if possible;

有的开放公共的纳凉点，

some opened public cooling spots,

给没有空调的人，一个去处；

giving people without AC a place to go;

还有的，

and others

专门去照顾独居的老人。

went specifically to care for elderly people living alone.

但是，比这场热浪本身，

But more worthy of our vigilance

更值得我们警惕的，

than the heatwave itself

是它背后的那个大趋势。

is the big trend behind it.

科学家几乎一致认为：

Scientists almost unanimously agree:

像这样，又早、又强、又长的热浪，

heatwaves like this — early, strong, and long —

正在变成一种"新常态"。

are becoming a 'new normal'.

换句话说，

In other words,

以前几十年一遇的极端高温，

extreme heat that used to come once in decades

未来，可能几年就来一次，

may, in the future, come every few years,

甚至年年都来。

or even every year.

而这一切的根源，

And the root of all this

指向同一个词：

points to one word:

气候变化。

climate change.

我们的地球，

Our planet

正在一年比一年，更热。

is getting warmer year by year.

最后，我们一起想一想。

Finally, let's think together.

"全球变暖"这四个字，

The phrase 'global warming',

我们听了很多年，

we've heard for many years,

听到都有点麻木了。

heard it until we're a little numb.

但是今年欧洲的这场热浪提醒我们：

But this year's European heatwave reminds us:

它不再是，

it's no longer

课本里一个遥远的概念。

a distant concept in a textbook.

它，正在变成

It is becoming

我们每年夏天，

a reality we each have to face,

都要亲身面对的现实。

in person, every summer.

最后我想问你两个问题。

Finally, I want to ask you two questions.

第一，今年夏天，

First, this summer,

你所在的地方，热吗？

where you are, is it hot?

你有没有感觉到，

Have you felt that

这些年的夏天，

the summers of these years

一年比一年难熬？

are getting harder to endure year by year?

第二，

Second,

面对一个越来越热的世界，

facing a hotter and hotter world,

除了开空调、躲在家里，

besides turning on the AC and hiding at home,

我们每一个普通人，

what can each of us ordinary people

还能做点什么？

still do?

这两个问题，

These two questions

没有标准答案。

have no standard answer.

但是值得我们，

But they are worth us

慢慢去想。

thinking about slowly.