2007年VOA标准英语-2007: Expected to be Hotter than 2006

By Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
08 January 2007
 
watch Climate report

Oil prices are at their lowest levels since mid-2005.  That's the good news - or is it?

 
Unseasonably warm weather is responsible for premature¹ cherry blossoms
Stronger typhoons, more flooding in low lying regions, deepening drought -- all possible, if not likely, according to a report from British climatologists.  They say 2007 has a 60 percent probability of being the hottest year on record, citing high levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, and El Nino, now underway in the Pacific and expected to last until May.

Temperature studies for 2006 are not yet complete.  But the new study, noting that the world's ten warmest years since 1850 have occurred in the past decade, says 2006 is set to be the sixth warmest year globally, and 2007 is likely to set a new all time high.

Even as dangerous winter storms blanket parts of the Western United States, much of the rest of the nation is unusually warm.  For the first time in 130 years, New York City has had no snow.  In Washington DC, the spring cherry blossoms are already poised² to bloom and botanists³ note southern species of flowers are being found further north.

 
Bernie Rayno

Meteorologist Bernie Rayno says, "We expected much of the country to be warmer than normal during the month of December.  However, we also expect that scene to be turning around during the month of January." A benefit for many in the United States:  crude oil prices are at their lowest levels since the middle of 2005. 

Ira Epstein is a trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange. "Mild weather in the Northeast -- we’re having ample supplies in this country domestically, and we came off kind of a lackluster year in '06."

Whether lower oil prices will hold is unclear, but for many on America's East Coast this is a winter, at least so far, unlike any they have seen before.

1 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

2 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

3 botanists   

n.植物学家，研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Botanists had some difficulty categorizing the newly found plant. 植物学家们不大容易确定这种新发现的植物的种类。 来自辞典例句
• Botanists refer this flower to the rose family. 植物学家将这花归入蔷薇科。 来自辞典例句