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The past three days were quite likely the hottest in Earth’s modern history, scientists said on Thursday, as an astonishing surge of heat across the globe continued to shatter temperature records from North America to Antarctica.
周四科学家表示，过去三天很可能是地球现代史上最热的几天，从北美到南极洲，全球范围内令人震惊的热浪持续打破温度记录。
The spike comes as forecasters warn that the Earth could be entering a multiyear period of exceptional warmth driven by two main factors: continued emissions of heat-trapping gases, mainly caused by humans burning oil, gas and coal; and the return of El Nino, a cyclical weather pattern.
在气温飙升之际，天气预报人员警告称，地球可能正进入为期数年的异常温暖时期，这种现象由两个主要因素推动：吸热气体的持续排放（主要由人类燃烧石油、天然气和煤炭造成），以及厄尔尼诺现象的回归（一种周期性的天气模式）。
Already, the surge has been striking.
气温的猛增已经令人震惊了。
The planet just experienced its warmest June ever recorded, researchers said, with deadly heat waves scorching Texas, Mexico and India.
研究人员表示，地球刚刚经历了有记录以来最热的6月，致命的热浪炙烤着德克萨斯州、墨西哥和印度。
Off the coasts of Antarctica, sea ice levels this year have plummeted to record lows.
在南极洲海岸附近的海域，今年的海冰骤降至创纪录的低点。
And in the North Atlantic, the ocean has been off-the-charts hot.
在北大西洋，海洋异常高温。
Surface temperatures in May were 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.6 degrees Celsius, warmer than typical for this time of year, breaking previous records by an unusually large margin.
5月份的海洋表面温度比每年同期的正常温度高出2.9华氏度（即1.6摄氏度），以异常大的温差打破了以往的纪录。
The sharp jump in temperatures has unsettled even those scientists who have been tracking climate change.
气温的急剧上升甚至让那些一直在跟踪气候变化的科学家也感到不安。
“It’s so far out of line of what’s been observed that it’s hard to wrap your head around,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research scientist at the University of Miami. “It doesn’t seem real.”
“这与观察到的情况相去甚远，很难让人理解。”迈阿密大学的资深研究科学家布莱恩·麦克诺尔迪说，“看起来不像是真实的。”
On Tuesday, global average temperatures climbed to 62.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 17 Celsius, making it the hottest day Earth has experienced since at least 1940, when records began, and very likely before that, according to an analysis by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
根据欧盟哥白尼气候变化服务机构的一项分析，周二，全球平均气温攀升至62.6华氏度（即17摄氏度），这是自有记录的1940年以来地球经历的最热的一天，很可能在1940年以前也是最热的一天。
Since that was an average, parts of the globe felt that extra heat more forcefully.
由于这是平均值，因此地球部分地区更强烈地感受到了额外的高温。
For instance, in the Southern United States and Northern Mexico, where the heat index has reached triple digits, climate change has made the ongoing heat wave about 5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than it would have been otherwise, according to scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
例如，加利福尼亚州劳伦斯·伯克利国家实验室的科学家表示，在美国南部和墨西哥北部，酷热指数已经达到三位数，气候变化使当前热浪的温度比没有气候变化时高出约5华氏度。
The overall warming of the planet is “well within the realm of what scientists had projected would happen” as humans continue to pump vast amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth and the payments company Stripe.
来自伯克利地球组织和支付公司Stripe的气候科学家泽克·豪斯法瑟说，随着人类继续向大气中排放大量吸热的温室气体，地球的总体变暖情况“完全在科学家预测的范围之内”。
On the whole, Earth has warmed roughly 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 19th century and will continue to grow hotter until humans essentially halt all emissions from fossil fuels and stop deforestation.
总体而言，自19世纪以来，地球的温度已经上升了大约2华氏度，而且还将继续升温，直到人类完全停止化石燃料的排放和砍伐森林。
