有些地方已經(jīng)變得太熱太潮濕，人類無法生存

有些地方已經(jīng)變得太熱太潮濕，人類無法生存

A combination of heat and humidity so extreme that it’s unendurable isn’t just a problem for the future — those conditions are already here, a new study finds. Off-the-chart readings that were previously thought to be nearly nonexistent on the planet today have popped up around the globe, and unyielding temperatures are becoming more common.

一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，高溫和濕度如此極端的結(jié)合，以至讓人無法忍受，這不僅是未來的問題——這些條件已經(jīng)存在。以前認(rèn)為地球上幾乎不存在的星表外讀數(shù)，如今已經(jīng)在全球范圍內(nèi)出現(xiàn)，不穩(wěn)定的溫度正變得越來越普遍。

Extreme conditions reaching roughly 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the heat-index scale — a measurement of both heat and humidity that’s often referred to as what the temperature “feels like” — doubled between 1979 and 2017, the study found. Humidity and heat are a particularly deadly combination, since humidity messes with the body’s ability to cool itself off by sweating. The findings imply that harsh conditions that scientists foresaw as an impending result of climate change are becoming reality sooner than expected.

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在1979年至2017年間，極端溫度在熱指數(shù)尺度上達到約115華氏度(通常被稱為溫度“感覺”的熱量和濕度測量值)翻了一番。濕度和熱量是一種特別致命的結(jié)合，因為濕度會干擾人體通過出汗來降溫的能力。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)意味著，科學(xué)家們預(yù)見到的氣候變化即將導(dǎo)致的惡劣環(huán)境正在比預(yù)期的要早得多。

“We may be closer to a real tipping point on this than we think,” Radley Horton, co-author of the new study published today in the journal Science Advances, said in a statement. His previous research had projected that the world wouldn’t experience heat and humidity beyond human tolerance for decades.

今天發(fā)表在《科學(xué)進展》雜志上的這項新研究的共同作者雷德利·霍頓在一份聲明中說：“我們可能比想象中更接近一個真正的臨界點。”。他之前的研究預(yù)測，幾十年內(nèi)，世界不會經(jīng)歷人類無法忍受的高溫和潮濕。