评论
打印
If you have flown on an airplane before, you might have experienced turbulence.
如果你以前坐过飞机，你可能经历过湍流。
Turbulence is a sudden movement of air.
湍流是一种突然的空气运动。
It can move the plane around and force sudden changes in height.
它可以移动飞机，并迫使高度突然发生变化。
Flying through mild turbulence feels like driving a car over big bumps or holes in the road.
在轻微气流中飞行的感觉就像驾驶汽车驶过路面上的大颠簸或大坑。
But passengers on a Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday experienced severe turbulence.
但周二搭乘新加坡航空公司航班的乘客遇到了严重的湍流。
Several people were injured and one person, a 73-year-old British man, died.
多人受伤，一名73岁的英国男子死亡。
The exact cause of the man's death is still unclear.
这名男子的确切死因尚不清楚。
While turbulence-related deaths are rare, injuries have increased over the years.
虽然与湍流相关的死亡很少见，但多年来受伤人数有所增加。
Some weather and aviation experts have noted increasing reports of turbulence.
一些天气和航空专家注意到，有关湍流的报道越来越多。
They say climate change may be behind the increase.
他们说，气候变化可能是这一增长背后的原因。
Turbulence is unstable air that moves unpredictably.
湍流是一种不稳定的空气，其运动不可预测。
Most people link it with heavy storms.
大多数人将其与暴风雨联系在一起。
But the most dangerous kind is clear-air turbulence.
但最危险的是晴空湍流。
This often happens with no warning signs in the sky ahead.
这种情况经常发生，前方的天空中没有任何警告信号。
Clear-air turbulence happens most often in or near rivers of air called jet streams.
晴空湍流最常发生在称为急流的空气河流中或附近。
The cause is something called wind shear.
造成这种现象的原因是一种叫做风切变的东西。
That is when two huge air masses near each other move at different speeds.
风切变发生在两个相互靠近的巨大气团以不同的速度移动的时候。
If the difference in speed is big enough, it breaks into circular movements.
如果速度的差异足够大，它就会分解成圆周运动。
Thomas Guinn is an aviation science expert at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
托马斯·吉恩是佛罗里达州代托纳海滩恩布里-里德尔航空大学的航空科学专家。
He said, "When you get strong wind shear near the jet stream, it can cause the air to overflow.
他谈到：“当急流附近有强烈的风切变时，可能会导致空气溢出。
And that creates these chaotic motions in the air."
这就造成了空气中的混乱运动。”
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that more than one-third of all airline incidents in the U.S. from 2009 to 2018 were related to turbulence.
美国国家运输安全委员会(NTSB)报告称，2009年至2018年美国所有航空事故中，超过三分之一与湍流有关。
Most of them resulted in one or more serious injuries to passengers, but no damage to the plane.
大多数事故造成一名或多名乘客重伤，但没有造成飞机损坏。
Between 2009 and 2022, the NTSB said 163 people were injured seriously enough during turbulence events to require hospital treatment for at least two days.
NTSB表示，在2009年至2022年期间，163人在湍流事件中受伤严重，需要住院治疗至少两天。
Most of those injured were flight attendants.
大多数伤者是空乘人员。
They are especially at risk because they are more likely to be out of their seats during a flight.
他们面临的风险尤其大，因为他们在飞行中更有可能离开座位。
Singapore Airlines said its plane dropped about 1,800 meters in about three minutes last Tuesday, after hitting severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean.
新加坡航空公司表示，该公司的飞机上周二在印度洋上空遭遇强烈湍流后，在大约三分钟内下降了约1800米。
In addition to the one death, six or seven passengers were severely injured.
除了一人死亡外，还有六七名乘客受重伤。
Several others suffered less serious injuries.
其他几人伤势较轻。
Larry Cornman is a scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.
拉里·康曼是美国国家大气研究中心的科学家。
He has studied turbulence for many years.
他研究湍流已有多年。
He said, "It's not uncommon to have turbulence encounters that cause minor injuries up to, say, a broken bone,...
他表示：“遇到湍流，造成轻伤，比如骨折，这并不少见。
But fatalities are very, very rare — especially for large transport aircraft."
但死亡事件非常、非常罕见--尤其是对大型运输机来说.”
Stuart Fox is with the International Air Transport Association.
斯图尔特·福克斯在国际航空运输协会工作。
He said, until Tuesday, it had been 27 years since a passenger died following clear-air turbulence on a major airline.
他表示，直到本周二，已经有 27 年没有乘客在大型航空公司的晴空乱流中丧生了。
Pilots use several methods to avoid turbulence, including using weather radar images.
飞行员使用几种方法来避免湍流，包括使用天气雷达图像。
Sometimes they can simply see and fly around the storms.
有时，他们可以简单地看到风暴并在风暴中飞行。
But clear-air turbulence can happen unexpectedly.
但晴空湍流可能会出乎意料地发生。
Doug Moss is a former airline pilot and safety expert.
道格·莫斯曾是一名航空公司飞行员和安全专家。
He said air traffic controllers will warn pilots after another plane runs into clear-air turbulence.
他说，在另一架飞机遇到晴空湍流后，空中交通管制员将向飞行员发出警告。
Many pilots also look at the upper-level jet streams along their flight path for signs of wind shear.
许多飞行员还会观察飞行路线上的高空急流，以寻找风切变的迹象。
They can plan to move above, below, or around those areas, he added.
他们可以计划在这些区域上方、下方或周围移动，他补充道。
Does climate change lead to more turbulence?
气候变化会导致更多的动荡吗？
Some scientists note that reports of turbulence encounters are on the rise.
一些科学家指出，遇到湍流的报告正在上升。
There are several possible explanations for that.
对此有几种可能的解释。
But several researchers have pointed to climate change.
但一些研究人员指出了气候变化。
Guinn, of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, explained that some experts predict climate change could change the jet stream and increase the wind shear.
安布里-里德尔航空大学的吉恩解释说，一些专家预测，气候变化可能会改变急流，增加风切变。
This would drive up turbulence in the air.
这会增加空气中的湍流。
Paul Williams is a professor of atmospheric science at Britain's University of Reading.
保罗·威廉姆斯是英国雷丁大学的大气科学教授。
In a statement Tuesday, he said there was "strong evidence that turbulence is increasing because of climate change."
在周二的一份声明中，他说，“有强有力的证据表明，由于气候变化，湍流正在增加。”
Williams said his research team recently discovered that severe clear-air turbulence in the North Atlantic has increased by 55 percent since 1979.
威廉姆斯说，他的研究小组最近发现，自1979年以来，北大西洋严重的晴空湍流增加了55%。
The team estimated that severe turbulence in the jet streams could double or triple in the coming years under current conditions.
该团队估计，在目前的条件下，在未来几年内，喷流中的严重湍流可能会增加一倍或三倍。
Other experts note that an increase in air travel could be the reason for the increase in turbulence encounters.
其他专家指出，航空旅行的增加可能是湍流数量增加的原因。
Turbulence can be hard to predict.
湍流可能很难预测。
But experts note that the first line of defense in the air is keeping seat belts fastened whenever possible.
但专家指出，空中的第一道防线是尽可能系好安全带。
"That's just a really quick fix to prevent injury."
“这是一个防止受伤的非常快速的解决办法。”
I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·拉塞尔。
And I'm Ashley Thompson.
我是阿什利·汤普森。
