外刊轻松读 | We've run out of hurricane names. What happens now?

　　外刊轻松读 | We've run out of hurricane names. What happens now?这期的文章选自 National Geographic，和小编一起来看一下吧！

　　BY OLIVER WHANG, PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

　　We've run out of hurricane names. What happens now?

　　AT 11 A.M. on Friday, September 18, Tropical Depression 21 became Tropical Storm Wilfred. When another tropical storm formed near Portugal later that same day, itwas labeled with the first letter of the Greek alphabet: Alpha. When yet anothertempest formed in the afternoon in the western Gulf of Mexico, it was named Beta.

　　tropical depression: 热带低气压

　　was labeled with: 以……标注

　　tempest: 暴风

　　The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June to November, and already the 2020 season has seen the most storms in the shortest amount of time in recorded history. Only twice has the National Hurricane Center (NHC) ever run out of human names for tropical storms and had to turn to its backup: the Greek alphabet. Once was in 2005, when 27 names were given, the last one being Zeta, six letters in.

　　hurricane: (尤指大西洋的)飓风

　　in the shortest amount of time: 在最短的时间内

　　in recorded history: 有史以来

　　the Greek alphabet: 希腊字母

　　six letters in: 这里指飓风起名用到了希腊字母表的第六个字母Zeta
 

　　The tropical cyclone—a generic name for rotating storms that spin up in all of the world’s oceans—graduates from tropical depression to tropical storm when maximum sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour. At that point a name is assigned.

　　tropical cyclone: 热带气旋；热带风暴

　　generic name: 通用名

　　spin up: 旋起

　　graduates: 渐变为

　　a name is assigned 指定名称

　　No ceremonies or rites accompany these moments at NHC headquarters in Miami, Florida, where storms in the North Atlantic are monitored. The name-giving is simply procedural, part of a labeling system that meteorologists have been using for 67 years. “It’s just the natural next step,” says Edward Rappaport, Deputy Director of the NHC who has worked at the organization for over 40 years. “There’s no shouting from the rooftops.”

图片来源网络

　　ceremonies or rites: 两个词都指“仪式”

　　monitored: 监控

　　procedural: 程序化的

　　meteorologist: 气象学家

　　shouting from the rooftops: 公开对外宣布；让所有人都知道

　　But assigning names to potentially lethal storms is important, for several reasons. Calling a storm Eduard or Otto can make it feel all the more immediate, which couldmake a difference in the way people prepare for a potential disaster.

　　lethal: 破坏性极大的，致命的

　　make a difference: 有影响

　　“In general, humans care about other humans, so when we humanize somethinginanimate, it makes us care about the thing more,” says Adam Waytz, a professor at Northwestern University and author of the book The Power of Human. “Naming things can make them more memorable, easier to recall, and certainly it makes things feel more fluent or easy to process. Given that work shows that easily processed information takes on outsized importance in our minds, it is likely that naming things can give them importance as well.”

　　inanimate: 无生命的

　　memorable: 难忘的

　　easier to recall: 更容易被回想起

　　easily processes information: 轻松处理的信息

　　outsized importance: 超重要

　　What’s in a name?

　　At the NHC, in rooms filled with screens, scientists study data from satellites, radars, and reconnaissance aircrafts to determine, among other things, the maximum sustained wind speeds of a tropical cyclone. Speeds are calculated by taking the average of the fastest winds in the storm—33 feet above the water, ingusts closest to the eye—over one minute.

　　satellites: 卫星

　　radars: 雷达

　　reconnaissance aircrafts: 特殊目的的侦察机

　　among other things: 此外

　　maximum sustained wind speeds: 最大持续风速

　　gusts: 阵风

　　As Tropical Storm Beta nears the coast of Texas, threatening strong winds and flooding, its identity is firmly set; “Beta” will stick if the storm grows in size and intensity, turning into a hurricane when maximum sustained winds exceed 74 miles per hour. The name will also stick if the storm dissipates and dies in a couple of hours. Once bestowed, the name won’t be taken away.

　　nears: 靠近

　　grows in size and intensity: 规模和强度增长

　　exceed: 超出

　　stick: 保留

　　dissipates: 消散；消除

　　bestowed: 授予；给予

　　There is a scientific process for choosing tropical storm names, just as there is for determining when to name one. The World Meteorological Organization(WMO) manages 10 groups of names for cyclones around the world that reach a minimum size, each group comprising a handful of lists, most alphabetically ordered and alternated by gender.

　　The World Meteorological Organization: 世界气象组织

　　alphabetically ordered: 按字母顺序排列

　　alternate: 交替

　　The groups of names are created by regional meteorological organizations; they’re short and easy to pronounce, according to the WMO. The Central North Pacific names are primarily Hawaiian, and are organized into four lists, each with 12 names. For example, List 1 starts: Akoni, Ema, Hone, Ion. List 2 begins: Aka, Ekeke, Hene, Iolana.

　　The Northern Indian Ocean names are primarily South Asian. The North Atlantic group, which is the area the NHC observes, has six lists of 21 names, derived fromEnglish, Spanish, or French, which are used in consecutive years and repeated every six years. So Barry—the name of a hurricane in 2019—will be used again to name the second North Atlantic tropical storm of 2025. No matter how far through the Greek alphabet we get this year, next year the NHC will start with the next list of human names.

　　observes: 观察；观测

　　derived from: 来源于

　　in consecutive years: 连续多年

　　There is no real choice for meteorologists when it comes to naming tropical storms—they simply have a catalog of recycled names that they move through as new storms pop up each year: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, and so on.

　　recycled names: 循环/重复使用的名字

　　pop up: 出现

　　Although the modern process of naming tropical storms is scientific, the origin of the practice was disorganized and emotional. The first recorded storm names were assigned after incredibly devastating hurricanes, like Hurricane Santa Ana, whichstruck Puerto Rico on Saint Anne’s Day, July 26, 1825, killing hundreds. Hurricane San Felipe landed in Puerto Rico on Saint Philip’s Day, September 13, 1876; more than 20 people perished.

　　disorganized: 混乱的；散乱的

　　incredibly devastating: 毁灭性的

　　struck: (灾难)袭击

　　landed: 登录

　　perish: 死亡 (usually because of an illness or something that happens suddenly)

　　This trend of commemoration continued through the years, and then took a turn during World War II when U.S. Navy and Air Force meteorologists started namingtropical cyclones after girlfriends, wives, or love interests. Around the same time, though, as atmospheric measuring tools advanced and more cyclones could be identified, meteorologists discovered that they needed to name the storms sooner rather than later, to keep them straight. In 1945, the National Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) decided to follow the military’s example, naming Atlantic tropical storms after women, but for the more utilitarian reason of clear communication and documentation. That continued until 1979 when, under pressure from prominent feminists, they switched to both male and female names.

　　commemoration: 纪念

　　name ... after ... 以……命名

　　atmospheric measuring tools: 大气测量工具

　　continued through the years: 持续多年

　　for the more utilitarian reason: 出于更实用的原因

　　prominent feminists: 知名的女权主义者

　　switched to: 转成；切换到

　　Today there is no personal connection between meteorologists and hurricane names, Rappaport says. The nomenclature exists for two main reasons, both practical: record keeping and public awareness. “Giving it a name does call a greater attention to the system than it would have had otherwise,” he says.

　　nomenclature: (尤指某学科的)命名(法)

　　pactical: 实用的；实际的

　　Retiring a name

　　In the North Atlantic, as well as in the majority of other regions, the only time thealternating lists of names are revised is when a particularly destructive storm makes landfall and leaves a lasting mark on the public consciousness. Examples include Katrina in 2005 and Sandy in 2012. Once a storm reaches a certain level of infamy, the WMO retires the name. Then, at the annual meeting of the Tropical Cyclone Committees, another name—same gender, same initial letter, same country of origin—is decided on to replace it. Katia replaced Katrina. Sara replaced Sandy.

　　alternating lists: 备用名单；候补名单

　　makes landfall: (飓风)登录

　　infamy: 恶名；臭名昭著；骂名

　　retires the name: 停用名字

　　initial letter: 首字母

　　country of origin: 原产国

　　Even in meetings to decide new names, meteorologists maintain a degree of scientific detachment from what they’re doing. Rappaport says that one of the WMO’s rules for replacing retired names is that they don’t use the names of close family members or friends, or even staff members, to avoid a kind of inappropriatehurricane-scientist relationship. “It’s just taken from a generic list of names of a particular letter,” he says.

　　detachment: 脱离；客观

　　inappropriate: 不适宜的；不恰当的

　　Back in 2005, five names were retired—including Katrina—which was a record. And then this year, as Tropical Storm Alpha’s maximum average winds tipped over 39 miles per hour, shortly followed by Beta, marking the 23rd storm of the 2020 season, we’ve reached a point where new hurricanes will no longer remind us of a person or a face, but of a mathematical equation.

　　tipped over: 超过

　　marking: 标记

　　reached a point where: 达到了……的一个点

　　mathematical equation: 数学公式