首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
For more than a decade, scientists have been trying to determine whether climate change is linked to intense storms, such as 200
For more than a decade, scientists have been trying to determine whether climate change is linked to intense storms, such as 200
admin
2012-06-02
38
问题
For more than a decade, scientists have been trying to determine whether climate change is linked to intense storms, such as 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Meteorologist Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, and colleagues attacked the question by turning to the past. They looked through drill cores from coastal waters for signs that sediments had been disturbed by major storms. Eight sites along the U. S. East Coast and Puerto Rico provided a reliable record of the number of significant hurricanes going back about 1500 years. Other climate data and models added clues to water temperatures and hurricane intensity.
As the researchers report tomorrow in Nature, they found strong evidence that Atlantic hurricane activity peaked about 1000 years ago, producing up to 15 hurricanes a year on average — a level matched in recent times only over the past decade and a half. At the time, according to estimates constructed from other geologic data, Atlantic water temperatures were relatively warm, "though not as warm as today," Mann says. And Pacific temperatures were relatively cool, thanks to La Nina events. Warmer Atlantic waters whip up more storms, but warmer Pacific temperatures tend to create stronger jet streams that break up those storms. So the twin conditions a millennium ago produced kind of a "Perfect Storm" for hurricanes, he explains.
Of particular interest, the sediments reveal a close link between warmer water and the number of hurricanes during the past 150 years or so. Dropping temperatures produced seven or eight hurricanes a year, while a rising thermometer, such as in the earlier part of this decade, pushed the total to 15. "All other things being equal, " Mann says, "this suggests that we are indeed likely to see not only stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic but perhaps more of them" in the near future.
Meteorologist James Eisner of Florida State University in Tallahassee agrees with the findings, but adds a caveat. The historical data do show that a link between warmer ocean temperatures and higher hurricane frequencies has existed for at least 1500 years, he says. However, there’s a high degree of uncertainty in the data. That and the fact that the physics explaining the link haven’t yet been established, Eisner explains, "indicate this is not the ’ smoking gun’ we’ve been looking for that would allow us to confidently project what will happen as the oceans continue to warm. "
What does the expression "smoking gun" (Line 5, Para. 4) most probably mean?
选项
A、A problem-solving approach.
B、A temperature watchdog.
C、A definite evidence.
D、A theoretic breakthrough.
答案
C
解析
语义理解题。最后一段提到海洋温度升高与飓风频率之间的关联性存在不确定性,而且相关的物理学框架还没有构建。这就说明,最后一句的代词this指代的是这些研究结果。后面又提到要依此来预测,所以Elsner是让这些结果作为预测依据的,因此选项[C]正确。文中的研究结果显然不是什么理论上的重大突破,排除[D]“理论突破”。选项[A]“解决问题的途径”,[B]“温度监视器”均与原文意思不符。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/5gp4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Inthefollowingtext,somesentenceshavebeenremoved.ForQuestions41-45,choosethemostsuitableonefromthelist(A、B、C、
Withwhattopicisthepassageprimarilyconcerned?WhichofthefollowingisNOTmentionedinthepassageasafunctionofele
Inthefirstparagraph,theauthormentionsMcKendrickandPlumbmostprobablyinorderto_______.Accordingtothepassage,a
Accordingtothepassage,whichofthefollowingeighteenth-centurydevelopmentshadastrongimpactonsilversmiths?According
Thekidswhogrewupon"StarTrek"can’tfind(1)_____wayaroundEarth.Americanscan(2)_____directtoEngland,butonly
Inthefollowingtext,somesentenceshavebeenremoved.ForQuestions41-45,choosethemostsuitableonefromthelist(A、B、C、
RickeattractsgreatattentionbecauseWhydoestheauthorsay"Rickedoesn’thavealotoftime"?
Whatdoesthewriteractuallysayaboutpronouncingforeignlanguages?Thevaluethestudentputsoncorrectspeechhabitsdepe
EuthanasiahasbeenatopicofcontroversyinEuropesinceatleast1936.@Onanaverageofsixtimesaday,adoctorinHolland
EuthanasiahasbeenatopicofcontroversyinEuropesinceatleast1936.@Onanaverageofsixtimesaday,adoctorinHolland
随机试题
美国职业技术教育的机构多样,不包括()
某医务室测定10名工人在工前、工中及工后4小时的尿氟浓度(μmol/L),结果见下表:工前、工中、工后的X各不相同,这是
股东为防止控制权稀释,往往希望公司提高股利支付率。()
下列各项中,不属于附条件的法律行为的有()。
企业在年度中间终止经营活动的,应当自实际经营终止之日起60日内,向税务机关办理当期企业所得税汇算清缴。()
某公司“盈余公积”科目的年初余额为2000万元,本期提取法定盈余公积为1850万元,任意盈余公积为900万元,用盈余公积转增资本1000万元。该公司“盈余公积”科目的年末余额为()万元。
()就是根据企业组织的战略要求而精心设计的指标体系。
有一个吉普赛的姑娘,她有44张面额为1元的钞票,她身上有10只口袋。如果把这44张钞票分装在10个口袋里,那么:
已知数据文件IN82.DAT中存有300个4位数,并已调用函数readDat()把这些数存入数组a中,请编制一函数isValue(),其功能是:求出这些4位数是素数的个数cnt,再求出所有满足此条件的4位数的平均值pjz1,以及所有不满足此条件的4位数的平
Oneinsix.Believeitornot,that’sthenumberofAmericanswhostrugglewithhunger.Tomaketomorrowalittlebetter,Feedi
最新回复
(
0
)