又中又英 | A double whammy | 褚简宁

Nature's fury strikes with a double whammy. It is unpredictable. And it is unstoppable. Nature's fury refers to the extreme, destructive, and uncontrollable power of violent natural events. A double whammy means two negative things happening at the same time. Nature's fury strikes with a double whammy because it is unstoppable and unpredictable. Earthquakes, tornadoes, and tsunamis are examples of Nature's fury. No one predicted the 2004 undersea earthquake near the Indonesia coast which caused history's worst tsunami that swept rapidly across the Indian Ocean killing about 228, 000 people in fourteen countries.

Scientists can now issue warnings about a tsunami and its likely path once it has been formed. Typhoons are unstoppable, but meteorologists can at least predict their path. No one could have predicted or stopped last week's deadly mudslides and flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border which have already killed hundreds with many more missing. The US Geological Survey clarified that the disaster was caused by a glacial collapse, not an earthquake as some other experts believed. The powerful impact of the collapsed glacier hitting the valley’s bottom caused a 5.2 magnitude earthquake.

A glacier is a huge mass of ice. A glacial collapse is when a glacier or part of it disintegrates. Scientists do not yet know what caused the glacial collapse, but some believe global warming may have caused it. Experts have long warned that the continued use of fossil fuels is warming our planet. Global warming is thawing the permafrost of the Himalayas. Permafrost is a mixture of soil and rocks that have been frozen for thousands of years. Its thawing destabilizes the glacier foundations, causing glacial collapse.

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　　我们受着大自然之怒（Nature's fury）的双重打击（double whammy）。那是无可预测，也是无法阻止的。Nature's fury是指极端、具破坏性及威力无法控制的剧烈大自然事件。A double whammy 就是两样不好的事同时发生，祸不单行。我们遭受大自然之怒（Nature's fury）的双重打击（double whammy），因为它是无法被制止又难以预料得到。地震、龙卷风和海啸都是大自然之怒（Nature's fury）的例子。没有人会预料得到，2004年在印尼海岸附近的海床地震，会引发史上最恶劣的海啸，席卷印度洋，造成沿岸14个国家约22.8万人丧生。

　　海啸一旦形成，科学家现在可以就海啸及其可能的路线发出警号。台风也是无法制止的，但气象学家至少可以预估它的路径。没有人可以预测或阻止上星期于尼泊尔与西藏边境的致命泥石流与暴洪，造成数以百计的人丧生，还有更多人失踪。美国地质调查局澄清，灾难是冰川崩塌（glacial collapse）而非其他专家本来认为的地震所引致。崩塌的冰川（glacier）击落山谷底所带来的威力，导致5.2级地震。

　　A glacier是一大片冰川；a glacial collapse就是一片冰川（glacier）或其中一部分解体。科学家还未知道是甚么引发冰川崩塌（glacial collapse），但一些科学家则认为或许是全球暖化所导致的。专家们长久以来都有警告，持续使用化石燃料，正在推高我们这个地球的气温。全球暖化正在融化喜马拉雅山的永久冻土（permafrost）。Permafrost是泥土与岩石的混合，已被冻结数以千年。它的融化令冰川底层变得不稳定，以至带来冰川崩塌（glacial collapse）。

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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻