冷戰(zhàn)核試驗改變了數(shù)千英里外的降雨量

科學家說，冷戰(zhàn)核試驗改變了數(shù)千英里外的降雨量

Nuclear tests conducted during the Cold War changed rainfall thousands of miles away, according to new research.

最新研究顯示，冷戰(zhàn)期間進行的核試驗改變了數(shù)千英里外的降雨量。

Scientists in the U.K. have studied how the electric charge released by radiation from the detonations in the 1950s and 1960s affected rainclouds..

英國科學家研究了20世紀50年代和60年代爆炸產(chǎn)生的輻射所釋放的電荷是如何影響雨云的。

The study, which was published in Physical Review Letters, used records from 1962 to 1964 compiled by a research station in Scotland. Scientists studied days with high and low radioactively generated charge and found that clouds were visibly thicker. They also discovered that there was, on average, 24 percent more rain on the days with more radioactivity.

這項研究發(fā)表在《物理評論快報》(Physical Review Letters)上，使用了蘇格蘭一個研究站在1962年至1964年間匯編的記錄。科學家研究了高放射性和低放射性產(chǎn)生電荷的天數(shù)，發(fā)現(xiàn)云層明顯較厚。他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在放射性更強的日子里，平均降雨量增加了24%。

“By studying the radioactivity released from Cold War weapons tests, scientists at the time learnt about atmospheric circulation patterns,” said Prof. Giles Harrison of the U.K.’s University of Reading and the study’s lead author, in a statement. “We have now reused this data to examine the effect on rainfall.”

“通過研究冷戰(zhàn)武器試驗釋放的放射性物質(zhì)，當時的科學家了解了大氣環(huán)流模式，”英國的賈爾斯·哈里森教授說該研究報告的第一作者在一份聲明中說，這是一項非常重要的研究。“我們現(xiàn)在重新利用這些數(shù)據(jù)來研究對降雨的影響。”

The scientists noted that, although the tests were carried out in remote locations, such as the Nevada Desert and in the Pacific and Arctic islands, radioactive pollution spread widely throughout the planet’s atmosphere. “Radioactivity ionises the air, releasing electric charge,” they explained, in the statement.

科學家們指出，盡管試驗是在內(nèi)華達州沙漠、太平洋和北極島嶼等偏遠地區(qū)進行的，但放射性污染在地球大氣中廣泛傳播。“放射性使空氣電離，釋放電荷，”他們在聲明中解釋道。

Experts noted that electric charge modifies how water droplets in clouds collide and combine. This potentially affects the size of droplets and influences rainfall but is difficult to observe in the atmosphere.

專家指出，電荷改變了云中水滴碰撞和結(jié)合的方式。這可能會影響水滴的大小并影響降雨量，但在大氣中很難觀測到。

Experts from the universities of Reading, Bristol and Bath in the U.K. discovered the rainfall patterns by studying records from weather stations in London and at Lerwick in Shetland Isles north of Scotland.

英國布里斯托爾和巴斯大學的專家，通過研究倫敦州的氣象站和蘇格蘭北部設(shè)得蘭群島的勒威克的記錄，發(fā)現(xiàn)了降雨模式。

In a separate project, scientists recently conducted extensive mapping of the seafloor at Bikini Atoll, the remote Pacific Ocean testing site for atomic bombs between 1946 and 1954.

在另一個項目中，科學家最近對比基尼環(huán)礁的海底進行了廣泛的測繪，比基尼環(huán)礁是1946至1954年間遙遠的太平洋原子彈試驗場。

The research was revealed last year at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

這項研究是去年在舊金山舉行的美國地球物理聯(lián)合會秋季會議上披露的。