世界上十大罕見的自然現象(上)

It's easy to get sick of having the same weather day after day, but drastic changes can really shake people up. These are some of the rarest natural phenomena out there — some are beautiful, others are deadly, and they all leave people in awe.

日復一日相似的天氣很容易讓人厭倦，但劇烈的天氣變化着實會讓人大吃一驚。這裏列出的是一些最爲罕見的自然現象——其中一些美輪美奐，還有一些可怕致命，都能讓人心生敬畏。

i-colored Snow

10.多彩的雪

On a freezing cold morning in 2010, citizens of Stavropol, Russia woke up to multi-colored snow lining their streets. People were stunned when they saw light-purple and brown snow piled up. Others who heard the story may have thought it was a hoax, but scientists investigating the matter confirmed that there was a snowfall consisting of a multitude of colors.

在2010年一個寒冷刺骨的清晨，俄羅斯斯塔夫羅波爾的居民醒來看到街道上鋪滿了彩色的雪。當人們看到堆積起來的淡紫色和棕色的雪時，感到十分驚奇。一些人聽說了這個故事，或許會覺得這是一個惡作劇，但科學家經過調查證實，的確降下了一場五顏六色的雪。

It wasn't toxic, but the experts warned that it wouldn't be wise to ingest any of the snow as it was most likely contaminated by dust all the way from Africa. The dust reached dizzying heights in the upper atmosphere where it mingled in with normal snow clouds. This interaction is what caused the beautifully colored snow to fall. That wasn't the first time it happened — in 1912, black snow fell over Alaska and Canada. The black color was thanks to volcanic ash and rocks that also mingled with snow clouds.

這些雪無毒，但專家警告不要吞嚥這樣的雪，因爲它很有可能由非洲一路而來，包含了很多灰塵。這些灰塵進入上層大氣中，在令人眩暈的高空匯合進自然的雪成雲中。這種結合使一場美麗的彩色雪從天而降。這種現象並非第一次出現——在1912年，美國阿拉斯加州和加拿大都曾下過黑雪。那是因爲雪成雲中混合了火山灰和岩石，從而導致降雪呈現出黑色。

cho

cho

In 2012, a massive and violent storm system made up of several thunderstorms and strong winds left a trail of destruction across the Midwest and mid-Atlantic. This terrifying type of storm is called a derecho, and in this case the storm was upgraded to a "super derecho" due to its severity.

2012年，由雷暴與強風組成的一個巨大而猛烈的暴雨系統給大西洋中部和美國中西部地區帶來一系列破壞。這場可怕的暴風雨名爲Derecho，在本次事件中，這場暴風雨由於其嚴重程度而升級爲"超級Derecho"。

The main cause of the super-storm was the intense heat experienced over the area combined with a ripple in the jet stream. The state of Virginia experienced a massive power outage — cables snapped like twigs, trucks tumbled right over like they were made of cardboard and 13 people were killed. Derechos are very rare across the mid-Atlantic, only occurring every four years or so. Another extremely destructive derecho occurred in the United States in 2009. The storm system traveled 1000 miles in one day, leaving several dead and even more injured. A terrifying 45 tornadoes hit the ground during this storm.

這場超級暴風雨的主要成因是該地區遭受的酷熱再加上急流擾動。弗吉尼亞州出現大規模的停電——電纜被刮斷，樹枝、卡車等好似紙片製作而成，頃刻之間就被掀翻，13人喪命。Derecho很少會穿過大西洋中部，大約每四年纔會發生一次。2009年，另一場極具破壞性的Derecho襲擊了美國。暴風雨系統在一天之內橫掃1000英里，導致幾人死亡多人受傷。在這場暴風雨期間，還有一場可怕的45級龍捲風襲擊了地面。

dersnow

8.冬雪驚雷

Residents of the east coast of the United States were experiencing an ordinary snow storm in 2011 when they suddenly witnessed flashes of lightning and streaks of thunder intermingled with the snow. Thundersnow was happening right in front of their eyes.

2011年，美國東海岸正經歷着一場常見的暴風雪，就在這時，居民目睹了夾雜着大雪的閃電與驚雷。冬雪驚雷就發生在他們眼前。

Thundersnow mimics the inner workings of a normal thunderstorm by forming through the upward movement of humid air. It's the combination of lower humid air and higher cooler air that cause lightning and thunderstorms. This is exactly why thundersnow is so rare, seeing as how warm lower ground temperatures aren't usually present while it's snowing. Weather experts noted that the occurrence of thundersnow likely means more heavy snowfalls. Researchers have found that there's an over 80 percent chance that a minimum of six-inch deep snow will fall within a radius of seventy miles of the lighting flash taking place during a snowstorm.

冬雪驚雷形成的內部機制與普通的雷暴相似，都是溼潤空氣上升而成。低空的溼氣遭遇高空冷空氣，兩者結合導致了閃電與雷暴。降雪期間，近地面的氣溫通常不會太高，正因如此，冬雪驚雷才如此罕見。氣象專家解釋，冬雪驚雷的發生可能意味着更大的降雪。研究者已經發現，在一場暴風雪中，半徑70英里的閃電將帶來至少六英尺厚的積雪，這種現象的發生概率在80%以上。

rful Solar Storm

7.五彩繽紛的太陽風暴

We all know the northern lights, which usually appear as blue and green swirls in the sky. However, sometimes solar storms are so intense that they cause a kaleidoscope of colors to appear and can also be seen in regions where people have never witnessed them before. In 2012, one of these intense solar storms created a particularly beautiful aurora over Crater Lake in Oregon. It was believed by scientists that two clouds of glowing particles were flung toward Earth by sunspots bigger than our planet. The intensity of the auroras caused them to be seen as far as Maryland and Wisconsin, and they also put on a beautiful show in Canada on their way down from the Arctic.

我們都知道北極光，通常在天空中呈現藍色和綠色的漩渦。但有時候，太陽風暴異常猛烈，會出現萬花筒般五顏六色的北極光，而且還會出現在一些之前從未有過此現象的地方，讓當地人一睹爲快。2012年，一場猛烈的太陽風暴給美國俄勒岡州的火山湖帶來了極其美麗的北極光。科學家認爲，比我們的星球大得多的太陽黑子攜兩朵帶有發光粒子的雲猛衝向地球。北極光的強度有限，最遠只能在馬里蘭州和威斯康辛州看得見，在它們前往北極降落之前也會爲加拿大帶來一場美麗的表演。

Tornadoes

6.雙龍捲風

Tornadoes occur every year around the world, but twin tornadoes only occur every ten to twenty years. When they do show up, they cause massive destruction. The town of Pilger in Nebraska has first-hand experience of the sheer damage these tornadoes can inflict in a matter of minutes. The twin tornado phenomenon hit the town in 2014, resulting in the death of a child and the injury of nineteen others.

每年世界各地都會發生龍捲風，但雙龍捲風要十到二十年纔會出現一次。它的出現往往會對當地造成大規模的破壞。美國內布拉斯加州的皮爾傑鎮親身體驗了這種龍捲風在幾分鐘之內所帶來的十足破壞。2014年雙龍捲風襲擊了這個城鎮，造成一名兒童死亡，其他十九人受傷。

There's some disagreement on just how twin tornadoes are formed. Some experts believe that the occlusion process is conducive to the forming of these twisters. Occlusion takes place when a single tornado is wrapped with cold damp air. When this "wrapped" tornado starts to weaken it can cause a second tornado to spawn off itself. This usually happens when there's a lot of energy present in the original storm.

關於雙龍捲風的成因目前還存在爭議。一些專家認爲錮囚鋒的過程有助於這些旋風的形成。當一個龍捲風被冷溼氣流纏繞的時候就會形成錮囚鋒。當這種"被包裹的"龍捲風力量開始削弱的時候，它會從自身產生出第二個龍捲風。這種現象往往出現於原始風暴中有大量能量的情況下。另外一些專家認爲多渦旋風暴系統或者分離的超級單體導致了雙龍捲風。不管是什麼原因，專家們都認爲雙龍捲風非常可怕，在其發生時需要躲避進遮蔽物中。

翻譯：趙倩 來源：前十網