The high-tech race to improve weather forecasting (Part1)

這篇文章有點(diǎn)長,我把它分成了考研閱讀的長度(600-700words)
MATTEO DELL’ACQUA?has to shout to make himself heard. Engine Room Number Five at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ data centre in Bologna houses(contain 有) a series of motors, each turning a three-tonne flywheel. Should the electricity cut out, the flywheels—and those in four other rooms elsewhere in the building—have enough momentum to keep the?ECMWF’s newest supercomputer running until the back-up diesel generators fire up.
“Should the electricity cut out”中的 “should”是if條件句省略if的倒裝形式。這句話還原回去是這樣的:“if the electricity should cut out, the flywheels have enough momentum?”。在這里,“should”的意思是“可能,如果”。例如:“If I should win the lottery, I would travel around the world.”(如果我中了彩票,我會(huì)環(huán)游世界。)這句話可以寫成“Should I win the lottery, I would travel around the world.”。
If引導(dǎo)的條件從句除了should可以倒裝之外,還有were和had。例如:
①Had he studied harder, he would have passed the exam.(如果他學(xué)習(xí)更努力,他就會(huì)通過考試。)
②Were it not for your help, I would have failed.(如果不是因?yàn)槟愕膸椭?,我就?huì)失敗。)
Those generators have fuel for three days. A longer blackout would spell(mean意味著) disaster. Weather shapes(determines決定) military campaigns and crop harvests, sports matches and supply chains. Losing access to the world’s most reliable weather forecast would drastically reduce the prescience and preparedness of more than 35 countries,?NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization北大西洋公約組織), at least one space agency and a great many research institutions and businesses. The operation(運(yùn)算) must run constantly, says Mr Dell’Acqua, who is in charge of the whole affair. “It’s really critical.”
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Built inside a former tobacco factory, the Bologna data centre is a nerve centre(神經(jīng)中樞) of?ECMWF’s operations. Every day, 800m observations(觀察數(shù)據(jù)) pour in from satellites, ocean buoys(浮標(biāo)), ground weather stations, balloons and aircraft. Besides preparations for a power cut, there are contingency plans for floods and fires. Water from two external towers is circulated constantly, keeping the electronics cool.
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Outside, though, cooling is in short supply. For the past two weeks much of Europe has been gripped by a punishing heatwave. Bologna was one of 23 Italian cities put on “red alert”. Several countries broke temperature records; fires have burned across Greece and the Canary Islands. Large swathes(大片區(qū)域) of?America and Asia were also beset(困擾) by sweltering(悶熱的) heat. July 6th saw the highest average global air temperature ever recorded on Earth, according to estimates published by the University of Maine. Elsewhere, the weather brought a different kind of misery. Torrential rain(暴雨) in South Korea, India and on America’s east coast killed scores(a large number很多人). Two days after?The Economist’s visit to Bologna, hailstones the size of tennis balls rained down on the nearby city of Milan.
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Climate scientists reckon the heatwaves were made far more likely by climate change.?Weather forecasts gave countries advance warning, a job that will become even more important as the planet warms further. Governments are investing in bigger and better forecasting models. They are being joined by private firms producing smaller-scale, specialised forecasts for businesses—and by tech firms betting that?AI?can revolutionise the field.
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Modern weather forecasting owes its existence to the advent of digital computers in the 1960s and 1970s. It has improved steadily ever since (see chart). The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), an arm of the United Nations, reckons that a five-day forecast today is about as accurate as a two-day forecast was a quarter of a century ago.
as accurate as a two-day forecast was?是as引導(dǎo)的從句,之前已經(jīng)講過了。