VOA慢速英语:Experts Work to Develop Better Tools to Predict Severe Weather

America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is celebrating the one year anniversary of its Weather-Ready Nation project. Weather experts from across the United States have been working to improve the way the country reacts to extreme weather. They say scientific progress has made weather forecasts, or predictions, better than ever. But, they say the cost of severe weather on life and property is still too high.
美国国家海洋和大气管理局正庆祝其Weather-Ready Nation项目一周年。来自美国各地的气象专家一直在努力提高美国应对极端天气的手段。他们说，科学进步已经使得气象预报比以往任何时期都好。但是，他们说，恶劣天气造成的生命和财产代价仍然过高。

NOAA says a new generation of equipment has already made its global numerical weather prediction system nearly three times faster in the past seven months. This is expected to improve NOAA’s forecast models.
NOAA称，在过去的7个月内，新一代设备已经使得其全球数值天气预报系统快了近3倍。预计这将提高NOAA的预测模型。

Scientists and weather experts have launched a similar effort in the Philippines. It is called Project NOAH -- the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards.
在菲律宾，科学家和气象专家也展开了类似的尝试。这就是所谓的NOAH项目，即全国灾害评估项目。

Mahar Lagmay is the head of Project NOAH. He says his country needs high-resolution imaging to predict when and where natural disasters will strike.
Mahar Lagmay是NOAH项目的负责人。他说，他的国家需要高分辨率成像技术来预测自然灾害会发生在何时何地。

“To be able to construct hazard maps you need very high resolution topography.  To do the simulations of floods you do need high resolution topography.”
“为了能够建造灾害地图，需要有非常高分辨率的地形图。进行洪水模拟也需要高分辨率的地形图。”

He also says these images will be used to create smaller area maps, which will shape how people react to natural disasters.
他还表示，这些图像将被用来创建更小的区域地图，用于规划人们如何应对自然灾害。

“By doing local scale, or community scale maps, people can relate with the problem because they see their houses, they see their neighbor’s houses, the bridge in their community, the river in their community in relation to the hazards - the flood hazards in particular.”
“通过做本地规模或社区规模的地图，人们可以把具体问题联系起来。因为他们看到他们的房子，邻居的房子，社区的桥梁，社区的河流，并和灾害--特别是和洪水灾害联系起来。”

Geologist Carlos Primo David also works with Project NOAH. He says the group depends on satellites, Doppler radar and hundreds of rain gauges across the country. He says the resulting forecasts are very detailed, and can even predict the intensity of rainfall.
地质学家Carlos Primo David也就职于NOAH。他说，该组织依赖于卫星、多普勒雷达和全国的数百个雨量计。他说，得到的预测非常详细，甚至可以预测出降雨强度。

The Philippine state weather agency used rainfall information from Project NOAH when Manila flooded in August. The weather agency also re-broadcast its warnings on the social networking website Twitter. And a color coded warning system was also put in place.
当马尼拉在8月发生洪水时，菲律宾国家气象局就使用了来自NOAH项目的降雨信息。该气象局还在社交网站Twitter重新播放其警告，并推出了一个彩色编码预警系统。

Mahar Lagmay says the project passed its first test. He says the government used the information to move people to safety.
Mahar Lagmay说，该项目通过了第一次测试。他说，政府使用这些信息将人转移到安全地点。

“Relatively it was successful because what we wanted to avoid was mass death.”
“相对而言它是成功的，因为我们希望避免大规模死亡。”

He says now the government has to get people to take severe weather events more seriously, and to actively prepare for the worst.
他说，现在政府必须让人们更加重视灾害天气事件，并积极做好最坏的打算。