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Japan plans 30-year supercomputer forecasts
日本计划进行超级天气预报
Japan is planning ultra long-range 30-year weather forecasts that will predict typhoons, storms, blizzards, droughts and other inclement weather, an official said Tuesday.
周二，日本官方称计划进行一次超长天气预测，将预测未来30年内会发生的台风、暴风雨、暴风雪、干旱和其他恶劣天气。
The project, to start next year, will harness the powers of one of the world's fastest supercomputers and is an offshoot of ongoing research by the country's science ministry to map global warming trends for the next 300 years.
日本科学部正在研究未来300年全球变暖趋势，此项研究是其中一项，将启用世界上最快的超级计算机。
Using the Earth Simulator supercomputer, housed in a hangar-sized building in Yokohama, just south of Tokyo, Japan's science ministry hopes to calculate long-term patterns in the interaction of atmospheric pressure, air temperatures, ocean currents and sea temperatures, said Tomonori Otake, an official with the ministry's earth environment bureau.
日本科学部地球环境办公室官员托蒙诺里欧泰克说：“利用地球模拟器超级计算机，日本科学部希望能算出在气压、空气温度、海洋流动和海水温度交互作用下地球的长期变化。目前这台计算机被放在东京南部横滨的一所飞机库大小的建筑中。”
The results will help establish predictable routes for typhoons and identify areas that are recurring targets for heavy rains, abundant snow, high waves, heavy winds, scorching heat or crop-threatening droughts.
研究结果将用预测台风行动路线和圈定可能常期重复遭受大雨、暴雪、海啸、狂风、酷热或者威胁庄稼生存的干旱的区域。
"Now we can see what areas are at risk and start thinking about what kind of countermeasures to take," Otake said.
欧泰克说：“现在我们就能知道哪些区域会有危险并开始思索防御措施。”
Early warning could enable the government to allocate money and resources to potential disaster areas before disaster strikes.
早期预警可以使政府提前发配物资到潜在灾区。
The ministry is now outlining the parameters of the project and will accept bids from researchers with an eye toward starting the program by next spring. A budget is not yet set, but it could cost in the area of $26 million a year.
科学部正列出计划参数，接受研究人员的投标，希望明年春天可以开始。所需资金还没有确定，但是每年应该在2600万美元以内。
The Earth Simulator, introduced in 2002, was the world's fastest supercomputer until 2004, when IBM's Blue Gene took the title. But the $350 million computer still performs 35.6 trillion calculations a second, more computations than there are stars in our galaxy.
地球模拟器诞生于2002年，到2004年一直是世界上最快的超级计算机，直到IBM的“蓝色基因”夺去桂冠。尽管如此，这台价值3.5亿美元的计算机每秒钟可以计算35.6万亿次，比我们银河系中所含星星的数量还高。
The machine tracks global sea temperatures, rainfall and crustal movement to predict natural disasters over the next centuries.
这台机器用于通过计算未来几个世纪全球海洋温度、降雨和地壳运动来预测自然灾害。
But don't plan on locking in sunny weather for that planned family picnic in July 2036. These forecasts are only general trends.
但是别指望我们可以预测出2036年7月哪天是晴天，适合家庭野餐。预测只是大概的趋势。
"Just like the daily forecast, we can't give a percentage for how accurate they are," Otake said.欧泰克说：“就好像每日天气预报，我们不可能完全精确。”
1. ultra：极端的
2. blizzard：大风雪
3. inclement：险恶的
4. harness：利用…产生动力
5. offshoot：分支
6. map：绘制(某物的)形态图
7. hangar：飞机棚
8. current：趋势
9. scorching：灼热的
10. countermeasure：对策
11. allocate：分配
12. parameter：要素，测量元素之一
13. bid：出标
14. with an eye toward：期待，着眼于
15. computation：计算
16. galaxy：银河系
17. crustal：地壳的
18. lock in：禁闭，锁定
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发表于 2016-8-12 16:25:24