PART 3

ADAM: So, Michelle, shall we make a start on our presentation?

亚当：那么，米歇尔，我们可以开始准备演讲了吗？

We haven't got that much time left.

我们没有那么多时间了。

MICHELLE: No, Adam. But at least we've done all the background reading.

米歇尔：是的，亚当。但至少我们已经完成了所有背景阅读。

I found it really interesting – I'd never even heard of the Laki eruption before this.

我发现这真的很有趣。在此之前我从未听说过拉基火山喷发。

ADAM: Me neither.

亚当：我也没有。

I suppose 1783 is a long time ago.

我想1783年是很久以前了。

MICHELLE: But it was a huge eruption and it had such devastating consequences.

米歇尔：但那是一次巨大的喷发，造成了毁灭性的后果。

ADAM: I know.

亚当：我知道。

It was great there were so many primary sources to look at.

有这么多原始资源可供查看很方便。

It really gives you a sense of how catastrophic the volcano was.

它真的让你感受到火山的灾难程度。

People were really trying to make sense of the science for the first time.

人们第一次真正地试图理解科学。

MICHELLE: That's right.

米歇尔：没错。

But what I found more significant was how it impacted directly and indirectly on political events, as well as having massive social and economic consequences.

但我发现更重要的是它如何直接和间接地影响政治事件，以及产生巨大的社会和经济后果。

ADAM: I know. That should be the main focus of our presentation.

亚当：我知道。这应该是我们演讲的重点。

MICHELLE: The observations made by people at the time were interesting, weren't they?

米歇尔：当时人们的观察很有趣，不是吗？

I mean, they all gave a pretty consistent account of what happened, even if they didn't always use the same terminology.

我的意思是，他们都对发生的事情给出了非常一致的描述，即使他们使用的术语不尽相同。

ADAM: Yeah. I was surprised there were so many weather stations established by that time – so, you know, you can see how the weather changed, often by the hour.

亚当：没错。我很惊讶那个时候建立了这么多气象站。所以，你知道，你能看到天气是如何变化的，通常是一小时一个样。

MICHELLE: Right. Writers at the time talked about the Laki haze to describe the volcanic fog that spread across Europe.

米歇尔：对。当时的作家们用拉基雾霾来形容席卷欧洲的火山雾。

They all realised that this wasn't the sort of fog they were used to – and of course this was in pre-industrial times – so they hadn't experienced sulphur-smelling fog before.

他们都意识到这不是他们习惯的那种雾，当然那是在前工业时代，所以他们以前没有感受过硫磺味的雾。

ADAM: No, that's true.

亚当：是的，的确没见过。

MICHELLE: Reports from the period blamed the haze for an increase in headaches, respiratory issues and asthma attacks.

米歇尔：该时期的报告将头痛、呼吸系统问题和哮喘发作的增加归咎于雾霾。

And they all describe how it covered the sun and made it look a strange red colour.

他们都描述了它如何遮住太阳，使它看起来是一种奇怪的红色。

ADAM: Must have been very weird.

亚当：当时一定很奇怪。

MICHELLE: It's interesting that Benjamin Franklin wrote about the haze.

米歇尔：有趣的是，本杰明·富兰克林写了关于雾霾的文章。

Did you read that?

你读过吗？

He was the American ambassador in Paris at the time.

他当时是美国驻巴黎大使。

ADAM: Yeah. At first no one realised that the haze was caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

亚当：是的。起初没有人意识到雾霾是由冰岛火山喷发造成的。

MICHELLE: It was Benjamin Franklin who realised that before anyone else.

米歇尔：本杰明·富兰克林比任何人都先意识到这一点。

ADAM: He's often credited with that, apparently.

亚当：显然，这经常被认为是他的功劳。

But a French naturalist beat him to it – I can't remember his name.

但一位法国博物学家抢在他之前发现了这一事实。我不记得他的名字了。

I'd have to look it up.

我得查一下。

Then other naturalists had the same idea – all independently of each other.

然后其他博物学家也有同样的想法。他们的观点是相互独立的。

MICHELLE: Oh right. We should talk about the immediate impact of the eruption, which was obviously enormous – especially in Iceland, where so many people died.

米歇尔：哦，对了。我们应该谈谈火山喷发的直接影响，这显然是巨大的，尤其是在冰岛，那里有那么多人丧生。

ADAM: Mmm. You'd expect that – and the fact that the volcanic ash drifted so swiftly – but not that the effects would go on for so long.

亚当：嗯。人们能预测到火山灰会迅速飘散，但没有预计到的是这种影响会持续这么久。

Or that two years after the eruption, strange weather events were being reported as far away as North America and North Africa.

或者可以谈一下在火山喷发两年后，远至北美和北非都出现了奇怪的天气事件。

MICHELLE: No. I found all that hard to believe too.

米歇尔：是的。我也觉得难以置信。

It must have been terrible – and there was nothing anyone could do about it, even if they knew the ash cloud was coming in their direction.

这一定很可怕。而且即使他们知道火山灰云正朝他们的方向袭来，任何人都无能为力。

MICHELLE: We should run through some of the terrible consequences of the eruption experienced in different countries.

米歇尔：我们应该回顾一下不同国家经历的火山喷发的一些可怕后果。

There's quite a varied range.

范围很广。

ADAM: Starting with Iceland, where the impact on farming was devastating.

亚当：首先是冰岛，那里对农业的影响是毁灭性的。

MICHELLE: Mmm. One of the most dramatic things there was the effect on livestock as they grazed in the fields.

米歇尔：嗯。最引人注目的事情之一是对在田间吃草的牲畜的影响。

They were poisoned because they ate vegetation that had been contaminated with fluorine as a result of the volcanic fallout.

它们中毒是因为它们食用了因火山沉降物而被氟污染的植物。

ADAM: That was horrible.

亚当：那太可怕了。

In Egypt, the bizarre weather patterns led to a severe drought and as a result the Nile didn't flood, which meant the crops all failed.

在埃及，怪异的天气模式导致了严重的干旱，结果尼罗河没有泛滥，这意味着农作物全部欠收。

MICHELLE: It's so far from where the eruption happened and yet the famine there led to more people dying than any other country.

米歇尔：它离火山爆发的地方很远，但那里的饥荒导致的死亡人数比其他任何国家都多。

It was worse than the plague.

这比瘟疫还糟糕。

ADAM: OK. Then in the UK the mortality rate went up a lot – presumably from respiratory illnesses.

亚当：好的。然后在英国，死亡率上升了很多，大概是由于呼吸道疾病。

According to one report it was about double the usual number and included an unusually high percentage of people under the age of 25.

根据一份报告，这一数字大约是平时因该疾病死亡人数的两倍，其中包括异常高比例的25岁以下人群。

MICHELLE: Mmm. I think people will be surprised to hear that the weather in the USA was badly affected too.

米歇尔：嗯。我想人们听到美国的天气也受到严重影响时会感到惊讶。

George Washington even makes a note in his diary that they were snowbound until March in Virginia.

乔治·华盛顿甚至在他的日记中记下他们在弗吉尼亚州一直被大雪困到3月。

That was before he became president.

那是在他成为总统之前。

ADAM: Yes, and there was ice floating down the Mississippi, which was unprecedented.

亚当：是的，密西西比河上漂浮着冰，这是前所未有的。

MICHELLE: Astonishing, really. Anyway, what do you think …

米歇尔：真的很惊人。不管怎样，你怎么看……