标签 大峡谷 下的文章

雷暴下的大峡谷国家公园，亚利桑那州 Grand Canyon National Park during a thunderstorm, Arizona (© spkeelin/Getty Images)

天气预报的重要性 The importance of weather prediction

World Meteorological Day

Did you check the weather forecast today? Does it look like rain? Will it turn colder? What's the outlook for the weekend? These may be some of the most frequently asked questions anywhere. Given our reliance on weather prediction, let's tip the rain hat to the world's weather experts on World Meteorological Day, celebrated each March 23 by the United Nation's World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The 2022 theme for World Meteorological Day is 'Early Warning and Early Action. Hydrometeorological and Climate Information for Disaster Risk Reduction.' That's a mouthful, but it essentially boils down to the importance of predicting high-precipitation weather events and mitigating or preventing the damage caused by them.

Worldwide, floods cause more than $40 billion in damage each year. They're the most common type of natural disaster. In the United States flash floods claim more lives than tornadoes, hurricanes, or lightning. But with accurate predictions and appropriate warning systems, people living in an area likely to flood can know the severity of upcoming threats and plan accordingly. Thanks to the study of hydrometeorology, forecasts can predict the impact days and even weeks in advance. Long-term projections can even give an idea of what's coming several months from now. And we thought that weather app was just to tell us whether or not we'll need an umbrella.

世界气象日

你看过今天的天气预报了吗？看起来要下雨吗？天气会变冷吗？周末的前景如何？这些可能是任何地方最常被问到的问题之一。鉴于我们对天气预报的依赖，让我们在每年3月23日由联合国世界气象组织（WMO）庆祝的世界气象日向世界气象专家致敬。

2022年世界气象日的主题是“预警和早期行动”。减少灾害风险的水文气象和气候信息。”这是一口空话，但本质上可以归结为预测高降水天气事件以及减轻或防止它们造成的损害的重要性。

在世界范围内，洪水每年造成超过400亿美元的损失。它们是最常见的自然灾害类型。在美国，山洪暴发夺走的生命比龙卷风、飓风或闪电还多。但是，有了准确的预测和适当的预警系统，生活在可能发生洪水的地区的人们可以知道即将到来的威胁的严重性，并据此制定计划。由于对水文气象学的研究，预报可以提前几天甚至几周预测影响。长期预测甚至可以给出几个月后的情况。我们以为天气应用程序只是告诉我们是否需要雨伞。

美国大峡谷北缘的天使之窗，亚利桑那州 Peekaboo view of Angels Window on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona (© Tim Fitzharris/Minden Pictures)

Happy anniversary to the National Park Service!

On the National Park Service's Founders Day, we're here on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona peering out at the stunning vista. Can you see the rectangular hole in the canyon wall near the top of the image? That's Angels Window. Brave hikers can make their way up to the trail above it, but the window itself is best viewed from various points along the North Rim. Far down below is the Colorado River. Beginning about 6 million years ago, it gradually carved downward through countless layers of sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock. The Colorado and its tributary streams continue to deepen and widen the Grand Canyon even today.

The first national park, not only in the US, but also in the world, was Yellowstone, which was designated as a park in 1872. It was followed by Sequoia, Yosemite, and Mt. Rainier. While the Grand Canyon seems like an obvious choice for a national park, land and mining moguls kept it from becoming protected as a park for years. It finally became a national park in 1919, three years after the National Park Service was created on August 25, 1916. Each year on August 25, Founders Day is celebrated in all the national parks, where entrance fees are waived in honor of the occasion.

祝国家公园管理局周年快乐！

在国家公园管理局的创始人日，我们来到亚利桑那州大峡谷国家公园的北缘，眺望着令人惊叹的美景。你能看到图片顶部附近峡谷壁上的矩形洞吗？那是天使的窗户。勇敢的徒步旅行者可以爬上它上面的小径，但是从北边的各个点上看窗户本身是最好的。下面远处是科罗拉多河。从大约600万年前开始，它逐渐向下切割无数层沉积岩、火成岩和变质岩。即使在今天，科罗拉多河及其支流仍在继续加深和加宽大峡谷。

不仅在美国，而且在世界上，第一个国家公园是黄石公园，它于1872年被指定为公园。随后是红杉、约塞米蒂和雷尼尔山。虽然大峡谷似乎是国家公园的一个明显选择，但土地和矿业巨头多年来一直没有将其作为公园加以保护。1919年，在1916年8月25日国家公园管理局成立三年后，它最终成为了国家公园。每年8月25日，所有国家公园都庆祝创始人日，为纪念这一天免收入场费。

从Toroweap Overlook俯瞰大峡谷和科罗拉多河，亚利桑那州大峡谷国家公园 Grand Canyon and Colorado River from Toroweap Overlook, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (© Matteo Colombo Travel Photo/Shutterstock)

The last thing seen by Wile E. Coyote

We'd say, 'Don't look down,' but that'd kind of be missing the point: Verticality is what put Toroweap Overlook on the map. Situated on the Grand Canyon's elevated north rim, it offers an unmatched view down a sheer 3,000-foot drop straight to the Colorado riverbed.

It's just one of the payoffs for those who take the road less traveled to the remote North Rim—only about 10% of park visitors. Since the 'other side' is about 1,000 feet higher on average than the touristy South Rim, its climate is chillier and given to harsher weather, so it is typically open only from today, May 15, to October 15.