气象侦探们是如何审查未来的世界纪录的

A 130 degree temperature was recorded Sunday in Death Valley National Park, Calif. Now a committee of scientists is working to verify this temperature, which might turn out to be one of the hottest ever recorded.

周日，加州死亡谷国家公园记录到130度(华氏度)的温度。现在，一个科学家委员会正在努力验证这一温度，这可能是有记录以来的最热温度之一。

When a weather station in Death Valley, Calif., registered an astonishing 130 degrees Fahrenheit this week, it got meteorologists' attention.

当加州死亡谷的一个气象站本周达到惊人的130华氏度时，它引起了气象学家的注意。

After all, there's a possibility that this is the highest such temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth — if it's for real.

毕竟，这有可能是地球上有可靠记录的最高温度(如果这是真的的话)。

One person who received the news with keen interest was Randy Cerveny, a geographer at Arizona State University. He plays a key role in verifying extreme weather measurements, under the auspices of the United Nations agency that standardizes weather measurements around the globe.

亚利桑那州立大学的地理学家兰迪·瑟维尼对这个消息非常感兴趣。在联合国标准化气象测量机构的支持下，他在核实极端天气测量数据方面发挥了关键作用。

Since 2007, Cerveny has been in charge of organizing ad hoc committees to independently verify superlative weather measurements — such as the highest ocean wave or the strongest wind gust.

自2007年以来，瑟维尼一直负责组织专门委员会，独立核实最高的天气测量结果，比如最高的海浪或最强的阵风。

"I heard several news reports referring to it as the worst hurricane that's ever been seen. And that's not true," says Cerveny, who notes that a far deadlier one hit Galveston, Texas, in 1900, and an apocalyptic storm ravaged what is now Bangladesh in 1970.

“我听到几则新闻报道称这是有史以来最严重的飓风，但事实并非如此。”瑟维尼说，他指出1900年更致命的飓风袭击了德克萨斯州的加尔维斯顿，1970年的灾难性的风暴摧毁了现在的孟加拉国。

It occurred to him that there was no system at the time to verify claims about world records for weather.

他突然想到，当时还没有一个系统来验证有关天气的世界纪录。

He knew that some countries have committees to scrutinize extreme weather within their own borders—the U. S., for example, has the National Climate Extremes Committee. But there was nothing like that for the entire planet.

他知道有些国家有专门委员会来审查本国境内的极端天气——例如，美国就有国家极端气候委员会。但在整个地球上都没有这样的东西。

"I suggested that we set one up, and the World Meteorological Organization said, 'That sounds like a great idea, would you be willing to do it?'" he says, laughing.

“我建议我们建立一个，世界气象组织说，‘这听起来是个好主意，你愿意做吗?’”他笑着说。

Now, when a new contender for a record appears, he gathers the top experts in any given subject.

现在，当一个新的纪录竞争者出现时，他会召集任何特定学科的顶级专家。

"If we're looking at temperature, I'm going to get some of the best scientists that have looked at temperature across the world. If we're looking at hurricanes, I'll get hurricane experts. If I'm looking at tornadoes, I'll get tornado experts," he says.

“如果我们研究温度，我将邀请研究过世界各地温度的一些最好的科学家。如果我们研究飓风，我会请飓风专家。如果我在观察龙卷风，我会请龙卷风专家，”他说。

These folks then spend months going over every detail, from the instrument to the terrain to the overall weather in that area and its surroundings. "So it's a very detailed, very elaborate investigation," says Cerveny.

这些人然后花几个月的时间研究每一个细节，从仪器到地形到该地区及其周围的整体天气情况。“所以这是一项非常详细、非常详尽的调查，”瑟维尼说。

Already, the new 130 degrees measurement in Death Valley has started to be scrutinized, by meteorologists from the local weather office to the National Climate Extremes Committee, all the way up to the World Meteorological Organization.

从当地气象办公室到国家极端气候委员会，一直到世界气象组织，气象学家们已经开始仔细研究死亡谷新的130度测量值。

"We're in the process right now of getting ahold of the actual raw information, the raw data itself," says Cerveny. "My committee will then go over it with a fine-tooth comb and look for any problems or any concerns that they might have."

瑟维尼说:“我们现在正在获取实际的原始信息，原始数据本身。”“然后，我的委员会会仔细检查这份报告，看看是否有任何问题或担忧。”

"I'm hoping that we would have a decision by sometime this winter," he adds.

“我希望我们能在今年冬天的某个时候做出决定，”他补充道。