史上最冷的冬天就要來了 準備好被凍成狗了嗎

The long awaited La Niña, which was first predicted by the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) back in April, has finally arrived in the Pacific Ocean, NOAA announced Thursday -- and it's expected to stick around through the winter.
星期四，美國國家海洋和大氣管理局（NOAA）宣佈：等待許久的拉尼娜終於抵達太平洋了。早在今年4月，美國國家氣候預測中心（CPC）就首次預言了拉尼娜的到來。據估計，它將在整個冬天逗留於此。

La Niña conditions, which are characterized by below-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, were observed during October and have persisted into November -- prompting the CPC to raise the ENSO Alert System from a La Niña Watch to a La Niña Advisory.
拉尼娜現象的典型特徵是熱帶太平洋海平面溫度會低於常值，據觀測，今年整個10月份都有這種現象，後來拖拖拉拉進入11月也沒有消失——因此，CPC將將厄爾尼諾南方濤動警報系統（ENSO Alert System）裏的拉尼娜警戒級別從“監視”提升到了“警報”級。

La Niña, much like its warmer counterpart, El Niño, have far reaching global impacts extending beyond the Pacific Ocean.
與拉尼娜相對應的是能讓全球變暖的厄爾尼諾，這兩種氣候現象都已超越太平洋領域在全球範圍內造成深遠影響。

For the United States, NOAA forecasters say the current La Niña will "likely contribute to drier and warmer weather in the southern US and wetter, cooler conditions in the Pacific Northwest and across to the northern tier of the nation this winter." La Niña "is likely to contribute to persisting or developing drought across much of the southern U.S. this winter," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center.
就美國而言，NOAA預測專家說當前的拉尼娜現象“很可能會讓美國南部今年冬天更爲乾旱、溫暖，卻使得西北部太平洋地帶和北部地區更爲潮溼、陰冷。”CPC副主任麥克•哈爾佩特說：“今年冬天，拉尼娜很可能會讓美國南部持續乾旱，或者加重那裏的旱情。”

Fortunately, the current La Niña is weak and is expected to stay that way through the winter. This should keep the impact from being as severe as what was seen globally with 2015's record-setting El Niño, which saw deadly drought in Asia and helped make it the hottest year on record.
幸運的是，目前的阿尼娜現象較弱，而且據預測整個冬天都會保持這種態勢，這樣應該就不像2015年破紀錄的厄爾尼諾那樣造成嚴重後果：導致亞洲受到旱災的致命重創，並讓那2015成爲有史以來最熱的一年。

La Niña generally tends to lower global temperatures as it cools the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean. It will be interesting to see if this La Niña can slow down the rapidly rising global temperatures and prevent 2016 from outpacing 2015 and becoming the third consecutive hottest year for the planet.
拉尼娜一般會讓全球氣溫變冷，因爲它會使熱帶太平洋表面水溫下降。有意思的是，此次拉尼娜現象或許能夠減緩正在快速上升的全球氣溫，並防止2016年氣溫高於2015年，接過前兩年的接力棒，成爲第三個最熱年份。