十年一遇：美国加利福尼亚死亡谷开满鲜花_时事

十年一遇：美国加利福尼亚死亡谷开满鲜花

　　A hot, dry desert may be the last place you’d think of to see colorful flowers.

　　你也许从来不会考虑去一个炎热且无比干燥的沙漠赏花。

　　But thanks to last autumn’s above-average rainfall, California’s Death Valley National Park?is experiencing a “super bloom of wildflowers—a rare occurrence that happens just once every 10 years.

　　然而由于去年秋季降水量相对较多，美国加利福尼亚的死亡谷国家公园居然开出了漫山的花朵，景象实属罕见，可能每十年才有幸见到一次。

　　Death Valley holds the world record for hottest temperature ever recorded—a whopping 134 degrees Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913. Temperatures peak in the summer, and cool off slightly in the winter, which also coincides with the “rainy season. The Valley’s annual rainfall is just two inches—sometimes it gets no rain at all.

　　死亡谷向来以天气炎热见称，1913年7月10日，当地温度曾达到134华氏度(约57摄氏度)，并一度成为世界最高温度纪录的保持者。当地气温在夏季达到峰值，在冬季有所降低，因为正值当地雨季(虽然降水量也十分有限)。死亡谷的年降雨量仅在两英寸(约合50毫米)左右，有时甚至终年干旱。

　　But this year, the park got over three inches of rain during the first two weeks in October. The above-average rainfall was enough to trigger the growth of millions of wildflower seeds that have been dormant for years. The last time there was a bloom of this magnitude was in 2005, and the time before that was in 1998.