美国英语听力80篇3 Lesson42
Warmer Weather
Weather experts say this spring was the warmest in the United States in the past century.
They say the average temperature across the United States between March and May was about thirteen degrees Celsius.
That reportedly is two-tenths of a degree higher than the old record.
Officials with the National Climatic Data Center announced the findings.
The center is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The new report says more than 64% of the United States
was much warmer than normal during the three-month period ending in May.
It says less than 1% of the country was much cooler than normal.
The weather experts add that thirteen of the past sixteen spring seasons in the United States have been warmer than normal.
The report says average weather conditions across the United States mainland
were drier than normal during the three-month period.
This was only the third spring since 1989 that the country received less rainfall than normal.
The National Climatic Data Center also reported above average temperatures in many other areas during this period.
Some of the warmest conditions were observed from Kazakhstan south across Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
The report says these areas have received little if any rainfall during the past three months.
Higher than normal temperatures were noted in much of central and eastern Europe and northern Africa.
However, cooler than normal conditions were observed across large areas of Australia,
South Africa and South America.
