北京大雪 天降还是人为?

【英文原文】

Are Beijingers Getting Snowed About Who Makes The Weather?

When Beijing residents were surprised and delighted by rare snowfall earlier this month, the Beijing Weather Modification Office took credit. But when Beijing was blanketed with more heavy snow this week, causing massive traffic disruptions and flight delays, they denied involvement. Could it be that Beijing's vaunted mastery of the weather is not as complete as it's sometimes cracked up to be?

Despite cold winters, snow is rare in this notoriously dry city - especially in early November. When Beijingers woke up to find massive snow out their windows two Sundays ago, the Beijing Weather Modification Office boasted of its role in bringing it about. 'We won't miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought,' Zhang Qiang, head of the modification office, told _ Xinhua. The office had enhanced what would otherwise have been light snow by firing 186 doses of silver iodide into the clouds to catalyze the precipitation process, she explained.

Then, when heavy snowfall returned this past Monday, the China Daily cited an unnamed official at the Weather Modification Office saying the snow was also artificially induced, but offered no further information _ .

On Thursday, the city was once again hit with snow. Indeed, it has been snowing on and off all week across much of northern China, with some cities seeing the heaviest snow in over 50 years, according to Xinhua. Premier Wen Jiabao spent Thursday traveling the region by train to inspect the damage _cn/news/china/11020307/20091112/ .

We called the Beijing Weather Modification Office to ask if the latest snow was its doing. This time, an official at the office said they hadn't induced snowfall on Monday or on Thursday. They had indeed induced snow two weeks ago, he said, but only to conduct tests in a very small area.

The Weather Modification Office has become a source of much fascination, if little understanding, since it supposedly engineered nice weather during the Beijing Olympics last year. Local residents regularly attribute heavy rain and other weather phenomena to the office's machinations, not least because officials from the office have sometimes been reported by local media taking credit following incidents of odd weather. If skies are especially clear in Beijing, rumors circulate that it is because an important official is in town. This time, the rumor is that the snowfall has something to do with U.S. President Obama's visit next week.

Recent weather in Beijing has indeed been odd. But anywhere else in the world, people just shrug at odd weather. In Beijing they assume the government is manipulating Mother Nature. After this week, perhaps some will view the claims about the Weather Modification Office more skeptically.

【中文译文】

本月初那场久违的大雪让北京市民又惊又喜，随后北京市人工影响天气办公室宣布那是一场人工降雪。但本周，当一场更大的降雪再次笼罩京城、造成大范围交通拥堵和航班延误后，该办公室矢口否认与此有关。是不是北京方面自夸的天气控制措施没宣传中那么好，反而帮了倒忙了？

两周前，当北京人从睡梦中醒来发现窗外雪花纷飞时，北京市人工影响天气办公室忙不迭地炫耀自己在其中扮演的角色。该部门负责人张蔷对新华社表示，由于北京一直处于干旱少雨的状态，所以我们不会放过任何一次人工降水的机会。她说为了给这场本该是小雪的降水过程“加码”，该部门共向云中施放了186根碘化银烟剂。

本周一，当一场更大的大雪再次空降北京时，《中国日报》援引北京市人工影响天气办公室一位未具名官员的话报导这又是一场人工降雪；但报导没有提供更多信息。

周四，北京再次下雪。事实上，中国北方大部分地区本周都在断断续续地下雪，据新华社报导，有些城市的降雪量创下了50年多来的最高纪录。中国总理温家宝周四坐火车前往受灾地区视察损失情况。

本报曾致电北京市人工影响天气办公室，询问最近这场降雪是不是人工降雪。一位办公室官员说周一和周四的降雪都没有人为成分，两周前确实进行了人工增雪，但只是在极小范围内进行了试验。

去年北京奥运会期间的好天气据说正是北京市人工影响天气办公室的手笔，有鉴于此，如果对它完全不了解的话，这个名字足以带有相当的魔幻色彩。北京人经常将大雨等气候现象归因于是这个办公室在“做法”，原因之一就是在一些反常气候现象发生后，其官员会不时在本地媒体上邀功。如果哪天北京的天格外蓝，那么就会有传言称是有重要高官到访。而据传，这次降雪与下周美国总统奥巴马(Obama)访华有关。

近来北京的天气确实反常。不过，世界其他地方的人面对反常气候只是无可奈何地耸耸肩，北京人则怀疑是政府操纵了自然。本周过后，或许会有更多的人以怀疑的态度看待北京市人工影响天气办公室的声明。