Everyone knows how the work week can take a toll on employees, but new research suggests the five-day slog may have even broader impacts--on climate.
After examining more than 40 years of temperature data taken from roughly 10,000 surface stations, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and from the University of Reading in the U.K. found that temperature differences between day and night appear to follow distinct five-days-on, two-days-off patterns.
The scientists checked the data for all possible natural influences such as the lunar cycle as well as random variations and found neither to be at play. The only factor that could be causing the fluctuations was the Monday-through-Friday grind, they concluded in a recently published report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"There is nothing in nature that should cause these data to be different," said Piers M de F. Forster, a meteorologist based at the University of Reading, England, who co-authored the study with NOAA's Susan Solomon. "So whatever the cause we find has to be something that we're changing, ourselves."
英国国立瑞丁大学的气象学家皮尔斯·福雷斯特和国家海洋及大气管理局的苏姗·所罗门合作主持了这项研究。福雷斯特说:“自然界中没有什么能够造成这些数据差异,所以不管原因是什么,它一定与我们自己正在改变的某种东西有关。”
The meteorologists propose the differences in average temperatures between Saturdays as opposed to Thursdays, for example, may stem from workweek-induced pollution. Forster explains that during the workweek more people commute and more factories are in operation. Both contribute to the amount of particle pollution in the air.
气象学家们提出平均气温的差异可能是工作日中产生的污染造成的,例如周六和周四相比,平均气温就有一定的差异。福雷斯特解释说在五天工作日中,乘车上下班的人多,进行生产的工厂也多,这都会增加空气中的微粒含量,对大气造成污染。
Lighter particles provide a surface for cloud droplets to form. This leads to an increase in cloud cover, which, in turn, can lead to an increase in temperature since clouds have an insulating effect.
较轻的微粒能够提供云滴形成所需要的界面,这样会增加云量,进而导致气温的升高,因为云有保温的作用。
TAG: 工作室 工作日 气温
