北京迎來今冬初雪 可能提前爲市民供暖

An unexpectedly early snow fell on Beijing and other cities in North China on Friday, causing traffic dilemmas for millions of people and the capital to start providing heating for residential complexes ahead of schedule.

今天，北京和中國北部一些其他城市意外地迎來早來的初雪，導致上千萬人交通堵塞，首都決定提前爲市民供暖。

According to the National Meteorological Center, the snowfall hit areas in Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The snow will continue until Sunday in most of the region.

根據國家氣象臺報道，降雪覆蓋了北京、河北、山西、山東省和內蒙古自治區，在大部分地區降雪將會持續到本週末。

The snowfall is the earliest for the past six years in Beijing since a blizzard befell the capital on as early as Nov 2 in 2009. Meteorology experts said the snow will be helpful to for growing wheat in North China and warned residents to be careful to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning as the heating starts to work.

這次降雪是自2009年11月2日一次暴風雪連續六年以來最早的降雪。氣象專家指出這次降雪對北方的小麥是有益的，但由於提前供暖，同時提醒市民要警惕一氧化碳中毒。

"People should keep an eye out and ventilate their homes to get rid of carbon monoxide emitted by heating equipment, especially for those who have seniors at home," said Zhang Fanghua, chief weather forecaster of the National Meteorological Center.

“市民尤其是家裏有老年人的家庭應該注意開窗通風，及時排出因供暖設備產生的一氧化碳，”中國氣象臺的氣象預報員張芳華說道。

Beijing provides heating on Nov 15 as a routine operation but it can be shifted to an earlier date if the temperature is lower than 5 degrees centigrade for five consecutive days. Weather forecasts show that the snow will not stop in the coming four days.

按照慣例，11月15日爲供暖日期，但如果氣溫連續五天低於5度就可以提前供暖。天氣預報顯示這次降雪要持續四天。

The Beijing Environment Sanitation Engineering Group Co Ltd announced that the heating system for residential complexes would be started today, eight days ahead of schedule, to make sure that every household in the capital would have access to heating to bear the after-snow chill.

北京環衛集團宣佈北京將於今天供暖，比預計早8天，確保首都每個市民能夠安穩渡過降雪後的寒冷。

Beijing traffic police said traffic accidents on Friday morning rush hours increased by 30 percent compared with the day before due to the weather conditions. More than 50 flights were canceled at the Beijing Capital International Airport as of Friday midday. At around 7 am, the airport broadcast that some flights might be delayed or canceled considering the rain and snow.

北京交警說道，由於天氣原因，今天（週五）早上高峯期交通事故發生率比昨天增高了30%。截止今天中午，首都國際機場共有50多個航班取消。在今早7點左右，機場廣播就說道由於雨雪緣故，一些航班將會延時或者取消。

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the irregular periodical climate change - the El Nino event may be one of the strongest in more than half a century, causing irregularities in the global climate. Early snowfall is also one of its consequences. Meteorologists have warned people around the world to keep an eye on the side effects.

根據世界氣象組織報道，不定期的氣候變化-厄爾尼諾事件影響可能是在半個多世紀中最強的，導致在全球氣候的不規律現象。提前降雪也是其後果之一。氣象專家警示市民注意預防其副作用。

However, Zhang of the National Meteorological Center pointed out the benefits from the snow. "The snowfall will be good for agriculture as the snow can provide water to the dry land in Henan and Shandong provinces and low temperatures can kill pests and pathogens that lurk in the land," she said.

然而，氣象局的張芳華卻指出了降雪的好處，“這次降雪對莊稼是很有好處的，可以爲河南和山東地區乾燥的土地提供水，低溫也將會殺死潛伏在土地裏的害蟲和病原體。”