肯亞遭遇乾旱 科學家研究降雨
An extreme cycle of drought in the Horn of Africa has pushed millions into hunger. Now, Kenyan meteorologists are exploring ways to enhance rainfall in areas of the country dried out by climate change.
非洲之角地區的一波極端旱情導致數百萬人陷入飢餓。目前，肯亞的氣象學家正在研究如何增加該國一些地區的降雨，這些地區因氣候變化而變得乾旱。
The latest report from the Famine Early Warning Systems, known as FEWS-NET, shows areas of northern Kenya locked in a severe drought.
來自饑荒早期預警系統()的最新報告顯示，肯亞北部地區遭受嚴重的乾旱。
FEWS-NET warns cattle are dying from a scarcity of water and more than one million people are in a food emergency.
饑荒早期預警系統警告說，牛因為缺水而死亡，100多萬人處於糧食緊急狀態。
And the rainy season is not expected for several more months.
估計還要再過幾個月雨季才會到來。
But what if scientists could make it rain?
但是如果科學家能夠引發降雨又會怎樣？
The Kenyan Meteorological Department has begun exploring ways to induce rain in dry areas of the country, through a process known as cloud-seeding. Deputy director of the KMD, Peter Ambenje says his department has begun taking measurements to see what is possible.
肯亞氣象部門已開始探索如何通過所謂雲的催化在乾旱地區引發降雨。肯亞氣象局副局長彼德·阿姆本耶說，他們已經開始採取措施探尋可能的方法。
"You have to study the clouds to see the ones that are amenable for seeding, so those studies have to be carried out. See the ones that you can seed, see the ones that cannot be seeded and this and that. So there have to be some studies initially to ascertain that yes this is working," he explained.
阿姆本耶說：“必須研究雲，看看哪些雲適合催化，所以不得不做這些研究。看哪些雲能夠催化，看哪些雲不能催化，另外還有這樣那樣的問題。因此先要做些研究，以確定是否可以催化。”
Cloud-seeding is a technique to enhance rainfall by introducing particles - often silver iodide crystals - into cloud systems, to help condense water vapor into raindrops.
雲的催化是指將催化劑顆粒打入雲中使雲中的水蒸汽凝聚成水滴，從而實現降雨的技術，催化劑顆粒通常為碘化銀。
The particles are either shot into the clouds using rockets, or dispersed from passing airplanes.
人們通常是用火箭彈將催化劑打入雲中或用飛機來噴灑。The question is whether such a tactic can help bring rain to drought affected areas.
問題在於，這種方法是否能給乾旱地區帶來降雨。阿姆本耶對此表示懷疑。
Ambenje is doubtful. "All that that does is to enhance rainfall probably during the rainfall season," he said. "You know, for you to generate rainfall, there are a number of factors that you have to look at, moisture availability and so on and so forth. So during a drought you may not be able to enhance rain in the cloud system."
阿姆本耶說：“這些方法是在雨季增加降雨。你知道，要產生降雨，你必須考慮若干因素，比如溼度可利用性等等。所以在乾旱時期，可能無法提高雲中的雨量。”
Without some moisture already in the system, and without the right clouds to seed, there is little that scientists can do to induce rain.
如果雲中沒有一定的溼度，沒有適合的雲來作催化，科學家就很難引發降雨。
Still, the Kenyan government is going ahead with the project, which is part of the country's Vision 2030 initiative - a long-term plan to foster Kenya's development in the coming decades.
不過肯亞政府仍在繼續推進這個專案，這是該國“展望2030計劃”的部分內容，這是一項促進肯亞未來幾十年發展的長期計劃。
And while it may be little help this year, creating better weather conditions for farmers and maintaining water supplies for cattle, could help the country better prepare for future food emergencies.
雖然這個專案對今年的抗旱可能沒什麼幫助，但如果這項研究最終能夠創造更好的天氣條件，為牛保持水的供應，肯亞就可以更好地對付未來的糧食危機。
