科學家警告史上最強太陽風暴將來襲
相關領域的權威科學家警告，在兩年之後的2013年將爆發一場強度極高的太陽風暴，屆時地球上人類的科技與通訊將遭受到嚴重的影響。
U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assistant secretary Kathryn Sullivan said the storms pose a growing threat to critical infrastructure such as satellite communications, navigation systems and electrical transmission equipment.
美國國家海洋與大氣管理局副局長Kathryn Sullivan表示，這場強烈的太陽風暴將對一些封場關鍵的基礎設施造成日益嚴重的危險，這其中包括了通信衛星、導航系統和電力傳輸設備。
Solar storms release particles that can temporarily disable or permanently destroy fragile computer circuits.
太陽風暴所釋放出的例子將對脆弱的計算機電路造成暫時性的失靈或者永久性的破壞。
Dr Sullivan, a former Nasa astronaut who in 1984 became the first woman to walk in space, yesterday told a UN weather conference in Geneva that 'it is not a question of if, but really a matter of when a major solar event could hit our planet'.
Sullivan博士在1984年參與了挑戰號的風行任務，並稱爲了歷史上第一位實現太空行走的女性，在昨天的聯合國氣候大會上，她表示：“太陽風暴已不再是個疑問了，這是個實實在在存在的問題，我們需要做的是確定將在何時發生強烈的太陽風暴。”
She is not the only expert to issue a warning about the threat posed by solar storms.
而Sullivan也並非是爲一個警告了太陽風暴或造成嚴重影響的學者專家。In February, astronomers warned that mankind is now more vulnerable to such an event than at any time in history - and that the planet should prepare for a global Hurricane Katrina-style disaster.
在今年二月份時，有多名天文學家都警告稱，人類現在要比歷史的任何一個時候都更加脆弱，面對太陽風暴，我們必須做好萬全準備，以應對這一場全球性的卡特里娜颶風災難。
A massive eruption of the sun would save waves of radiation and charged particles to Earth, damaging the satellite systems used for synchronising computers, airline navigation and phone networks.
在大規模的太陽風暴爆發時，太陽將向地球釋放大量的射線與帶電粒子，人造衛星將遭到破壞，通行將被中斷，並引發飛機航班停飛，全球的電話通行網絡也將受到影響。
If the storm is powerful enough it could even crash stock markets and cause power cuts that last weeks or months, experts told the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
若太陽風暴爲例過於強大，這甚至會引發全球股市下挫，電力供應告急，時間將持續數週或者數個月。The chances of a disruption from space are getting stronger because the sun is entering the most active period of its 11 to 12-year natural world got a taster of the sun's explosive power in February when the strongest solar eruption in five years sent a torrent of charged plasma hurtling towards the world at 580 miles per second.
由於太陽正逐漸進入活躍時期，太陽黑子的活動週期爲11年到12年。地球在今年二月份時遭到了五年之後最強的太陽爆發的干擾，等離子的洪流以每秒580英里的速度向人類世界奔馳而來。
The storm created spectacular aurorae and disrupted radio communications.
這次的太陽風暴造成了壯觀的激光，以及對於無線通訊的干擾。
The last solar maximum occurred in 2001. Its latest minimum was particularly weak and long lasting.
最近一次的大規模風暴發生在2001年，其最新一次的爆發量很少，但持續時間卻很長。Space storms are not new. The first major solar flare was recorded by British astronomer Richard Carrington in 1859.
太空風暴並不是什麼新鮮事物，第一次太陽耀斑爆發的記錄是在1859年由英國的天文科學家理查德·卡林頓記錄下來的。
Other solar geomagnetic storms have been observed in recent decades. One huge solar flare in 1972 cut off long-distance telephone communication in the mid-western state of Illinois, Nasa said.
近幾十年來，人類也觀測記錄到了幾次太陽磁暴現象，1972的太陽耀斑使得美國伊利諾伊中西部無線通訊幾近癱瘓。
