有撒哈拉“沙漠之門”之稱的艾因塞夫拉小鎮近日迎來一場降雪。厚度近半米的白雪覆蓋在延綿不盡的紅色沙丘上，景色格外壯觀。

This coincides with just as extreme weather in other parts of the world.
這場降雪恰逢世界其他地區也出現極端天氣。

The east coast of the United States continues to face the brutally cold winter storm Grayson and Sydney, Australia swelters in the hottest temperatures seen in nearly 80 years at 116.6 degrees Farenheight.
美國東海岸持續受到冬季超強風暴格雷森的影響，而澳大利亞悉尼經歷了近80年來最炎熱的天氣，氣溫高達47攝氏度。

High pressures over Europe caused cold air to be pulled down into northern Africa and into the Sahara Desert. This mass of cold air rose 3,280 feet to the elevation of Ain Sefra, a town surrounded by the Atlas Mountains, and began to snow early Sunday morning.
歐洲上空的高壓將冷空氣推進到北非和撒哈拉沙漠。艾因塞夫拉海拔近1000米，處于阿特拉斯山脈的環繞之中。這團冷空氣上升到這一高度，并在8日清晨帶來降雪。

Ain Sefra, known as "the gateway to the desert" has an average high of 99.7°F during the month of July, making locals much more accustomed to managing extreme heat rather than snow. Unequipped to manage snow on roads, cars and buses were stranded on roads as they became icy.
艾因塞夫拉有“沙漠之門”之稱，7月份平均氣溫在37.6攝氏度，相比于大雪，當地人更習慣應對酷熱天氣。由于道路上的積雪無法清除，小汽車和巴士都被困在結冰的路面上。

The snow didn't last long as temperatures rose to 42°F by the late afternoon. This was enough time for children to make snowmen and sled on the sand dunes, creating memories that may not be reenacted for many years to come.
積雪并沒有持續很久，因為下午晚些時候氣溫就回升到5.5攝氏度。但對于孩子們來說，這些時間足夠他們堆雪人、在沙丘上滑雪，創造可能未來多年都無法重演的回憶了。

The Sahara Desert town of Ain Sefra has experienced just three snow events in the past 37 years with the last two years having snow (1979, 2016, and 2017).
撒哈拉沙漠的艾因塞夫拉小鎮在過去37年里僅出現過三次降雪（1979，2016和2017），在前兩年這里都下過雪。

In the coming decades and centuries, we may find the Sahara Desert becoming the fertile grassland it once was. Research shows that northern Africa where the Sahara currently is was once dotted with large lakes, vegetation, animals, and human settlements. This period, known as the African Humid Period was far from northern Africa we know today.
在未來幾十年、幾百年里，我們可能會發現，撒哈拉沙漠回到曾經的樣子，變成了一片肥沃的草原。研究表明，目前撒哈拉沙漠所處的北非地區曾經遍布湖泊、植被、動物和人類居住區。這一時期被稱為非洲濕潤期，離我們現在所熟悉的北非十分久遠。

It appears that approximately 5,500 years ago, however, northern Africa moisture was suddenly cut off, ending the humid period. Research is ongoing as to why and how fertile northern Africa suddenly became the Sahara Desert. One thing is clear though, the switch between humid and arid can be abrupt. Are we on the verge of another African humid period? No one knows for sure, but it will likely be the focus of continued research studies and the hopes for many northern Africa countries.
然而，大約在5500年前，北非地區的濕氣突然中斷，濕潤期終結。有關肥沃的北非為何突變為撒哈拉沙漠的研究正在進行中。但有一點可以肯定的是，從濕潤到干旱的轉換可以是突然的。我們現在是處于另一個“非洲濕潤期”的邊緣嗎？沒有人可以肯定，但這可能將是持續研究下去的重點，也是北非國家的希望所在。

英文來源：福布斯網站
編譯：董靜
審校：yaning