2026年4月29日，美國國家氣象局1名工作人員在德州勘查暴風雨災區。（美聯社）

◎ 張沛元

The National Weather Service is struggling to recover from last year’s deep staff cuts, raising doubts among some meteorologists about whether the agency is ready for severe storms or hurricane season, which starts next month.

（美國）國家氣象局正努力走出去年大裁員的衝擊，重新振作起來，讓部分氣象學家懷疑，該機構是否已為將從下個月開始的嚴重風暴或颶風季，做好準備。

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The agency’s roster of more than 2,500 scientists shrank by about 15 percent last year through firings and early retirements. The Weather Service’s data and expertise forms the backbone for all kinds of forecasts, including those shared by television meteorologists and smartphone apps.

原本工作人員有2500多名科學家的國家氣象局，去年因解雇與提前退休，導致員工人數縮減約15％。該局的數據與專業知識，是所有各類型的天氣預報，包括電視氣象主播與智慧型手機應用程式天氣預報的基礎。

The government has been trying to hire back to reverse the damage. In the last six months, officials have hired more than 200 meteorologists and hydrologists.

（美國）政府一直努力聘回人才以扭轉（此前大裁員所造成的）傷害，官員在過去6個月已聘用200多名氣象學家與水文學家。

新聞辭典

short-handed：形容詞，缺人的，人手不足的。例句：The company was too short-handed to survive the crisis.（這家公司缺人缺到無法度過這場危機。）

the backbone of something：片語，主要成分，支柱，中樞。例句：Tourism was once the backbone of the island country’s economy.（觀光業曾是這個島國的經濟支柱。）

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