研究表明 二战空袭的冲击波削弱了地球电离层

The bombs used by Allied forces during World War II were so large, they weakened the Earth's upper atmosphere.

第二次世界大战期间，盟军使用的炸弹之多，甚至削弱了地球的上层大气。

The air raids turned towns to rubble and ash, but now new research shows shockwaves could be felt up to 1,000 km above the UK.

空袭把城镇变成了废墟和灰烬，但最新研究表明，当时盟军的炸弹爆炸的冲击波甚至可以在英国上空1000公里处感受到。

Chris Scott, from the University of Reading said: "I was absolutely astonished when I found out. Each raid released the energy of at least 300 lightning strikes."

雷丁大学的克里斯·斯科特表示：“当我发现这种情况时，我感到震惊。当时每次爆炸袭击都会释放出至少300次雷击的能量。”

Researchers studied daily records kept at the Radio Research Centre in Slough, UK.

研究人员研究了位于英国斯劳的无线电研究中心的每日记录。

They looked at how the concentration of electrons changed in the upper atmosphere around the time of 152 Allied air raids in Europe -- including raids on Berlin and those in support of the Normandy landings.

他们分析了在二战中盟军空军对欧洲大陆发动的152次大规模空袭时的大气电离层里的电子聚集浓度，这些空袭包括掩护盟军诺曼底登陆期间对柏林等德国地区的大轰炸。

The data showed the concentration of electrons fell significantly when a bomb was detonated, which in turn heated the upper atmosphere.

对有关数据分析的结果显示，当时一颗大型炸弹爆炸时，大气中电离层电子的浓度显著下降，从而使上层大气变热。

It is a layer of the Earth's atmosphere which can affect radio communications, GPS systems, radio telescopes and even some understanding of weather systems.

电离层是地球大气中的一层，它可以影响无线电通讯、GPS系统、射电望远镜，甚至还能影响天气系统。

Chris Scott said: "This research is really important if we're going to understand the ionosphere as a whole. We know the ionosphere is controlled by solar activity but it varies much more than can currently be explained."

克里斯·斯科特表示：“如果我们要了解整个电离层，这项研究就非常重要。我们知道电离层是由太阳活动控制的，但目前其多样化的变化却远超出我们目前能解释的部分现象。”