美國死亡谷氣溫高達54.4攝氏度，全球最高

What could be the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth - 130F (54.4C) - may have been reached in Death Valley National Park, California.

地球上有可靠記錄的最高溫度是多少？很可能是130華氏度（即54.4攝氏度）——加利福尼亞州的死亡谷國家公園裏已達到此溫度。

The recording is being verified by the US National Weather Service.

美國國家氣象局正在對這一氣溫進行證實。

It comes amid a heatwave on the US's west coast, where temperatures are forecast to rise further this week.

此時美國西海岸正經歷高溫天氣，預計本週氣溫會繼續升高。

The scorching conditions have led to two days of blackouts in California, after a power plant malfunctioned on Saturday.

高溫導致加州一發電廠週六出現故障，停電兩天。

"It's an oppressive heat and it's in your face," Brandi Stewart, who works at Death Valley National Park said.

死亡谷國家公園的工作人員Brandi Stewart說：“難以忍受的高溫撲面而來。”

Ms Stewart has lived and worked at the national park on and off for five years. She spends a lot of her time indoors in August because it's simply too uncomfortable to be outside.

Stewart女士在這個國家公園斷斷續續地生活和工作了五年，八月份大多數時間她都待在室內，因爲外出實在太難受了。

"When you walk outside it's like being hit in the face with a bunch of hairdryers," she said. "You feel the heat and it's like walking into an oven and the heat is just all around you."

她說：“走在外面，感覺就像一堆吹風機對着你臉吹。熱得就像走進了烤箱，周圍就只剩熱了。”

What were the previous records?

此前的紀錄是多少？

Sunday's reading was recorded in Furnace Creek in Death Valley.

週日的讀數是在死亡谷的熔爐溪記錄的。

Before this, the highest temperature reliably recorded on Earth was 129.2F (54C) - also in Death Valley in 2013.

此前地球上有可靠記錄的最高氣溫是2013年的129.2華氏度（54攝氏度），也是出現在死亡谷。

A higher reading of 134F, or 56.6C a century earlier, also in Death Valley, is disputed. It is believed by some modern weather experts to have been erroneous, along with several other searing temperatures recorded that summer.

一個世紀前死亡谷也出現過更高的氣溫記錄，爲134華氏度（56.6攝氏度），但這一記錄有爭議。一些現代天氣專家認爲這一記錄和那年夏天的其他幾項高溫記錄都是錯誤的。

According to a 2016 analysis from weather historian Christopher Burt, other temperatures in the region recorded in 1913 do not corroborate the Death Valley reading.

據2016年氣象歷史學家Christopher Burt的分析，該地區1913年記錄的其他氣溫並不能證實死亡谷的讀數。

Another record temperature for the planet - 131F, or 55C - was recorded in Tunisia in 1931, but Mr Burt said this reading, as well as others recorded in Africa during the colonial era, had "serious credibility issues".

1931年在突尼斯出現了131華氏度（55攝氏度）的地球高溫紀錄，但Burt先生說這一讀數和殖民時期非洲的其他高溫記錄都“非常不可信”。