Climate change: Earth's giant game of Tetris - Joss Fong

Podnebne spremembe: Zemljina velikanska igra Tetrisa - Joss Fong

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Matej Divjak

To understand climate change,

Da bi razumeli klimatske spremembe, se spomnite igrice "Tetris".

think of the game "Tetris."

For eons, Earth has played a version of this game with blocks of carbon.

Že eone, Zemlja igra različico te igre s kockami ogljika.

They enter the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas from volcanoes,

V atmosfero vstopijo kot ogljikov dioksid iz vulkanov

decaying plant matter,

razpadajočih rastlin,

breathing creatures

dihajočih živih bitij

and the surface of the sea.

in površja morja.

And they leave the atmosphere when they're used by plants during photosynthesis,

In atmosfero zapustijo, ko jih rastline uporabijo za fotosintezo,

absorbed back into the ocean,

ko so absorbirane nazaj v ocean, ali shranjene v zemlji in sedimentu.

or stored in soil and sediment.

This game of Tetris is called the carbon cycle,

Ta igra tetrisa se imenuje ogljikov cikel in je motor življenja na Zemlji.

and it's the engine of life on Earth.

What's the connection to climate?

Kakšna je povezava z podnebjem?

Well, when that carbon dioxide is in the air,

Ko je ogljikov dioksid v zraku, čakajoč na reabsorpcijo,

waiting to be reabsorbed,

it traps a portion of the sun's heat,

ujame del sončeve toplote, ki bi drugače pobegnila v vesolje.

which would otherwise escape to space.

That's why carbon dioxide is called a greenhouse gas.

Zato se ogljikov dioksid imenuje plin tople grede.

It creates a blanket of warmth,

Naredi odejo toplote, znano tudi kot efekt tople grede,

known as the greenhouse effect,

that keeps our Earth from freezing like Mars.

ki preprečuje, da bi Zemlja zmrznila kot Mars.

The more carbon dioxide blocks hang out in the atmosphere waiting to be cleared,

Več kot je kock ogljikovega dioksida, ki čakajo v atmosferi na odstranitev,

the warmer Earth becomes.

toplejša postane Zemlja.

Though the amount of carbon in the atmosphere

Čeprav je količina ogljika v atmosferi

has varied through ice ages and astroid impacts,

variirala skozi ledene dobe in padce asteroidov,

over the past 8,000 years the stable climate we know took shape,

se je zadnjih 8.000 let oblikovalo stabilno podnebje, ki ga poznamo,

allowing human civilization to thrive.

ki je omogočilo razvoj človeške civilizacije.

But about 200 years ago,

Ampak pred 200 leti,

we began digging up that old carbon that had been stored in the soil.

smo začeli izkopavati ta stari ogljik, spravljen v zemlji.

These fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas

Ta fosilna goriva, premog, nafta in naravni plin,

are made from the buried remains of plants and animals

so narejeni iz zakopanih ostankov rastlin in živali,

that died long before humans evolved.

ki so umrle še pred razvojem človeka.

The energy stored inside them was able to power

Energija, spravljena v njih, je lahko poganjala

our factories, cars and power plants.

naše tovarne, avtomobile in elektrarne.

But burning these fuels also injected new carbon blocks into Earth's Tetris game.

A kurjenje teh goriv je v Zemljino igro Tetrisa sprostilo nove kocke ogljika.

At the same time, we cleared forests for agriculture,

Obenem smo posekali gozdove za poljedeljstvo,

reducing the Earth's ability to remove the blocks.

in s tem zmanjšali sposobnost Zemlje za odstranjevanje teh kock.

And since 1750, the amount of carbon in the atmosophere

Od leta 1750 se je količina ogljika v ozračju povečala za 40%

has increased by 40%,

and shows no sign of slowing.

in ne kaže, da se bo upočasnila.

Just like in Tetris, the more blocks pile up,

Tako kot pri Tetrisu, več kock kot se nabere,

the harder it becomes to restore stability.

težje je spet vzpostaviti stabilnost.

The extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Dodatni ogljikov dioksid v ozračju pospeši efekt tople grede

accelerates the greenhouse effect

by trapping more heat near the surface

tako, da ujame več toplote blizu površine in povzroči, da se topi polarni led.

and causing polar ice caps to melt.

And the more they melt, the less sunlight they're able to reflect,

In hitreje, kot se topijo, manj sončeve svetlobe lahko odbijejo,

making the oceans warm even faster.

zato se oceani ogrevajo še hitreje.

Sea levels rise, coastal populations are threatened with flooding,

Gladina morja se dviga, prebivalstvu na obalah grozijo poplave,

natural ecosystems are disrupted,

naravni ekosistemi so porušeni

and the weather becomes more extreme over time.

in vreme sčasoma postaja vedno bolj ekstremno.

Climate change may effect different people and places in different ways.

Podnebne spremembe lahko na različne ljudi in kraje vplivajo na različne načine.

But, ultimately, it's a game that we're all stuck playing.

Ampak, na koncu, je to igra, ki jo moramo vsi igrati.

And unlike in Tetris,

In za razliko od Tetrisa,

we won't get a chance to start over and try again.

tu ne moremo začeti znova in še enkrat poskusiti.