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

Klimatske promene - Zemljina ogromna igra Tetrisa - Džos Fong (Joss Fong)

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Dejan Vicai

To understand climate change,

Da biste razumeli klimatske promene,

think of the game "Tetris."

zamislite igru "Tetris".

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

Eonima, Zemlja je igrala ovu igru sa blokovima ugljenika.

They enter the atmosphere as carbon dioxide gas from volcanoes,

U atmosferu ulaze kao ugljen-dioksid, gas iz vulkana, gasovi iz materija

decaying plant matter,

od biljaka koje se raspadaju,

breathing creatures

od živih bića

and the surface of the sea.

i sa površine mora.

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

Atmosferu napuštaju kada ih iskoriste biljke tokom fotosinteze,

absorbed back into the ocean,

kada se vrate u okean

or stored in soil and sediment.

ili skladište u zemlji i sedimentu.

This game of Tetris is called the carbon cycle,

Igra Tetrisa naziva se ciklusom ugljenika,

and it's the engine of life on Earth.

i to je žila kucavica Zemlje.

What's the connection to climate?

Koja je veza sa klimom?

Well, when that carbon dioxide is in the air,

Pa, kada je taj ugljen dioksid u vazduhu

waiting to be reabsorbed,

i čeka da se ponovo unese negde,

it traps a portion of the sun's heat,

on zarobljava deo toplote sunca

which would otherwise escape to space.

koji bi inače pobegao u svemir.

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

Zbog toga se ugljen dioksid naziva gasom staklene bašte.

It creates a blanket of warmth,

On stvara toplotni pokrivač, koji je

known as the greenhouse effect,

poznat kao efekat staklene bašte,

that keeps our Earth from freezing like Mars.

zbog čega se naša Zemlja ne smrzava kao Mars.

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

Što više blokova ugljen-dioksida stoji u atmosferi i čeka raščišćavanje,

the warmer Earth becomes.

to je Zemlja toplija.

Though the amount of carbon in the atmosphere

Iako je količina ugljenika u atmosferi

has varied through ice ages and astroid impacts,

varirala kroz ledena doba i udare asteroida,

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

tokom proteklih 8 000 godina formirala se stabilna klima koju znamo

allowing human civilization to thrive.

i omogućila da napreduje ljudska civilizacija.

But about 200 years ago,

Ali pre oko 200 godina,

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

počeli smo da iskopavamo taj stari ugljenik koji je bio u zemljištu.

These fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas

Ta fosilna goriva, ugalj, nafta i prirodni gas

are made from the buried remains of plants and animals

su sačinjeni od zakopanih ostataka biljaka i životinja

that died long before humans evolved.

koji su umrli davno pre nego što su se ljudi razvili.

The energy stored inside them was able to power

Energija unutar njih je mogla da snabdeva

our factories, cars and power plants.

naše fabrike, kola i elektrane.

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

Ali sagorevanje tih goriva je ubacilo i nove blokove ugljenika u igru Tetrisa.

At the same time, we cleared forests for agriculture,

U isto vreme, čistili smo šume zbog privrede,

reducing the Earth's ability to remove the blocks.

smanjujući sposobnost Zemlje da ukloni blokove.

And since 1750, the amount of carbon in the atmosophere

Od 1750., količina ugljenika u atmosferi

has increased by 40%,

se uvećala za 40%

and shows no sign of slowing.

i ne pokazuje znakove usporavanja.

Just like in Tetris, the more blocks pile up,

Baš kao u Tetrisu, što se više talože blokovi,

the harder it becomes to restore stability.

to je teže da se povrati stabilnost.

The extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Dodatni ugljen-dioksid u atmosferi

accelerates the greenhouse effect

ubrzava efekat staklene bašte

by trapping more heat near the surface

zarobljavajući više toplote blizu površine

and causing polar ice caps to melt.

i uzrokujući topljenje polarnih ledenih kapa.

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

A što se više tope, to manje mogu da odbiju sunčeve svetlosti,

making the oceans warm even faster.

pa se okeani greju još brže.

Sea levels rise, coastal populations are threatened with flooding,

Dižu se nivoi mora, obalskim populacijama prete poplave,

natural ecosystems are disrupted,

prirodni ekosistemi su narušeni,

and the weather becomes more extreme over time.

a vreme postaje sve ekstremnije.

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

Klimatske promene mogu da pogode razne ljude i mesta na različite načine.

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

Ali na kraju, to je igra koju svi igramo.

And unlike in Tetris,

Ali za razliku od Tetrisa,

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

nećemo imati priliku da počnemo iznova.