How to grow a glacier - M Jackson

翻译人员: Yue Zhang 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

In the 13th Century,

十三世纪，

Genghis Khan embarked on a mission to take over Eurasia,

成吉思汗开启了他统治欧亚大陆的宏图大业，

swiftly conquering countries and drawing them into his expanding Mongol Empire.

他迅速攻占了各个国家， 并将它们纳入蒙古帝国的扩张版图中。

With his vast armies he became almost unstoppable.

他率领百万雄兵，势不可挡。

But, legend has it that there was one obstacle

然而，相传即使是令人生畏的成吉思汗，

that even the impressive Khan couldn’t overcome:

也有一个无法攻克的障碍：

A towering wall of ice,

一堵高耸的冰墙，

grown by locals across a mountain pass

由当地人所建，横跨山口，

to stop the Khan’s armies from invading their territory.

阻止了成吉思汗部队的入侵。

No one knows how historically accurate that particular story is,

无人知晓这样一个故事在历史中是否准确，

but remarkably, it draws on fact:

然而，此故事显然基于一个事实：

For centuries, in the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges,

数世纪以来，在喀拉昆仑山脉和喜马拉雅山脉中，

people have been growing glaciers and using these homemade bodies of ice

人们都会培育冰川，把这些自制的冰块作为

as sources of drinking water and irrigation for their crops.

饮用水和农作物灌溉的源泉。

But before we get to that fascinating phenomenon,

但在我们具体了解这一神奇的现象之前，

it’s important to understand the difference between

很重要的一点则是理解

glaciers that grow in the wild,

自然形成的冰川

and those that humans create.

和人造冰川有何不同。

In the wild,

在自然中，

glaciers require three conditions to grow:

冰川的形成需要三个条件：

Snowfall, cold temperatures, and time.

降雪、低温和时间。

First, a great deal of snow falls and accumulates.

首先，大量的雪花降落并堆积。

Cold temperatures then ensure that the stacked up snow

接着，低温确保了雪能堆积起来，

persists throughout the winter, spring, summer, and fall.

在冬季、春季、夏季以及秋季都不融化。

Over the following years, decades, and centuries,

在接下来的数年、数十年、数世纪，

the pressure of the accumulated snow

积雪的压力

transforms layers into highly compacted glacial ice.

将积雪层转变为密实的冰川冰。

Artificially growing a glacier,

然而，人工制造的冰川，

however, is completely different.

却大为不同。

At the confluence of three great mountain ranges,

在喜马拉雅、喀拉昆仑和兴都库什

the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush,

这三大山脉的交汇处，

some local cultures have believed for centuries that glaciers are alive.

数世纪来，一些当地的文化都相信冰川是有生命的。

And what’s more,

不仅如此，

that certain glaciers can have different genders including male and female.

某些冰川会有不同的性别，包括雄性和雌性。

Local Glacier Growers ‘breed’ new glaciers by grafting together—or marrying—

当地冰川培育者在制造新的冰川时，

fragments of ice from male and female glaciers,

则是将雄性和雌性冰川的成分嫁接在一起 ——或者说让它们“结婚”，

then covering them with charcoal, wheat husks, cloths, or willow branches

随后用木炭、麦壳、布或柳树枝将它们覆盖，

so they can reproduce.

让它们可以繁殖。

Under their protective coverings,

在它们的保护层之下，

these glacierets transform into fully active glaciers

这些冰川转变成完全活跃的冰川，

that grow each year with additional snowfall.

每年随着额外的降雪而增长。

Those then serve as lasting reserves of water

那些冰川于是被用作持续的储备水源，

that farmers can use to irrigate their crops.

农夫可用来灌溉他们的庄稼。

These practices have spread to other cultures,

这些方法已传播到其他文化之中，

where people are creating their own versions of glaciers

那些地方的人创造出了自己独特的冰川版本，

and applying them to solve serious modern challenges around water supplies.

并运用它们来应对现代供水的难题。

Take Ladakh, a high-altitude desert region in northern India.

以拉达克为例，拉达克是 印度北部的一个高海拔沙漠地区。

It sits in the rain shadow of the Himalayas

它位于喜马拉雅山脉的雨影区，

and receives on average fewer than ten centimeters of rain per year.

每年的平均降雨量少雨十厘米。

As local glaciers shrink because of climate change,

气候变化造成当地的冰川缩小，

regional water scarcity is increasing.

区域水资源匮乏日趋严重。

And so, local people have started growing their own glaciers

因此，当地居民开始培育他们自己的冰川，

as insurance against this uncertainty.

作为应对不确定因素的确保措施。

These glaciers come in two types: horizontal, and vertical.

这些冰川有两种形态：水平的和垂直的。

Horizontal glaciers are formed when farmers redirect glacier meltwater

水平冰川的形成方式，是由农夫将冰川融水重新引人进

into channels and pipes,

渠道和管道中，

then carefully siphon it off into a series of basins made from stones and earth.

再用虹吸管小心地将水吸至 一连串由石头和泥土制成的水池中。

Villagers minutely control the release of water into these reservoirs,

村民随时监控着进入到这些蓄水池中的水流量，

waiting for each new layer to freeze

需等到每一个新的冰层冻结起来，

before filling the basin with another wave.

才能对水池蓄下一波水。

In early spring,

早春时节，

these frozen pools begin to melt,

这些冻结的池子开始融化，

supplying villagers with irrigation for their fields.

为村民提供水源灌溉农田。

Local people make vertical glaciers using the meltwater

当地居民采用融水来制造垂直冰川，

from already-existing glaciers high above their villages.

融水来自他们村庄之上的一些既有的冰川。

The meltwater enters channels that run downhill,

融水进入渠道，继而流向山下，

flowing until it reaches a crop site

最终流到庄稼地，

where it bursts forth from a pipe pointing straight into the air.

融水通过管道喷向空中。

When winter temperatures dip,

冬天气温下降时，

this water freezes as it arcs out of the pipe,

融水从管道中呈弧形喷出，水冻结起来，

ultimately forming a 50 meter ice sculpture called a stupa,

最终形成一个五十米高的冰雕，名为冰塔，

shaped like an upside-down ice cream cone.

形状类似于倒置的冰淇淋蛋卷筒。

This inverted form minimizes the amount of surface area it exposes to the sun

这一倒置的形状最大化地减少了春夏季

in the spring and summer.

冰塔与太阳光的接触面积。

That ensures that the mini-glacier melts slowly

这样就能确保这个迷你冰川慢慢融化，

and provides a reliable supply of water to feed the farmers’ crops.

并能提供可靠的水源来灌溉庄稼。

These methods may be ancient,

这些方法也许很古老，

but they’re becoming more relevant

但是随着气候变化对我们的地球产生恶劣影响，

as climate change takes its toll on our planet.

这些方法也变得越发重要。

In fact, people are now growing their own glaciers in many regions beyond Ladakh.

事实上，除拉达克之外， 很多地区的人正在培育他们自己的冰川。

Swiss people, utilizing modern glacier growing technology,

瑞士人利用现代的冰川培育技术，

created their first stupa in 2016 in the Swiss Alps.

于2016年在瑞士阿尔卑斯山脉 创造出了他们的第一座冰塔。

There are plans for over 100 more in villages in Pakistan,

此外，还有计划要在巴基斯坦、 哈萨克斯坦和吉尔吉斯斯坦

Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

的村落中制造超过一包百座冰塔。

Perhaps one day we’ll be able to harness our homegrown glaciers

也许有一天，我们足以利用自己培育的冰川

well enough to build whole walls of ice–

来修筑冰墙——

this time not for keeping people out,

而这次，并不是为了将敌人阻挡在外，

but to enable life in some of the planet’s harshest landscapes.

而是为了让生命在地球上 一些最为严酷的地方得以存续。