How long will human impacts last? - David Biello

譯者: Ting-Yen Tsai 審譯者: Helen Chang

「人類誇大一切：英雄、敵人、 重要性。」—查理·布考斯基

Imagine aliens land on the planet a million years from now

想像外星人在一百萬年後登陸地球

and look into the geologic record.

並仔細觀察地球的地質紀錄

What will these curious searchers find of us?

這些好奇的探詢者會 找到關於我們的什麼呢？

They will find what geologists, scientists, and other experts

他們會找到地質學家、科學家

和其他專家日益稱呼的「人類世」

are increasingly calling the Anthropocene,

or new age of mankind.

或是「人類的新世紀」

The impacts that we humans make have become so pervasive,

我們人類所造成的影響 是那麼無所不在

profound,

深遠

and permanent

而且永久

that some geologists argue we merit our own epoch.

讓有些地質學家認為 我們創造了自己的「世」

That would be a new unit in the geologic time scale

這會是個地質時代表上的新單位

that stretches back more than 4.5 billion years,

可以回溯到超過四十五億年前

or ever since the Earth took shape.

或說從地球成形以來

Modern humans may be on par with the glaciers behind various ice ages

現代人可能和各種冰河時期的冰川

or the asteroid that doomed most of the dinosaurs.

或造成恐龍滅絕的小行星同等重要

What is an epoch?

到底什麼是「世」呢？

Most simply, it's a unit of geologic time.

簡單來說，它是地質年代的一個單位

There's the Pleistocene,

有「更新世」

an icy epoch that saw the evolution of modern humans.

是個現代人類進化的冰冷時代

Or there's the Eocene, more than 34 million years ago,

也有超過三千四百萬年前的「始新世」

a hothouse time during which

一個較溫暖、溫室效應較強的時期

the continents drifted into their present configuration.

也是各大陸漂移到現今位置的時期

Changes in climate or fossils found in the rock record

岩石記錄中發現的氣候或化石變化

help distinguish these epochs and help geologists tell deep time.

有助於區分這些「世」 也幫助地質學家瞭解過去發生的事

So what will be the record of modern people's impact on the planet?

所以什麼會成為現代人 對地球影響的紀錄呢？

It doesn't rely on the things that may seem most obvious to us today,

這不一定是現在看起來最明顯的事物

like sprawling cities.

像是不斷向外擴展的城市

Even New York or Shanghai may prove hard to find

就算是紐約或是上海也可能很難

buried in the rocks a million years from now.

在一百萬年後從石堆中被發掘

But humans have put new things into the world

但是人類創造了從來沒有

that never existed on Earth before,

在地球上存在過的新東西

like plutonium

像是鈽和塑膠

and plastics.

In fact, the geologists known as stratigraphers

事實上，地層學家

who determine the geologic timescale,

也就是決定地質年代的地質學家

have proposed a start date for the Anthropocene around 1950.

已經提出「人類世」 約從西元 1950 年開始的說法

That's when people started blowing up nuclear bombs all around the world

那就是人類開始在全世界試爆核彈

and scattering novel elements to the winds.

並且讓新元素四處擴散在空氣中

Those elements will last in the rock record,

這些元素會被保存在岩石地層中

even in our bones and teeth for millions of years.

甚至保存在我們的骨頭 和牙齒中數百萬年之久

And in just 50 years, we've made enough plastic,

而且我們在短短五十年 就已經製造出極大量的塑膠

at least 8 billion metric tons,

至少八十億噸

to cover the whole world in a thin film.

讓全世界被一層薄膜給包覆住

People's farming, fishing, and forestry will also show up as a before and after

人們的農耕、捕魚以及伐木活動

也將在這地層中留下不可磨滅的痕跡

in any such strata

because it's those kinds of activities

因為這些活動

that are causing unique species of plants and animals to die out.

造成許多獨特的動植物走向滅絕

This die-off started perhaps more than 40,000 years ago

這場大滅絕或許在四萬年前

as humanity spread out of Africa

人類從非洲向外遷徙時就已經開始了

and reached places like Australia,

人類遷徙到澳洲等地

kicking off the disappearance of big, likable, and edible animals.

導致許多大型、可愛 可食用的動物消失了

This is true of Europe and Asia, think woolly mammoth,

曾生活在歐洲和亞洲的 猛瑪象就是如此

as well as North and South America, too.

我們也在北美洲和南美洲 造成這種情況

For a species that has only roamed

人類這數十萬年來

the planet for a few hundred thousand years,

唯一可以在全球漫遊的物種

Homo sapiens has had a big impact on the future fossil record.

已經對於未來的化石紀錄 造成極大的影響

That also means that even if people were to disappear tomorrow,

這也代表就算人類明天就全部消失

evolution would be driven by our choices to date.

我們截至目前為止所做的選擇 也會決定了演化的方向

We're making a new homogenous world of certain favored plants and animals,

我們正創造一個新的同質世界 由我們偏愛的動植物所組成

like corn and rats.

像是玉米和老鼠

But it's a world that's not as resilient as the one it replaces.

但這個新世界沒有像過去那一個 擁有那麼強的適應力或彈性

As the fossil record shows,

如同化石紀錄所顯示的

it's a diversity of plants and animals

是動植物的多樣性

that allows unique pairings of flora and fauna

使得獨特的動植物群

to respond to environmental challenges, and even thrive after an apocalypse.

可以面對環境的挑戰 甚至在末日劫難後重新茁壯、繁衍

That goes for people, too.

對人類來說也是同樣的道理

If the microscopic plants of the ocean suffer

如果海洋裡的微小植物

as a result of too much carbon dioxide, say,

因為過多的二氧化碳而無法生存

we'll lose the source of as much as half of the oxygen we need to breathe.

我們將會失去一半可供呼吸的氧氣

Then there's the smudge in future rocks.

再來是對未來岩層的污染

People's penchant for burning coal, oil, and natural gas

人類對於燃煤、石油和天然氣的偏好

has spread tiny bits of soot all over the planet.

已向全世界散播無數微小的煤灰粒子

That smudge corresponds with a meteoric rise

這汙染和空氣中二氧化碳濃度的 急速上升有相同的惡化趨勢

in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air,

now beyond 400 parts per million,

現在懸浮微粒濃度已超過 400ppm

or higher than any other Homo sapiens has ever breathed.

或者說比任何其他時代的人類 所呼吸的還要髒

Similar soot can still be found in ancient rocks

相似的微粒仍可以在六千六百萬年前

from volcanic fires of 66 million years ago,

火山噴發時代的古代岩層中找到

那是一場大劫難的印記：

a record of the cataclysm touched off by an asteroid

at the end of the late Cretaceous epoch.

一顆小行星的撞擊結束了「白堊紀」

So odds are our soot will still be here 66 million years from now,

所以很可能我們製造的微粒 在六千六百萬年後依然存在

easy enough to find for any aliens who care to look.

讓任何好奇的外星人都可以輕易發現

Of course, there's an important difference between us and an asteroid.

當然，我們和小行星有個重要差別

A space rock has no choice but to follow gravity.

太空隕石只能順從重力的牽引

We can choose to do differently.

但我們可以選擇做出改變

And if we do, there might still be some kind of human civilization thousands

如果我們改變，距離現在 幾千年、甚至數百萬年後

or even millions of years from now.

或許人類文明還存在著

Not a bad record to hope for.

這並不是一個壞結果

若你對人類對地球造成的影響有興趣

我們推薦由大衛·比耶羅所寫的 《不自然的世界》

他是這部影片的作者

感謝觀看