The colossal consequences of supervolcanoes - Alex Gendler

超級火山的巨大影響 - 艾力克斯．簡德勒

譯者: Jessie Lee 審譯者: Gina Wang

The year was 1816.

1816 年時

Europe and North America had just been through

歐洲與北美洲經歷了

一連串毀滅性的戰爭

a devastating series of wars,

而緩慢的復原似乎正在進行中

and a slow recovery seemed to be underway,

但大自然有其他的計畫

but nature had other plans.

After two years of poor harvests,

在持續兩年的農作物歉收後

the spring brought heavy rains and cold,

春季帶來了豪雨與寒冷

flooding the rivers and causing crop failures

河水氾濫成災且導致農作物枯零

from the British Isles to Switzerland.

從不列顛群島到瑞士

While odd-colored snow fell in Italy and Hungary,

當義大利和匈牙利下著顏色奇怪的雪

famine, food riots and disease epidemics ensued.

飢荒、糧食暴動和傳染病接踵而至

Meanwhile, New England was blanketed

此時，新英格蘭被怪霧壟罩著

此時，新英格蘭被怪霧壟罩著

by a strange fog

that would not disperse

始終未消散

as the ground remained frozen

當地面仍冰凍著

well into June.

直到六月

In what came to be known as "the Year Without a Summer,"

這就是眾所皆知的「無夏之年」

some thought the apocalypse had begun.

有些人認為世界末日已經開始了

在拜倫的詩《黑暗》中捕捉的心情

A mood captured in Lord Byron's poem "Darkness":

"I had a dream which was not all a dream.

「我做了一個夢，那卻不是個夢

The bright sun was extinguish'd,

明亮的太陽熄滅了

and the stars did wander darkling in the eternal space,

星辰徘徊在幽暗的無盡空間裡

rayless, and pathless,

無光，且無路

and the icy Earth swung blind and blackening

冰凍的地球盲目地轉動

in the moonless air;

且在無月的空中逐漸黝暗

morn came and went -- and came, and brought no day."

清晨來而復去 ── 白晝從未到臨」

They had no way of knowing

他們沒有辦法知道

that the real source of their misfortunes

造成他們不幸的真正源頭

had occurred a year ago thousands of miles away.

發生在一年多前且於千哩之外

1815 年坦博拉火山爆發

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora

on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa

它位於印尼的松巴哇島

那是我們所知的超級火山

was what is known as a supervolcano,

characterized by a volume of erupted material,

特性是爆發物的體積

many times greater than that of ordinary volcanoes.

是一般火山的許多倍大

該火山毀滅的圖像廣為流傳

And while the popular image of volcanic destruction

只顯示熔化的岩石吞噬了周圍的土地

is molten rock engulfing the surrounding land,

far greater devastation is caused

但引起更嚴重破壞的卻是

留在空氣中的物質

by what remains in the air.

Volcanic ash, dispersed by wind,

火山灰隨風散佈

可以掩蓋天空數天

can blanket the sky for days,

當有毒氣體如：二氧化硫

while toxic gases, such as sulfur dioxide,

在平流層裡作用

react in the stratosphere,

blocking out solar radiation

遮蔽了太陽輻射

and drastically cooling the atmosphere below.

而大大地冷卻了下方的氣層

The resulting volcanic winter,

由此產生的火山冬天

along with other effects such as acid rain,

伴隨著其他的影響，如：酸雨

可以波及數大洲、

can effect multiple continents,

disrupting natural cycles

破壞自然週期

and annihilating the plant life on which other organisms,

摧毀植物的生命進而毀滅其他的生物

including humans, depend.

甚至可能包括人類

該火山釋出了近 160 立方公里

Releasing nearly 160 cubic kilometers

的岩石、火山與氣體

of rock, ash and gas,

the Mount Tambora eruption

坦博拉火山爆發

是史上紀錄中最嚴重的一次

was the largest in recorded history,

causing as many as 90,000 deaths.

造成多達九萬人死亡

但之前幾場的火山爆發卻更加致命

But previous eruptions have been even more deadly.

在 1600 年秘魯的于埃納普蒂納火山爆發

The 1600 eruption of Peru's Huaynaputina

is likely to have triggered the Russian famine,

很可能引發俄羅斯飢荒

那造成近兩百萬人罹難

that killed nearly two million,

而更古老的火山爆發已被歸咎為世界主要事件的肇因

while more ancient eruptions have been blamed for major world events,

such as the fall of the Chinese Xia Dynasty,

如中國夏朝的滅亡、

the disappearance of the Minoan civilization,

米諾安文明的消失、

甚至是人類演化中的遺傳瓶頸

and even a genetic bottleneck in human evolution

那可能造成僅幾千人存活

that may have resulted from all but a few thousand human beings

being wiped out 70,000 years ago.

而其他人則在七萬年前被徹底消滅

One of the most dangerous types of supervolcano

超級火山中最危險的類型之一

is an explosive caldera,

是爆炸性火山臼（譯註：又名「破火山口」）

formed when a volcanic mountain collapses

成因是當火山在巨大噴發而倒塌後

after an eruption so large

that the now-empty magma chamber

那個現在是空的岩漿囊

can no longer support its weight.

無法再承受重量

But though the above-ground volcano is gone,

但就算地面上的火山不見了

the underground volcanic activity continues.

地底火山活動仍持續著

With no method of release,

因為沒有方法釋放

magma and volcanic gases continue

岩漿與火山氣體繼續

to accumulate and expand underground,

在地底累積與擴大

building up pressure until a massive and violent explosion

形成壓力，直到一場龐大且劇烈的爆發

becomes inevitable.

成為無法避免的事

And one of the largest active volcanic calderas

而其中一個大型活火山臼

lies right under Yellowstone National Park.

就在黃石國家公園底下

The last time it erupted, 650,000 years ago,

上次爆發是 65 萬年前

以將近兩公尺的火山灰與岩石

it covered much of North America

in nearly two meters of ash and rock.

覆蓋了大半的北美

Scientists are currently monitoring

目前科學家正在監測

the world's active volcanoes,

全世界的活火山

and procedures for predicting eruptions,

並預測火山爆發的程序

conducting evacuations and diverting lava flows

和執行逃生和引導熔岩流

have improved over the years.

他們多年來很有進展

但超級火山的大規模與全球影響力

But the massive scale and global reach

of a supervolcano

means that for many people there would be nowhere to run.

意味著多數人可能無處可逃

Fortunately, the current data shows no evidence

所幸，目前的數據顯示

of such an eruption occurring in the next few thousand years.

這樣的火山爆發不會 在接下來的幾千年內發生

But the idea of a sudden and unavoidable

但理解突發與無可避免的

civilization-destroying apocalypse

文明摧毀大災難

caused by events half a globe away

是由半個地球之遙的事件引起

will remain a powerful and terrifying vision.

仍會是個強大且駭人的景象

Less fictional than we would like to believe.

比我們願意相信的還要真實

"The winds were withered in the stagnant air,

「風在停滯中的空氣中凋謝

and the clouds perish'd;

雲朵殞滅了

darkness had no need of aid from them --

黑暗不需要它們的援助

she was the universe." - Lord Byron

她就是宇宙」── 拜倫