The problem of light pollution -- and 5 ridiculously easy ways to fix it | Kelsey Johnson

Translator: Ivana Korom Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

翻译人员: Gabriella Hu 校对人员: Jiasi Hao

Unless you've spent quality time on the International Space Station,

除非你在国际空间站待过些时日，

this is probably not a view you are super familiar with.

这个景色可能对你很陌生。

This is the east coast of the United States.

这是美国的东海岸。

That's New York down there in the lower right,

右下角就是纽约，

and it's a band of light all the way up through Washington DC.

那条光带直通华盛顿哥伦比亚特区。

Those cities are shining like jewels,

这些城市像珠宝闪耀，

highways are traced by webs of light.

网状的光路点缀着高速公路。

And all of that light is super photogenic.

这些光看上去十分上镜。

But there's a problem.

但是有一个问题。

That light is meant to be illuminating our sidewalks,

这些光本该照亮我们的人行道、

and our streets and our houses.

我们街道，和房屋。

但是与此同时， 这些光也照亮了天空，

Instead, it's actually going up into the sky

and out into the universe,

发射到宇宙中，

where it's not doing any of us any good.

而这对我们毫无利处。

When I see photos of this, of the Earth,

当我看到地球的这张图片时，

I see environmental catastrophe.

我看到的是一场环境灾难。

Those aren't jewels,

这些不是珠宝，

those are tumors.

而是毒瘤。

I'm an astronomer,

我是一名天文学家，

so it's really no surprise probably to anyone

我迷恋夜空，

that I've always loved the night sky.

这也应该不足为奇。

I'm kind of a walking cliché.

我自己有点像行走的陈词滥调。

But when I was growing up in Minnesota,

但是当我在明尼苏达州长大时，

one of my favorite things to do on a summer evening

我最喜欢做的事，就是在夏夜，

was grab my old Raggedy Ann sleeping bag

拿上我旧旧的布安妮睡袋

and take it out into a field behind my house,

到我家后面的田野里，

where I would spend hours looking at the night sky.

整宿地观望夜空。

And to do this, I had to brave not only the darkness,

为此，我不仅要征服黑暗，

but also swarms of mosquitoes,

还要忍受蜂拥而至的蚊虫，

and my sleeping bag really didn't smell very good.

而且我睡袋的气味也不怎么好闻。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But there was one particular star

但是有那么一颗特别的星星，

that I would look for, night after night.

我每夜都在寻找。

And then I would play this game

然后我会自己玩这样的一个游戏：

where I would try to focus on that star so intensely,

我会紧盯着那颗星星，

that everything else would fade from my view

直到其它的一切都 都从我的视野里渐渐淡去，

and that single star would be all that I could see.

而那颗星星 是我唯一可以看到的东西。

I could only ever hold on to that focus

像那样集中注意力，

我只能维持几个瞬间。

for a few fleeting moments.

But when I did,

但每当我这么做时，

I felt this deep sense of connection to the universe.

我感受到了自己 和宇宙之间的深刻连接。

And almost a sense of vertigo,

一股眩晕感袭来，

like I was going to fall into space.

我感觉自己仿佛掉入了太空中。

And when this happened --

当这种感觉出现时——

I know this sounds kind of ridiculous,

我知道这听上去很可笑，

但是我同时也感到 这种深不可测的渺小，

but I would simultaneously feel unfathomably insignificant

又莫名的重要。

and also kind of weirdly important.

That star I looked to night after night was called Vega.

那颗我夜夜观望的星星叫织女星。

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra,

织女星是天琴座中最明亮的恒星，

which is not coincidentally the name of one of my dogs.

并非巧合， 这也是我狗狗的名字。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But this experience is being lost.

但是这个体验正在逐渐消失。

My favorite constellation, Lyra,

我最喜欢的星座，天琴座，

this is what it would look like from Manhattan.

在曼哈顿的夜空中看上去是这样的。

对于住在城市和郊区中的人们，

For people who live in urban and suburban environments,

if they go outside at night and look up,

如果他们仰望夜空，

instead of being awestruck by the majesty of the universe,

他们无法对宇宙的雄伟心生敬畏，

they see pretty much nothing.

因为他们在空中 几乎什么也看不见。

These unremarkable, completely blank night skies,

这些不起眼的、看似空旷的夜空，

当然都是因为 我们在夜晚产生的灯光。

of course are due to all of the light we produce at night.

正是那些我们从太空中看到的光

Those very same lights we see all the way from space

are shining up into the atmosphere,

直射到大气层中，

where they bounce around and create this featureless smog of light.

到处反射，形成光雾。

And that featureless smog of light has a name.

这平淡无奇的光雾有一个名字。

It's called light pollution.

它叫光污染。

As an astronomer,

作为一名天文学家，

I can actually tell how bad light pollution is

我可以通过恒星的亮度

by the brightness of stars I can see in the sky.

判断光污染的严重性。

事实证明，

And it turns out

that when you're trying to unlock the secrets of the cosmos,

如果你想解开宇宙之谜，

it's really helpful to be able to see the cosmos.

首先得能看到宇宙才行。

And --

而且——

[Laughs]

（笑声）

Truth.

是真的。

And this light that we're trying to detect

而且这些我们想要探测到的光

is coming from millions or billions of light-years away,

是从几百万或数十亿光年外来的，

and so it's generally pretty faint.

所以通常都比较暗淡。

作为一名天文学家，

And as an astronomer,

I fight with this every day to do my job,

为了正常工作， 我每天都与光污染作斗争，

and I have to tell you, it is a really big problem.

而且我必须告诉你们， 这是一个很严重的问题。

But the problem is far worse

这个问题的严重性 远远超过了

失去观赏星空的异想天开的能力。

than just losing some whimsical ability to gaze at the stars.

For example,

比方说，

countless plant and animal species are affected.

无数的动植物也受到了影响。

So we could talk about sea turtles

我们可以说说海龟，

or pollinators

或传粉昆虫，

或任何这些非常重要的，

or any of these super important species

that are also cute.

同时也很可爱的物种。

Instead, I want to talk

但是，我想要讲的

about these quietly unassuming dog whelks.

是这些不起眼的犬峨螺。

你们可能见过它们，

You may have seen them around

and not given them really a whole lot of thought.

但并没有多加留意。

But they're pretty cool.

但是它们其实挺特别。

So in an entire year

在一整年中，

a dog whelk will rarely move more than about 10 meters.

一只犬峨螺移动很少超过十米。

That means that when they are attacking their prey

这意味着当它们攻击猎物时，

they can hit this brisk pace of about a millimeter an hour.

它们会以每小时一毫米的速度冲刺，

And --

而且——

（笑声）

(Laughter)

This works out OK,

这其实还凑合，

because they attack things like barnacles.

因为它们攻击的是藤壶。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So these dog whelks live in the intertidal area of coasts,

这些犬峨螺生活在海岸区的潮间带，

where, it turns out,

在这里，

they're a pretty key part of the ecosystem.

它们是生态系统中关键的组成部分。

Not only are they one of the most dominant invertebrate predators,

它们不仅是重要的 无脊柱动物的捕食者，

but other animals, like crabs and birds, think they're pretty tasty.

对于螃蟹和鸟类来说，它们也很可口。

So that leaves these poor snails in a kind of precarious situation,

所以对这些可怜的螺来说， 它们处于岌岌可危之地，

because if they go too low in the water,

因为如果它们到浅水区，

就会受到螃蟹的威胁，

then crabs are a threat,

but if they come out of the water too far,

但是如果进到深水区，

就会成为鸟类的美餐。

birds are going to have a feast.

一名天文学家 为什么要和你们讲犬峨螺？

Why is an astronomer telling you about dog whelks?

我也在自问。

I ask that myself.

Because their behavior is impacted by light pollution.

因为它们的行为 会受到光污染的影响。

举例来说，

For example,

如果犬峨螺在夜晚 遭受人造光源的影响，

if dog whelks are subjected to artificial light at night

they're about twice as likely to stay under the water with a predator.

它们可能有成倍的几率 会和捕食者一同待在水下。

And that puts them at increased risk.

这会把它们置于更大的险地，

And it's not like they can make a speedy escape.

而它们又无法迅速脱身。

所以这些——

And so these --

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And the other issue is because they literally move

另一个问题是它们移动得真的：

at a snail's pace.

慢如蜗牛。

If a population is wiped out,

如果一个种群被消灭，

it can take decades to replenish.

需要数十年才能慢慢恢复。

And that, in turn, affects the rest of their ecosystem

而这又会影响它们其余的生态系统

and the other species, like the birds and the barnacles and the crabs.

和其它的物种， 比如鸟类，藤壶和螃蟹。

So this is just one small and slimy example

这只是一个又小又黏的例子，

来展示光污染是如何 对整个生态系统

of how light pollution can unleash a cascade effect

on an entire ecosystem.

产生级联效应的。

Virtually every species that has been studied to date

几乎每一个至今被研究过的物种

is impacted by light pollution.

都受到了光污染的影响，

And that includes humans.

其中也包括人类。

So let's talk about us.

接下来讲讲我们自己。

You are probably not surprised to hear

你们可能已经听说过

光污染会影响我们夜间的睡眠质量。

that light pollution can affect your ability to sleep well at night.

But you might be surprised to hear that light pollution is linked to obesity.

但是你们可能会 惊讶于光污染和肥胖症的关联。

In fact, in a recent study

事实上，最近的研究发现，

they found that light pollution contributed to over 70 percent

光污染在 80 个国家中

of the obesity rates in 80 countries.

促成了超过 70% 的肥胖率。

More than that,

不仅如此，

light pollution actually contributed about the same amount to excess weight

光污染对肥胖的贡献度

as eating junk food.

等同于吃垃圾食品。

And it gets worse.

而且更糟的是，

对于经常在夜晚

For people who are subjected

受到大量人工光源影响的人们来说，

to significant amounts of artificial light at night

他们患上乳腺癌的几率要高 50%。

they're about 50 percent more likely to get breast cancer.

And in fact, light pollution is correlated with types of cancer

其实，光污染和各种癌症

across the board.

都息息相关。

And in controlled lab experiments

在受控制的实验室环境中，

there's a direct link between increased artificial light at night

夜间人工光源的增加和 肿瘤的生长速度

and a rate of tumor growth.

有直接关系。

You might be wondering how normal light

你们可能在想，正常的光线

could possibly impact cancer rates.

怎么可能影响癌症发病率。

It likely all comes down to the super important hormone

这要归结到一个超级重要的荷尔蒙：

called melatonin,

褪黑素。

which we have evolved over millions of years

经过通过几百万年的进化，

to produce on a day-night cycle, or a circadian rhythm.

人体已经产生了一个昼夜周期， 也称昼夜节律。

What happens is that when light impacts

其中的原理是，当光线在夜间

the retina at the back of our eye at night

渗透到我们眼后的视网膜时，

it can disrupt melatonin production,

这会打乱褪黑素的生成，

而当褪黑素的生成被打乱时，

and when melatonin production is disrupted,

a whole chain of other chemical processes are affected,

一系列其它的化学过程 也会接连受到影响，

and that includes estrogen production.

其中就包括雌激素生成。

And when we throw this chemical balance out of whack,

当这样的化学平衡被打破时，

really bad things can happen.

很糟糕的事情就会发生。

事情的严重性在于，

In fact, things are so bad,

that the International Agency for Cancer Research

国际癌症研究机提出，

has said that disrupting the human circadian rhythm

打乱昼夜节律

is a probable carcinogen.

非常可能致癌。

Also, for fun, I want to let you know

除此之外，我也想要让各位了解，

光污染还是许多其它疾病的起因，

that light pollution has been linked to,

let's see -- headaches, anxiety, depression, diabetes,

比如头疼、焦虑症、 抑郁症、糖尿病，

cardiovascular disease and the list goes on.

以及心血管病等许多其它疾病。

But maybe you don't care about your health.

但是或许你不在意自己的健康。

We're all going to die anyway,

反正每个人都会离开，

you might as well die in a brightly lit room.

不如在一个灯火通明的地方离开。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

你们拥有嘲笑死亡的能力 还蛮令人惊讶的。

The fact that you're laughing about death is kind of amazing.

（笑声）

(Laughter)

You might still care about money.

你们可能仍旧会在意钱。

The money that's spent on that wasted light,

这些花费在浪费了的光源上的钱，

and I mean just the light that's going out into the universe,

我只是指射向宇宙的光，

对我们无用的光，

and not doing us any good,

is three billion dollars a year.

一年就耗费 30 亿美元。

That's enough money to build, like,

这些钱足够建造，例如

1,000 utility-grade windmills,

1000 台公用供电级风车，

或资助整个华盛顿特区的公校 足足两年，

or fund the entire DC public-school system for over two years,

or -- this is my favorite, because I really want one

或者——这是我最喜欢的， 因为我特别想要，

but I can't afford one --

但是买不起——

buy 30,000 Tesla Model X SUVs.

3 万台特斯拉 X 型越野车。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And that includes the electric car tax credit.

而且还包括电动汽车税收抵免，

And then there are the existential costs.

以及存在成本。

我没有具体数据

I don't have any data

on how losing touch with our place in the cosmos

证明若我们不再在意 我们在宇宙中的地位，

impacts us.

会对我们有怎样的影响。

But I believe

但是我相信

that this probably impacts our humanity

这对人类的影响

more than any of the other scary statistics I can share with you.

远超过任何我能和各位 分享的骇人数据。

而且随着时间推移， 这个问题会越来越糟。

And it's getting worse with time.

The amount of light pollution is doubling roughly every 35 years.

光污染程度每 35 年就会翻倍。

That means that within the next decade

这意味着在接下来的 10 年中，

virtually the entire eastern half of the United States

几乎整个美国的东半部

will be perpetually brighter than twilight.

会永久的比黄昏更明亮。

And there's another issue with light pollution.

光污染还带来了另一个问题。

这问题比我们能看到的更加严重。

The problem is way worse than we can see with our own eyes.

Our eyes have evolved to just detect this tiny range

人类的肉眼只能看到整个光谱中

很小范围的光。

of the full spectrum of light.

All of this other light that we can't see,

其它我们看不见的光，

this invisible light,

这些不可见光，

also has a pollution problem.

也有污染问题。

Mostly it's from modern technology,

大多来自现代科技，

比如手机，电子狗，

things like cell phones or car-to-car radar,

or now apparently we need appliances that can talk to each other.

还有现在我们必需的通信设备。

All of this modern technology is putting out strong signals

所有这些现代技术发出的强烈信号

that can completely swamp

可以完全淹没

我们试图从地球之外的宇宙中

this exceedingly faint light we're trying to detect

from the rest of the universe outside Earth,

探测到的极度微弱的光，

which just for the record, is most of the universe.

也就是来自绝大部分宇宙的光。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

接着，还有卫星。

And then, there are satellites.

Satellites are a problem at both visible and invisible wavelengths.

卫星在可见光和不可见光的 波长范围中都是一个问题。

A host of private companies have plans to deploy tens of thousands of satellites

许多私人企业都计划在地球轨道上

into Earth orbit,

配置几万颗卫星，

where they will not only outnumber,

这个数量不仅会远超

literally outnumber the visible stars in the sky,

天空中可见的恒星，

同时也会将不可见光波送回地球。

while also beaming invisible light back to Earth.

So for astronomers like me,

所以对于我们这些

who use invisible light to study the universe,

利用不可见光 去研究宇宙的天文学家，

it's going to be like staring at the Sun

就如同凝视烈日，

and trying to see a birthday candle behind it.

还要尝试在其身后寻找一束烛光。

Alright, I want to be clear

我想强调，

that there's nothing inherently wrong with any of this modern technology.

这些现代科技本身没有什么问题。

With cell phones or satellites or car radar.

比如手机，卫星，和电子狗。

I'm not sure about kitchen appliances.

至于厨房电器，我不是很清楚。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

我还不至于需要

I haven't broken down

and gotten an oven that talks to my cell phone yet.

一个能和我手机交流的烤箱。

And I use lights at night like everybody else.

而且，我和大家一样也在晚上用灯。

But here's the thing.

但要注意的是，

Some problems in the world,

我们面临的有些问题，

like we've heard about today and you'll hear more about,

比如我们今天讲到的， 还有将来你们还会听到的，

往往十分棘手，让我们不知所措。

are overwhelming and they seem intractable.

Visible light pollution is not one of these problems.

然而可见光污染并不属于这种问题。

This is actually stupidly simple, OK?

它其实极其的简单。

So here are five super simple things you can do.

有五件很简单的事， 是你们可以做到的。

Don't use lights brighter than you need to.

不要用过亮的光。

Don't use lights when you don't need them.

当你们不需要的时候， 就不要用。

你们需要用的那些光，

Those lights you're using,

make sure they're shielded down,

确保它们的上方是有屏障的，

so they're not shining up into the sky.

尽量不直接朝天空发光。

And let's talk about LED lights.

我们来讲讲发光二极管（LED）。

If you have a choice, don't buy the blue ones.

如果可以，尽量避免购买蓝色的。

Look for words like "warm white."

可以寻找带有“暖白光”字眼的灯泡。

If you buy LEDs with words like "natural light" or "daylight,"

如果你购买的 LED 上有 “自然光”或“日光”的标签，

that's like saying you hate space.

就等于说你讨厌太空。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And finally,

最后一点，

you could advocate for this.

你可以四处提倡这些“诀窍”。

Even in your local community,

即使在你的社区中，

find out if there's a lighting code

也可以试着找找有没有照明规范，

and whether it could be made more night-sky friendly.

若有的话，我们怎样能做得更好。

Or dare I say, you could even advocate at the federal level,

我敢说你们甚至可以 把问题提升到联邦级别，

by politely asking our federal officials,

礼貌地问问我们的联邦官员，

some of whom may be here,

他们中的某些人可能就在这里，

to please not auction off our view of the invisible universe

请不要拍卖掉我们 无形宇宙的景色，

而让最高出价者随意污染，

to the highest bidder to pollute at will,

这其实也就是现在的情形。

which is actually what happens.

Now, like a good professor,

现在，就像一个优秀的教授一样，

I have homework for you.

我要给你们留个功课。

If you have never seen a truly dark night sky,

如果你们从来没有见过 一个真正黑暗的夜空，

I want you to go out and experience one for yourself.

我想让你们出去亲自体验一下。

Because if you don't,

因为如果没有过这样的体验，

you don't know what you're missing,

你就不知道你错过了什么，

and you don't know what humanity is losing.

更不知道人类正在失去什么。

Thank you.

谢谢！

(Applause)

（掌声）