Let's launch a satellite to track a threatening greenhouse gas | Fred Krupp

翻译人员: Yolanda Zhang 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

We've got a big problem on our hands with global warming.

全球变暖是我们目前 面临的一个大问题。

A lot of you, a lot of people have been watching the floods,

包括在座的各位， 我们很多人都目睹了洪水，

the droughts, the storms, the fires.

干旱，风暴和山火 如何在我们的土地上肆虐。

When I leave this stage today, I don't want you to have hope.

在我的演讲结束后， 我并不想让大家抱有希望。

I want you to have certainty, real certainty

我希望你们能够十分确信，

that we can make a dent in this problem and live to see it.

我们找到了解决问题的可靠途径。

I want to give you a vision of what that would look like.

我想给你们一个 关于这个途径的愿景。

This is the first time we've shared this publicly.

这是我们第一次公开分享这一信息。

You're the first audience to hear it.

你们是第一批听到它的观众。

We are going to launch a rocket.

我们会发射一枚火箭。

And on that rocket will be a satellite.

火箭上会携带一颗卫星。

And that satellite will collect data about pollution

这颗卫星能够搜集导致全球变暖的

that is warming the planet.

污染数据。

We will put that data in the hands of people

这些数据会被送到能够

who can make simple fixes

以简便的方式，

that will change the course of global warming in our lifetime.

在我们的有生之年改变 全球变暖进程的人们手中。

That's a lot to take in, maybe I should back up.

上面这段话包含了太多信息， 我们还是从头开始吧。

First, let me introduce myself, I'm Fred,

首先，我想做个自我介绍，我叫弗雷德，

I've been an environmentalist since I was a kid,

我从童年时期就 已经是个环保主义者了，

when I watched the fish and the frogs in my neighborhood pond

我曾经目睹了 社区池塘里的鱼和青蛙因为

die from a chemical spill.

化学物质倾泻而死亡。

That bothered me.

这让我十分忧虑。

Later, a professor inspired me to think about environmentalism differently.

后来，一位教授启发了我 以不同的方式思考环境保护论。

How the best solutions come from

如何通过应对人们对繁荣的渴望

answering people's aspirations for prosperity,

得到最佳解决方案，

things like being safe and healthy and thriving in this world.

比如安全，健康，生机勃勃的 生活在这个世界上。

So I joined the Environmental Defense Fund to build those kind of solutions.

于是我加入了环境保卫基金， 试图打造出这样的解决方案。

And I've worked my whole career for a moment like this --

我的整个职业生涯都致力于 实现这样的时刻——

the moment, when we can stop fighting headwinds

我们能够停止顶风对抗，

and start to have the wind at our backs.

开始乘风向前，让难题迎刃而解。

Because of the power of information,

因为我们有了信息的力量，

information from technology

先进技术提供的信息

that is coming down in price and going up in precision.

成本日益降低， 精确度也在不断提高。

You see, there's something about climate change that we didn't grasp

很明显，有些关于气候变化的问题

just a decade ago.

我们在十年前还没有注意到。

The world was so focused on carbon dioxide

全世界都过分关注二氧化碳，

that we overlooked another important gas.

却忽略了另外一个重要的气体。

We didn't appreciate methane.

我们没有重视甲烷。

Methane pollution causes one quarter of the global warming

甲烷污染占据了我们目前面临的

that we're experiencing right now.

全球变暖问题的四分之一。

Pound for pound, its immediate impact is far greater than carbon dioxide.

甲烷泄露，其立竿见影的 影响远超二氧化碳，

Eighty four times greater over a 20-year period.

并在过去的20年期间增加了84倍。

One of the largest sources of methane pollution

甲烷污染的最大的源头之一

is the oil and gas industry.

就是油气工业。

But that's not obvious, because methane is invisible.

但是这很难被察觉， 因为甲烷是透明的。

Let's take a look at this natural gas storage facility

我们来看看洛杉矶城外这个

outside of Los Angeles.

天然气储存设施，

Can you see the methane?

能看到甲烷泄露吗？

Neither can I.

我也看不到。

How about now?

现在呢？

We shot this using an infrared camera, at the same spot,

我们在同一地点 用红外摄像机拍摄，

exposing one of the worst methane leaks in the history of the United States.

揭露了美国历史上 最严重的甲烷泄露之一。

That's a very different picture.

与之前看到的不同， 这个画面触目惊心。

It turns out that natural gas is displacing our dependence on coal,

天然气正在取代我们对煤炭的依赖，

which emits far more carbon dioxide.

后者在燃烧过程中 会释放更多二氧化碳。

But natural gas is mostly methane.

但是天然气的主要成分就是甲烷。

So, as it's produced and processed

在全美国境内，甲烷被生产，

and transported to homes and businesses across America,

处理和运输至若干家庭和企业，

it escapes from wells and pipes and other equipment.

同时不断从井口，管道以及 其他设施中泄露出来，

It gets up into the sky and contributes

在空气中扩散，导致了我们

to the disasters that we're now experiencing.

正在面临的很多灾害。

That does not have to happen.

而这一切都是可以避免的。

But nobody had paid much attention to it

但是在我们针对这个问题开展了

until we launched a nationwide study to understand the problem.

一个全国范围的研究之前， 人们却几乎没怎么关注过它。

We used drones, planes, helicopters, even Google Street View cars.

我们动用了无人机，飞机， 直升机，甚至谷歌街景车。

It turns out there's far more of this methane pollution

结果发现甲烷污染的现象 比政府报告的

than what the government is reporting.

要远远普遍得多。

It also turns out that when we find where the gas is being vented and leaked,

我们还发现，我们 找到的气体泄露的源头，

most of those sources can be fixed easily and inexpensively,

大部分都能够通过 简单廉价的方式处理，

saving the gas that would have otherwise been wasted.

防止气体被白白浪费掉。

And finally, we learn that when you put information like that into people's hands,

最终，我们发现 把这些信息交到人们手中，

they act.

他们都会采取行动。

Leading companies replaced valves and tightened loose-fitting pipes.

行业领导者们替换了阀门， 并加固了衔接处不够牢固的管道。

Colorado became the first state in the nation to limit methane pollution;

科罗拉多是第一个 限制甲烷污染的州；

California followed suit, and the public joined in.

加州紧随其后， 接着大家都参与了进来。

Tweets started flying -- #cutmethane.

推特上也开始关注这一话题 ——#控制甲烷。

And everybody's paying more attention now.

人们也开始更关注这个问题。

We're doing this because we can't wait for Washington, especially not now.

我们自发开始行动，因为等不及华盛顿 方面的回应，尤其在现在这个时期。

In fact, we have to take what we've done so far

事实上，我们不得不将现有的技术

and go higher, to the sky.

运用在高空中。

The United Stated represents about 10 percent of this pollution.

美国本土代表了10%的甲烷污染规模。

To find the rest, we have to go global.

要处理余下的部分， 我们需要放眼全球。

Remember that rocket I mentioned?

还记得我提到的火箭吗？

It will launch a compact satellite, called MethaneSAT,

它会发射一个精巧的卫星， 叫做甲烷SAT，

to do what no one has been able to do until now:

这个卫星要去完成一个 史上从未执行过的任务：

measure methane pollution from oil and gas facilities worldwide,

高精度测量全球油气开采设施的

with exacting precision.

甲烷污染。

Its data stream will allow us to map that pollution,

它提供的数据流能够 让我们测绘出污染的情况，

so that everyone can see it.

这样所有人都能看到。

Then it's all about turning data into action,

下一步就要把数据转换成行动，

just as we did in the United States.

正如我们在美国实践过的那样。

We've seen that when we present companies with data,

我们已经见证了 把数据展示给企业时，

many of them will cut the pollution.

他们当中大部分都会配合减少污染。

Citizens will be empowered to take action;

市民们会被激励而采取行动；

governments will tighten the regulations.

政府部门会制定更严格的规定。

And because all of our data will be free and public,

并且由于我们的所有数据 都是免费和公开的，

there will be transparency --

这就提供了足够的透明度——

we'll all be able to see how much progress is being made and where.

我们都可以看到在哪里， 取得了多大的进展。

Which brings me to our goal:

这一切都能帮助实现我们的目标：

to cut this methane pollution by 45 percent by 2025.

到2025年，降低45%的甲烷污染。

(Applause)

（掌声）

That will have the same near-term impact

这就相当于短期内在全世界

as shutting down 1,300 coal-fired power plants.

关闭1300个火力发电厂产生的效果。

That's one third of all the coal-fired power plants in the world.

差不多是全球火力发电厂 数量的三分之一。

Nothing else can have this sort of near-term impact at such a low cost.

没有任何一种措施能够以如此 低成本，在短期内产生这样的影响。

The fact that a single satellite

一个卫星就能帮助我们

can help us put the brakes on global warming is truly remarkable.

减缓全球变暖进程，这太不可思议了。

This is our chance to create change in our lifetimes,

我们有能力在有生之年做出改变，

and we can do it now.

现在就可以。

Thanks to the generous giving of the Audacious Project,

感谢“大胆项目”的慷慨支持，

we are on a path toward liftoff.

我们正朝着发射的目标迈进。

But my time is running short, and I promised you a vision

不过我的演讲快结束了， 我刚才承诺给各位了一个愿景，

of what a critical piece of the solution would look like.

关于解决途径的 一个重要部分是什么。

Can you see it?

你们看到了吗？

Can you see how this satellite leverages

你们看到这个卫星如何综合利用

the best of science and data and technology?

科学，数据和技术 最精彩的地方了吗？

Can you see we're entering a whole new era of innovation

你们看到我们正在步入一个全新的，

that is supercharging progress?

超快推进人类进步的时代了吗？

Can you see that it's in our hands?

你们看到这一切都在由我们掌控吗？

We've set an aggressive goal of three years till liftoff,

我们已经制定了一个 三年的野心勃勃的发射目标，

and when that satellite is ready, we'll have a launch party.

当卫星一切就绪， 我们会开一个庆祝大会。

A literal launch party.

一个名副其实的发射狂欢节。

So imagine a blue-sky day, crowds of people,

想象晴空万里的一天，人山人海，

television cameras,

到处都是电视直播设备，

kids staring up toward the sky

孩子们仰头望着天空，

at a thing that will change their future.

盯着一个会改变他们未来的东西。

What an amazing day that will be.

这将是多么激动人心的一天啊。

What a big opportunity we have.

我们有了多么大的一个机会。

I can't wait.

我已经等不及了。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）