The Good News You Might Have Missed | Angus Hervey | TED

翻译人员: Lening Xu 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

The world feels scary right now.

现在这个世界感觉很可怕。

The planet heats.

地球在变热。

The clock ticks.

时钟在滴答作响。

The red lines climb.

红线在攀升。

Death stalks the fields of Ukraine and the streets of Gaza.

死亡笼罩着乌克兰的田野 和加沙的街道。

Famine looms in Sudan.

苏丹的饥荒即将爆发。

And in the Middle East, the drums of war sound louder by the day.

中东战鼓声与日俱增。

Habitats shrink,

栖息地在减少，

democracy's flame sputters,

民主的火焰熊熊燃烧，

authoritarianism and intolerance rear their ugly heads.

威权主义和脱钩正在抬头。

Millions flee disaster and persecution.

数百万人逃离灾难和迫害。

The debts mount.

债务不断增加。

International cooperation falters.

国际合作步履蹒跚。

Everywhere we look, there are reports of decline.

目之所见，都是衰退的报道。

Are we headed for disaster?

我们正走向灾难吗？

Well, your answer to that question

这个问题的答案

probably depends on where you've been getting your news,

可能取决于你从哪里获得的新闻，

because here are some other stories from the last 12 months.

这里有过去 12 个月一些其他的报道。

Some other reports of decline

其他一些你可能没有听说过的 关于衰退的报道。

that you may not have heard about.

Last year,

去年，

extreme poverty declined to its lowest level in human history,

极端贫困降至 人类历史上的最低水平，

an estimated 8.4 percent.

约为 8.4％ 。

Deforestation across the entire Amazon basin declined by 55 percent

整个亚马逊盆地的森林砍伐 减少了 55％ ，

and violent crime in the United States declined to its lowest level

美国的暴力犯罪降至 1960 年代 以来的最低水平。

since the 1960s.

In the last 12 months,

在过去的 12 个月中，

a record number of countries have eliminated a disease,

有创纪录数量的国家消灭了一种疾病，

including, for the first time ever,

有史以来第一次包括了

Hepatitis C by Egypt

埃及的丙型肝炎 和孟加拉国的黑热病。

and black fever by Bangladesh.

And global AIDS deaths have declined to their lowest level since the 1990s,

全球艾滋病死亡人数已降至 20 世纪 90 年代以来的最低水平，

down by more than two thirds since their peak.

自峰值下降了三分之二以上。

When I was in high school,

在我读高中的时候，

that was the world's deadliest infectious disease.

那是世界上最致命的传染病。

And now we have the power to end it.

现在我们有能力抑制它。

So maybe you've been feeling despair over climate change

也许你对气候变化感到绝望，

or the fear of fascism rising like Dracula from the coffin,

或者害怕法西斯主义 像棺材里的德古拉一样复活，

of resource overshoots and political decay.

害怕资源超采和政治衰退。

But last year,

但是去年，

carbon emissions in advanced economies declined back to the same level

发达经济体的碳排放 下降到了 50 年前的水平。

as 50 years ago.

Cancer death rates in America and Europe declined again.

美国和欧洲的癌症死亡率再次下降。

And air pollution is now falling in 21 of the world's 25 biggest cities.

目前，全球 25 个最大城市中 有 21 个城市的空气污染正在下降。

Alongside those declines,

除了这些下降之外，

other things have been on the rise.

其他因素也在上升。

There are 50 million more girls in school today

如今，在校女生人数 比不到十年前增加了 5000 万。

than there were just under a decade ago.

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼和掌声）

And last year, 418 million of the world's children got fed at school.

去年，全世界有 4.18 亿 儿童在学校获得食物。

That is almost one in five.

这几乎是五分之一。

This year, it's going to be even more.

今年，还会有更多。

Since we were last all gathered here,

从我们上次聚会至今，

millions of people have gained access to water.

已有数百万人获得了水资源。

Tens of millions of people have gained access to electricity.

数千万人获得了电力供应。

Estonia and Greece have legalized same-sex marriage.

爱沙尼亚和希腊已将 同性婚姻合法化。

It looks like Thailand and Japan are going to be the next two on that list.

看起来泰国和日本将成为 接下来两个上榜的国家。

And at least ten countries in the last 12 months

在过去的12个月中，至少有十个国家 通过立法扩大妇女权利，

have passed laws expanding the rights of women,

including France,

其中包括法国，

which recently became the first country

该国成为第一个将生殖权利 写入宪法的国家。

to enshrine reproductive rights into its constitution.

(Applause)

（掌声）

In 2023, we installed so much wind and solar

2023 年，我们安装了 大量风能和太阳能，

that it changed the trajectory of our climate future,

它们改变了我们未来的气候轨迹，

with China’s carbon emissions now predicted to start falling

预计中国的碳排放量 最早将在今年开始下降。

as early as this year.

In 2024,

2024 年，

we are going to install enough global solar manufacturing capacity

我们将在全球安装充足的太阳能，

to reach our net-zero targets by the end of this decade.

以便在十年后实现净零目标。

A car powered by electrons

去年，电动汽车成为 全世界最畅销的汽车，

was the world's best-selling vehicle last year,

and batteries are now the fastest-growing technology

电池是自第二次世界大战 人类制造飞机以来

since human beings made aircraft in World War II.

增长最快的技术。

We have crossed the threshold.

我们已经跨越了门槛。

There is too much momentum now

现在势头太猛，

to stop the transition to clean energy from happening.

无法阻止向清洁能源的过渡。

I have two little girls, Lola and Cleo.

我有两个女儿， 萝拉（Lola）和克莱奥（Cleo）。

Lola is four years old,

萝拉已经四岁了，

Cleo turned three the other day.

前几天克莱奥也三岁了。

And the International Energy Agency says that based on current trends,

国际能源署表示，根据目前的趋势，

by the time my girls are my age,

当我的女儿们成长到我的年龄时，

the world's electricity and transportation systems

世界的电力和运输系统正朝着 几乎完全不使用化石燃料的方向发展。

are on track to be almost entirely fossil-fuel-free.

(Applause)

（掌声）

We are not doomed.

我们并非注定要失败。

Did you know that 2023 was arguably the greatest year ever

你知道吗，2023 年可以说 是有史以来最伟大的保护年？

for conservation?

We protected huge tracts of land in Alaska, the Amazon,

我们保护了阿拉斯加、亚马逊、

southern Africa, and the entire Tibetan Plateau,

南部非洲和整个青藏高原的大片土地，

which is an area larger than all of Western Europe.

青藏高原的面积比整个西欧都要大。

We created new marine protected areas off the coasts of Mexico, Chile, Panama,

我们在墨西哥、智利、巴拿马、

Dominica, South Georgia, Spain, Ireland, the Congo,

多米尼加、南乔治亚、 西班牙、爱尔兰、刚果、

Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia.

澳大利亚、巴布亚新几内亚、 新喀里多尼亚沿海创建了新的海洋保护区。

In the last 12 months,

在过去的 12 个月里，

there have been hundreds of stories of cities being regreened,

有数百个关于城市复绿、

of farmland being rewilded,

农田改造、

of rivers being cleaned up, islands being restored.

河流清理、岛屿恢复的故事。

And the populations of every single one of these species

而这些物种中每一个物种的种群

is now either recovering or on the rise.

现在要么正在恢复， 要么正在增加。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Look, I know that a lot of stuff is going wrong.

你看，我知道 很多事情出了问题。

You know that a lot of stuff is going wrong.

你知道很多事情出了问题。

This is not some weird attempt to cancel or balance out the bad news.

这并不是屏蔽或 平衡坏消息的奇怪尝试。

But here's an idea.

但我有个想法。

If we want more people to devote themselves

如果我们想让更多的人全身心地投入到

to the task of making progress,

取得进展的任务中，

then maybe we should be telling more people

那么也许我们 应该告诉更多的人，

that it's possible to make progress.

取得进展是可能的。

(Applause)

（掌声）

If you're halfway up the mountain,

如果你已经在半山腰了，

you don't just stare at the top and say, "Oh my gosh, it looks so steep."

你不能只是盯着山顶说： “天啊，看起来太陡了。”

You look back and you remind yourselves how far we've already come.

你得回过头来提醒自己 我们已经走了多远。

In the last 12 months, despite all of the challenges,

在过去的 12 个月中， 尽管面临种种挑战，

we have climbed a little further.

我们仍在一点点攀升。

So don't bet against humanity.

因此，不要拿人性做赌注。

In Nevada, they're using geothermal techniques

在内华达州， 人们正在使用地热技术

to tap into the clean energy of our planet.

来利用我们星球的清洁能源。

On the border of Belgium and France,

在比利时和法国的边境，

they're using bacteria to break down plastic.

人们正在使用细菌来分解塑料。

In Shenzhen, they're delivering blood via drones.

在深圳，人们通过无人机运送血液。

And in space, new satellites mean polluters no longer have anywhere to hide.

而在太空中，新的卫星意味着 污染者无处藏身。

We are launching 5,000-ton starships.

我们正在发射重达 5000 吨的星际飞船。

We are making seven-billion- kilometer round trips

我们正在往返 70 亿公里，

to collect stardust from asteroids.

从小行星上收集星尘。

We can perform miracles,

我们可以创造奇迹，

enabling paralyzed people to walk by reading their brainwaves

通过读取脑电波并将信号发送到脊柱， 使瘫痪的人能够行走。

and sending the signals to their spine.

We've mapped a quarter of the entire ocean floor,

我们已经绘制了四分之一的海底地图，

and NVIDIA’s new Blackwell chip has as many transistors in it

英伟达的新Blackwell芯片中 包含的晶体管数量

as there are stars in the entire Milky Way.

与整个银河系中的恒星一样多。

In the last year, we started using CRISPR, genetic editing,

去年，我们开始 使用基因编辑CRISPR

to treat diseases like beta thalassemia

来治疗β地中海贫血

and sickle cell disease.

和镰状细胞病等疾病。

And we created the largest-ever atlas of human brain cells.

我们还创建了有史以来 最大的人类脑细胞图集。

We are using artificial intelligence

我们正在使用人工智能

to identify new drugs to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria,

来发现对抗抗生素耐药菌的新药，

something that kills over a million people every year.

每年有超过一百万人死于 抗生素耐药细菌。

Two years ago,

两年前，

I almost lost my life to a bacterial infection.

我差点死于细菌感染。

I got lucky.

我很幸运。

In the future, many more people will be able to say the same.

未来，将有更多的人 能够说同样的话。

I mean, we just used artificial intelligence

我们刚刚使用人工智能 来破译内容，

to decipher the contents, the charred remains

即 2,000 年前赫库兰尼姆卷轴 烧焦的残骸。

of the 2,000-year-old Herculaneum scrolls.

And, I don't know, maybe this is all boring to some of you,

我不知道，也许这一切对 你们中的一些人来说都很无聊，

but to me, it really is indistinguishable from magic.

但对我来说， 它确实与魔法没有区别。

Our scientific instruments are sensitive enough now

我们的科学仪器现在足够灵敏，

to see plants speaking to each other.

可以看到植物相互说话。

And to detect the gravitational waves

探测超大质量黑洞碰撞 产生的引力波。

from the collisions of supermassive black holes.

All of a sudden,

突然之间，

we know that we are humming in tune with the entire universe,

我们知道我们正在 与整个宇宙和谐共存，

that each of us contains the signature of everything that has ever been.

我们每个人都包含着 曾经存在的一切的签名。

Progress is possible.

取得进展是可能的。

Not all declines spell destruction.

并非所有的衰退都意味着毁灭。

Not all rising levels result in loss.

并非所有的层级上升都导致损失。

And sometimes there really are new things under the sun.

有时候，阳光下确实有新事物。

These are the stories of the brave and the brilliant,

这些都是勇敢者和才华横溢者的故事，

and they also deserve our attention.

也值得我们关注。

(Applause)

（掌声）