How pollution is changing the ocean's chemistry | Triona McGrath

翻译人员: Yi Sun 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

Do you ever think about how important the oceans are in our daily lives?

你们是否想过，海洋在我们的 日常生活中有多么重要？

The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet.

海洋覆盖了地球三分之二的表面。

They provide half the oxygen we breathe.

我们呼吸的氧气中， 一半是由海洋提供的。

They moderate our climate.

它们能调节气候。

And they provide jobs and medicine and food

它们还能为我们 提供岗位、药材和食物，

including 20 percent of protein to feed the entire world population.

包括全世界人口生存 所需蛋白质的20%。

People used to think that the oceans were so vast

人们曾经认为海洋广阔到

that they wouldn't be affected by human activities.

根本不会被人类活动所影响。

Well today I'm going to tell you about a serious reality

那么今天我要告诉你们

that is changing our oceans called ocean acidification,

一个正在导致海洋变化的 严酷现实——海洋酸化，

or the evil twin of climate change.

即伴随气候变化的另一个糟糕问题。

Did you know that the oceans have absorbed 25 percent of all of the carbon dioxide

你们知道吗，我们排放进 大气里的二氧化碳

that we have emitted to the atmosphere?

有25%被海洋吸收了。

Now this is just another great service provided by the oceans

这是海洋做出的又一大贡献，

since carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases

因为二氧化碳是温室气体中的一种，

that's causing climate change.

会造成气候变化。

But as we keep pumping more and more and more

但随着我们向大气中排放的

carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

二氧化碳越来越多，

more is dissolving into the oceans.

溶解进海洋的部分也越来越多。

And this is what's changing our ocean chemistry.

这就改变了海洋的化学成分。

When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater,

二氧化碳溶入海水后，

it undergoes a number of chemical reactions.

海水将发生许多化学反应。

Now lucky for you,

还好，

I don't have time to get into the details of the chemistry for today.

因为时间不够，你们不必 听我解释化学反应的细节。

But I'll tell you as more carbon dioxide enters the ocean,

但我可以告诉你们， 随着更多的二氧化碳进入海洋

the seawater pH goes down.

海水的pH值会下降。

And this basically means that there is an increase in ocean acidity.

这就意味着海洋酸度的上升。

And this whole process is called ocean acidification.

这整个过程被称为海水酸化。

And it's happening alongside climate change.

它伴随着气候变化一起发生。

Scientists have been monitoring ocean acidification for over two decades.

科学家们已经监测了 海洋酸度超过20年。

This figure is an important time series in Hawaii,

这幅图显示了在夏威夷 收集的重要连续监测数据，

and the top line shows steadily increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide,

而最上面的折线反映了 大气中二氧化碳浓度的

or CO2 gas, in the atmosphere.

稳步增长。

And this is directly as a result of human activities.

这是人类活动的直接结果。

The line underneath shows the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide

下面的折线则反映了 溶解在海洋表面的

that is dissolved in the surface of the ocean

二氧化碳浓度不断升高，

which you can see is increasing at the same rate

你们可以看到，从有 测量记录开始，它的增长速率

as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since measurements began.

就和大气中二氧化碳的 增长速率一致。

The line on the bottom shows then shows the change in chemistry.

而最底部的折线反映了 海水化学成分的变化。

As more carbon dioxide has entered the ocean,

随着更多的二氧化碳进入海洋，

the seawater pH has gone down,

海水pH值下降了，

which basically means there has been an increase in ocean acidity.

这也意味着海水酸度的升高。

Now in Ireland, scientists are also monitoring ocean acidification --

在爱尔兰，来自海洋研究所 和爱尔兰国家学院戈尔韦分校的

scientists at the Marine Institute and NUI Galway.

科学家们也在监测海洋的酸化。

And we, too, are seeing acidification at the same rate

而我们也见证着海洋酸化 以和世界各地

as these main ocean time-series sites around the world.

其他海洋监测站点 同样的速度进行着。

So it's happening right at our doorstep.

所以海洋酸化就在我们眼前发生着。

Now I'd like to give you an example of just how we collect our data

现在我想给你们举个例子 来说明我们是如何收集数据

to monitor a changing ocean.

来监测不断变化的海洋的。

Firstly we collect a lot of our samples in the middle of winter.

首先，我们的许多样本 都是在寒冬中采集的。

So as you can imagine, in the North Atlantic

所以你们可以想象，在北大西洋

we get hit with some seriously stormy conditions --

我们常常遇到波涛汹涌的海面——

so not for any of you who get a little motion sickness,

这带来的不仅仅是 一点晕船的症状，

but we are collecting some very valuable data.

我们也在收集非常珍贵的数据。

So we lower this instrument over the side of the ship,

我们把设备从船的一侧放下去，

and there are sensors that are mounted on the bottom

设备的底部装有许多传感器，

that can tell us information about the surrounding water,

能够探测出周围海水的信息，

such as temperature or dissolved oxygen.

比如温度、溶氧量等。

And then we can collect our seawater samples in these large bottles.

然后我们把海水样本 装进这些大瓶子里。

So we start at the bottom, which can be over four kilometers deep

我们从海底开始，大约在四千米深处

just off our continental shelf,

大陆架的上方，

and we take samples at regular intervals right up to the surface.

一直到海水表面，都以 相同的间隔提取海水样本。

We take the seawater back on the deck,

我们把海水样本拉到甲板上，

and then we can either analyze them on the ship

然后我们在船上或是实验室里，

or back in the laboratory for the different chemicals parameters.

分析海水中不同的化学成分参数。

But why should we care?

我们为什么要在乎这些呢？

How is ocean acidification going to affect all of us?

海水酸化会怎样影响 我们所有人呢？

Well, here are the worrying facts.

这里有一些令人担忧的事实。

There has already been an increase in ocean acidity of 26 percent

从工业化以前到现在， 海洋酸度已经增加了26%，

since pre-industrial times, which is directly due to human activities.

这是由人类活动直接导致的。

Unless we can start slowing down our carbon dioxide emissions,

除非我们能逐渐 降低二氧化碳排放量，

we're expecting an increase in ocean acidity of 170 percent

否则在本世纪末，

by the end of this century.

海水酸度将增长170%。

I mean this is within our children's lifetime.

这将发生在我们下一代中发生。

This rate of acidification is 10 times faster

这个酸化的速度比过去5500万年

than any acidification in our oceans for over 55 million years.

以来的酸化速度还要快上10倍。

So our marine life have never, ever experienced

我们的海洋从来没有经历过

such a fast rate of change before.

如此高速的变化。

So we literally could not know how they're going to cope.

所以我们真的不知道 海洋将如何应对。

Now there was a natural acidification event millions of years ago,

几百万年前曾经有过 自然发生的海洋酸化过程，

which was much slower than what we're seeing today.

它比我们现在看到的酸化慢得多。

And this coincided with a mass extinction of many marine species.

它和一场大规模的 海洋物种灭绝同时发生。

So is that what we're headed for?

那么这也将是我们会面临的局面吗？

Well, maybe.

嗯，也许吧。

Studies are showing some species are actually doing quite well

研究表明有些物种生活得还不错，

but many are showing a negative response.

可是许多物种已经表现出了消极反馈。

One of the big concerns is as ocean acidity increases,

最令人担心的事情之一是 随着海水酸度增加，

the concentration of carbonate ions in seawater decrease.

海水中的碳酸根离子浓度会下降。

Now these ions are basically the building blocks

而这些离子正是许多海洋生物

for many marine species to make their shells,

外壳生长的原材料，

for example crabs or mussels, oysters.

比如说螃蟹、贻贝、牡蛎等。

Another example are corals.

另一个例子是珊瑚。

They also need these carbonate ions in seawater

珊瑚虫也需要海水中的碳酸根离子

to make their coral structure in order to build coral reefs.

来筑造珊瑚礁。

As ocean acidity increases

而随着海洋酸度增加

and the concentration of carbonate ions decrease,

和碳酸根离子的下降，

these species first find it more difficult to make their shells.

一开始，这些物种会 很难筑造他们的家，

And at even even lower levels, they can actually begin to dissolve.

离子水平更低时， 它们甚至会开始溶解。

This here is a pteropod, it's called a sea butterfly.

这是一个翼足目软体动物，被称做海蝶。

And it's an important food source in the ocean for many species,

它是海洋中许多生物的重要食物来源，

from krill to salmon right up to whales.

包括磷虾、鲑鱼一直到鲸鱼。

The shell of the pteropod was placed into seawater

我们把海蝶的壳放进海水中，

at a pH that we're expecting by the end of this century.

海水的pH值设定在我们预测的 本世纪末海水的pH值。

After only 45 days at this very realistic pH,

仅仅在45天后，在如此低的pH环境里，

you can see the shell has almost completely dissolved.

你们可以看到它的壳 几乎被完全溶解了。

So ocean acidification could affect right up through the food chain --

所以海洋酸化能通过影响食物链，

and right onto our dinner plates.

直接影响到我们的食物来源。

I mean who here likes shellfish? Or salmon?

你们这里有谁喜欢吃 贝类或是鲑鱼的吗？

Or many other fish species

或是别的食物来源

whose food source in the ocean could be affected?

会被影响到的鱼类？

These are cold-water corals.

这些是冷水珊瑚礁。

And did you know we actually have cold-water corals in Irish waters,

实际上，在爱尔兰海域 也有冷水珊瑚礁，

just off our continental shelf?

就在大陆架上。

And they support rich biodiversity, including some very important fisheries.

它们维护着包括许多 重要渔场的生物多样性 。

It's projected that by the end of this century,

预计在本世纪末，

70 percent of all known cold-water corals in the entire ocean

整个海洋中70%已知的冷水珊瑚礁

will be surrounded by seawater that is dissolving their coral structure.

将生活在会溶解珊瑚结构的海水中。

The last example I have are these healthy tropical corals.

我要举的最后一个例子是 这些健康的热带珊瑚礁。

They were placed in seawater at a pH we're expecting by the year 2100.

它们被放在我们预测 2100年会达到的pH值的海水中。

After six months, the coral has almost completely dissolved.

六个月后这些珊瑚 几乎被完全溶解了。

Now coral reefs support

如今珊瑚礁维持着

25 percent of all marine life in the entire ocean.

整个海洋中25%的海洋生物的生命。

All marine life.

所有的海洋生物。

So you can see: ocean acidification is a global threat.

所以你们可以看出：海洋酸化 是一个全球性的威胁。

I have an eight-month-old baby boy.

我有一个八个月大的儿子。

Unless we start now to slow this down,

除非我们从现在开始减慢酸化速度，

I dread to think what our oceans will look like when he's a grown man.

否则我都不敢想象我的儿子 长大后，海洋将变成什么样。

We will see acidification.

我们将看到海洋酸化。

We have already put too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

我们已经向大气中排放了 太多的二氧化碳。

But we can slow this down.

但是我们可以放慢酸化速度。

We can prevent the worst-case scenario.

我们可以阻止最坏的状况发生。

The only way of doing that

唯一的方法是

is by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions.

减少碳排放量。

This is important for both you and I, for industry, for governments.

这对你我、工业界和 政府来说，都至关重要。

We need to work together, slow down global warming

我们需要携手努力，放慢全球变暖，

slow down ocean acidification

放慢海洋酸化，

and help to maintain a healthy ocean and a healthy planet

维护健康的海洋，和健康的地球，

for our generation and for generations to come.

为了我们这一代， 也为了我们的后代。

(Applause)

（掌声）