Lee Hotz: Inside an Antarctic time machine

28,470 views ・ 2010-08-24

TED


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翻译人员: Zheng Zeng 校对人员: Angelia King
00:15
Come with me to the bottom of the world,
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请与我一起来到世界的最底部
00:18
Antarctica,
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南极洲,
00:20
the highest, driest, windiest,
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最高,最为干燥,风力最为强劲的区域
00:22
and yes, coldest region on Earth --
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并且也是地球上最为寒冷的地方--
00:25
more arid than the Sahara
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比撒哈拉沙漠更为干燥
00:27
and, in parts, colder than Mars.
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并且在部分区域比火星还要寒冷。
00:29
The ice of Antarctica glows
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南极洲的冰块
00:31
with a light so dazzling,
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在阳光的照耀下非常刺眼,
00:33
it blinds the unprotected eye.
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它甚至可让你失明。
00:35
Early explorers rubbed cocaine in their eyes
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早期的探险者把可卡因涂在眼睛里面
00:37
to kill the pain of it.
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以抑制那难以忍受的疼痛。
00:39
The weight of the ice is such that the entire continent
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南极洲庞大冰块的大部分重量
00:42
sags below sea level, beneath its weight.
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隐藏于海平面之下。
00:45
Yet, the ice of Antarctica
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同时,南极洲的冰块
00:47
is a calendar of climate change.
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还是记录气候变化的日历。
00:49
It records the annual rise and fall
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它记录了从冰河时代开始至今
00:51
of greenhouse gases and temperatures
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每年温室气体和温度
00:53
going back before the onset of the last ice ages.
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的增长和下降。
00:56
Nowhere on Earth
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地球上没有任何一个其它地方可以
00:58
offers us such a perfect record.
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为我们提供如此良好的历史记录。
01:01
And here, scientists are drilling
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在这里,科学家们正在钻探着
01:03
into the past of our planet
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我们星球过去的历史
01:05
to find clues to the future
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以寻找到通向
01:07
of climate change.
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未来气候变化的线索。
01:09
This past January,
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在刚过去的一月里,
01:11
I traveled to a place called WAIS Divide,
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我来到了名为南极洲西部冰原区,
01:13
about 600 miles from the South Pole.
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一个大约位于距离南极点600英里处的区域。
01:15
It is the best place on the planet, many say,
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很多人说这里是探索星球的最佳地点,
01:18
to study the history of climate change.
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可以探索研究气候变化的历史。
01:20
There, about 45 scientists from the University of Wisconsin,
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这里约有45名来自威斯康辛大学,
01:23
the Desert Research Institute in Nevada and others
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内华达的沙漠研究中心和其它机构的科学家,
01:26
have been working to answer a central question
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他们正致力于回答关于
01:28
about global warming.
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全球变暖的关键疑问。
01:30
What is the exact relationship
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在温室气体程度
01:32
between levels of greenhouse gases
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和星球温度之间
01:35
and planetary temperatures?
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到底存在什么样的关系?
01:37
It's urgent work. We know that temperatures are rising.
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这是非常紧迫的工作.我们知道温度在不断上升。
01:40
This past May was the warmest worldwide on record.
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刚过去的五月是有记录以来最温暖的五月。
01:43
And we know that levels of greenhouse gases are rising too.
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并且我们也知道温室气体在不断增加。
01:46
What we don't know
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但是我们还不了解的是
01:48
is the exact, precise, immediate
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这些变化将会给
01:50
impact of these changes
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自然气候带来
01:52
on natural climate patterns --
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怎样精确即时的影响--
01:54
winds, ocean currents,
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比如暴风,海洋流,
01:56
precipitation rates, cloud formation,
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沉淀率,风云信息等,
01:59
things that bear on the health and well-being
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这些因素影响着
02:01
of billions of people.
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亿万人民健康和生活水平。
02:04
Their entire camp, every item of gear,
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他们整个研究所,包括每个齿轮
02:07
was ferried 885 miles
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都是从位于美国在南极洲海岸
02:09
from McMurdo Station,
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设立的供应基地
02:11
the main U.S. supply base
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---麦克默多站
02:13
on the coast of Antarctica.
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横渡搬运885公里到此。
02:15
WAIS Divide itself though,
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虽然南极洲西部冰原区仅是
02:17
is a circle of tents in the snow.
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位于大雪中的一圈帐篷,
02:20
In blizzard winds, the crew sling ropes between the tents
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在暴风雪中,帐篷将会被钢丝绳连接在一起,
02:23
so that people can feel their way safely
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这样人们可以感觉到
02:26
to the nearest ice house
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从最近的冰屋
02:28
and to the nearest outhouse.
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到最近的外屋而更有安全感。
02:30
It snows so heavily there,
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在这里暴风雪非常惊人,
02:32
the installation was almost immediately buried.
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设施曾经几乎在一瞬间被毁。
02:34
Indeed, the researchers picked this site
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确实,研究学者们之所以挑选这里
02:37
because ice and snow accumulates here
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是因为在这里冰和雪的积累速度
02:39
10 times faster than anywhere else in Antarctica.
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比南极洲的其它任何地方都快十倍。
02:42
They have to dig themselves out every day.
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每天他们都得把自己从雪中挖出来。
02:45
It makes for an exotic
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这可是一条很奇异
02:47
and chilly commute.
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并且很寒冷的通行路。
02:49
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
02:51
But under the surface
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但是在这表面之下,
02:53
is a hive of industrial activity
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他们围绕着一台八百万美元的钻机正进行着积极的工业
02:56
centered around an eight-million-dollar drill assembly.
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探索。
02:59
Periodically, this drill, like a biopsy needle,
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每隔一段时间这台钻机就像活检针检查一样
03:02
plunges thousands of feet deep into the ice
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深入上千英尺的冰层中
03:05
to extract a marrow of gases
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抽取出气体的精华
03:07
and isotopes for analysis.
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和同位体以应用于分析。
03:10
Ten times a day, they extract
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每天十次,他们提取
03:12
the 10-foot long cylinder of compressed ice crystals
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十英尺长的压缩冰晶柱
03:14
that contain the unsullied air and trace chemicals
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其中包含了
03:17
laid down by snow,
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在经过了上千年的历史更迭之后雪层下
03:19
season after season for thousands of years.
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未经污染的气体和轨迹化学物。
03:24
It's really a time machine.
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它就像一台时间机器。
03:26
At the peak of activity earlier this year,
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在今年早些时候的探索高峰期时,
03:29
the researchers lowered the drill
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研究者们把钻头再往冰层中
03:32
an extra hundred feet deeper into the ice every day
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多钻探了一百多英尺,
03:35
and another 365 years
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从而了解了
03:37
deeper into the past.
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比之前更早的365年的历史。
03:40
Periodically, they remove
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他们定期地
03:42
a cylinder of ice,
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除去冰柱
03:44
like gamekeepers popping a spent shotgun shell
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就像看守员从钻头的外壳上
03:46
from the barrel of a drill.
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除掉老化的外壳。
03:50
They inspect it, they check it for cracks,
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他们对其进行检测以检查,
03:52
for drill damage, for spalls, for chips.
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是否有裂缝,有钻头破损裂开等。
03:56
More importantly,
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更为重要的是,
03:58
they prepare it for inspection and analysis
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他们为位于美国和欧洲的
04:00
by 27 independent laboratories
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27个独立实验室提供样品以
04:02
in the United States and Europe,
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进行检测和分析,
04:04
who will examine it for 40 different trace chemicals
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他们可以检测到与气候相关的
04:06
related to climate,
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四十种不同的轨迹化合物,
04:08
some in parts per quadrillion.
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有的含量仅为百万的四次乘方(一千万亿)之一。
04:11
Yes, I said that with a Q, quadrillion.
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是的,我是指这个百万的四次乘方(一千万亿)。
04:14
They cut the cylinders up into three-foot sections
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他们将冰柱分割成为三英尺的小块
04:16
for easier handling and shipment
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为离钻头点约8000英里外的这些实验室中提供更为方便的
04:18
back to these labs,
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操作和冰柱搬运
04:20
some 8,000 miles from the drill site.
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04:23
Each cylinder
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每个冰柱都是
04:25
is a parfait of time.
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时间的真实记录。
04:28
This ice formed as snow
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这些冰块大约
04:31
15,800 years ago,
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15800年前形成雪,
04:34
when our ancestors were daubing themselves with paint
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那个时候我们祖先还在玩弄着涂料
04:37
and considering the radical new technology
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并在思考着关于
04:40
of the alphabet.
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字母的新技术。
04:43
Bathed in polarized light
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在极光的浸沐下
04:45
and cut in cross-section,
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被切成截面的
04:47
this ancient ice reveals itself
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这古代的冰块
04:49
as a mosaic of colors,
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展示出了某种马塞克色彩,
04:51
each one showing how conditions at depth in the ice
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每一个都展现出在冰块中的深度
04:54
have affected this material
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如何影响了这种材料
04:57
at depths where pressures can reach
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在不同深度时
05:00
a ton per square inch.
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压力可达到每平方英寸一吨。
05:03
Every year, it begins with a snowflake,
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每年都下雪,
05:06
and by digging into fresh snow,
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从而钻探进入最新鲜的雪层,
05:08
we can see how this process is ongoing today.
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今天可以看到这个过程是如何进行的。
05:11
This wall of undisturbed snow,
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在未经开采的雪层下,
05:13
back-lit by sunlight,
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太阳光所造成的背光
05:15
shows the striations of winter and summer snow,
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映射出冬雪和夏雪的条纹,
05:18
layer upon layer.
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一层接着一层。
05:22
Each storm scours the atmosphere,
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每次暴风雪席卷着大气,
05:25
washing out dust, soot,
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冲洗掉灰尘,煤烟,
05:28
trace chemicals,
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踪迹化学物,
05:30
and depositing them on the snow pack
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并将其沉淀于雪层上
05:33
year after year,
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年复一年,
05:35
millennia after millennia,
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成千上万年,
05:37
creating a kind of periodic table of elements
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形成了
05:39
that at this point
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在这里
05:41
is more than 11,000 feet thick.
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超过11000英尺厚的雪层中的这种时代周期表。
05:44
From this, we can detect an extraordinary number of things.
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从中我们可以检测到种类繁多的物质。
05:49
We can see the calcium
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我们可以找到
05:51
from the world's deserts,
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来自世界沙漠的钙,
05:53
soot from distant wildfires,
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来自遥远野火的煤烟,
05:55
methane as an indicator of the strength of a Pacific monsoon,
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来自太平洋雨季的指示物甲烷,
05:58
all wafted on winds from warmer latitudes
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它们都从温暖的地方
06:01
to this remote and very cold place.
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来到这遥远寒冷的地方。
06:04
Most importantly,
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最为重要的是,
06:06
these cylinders and this snow
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这些冰柱和雪层
06:08
trap air.
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可捕捉气体。
06:10
Each cylinder is about 10 percent ancient air,
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每个冰柱大约含有10%的古代气体
06:13
a pristine time capsule
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是关于温室气体的
06:15
of greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide,
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原始纯净信息---二氧化碳,
06:17
methane, nitrous oxide --
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甲烷和氧化氮--
06:19
all unchanged from the day that snow formed
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从雪形成且落下的那天开始
06:22
and first fell.
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便未曾发生变化。
06:24
And this is the object of their scrutiny.
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这便是他们的调查对象。
06:27
But don't we already know
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但是难道我们不是已经知道了
06:29
what we need to know about greenhouse gases?
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关于温室气体所需要知道的信息吗?
06:31
Why do we need to study this anymore?
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为什么我们还需要进一步研究它呢?
06:33
Don't we already know how they affect temperatures?
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难道我们不是已经知道它如何影响气温吗?
06:35
Don't we already know the consequences
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难道我们不是已经知道了变化的气候
06:38
of a changing climate on our settled civilization?
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所带来的结果将如何影响我们的文明社会吗?
06:41
The truth is, we only know the outlines,
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事实是,我们仅仅知道其大致轮廓,
06:44
and what we don't completely understand,
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并非是完全彻底理解,
06:46
we can't properly fix.
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甚至我们不能完好地对其进行修复。
06:48
Indeed, we run the risk of making things worse.
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事实上,我们还冒着把事情弄得更糟的风险。
06:51
Consider, the single most successful
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20世纪最为成功的
06:54
international environmental effort of the 20th century,
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国际环境保护条例,
06:57
the Montreal Protocol,
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蒙特利尔法案
06:59
in which the nations of Earth banded together to protect the planet
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旨在联合世界各国以保护我们的星球免于
07:02
from the harmful effects of ozone-destroying chemicals
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受到当时在空调,电冰箱和其它冷却设备中
07:05
used at that time
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广泛使用中的
07:07
in air conditioners, refrigerators and other cooling devices.
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臭氧破坏化学物的影响。
07:10
We banned those chemicals,
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我们禁止了这些化学物
07:13
and we replaced them, unknowingly,
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而使用了其它我们未知的物质
07:15
with other substances
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进行了替换,
07:17
that, molecule per molecule,
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而每一个新物质分子
07:19
are a hundred times more potent
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都比二氧化碳
07:21
as heat-trapping, greenhouse gases
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更为可能成为
07:23
than carbon dioxide.
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传热的温室气体。
07:26
This process requires
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这样的过程需要
07:28
extraordinary precautions.
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特别的谨慎预防。
07:31
The scientists must insure
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科学家们必须确保
07:33
that the ice is not contaminated.
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冰层未受到污染。
07:35
Moreover, in this 8,000-mile journey,
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并且在这长达8000英里的旅途中,
07:37
they have to insure this ice doesn't melt.
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他们必须得确保冰不会融化。
07:39
Imagine juggling a snowball across the tropics.
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想象一下夹着雪球穿过热带地区吧。
07:43
They have to, in fact,
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他们必须得确保
07:45
make sure this ice never gets warmer
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冰不会变得
07:47
than about 20 degrees below zero,
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高于零下20度,
07:49
otherwise, the key gases inside it will dissipate.
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否则其中的关键气体就会挥发。
07:52
So, in the coldest place on Earth,
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因此在地球最为寒冷的地区
07:55
they work inside a refrigerator.
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他们就像在电冰箱中工作一样。
07:58
As they handle the ice, in fact,
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当他们操作冰雪时,事实上
08:00
they keep an extra pair of gloves warming in an oven,
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他们还预留一双置于烤箱中的手套,
08:02
so that, when their work gloves freeze
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因为当他们的工作手套冻结时,
08:04
and their fingers stiffen,
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他们的手指变得僵硬,
08:06
they can don a fresh pair.
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他们可以更换上预备手套来暖手。
08:08
They work against the clock and against the thermometer.
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他们与时间和温差进行着斗争。
08:11
So far, they've packed up
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目前为止,他们已经堆积了
08:13
about 4,500 feet of ice cores
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大约4500英尺的冰雪,
08:17
for shipment back to the United States.
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这些冰雪都将会被运回美国。
08:19
This past season,
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在刚过去的季节中,
08:21
they manhandled them across the ice
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他们将这些冰雪搬运出冰层
08:23
to waiting aircraft.
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以等待空中运送飞机。
08:25
The 109th Air National Guard
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109号空军护卫队
08:28
flew the most recent shipment of ice
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将最近的冰雪运到
08:30
back to the coast of Antarctica,
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南极洲海岸,
08:32
where it was boarded onto a freighter,
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在这里将会被搬上货轮,
08:35
shipped across the tropics to California,
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穿过热带以来到加利福尼亚,
08:38
unloaded, put on a truck,
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卸货并装运上货车,
08:40
driven across the desert
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穿过沙漠
08:42
to the National Ice Core Laboratory in Denver, Colorado,
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抵达位于科罗拉多州丹佛的国家冰雪中心研究室,
08:44
where, as we speak,
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在那里,正于我们所说的那样,
08:46
scientists are now slicing this material up
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科学家将材料切成片
08:48
for samples, for analysis,
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以制成样品用于分析,
08:50
to be distributed
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再将样品分送到
08:52
to the laboratories around the country
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全国各地和欧洲
08:54
and in Europe.
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的实验室里。
08:57
Antarctica was this planet's
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南极洲是星球上
09:00
last empty quarter --
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最后的---
09:02
the blind spot
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不断扩张的世界中
09:04
in our expanding vision of the world.
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唯一的盲点。
09:06
Early explorers
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早期的探险家们
09:08
sailed off the edge of the map,
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航海来到了地图的这边缘地带南极洲,
09:10
and they found a place
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并且他们找到某个
09:12
where the normal rules of time and temperature
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似乎传统的时间和温度规则
09:14
seem suspended.
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都不再有效的区域。
09:18
Here, the ice seems a living presence.
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在这里,冰雪就如同活生生的存在。
09:21
The wind that rubs against it
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暴风雪不断地侵蚀着南极洲,
09:23
gives it voice.
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赐于它独特的魅力。
09:26
It is a voice of experience.
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这是一种有魅力的体验。
09:29
It is a voice we should heed.
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而这正是我们所需要的嗓音。
09:33
Thank you.
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谢谢你们。
09:35
(Applause)
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(掌声)
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