A personal air-quality tracker that lets you know what you're breathing | Romain Lacombe

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Bruce Sung

So for the past 12 years,

（掌聲）

過去十二年間，

I've been obsessed with this idea

我一直對這個想法很著迷： 氣候變遷是一個資訊議題，

that climate change is an information issue

that computers will help us fight.

電腦能協助我們對抗它。

I went from data science to climate policy research,

我從資料科學， 轉換到氣候政策研究，

from tech to public service,

從技術轉到公眾服務， 去追求更好的資料，

in pursuit of better data

to avoid the wasted energy, resources, opportunities

以協助避免浪費 能源、資源、機會，

that lead to runaway carbon emissions.

導致碳排放失控。

Until one day, running in the streets with a friend, it hit me:

直到有一天，我和朋友 在街上跑步時，我突然想到：

the same cars, factories, power plants

這些汽車、工廠、電廠，

whose emissions are wrecking our climate over time

隨著時間，它們排放的廢氣 在破懷我們的氣候，

also release harmful, local pollutants

同樣的，它們也會 釋放有害的當地污染物，

that threaten our health right here and right now.

此時在這裡就會威脅我們的健康。

All this time I'd focused on the long-term environmental risk

我一直都把焦點放在 長期的環境風險，

when I should have been up in arms

其實我早該努力對抗

about the immediate health impact of pollutants in the air.

空氣中的污染物 對健康造成的立即影響。

Air pollution is a burning public health crisis.

空氣污染是迫切的公眾健康危機。

It kills seven million people every year,

每年有七百萬人因此而死，

it costs five trillion dollars to the world economy

世界經濟花了五兆美元在這上面，

and, worst, it robs us of our most precious gift,

最糟糕的是，它奪走了 我們最珍貴的禮物，

the years in our lives:

我們的生命年限：

six months of life expectancy in my hometown of Paris

在我的家鄉巴黎， 奪走了六個月的平均壽命，

and up to three, four, five years in parts of India and China.

在印度和中國的部分地區， 則高達三、四、五年。

And in the US, more people die from car exhaust than from car accidents.

在美國，死於汽車廢氣的人數 多於死於車禍的人數。

So how do we protect ourselves from pollution?

我們要如何保護自己 不受污染影響？

The reason it's difficult is an information gap.

我們之所以很難保護自己， 是因為資訊落差。

We simply lack the data to understand our exposure.

我們就是缺乏資料， 無法了解我們的暴露狀況。

And that's because the way we monitor air quality today

那是因為，現今我們 監控空氣品質的方式，

is designed not to help people breathe but to help governments govern.

設計目的並不是要協助大家呼吸， 而是要協助政府管理。

Most major cities operate networks of air-quality monitoring stations

大部分的主要城市，營運 空氣品質監控站網路的目的，

like this one in London,

就像倫敦的這一個，

to decide when to cut traffic or when to shut down factories.

是要決定何時切斷交通流量 或是何時關閉工廠。

And these machines are like the computers from the '60s

且這些機器就像是六○年代的電腦，

that filled entire rooms.

佔滿了房間。

They're incredibly precise but incredibly large,

它們非常精準，

但也非常巨大、笨重、昂貴——

heavy, costly --

so much that you can only deploy just a few of them,

所以你只能夠部署幾台這種機器，

and they cannot move.

且無法移動它們。

So to governments, air pollution looks like this.

對政府來說，空氣污染 看起來是這個樣子的。

But for the rest of us,

但對我們其他人來說， 空氣污染看起來是這個樣子的。

air quality looks like this.

It changes all the time:

它隨時在改變：

hour by hour, street by street,

每小時、每條街都不一樣，

up to eight times within a single city block.

在單一街區中就可能 有高達八種變化。

And even more from indoor to outdoor.

室內和室外更是不同。

So unless you happen to be walking right next to one of those stations,

所以，除非你剛好走到 其中一個監控站旁邊，

they just cannot tell you what you breathe.

它才能告訴你，你吸入的是什麼。

So what would environmental protection look like

所以，如果能夠針對 智慧手機的年代

if it was designed for the age of the smartphone?

來設計環境保護， 會變成什麼樣子？

So for the past three years,

過去三年間，

my team and I have been building a technology

我和我的團隊 一直在打造一項技術，

that helps you know what you breathe

來協助大家了解自己吸入了什麼， 且小到可以拿在手上。

and fits in your hand.

Flow is a personal air-quality tracker that you can wear with you

Flow 是一台個人用的空氣品質 追蹤器，你可以帶在身上，

on a backpack, a bike, a stroller.

掛在背包上，裝在 腳踏車或嬰兒推車上。

It's packed with miniature sensors

它配有微型的感測器，

that monitor the most important pollutants in the air around you,

能夠監控你周圍空氣中 最重要的污染物，

like nitrogen oxides,

比如氮氧化物、

the exhaust gas from cars,

汽車排放的廢氣，

or particulate matter that gets into your bloodstream

或是會進入血液中並造成中風

and creates strokes and heart issues.

和心臟問題的微粒物質。

Or volatile organic compounds,

或是易揮發的有機化合物，

the thousands of chemicals in everyday products

日常用品當中數千種的化學物，

that we end up breathing.

最後被我們吸入。

And that makes this data actionable

有了這些資料是可以採取行動的，

and helps you understand what you're breathing

能讓你了解你吸入了什麼，

by telling you where and when you've been exposed to poor air quality,

它會告訴你於何時、何處 暴露在很糟糕的空氣品質中，

and that way you can make informed decisions

這麼一來，你就可以 根據資訊做決策，

to take action against pollution.

採取對抗污染的行動。

You can change the products you use at home,

你可以把家中使用的產品換掉，

you can find the best route to cycle to work,

你可以找到騎腳踏車 上班的最佳路線，

you can run when pollution is not peaking

你可以在非污染高峰的時段跑步，

and you can find the best park to bring your children out.

你也能找到最適合 帶孩子去的公園。

Over time you build better habits to decrease your exposure to pollution,

隨著時間，你會建立更好的習慣， 減少暴露在污染中的機會，

and by tracking air quality around them,

且，透過追蹤身邊的空氣品質，

cyclists, commuters, parents

騎腳踏車者、通勤者、父母

will also contribute to mapping air quality in their city.

都能盡一份心力，將該城市的 空氣品質繪製在地圖上。

So we're building more than a device,

所以，我們創造的不只 是個裝置，也是個共同社區。

but a community.

And last summer,

去年夏天，我們將 這項技術的初期原型發送給

we sent early prototypes of our technology to 100 volunteers in London,

倫敦的一百名自願者，

and together they mapped air quality

他們協力繪出了空氣品質地圖，

across 1,000 miles of sidewalk

橫跨一千英哩的人行道，

and 20 percent of all of central London.

及整個倫敦中央 20% 的地區。

So our goal now is to scale this work around the world,

我們現在的目標是要 把這項工作擴大到全世界，

to crowdsource data so we can map air quality on every street,

將資料做群眾外包，讓我們可以 繪出每一條街的空氣品質，

to build an unprecedented database

建造一個史無前例的資料庫，

so scientists can research pollution,

科學家可以用它來研究污染，

and to empower citizens, civic leaders, policy makers

也讓公民、民間領袖、政策制訂者

to support clean-air policies for change.

能夠去支持乾淨空氣政策的變革。

Because this can and must change.

因為這可以改變，也必須要改變。

Remember cigarettes in bars?

記得在酒吧的香菸嗎？

It took decades of lung cancer research and second-hand smoking studies,

花了數十年的肺癌研究 和二手煙研究，

but eventually, we reached a tipping point and we passed smoking-ban laws.

但，最終，我們走到了 一個臨界點，通過了禁煙法律。

We must reach the same tipping point for air quality and I believe we will.

對於空氣品質，我們也得走到 同樣的臨界點，我相信我們會的。

In the past couple years alone,

光是在過去幾年，

governments have fined carmakers record amounts

政府對汽車製造商假造排放標準

for cheating on emission standards.

所開出的罰金金額就創了記錄。

Cities have passed congestion charges or built bike lanes --

有些城市通過了交通擁擠稅 或是建造了腳踏車車道——

like Paris that turned this highway,

像巴黎，就把城市中

right next to my home, in the middle of the city,

我家旁邊的這條公路

into a waterfront park.

改成了濱水公園。

And now mayors around the world are thinking of banning diesel outright

現在，全世界的市長們都在 思考要全面禁止柴油引擎，

by 2025, 2030, 2035.

在 2025 年、2030 年、 2035 年實施。

But how much faster could we go, how many lives could we save?

但，我們的動作能多快？ 我們能拯救多少條性命？

Technology alone will not solve climate change,

光靠科技是無法解決氣候變遷的，

nor will it make air pollution disappear overnight.

科技也無法讓空氣污染瞬間消失。

But it can make the quality of our air much more transparent,

但它可以讓我們的 空氣品質更透明許多，

and if we can empower people

若我們能讓大家能夠去採取行動， 以改善他們自己的健康，

to take action to improve their own health,

then together we can act to bring an end to our pollution.

那麼，我們同心協力， 便能終結我們的污染。

Thank you very much.

非常謝謝。

(Applause)

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