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DannyHillis_2017-_我们应该制造一个太阳遮光板给地球降温吗？_
[A provocation from Danny Hillis:] 【来自丹尼希利斯的挑衅:
provocation:n.挑衅;激怒;挑拨;
[It's time to start talking about engineering our climate] 是时候谈谈如何治理气候问题了】
engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词)
What if there was a way to build a thermostat that allowed you to turn down the temperature of the earth anytime you wanted? 是否可以创造一个恒温器, 能在任何时候 给地球降温？
What if:如果…怎么办? thermostat:n.恒温器;温度自动调节器
Now, you would think if somebody had a plausible idea about how to do that, everybody would be very excited about it, and there would be lots of research on how to do it. 你也许会认为,如果有人已经 找到了可行的方法, 每个人都会非常激动, 而且关于这方面的研究也会有很多。
plausible:adj.貌似可信的,花言巧语的;貌似真实的,貌似有理的;
But in fact, a lot of people do understand how to do that. 事实是,许多人明白如何做,
But there's not much support for research in this area. 但是,这些方法并没有 得到相关研究的支持。
And I think part of it is because there are some real misunderstandings about it. 我认为,其中部分原因是 人们对这项研究存在着误解。
misunderstandings:误区;
So I'm not going to try to convince you today that this is a good idea. 今天,我不会说服大家承认 我要说的是一个好办法,
convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说;
But I am going to try to get your curiosity going about it and clear up some of the misunderstandings. 但我会尝试让你们 对治理气候变化感兴趣, 并消除其中一些误解。
I am going to:我将要做什么事情 curiosity:n.好奇,好奇心;珍品,古董,古玩;
So, the basic idea of solar geoengineering is that we can cool things down just by reflecting a little bit more sunlight back into space. 太阳能地球工程的基本思想就是 我们通过把一部分阳光 反射回太空的方式, 给地表的物体降温。
geoengineering:地质工程;岩土工程; reflecting:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;显示,表明,表达;(reflect的现在分词) sunlight:n.日光;
And ideas about how to do this have been around literally for decades. 数十年来人们都在讨论 如何实现这种想法,
have been around:见识(很)多;世故(很)深;遍布全球;世故深;遍布各地; literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地:
Clouds are a great way to do that, these low-lying clouds. 低空的云,就是一种很棒的方式,
low-lying:adj.低洼的;
Everybody knows it's cooler under a cloud . 人们都知道,云底下凉快。
under a cloud:失宠;不高兴;受嫌疑;
I like this cloud because it has exactly the same water content as the transparent air around it. 我喜欢这种云是因为,它的含水量 和周围的空气一致。
content:n.内容,目录;满足;容量;adj.满意的;vt.使满足; transparent:adj.透明的;显然的;坦率的;易懂的;
And it just shows that even a little bit of a change in the flow of the air can cause a cloud to form. 这就意味着,只要空气的 流动发生一点改变, 就能形成云。
a little bit of a:一点点了;
We make artificial clouds all the time. 我们经常在空中制造人造云,
artificial:adj.人造的;仿造的;虚伪的;非原产地的;武断的;
These are contrails , which are artificial water clouds that are made by the passing of a jet engine . 这些云是飞机飞行痕迹, 是人造水云, 是由喷气式发动机产生的。
contrails:n.凝结尾;航迹云;凝迹(飞机飞过留下的尾迹); jet engine:n.喷气式发动机;
And so, we're already changing the clouds on earth. 我们已经在不经意间改变
By accident. 地球上的云了。
Or, if you like to believe it, by supersecret government conspiracy . 或者,你可能更愿意认为 这是政府的绝密阴谋。
supersecret:adj.绝密的; conspiracy:n.阴谋;共谋;阴谋集团;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But we are already doing this quite a lot. 我们在这方面已经做了很多工作。
This is a NASA picture of shipping lanes . 这是一张由NASA 拍摄的船舶航线图。
lanes:n.线路,跑道(lane复数形式);
Passing ships actually cause clouds to form, and this is a big enough effect that it actually helps reduce global warming already by about a degree. 船舶的航行会导致云的形成, 而且这种影响效应非常大, 大到能让大气温度降低一度, 从而减缓了全球变暖效应。
global warming:n.全球(气候)变暖;地球大气层变暖;
So we already are doing solar engineering. 也就是说,我们已经 开始研究太阳能工程了。
There's lots of ideas about how to do this. 有很多关于实现这一工程的想法,
People have looked at everything, from building giant parasols out into space to fizzing bubble waters in the ocean. 人们着眼于方方面面, 从在太空建造巨大的遮阳伞, 到在海洋里产生气泡。
giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 parasols:n.阳伞(parasol的复数); fizzing:n.发嘶嘶声;有泡沫的饮料;vi.作嘶嘶声; bubble:n.泡;气泡;肥皂泡;一点感情;v.起泡;冒泡;洋溢着(某种感情);
And some of these are actually very plausible ideas. 其中有一部分想法是十分可行的。
One that was published recently by David Keith at Harvard is to take chalk and put dust up into the stratosphere , where it reflects off sunlight. 最近,哈佛的大卫 · 凯斯 提出了一个想法, 将白垩粉（如粉笔灰）洒到平流层中, 用来反射太阳光。
recently:adv.最近;新近; Harvard:n.哈佛大学;哈佛大学学生; stratosphere:n.同温层;最上层;最高阶段; reflects:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;表明,表达;(reflect的第三人称单数)
And that's a really neat idea, because chalk is one of the most common minerals on earth, and it's very safe -- it's so safe, we put it into baby food. 这确实是一个不错的注意, 因为白垩是地球上 最常见的矿物之一, 而且非常安全—— 安全到可以添加到婴儿的食物中。
neat:adj.整洁的;整齐的;有序的;有条理的; minerals:n.矿物;矿产,矿产品(mineral的复数);矿物质;
And basically , if you throw chalk up into the stratosphere, it comes down in a couple of years all by itself, dissolved in rainwater . 如果你把白垩投入到平流层中, 它会花几年的时间才落到地面, 并溶解在雨水中。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; dissolved:v.溶;使(固体)溶解;解除;终止;(dissolve的过去式和过去分词) rainwater:n.雨水;软水;
Now, before you start worrying about all this chalk in your rainwater, let me explain to you how little of it it actually takes. 在你担心雨水中的白垩之前, 我先向你们解释一下, 我们使用的白垩是有多么的少。
And that turns out to be very easy to calculate. 可以证明它的用量非常容易计算。
This is a back-of-the-envelope calculation I made. 这是我粗略的计算。
(Laughter) （笑声）
(Applause) （掌声）
I assure you, people have done much more careful calculations, and it comes out with the same answer, which is that you have to put chalk up at the rate of about 10 teragrams a year 我可以向各位保证, 已经有人进行过更详细的计算, 得出的结果是一致的—— 你需要每年以10太克（1Tg=10^9公斤）的 速率向平流层投放白垩,
assure:vt.保证;担保;使确信;弄清楚; at the rate of:按…之速度;按...比率;
to undo the effects of the CO2 that we've already done -- just in terms of temperature, not all the effects, but the temperature. 来消除二氧化碳的影响, 这是我们已经在做的—— 仅仅是温度方面的影响, 不包含其他的影响。
So what does that look like? 那么这个数字是什么概念？
I can't visualize 10 teragrams per year. 我想象不出每年 10太克是什么样子的。
visualize:vt.形象,形象化;想像,设想;vi.显现;
So I asked the Cambridge Fire Department and Taylor Milsal to lend me a hand. 所以,我请了剑桥消防部门, 以及泰勒 · 米尔索 帮我一个忙。
Cambridge:n.剑桥(英国城市);坎布里奇(美国马萨诸塞州城市); Fire Department:n.消防部门:消防队员:消防队:
This is a hose pumping water at 10 teragrams a year. 这根水管的出水量 就是一年10太克。
hose:n.塑料管;(旧时的)男式紧身裤;v.用软管输水冲洗(或浇水); pumping:v.用泵输送;涌出;奔流;快速摇动;(pump的现在分词)
And that is how much you would have to pump into the stratosphere to cool the earth back down to pre-industrial levels. 这个规模 就是让地球降温到 工业时代前的水平, 需要将白垩注入到平流层的量。
pre-industrial:adj.工业化以前的;
And it's amazingly little; it's like one hose for the entire earth. 这个量小得惊人,整个地球 只需要这一根水管就够了。
Now of course, you wouldn't really use a hose, you'd fly it up in airplanes or something like that. 当然,你不必使用一根水管, 可以通过飞机,或其他 类似的方法将白垩带上去。
airplanes:n.(美)[航]飞机(airplane的复数);
But it's so little, it would be like putting a handful of chalk into every Olympic swimming pool full of rain. 这个量非常的小, 就好像用手抓一把白垩 放入与奥运会标准泳池 等量的雨水中。
swimming pool:n.游泳池;游泳场;游泳馆;
It's almost nothing. 很难察觉出变化。
So why don't people like this idea? 那么为什么 人们不喜欢这种方法？
Why isn't it taken more seriously? 为什么不重视这种方法？
And there are some very good reasons for that. 有一些很好的理由。
A lot of people really don't think we should be talking about this at all. 有很多人不认为 我们应当去研究这种方法。
And, in fact, I have some very good friends in the audience who I respect a lot, who really don't think I should be talking about this. 事实上,在座的观众中 有一些是我非常要好的朋友, 我非常尊敬他们, 他们认为我不应该研究这个。
And the reason is that they're concerned that if people imagine there's some easy way out, that we won't give up our addiction to fossil fuels. 因为他们关心的是, 人们是否还能想出更简单的办法, 来摆脱对化石燃料的依赖。
concerned:adj.有关的;关心的;v.关心;与…有关;(concern的过去时和过去分词) addiction:n.瘾;嗜好;入迷; fossil:n.化石;老人;老古董;adj.从地下发掘出来的;化石的;属于旧时代的;陈腐的;
And I do worry about that. 我也关心这一点,
I think it's actually a serious problem. 因为我认为这是 一个很严重的问题,
But there's also, I think, a deeper problem, which is: nobody likes the idea of messing with the entire earth -- 也是一个很深奥的问题。 没有人喜欢让整个地球 陷入混乱的想法,
messing:v.使不整洁;弄脏;弄乱;随地便溺;(mess的现在分词)
I certainly don't. 我当然也不喜欢。
I love this planet, I really do. 我喜欢这个星球,说真的,
And I don't want to mess with it. 我不想给地球制造任何麻烦。
But we're already changing our atmosphere , we're already messing with it. 但是我们已经在改变 我们的大气层了, 我们已经把它搞得乌烟瘴气了。
atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
And so I think it makes sense for us to look for ways to mitigate that impact . 所以我们应该寻找一些方法, 减缓大气变化造成的影响。
mitigate:vt.使缓和,使减轻;vi.减轻,缓和下来; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
And we need to do research to do that. 这就意味着我们需要去研究它,
We need to understand the science behind that. 我们需要弄清楚 这背后的科学道理。
I've noticed that there's a theme that's kind of developed at TED, which is kind of, "fear versus hope," 我注意到,在TED中 有关于发展的主题, 类似于“恐惧与希望”,
versus:prep.对;与...相对;对抗;
or "creativity versus caution." 或者是“创造与谨慎”。
And of course, we need both of those. 当然,我们也需要这些思想。
So there aren't any silver bullets . 但这不是完美的解决办法,
silver:n.银; v.给…镀(或包)银; adj.银色的; bullets:n.子弹;弹丸;(bullet的复数)
This is certainly not a silver bullet. 这确实不是完美的解决办法。
But we need science to tell us what our options are; that informs both our creativity and our caution. 但我们需要通过科学知道, 我们有哪些选择; 这会为我们的创造力和 谨慎态度带来指导。
options:n.选择; v.得到或获准进行选择; (option的三单形式) informs:v.通知:通告:了解:熟悉(inform的第三人称单数))
So I am an optimist about our future selves, but I'm not an optimist because I think our problems are small. 对人类的未来, 我是一个乐观主义者, 我乐观的原因 并不是因为这些问题很小,
optimist:n.乐观主义者;乐天派;
I'm an optimist because I think our capacity to deal with our problems is much greater than we imagine. 而是因为我认为 我们有能力解决这些问题, 而且方法比我们想象的要好。
capacity:n.能力;容量;资格,地位;生产力;
Thank you very much. 非常感谢。
(Applause) （掌声）
This talk sparked a lot of controversy at TED2017, and we encourage you to look at discussions online to see other points of view. 这场演讲在 TED2017 引起了许多议论, 我们鼓励观众们 上网了解这些讨论, 了解其他的观点。
sparked:v.点燃,发动(spark的过去式,过去分词);鼓舞; controversy:n.争论;论战;辩论;