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TEDEd_WhyZero_2020E-_温水煮蛙的“神话”_-
Two frogs are minding their own business in the swamp when WHAM— 两只青蛙在沼泽地里正各忙各的, 这时“砰”地一声——
They come to in a kitchen, captives of a menacing chef. 它们被恶厨师捕获后来到了厨房。
He boils up a pot of water and lobs one of the frogs in. 他煮了一锅水, 把一只青蛙丢进锅里。
But it’s having none of this. 但它从没经历过这些,
The second its toes hit the scalding water it jumps right out the window. 它脚趾碰到滚烫水的那一刻, 它直接跳出了窗外。[00:23]
swamp:v.淹没;使不堪承受;使疲于应对;使应接不暇;n.沼泽(地); captives:n.俘虏;专属公司(captive的复数); menacing:adj.威胁的;危险的;恐吓的;v.威胁;对…构成危险;危及;(menace的现在分词) lobs:n.笨人;投低球(lob的复数);v.蹒跚地走;打高而慢的(lob的单三形式); toes:n.脚趾;足尖部;有…脚趾的;v.用脚尖走;(toe的第三人称单数和复数) scalding:adj.滚烫的;灼热的;v.烫伤;(scald的现在分词)
The chef refills the pot, but this time he doesn’t turn on the heat. 厨师又把锅装满水, 但这次他没有开火。
He plops the second frog in, and this frog’s okay with that. 他把第二只青蛙丢进锅里, 这只青蛙没啥反应。
The chef turns the heat on, very low, and the temperature of water slowly rises. 厨师打开小火,水温慢慢升高,
So slowly that the frog doesn’t notice. 慢到青蛙都没注意到。
refills:v.再装满; n.又一份同种饮料; (refill的第三人称单数和复数) plops:n.扑通声; v.把…沉重地放下; v.扑通一声地;
In fact, it basks in the balmy water. 其实,它沐浴在温暖的水中。
Only when the surface begins to bubble does the frog realize: it’s toast . 只有当水面开始冒泡时, 青蛙才意识到:它已熟了。
What’s funny about this parable is that it’s not scientifically true... for frogs. 这个寓言的有趣之处在于, 科学角度看关于青蛙的说法不正确。
basks:vi.晒太阳;取暖;愉快或舒适;vt.使…晒太阳;使暖和而舒适; balmy:adj.芳香的;温和的;止痛的; bubble:n.泡;气泡;肥皂泡;一点感情;v.起泡;冒泡;洋溢着(某种感情); toast:n.干杯; v.为…干杯; parable:n.寓言,比喻;隐晦或谜般的格言; scientifically:adv.系统地;合乎科学地;学问上;
In reality, a frog will detect slowly heating water and leap to safety. 其实青蛙能察觉慢慢加热的水, 然后跳到安全的地方。
Humans, on the other hand , are a different story. 但另一方面,人类的情况就不同了。
We’re perfectly happy to sit in the pot and slowly turn up the heat, all the while insisting it isn’t our hand on the dial, arguing about whether we can trust thermometers , and questioning— even if they’re right, does it matter? 我们很享受坐在锅里, 慢慢地把火调大, 始终坚持说不是我们的手在控温、 争论温度计是否可信并质疑—— 就算温度计正确,有关系吗?
detect:vt.察觉;发现;探测; leap:n.跳越;跳跃;跳高;骤变;v.跳;跳跃;跳越;猛冲; on the other hand:另一方面; thermometers:n.[仪]温度计(thermometer的复数);
It does. 确实有关系。
Since 1850, global average temperatures have risen by 1 degree Celsius . 自 1850 年以来,全球 平均气温上升了 1 ℃。
That may not sound like a lot, but it is. 听起来上升不多,但其实很多,
Why? 1 degree is an average. 为什么？因为 1 ℃ 是平均值,
Many places have already gotten much warmer than that. 许多地方的气温已经比这高得多。
Some places in the Arctic have already warmed 4 degrees. 北极一些地方已经升温 4 ℃。[01:44]
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; Celsius:adj.摄氏的;n.摄氏度; Arctic:adj.北极的;北极地区的;极冷的;严寒的;n.北极;北极地区;
If global average temperatures increase 1 more degree, the coldest nights in the Arctic might get 10 degrees warmer. 如果全球平均气温再升 1 ℃, 北极最冷寒夜可能温度会上升10 ℃,
The warmest days in Mumbai might get 5 degrees hotter. 孟买最热的时候可能还要热 5 ℃。
So how did we get here? 那么我们是怎么走到这一步的呢？
Almost everything that makes modern life possible relies on fossil fuels: coal, oil, and gas full of carbon from ancient organic matter. 几乎所有使现代生活成为可能的东西 都依赖于化石燃料: 煤、石油和天然气都充满 来自远古有机物的碳。
When we burn fossil fuels, we release carbon dioxide that builds up in our atmosphere , where it remains for hundreds or even thousands of years, letting heat in, but not out. 当我们燃烧化石燃料时, 释放出二氧化碳, 它在大气层中累积, 并停留数百年、甚至数千年。 让热量进入,而不会排出热量。
relies:信任; 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; carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的; organic:adj.有机的;不使用化肥的;绿色的;有机物的;n.分子有机体; release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与; carbon dioxide:二氧化碳; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
The heat comes from sunlight , which passes through the atmosphere to Earth, where it gets absorbed and warms everything up. 来自阳光的热量 穿过大气层到达地球, 热量被吸收,使一切变暖。
Warm objects emit infrared radiation , which should pass back out into space, because most atmospheric gases don’t absorb it. 温度较高的物体会发出红外辐射, 这种辐射本该返回太空, 因为多数大气气体不会吸收它。
But greenhouse gases— carbon dioxide and methane— do absorb infrared wavelengths . 但温室气体——二氧化碳和甲烷—— 确实会吸收红外线波长。
sunlight:n.日光; absorbed:adj.被…吸引住; v.吸收(液体、气体等); (absorb的过去分词和过去式) emit:v.发出,射出,散发(光、热、声音、气等); infrared:n.红外线;adj.红外线的; radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法; atmospheric:adj.大气的,大气层的; greenhouse:n.温室;暖房; wavelengths:n.[物]波长(wavelength的复数);
So when we add more of those gases to the atmosphere, less heat makes it back out to space, and our planet warms up. 所以,当我们向大气中 释放更多这种气体时, 返回太空的热量减少, 地球就会变暖。
If we keep emitting greenhouse gases at our current pace, scientists predict temperatures will rise 4 degrees from their pre-industrial levels by 2100. 如果继续以目前速度排放温室气体, 科学家预测,到2100年, 与工业化前的水平相比, 全球气温将上升 4 ℃ 。
They’ve identified 1.5 degrees of warming— global averages half a degree warmer than today’s— as a threshold beyond which the negative impacts of climate change will become increasingly severe . 他们已确定,气温 上升 1.5 ℃ 就到临界值, 即全球平均气温比现在高 0.5 ℃, 一旦超过这个临界值, 气候变化的负面影响将变得更严重。
emitting:v.发出,射出,散发(光、热、声音、气等);(emit的现在分词) predict:v.预报;预言;预告; pre-industrial:adj.工业化以前的; identified:v.确认;认出;找到;发现;说明身份;(identify的过去式和过去分词) threshold:n.入口;门槛;开始;极限;临界值; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; impacts:n.影响; v.有影响,有作用; increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; severe:adj.极为恶劣的;十分严重的;严厉的;苛刻的;
To keep from crossing that threshold, we need to get our greenhouse gas emissions down to zero as fast as possible. 为了避免超过这个门限值, 我们需要尽快将温室气体排放降至零。
Or rather, we have to get emissions down to what's called net zero, meaning we may still be putting some greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but we take out as much as we put in. 或者确切地说,我们必须 将排放量降至所说的净零, 即我们仍可在向大气中 排放一些温室气体, 但我们吸收和排放一样多。
greenhouse gas:n.温室气体(尤指二氧化碳); emissions:n.(光、热、气等的)发出,排放;排放物;散发物;(emission的复数)
This doesn’t mean we can just keep emitting and sequester all that carbon— we couldn’t keep up with our emissions through natural methods, and technological solutions would be prohibitively expensive and require huge amounts of permanent storage. 这并不意味着可以继续 排放和封存所有的碳—— 我们无法通过自然封存方法 跟上我们的碳排放, 而且技术解决方案会非常昂贵, 还需要大量的永久储存。
Instead, while we switch from coal, oil, and natural gas to clean energy and fuels, which will take time, we can mitigate the damage by removing carbon from the atmosphere. 相反,当我们从煤炭、石油和天然气 转向清洁能源和燃料时—— 这需要时间—— 可以通过大气去碳来减轻损害。
sequester:v.隔离(避免陪审团与公众接触); keep up with:赶得上;和…保持联系; technological:adj.技术[工程](上)的;因工艺技术高度发展而引起的; prohibitively:adv.禁止地;过高地;过分地; permanent:adj.永久的,永恒的;n.烫发; natural gas:n.天然气; mitigate:vt.使缓和,使减轻;vi.减轻,缓和下来;
Jumping out of the proverbial pot isn’t an option , but we can do something the frogs can’t: reach over, and turn down the heat. 跳出热锅不是我们的选择, 但我们可以做一些青蛙做不到的事: 伸出手来,把火关小。
proverbial:adj.谚语的;众所周知的;谚语式的; option:n.选择;可选择的东西;