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TrionaMcGrath_2016X-_环境污染如何改变海洋化学_
Do you ever think about how important the oceans are in our daily lives? 请问你们是否知道, 海洋对我们的生活有多重要吗？
The oceans cover two-thirds of our planet. 地球有 2/3 的面积是海洋。
two-thirds:n.三分之二;三分之二的;三分之二地;
They provide half the oxygen we breathe. 我们呼吸的氧气,有一半是它们提供的。
They moderate our climate. 它们调节气候。
moderate:v.缓和; adj.适度的; n.持温和观点者(尤指政见);
And they provide jobs and medicine and food including 20 percent of protein to feed the entire world population. 提供人类就業机会和医药、食物, 包括 20% 全人类食用的蛋白质。
protein:n.蛋白质;
People used to think that the oceans were so vast that they wouldn't be affected by human activities. 人们认为海洋这么的浩瀚, 应该不会受到人类活动的影响。
Well today I'm going to tell you about a serious reality that is changing our oceans called ocean acidification , or the evil twin of climate change. 但今天我想告诉各位, 关于「海洋酸化」的严重现实, 或称之为「气候改变的邪恶双胞胎」。
acidification:n.[化学]酸化;成酸性;使…发酸; evil:adj.邪恶的;不幸的;有害的;讨厌的;n.罪恶,邪恶;不幸;
Did you know that the oceans have absorbed 25 percent of all of the carbon dioxide that we have emitted to the atmosphere ? 你是否知道海洋可以吸收 人类释放到大气中二氧化碳的 25%。
absorbed:adj.被…吸引住; v.吸收(液体、气体等); (absorb的过去分词和过去式) carbon dioxide:二氧化碳; emitted:adj.射出的;v.排放(emit的过去分词);发散; atmosphere:n.大气;气氛;气压;风格;
Now this is just another great service provided by the oceans since carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that's causing climate change. 这是海水提供的极大贡献, 因为二氧化碳, 是一种温室效应气体, 会造成地球气候的变迁。
provided:conj.假如; v.提供; (provide的过去分词和过去式) greenhouse:n.温室;暖房;
But as we keep pumping more and more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere more is dissolving into the oceans. 由于我们继续制造 更多的二氧化碳, 并且释放到空气中, 海洋就吸收了更多的二氧化碳。
pumping:v.用泵输送;涌出;奔流;快速摇动;(pump的现在分词) dissolving:adj.消溶的;毁灭性的;v.使溶解(dissolve的现在分词);
And this is what's changing our ocean chemistry. 所以这是海洋化学正在改变的主因。
When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater , it undergoes a number of chemical reactions . 当二氧化碳溶解在海里时, 它会产生一连串的化学反应。
dissolves:v.溶解;分解(dissolve的单三式);溶接; seawater:n.海水; undergoes:vt.经历,经受;忍受; chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; reactions:n.反应;回应;抗拒;生理反应;副作用(reaction的复数)
Now lucky for you, 今天你们很幸运,
I don't have time to get into the details of the chemistry for today. 我不需要在此详述化学的细节。
But I'll tell you as more carbon dioxide enters the ocean, the seawater pH goes down. 但我可以告诉你多一点,有关二氧化碳溶入海水的事, 它会造成海水酸碱值 (pH) 的下降。
And this basically means that there is an increase in ocean acidity . 基本上来说就是海水会愈来愈酸。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; acidity:n.酸度;酸性;酸过多;胃酸过多;
And this whole process is called ocean acidification. 整个过程称之为「海洋酸化」。
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
And it's happening alongside climate change. 同时也造成气候的改变。
Scientists have been monitoring ocean acidification for over two decades. 科学家侦测海水酸化的时间, 已经长达 20年。
This figure is an important time series in Hawaii, and the top line shows steadily increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide, or CO2 gas, in the atmosphere. 这是对夏威夷很重要的 一张时间序列图, 最上面那条棕色曲线, 显示二氧化碳浓度, 或大气中的 CO2 气体含量,
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; steadily:adv.稳定地;稳固地;有规则地; concentrations:n.关注点;[土壤]浓聚物(concentration的复数);
And this is directly as a result of human activities. 呈现出稳定上升的趋势。 直接来自人类活动造成的结果。
directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就; as a result:结果;
The line underneath shows the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide that is dissolved in the surface of the ocean which you can see is increasing 下面那蓝色条线, 显示 CO2 溶解在海洋表面的浓度, 可看出它也是以同样速率在增加,
underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的; dissolved:v.溶;使(固体)溶解;解除;终止;(dissolve的过去式和过去分词)
at the same rate as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since measurements began. 与开始测量大气 CO2 含量时 具有相同的增加速率。
measurements:n.测量值,尺寸(measurement的复数);
The line on the bottom shows then shows the change in chemistry. 最底下的绿色曲线, 显示化学反应的变化。
As more carbon dioxide has entered the ocean, the seawater pH has gone down, which basically means there has been an increase in ocean acidity. 当更多二氧化碳进入海洋时, 海水酸碱值也降低, 代表海水的酸度增加了。
Now in Ireland, scientists are also monitoring ocean acidification — scientists at the Marine 爱尔兰的科学家 现在也在监视海洋酸化, 他们是爱尔兰高威大学
Marine:adj.海的;海产的;海生的;海船的;n.(尤指美国或英国皇家)海军陆战队士兵;
Institute and NUI Galway. 海洋学院的研究员,
Institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院;
And we, too, are seeing acidification at the same rate as these main ocean time-seriessites around the world. 我们也看到 海洋以相同速度在酸化中, 跟全球其他海洋时间序列一样。
So it's happening right at our doorstep . 所以它的问题迫在眉睫。
doorstep:n.门阶;
Now I'd like to give you an example of just how we collect our data to monitor a changing ocean. 我给你们一个 关于我们如何收集资料, 监测海洋变化的例子。
Firstly we collect a lot of our samples in the middle of winter. 首先我们会在冬季中期取样。
Firstly:adv.首先(主要用于列举条目,论点时);第一;
So as you can imagine,in the North Atlantic we get hit with some seriously stormy conditions — so not for any of you who get a little motion sickness , but we are collecting some very valuable data. 你们知道北大西洋, 常常被暴风雨袭击…… 这工作不适合会晕船的人, 但我们必须收集一些有价值的数据。
Atlantic:adj.大西洋的;巨人阿特拉斯的;n.大西洋; stormy:adj.暴风雨的;猛烈的;暴躁的; motion sickness:n.运动病;晕动病(尤指晕车); valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品;
So we lower this instrument over the side of the ship, and there are sensors that are mounted on the bottom that can tell us information about the surrounding water, such as temperature or dissolved oxygen. 所以我们把侦测仪器 放到船身一侧下方, 另外船底也有侦测仪器, 可以告诉我们周遭海里的资讯, 例如温度和溶氧量。
instrument:n.仪器;工具;乐器;手段;器械; sensors:n.[自]传感器,感应器;感测器(sensor的复数); mounted:adj.骑马的; v.准备; (mount的过去分词和过去式)
And then we can collect our seawater samples in these large bottles. 这样就可以用 巨大的瓶子收集海水样本。
So we start at the bottom,which can be over four kilometers deep just off our continental shelf , and we take samples at regular intervals right up to the surface. 首先由 4 公里深的海水层开始, 作業地点在大陆棚外面一点, 每隔一段深度收集一个样本, 一路往上直到海水表面。
continental shelf:n.大陆架; intervals:n.间隔;[声]音程(interval的复数);
We take the seawater back on the deck , and then we can either analyze them on the ship or back in the laboratory for the different chemicals parameters . 收集到的海水被带回甲板上, 然后直接在船上分析, 或是带回实验室, 研究相关的化学参数。
deck:n.甲板;舱面;层面;一副(为52张);v.装饰;打扮;布置;用力击倒; analyze:v.对…进行分析,分解(等于analyse); laboratory:n.实验室,研究室; chemicals:n.化学制品;化学品;(chemical的复数) parameters:n.决定因素;规范;范围;(parameter的复数)
But why should we care? 但为什么我们要关心这些？
How is ocean acidification going to affect all of us? 海洋酸化如何影响我们的未来？
Well, here are the worrying facts. 以下是令人担心的事实。
There has already been an increase in ocean acidity of 26 percent since pre-industrial times, which is directly due to human activities. 海洋酸化已经增加了26%, 相对于革命工業开始前, 可见这是由人类活动导致的。
pre-industrial:adj.工业化以前的;
Unless we can start slowing down our carbon dioxide emissions , we're expecting an increase in ocean acidity of 170 percent by the end of this century. 除非我们能把二氧化碳 排放的速度减缓下来, 否则到本世纪末的时候, 我们预期海洋的酸度 会增加 170%。
emissions:n.(光、热、气等的)发出,排放;排放物;散发物;(emission的复数)
I mean this is within our children's lifetime. 我的意思是到了我们下一代,
This rate of acidification is 10 times faster than any acidification in our oceans for over 55 million years. 此种酸化的速度, 比五千五百万年前, 海水酸化速度还快十倍。
So our marine life have never,ever experienced such a fast rate of change before. 这是海洋生物从未有过的经验, 那种急遽的变化。
So we literally could not know how they're going to cope . 快速到我们无从知道, 牠们要如何去适应。
literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: cope:v.处理;n.大圆衣;
Now there was a natural acidification event millions of years ago, which was much slower than what we're seeing today. 数百万年前, 曾发生过一件天然酸化事件, 比今日看到的速度缓慢了很多。
And this coincided with a mass extinction of many marine species . 这事件恰好是很多海洋物种大灭绝的时间。
coincided:v.同时发生;相同;相符;重叠;(coincide的过去式和过去分词) mass:n.块,团; adj.群众的,民众的; v.聚集起来,聚集; extinction:n.绝种; species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
So is that what we're headed for? 所以这是我们正在迈入的现象吗？
Well, maybe. 或许是的。
Studies are showing some species are actually doing quite well but many are showing a negative response . 研究显示有些物种适应得很好, 但有些则显出负面的反应。
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; response:n.响应;反应;回答;
One of the big concerns is as ocean acidity increases, the concentration of carbonate ions in seawater decrease . 海洋酸化的大问题之一是; 海水中碳酸盐离子的减少。
concerns:n.关注; v.使关心(concern的三单形式); carbonate:vt.使充满二氧化碳;使变成碳酸盐;n.碳酸盐; decrease:v.降低;减少;缩小;减弱;n.减少;减小量;所减少的总量;减缩位置;
Now these ions are basically the building blocks for many marine species to make their shells , for example crabs or mussels , oysters . 这些离子基本上像是一种建筑材料, 是很多海洋生物制造外壳的物质, 如螃蟹、孔雀蛤、牡蛎等。
building blocks:(儿童玩的)积木;建筑砌块;堆积木;建筑砖块;基石; shells:n.壳;壳状物;炮弹;v.炮击;给…去壳(shell的第三人称单数和复数) crabs:n.蟹类;吊钳;脾气坏的人(crab的复数);v.捕蟹;抱怨;侧航(crab的三单形式); mussels:n.[无脊椎]贻贝(mussel的复数);[水产]淡菜;双壳类; oysters:n.牡蛎:生蚝:
Another example are corals . 另一例是珊瑚。
corals:n.[无脊椎]珊瑚(coral的复数);
They also need these carbonate ions in seawater to make their coral structure in order to build coral reefs . 牠们也需要这些碳酸盐离子, 来组成珊瑚的结构和制造珊瑚礁。
structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; reefs:n.礁石(reef的复数形式); v.收帆;
As ocean acidity increases and the concentration of carbonate ions decrease, these species first find it more difficult to make their shells. 当海洋酸性升高时, 碳酸盐离子的浓度降低了, 这些生物会更难制造外壳。
And at even even lower levels, they can actually begin to dissolve. 当酸性降低至更低的时后, 它们甚至会溶解掉。
This here is a pteropod, it's called a sea butterfly. 这是被喻为「海蝶」的 翼足类软体动物。
And it's an important food source in the ocean for many species, from krill to salmon right up to whales. 牠是很多海洋生物的重要食物来源, 从磷虾、鲑鱼到鲸鱼都靠它生存。
source:n.来源;水源;原始资料; krill:n.南极磷虾; salmon:n.鲑鱼;大马哈鱼;鲑肉色;鲑鱼肉;橙红色,粉橙色;adj.浅澄色的;
The shell of the pteropod was placed into seawater at a pH that we're expecting by the end of this century. 将翼足软体动物的外壳, 放进我们预估本世纪末的酸性海水样本中,
After only 45 days at this very realistic pH, you can see the shell has almost completely dissolved. 在此种 pH 值非常酸的 海水里只需 45 天, 就可以看到贝壳几乎完全被溶解。
realistic:adj.现实的;现实主义的;逼真的;实在论的;
So ocean acidification could affect right up through the food chain — and right onto our dinner plates. 所以海洋酸化可以影响食物链, 一路影响到你和我的餐盘。
food chain:n.食物链;
I mean who here likes shellfish ? Or salmon? 我是说谁愿意像贝类？鲑鱼？
shellfish:n.甲壳类动物;贝类等有壳的水生动物;
Or many other fish species whose food source in the ocean could be affected? 或很多其他鱼种, 牠们海洋中的食物来源受到影响？
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, just off our continental shelf? 你知道爱尔兰的外海,也有冷水珊瑚礁吗？ 就在大陆棚外面一点的地方。
And they support rich biodiversity , including some very important fisheries . 它们支撑丰富多样生态的存活, 包括非常重要的渔業。
biodiversity:n.生物多样性; fisheries:n.渔业;渔场(fishery的复数);捕鱼术;渔业公司;
It's projected that by the end of this century, 70 percent of all known cold-water corals in the entire ocean will be surrounded by seawater that is dissolving their coral structure. 预估到了本世纪末, 全球 70% 已知的所有冷水珊瑚礁, 在整个海洋里, 将会通通被海水溶解掉。
The last example I have are these healthy tropical corals. 我最近发现的例子 是这些热带海洋珊瑚,
tropical:adj.热带的;热情的;酷热的;
They were placed in seawater at a pH we're expecting by the year 2100. 把牠放入预估的 2100 年 酸性海水样本中时,
After six months, the coral has almost completely dissolved. 经过六个月后,牠们几乎完全溶解。
Now coral reefs support 25 percent of all marine life in the entire ocean. 现在全球珊瑚礁支撑了 整个海洋 25% 的生态。
All marine life. 所有的海洋生物。
So you can see: ocean acidification is a global threat. 所以可想而知, 海洋酸化是全球性的威胁。
global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的;
I have an eight-month-old baby boy. 我有个八个月大的婴儿。
Unless we start now to slow this down, 除非我们现在开始减缓酸化速度,
I dread to think what our oceans will look like when he's a grown man. 我不敢想像未来他长大后, 海洋会变成怎样。
dread:n.恐惧;可怕的人(或物);vi.惧怕;担心;vt.惧怕;担心;adj.可怕的;
We will see acidification. 我们将会继续看到海水的酸化。
We have already put too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 因为释放到空气中的 二氧化碳已经太多了。
But we can slow this down. 但我们可以放慢酸化速度。
We can prevent the worst-case scenario . 可以预防此种最坏的结局。
worst-case:adj.作最坏打算的;最糟情况的; scenario:n.方案;情节;剧本;
The only way of doing that is by reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. 要作到此点,唯一之道, 就是减少二氧化碳的排放量。
This is important for both you and I, for industry, for governments. 这对你我、工業界, 和政府都是非常重要的。
We need to work together,slow down global warming slow down ocean acidification and help to maintain a healthy ocean and a healthy planet for our generation and for generations to come. 我们必须同心协力减缓全球暖化, 减缓海洋酸化, 一起努力维持海洋和地球的健康, 为了这一代和未来的世代。
global warming:n.全球(气候)变暖;地球大气层变暖; maintain:v.维持;保持;维修;保养;坚持(意见);
(Applause) （掌声）