二氧化碳水平剛剛達到一個可怕的新高

二氧化碳水平剛剛達到一個可怕的新高

In the midst of a worldwide health crisis, it can be easy to forget that humanity faces existential threats from multiple angles. The coronavirus pandemic will pass — either when we take measures to dramatically mitigate its spread or a vaccine or other treatment is developed — but when it does, our planet will still be in peril. The worst part is, it’s largely our fault.

在全球衛(wèi)生危機期間，人們很容易忘記，人類面臨著來自多個角度的生存威脅。冠狀病毒大流行將會過去——要么當我們采取措施大幅減緩其傳播，要么當我們研制出疫苗或其他治療方法——但當它過去時，我們的星球仍將處于危險之中。最糟糕的是，這主要是我們的錯。

As AP reports, scientists revealed on Thursday that the highest-ever atmospheric carbon dioxide reading was recently taken in April. The measurement showed a concentration of as much as 17% in the atmosphere, and since human activity (the burning of fossil fuels) is the primary source for this carbon dioxide, it’s clear that we’re not doing nearly enough to prevent an eventual catastrophe.

據(jù)美聯(lián)社報道，科學家周四透露，今年4月的大氣二氧化碳濃度是有史以來最高的。測量結(jié)果顯示，大氣中二氧化碳的濃度高達17%。由于人類活動(燃燒化石燃料)是二氧化碳的主要來源，很明顯，我們在防止最終災(zāi)難方面做得還遠遠不夠。

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. When greenhouses gasses build up in the atmosphere they trap heat, gradually warming the planet. It doesn’t happen all at once, and sometimes there are dips in the amount of greenhouse gas detected in the atmosphere, but the big picture reveals that the levels are sharply trending upward over time.

二氧化碳是一種溫室氣體。當溫室氣體在大氣中積聚時，它們會吸收熱量，逐漸使地球變暖。這不是一蹴而就的，有時在大氣中檢測到的溫室氣體含量會有所下降，但總體情況顯示，隨著時間的推移，溫室氣體含量正急劇上升。

This has a number of effects on the planet. It causes rising ocean temperatures that kill off vital reef systems that themselves protect coastal communities from being inundated by storm surges and devastating waves. It affects the weather, sparking bigger and more powerful storms, and we have plenty of evidence to show that the hotter the planet gets, the more damage hurricanes and other large storms deal.

這對地球有許多影響。它導致海洋溫度上升，殺死了重要的珊瑚礁系統(tǒng)，而這些珊瑚礁系統(tǒng)本身可以保護沿海社區(qū)免受風暴潮和毀滅性海浪的淹沒。它會影響天氣，引發(fā)更大更強的風暴，我們有足夠的證據(jù)表明，地球越熱，颶風和其他大型風暴造成的破壞就越大。

Droughts facilitate wildfires that topple entire communities and lives along with them. And of course, there’s the little matter of the food chain, which can be completely toppled as certain species are pushed to extinction by intolerable climate conditions in the sea and on land.

干旱促進了野火的發(fā)生，野火摧毀了整個社區(qū)，和生活在社區(qū)的人們。當然，還有食物鏈的小問題，當某些物種被海洋和陸地上難以忍受的氣候條件推向滅絕時，食物鏈可能會被完全顛覆。

Put simply, we’re really messing this up in a big way.

簡而言之，我們在很大程度上把事情搞砸了。

“It illustrates how difficult it is — what a huge job it is — to bring emissions down,” NOAA senior scientist Pieter Tans said in a statement. “We are really committing the Earth to an enormous amount of warming for a very large time.”

美國國家海洋和大氣管理局的資深科學家彼得·坦斯在一份聲明中說:“這說明降低排放是多么困難，是一項多么艱巨的工作。”“在很長一段時間內(nèi)，我們確實在讓地球承受巨大的變暖。”

Historical data for carbon dioxide levels stretches back to the late 1950s. Comparing readings taken at that point in time to those taken now produces alarming results. All told, the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has risen by 31% in just that short timeframe. The fact that CO2 tends to hang in the atmosphere for a very long time compounds the problem.

二氧化碳水平的歷史數(shù)據(jù)可以追溯到20世紀50年代末。將當時的讀數(shù)與現(xiàn)在的讀數(shù)進行比較，得出的結(jié)果令人擔憂?？偟膩碚f，在這么短的時間內(nèi)，大氣中的二氧化碳含量增加了31%。二氧化碳會在大氣中停留很長一段時間，這一事實使問題更加復雜。