Imagine yourself standing on a beach, looking out over the ocean,
想象你站在一片沙滩上，放眼眺望海洋，
waves crashing against the shore, blue as far as your eyes can see.
海浪拍打着沙滩，目之所及，一片蔚蓝。
Let it really sink in, the sheer scope and size of it all.
我们来试着真正感受一下它的庞大与广阔。
Now, ask yourself, "How big is it? How big is the ocean?"
现在，问问你自己，它到底有多大，海洋究竟有多大。
First thing, we need to understand that there really is only one ocean,
首先，我们需要明白世界上只有一片汪洋，
consisting of five component basins that we call the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Arctic, and the Southern.
它由5个部分组成，我们称之为太平洋，大西洋，印度洋，北冰洋，南冰洋。
Each of these five, while generally referred to as oceans in and of themselves,
这5个部分中的每一部分，不论面积大小，都被称作大洋，
are really and truly a part of a single, massive body of water, one ocean, which defines the very face of planet Earth.
但它们确确实实只是一个巨大水体的组成部分，海洋，覆盖了整个地球表面。
The ocean covers roughly 71% of our planet's surface, some 360 million square kilometers, an area in excess of the size of 36 U.S.A.'s.
海洋占据了地球表面大约71%的面积，大概有3.6亿平方公里，比36个美国的面积还要大。
It's such a vast spread, when viewed from space, the ocean is, by far, the dominant feature of our planet.
它十分广阔，当人们从太空俯瞰地球时，目前为止，地球最显著的特征的便是海洋。
Speaking of space, the ocean currently holds over 1.3 billion, that's billion with a "b", cubic kilometers of water.
说到太空，现在海洋内存储了约13亿立方米，货真价实的13亿立方米，那么多的水。
Put another way, that's enough water to immerse the entire United States under a body of salt water over 132 kilometers tall,
换言之，这些水已经足够将整个美国淹没在一片高达132公里的盐水之中。
a height well beyond the reach of the highest clouds and extending deep into the upper atmosphere.
这高度远远超过云层所能到达的最高高度，并延伸到大气上层。
With all that volume, the ocean represents 97% of Earth's total water content.
海洋体积庞大，包含了地球上97%的水资源。
On top of all that, the ocean contains upwards of 99% of the world's biosphere, that is, the spaces and places where life exists.
更重要的是，海洋覆盖了全世界将近99%的生物圈，而生物圈正是维系生命之所在。
Now let that sink in for a second. The immediate world as we know it,
我们换个角度想一想。在我们所知的整个地球上，
indeed the totality of all the living space encompassed by the continents themselves, all of that represents only 1% of the biosphere.
由大陆提供的全部生存空间只占据了全部生物圈的1%。
1%! The ocean is everything else. So, the ocean is physically massive.
仅仅1%！剩下的都由海洋包揽了。因此，海洋确实巨大无比。
It's importance to life is practically unparalleled.
它对于生命的重要性无可比拟。
It also happens to hold the greatest geological features of our planet.
同时它还碰巧拥有地球上最庞大的地质地貌。

Quickly, here are four of the most notable.
长话短说，有4个最明显的例子。
The ocean contains the world's largest mountain range, the mid-ocean ridge.
海洋内坐落着全世界最大的山脉，中洋脊。
At roughly 65,000 kilometers long, this underwater range is some 10 times longer than the longest mountain chain found purely on dry land, the Andes.
它长约6万5千公里，这座水下山脉的长度10倍于陆地上已知的最长山脉，安第斯山脉。
Beneath the Denmark Strait exists the world's largest waterfall.
位于丹麦海峡之下，有世界上最大的瀑布。
This massive cataract carries roughly 116 times more water per second over its edge than the Congo River's Inga Falls, the largest waterfall by volume on land.
它每秒的泄水量是陆地上最大瀑布刚果河因加瀑布的116倍。
The world's tallest mountain is actually found in the ocean, hiding in plain sight.
世界上的最高峰也在海底，藏匿于看似平凡的外表之下。
While 4200 meters of Hawaii's Mauna Kea sit above sea level, its sides plummet beneath the waves for another 5800 meters.
夏威夷的冒纳凯阿火山仅仅超出海平面4200米，但它隐藏于水下的达5800米。
From its snow-covered top to it's silt-covered bottom, then,
从白雪皑皑的山颠到水泽泥泞的山脚，
this Hawaiian mountain is roughly 10,000 meters in height,
这座夏威夷高山约有一万米，
dwarfing tiny Everest's paltry peak by well over a kilometer.
比珠穆朗玛峰还高出一公里多。
Then, since we're picking on poor Everest, let's consider the world's deepest canyon,
既然我们提到了“矮子”珠穆朗玛峰，那就再看看世界上最深的峡谷，
the Challenger Deep, existing 11 kilometers below the ocean's surface, some six times deeper than the Grand Canyon.
它是深渊挑战者，位于海平面下11公里，比科罗拉多大峡谷深6倍。
That's deep enough to sink Mount Everest into and still have over 2.1 kilometers of water sitting atop its newly submerged peak.
这深度足够装入一座珠穆朗玛峰，还能让2.1公里深的海水悠游于它的峰顶之上。
Put another way, the depth of the Challenger Deep is roughly the same height that commercial airliners travel.
换言之，这一深渊挑战者跟民航客机的飞行高度大致相同。
So, pretty much however you choose to slice it, the ocean is capital B, capital I, capital G, BIG!
因此，不论你想如何描述海洋，它确确实实很大，非常大，无与伦比的庞大。
It defines our planet, home to the greatest geological features, comprises the largest living space,
它塑造了我们的地球，让它坐拥世界上最奇绝的地质特征，让它占据着最庞大的生存空间，
and accordingly, is home to the greatest numbers and forms of life on Earth.
因此，它是地球上绝大多数生物形态的家园。
It is practically incomprehensible in scope.
这真让人难以置信。
But it is not so big, so vast, so extraordinary as to be untouchable.
但它还不够大，不够广阔，也不够辽阔，能免疫于人类的干扰。
In fact, with roughly 50% of the world's population living within 100 kilometers of the coastline
事实上，世界上大约有一半人口生活在海岸线100公里以内的区域，
and with most of the remainder living close enough to lakes, rivers, or swamps, all of which ultimately lead to the ocean,
而其他大多数人口也十分靠近湖泊，河流或沼泽，这些水系最终会与海洋相联系，
virtually every single person on the planet has the opportunity to influence the general health and nature of the world ocean.
基本上地球上的每一个人都有机会影响到海洋的整体状态。
Evidence of human influence is seen in every part of the ocean, no matter how deep, no matter how distant.
人类影响力的痕迹已经遍布海洋的各处，无论深浅，无论远近。
The ocean defines our planet, but, in a very real sense, we define the ocean.
海洋塑造了地球，但是，毫无疑问，我们也在塑造着海洋。