(单词翻译:单击)
Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin!
大家好!欢迎来到脑洞大开的生命奇想!
Right now we are living in a dangerous time where many powerful political leaders don't believe that climate change is caused by human activity.
现在我们生活在一个危险的时代,许多有权势的政治领导人都不相信气候变化是由人类活动造成的 。
However, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it is very likely that most of the increase in global temperatures since the mid-20th century is caused by the human-related increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.
然而,根据政府间气候变化专门委员会(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)的说法,自20世纪中叶以来,全球气温上升很有可能是与人类活动相关的温室气体浓度增加所致 。
And if we keep emitting more of these gases, the effects of global warming will continue and may even worsen.
如果我们继续排放这些气体,全球变暖的影响将会持续下去,甚至可能恶化 。
But there are ways to help prevent this from happening -- including some cool innovations and simple things you can do yourself.
但是有些方法可以帮助避免这种情况的发生——包括一些很酷的创新和你自己就可以做的简单的事情 。
To start, let's talk about one of my favorite topics: gassy cows.
首先,让我们谈谈一个我最喜欢的话题:排气奶牛 。
See, as part of their digestive process, cattle produce a lot of gas -- including a particular greenhouse gas called methane.
看,牛在消化过程中,会产生大量的气体——包括甲烷这种特殊的温室气体 。
This gas is emitted by natural sources like wetlands, but is also emitted by human activities like coal mining, landfills, and raising livestock.
这种气体是由湿地等自然资源释放出来的,但采矿、垃圾填埋和饲养牲畜这些人类活动也会释放这种气体 。
And even though it doesn't last as long in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide, it's much better at trapping heat.
尽管与二氧化碳相比,这种气体在大气中停留的时间并不长,但它比二氧化碳更能吸收热量 。
That really makes burping and farting cows seem a lot less funny, doesn't it? I mean it's still kind of hilarious look at this thing go.
这样牛打嗝放屁似乎没那么好笑了,对不对?我想说,看这东西还挺滑稽的 。
But anyway, to prevent all this methane from getting into the atmosphere, researchers at Argentina's National Institute of Agricultural Technology developed an interesting accessory.
不过,为了防止这些甲烷进入大气层,阿根廷国家农业技术研究所的研究人员开发了一个有趣的装置 。
Meet the inflatable backpack -- the hottest new trend of the season.
看看这个充气背包——本季最热的新潮单品 。
Basically, this inflatable bag is connected to a tube running to the cows' stomachs, which collects the gas the cows emits, which fills the bag.
简单来说,这个充气袋连着一根管子,管子伸到牛的胃里,它能收集奶牛所排放的气体,充满袋子 。
It's kind of adorable in a very weird way.
真是一种非常怪异的可爱 。
But it's also really useful because the researchers found that the cows emitted a few hundred liters of methane every day, which can later be reused for other purposes. Go Argentina!
但这也很有用,因为研究人员发现,奶牛每天排放几百公升的甲烷,这些甲烷之后可以用于其他地方 。阿根廷加油!
Another awesome innovation involves turning the carbon dioxide gas into a common household item -- baking soda!
另一个令人惊叹的创新是将二氧化碳气体转化为一种普通的家庭用品——小苏打!
So get out your whisks and aprons, folks, because helping the planet is about to get a whole lot tastier! Way better than cow farts.
所以,伙计们,拿出你的威士忌和围裙,因为救助地球要变得更美味了!比牛放屁要好得多 。
A firm called Carbon Clean Solutions is currently working with a chemical plant in India to strip carbon dioxide gas from the plant's flue gas.
一家名为碳清洁解决方案的公司目前正与印度一家化工厂合作,从该厂的烟道气中去除二氧化碳气体 。
The chemical that they use to do this is apparently less corrosive, less expensive, and more efficient than the other chemicals that do the same thing.
在做这件事的过程中,他们所用的化学物质显然没有其他化学物质那么有腐蚀性,更便宜,也更有效 。
And even more, Carbon Clean Solutions estimates that they can capture around 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
更重要的是,碳清洁解决方案估计他们每年可以捕获大约6万吨二氧化碳 。
Previously, a process called carbon capture and storage was used where carbon dioxide is captured from power plants or industrial processes, transported, and stored in deep underground rock formations.
以前,人们会利用碳捕获与封存的过程:从发电厂或工业过程中捕获二氧化碳,运输,最后储存在地下深处的岩层中 。
However, this process is far from perfect and likely more expensive than it will be to turn the gas into baking soda instead. Even with these two innovations, there's still a lot left to do.
然而,这一过程还不完美,而且可能比把气体变成小苏打成本更高 。即使有了这两项创新,还有很多事情要做 。
And eventually, we'll have to stop burning fossil fuels and switch to renewable, clean energy. The sooner, the better.
最终,我们不得不停止燃烧化石燃料,转而使用可再生能源,清洁能源 。而且越早越好 。
This will be a long process, but there's still some simple things that you can do now to help. One is to drive less, take more public transportation, or just walk or bike places.
这将是一个漫长的过程,但你还是可以做一些简单的事情推动这个过程 。一是少开车,多乘坐公共交通工具,或者步行、骑自行车出门 。
Another is to turn off lights and unplug your electronics and maybe even invest in solar panels for your house if you have one.
另一种方法是关掉电灯,拔掉电器插头,甚至可以为你的房子装上太阳能电池板,如果你有房子的话 。
We have to start saving our planet, people. It's the only one we got. Every little effort will help.
我们必须开始拯救我们的星球了,我们只有一个地球 。每一点努力都有帮助 。
What do you like to help the planet? Let me know in the comments section below. And if you ever were wondering what happens when a planet dies, make sure you check out this video.
你喜欢帮助这个星球吗?请在下面的评论栏中告诉我 。如果你想知道当一个行星灭亡的过程,一定要看一下这个视频 。
A recent study by NASA found that solar wind alone causes around 100 grams of gas to be lost to space every second.
美国国家航空和宇宙航行局最近的一项研究发现,单是太阳风就会使每秒钟大约100克的气体流失到太空中 。
So, if you're looking for your next interplanetary travel destination, you might want to choose somewhere else.
所以,如果你在寻找下一个星际旅行目的地,你可能会想要选择其他地方——特别是现在,地球的前景看起来不太好 。
I'm Blocko. This has been Life Noggin. Don't forget to keep on thinking!
我是宝高!这里是脑洞大开的生命奇想 。思考不要停!