【保护地球的蔚蓝心脏】地球手抄报图片

　　过度捕捞海洋鱼类、任意倾倒污水污物、肆意钻探采矿……拜人类这些破坏性活动所赐，海洋在短短几十年间从快乐的“伊甸园”变成了伤痕累累的“失乐园”。海洋生物锐减、冰川融化、海水酸化等一系列问题正威胁着海洋的健康发展。如果你还以为这一切与你无关，那么海洋生物学家西尔维亚・厄尔会以她的亲身经历告诉你：如果一切照旧，人类的生命保障系统将不复存在。
　　
　　Fifty years ago, when I began exploring the ocean, no one imagined that we could do anything to harm the ocean by what we put into it or by what we took out of it. It seemed, at that time, to be a sea of Eden, but now we are facing paradise lost. I want to share with you my personal view of changes in the sea that affect all of us and to consider why it matters that in 50 years we’ve lost more than 90 percent of the big fish in the sea, why you should care that nearly half of the coral reefs1) have disappeared, why a mysterious depletion2) of oxygen in large areas of the Pacific should concern not only the creatures that are dying but it really should concern you.
　　The poet Auden3) said, “Thousands have lived without love. None without water.” Ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water is ocean. No blue, no green. If you think the ocean isn’t important, imagine Earth without it. Mars comes to mind. No ocean. No life support system. With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere is generated by the sea. Over time, most of the planet’s organic carbon has been absorbed and stored there, mostly by microbes4). The ocean drives climate and weather, stabilizes temperature, shapes Earth’s chemistry. Water from the sea forms clouds that return to the land and the seas as rain, sleet5) and snow, and provides home for about 97 percent of life in the world. No water, no life. Yet we have this idea that the Earth―all of it: the oceans, the skies―are so vast and so resilient6) that it doesn’t matter what we do to it. That may have been true 10,000 years ago, and maybe even 1,000 years ago but in the last 100, especially in the last 50, we’ve drawn down7) the assets―the air, the water, the wildlife―that make our lives possible.
　　Just ten years ago I stood on the ice at the North Pole. An ice-free Arctic Ocean may happen in this century. That’s bad news for the polar bears. That’s bad news for us too. Excess carbon dioxide8) is not only driving global warming, it’s also changing ocean chemistry, making the sea more acidic9). That’s bad news for coral reefs and oxygen-producing plankton10). Also bad news for us. We’re putting hundreds of millions of tons of plastic and other trash into the sea, millions of tons of discarded fishing nets, gear that continues to kill. We’re clogging11) the ocean, poisoning the planet’s circulatory12) system, and we’re taking out hundreds of millions of tons of wildlife, all carbon-based units. Barbarically13), we’re killing sharks for shark fin soup, undermining food chains that shape planetary chemistry and drive the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle14), the oxygen cycle, the water cycle, our life support system. We’re still killing bluefin tuna15)―truly endangered, and much more valuable alive than dead. All of these parts are part of our life support system. We kill them using long lines, with baited hooks16) every few feet that may stretch for 50 miles or more.
　　In my lifetime, 90 percent of the big fish have been killed. Most of the turtles, sharks, tunas and whales are way down in numbers. But there is good news. 10 percent of the big fish still remain. There are still some blue whales. There are still some krill17) in Antarctica. There are a few oysters in Chesapeake Bay18). Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape. There’s still time to turn things around. But business as usual19) means that in 50 years, there may be no coral reefs and no commercial fishing, because the fish will simply be gone. Imagine the ocean without fish. Imagine what that means to our life support system. Natural systems on the land are in big trouble too, but the problems are more obvious, and some actions are being taken to protect trees, watersheds and wildlife. In 1872, with Yellowstone National Park, the United States began establishing a system of parks that some say was the best idea America ever had. About 12 percent of the land around the world is now protected. And in 1972, this nation began to establish a counterpart in the sea, National Marine Sanctuaries20). That’s another great idea. The good news is that there are now more than 4,000 places in the sea around the world that have some kind of protection. The bad news is that you have to look hard to find them. In the last few years, for example, the U.S. protected 340,000 square miles of ocean as national monuments. But it only increased from 0.6 of one percent to 0.8 of one percent of the ocean protected, globally.
　　With scientists around the world, I’ve been looking at the 99 percent of the ocean that is open to fishing, and mining, and drilling, and dumping, and whatever, to search out hope spots21), and try to find ways to give them and us a secure future. Such as the Arctic―we have one chance, right now, to get it right. Or the Antarctic, where the continent is protected, but the surrounding ocean is being stripped22) of its krill, whales and fish. Sargasso Sea23)’s three million square miles of floating forest is being gathered up to feed cows. 97 percent of the land in the Galapagos Islands24) is protected, but the adjacent sea is being ravaged by fishing. It’s true too in Argentina, on the Patagonian shelf, now in serious trouble.
　　The next 10 years may be the most important, and the next 10,000 years the best chance our species will have to protect what remains of the natural systems that give us life. To cope with climate change, we need new ways to generate power. We need new ways, better ways, to cope with poverty, wars and disease. We need many things to keep and maintain the world as a better place. But nothing else will matter if we fail to protect the ocean. Our fate and the ocean are one. We need to do for the ocean what Al Gore25) did for the skies above.
　　And so I suppose you want to know what my wish is. I wish you would use all means at your disposal―films, expeditions, the web, new submarines―a campaign to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet. My wish is a big wish, but if we can make it happen, it can truly change the world, and help ensure the survival of what actually―as it turns out―is my favorite species, that would be us.
　　
　　50年前，我开始探索海洋时，人们都还认为，不管我们往海里扔什么，也不管我们从海里捞取什么，都不会对大海造成任何伤害。那时，大海似乎就是快乐的伊甸园，可现在我们面对的大海却是失乐园。在此，我想和大家一起分享我的个人见解，探讨影响我们每个人的海洋变化，并对如下事实进行思考：在50年的时间里我们失去了海洋中90%以上的大型鱼类，这一变化为何非比寻常？将近一半的珊瑚礁都已消失，对此我们为什么要严加关注？为什么太平洋大片水域内氧气的神秘耗竭不仅和濒死的生物关系密切，也和你我息息相关？
　　诗人奥登曾说过：“没有爱，成千上万的人仍然可以存活；没有水，谁也无法存活。”地球上97%的水存在于海洋中。没有蔚蓝的大海，就没有绿色的地球。如果你觉得海洋并不重要，那就想象一下，没有它，地球将会怎样。你也许会想到火星。那里没有海洋，也就没有生命保障系统。你所饮用的每一滴水，你所呼吸的每一口气，无不和海洋息息相关。大气层中的大部分氧气都是由海洋产生的。随着时间的推移，地球上大部分的有机碳都已被海洋吸收并存积在海洋中，这一过程主要通过微生物来完成。海洋推动着气候和天气变化，能够稳定气温，决定着地球的化学变化。海水升腾形成云，云又以雨、雪、霰的形式返回陆地和海洋，海水还为地球上97%的生命提供安身之所。没有水，就没有生命。然而，我们却一向认为，地球――包括海洋和天空的完整意义上的地球――如此宽广、如此充满活力，不管我们怎么对待它都无关紧要。一万年以前也许如此，甚至一千年以前或许也是如此。但最近一百年来，特别是近五十年来，我们赖以生存的生命资源却被我们消耗殆尽，包括空气、水和野生生物。
　　就在十年前，我还曾踏上北极的寒冰。但在本世纪，北冰洋可能会变成无冰之洋。这对北极熊而言是坏消息，对我们而言同样是坏消息。过量的二氧化碳不仅使地球变暖，同时也在改变着海洋的化学性质，使海水酸性增加。这对珊瑚礁和能够产生氧气的浮游生物来说极为不利。对我们也是如此。我们将千百万吨的塑料和其他垃圾扔进大海，将数百万吨的废弃渔网扔进大海――这些渔具在海中继续毁灭着生命。我们把垃圾扔进大海，污染地球的循环系统，从大海中捞取千百万吨的野生动植物，而它们全都是碳基生物。为了享用鱼翅汤，我们野蛮地猎杀鲨鱼，破坏食物链，而正是食物链决定地球的化学变化，促进碳循环、氮循环、氧循环、水循环和我们的生命保障系统。我们现在仍然还在捕杀蓝鳍金枪鱼，一种真的濒临灭绝的鱼类，让它们活着的价值要远远高于捕杀它们的收益。所有这一切都是我们生命保障系统的一部分。我们用长长的渔线捕杀它们，线上每隔几英尺就装有带饵的鱼钩，长度可达50英里或者更长。
　　在我出生到现在的几十年时间里，90%的大型鱼类惨遭猎杀。大多数类型的海龟、鲨鱼、金枪鱼和鲸鱼的数量急剧减少。但也有好消息。还有10%的大型鱼类仍然存活。还有一些蓝鲸仍然存活，南极洲仍然还有一些磷虾，切萨皮克湾仍然还有少数牡蛎。有一半的珊瑚礁仍然保存完好。我们仍然有时间来扭转局面。但如果一切照旧，那就意味着50年以后我们将不再有珊瑚礁，也不再有商业捕鱼，因为那时鱼类将不复存在。想象一个没有鱼类的海洋将会怎样。想象那对我们的生命保障系统意味着什么。陆地上的自然系统也出现了很大问题，但那些问题都比较明显，而且人类也正在采取一些措施保护树木、水域和野生动植物。1872年，从黄石国家公园入手，美国开始建立一套公园系统，有人认为这一系统是美国有史以来最棒的一个设想。现在世界各地大约有12%的陆地得到了保护。1972年，美国开始在海洋中建立一个类似的保护系统，那就是国家海洋保护区。这是又一个了不起的设想。好消息是全世界海洋中已有超过四千个地方受到了某种保护。坏消息是你必须要努力寻找才能找到这些地方。举例来说，在过去几年里，美国保护了34万平方英里的海洋，把它们划为国家保护区。但从全球意义上来说，这一举措仅仅是将受保护的海洋区域从0.6个百分点提高到了0.8个百分点。
　　和世界各地的科学家一起，我一直在关注着海洋中那99%的开放区域，它们至今仍允许捕鱼、采矿、钻探、倾倒垃圾等等。我一直在从中寻找对海洋健康具有关键影响的希望之地，试图找到一些方法，给它们、也给我们自己一个安全的未来。比如北极地区，我们现在就有一个机会来补救这一切。再比如南极地区，虽然这块大陆受到保护，但周围的海洋却仍在遭受掠夺，正在丧失其中的磷虾、海鲸和鱼类。在马尾藻海，它那三百万平方英里的“流动森林”正在被捞取，用来喂奶牛。在加拉帕戈斯群岛，97%的陆地得到保护，但周围的海域却正遭受渔业的破坏。在阿根廷的巴塔哥尼亚大陆架上，情况也是如此，问题都很严重。
　　未来的十年也许最为重要，未来的一万年也许将是人类最好的时机，来保护给予我们生命的残存的自然体系。为了应对气候变化，我们需要产生能源的新方法。我们需要更好的新方法来应对贫困、战争和疾病。我们需要太多的东西来保护这个世界，使之成为一个更好的安身之所。但是，如果我们不能保护好海洋，所有这一切都无从谈起。我们的命运和海洋息息相关。阿尔・戈尔曾为推动大气环境的保护倾尽全力，我们也需要像他那样为海洋环境的保护尽一己之力。
　　我想，你们想知道我的愿望是什么。我的愿望就是你们动用一切可以动用的力量――电影、探险、互联网、新式潜水艇――来发动一场运动，点燃公众的激情，使人人都来支持建立一个全球海洋保护区网络，建立足够大的希望之地，以挽救和恢复海洋，挽救和恢复我们地球的蔚蓝心脏。这个愿望是个宏大的愿望，但如果能够实现，它将会真正地改变世界，并确保那个事实上我最热爱的物种得以存活，这个物种就是我们人类。
　　
　　1. coral reef：请参见第34页注释15。
　　2. depletion [dɪˈpliːʃn] n. 损耗，消耗
　　3. Auden：指威斯坦・休・奥登(Wystan Hugh Auden, 1907～1973)，英裔美国诗人，20世纪最重要的英语诗人之一，新一代诗人代表和左翼青年作家领袖，代表作有《西班牙》(Spain)、《新年书信》(New Year Letter)等。
　　4. microbe [ˈmaɪkrəʊb] n. 微生物，细菌
　　5. sleet [sliːt] n. 冰雹，冻雨
　　6. resilient [rɪˈzɪliənt] adj. 有复原力的，富有活力的，适应性强的
　　7. draw down：花光，耗尽
　　8. carbon dioxide：二氧化碳
　　9. acidic [əˈsɪdɪk] adj. 酸性的
　　10. plankton [ˈplæŋktən] n. 浮游生物
　　11. clog [klɒ�] vt. 障碍，阻塞
　　12. circulatory [ˌsɜːkjəˈleɪtəri] adj. 循环的
　　13. barbarically [b�ːˈbærɪkli] adv. 毫无约束地，肆无忌惮地
　　14. nitrogen cycle：氮循环。氮循环是指氮在自然界中的循环：大气中的氮经微生物等作用形成化合氮进入土壤，为动植物所利用，最终又在微生物的参与下以单质氮的形式返回大气中。
　　15. bluefin tuna：蓝鳍金枪鱼，金枪鱼类中最大型的鱼种，体长一般为1~3米，大者长达三米多。蓝鳍金枪鱼分布在北半球温带海域，栖息的水温较低，是生长速度最慢的金枪鱼种类，寿命长达20年或以上。
　　16. baited hook：饵钩
　　17. krill [krɪl] n. 磷虾
　　18. Chesapeake Bay：切萨皮克湾，美国面积最大的海湾，位于美国东部的大西洋海岸。
　　19. business as usual：一切如常
　　20. sanctuary：请参见第33页注释10。
　　21. hope spot：希望之地。文中指的是对海洋健康起着关键影响的区域，这样的区域因其独特的地理环境、生活环境或拥有独特的生物物种而应受到全面的保护与管理。
　　22. strip [strɪp] vt. 剥夺
　　23. Sargasso Sea：马尾藻海，又名萨加索海，是大西洋上没有岸的海，大致在北纬20°～35°、西经35°～70°的位置，该海上生长着大量的漂浮植物马尾藻。
　　24. Galapagos Islands：加拉帕戈斯群岛，位于太平洋东部，距离南美大陆海岸一千多公里，因为拥有大量保持着原始风貌的独特生物物种而被称为“生物进化的活博物馆”。
　　25. Al Gore：阿尔・戈尔，全名为艾伯特・阿诺德・戈尔(Albert Arnold Gore Jr., 1948～)，美国政治家、环境学家，曾于1993~2001年担任美国副总统。2007年，他因在全球气候变暖和其他环境问题上作出的杰出贡献而获得了诺贝尔和平奖，著有《难以忽视的真相》(An Inconvenient Truth)一书。

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