逐冰之旅（2012）

这其实是地貌的记忆
This is the memory of the landscape.
之前的地貌已经消失了
That landscape is gone.
在人类文明史上再也见不到它了
It may never be seen again in the history of civilization
但是都储存在这里
and it’s stored right here.
1984年 冰面在那儿 十一英里以外
In 1984, the glacier was down there, 11 miles away.
现在 它在这里
And today, it’s back here.
后退了十一英里
It receded 11 miles.
冰川在后退
The glacier’s retreating,
同时也在变薄
but it’s also thinning at the same time.
就好像气球里的气被放出来一样
It’s like the air being let out of a balloon.
你可以看到这条线 我们叫它裁切线
You can see what’s called the trim line…
是1984年冰川的最高水位线
it’s the high water mark of the glacier in 1984.
垂直高度的变化
That vertical change is the height
相当于帝国大厦的高度
of the Empire State Building.
我们确实处于地质变化长河的中段
You know, we’re really in the midst of geologic scale change.
我们总是想当然地
You know our brains are programed to think
把地质变化和遥远的过去
that geology is something that happened a long time ago
或漫长的将来联♥系♥在一块
or it will happen a long time in the future.
我们并不认为它可以在几年内发生
And we don’t think that can happen during these little years
我们在这星球上活着的几年
that we each live on this planet.
但这确实发生了
But the reality is that it does.
而且速度惊人
That things can happen very, very very quickly.
我们正生活在这样一个
We’re living through one of those moments
发生着巨大地质变化的时代
of epochal geologic change right now.
而且这变化是由人类引起的
And we humans are causing it.
沿着冰原边缘上上下下
Up and down the edges of the ice sheet,
这块区域我们叫它熔体区
there’s this zone called the melt zone.
冰川融化后的水都储存在这儿
This is where the sheet is melting and that stored water
从冰川流向大海
from the ice sheet is running out to sea.
我得为了今天的活动包裹一下膝盖
I have to wrap my knees for the day’s festivities.
它已经动过两次手术了
This knee has had two surgeries on it already
十分需要第三次手术
and it really could use a third.
很像月球表面
It’s like the surface of the moon.
看看这些洞
Look at those holes.
我的天哪 看这个
Oh my gosh, look at this stuff!
我完全不知道它居然这么粘稠
I had no idea it was so thick in here.
这个东西叫做冰尘 是一种混合物
This stuff, this cryoconite, it’s made from a combination
由中东沙漠吹来的尘埃
of natural dust that blows in from the deserts
和小片的碳混合而成
of central Asia, mixed with little flakes of carbon,
野火产生的细小的烟灰 柴油尾气
Fine particles of soot that come from wildfires, diesel exhaust
以及燃煤电厂
and coal-fired power plants.
在它上面生长着藻类
And on top of it, there’s algae that grows out here and all
这些东西聚集在洞里
of that stuff accumulates in these little holes,
由于它是黑色的 比周围的冰面
and because it’s black, it absorbs the sun’s heat more
更能吸收太阳的热量
than the surrounding ice does.
它们布满了冰川表面
And all over the surface of the ice sheet,
有数十亿个
there’s literally billions
由冰尘溶解而成的洞
of these little cryoconite holes melting away
里面装满了水
and filling up with water.
当你望向洞内
And when you look down at those holes,
你可以看到小的气泡
what you can actually see is these little bubbles
在冰川融化时释放出古时的空气
of ancient air being released as the ice sheet melts.
格陵兰岛正在融化的部分
The part of Greenland that’s melting,
位于冰川边缘
is out on the edges of the ice sheet.
这部分越来越大
And that area is growing, and it’s moving higher
延伸至冰盖的更高处
up onto the ice sheet.
由于这部分气候的变化
As the climate changes in that part of the world.
你可以看到 这些融化之后的水
You see, all this water, melting
顺着这些像奶酪上的孔洞
down through these swiss cheese holes, you see it melting
从这些缝隙里融化
down through the channels,
由小变大
from little channels into big channels.
最后 这部分垂直裂开来
And eventually, everything drops vertically,
从这些冰川锅穴向下
down through these big Moulin caverns.
直至冰川底部
Goes down to the bottom of the ice sheet
然后流入大海
and out into the ocean.
通常情况下 如果气候稍微变暖
Ordinarily, if you make climate a little warmer,
冰川就稍微收缩
the glacier shrinks a little bit.
如果气候稍微变冷
If you make the climate a little colder,
冰川就稍微增长
the glacier grows a little bit.
这两者保持平衡
And those two things kind of work to maintain balance.
但如果气候太暖 冰川变得太薄
But if it gets too warm, and the ice gets too thin,
变化就不止是一点点了 量变太大
it doesn’t just respond just a little bit, the volume drops.
一旦过了临界值 气候变化就不重要了
You cross that tipping point, climate no longer matters.
这个过程是不可逆转的 一直持续下去
It’s irreversible… it’s just gonna keep going.
海平面上升的现象
The sea level rise that will happen
将会发生在我女儿有生之年
in my daughter’s lifetimes, will be somewhere between a foot
达到至少1.5英尺到3英尺之间
in a half and three feet.
若住在落基山脉附近 这听起来并不多
Minimum. That doesn’t sound like a lot if you live
但你若住在切萨皮克湾
in the Rocky Mountains, but if you live down in Chesapeake Bay,
或者美国墨西哥湾地区
along the Gulf Coast of the United States,
或恒河洪水泛滥地带 影响就很大
in the Ganges flood plane that matters a lot.
对中国和印尼都有影响
It matters in China, it matters in Indonesia.
至少一亿五千万人口将受影响
A minimum of 150 million people will be displaced…
这相当于全美国一半的人口
that’s like approximately half the size of the United States.
这些人将被迫
And all of those people are going to be flushed out and have
转移到其它地方
to move somewhere else.
它也会增加飓风和台风的强度
It also intensifies the impact of hurricanes and typhoons.
这意味着海岸线水位升高
It means that there’s a lot more high water along the coast
所以当暴风雨来袭时
lines, so when these big storms come,
会将更多的水推向内陆
it pushes that much more water that much further inland.
这就是格陵兰岛气候变化的故事
That’s where our story
所阐述的内容
of Greenland Climate Change is expressed,
冰川融水涌入大海
it’s in that melt water, rushing out to the ocean.
这就是我一直在拍摄
That’s what we’re photographing; that’s what I’ve been
试图记录的东西
up there trying to document.
我在你的照片还有卫星图片中看到过这些东西
You know, I’ve seen this thing from your photos
但身临其境才觉得不可思议
and sat pictures, but to be here, it’s incredible.
更真实了
It’s all becoming a little more real.
既然我们要向前走 我为什么不去前面
While we’re heading over, why don’t I walk over
好让你有个参照
and give you some scale?
好的
Sure.
小心点 别太靠近边缘 好吗
Just be careful, don’t get too close to the edge, alright?
待在平整的地方
Stay up where it’s flat.
真是个奇迹
This is really something.
有点吓人
This is terrifying.
这可不是地面上十英尺的小洞
This isn’t a 10 foot little hole in the ground,
这是一百英尺的深渊
it’s 100 feet deep into an abyss.
如果那儿没有一个小人像做参照物
If you don’t have that, that little dot of a person
就会迷失
for scale, then it’s lost.
真是难以置信
That is fabulous.
这个路线还算合理
This is a reasonable route right here.
看那儿
Look at that.
嗯 是啊
Oh yeah.
这是份大礼
That’s like a gift.
这个地方很危险
This is the danger spot.
是的
Yeah.
肯定是
For sure.
另一个潜在危机是
Well, and the other danger is
整个部分可能会突然内爆
that the whole thing suddenly implodes
整体崩塌
and the entire thing collapses,
但我认为可能性不大
but I don’t think that’s very likely.
这只是格陵兰岛上融化区域里
This moulin is one of thousands of moulins all
数千个冰川锅穴的其中一个
over the melt zone in Greenland and everyday,
冰川每天都在缩减
the ice is cooking down,
水涌向冰层
and water is pouring into the ice sheet.
水量大到你完全没法想象
It’s enormous, you can’t wrap your head
到底有多少水从这里涌出
around how much water is coming off this place.
可以了
You got it.
亚当 你以前做过类似的事情吗
Adam, have you ever done something like this before?
没有 完全没有
No. Not at all.