海洋星球（2012）

很久以来
For a long, long time,
我一直思索海洋 却未能参透
l contemplated the ocean without understanding it.
我能感受到海水巨大的能量
l could feel the immense energy of its waters.
我为它的深邃 幽蓝惊叹不已
l was astonished by the depths of its blues.
我在宽广的海面上恣情呼吸
l breathed the air of the wide open seas.
但事实上 我一无所见
But in reality, l saw nothing.
这里是澳大利亚的鲨鱼湾
Here at Shark Bay in Australia,
陡岸低声诉说着地球的历史
the cliffs whisper to me the history of the Earth.
它们是海洋生命的孩子
They are born from the life of the ocean,
当地球表面还被海水覆盖时
a vast graveyard created by billions of skeletons of marine animals
各种海洋生物的遗骸已在海底堆积
accumulated at the bottom of the seas
使如今的海洋俨然一个巨大的墓地
when the Earth itself was entirely ocean.
这些有机体创造出了空气
These organisms created the air that l breathe
以及保护我们的大气层
and the atmosphere which protects me.
我看到潮汐在沙滩上刻出沟纹
l see powerful tides carving furrows in the sand.
却不知这就是生命的源头
l don’t see that this movement is the source of all life.
我看到风儿堆砌出沙丘
l see the winds shaping the dunes.
却不知大地与海洋深深的联♥系♥
l don’t see the deep relationship between the earth and the sea.
我看到盐水洗白了旱地
l see the salt bleaching the arid earth.
却不知海洋如何孕育了陆地
l don’t see what the ocean brings to life on the continents.
我看到从未在陆地上见过的大草场
l see immense prairies colonise the depths that l have never seen on land.
但鲨鱼湾有的远不止是这些
But at Shark Bay, there is more than that.
我们人类的历史
Here are the origins of our story,
从这里开始书写
us, mankind.
人类历史起源于一群活化石
lt begins here, with a colony of living fossils,
这是生活在海面叫做叠层石的细菌
bacteria who live at the surface of the ocean, called stromatolites.
我是它们的后代
l am a descendant of this form of life,
它们是地球上最古老的生物 出现于40亿年前
the most ancient known on Earth, which came into being four billion years ago.
我生于此 生于海洋
l come from here, l come from the ocean.
此时此刻
And now,
面朝大海 我满目皆是人
facing the ocean, all l can see is us, mankind.
世界上有70亿人口
We are seven billion human beings.
这比自从人类出现以来
More than the total number of people who have lived on Earth
在地球上生活过的人口总数还多
since the beginnings of humanity.
我们凭着自己的想法改造世界
We have shaped the wofld in our image.
在海边
On the shores of the ocean,
我们建造大都市 供千百万人生活
we have built vast cities where we live in our millions.
我们掘出港口 修平岛屿来建造工厂
We have dug out ports, flattened islands to construct our factories.
海洋给了我们世界上所有的矿藏
The ocean has brought us all the mineral riches of the world.
供我们裁切 冶炼以及加工
We work materials, meld steel, cut and slice.
十万船舶在海上穿梭
One hundred thousand of our ships crisscross the seas.
地球上所有生物终难逃人类铁爪
All that lives, all that grows on the Earth will one day pass through our iron grasp.
我们甚至运输森林
We even transport the forests.
我们不断攫取海洋来滋养自己
We delve unceasingly into the ocean to nourish ourselves.
我们成了超级掠夺者
We have become super predators.
我们封装了整个世界
We have canned the entire world,
6亿集装箱因海洋得以运输
600 million containers that we can transport, thanks to the ocean.
海洋为全球化带来了可能
The ocean that offered us the possibility of globalisation.
这个星球是我们的
The planet is ours.
但现在 我们何去何从
But now, where are we going?
我开始意识到为所欲为的后果
l am becoming aware of the consequences of my power.
过度捕捞 全球变暖
Overfishing, global warming,
能源枯竭 环境污染
depletion of resources, pollution,
这些都是我们咎由自取
my drive has taken me a long way.
这点我知道
l know this
因为我能理解发生的事
because l am capable of understanding what happens to me.
我再也见不到身边的事物了
How have l gotten to this point
我是怎么到了这般地步
where l no longer see what is around me?
为了寻找答案 我们要追溯至太古时代
To understand that, we have to return to the very beginning.
行星海洋
太古时期 地球自燃
ln the beginning, the Earth consumed itself,
伴以剧烈的震动
shaken by violent convulsions.
熔化物经受着
The fusing matter was subjected to violent bombardments of meteors
来自太阳系流星的猛烈撞击
coming from the solar system.
撞击产生了大气
This battlefield gave rise to an atmosphere,
大气翻腾 因含有氮 碳 氢而显得通红
stormy, red with nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen.
还有来自外星系的水蒸气
And water vapour, which came from the galaxy.
地球表面就像一个巨大的泡泡
The surface of the Earth was like an enormous bubble
在高压下升温 直至达到700多摄氏度
heated under pressure to over 700 degrees Celsius.
接着炼狱般的地球冷却 水汽凝结
Then the inferno cooled off and the vapours condensed,
引发了最严重的洪水
producing the greatest of the terrestrial floods that occurred.
这发生在40亿年前
That was four billion years ago.
洪水几乎覆盖了整个地壳
The flood covered almost all of the Earth’s crust.
洪水冲刷腐蚀着原始岩
The water washed the primordial rock,
自身的盐度也因而上升
eroding it away and becoming laden with salts.
地球成了被盐水覆盖的世界
The Earth became a wofld of salty water.
我们称这盐水为海洋
This water was called the ocean.
于是海洋行星就诞生了
An ocean planet was born.
在7亿年前的
ln the lce Age,
冰河时期 温度降低
700 million years ago, the temperature fell.
地球被冰盖覆盖了两千万年
The planet remained white for 20 million years,
接着火山中的碳引起的温室效应
then melted because of a powerful greenhouse effect
使冰盖融化了
created by the carbon of the volcanoes.
此后几次冰川期则与气候变暖交替出现
Other glaciations followed, alternating with warming.
从这时期以后
From this period
地球上只有南北两极还存留大面♥积♥冰盖
there remain vast icy regions at the north and south poles of the globe.
在庞大的气候系统里 它们充当冷却器
These regions work as coolers in an immense climate system.
在赤道附近
Close to the Equator,
太阳炙烤着海洋 使其接近沸腾
the sun heats the ocean, which seems to boil.
极地与赤道这种巨大的温差
This contrast between the hot regions and the cold regions
产生了强空气对流
generates powerful air currents.
也就是风 我们的故事少不了它
These are the winds, essential to this story.
极地的冷 重气流下沉
The winds descend, cold and heavy, from the polar regions
与赤道的热 轻气流碰撞
and collide with the hot, light air of the Equator.
风因地球自转发生偏转
These winds, curved by the rotation of the Earth,
形成巨大的漩涡
form gigantic whiflpools.
当与海洋接触时 风推动海水
On contact with the ocean, these winds push the water.
产生巨大的洋流
They generate powerful marine currents
使数百万立方米的海水流动
capable of moving millions of cubic metres of water across the ocean.
海洋各个角落都有漩涡
Everywhere, the ocean is furrowed by whiflpools,
有的能持续数年
some of which spin for years.
这种运动传递着地球表面的热量
This movement spreads heat from the surface of the blue planet.
热带的热水流向极地
The hot water of the tropics rises up towards the poles.
冷却后变浓 充满盐分
Then this water cools, becomes more dense, laden with salt,
沉入海洋深处
and falls down into the depths.
深处的海水因自身重力
The water of the depths travels further down towards the bottom of the ocean,
继续向海底下沉
pushed by its own weight.
这些水带着极地的寒气
lt carries with it the polar cold.
最终 冷水撞击海底
Finally, it collides against the bottom
再回程到海面 重新升温
and returns towards the waters of the surface, where it reheats.
完成这样一次洋流循环需要1000年
lt takes 1 ,000 years for a drop of water to complete this ocean cycle.
洋流让地球有了适宜的气候
These currents have created a temperate climate on Earth.
是洋流创造了的充满生机的地球
lt is to them we owe the creation of a living planet.
当阳光强烈且洋流上升至海面时
When the sun is strong and the currents mount to the surface,
一个神奇的现象出现了
an astonishing phenomenon occurs,
这如此惹眼 即便在太空中也能看到
so gigantic that it is visible from space,
那是生命的爆发
a blooming, an explosion of life.
这爆发的生命叫做浮游生物
This life which appears is called plankton,
即「漂浮着的生命」
“floating life”,
它们只能随水流飘荡而无法自己游动
because it cannot move itself and drifts in the water.
这些生物从太阳获取能量
This blooming gets its energy from the sun.
它们生活在海面以下100米深度之内
lt occurs between the surface and the first 100 metres depth,
这里能够照到阳光
where the rays penetrate the ocean.
首先 谈谈微藻
Firstly, there are tiny algae
这像是在两片海域中绵延的悬浮草场
which spread like an immense floating prairie between two expanses of water.
每年因此产生的生物量
Just the biomass thus produced every year
占到全球植被的一半
represents half the vegetation of the planet.
一些微藻长得像星系
Some microalgae resemble distant galaxies.
它们是原生生物 是极为古老的微生物
These are protists, very ancient organisms.
尽管它们看着复杂
Despite their complexity,
但多数只是单细胞结构