为了应对气候变化，我们可能不得不回到飞艇时代
为了应对气候变化，我们可能不得不回到飞艇时代
At this point, staving off climate change is probably not a matter of gentle tweaks and nudges.
在这一点上，避免气候变化可能不是一个温和的微调和推动的问题。
We may have to give up cars completely. And our diets are in for a major overhaul.
我们可能不得不完全放弃汽车。我们的饮食也将进行一次大的调整。
No mere flight of fancy, researchers suggest airships are very practical cargo haulers. (Photo: Clash_Gene/Shutterstock)
But one proposal floated by Austrian scientists in a newly published research paper doesn't seem like so much a hardship as a romantic flight of fancy.
但奥地利科学家在最新发表的一篇研究论文中提出的一个建议，与其说是一种艰难，不如说是一种浪漫的幻想。
In the paper, he suggests replacing maritime traffic with high-flying dirigibles. Instead of ships hauling shipments across oceans — and leaving emissions, pollutants and tainted ecosystems in their wake — we could have a sky filled with gently sailing, non-polluting zeppelins.
在论文中，他建议用高空飞艇取代海上交通。我们可以拥有一个充满温和航行、无污染的齐柏林飞艇的天空，而不是拖船穿越海洋，留下排放、污染物和受污染的生态系统。
"We are trying to reduce as much as possible emissions of carbon dioxide because of global warming," Hunt tells NBC News.
亨特对美国全国广播公司说:“由于全球变暖，我们正在努力尽可能减少二氧化碳的排放。”
Jet streams are narrow bands of strong wind flowing westerly in the Earth's upper atmosphere. (Photo: Destiny VisPro/Shutterstock)
Airships would simply ride that powerful air current known as the jet stream around the globe. As such, the shipping lane would run in only one direction — from west to east. But, as the research team calculates, a zeppelin could haul a 20,000 ton payload around the world, dropping off cargo and returning to base in just 16 days.
飞艇只需要简单地利用这种强大的气流，即全球范围内的急流。因此，航运路线将只朝着一个方向运行——从西向东。但是，根据研究小组的计算，一艘齐柏林飞艇可以携带2万吨的有效载荷环游世界，只需16天就可以放下货物返回基地。
So why aren't we already sailing the friendly skies?
那么，为什么我们还没有在友好的天空中航行呢?
Like, for instance, a prohibition on U.S. hydrogen airships since 1922. There's good reason for that. Hydrogen, the primary fuel for airships, is famously flammable. Even as the Austrian research team touts modern, puncture-resistant materials — and the fact that only robots would fly and unload the airships — it's hard to shake off the specter of aerial disaster.
例如，自1922年以来，美国就禁止使用氢飞艇。这是有原因的。众所周知，飞艇的主要燃料氢是易燃的。即使奥地利的研究小组大力宣传现代的防刺材料——以及只有机器人才能飞行和卸载飞艇的事实——也很难摆脱空中灾难的幽灵。
A stamp printed in Guinea shows the Graf Zeppelin, a German-built airship that operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. (Photo: Boris15/Shutterstock.com)
Which leads us to to the other wrinkle.
这就引出了另一个问题。
Airships, like the Hindenburg pictured here, were once hailed as the cruise ships of the sky. (Photo: Everett Historical/Shutterstock)
You may recall a certain catastrophe involving an airship. It was likely before anyone's time, but the downing of the Hindenburg as it tried to land in New Jersey in 1937 leaves an indelible impression. The much-ballyhooed German airship's maiden voyage across the Atlantic ended with 36 people being killed in front of hundreds of horrified eyewitnesses.
你可能还记得一场与飞艇有关的灾难。1937年兴登堡号试图在新泽西着陆时被击落，给人留下了不可磨灭的印象。德国飞艇首次飞越大西洋之旅在数百名惊恐的目击者面前结束，造成36人死亡。
For all of the airship's merits, that single image of sky-born terror was enough for the rest of the world to turn its back on what was once considered the future of travel.
尽管飞艇有这么多优点，但这一天降恐怖的画面足以让世界其他地方对曾经被认为是旅游未来的景象视而不见。
The Hindenburg used flammable hydrogen for lift, which incinerated the airship in a massive fireball in 32 seconds. (Photo: Everett Historical/Shutterstock)
But perhaps, something much more subtle, but far scarier, may finally exorcise the specter of the Hindenburg. Climate change is upon us. We can't outrun it. We can't sail around it. But perhaps we can fly rather elegantly over it. At least for a little while.
但或许，更微妙、更可怕的事情，或许最终能驱散兴登堡号的幽灵。气候变化正在逼近我们。我们跑不过它。我们不能绕着它航行。但也许我们至少有一段时间可以优雅地飞过它。
