二氧化碳水平刚刚达到一个可怕的新高

二氧化碳水平刚刚达到一个可怕的新高

In the midst of a worldwide health crisis, it can be easy to forget that humanity faces existential threats from multiple angles. The coronavirus pandemic will pass — either when we take measures to dramatically mitigate its spread or a vaccine or other treatment is developed — but when it does, our planet will still be in peril. The worst part is, it’s largely our fault.

在全球卫生危机期间，人们很容易忘记，人类面临着来自多个角度的生存威胁。冠状病毒大流行将会过去——要么当我们采取措施大幅减缓其传播，要么当我们研制出疫苗或其他治疗方法——但当它过去时，我们的星球仍将处于危险之中。最糟糕的是，这主要是我们的错。

As AP reports, scientists revealed on Thursday that the highest-ever atmospheric carbon dioxide reading was recently taken in April. The measurement showed a concentration of as much as 17% in the atmosphere, and since human activity (the burning of fossil fuels) is the primary source for this carbon dioxide, it’s clear that we’re not doing nearly enough to prevent an eventual catastrophe.

据美联社报道，科学家周四透露，今年4月的大气二氧化碳浓度是有史以来最高的。测量结果显示，大气中二氧化碳的浓度高达17%。由于人类活动(燃烧化石燃料)是二氧化碳的主要来源，很明显，我们在防止最终灾难方面做得还远远不够。

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. When greenhouses gasses build up in the atmosphere they trap heat, gradually warming the planet. It doesn’t happen all at once, and sometimes there are dips in the amount of greenhouse gas detected in the atmosphere, but the big picture reveals that the levels are sharply trending upward over time.

二氧化碳是一种温室气体。当温室气体在大气中积聚时，它们会吸收热量，逐渐使地球变暖。这不是一蹴而就的，有时在大气中检测到的温室气体含量会有所下降，但总体情况显示，随着时间的推移，温室气体含量正急剧上升。

This has a number of effects on the planet. It causes rising ocean temperatures that kill off vital reef systems that themselves protect coastal communities from being inundated by storm surges and devastating waves. It affects the weather, sparking bigger and more powerful storms, and we have plenty of evidence to show that the hotter the planet gets, the more damage hurricanes and other large storms deal.

这对地球有许多影响。它导致海洋温度上升，杀死了重要的珊瑚礁系统，而这些珊瑚礁系统本身可以保护沿海社区免受风暴潮和毁灭性海浪的淹没。它会影响天气，引发更大更强的风暴，我们有足够的证据表明，地球越热，飓风和其他大型风暴造成的破坏就越大。

Droughts facilitate wildfires that topple entire communities and lives along with them. And of course, there’s the little matter of the food chain, which can be completely toppled as certain species are pushed to extinction by intolerable climate conditions in the sea and on land.

干旱促进了野火的发生，野火摧毁了整个社区，和生活在社区的人们。当然，还有食物链的小问题，当某些物种被海洋和陆地上难以忍受的气候条件推向灭绝时，食物链可能会被完全颠覆。

Put simply, we’re really messing this up in a big way.

简而言之，我们在很大程度上把事情搞砸了。

“It illustrates how difficult it is — what a huge job it is — to bring emissions down,” NOAA senior scientist Pieter Tans said in a statement. “We are really committing the Earth to an enormous amount of warming for a very large time.”

美国国家海洋和大气管理局的资深科学家彼得·坦斯在一份声明中说:“这说明降低排放是多么困难，是一项多么艰巨的工作。”“在很长一段时间内，我们确实在让地球承受巨大的变暖。”

Historical data for carbon dioxide levels stretches back to the late 1950s. Comparing readings taken at that point in time to those taken now produces alarming results. All told, the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has risen by 31% in just that short timeframe. The fact that CO2 tends to hang in the atmosphere for a very long time compounds the problem.

二氧化碳水平的历史数据可以追溯到20世纪50年代末。将当时的读数与现在的读数进行比较，得出的结果令人担忧。总的来说，在这么短的时间内，大气中的二氧化碳含量增加了31%。二氧化碳会在大气中停留很长一段时间，这一事实使问题更加复杂。