are there tipping points - places where you push a system and push a system and push a system

是否有臨界點------在那裡你推動一個系統，推動一個系統，再推動一個系統

and then it breaks -

然後它打破了 -

in our climate,

在我們的氣候中。

our ecosystems and even our planet's chemistry.

我們的生態系統，甚至我們地球的化學。

And surprisingly, or maybe sadly, we're finding that it's true in all of those situations, that

而令人驚訝的是，也許是可悲的是，我們'發現在所有這些情況下，它'是真實的，即

there are kind of thresholds

有種門檻

that we shouldn't cross.

我們不應該跨越。

One particularly frightening example is what could happen in the oceans.

一個特別可怕的例子是海洋中可能發生的事情。

Part of the greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide, we put in the air, of course,

溫室氣體排放的一部分，二氧化碳，我們把在空氣中，當然。

causes global warming,

導致全球變暖。

but a little bit of that carbon dioxide actually dissolves in the oceans, making them more acidic -

但有一點二氧化碳實際上是溶解在海洋中的，使得海洋更酸了。

so-called ocean acidification.

所謂海洋酸化。

Well, if oceans' pH, how acidic they get, if they go lower and lower and lower,

好吧，如果海洋&#39；pH值，它們的酸度有多高，如果它們越走越低，越走越低。

at a certain threshold,

在某一門檻上。

coral reefs can't survive anymore. You can't make coral reefs

珊瑚礁不能生存了。珊瑚礁不能再生存了

and a whole bunch of life in the oceans could just kind of disappear.

一大堆海洋中的生命可能就這樣消失了。

So that's a really important tipping point in the oceans. We can't let the oceans get

所以，這是一個非常重要的臨界點 在海洋。我們不能讓海洋得到的。

more acidic than about here, or we'll have some serious problems.

比這裡更酸，否則我們'會有一些嚴重的問題。

Imagine you're driving at night over a mesa in a jeep

想象一下，你'在夜間駕駛在一個吉普車的崮。

and you don't have a map and you don't have any headlights. That's essentially what

你沒有地圖，也沒有車燈。這基本上是什麼

we're doing. We're driving at full speed all over there. We know there are some cliffs out there,

我們正在做。我們正在全速行駛在那裡。我們知道有一些懸崖在那裡。

but we're not too worried about where they are right now.

但我們'並不太擔心他們現在的處境。

Well, you could argue that, already, one of our tires is off the edge.

好吧，你可以說，已經，我們的一個輪胎已經脫離了邊緣。

Do we want to keep driving or do we want to start to have a map?

我們是要繼續開車，還是要開始有地圖？

Maybe we should turn the lights on and see where we're going.

也許我們應該把燈打開，看看我們要去哪裡。

This paper is really the first attempt to kind of draw that map of where is it safe for

這張紙是真正的第一次嘗試 那種繪製地圖，它是安全的，為

humanity to operate? Where can we take our environment without going off the edge

人類要運作？我們能把環境帶到哪裡去而不至於走火入魔？

of the cliff and causing us to have a different planet than we've ever seen in all of human history.

的懸崖，並導致我們有一個不同的星球比我們'見過所有的人類歷史。

Why we should care about this is because it's a disruption from everything we've ever known as a civilization.

為什麼我們應該關心這個是因為它是對我們所知道的一切文明的破壞。

Our entire history for 10,000 years has been in one kind of climate,

我們整整一萬年的歷史都是在一種氣候中度過的。

one with certain kinds of climate and weather patterns, with certain kinds of ecosystems,

一個具有某種氣候和天氣模式，具有某種生態系統。

with certain ways rivers work, and so on.

與某些河流的工作方式，等等。

If that fundamentally unravels within the next generation,

如果在下一代內從根本上解開。

everything that we've done - how we build our cities, where we build our cities,

我們所做的一切--我們如何建設我們的城市，我們在哪裡建設我們的城市。

where and how we farm,

我們在哪裡以及如何耕種。

how we get our water, where we put our waste, how we get our raw materials -

我們如何獲得我們的水，我們把我們的廢物，我們如何得到我們的原材料 -

that could all change. We're talking trillions and trillions of dollars of economic disruption,

這一切都可能改變。我們'說的是數萬億和數萬億美元的經濟破壞。

let alone what it does to safety, hazards, national security and so on. This isn't just about

更不用說它對安全、危害、國家安全等方面的影響了。這不僅僅是關於

hugging trees and hoping they stay here. This is about keeping the planet we know intact

擁抱樹木，希望它們留在這裡。這是關於保持我們所知道的地球的完整。

for future generations.

為子孫後代服務。