Name: 如果所有的雲都永遠消失了呢？ (What If All The Clouds Disappeared Forever?)
Uploaded: 2021-03-01T18:15:58.000Z
Duration: 4 min 4 s

從薄薄的、綿綿的到大大的、蓬蓬的。

clouds cover about 70% of the planet at any given moment.

雲層在任何時候都覆蓋了地球的70%左右。

That instant might shock onlooking astronauts

那一瞬間，可能會驚動旁觀的太空人們

But someone who is, say, hiking in the desert

但是有人，比如說，在沙漠中徒步旅行的人

wouldn't know right away that things on Earth

the first warning sign would show up: humidity.

第一個警告信號會出現：溼度。

It'll be even worse if you live by the coast.

如果你住在海邊，情況會更糟糕。

Normally, the sun's heat evaporates water,

正常情況下，太陽的熱量會蒸發掉水。

and that water vapor is condensed into clouds.

But if clouds are cut out of the Earth's water cycle,

但如果將雲從地球的水循環中剔除。

you might experience more turbulence than usual.

你可能會經歷比平時更多的湍流。

造成更多的上升，不均勻的熱空氣。

But a bad flight may be the least of our worries,

但飛行不順可能是我們最不擔心的。

to replenish the water sources we drink from,

like lakes, streams, rivers, springs, and aquifers.

如湖泊、溪流、河流、泉水和含水層。

所以，去年冬天的雪一旦融化。

we're stuck with whatever water we have on hand.

我們只能用我們手頭的任何水。

we would drain all of the freshwater lakes and rivers

我們會把所有的淡水湖泊和河流的水抽乾

所以為了節約我們的淡水供應。

about 80 to 100 gallons of water every day.

But saving ourselves is going to take more

than just skipping long showers and laundry.

不僅僅是跳過長時間的淋浴和洗衣服。

The water we use in our home and public places

我們在家庭和公共場所使用的水。

accounts for only 21% of our water usage.

thermoelectric power to generate electricity

Not only do power plants use tons of water,

ones that run on nuclear fuel could spell disaster

以核燃料為動力的，可能會帶來災難。

The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, for example,

was set off when an earthquake knocked out power

And farms are going to need even more water

tons of wild vegetation and animals as the land dries up.

噸野生植被和動物，因為土地乾涸。

eroding soil may kick up giant dust storms

侵蝕土壤可能引發巨大的沙塵暴。

就像上世紀30年代的 "塵暴 "一樣。

Meanwhile, Earth's climate will be going haywire

同時，地球的氣候也會變得混亂不堪

It's hard to say when this will all happen

很難說什麼時候會發生這一切。

without some very expensive climate modeling,

沒有一些非常昂貴的氣候模型。

did offer some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations.

確實提供了一些快速的包絡計算。

Without clouds, average surface temperatures

would rise by as much as 22 degrees Celsius.

would not only destroy the habitats of most flora and fauna,

不僅會破壞大多數動植物的棲息地。

killing off whatever survived the drought,

and cause massive flooding of coastal cities.

並造成沿海城市大面積洪澇災害。

You might end up being part of the 40% of the world

你可能會成為世界上40%的人中的一員。

and your new home might soon be in an endless desert

而你的新家可能很快就會在一望無際的沙漠中了

Sounds alarming, but there are some silver linings

聽起來很嚇人，但也有一線生機。

No more devastating hurricanes and tornadoes,

不再有毀滅性的颶風和龍捲風。

or delayed flights because of stormy weather,

或因暴風雨天氣導致班機延誤。

我們將不得不做出一些艱難的選擇。

但是，嘿，人類是有創造力的。

We could invent ways to desalinate ocean water

我們可以發明海水淡化的方法。

or collect all that water vapor from the air.

或將空氣中的水蒸氣全部收集起來。

because in reality, we're already losing clouds.

因為在現實中，我們已經失去了雲。

it might be best to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions

最好是減少我們的溫室氣體排放。

and try to avoid this scary new world entirely.

並儘量完全避開這個可怕的新世界。

字幕列表影片播放

如果所有的雲都永遠消失了呢？ (What If All The Clouds Disappeared Forever?)

permanent

devastating

average

extreme