Name: 為什麼你再聽到有關臭氧層的事情（Why you don’t hear about the ozone layer anymore）
Uploaded: 2021-09-26T05:01:06.000Z
Duration: 8 min 35 s

The 80s were all about  big hair, neon, MTV.

80年代都是關於大頭髮、霓虹燈、MTV。

"Every October a hole appears in the  ozone layer over the south pole."

"每年十月，南極上空的臭氧層都會出現一個洞"。

"...hole in the ozone shield is the size of the continental United States."

"......臭氧盾牌上的洞有美國大陸那麼大。"

"The protective ozone layer is  being threatened as never before."

"保護性的臭氧層正受到前所未有的威脅"。

Scientists warned that humanity was on track to completely destroy the ozone layer by 2050.

科學家們警告說，人類有望在2050年前完全破壞臭氧層。

and life as we knew it would cease to exist.

而我們所知的生命將不復存在。

In an unprecedented act, the world came together to prevent an environmental catastrophe.

在一個史無前例的行動中，世界走到了一起，防止了一場環境災難。

The ozone layer is a sort of “belt” around the Earth made up of gaseous molecules.

臭氧層是地球周圍由氣態分子組成的一種 "帶"。

by absorbing two types of  ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

通過吸收來自太陽的兩種類型的紫外線輻射。

It's a powerful shield, but  it's also fragile.

這是一個強大的盾牌，但它也是脆弱的。

In 1985, scientists discovered a  massive loss of ozone here:

1985年，科學家發現這裡的臭氧大量流失。

40% of the layer had dissipated, creating a “hole”.

該層的40%已經消散，形成一個 "洞"。

Scientists realized the hole formed in the spring and every year it got worse.

科學家們意識到這個洞是在春天形成的，而且每年都在惡化。

它並不小，而且是在遙遠的未來。

It was now and way bigger  than anybody ever imagined.

現在，它比任何人想象的都要大。

That's Dr. Solomon, an atmospheric chemist.

那是所羅門博士，一位大氣化學家。

In 1986, she flew to Antarctica,  along with other scientists

1986年，她與其他科學家一起飛往南極洲

to investigate the cause of the ozone hole.

"上司該團隊的是蘇珊-所羅門。

a young atmospheric chemist  from Boulder, Colorado."

一位來自科羅拉多州博爾德的年輕大氣化學家"。

You know once you step off the plane in Antarctica,

你知道一旦你在南極洲走下飛機。

your main goal is to get out  without getting frostbite.

你的主要目標是在不被凍傷的情況下出去。

But what really our goal was to take measurements,

但我們真正的目標是進行測量。

not just of ozone, but also of different chemicals that would help to show why it was going away.

不僅僅是臭氧，還有不同的化學物質，這將有助於說明為什麼它正在消失。

Some scientists released balloons in the sky to take ozone measurements.

一些科學家在天空中放出氣球來測量臭氧。

While others took measurements on the ground.

而其他人則在地面上進行測量。

And they all came to the same conclusion.

而且他們都得出了同樣的結論。

The biggest problem was chlorine from a man-made compound called Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.

最大的問題是來自一種叫做氯氟烴的人造化合物的氯，即CFCs。

But once they float up to the stratosphere the Sun breaks them down into chlorine.

但是一旦它們漂浮到平流層，太陽就會把它們分解成氯氣。

They bind with ozone to make  oxygen and chlorine monoxide.

它們與臭氧結合，產生氧氣和一氧化氯。

Then the loose oxygen atoms  bump the chlorine atom out,

然後，鬆散的氧原子將氯原子撞出去。

freeing it to destroy more ozone molecules.

釋放出它來破壞更多的臭氧分子。

The long lifetime of the chlorofluorocarbons is a big part of the problem.

氯氟化碳的長壽命是問題的一個重要部分。

They live anywhere between 50 and 150 years in our atmosphere so...

它們在我們的大氣層中的壽命在50到150年之間，所以...

what you use the year before  is almost entirely still there.

你前一年使用的東西幾乎完全還在。

So it just builds up and builds up exponentially.

是以，它只是在不斷積累，並以指數形式增長。

而在那時，我們使用了大量的CFCs。

The US had already moved away  from CFCs in aerosol cans.

美國已經擺脫了氣霧劑罐中的氟氯化碳。

And they were still in everything from refrigerators and air conditioners and styrofoam.

而且它們仍然存在於從冰箱、空調到發泡膠的所有東西中。

The entire world needed to make a big change quickly or we'd face--

整個世界需要迅速做出重大改變，否則我們將面臨--

In 1987, ozone levels had dropped  by 50 percent.

1987年，臭氧水準已經下降了50%。

This growing threat led to some of the fastest collective action on climate we've ever seen.

這種日益增長的威脅導致了我們所見過的一些最快的氣候問題集體行動。

So I like to think of it as, there's three P's that when, they're met we do very well

是以，我喜歡把它想成，有三個P，當它們被滿足時，我們做得非常好。

It was perceptible and the solutions  were practical.

這是可以感知的，解決方案也很實用。

If you've been sunburned, you know that  skin cancer is not a good thing.

如果你被晒傷過，你知道皮膚癌不是一件好事。

The personal nature of the threat is huge.

The perceptible was easy to do  with satellite measurements.

用衛星測量很容易做到可感知的。

You can just watch it get  completely destroyed and go to zero

你可以看著它被完全摧毀並歸於零

where there should have been a lot of ozone.

而且我們有切實可行的解決方案。

It was easy to find substitutes for  chlorofluorocarbons in spray cans that took,

在噴霧罐中很容易找到氯氟化碳的替代品，而這種替代品需要。

你知道，不到一年的時間就可以完成。

And I think the main unifying factor  in all of that is the public.

而我認為所有這些的主要統一因素是公眾。

Scientists like Dr. Solomon held  press conferences to inform the public.

像所羅門博士這樣的科學家舉行了新聞發佈會，向公眾宣傳。

"I think we will eventually see large scale depletions of the ozone layer in other latitudes."

"我認為我們最終會在其他緯度地區看到臭氧層的大規模消耗。"

The ozone hole started showing up  in TV shows and movies.

臭氧洞開始出現在電視節目和電影中。

“It's those damn fluorocarbons, they've been kicking the hell out of the ozone.”

"是那些該死的碳氟化合物，它們一直在把臭氧踢出地獄。"

“Well so will the ozone, eventually.”

And all this public awareness put pressure on leaders around the world to act.

而所有這些公眾意識給世界各地的領導人帶來了採取行動的壓力。

“We are here today because we recognize that urgent action is necessary.”

"我們今天在這裡，因為我們認識到有必要採取緊急行動"。

And the Montreal Protocol made it official.

而《蒙特利爾議定書》使之成為正式文件。

It recognized “that world-wide emissions can significantly deplete the ozone layer

它認識到 "世界範圍內的排放可以顯著消耗臭氧層

and result in adverse effects on human health and the environment."

並導致對人類健康和環境的不利影響"。

It listed control measures to reduce ozone depleting substances in a series of steps.

它列出了在一系列步驟中減少臭氧消耗物質的控制措施。

who need alternative technology  and substituting products.

需要替代技術和替代產品的人。

Every single country eventually  signed the protocol.

每個國家最終都簽署了該議定書。

Making it the only universal treaty  to ever be ratified.

使其成為有史以來唯一被準許的普遍條約。

And the most successful environmental agreement in human history.

也是人類歷史上最成功的環境協議。

Soon after, the world's largest CFC producer began to phase them out.

不久之後，這個世界上最大的氟氯化碳生產商開始逐步淘汰它們。

Since the protocol went into effect  on January 1st, 1989

自議定書於1989年1月1日生效以來

the consumption of ozone-depleting substances

Today, more than thirty years after  the Montreal Protocol was signed

今天，在《蒙特利爾議定書》簽署三十多年後的今天

the ozone hole has stopped growing  and is now shrinking.

臭氧洞已經停止增長，現在正在縮小。