Name: 如果地球停止繞太陽運行、側向旋轉以及更極端的情況會怎樣？ (What If Earth Stopped Orbiting The Sun, Spun Sideways, & More Extreme Scenarios)
Uploaded: 2025-06-17T15:32:33.000Z
Duration: 33 min 48 s

地球是一個美妙而又脆弱的地方。

A perfect balance of events occurred for this planet to support life.

各種事件的完美平衡使這顆行星能夠孕育生命。

Or what would happen if all the ice melted overnight?

或者，如果一夜之間所有的冰都融化了，會發生什麼？

We explore what would happen to Earth in these extreme scenarios.

我們將探討在這些極端情況下地球會發生什麼。

Early in the history of our solar system, something mysteriously knocked Earth slightly off its axis.

在太陽系歷史的早期，有一件神祕的事情把地球從自轉軸上撞了一下。

是以，今天的傾斜度為 23.5 度。

But what would happen if we tilted even more?

但是，如果我們傾斜得更厲害，會發生什麼呢？

如果地球在自轉軸上側向旋轉呢？

Well, it wouldn't take long before utter chaos ensued.

沒過多久，場面就徹底混亂了。

One of the most important consequences of Earth's axial tilt is the seasons.

地球軸向傾斜最重要的後果之一就是季節。

Seasons happen because the tilt points different parts of the planet toward the sun at different times of the year.

季節的發生是因為傾斜使地球的不同部分在一年中的不同時間朝向太陽。

But the tilt also means that different parts of the globe receive different amounts of sunlight during each season.

但是，傾斜也意味著地球上不同地區在每個季節接受到的陽光量不同。

And that's where a more extreme tilt starts to cause problems.

而這正是更極端的傾斜開始造成問題的地方。

Right now, during the summer in the Northern Hemisphere, places far north like Utqiagvik, Alaska receive 24 hours of sunlight for 82 days straight.

現在，在北半球的夏季，像阿拉斯加烏特基阿格維克這樣遙遠的北方地區可以連續 82 天接受 24 小時的日照。

Because Earth is tilted far enough on its axis that as the planet rotates, Utqiagvik never leaves direct sunlight.

由於地球在自轉軸上的傾斜度足夠大，烏特基阿維克從未離開過陽光的直射。

On the other hand, the contiguous U.S. receives a max of 17 hours a day, because after that, it rotates out of daytime sunlight and into night.

另一方面，美國毗連地區每天最多能接受 17 個小時的日照，因為日照過後，白天的日照就會轉入夜晚。

But if we tilted Earth's axis even more, to 90 degrees, the U.S. would get sunlight 24-7, around the clock, for months on end.

但是，如果我們將地軸再傾斜一些，達到 90 度，美國就能 24 小時全天候獲得陽光，而且一連幾個月都是如此。

The entire Northern Hemisphere would be like this.

At first, animals would take advantage of the extra light to find and eat more food.

起初，動物會利用額外的光照去尋找和吃更多的食物。

Just like Alaskan birds, which feed their chicks extra nutrition in the summer, resulting in faster-growing babies than their southern counterparts.

就像阿拉斯加的鳥類一樣，它們在夏天會給雛鳥餵食額外的營養，是以雛鳥比南方的鳥類長得更快。

And plant growth would explode, since they get their energy directly from sunlight.

植物的生長也會爆炸性增長，因為它們的能量直接來自陽光。

Farms in northern Alaska, for example, grow cabbages the size of Rottweilers in the summer.

例如，阿拉斯加北部的農場在夏季種植的捲心菜有羅威納犬那麼大。

But while animals and plants would thrive, humans wouldn't.

但是，動物和植物會茁壯成長，人類卻不會。

We evolved to be active during the day and sleep at night.

我們進化成白天活動，晚上睡覺。

But if we were exposed to unending sunlight, our brains would stop producing the hormone melatonin which we need to sleep at night.

但是，如果我們無休止地暴露在陽光下，我們的大腦就會停止分泌晚上睡覺所需的褪黑激素。

And that could lead to sleep deprivation, depression, and ultimately, a more severe, chronic version of these symptoms called seasonal affective disorder, which already affects 9 percent of Alaskans, compared to just 6 percent of the entire United States.

這可能會導致睡眠不足、抑鬱，最終導致更嚴重的慢性症狀，即季節性情感障礙。

But that's less of a worry than the floods.

但與洪水相比，這並不那麼令人擔憂。

Temperatures at the North Pole would more than double to 38 degrees Celsius from 15.5 degrees Celsius.

北極的氣溫將翻一番多，從 15.5 攝氏度升至 38 攝氏度。

That's hotter than temperatures at the equator today.

As a result, Greenland's ice cap would melt, causing sea levels to rise by 7 meters and flood nearly every coastal city on Earth.

是以，格陵蘭島的冰蓋將融化，導致海平面上升 7 米，淹沒地球上幾乎所有的沿海城市。

Say goodbye to New York, Copenhagen, and Tokyo.

To make matters worse, the warmer seas would trigger stronger and more frequent hurricanes, which form when seawater evaporates at the surface.

更糟糕的是，海洋變暖將引發更強烈、更頻繁的颶風，而颶風是海水在海面蒸發時形成的。

And the weather wouldn't get better when winter comes six months later.

半年後冬天來臨時，天氣也不會變好。

Out of reach of the sun's direct beams for months at a time, the hemisphere would get colder than any winter on record.

在太陽直射不到的幾個月時間裡，半球會變得比有記錄以來的任何一個冬天都要寒冷。

Swirls of frigid air, called a polar vortex, which are normally dissipated by warm air in the tropics, could travel all the way down to the equator.

通常被熱帶暖空氣驅散的冷空氣漩渦被稱為極地漩渦，它可以一路向下到達赤道。

Imagine blizzards in Florida, Brazil, Kenya.

想象一下佛羅里達、巴西、肯亞的暴風雪吧。

Agriculture would collapse as ecosystems crumble and mass extinctions pile up.

農業將隨著生態系統的崩潰和大規模滅絕而崩潰。

Because meanwhile, the southern hemisphere is getting toasty.

因為與此同時，南半球正變得溫暖如春。

And the South Pole is home to 90% of the world's ice.

The constant sunlight would raise its temperature to 38 degrees Celsius from negative 28 degrees Celsius, melting the ice and raising sea levels by a whopping 61 meters.

持續不斷的陽光將使其溫度從負 28 攝氏度升至 38 攝氏度，融化冰層並使海平面上升 61 米。

That's almost as tall as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Greenland's flood would look like a puddle in comparison.

相比之下，格陵蘭島的洪水就像一灘水。

So all in all, while a few extra hours in the summer sun would be nice, let's leave the extra seasons to Alaska and be glad the Earth is tilted exactly as it is.

是以，總而言之，雖然夏天多晒幾個小時太陽是件好事，但我們還是把多出來的季節留給阿拉斯加吧，並慶幸地球的傾斜度恰到好處。

Humans might have built civilizations, but insects own the world.

人類可能建立了文明，但昆蟲才是世界的主人。

After all, over half of all known species are insects.

畢竟，超過一半的已知物種都是昆蟲。

So if they all suddenly vanished, you'd notice.

所以，如果他們突然都消失了，你會注意到的。

No more summers of singing cicadas and flickering fireflies.

不再有蟬鳴和螢火蟲閃爍的夏天。

No bees to pollinate apple, cherry, peach, or almond trees.

沒有蜜蜂為蘋果樹、櫻桃樹、桃樹或杏樹授粉。

A world without insects means a world with empty grocery store shelves.

一個沒有昆蟲的世界意味著一個雜貨店貨架空空如也的世界。

But that would be just the beginning of our problems.

Now, it's impossible to say exactly what would go down.

現在，不可能說清楚會發生什麼。

But here's a worst-case scenario of what could happen if all the insects disappeared.

但是，如果所有昆蟲都消失了，最壞的情況可能會是這樣。

There are a few insects most people would be happy to see vanish.

大多數人都樂於看到一些昆蟲消失。

They kill hundreds of thousands of people every year by transmitting malaria, West Nile virus, and other diseases.

它們每年傳播瘧疾、西尼羅河病毒和其他疾病，導致數十萬人死亡。

But if they disappear tomorrow, we might actually miss them.

但如果它們明天就消失了，我們可能真的會想念它們。

There are over 3,000 species of mosquitoes on Earth, all of which are food to birds, bats, frogs, and other animals.

地球上有 3000 多種蚊子，它們都是鳥類、蝙蝠、青蛙和其他動物的食物。

No more mosquitoes means these creatures, and the animals that eat them, could go hungry.

沒有蚊子就意味著這些生物和以它們為食的動物可能會捱餓。

The same goes for the dreaded cockroach, a protein-packed meal for birds, rodents, and even humans in some parts of the world.

可怕的蟑螂也是如此，在世界某些地方，蟑螂是鳥類、齧齒動物甚至人類的蛋白質大餐。

If we lost all 4,400 species of roach, entire ecosystems would struggle to survive.

如果我們失去了所有 4 400 種蟑螂，整個生態系統將難以生存。

Believe it or not, we'd have even worse troubles ahead, since we'd face a serious poop problem without one of the world's greatest recyclers, the dung beetle.

信不信由你，如果沒有世界上最偉大的回收器之一--蜣螂，我們將面臨嚴重的大便問題，甚至會有更糟糕的麻煩。

You see, history has taught us exactly what happens when these critters can't do their job.

你看，歷史已經告訴了我們，當這些小動物無法完成它們的工作時會發生什麼。

Back in 1788, the British introduced cattle to Australia.

早在 1788 年，英國人就把牛引進了澳洲。

Each one poops enough to fill five tennis courts every year.

每一隻每年拉出的糞便足以填滿五個網球場。

But while the dung beetles back in Britain would eat and break down cow poop, the native Australian beetles wouldn't touch the stuff, because they evolved to munch only on dry, fibrous marsupial dung.

但是，英國的蜣螂會吃牛糞並分解牛糞，而澳洲在地的甲蟲卻不會碰牛糞，因為它們進化到只能咀嚼乾燥的纖維狀有袋動物糞便。

By 1960, the cattle had carpeted 500,000 acres of pasture in dung.

到 1960 年，牛群已經在 50 萬英畝的牧場上留下了糞便。

That's enough to cover over half of Rhode Island.

And while a little bit of poop is great for fertilizer, this ocean of dung would flood plants with nitrogen, making it impossible for anything to grow.

雖然一點點糞便是很好的肥料，但這些糞便的海洋會讓植物被氮淹沒，使植物無法生長。

So imagine if all 8,000 species of dung beetle, plus other do-dining insects like flies, vanished worldwide.

是以，想象一下，如果全世界所有 8000 種蜣螂，再加上蒼蠅等其他以蜣螂為食的昆蟲都消失了。

The land would be knee-deep in, you know, farmland, forest, and desert would all collapse.

你知道，農田、森林和沙漠將全部坍塌，土地將沒過膝蓋。

And floating throughout would be loads of corpses.

You see, most animals won't eat dead bodies.

你看，大多數動物都不吃屍體。

That's where flesh-eating beetles, aka dermestids, and other corpse-munching insects come in.

這就是食肉甲蟲（又名 Dermestids）和其他啃食屍體的昆蟲的作用所在。

Over 500 species of these gristly undertakers live worldwide.

全世界生活著 500 多個種類的這些猙獰的殯儀館。

Devouring dead flesh until nothing but bone remains.

Without them, there would be fewer custodians around to clean up the mess.

沒有他們，就沒有那麼多管理員來收拾殘局。

Sure, there would still be hungry vultures and bacteria around to help, but it wouldn't be enough.

當然，周圍還是會有飢餓的禿鷲和細菌來幫忙，但這還不夠。

So that's where we could end up in an insect-less world.

是以，我們可能會在一個沒有昆蟲的世界裡結束自己的生命。

Starving to death while drowning in a sea of poop and corpses. 43% of Americans say they're too tired to function.

在大便和屍體的海洋中溺水而餓死。43%的美國人說他們太累了，無法正常工作。

所以，你很可能已經筋疲力盡了。

Some warnings, you might even fantasize about staying in bed forever.

有些警告，你甚至會幻想永遠躺在床上。

You got food, a bedpan, and an endless stream of podcasts to binge.

你有食物，有便盆，還有無窮無盡的播客可以狂歡。

你所需要的一切，讓你再也不用搬家。

But it won't be long until you realize that you've made a terrible mistake.

但過不了多久，你就會發現自己犯了一個可怕的錯誤。

People spend lazy Sundays or sick days in bed all the time and are no worse for wear.

人們總是在懶散的星期天或生病的日子裡躺在床上，卻絲毫無損。

But if you don't start moving again after about 24 hours, one of the first things to change is your lungs.

但是，如果你在 24 小時後還沒有開始活動，那麼最先發生變化的就是你的肺部。

Gravity isn't pulling them down into their normal position anymore.

重力不再把它們拉到正常位置。

So the lower part of your lungs will crumple up.

是以，肺的下半部分會皺縮起來。

You probably won't feel any different, but watch out.

你可能不會覺得有什麼不同，但要小心。

Because it's harder for mucus to pass through those collapsed passages.

因為粘液更難通過這些塌陷的通道。

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如果地球停止繞太陽運行、側向旋轉以及更極端的情況會怎樣？ (What If Earth Stopped Orbiting The Sun, Spun Sideways, & More Extreme Scenarios)

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