Name: 讓倫敦保持在水面上的巨大金屬牆 (The giant metal walls keeping London above water)
Uploaded: 2025-06-19T17:00:45.000Z
Duration: 5 min 34 s

London is prone to severe flooding, like the disastrous 1928 Thames flood that displaced thousands and the notorious 1953 North Sea storm that killed over 2,000 people throughout Europe.

倫敦很容易發生嚴重的洪災，如 1928 年泰晤士河的災難性洪水導致成千上萬人流離失所，1953 年臭名昭著的北海風暴導致整個歐洲 2000 多人喪生。

By far the biggest event was 1953 and it's the biggest natural hazard to affect the UK in the last 200 years.

到目前為止，最大的事件發生在 1953 年，這是過去 200 年來影響英國的最大自然災害。

情態副詞

Since then, this region hasn't experienced such catastrophic floods, mainly due to this The Thames Barrier, a storm surge defence system that opened in 1984.

從那以後，該地區再也沒有發生過如此災難性的洪水，這主要歸功於 1984 年啟用的風暴潮防禦系統--泰晤士河屏障。

The barrier, which stretches for a third of a mile across the Thames at Woolwich, is the largest structure of its kind in the world.

該屏障橫跨伍爾維奇的泰晤士河，綿延三分之一英里，是世界上最大的同類建築。

So how has the Thames Barrier protected London for this long?

那麼，泰晤士河大壩是如何保護倫敦這麼久的呢？

And in a world where flooding is more and more common, how will the Thames Barrier adapt to keep up?

在洪水越來越普遍的今天，泰晤士河堤壩將如何適應洪水？

It's the first movable barrier ever built in the River Thames and protects the most populous part of London.

這是泰晤士河上建造的第一道可移動屏障，保護著倫敦人口最多的地區。

As the second largest movable barrier in the world, it's made up of 10 steel gates that span 520 metres across this river.

作為世界上第二大活動屏障，它由 10 扇鋼製閘門組成，橫跨 520 米長的河面。

The outer four gates always have their barriers up and closed.

外圍的四座城門始終豎立並關閉著屏障。

And these central, larger six gates are left open most of the time, to let ships pass through and for the river to flow naturally.

這些中央較大的六個閘門大部分時間都是敞開的，以便船隻通過，讓河水自然流淌。

So what triggers the closing of the rest of the barrier?

那麼，是什麼觸發了其餘屏障的關閉呢？

The UK's Environmental Agency, which monitors the North Sea's tide levels, river flow, and weather, gathers data on a daily basis to determine whether to open or close the barrier.

英國環境署負責監測北海的潮位、河流流量和天氣，每天都會收集數據，以決定是否打開或關閉屏障。

When the decision is announced, the gates can begin closing.

決定宣佈後，大門就可以開始關閉了。

It takes about 90 minutes to close all the gates, which can go as high up as 20 metres.

關閉所有高達 20 米的閘門大約需要 90 分鐘。

And they're designed to withstand over 9,000 tonnes of gushing water, which is the equivalent of almost 118 large swimming pools.

它們的設計可以承受 9000 多噸的湧水，相當於近 118 個大型游泳池的水量。

The gates remain closed for high tide for about four to five hours.

閘門會在漲潮時關閉約四到五個小時。

Once the flood recedes, the gates are lowered to their resting position.

一旦洪水退去，閘門就會降到靜止位置。

The general idea is that the gates block the gushing water to protect the city.

一般的想法是，城門阻擋湧出的水流，以保護城市。

The Thames barrier alone protects 1.42 million people, 320 billion pounds of residential properties.

僅泰晤士河護欄就保護了 142 萬人、3200 億磅的住宅財產。

We had a very, very big storm in 2013, in Storm Xavier, no one died.

2013 年，我們經歷了一場非常、非常大的風暴，即 "澤維爾風暴"，但沒有人死亡。

One of the reasons why that was, was because of forecasting, but also as a direct result of these storm surge barriers being built.

其中一個原因是預測，但也是這些風暴潮屏障建成的直接結果。

In the year of Storm Xavier, the barrier was closed 50 times.

在 "澤維爾風暴 "那一年，關卡被關閉了 50 次。

For perspective, in the entire decade of the 80s, it was closed a total of four times.

在整個 80 年代，它總共關閉過四次。

The more the barriers open and close, the faster they deteriorate.

障礙物開合的次數越多，損壞的速度就越快。

And experts fear that climate change will disrupt tide predictability in the UK.

專家們擔心，氣候變化將破壞英國潮汐的可預測性。

Sea level rise is the most certain and probably the most costly consequences of climate change.

海平面上升是氣候變化最確定的後果，也可能是代價最昂貴的後果。

And we've already seen a 25 centimetre increase in sea level over the last 100, 120 years.

在過去的 100 到 120 年間，海平面已經上升了 25 釐米。

To prepare for that getting worse, the UK put together the Thames Estuary 2100 plan, a plan to upgrade London's flood defence systems that recognises that we don't actually know how bad climate change is going to get.

為了應對日益嚴重的氣候變化，英國制定了 "泰晤士河口 2100 年計劃"，該計劃旨在升級倫敦的防洪系統。

And it was a very novel, very unique plan in that rather than just a static adjustment to account for sea level rise, they actually took an adaptive approach and they said, look, we don't know exactly what the future holds, we're going to put a series of plans in place that can adapt.

這是一個非常新穎、非常獨特的計劃，因為他們並不是一成不變地對海平面上升進行調整，而是採取了一種適應性方法，他們說，聽著，我們並不確切知道未來會發生什麼，我們要制定一系列能夠適應的計劃。

So we know we need a new Thames barrier, but we don't know exactly when.

是以，我們知道我們需要一個新的泰晤士河屏障，但我們不知道確切的時間。

We think we need a new barrier in 2070, but if sea level rise faster than normal, we can bring that plan forward.

我們認為我們需要在 2070 年建造新的隔離牆，但如果海平面上升速度超過正常水準，我們可以提前實施該計劃。

The Thames Estuary 2100 plan ultimately comes in three phases.

泰晤士河口 2100 計劃最終分為三個階段。

From now until 2035, the main priority is to maintain what exists already, like the Thames barrier, by ensuring it can still withstand the pressure of high tides.

從現在起到 2035 年，主要的優先事項是維護現有的設施，如泰晤士河屏障，確保它仍能承受漲潮的壓力。

The plan acknowledges that we don't yet know how much higher they'll need to be raised, and leaves room for variability.

該計劃承認，我們還不知道需要將它們提高多少，並留有可變空間。

After 2070, the third phase will again examine the effects of climate change on London.

2070 年之後，第三階段將再次考察氣候變化對倫敦的影響。

If water levels are increasing at alarming rates, more interventions like additional barriers may be added.

如果水位以驚人的速度上升，則可能需要採取更多的干預措施，如增加屏障。

The success of the Thames barrier has inspired the creation of more than 50 additional flood barriers around the world, protecting millions of people from disaster.

泰晤士河防洪屏障的成功激勵著人們在世界各地增設了 50 多處防洪屏障，保護數百萬人免受災難。

But according to experts, the most impressive part isn't the Thames barrier itself, but the UK government's willingness to adapt for the future.

但專家們認為，最令人印象深刻的部分並不是泰晤士河屏障本身，而是英國政府願意為未來做出調整。

And now countries all around the world are sort of copying that approach from small towns to big cities like New York are taking this more sort of adaptive approach, and that was very much pioneered in London.

現在，世界各國都在模仿這種方法，從小城鎮到紐約這樣的大城市，都在採取這種更具適應性的方法，而倫敦正是這種方法的先驅。