And I find that

我曾經去過墨西哥灣幾次，

since I've been in the Gulf a couple of times,

發生這件事情(指漏油)，

I really kind of am traumatized

我的心真的像被劃了一刀，

because whenever I look at the ocean now,

現在，不論何時看著這片海洋，

no matter where I am,

不論我在何處，

even where I know

我知道，

none of the oil has gone,

飄在海面上的石油還沒被清除，

I sort of see slicks,

我都覺得好像看見浮油在眼前，

and I'm finding that I'm very much

這件事情在我心中，

haunted by it.

一直揮之不去。

But what I want to talk to you about today

今天我所要告訴各位的，

is a lot of things that try

是這件事情的

to put all of this in context,

來龍去脈。

not just about the oil eruption,

不只是石油的外漏，

but what it means and why it has happened.

還有這件事情的意義和原因。

First, just a little bit about me.

首先，簡單介紹一下我自己。

I'm basically just a guy that likes to go fishing

我只是個喜歡釣魚的傢伙，

ever since I was a little kid,

我小時候就愛釣魚，

and because I did,

也正因為我愛釣魚，

I wound up studying sea birds

我開始學習有關海鳥的知識，

to try to stay in the coastal habitats that I so loved.

我常待在我喜歡的海鳥棲息地。

And now I mainly write books

現在我專職寫書，

about how the ocean is changing,

寫關於海洋如何改變的事情，

and the ocean is certainly changing very rapidly.

毫無疑問，我們的海洋正在劇烈轉變，

Now we saw this kind of graphic earlier on,

讓我們先看幾張圖片。

that we really live on a hard marble

我們都生活在地球這塊堅硬的大理石上，

that has just a slight

這塊石頭，

bit of wetness to it.

有一點點濕潤，

It's like you dipped a marble in water.

像是把大理石在水裡沾一下一樣。

And the same thing with the atmosphere:

大氣層也是薄薄一層

If you took all the atmosphere

若把大氣層的氣體都蒐集起來，

and rolled it up in a ball,

把它揉成一團，

you would get that little sphere of gas on the right.

你會得到像右邊那張圖那麼大的氣體小球，

So we live on

我們是生活在

the most fragile, little soap bubble you can imagine,

一層非常薄弱，像肥皂泡泡的大氣層底下，

a very sacred soap bubble,

非常神聖的肥皂泡泡，

but one that is very, very easy to affect.

但非常容易受到外物影響，

And all the burning of oil and coal and gas,

石油、煤炭、天然氣的燃燒，

all the fossil fuels,

還有石化燃料，

have changed the atmosphere greatly.

都會給大氣層帶來巨大的影響。

Carbon dioxide level has gone up and up and up.

二氧化碳的濃度一天比一天高，

We're warming the climate.

我們正在使氣候暖化，

So the blowout in the Gulf

為了維續人類當今文明，

is just a little piece

墨西哥灣事件只不過是，

of a much larger problem that we have

使用這些燃料所帶來眾多問題的

with the energy that we use to run civilization.

鱗毛一角罷了。

Beyond warming,

除了地球暖化，

we have the problem of the oceans getting more acidified --

我們有海洋酸化的問題出現，

and already measurably so,

這件事情，

and already affecting animals.

已經開始影響地球的其他生物。

Now in the laboratory,

我做了點實驗，

if you take a clam and you put it in the pH

把蛤蜊放入較酸的海水裏，

that is -- not 8.1,

也就是說

which is the normal pH of seawater --

不是弱鹼值8.1的正常海水，

but 7.5,

而是7.5，

it dissolves in about three days.

這酸度大概只需要三天就能讓它們融化。

If you take a sea urchin larva

把海膽幼蟲也放入酸一點的海水，

from 8.1,

ph值在

put it in a pH of 7.7 --

7.7到8.1之間，

not a huge change --

離正常值只差那麼一點點，

it becomes deformed and dies.

就足夠讓它們外觀變形甚至死亡。

And already, commercial oyster larvae

已經有大量

are dying at large scales

人類圈養在海邊的牡蠣苗

in some places.

因而死亡。

Coral reefs are growing slower

有些區域的珊瑚礁，生長速度變慢，

in some places because of this problem.

也是這個原因。

So this really matters.

這是個嚴重的問題，

Now, let's take a little tour

現在，讓我們稍微

around the Gulf a little bit.

到墨西哥灣去看一看。

One of the things that really impresses me about the people in the Gulf:

在那，讓我留下深刻印象的是

They are really, really aquatic people.

那些生活在水底下的生物。

And they can handle water.

牠們在水中來去自如，

They can handle a hurricane that comes and goes.

暴風雨來了牠們也怡然自得，

When the water goes down, they know what to do.

海平面下降，牠們也知道如何應對。

But when it's something other than water,

但是當有其他外力侵襲，

and their water habitat changes,

使牠們的棲息地完全改變時，

they don't have many options.

牠們就完全沒有抵抗力了。

In fact, those entire communities

事實上，整個海洋的生物

really don't have many options.

都沒有辦法抵抗這種外力。

They don't have another thing they can do.

他們完全束手無策，

They can't go and work

牠們可沒辦法，

in the local hotel business

搬到附近的飯店避難，

because there isn't one in their community.

水底下可沒這種產業。

If you go to the Gulf and you look around,

各位到墨西哥灣看看，

you do see a lot of oil.

映入眼簾的全都是浮油，

You see a lot of oil on the ocean.

海面上全是浮油，

You see a lot of oil on the shoreline.

海岸線也全都是，

If you go to the site of the blowout,

如果你前往漏油的地方看看，

it looks pretty unbelievable.

眼前的事物會讓你不敢相信，

It looks like you just emptied the oil pan in your car,

那場景就像你剛剛換車子的機油，

and you just dumped it in the ocean.

然後把那堆廢油丟到大海一樣。

And one of the really most incredible things, I think,

最令我感到難以置信的是，

is that there's nobody out there

在這油汙最密集的地方，

trying to collect it

沒有任何人

at the site where it is densest.

在清理現場。

Parts of the ocean there

這片海域的大部分，

look just absolutely apocalyptic.

看起來就像世界末日一樣。

You go in along the shore,

你沿著周圍的海岸行走，

you can find it everywhere.

油汙在每個角落都看的到，

It's really messy.

實在是太可怕了。

If you go to the places where it's just arriving,

如果你到油污剛抵達的海岸，

like the eastern part of the Gulf, in Alabama,

像是阿拉巴馬州的墨西哥灣東岸，

there's still people using the beach

雖然有人在清理海岸，

while there are people cleaning up the beach.

但還是有很多民眾在這片海岸上娛樂，

And they have a very strange way of cleaning up the beach.

他們用非常奇怪的方法清理海岸，

They're not allowed to put more than 10 pounds of sand

他們用50加崙的塑膠袋裝（約200公升）

in a 50-gallon plastic bag.

裏面不得裝超過10磅的污泥沙

They have thousands and thousands of plastic bags.

他們使用了成千上萬這樣的塑膠袋，

I don't know what they're going to do with all that stuff.

我不知道以後他們要怎樣處理這些東西，

Meanwhile, there are still people trying to use the beach.

同時間，還是有很多人在海邊娛樂，

They don't see the little, tiny sign

這些民眾都沒看那小小的指示牌，

that says: "Stay out of the water."

上頭寫著：請勿下水

Their kids are in the water; they're getting tar

當孩子們在水中嬉戲的時候，

all over their clothes and their sandals. It's a mess.

衣服和脫鞋上就已經沾染上了焦油。非常糟糕。

If you go to the place where the oil has been a while,

你要是被汙染久一點的地方瞧一瞧，

it's an even bigger mess.

情況更糟糕。

And there's basically nobody there anymore,

這片沙灘基本上已經沒有遊客。

a few people trying

只有少數民眾，

to keep using it.

在這附近走動，

You see people who are really shell-shocked.

還是有人會對周圍的現象感到驚慌，

They are very hardworking people.

這些人就是在當地辛苦工作的居民。

All they know about life is they get up in the morning,

他們的日常生活就是起個大早，

and if their engine starts, they go to work.

發動船引擎，然後就上工了。

They always felt that they could rely on

這些人總認為，

the assurances that nature brought them

他們可以依賴

through the ecosystem of the Gulf.

那墨西哥灣的生態系統所帶來的天然資源。

They're finding that their world is really collapsing.

而現在他們賴以為生的世界已經倒塌了。

And so you can see, literally,

你真的可以看到，

signs of their shock,

他們臉上的震驚，

signs of their outrage,

他們的憤慨，

signs of their anger,

他們的憤怒，

and signs of their grief.

和他們的哀痛。

These are the things that you can see.

這些是表面上看得到的。

There's a lot you can't see, also,

但是，各位看不到的是，

underwater.

在水底下的情形。

What's going on underwater?

水底下發生什麼事了？

Well, some people say

嗯，有些人認為，

there are oil plumes.

石油羽状物已經出現了（懸浮在水下的石油）

Some people say there are not oil plumes.

也有人認為羽狀物並未出現。

And Congressman Markey asks, you know,

國會議員馬凱就質疑：

"Is it going to take a submarine ride

"為什麼不坐潛水艇，

to see if there are really oil plumes?"

下去看看水底是否真的有浮油？"（註：BP認為水底沒有浮油，因此阻止水底探勘）

But I couldn't take a submarine ride --

在來此演講前

especially between the time I knew I was coming here and today --

我沒機會坐到潛水艇下去看，

so I had to do

所以我自己，

a little experiment myself

就做了一點小實驗，

to see if there was oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

看看墨西哥灣是不是真的有浮油。

So this is the Gulf of Mexico,

假設這杯水就是墨西哥灣，

sparkling place full of fish.

發亮的部份就是魚，

I created a little oil spill

然後我在這杯墨西哥灣裡，

in the Gulf of Mexico.

製造了一點漏油情形，

And I learned -- in fact, I confirmed -- the hypothesis

明顯的我證實了

that oil and water don't mix

油不溶於水的原理，

until you add a dispersant,

然後我加入擴散劑（註：部分專家認為擴散劑能加速石油揮發、分解）

and then

結果，

they start mixing.

油水居然開始混合了，

And you add a little energy

這時候如果海面上來一點點動力，

from the wind and the waves,

像是大風，或是海浪，

and you get a big mess,

你會得到非常混濁的結果，

a big mess

這混濁的程度，

that you can't possibly clean,

根本沒辦法清理了。

you can't touch, you can't extract

而你再也摸不到，你也無法萃取浮油，

and, I think most importantly -- this is what I think --

而我認為最重要的是，

you can't see it.

你就再也看不到浮油了。

I think it's being hidden on purpose.

我想真相是故意被隱藏的。

Now this is such a catastrophe and such a mess,

這是一場大災難，一場非常混亂的災難，

that lots of stuff is leaking out on the edges of the information stream.

有一大堆媒體管道散播一大堆訊息。

But as many people have said,

但有人認為，

there's a large attempt to suppress what's going on.

這背後有一個很大的力量，在壓抑真相的爆發。