TED演讲：改变荒漠现状,扭转气候变化(2)

 　　I took this picture in the Tihamah Desert while 25 millimeters -- that's an inch of rain -- was falling.  这张照片是我在提哈迈沙漠拍的——下着25毫米（一英寸）的雨。

　　Think of it in terms of drums of water, each containing 200 liters.  把它想成是装在桶里，每桶装200升。

　　Over 1,000 drums of water fell on every hectare of that land that day.  那天每公顷的土地上下了1000桶水。

　　The next day, the land looked like this. Where had that water gone?  第二天，土地是这个样子。那些水去哪里了？

　　Some of it ran off as flooding, but most of the water that soaked into the soil simply evaporated out again, exactly as it does in your garden if you leave the soil uncovered.  一部分流走了，大部分水渗进了土壤又蒸发掉了，这跟你的花园里发生的过程一样，裸露的地方很快就会变干。

　　Now, because the fate of water and carbon are tied to soil organic matter, when we damage soils, you give off carbon.  现在，因为水和碳元素，都是被保存在土壤有机质中的，当我们破坏了土壤，我们就释放出了碳元素。（以二氧化碳或甲烷的形式）。

　　Carbon goes back to the atmosphere. 碳元素回到大气层。

　　Now you're told over and over, repeatedly, that desertification is only occurring in arid¹ and semi-arid areas of the world,  这些话你们现在已经听了很多遍，荒漠化只出现在世界的干旱和半干旱地区，

　　and that tall grasslands² like this one in high rainfall are of no consequence.  像这样的高原，降雨量再高也没有结果。

　　But if you do not look at grasslands but look down into them,  但如果你不是远远的看，而是看草地的土壤表面，

　　you find that most of the soil in that grassland³ that you've just seen is bare and covered with a crust of algae⁴, leading to increased runoff and evaporation⁵.  你会发现草地里大部分的土壤表面都是光秃秃的，只有很少的藻类覆盖在上面，这导致了水分的流失和蒸发。

　　That is the cancer of desertification that we do not recognize till its terminal form. 这是导致荒漠化的致命原因，而我们直到荒漠化的末期才会察觉。

　　Now we know that desertification is caused by livestock⁶, mostly cattle, sheep and goats, overgrazing the plants, ok? Leaving the soil bare and giving off methane⁷.  现在我们知道沙漠化是由家畜，多数是牛、绵羊和山羊等，过度放牧，吃光了植被，使得土壤表面裸露出来并释放甲烷。

　　Almost everybody knows this, from nobel laureates to golf caddies, or was taught it, as I was.  几乎人人都知道这点，从诺贝尔奖获得者到高尔夫球童，都和我一样都这么教育过。

　　Now, the environments like you see here, dusty environments in Africa where I grew up,  你们看到的这些环境，尘土飞扬的非洲，是我成长的地方，

　　and I loved wildlife, and so I grew up hating livestock because of the damage they were doing.  我喜欢野生动物，我从小不喜欢牲畜，因为家畜造成了生态破坏。

　　And then my university education as an ecologist reinforced my beliefs. 我在大学读生态学的经历也增强了我的信念。

　　Well, I have news for you. We were once just as certain that the world was flat.  现在，我要告诉你们一些新的东西。我们曾相信世界是平坦的。

　　We were wrong then, and we are wrong again.  我们那时错了，现在又错了。

　　And I want to invite you now to come along on my journey of reeducation and discovery. 我想邀请你们来加入我的再教育和探索之旅。

1 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

2 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 grassland   

n.牧场，草地，草原

参考例句：

• There is a reach of grassland in the distance.远处是连绵一片的草原。
• The snowstorm swept the vast expanse of grassland.暴风雪袭击了辽阔的草原。

4 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

5 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

7 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。