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On May 18, 1980,
1980年5月，
Mount St Helen in the Pacific Northwest was ripped apart.
美國圣海倫火山崩裂
Within minutes, over 100 billion cubic feet of the mountain
幾分鐘之內 超過1000億立方英尺的火山物質
slid down into the surrounding countryside.
噴灑到四周區域
Since the eruption, Mount St Helens has been fairly quiet.
自從噴發以后 圣海倫火山一直相當平靜
But inside its vast crater, a giant cone of rock is growing.
但是在它巨大的火山口里一塊巨大錐狀巖石正在生長
Forced up by the pressure beneath,
在下方不斷上頂的壓力作用下
Mount St Helens is building for another eruption.
圣海倫火山正在準備再一次爆發
The irony is that subduction volcanoes are so highly explosive and destructive because they are so gassy,
諷刺的是，俯沖帶火山具有強大破壞力的原因在于它充滿氣體
yet it's the release of the gas that's crucial to the Earth.
而它釋放出的氣體恰恰對地球至關重要
That is the key to recycling carbon that is locked in the rocks back into atmosphere the carbon that'is locked in the rocks below.
這是讓鎖在巖石中的碳重返大氣層的關鍵
The whole elaborate system works a bit like thermostat,
整個精細體系有點像一個溫控計一樣進行調控
maintaining the right temperatures for life.
并將溫度維持在適合生命的范圍之內
Ever since our planet formed four and a half billion years ago,
自從地球45年億年前形成以來
Earth's inner heat has been continuously struggling to escape.
地球內部熱量不斷奮爭出逃
In ftact, you colud say that the whole history of the planet
實際上 你能看到對地球整個歷史而言
has been driven by the immense heat trapped inside it.
沒有什么比控制地球熱量更加重要
No force on earth is more dramatic,
地球上沒有其它力量比火山更為動蕩
more destructive,more violent than volcanoes.
更具破壞性，更加暴力
They are the life force of our planet.
火山是我們行星的生命力量
