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650 million years ago, ice entombs the planet.
6億5000年前，冰層覆蓋了這一星球
For 15 million years, the Earth is a vast frozen snowball.
整整1500年之久，地球都是一個凍結的大雪球，
But it can't last forever;
然而不能一直這樣下去，
something must release the Earth from this frozen prison.
一定要有什么東西幫助地球擺脫這個冰雪牢籠，
And when it does, who knows whether life has survived beneath the ice.
那是誰曉得冰下是否還有生命，
The surface is frozen but the core is still hotter than the sun's surface.
地表凍結，但地心依舊比太陽表面還熱。
Volcanoes have been erupting since the world began to freeze.
世界開始結冰時火山就在噴發，
But up until now even their heat and power made no impact on the ice.
只是之前它們的熱度與力量抵不過冰。
Volcanoes pump out billions of tons of carbon dioxide.
火山噴發出數十億噸二氧化碳，
Before the big freeze, the Earth's rocks absorbed most of the CO2.
在大冰封之前，地球巖石吸收了大部分二氧化碳，
But now, with the rocks smothered in ice, there's nothing to absorb the gas.
不過此時，巖漿被冰覆蓋，無法再吸收二氧化碳。
So it fills the atmosphere.
于是它充滿大氣
Like a blanket, it traps the sun's warmth around the planet, allowing the temperatures to rise.
它像毯子般留住太陽的溫暖，氣溫上升。
Now, after 15 million years, the ice begins to melt.
1500萬年后，冰開始融化。
It's thought that during Snowball Earth the ice pushed the crust down.
據信雪球地球期間，冰把地殼往下壓，
But now, as it melts,
現在冰融化了，
the crust bounces up,
地殼就彈回來，
creating fissures and weak spots,
地殼因此出現裂痕與弱點，
and more volcanoes.
以及越來越多的火山。
The volcanoes release more carbon dioxide and push the temperature up even higher.
這些火山釋放出更多二氧化碳，讓氣溫進一步升高。
The melt gathers momentum.
融化速度加快，
And oxygen levels rise.
氧濃度飆升。
