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This is our earth at night, and it is one of the most striking examples of how we have affected our planet on a global scale.
這是夜晚的地球，這是人類在全球范圍內(nèi)對(duì)地球造成顯著影響的例子之一。
You can see light spidering out across the globe everywhere.
你可以看到光亮散播到了全球的各個(gè)角落，
Now, of course, there are broad expanses of ocean that are still dark,
當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)在廣闊的海洋依舊處于黑暗中，
and in many underdeveloped areas there's still darkness.
很多不發(fā)達(dá)的地區(qū)看起來也是漆黑一片。
But you'll notice that this is a pretty global effect.
但你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)這其實(shí)已經(jīng)成為了全球現(xiàn)象。
We tend to think, when we think of places being lit up, of very extreme examples -- Times Square, the Vegas Strip.
當(dāng)提到燈火通明的地方時(shí)，我們總會(huì)想起那些最極端的例子，比如時(shí)代廣場(chǎng)、拉斯維加斯大道。
But really what that picture shows you is that it's not just these extreme examples, it's anywhere that uses outdoor lighting.
但那張整個(gè)地球的照明情況圖片顯示的不僅僅是這幾個(gè)極端個(gè)例，而是任何使用戶外照明的地方。
This tends to be a really dramatic effect on the ground.
這往往給地球表面帶來真正巨大的影響。
To understand why, all you really have to do is think about the shape of a lightbulb.
想知道為什么，你只需想想燈泡的形狀。
The lightbulb, for all practical purposes, is more or less round.
為了實(shí)用的目的，燈泡基本上都是圓的。
This is great for its original intended purpose of lighting up the indoors.
這正符合它最初的目的，室內(nèi)照明。
You turn it on, light goes everywhere. An individual light bulb can light up your whole room, more or less.
你打開燈，燈光照射到房間的每個(gè)角落。一個(gè)燈泡就能照亮整個(gè)房間，只是明暗程度的差異。
Now, that's great if you're lighting the indoors, but in its application in outdoor lighting,
如果你想照亮室內(nèi)，這確實(shí)非常有效；但當(dāng)我們用于室外照明時(shí)，
that traditional shape of the light bulb, the sort of globe that spreads light everywhere, is actually very inefficient.
傳統(tǒng)的燈泡形狀，即那種向四周傳播光線的球形燈泡，其實(shí)是十分低效的。
When you're outdoors, mostly what you care about is lighting the ground beneath you and your immediate surroundings.
當(dāng)你身處室外時(shí)，你最關(guān)心的是照亮你腳下的地面和周圍的環(huán)境。
All of that light that gets scattered outwards and upwards doesn't actually help you light the area around you.
所有那些分散向外或向上的光，都并不能幫你有效地照亮你周圍的區(qū)域。
What it does is scatters up into the sky and becomes what we call "light pollution."
它只是將光線散射到天空，造成我們所說的“光污染”。
Even if you don't care anything about stargazing, this should worry you,
即使你不在意星象觀測(cè)，你也應(yīng)該關(guān)心光污染，
because it means that 60-70% of the energy we use to light the outdoors is wasted by blotting out the stars.
因?yàn)椋馕吨覀冇糜谑彝庹彰鞯?0-70%的能量被浪費(fèi)在屏蔽夜晚的星光了。
