評論
打印
There is one gas present in the air we breathe that is essential to life. Unfortunately, one can have too much of a good thing and the growth in carbon dioxide threatens to warm up our planet to a dangerous extent. Isaac Asimov introduces us to this villain in the atmosphere, explaining how it works and what can be done about it.
在我們呼吸的空氣中，有一種氣體對生命是必不可少的。遺憾的是，一樣好東西我們可能會擁有得太多，而二氧化碳的增長威脅著使我們的地球變暖到一種危險的程度。艾薩克·阿西莫夫向我們介紹了大氣層中的這個壞蛋，向我們解釋了它是怎樣活動的以及對付它的辦法。
The Villain in the Atmosphere
大氣層中的惡棍
Isaac Asimov
艾薩克·阿西莫夫
The villain in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide.
大氣層中的惡棍乃是二氧化碳。
It does not seem to be a villain. It is not very poisonous and it is present in the atmosphere in so small a quantity — only 0.034 percent — that it does us no harm.
二氧化碳看上去不像一個惡棍。它毒性不大，在大氣層中的含量極小——只占0.034%——不會對我們造成任何傷害。
What's more, that small quantity of carbon dioxide in the air is essential to life. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into their own tissue, which serve as the basic food supply for all of animal life （including human beings, of course）. In the process they liberate oxygen, which is also necessary for all animal life.
再者，空氣中的那一點點二氧化碳對生命至關重要。植物吸收二氧化碳并將其轉化成他們自己的組織，充當所有動物(當然也包括人類)的基本食物供給。在這一過程中，植物釋放氧氣，而氧氣又是所有動物生命不可缺少的。
But here is what this apparently harmless and certainly essential gas is doing to us:
然而，這一看上去無害而且無疑又必不可少的氣體卻正在對我們產生影響。
The sea level is rising very slowly from year to year. In all likelihood, it will continue to rise and do so at a greater rate in the course of the next hundred years. Where there are low-lying coastal areas （where a large fraction of the world's population lives） the water will advance steadily, forcing people to retreat inland.
年復一年，海平面正在慢慢上升。它很可能繼續上升，而在今后數百年間，會以更快的速度上升。在那些低洼的沿海地區(在這些地區居住著世界上很大一部分人口），海水會穩步向前推進，迫使人們向內陸退居。
