We have become accustomed to the now mundane image of the Earth as seen from the first expedition to the moon-a beautiful blue sphere decorated by swirls of fleecy clouds. It is spectacularl natural object; at that distance, no overt signs of human activity are visible. But this image, now repeatedly thrust before us in photographs, posters, and advertisements, is misleading Even if the global warming catastrophe never materializes, and the ozone hole remains an esoteric, polar phenomenc, already human activity has profoundly altered global conditions in ways that may not register on the camera. Everywhere in the world, there is now radioactivity that was not there before, the dangerou residue of nuclear explosion and the nuclear power industry; noxious flames of smog blanket over major cities; carcinogenic synthetic pesticides have been detected in mother's milk all over the world; great forests have been cut down, destroying ecological niches and their resident species.
自從人類第一次登月起，我們就一直習慣于如今這平常無奇的地球景象一個被旋渦狀白云裝點的、漂亮的藍色星球。這真是個壯觀的自然天體。隔著么遠的距離，人類活動的明顯痕跡無法被察覺，但這種曾無數次展現在我們面前的照片、海報和廣告上的景象都是誤導。即使全球變暖這種災害永不發生，即使臭氧層空洞仍然只是一種深奧的極地現象，人類活動已極大地改變了全球條件，這些也許是用照相機拍攝不出來的。世界的每個角落都出現了由核爆炸和核能工業的危險剩余物質所產生的輻射現象，那是從前不存在的；煙霧的有害烈焰籠罩在世界大都市的上空；各地都有報道發現母乳中有致癌的合成殺蟲劑的成分；大片大片的森林被砍伐，摧毀了生態小環境，也毀滅了生存在其中的物種。
Clearly, we need to understand the interaction between our two worlds: the natural ecosphere, the thin global skin of air, water, and soil and the plants and animals that live in it, and the man-made technosphere-powerful enough to deserve so grandiose a term. The technosphere has become sufficiently large and intense to alter the natural processes that govern the ecosphere. And in turn, the altered ecosphere threatens to flood our great cities, dry up our bountiful farms, contaminate our food and water, and poison our bodies-catastrophically diminishing our ability to provide for basic human needs. The human attack on the ecosphere has instigated an ecological counterattack. The two worlds are at war.
顯而易見，我們需要認識這兩個世界間的相互作用：一個是稀薄的地表空氣、水、土壤和植物、動物們賴以存在的生態圈；另一個是人造技術圈它龐大的力量完全配得上這一稱號。如此龐大和強烈的技術圈已經改變了控制生態圈的自然進程。接著，被改變了的生態圈也已淹沒我們的城市，耗盡我們豐厚的農場資源，污染我們的食物和水源，并毒害我們的身體使我們削弱了供應人類基本需求的能力。人類對生態圈侵害已遭到生態圈的反擊兩大世界正處于交戰狀態。
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