ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Charles Moore - Oceanographer
Charles Moore is founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. He captains the foundation's research vessel, the Alguita, documenting the great expanses of plastic waste that now litter our oceans.

Why you should listen

A yachting competition across the Pacific led veteran seafarer Charles Moore to discover what some have since deemed the world's largest "landfill" -- actually a huge water-bound swath of floating plastic garbage the size of two Texases. Trapped in an enormous slow whirlpool called the Pacific Gyre, a mostly stagnant, plankton-rich seascape spun of massive competing air currents, this Great Pacific Garbage Patch in some places outweighs even the surface waters' biomass six-to-one.

Moore said after his return voyage, "There were shampoo caps and soap bottles and plastic bags and fishing floats as far as I could see. Here I was in the middle of the ocean, and there was nowhere I could go to avoid the plastic."

Since his discovery, Moore has been analyzing the giant litter patch and its disastrous effects on ocean life. Through the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, he hopes to raise awareness about the problem and find ways to restrict its growth. He's now leading several expeditions to sample plastic fragments across thousands of miles of the Pacific.

More profile about the speaker
Charles Moore | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Charles Moore: Seas of plastic

查尔斯·摩尔:塑料充斥的海洋

Filmed:
1,361,667 views

查尔斯·摩尔船长是Algalita海洋研究基金会的创始人,他第一次发现了大太平洋垃圾带——一片无边无际漂浮着塑料垃圾的海域。现在,他为我们讲述大海面临的日益严重的塑料碎片污染问题。
- Oceanographer
Charles Moore is founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. He captains the foundation's research vessel, the Alguita, documenting the great expanses of plastic waste that now litter our oceans. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Let's talk trash垃圾.
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让我们来说说垃圾吧
00:14
You know, we had to be taught
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我们曾经被告知
00:17
to renounce放弃 the powerful强大 conservation保护 ethic伦理
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要放弃在大萧条时期和二战时建立起来的
00:20
we developed发达 during the Great Depression萧条 and World世界 War战争 IIII.
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强有力的环境保护道德意识
00:23
After the war战争, we needed需要 to direct直接 our enormous巨大 production生产 capacity容量
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战争之后,我们需要把大量的生产力
00:26
toward creation创建 of products制品 for peacetime和平时期.
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转移到和平时期的生产上来
00:29
Life Magazine杂志 helped帮助 in this effort功夫
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《生活杂志》在其中起了助推作用
00:32
by announcing宣布 the introduction介绍 of throwaways一次性用品
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宣称用完就丢的生活方式
00:35
that would liberate解放 the housewife家庭主妇 from the drudgery苦差事 of doing dishes碗碟.
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以此将家庭主妇从洗涤碗碟的杂务中解放出来
00:38
Mental心理 note注意 to the liberators解放者:
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但这些被解放的人们应该铭记在心的是:
00:40
throwaway丢掉 plastics塑料 take a lot of space空间 and don't biodegrade生物降解.
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丢弃塑料占据了大量空间且不能生物降解
00:43
Only we humans人类 make waste浪费 that nature性质 can't digest消化.
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只有我们人类才能制造出大自然不能消化的废物
00:48
Plastics塑料 are also hard to recycle回收.
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塑料同样也很难回收利用
00:51
A teacher老师 told me how to express表现 the under-five-percent下百分之五
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一位老师告诉我,如果要形容
00:54
of plastics塑料 recovered恢复 in our waste浪费 stream.
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我们排放废物中不到5%的塑料垃圾回收率的话
00:57
It's diddly-point-squatdiddly点蹲.
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可以用“diddle point squat”(无足轻重的小数目)
01:00
That's the percentage百分比 we recycle回收.
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而这就是塑料可怜的回收率
01:06
Now, melting融化 point has a lot to do with this.
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这与塑料的熔点有很大关系
01:09
Plastic塑料 is not purified净化的 by the re-melting重熔 process处理 like glass玻璃 and metal金属.
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与玻璃和金属不同,塑料不能通过再熔化进行提炼
01:12
It begins开始 to melt熔化 below下面 the boiling沸腾 point of water
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在水沸点以下塑料便开始熔化
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and does not drive驾驶 off the oily油腻 contaminants污染物
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而且塑料会像海绵一样
01:18
for which哪一个 it is a sponge海绵.
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吸附油性污染物
01:21
Half of each year's年份 100 billion十亿 pounds英镑 of thermal plastic塑料 pellets小球
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每年回炉生产的1000亿颗塑料小球中
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will be made制作 into fast-track快速通道 trash垃圾.
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有一半会很快又变成垃圾
01:27
A large, unruly不羁 fraction分数 of our trash垃圾
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这些垃圾中的一大部分
01:30
will flow downriver下游 to the sea.
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将不可避免地经河流流入大海
01:33
Here is the accumulation积累 at BionaBiona Creek next下一个 to the L.A. airport飞机场.
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这是洛杉矶机场附近Biona小湾内垃圾堆积的景象
01:36
And here is the flotsam废料 near California加州 State University大学 Long Beach海滩
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这是加州州立大学长滩分校附近的漂浮物
01:41
and the diesel柴油机 plant we visited参观 yesterday昨天.
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也是我们昨天参观的淡化水工厂所在地
01:43
In spite尽管 of deposit存款 fees费用,
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尽管有回收报酬
01:45
much of this trash垃圾 leading领导 out to the sea will be plastic塑料 beverage饮料 bottles瓶子.
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但流向海洋的塑料垃圾绝大多数还是饮料瓶
01:48
We use two million百万 of them in the United联合的 States状态 every一切 five minutes分钟,
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在美国,每五分钟我们就使用了两百万个饮料瓶
01:52
here imaged成像 by TEDTED presenter主持人 Chris克里斯 Jordan约旦,
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这张图片来自TED演讲者克里斯·乔丹
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who artfully巧妙地 documents文件 mass consumption消费 and zooms缩放 in for more detail详情.
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他巧妙地记录了我们消费掉的瓶子数目是多么巨大,这是放大后的细节
02:01
Here is a remote远程 island repository知识库 for bottles瓶子
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这个位于下加利福尼亚海域的偏远海岛
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off the coast of Baja巴哈 California加州.
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已经成为塑料瓶的“储藏库”
02:08
Isla伊斯拉 San Roque罗克 is an uninhabited无人 bird rookery鸟巢
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无人居住的圣罗克岛是许多鸟类的栖息地
02:10
off Baja's巴哈的 sparsely populated人口稠密 central中央 coast.
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位于下加州人口稀少的中部海岸
02:12
Notice注意 that the bottles瓶子 here have caps帽子 on them.
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请注意这些瓶子上都有瓶盖
02:15
Bottles瓶子 made制作 of polyethylene聚乙烯 terephthalate对苯二甲酸乙二酯, PET宠物,
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塑料瓶由聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)制成
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will sink水槽 in seawater海水 and not make it this far from civilization文明.
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会沉入海水而不会漂到这么偏远的地方
02:22
Also, the caps帽子 are produced生成 in separate分离 factories工厂
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然而,瓶盖来自另一些的工厂
02:25
from a different不同 plastic塑料, polypropylene聚丙烯.
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由一种称为聚丙烯的塑料制成
02:28
They will float浮动 in seawater海水,
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它们会漂浮在海面上
02:30
but unfortunately不幸 do not get recycled回收 under the bottle瓶子 bills票据.
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不幸的是,瓶盖并不在退瓶法的回收名单中
02:34
Let's trace跟踪 the journey旅程 of the millions百万 of caps帽子
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让我们追踪这数以百万计的瓶盖
02:37
that make it to sea solo独奏.
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看它们是如何漂向大海的
02:39
After a year the ones那些 from Japan日本 are heading标题 straight直行 across横过 the Pacific和平的,
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一年时间里,来自日本的瓶盖横穿太平洋
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while ours我们的 get caught抓住 in the California加州 current当前
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我们的瓶盖则沿着加利福尼亚寒流漂行
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and first head down to the latitude纬度 of Cabo擦玻璃 San Lucas卢卡斯.
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起先到达的是卡波圣卢卡斯所在的纬度附近
02:48
After ten years年份, a lot of the Japanese日本 caps帽子
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10年之后,大多数来自日本的瓶盖
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are in what we call the Eastern Garbage垃圾 Patch补丁,
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漂到了所谓的“东洋垃圾场”
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while ours我们的 litter the Philippines菲律宾.
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而我们扔掉的瓶盖则堆积到了菲律宾
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After 20 years年份, we see emerging新兴 the debris废墟 accumulation积累 zone
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20年之后,我们看到在北太平洋环流区
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of the North Pacific和平的 Gyre环流.
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出现了塑料碎片堆积带
03:01
It so happens发生 that millions百万 of albatross信天翁
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在西北夏威夷群岛国家保护地的两个环礁
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nesting嵌套 on Kure and Midway中途 atolls环礁
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库尔环礁和中途岛环礁上
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in the Northwest西北 Hawaiian夏威夷 Islands岛屿 National国民 Monument纪念碑
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生活着数以百万计的信天翁
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forage饲料 here and scavenge清除 whatever随你 they can find
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它们在这片海域觅食,吃下能找到的所有一切
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for regurgitation关闭不全 to their chicks小鸡.
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然后再回吐给幼鸟
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A four-month四个月 old Laysan黑背 Albatross信天翁 chick小鸡
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这是一只四个月大的黑背信天翁幼鸟
03:16
died死亡 with this in its stomach.
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它死的时候,胃里是这些东西
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Hundreds数以百计 of thousands数千 of the goose-sized鹅大小 chicks小鸡 are dying垂死
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成千上万只鹅体形大小的幼鸟正在死亡线上挣扎
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with stomachs full充分 of bottle瓶子 caps帽子 and other rubbish垃圾,
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它们的胃里满是瓶盖和其他垃圾
03:27
like cigarette香烟 lighters打火机 ...
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如打火机……
03:30
but, mostly大多 bottle瓶子 caps帽子.
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但绝大部分是瓶盖
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Sadly可悲的是, their parents父母 mistake错误 bottle瓶子 caps帽子 for food餐饮
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不幸的是,它们的父母将漂在大海表面的瓶盖
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tossing折腾 about in the ocean海洋 surface表面.
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误认为是食物
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The retainer定位器 rings戒指 for the caps帽子
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瓶盖下的扣环
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also have consequences后果 for aquatic animals动物.
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也会给水生动物带来威胁
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This is Mae West西,
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这只龟名叫Mae West(意为救生背心)
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still alive at a zookeeper's动物园管理员的 home in New Orleans奥尔良.
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现在仍生活在新奥尔良一位动物园管理员的家中
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I wanted to see what my home town of Long Beach海滩 was contributing贡献 to the problem问题,
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我想看看家乡长滩对这一问题作出的努力
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so on Coastal沿海 Clean-Up清理 Day in 2005
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因此,2005年的海岸清理日
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I went to the Long Beach海滩 Peninsula半岛, at the east end结束 of our long beach海滩.
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我来到我们长滩市最东边的长滩半岛
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We cleaned清洗 up the swaths大片 of beach海滩 shown显示.
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我们清理了这片狭长的沙滩
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I offered提供 five cents each for bottle瓶子 caps帽子.
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每搜集一个瓶盖我付给5美分
04:05
I got plenty丰富 of takers考生.
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许多人加入了行列
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Here are the 1,100 bottle瓶子 caps帽子 they collected.
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这就是他们搜集的1100个瓶盖
04:10
I thought I would spend 20 bucks雄鹿.
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我想我要花上20美元
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That day I ended结束 up spending开支 nearly几乎 60.
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而那天到最后我花了接近60美元
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I separated分离 them by color颜色
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我根据颜色将它们分类
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and put them on display显示 the next下一个 Earth地球 Day
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并在接下来的地球日
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at Cabrillo卡布里洛 Marine海洋 Aquarium水族馆 in San Pedro佩德罗.
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在圣佩德罗的卡布里奥水族馆进行展览
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Governor州长 Schwarzenegger施瓦辛格 and his wife妻子 Maria玛丽亚 stopped停止 by to discuss讨论 the display显示.
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施瓦辛格州长和妻子玛丽亚路过并与我们讨论了这次展览
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In spite尽管 of my "girly少女的 man" hat帽子, crocheted钩编 from plastic塑料 shopping购物 bags包装袋,
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尽管我戴着用塑料购物袋编织成的女里女气的帽子
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they shook震撼 my hand. (Laughter笑声)
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他们还是与我握了手
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I showed显示 him and Maria玛丽亚 a zooplankton浮游动物 trawl拖网
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我给他和玛丽亚看了个浮游动物拖网
04:36
from the gyre环流 north of Hawaii夏威夷
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在夏威夷北部的涡流处
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with more plastic塑料 than plankton浮游生物.
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塑料的量比浮游生物还多
04:41
Here's这里的 what our trawl拖网 samples样本 from the plastic塑料 soup our ocean海洋 has become成为 look like.
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这就是在我们逐渐变成塑料汤的海洋中拖网得到的样品
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Trawling拖网 a zooplankton浮游动物 net on the surface表面 for a mile英里
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在海面用浮游动物拖网拖动一英里
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produces产生 samples样本 like this.
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得到的样品就像这个
04:52
And this.
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和这个
04:55
Now, when the debris废墟 washes up on the beaches海滩 of Hawaii夏威夷
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当塑料碎片冲上夏威夷沙滩的时候
04:58
it looks容貌 like this.
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看起来是这样的
05:00
And this particular特定 beach海滩 is Kailua科纳 Beach海滩,
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而这里就是凯鲁亚沙滩
05:02
the beach海滩 where our president主席 and his family家庭 vacationed假期了 before moving移动 to Washington华盛顿.
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我们的总统一家在前往华盛顿之前度假的那个沙滩
05:05
Now, how do we analyze分析 samples样本 like this one
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那么,我们是如何通过这些样品
05:08
that contain包含 more plastic塑料 than plankton浮游生物?
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分析得出塑料比浮游生物还多的结论呢?
05:11
We sort分类 the plastic塑料 fragments片段 into different不同 size尺寸 classes,
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我们将塑料碎片按体积大小分成不同类别
05:14
from five millimeters毫米 to one-third三分之一 of a millimeter毫米.
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从5毫米到1/3毫米
05:17
Small bits of plastic塑料 concentrate集中 persistent一贯 organic有机 pollutants污染物
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少量塑料上浓缩的持续性有机污染物浓度
05:21
up to a million百万 times their levels水平 in the surrounding周围 seawater海水.
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比周围海水高出一百万倍
05:25
We wanted to see if the most common共同 fish in the deep ocean海洋,
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我们想知道,深海里最普通的鱼类
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at the base基础 of the food餐饮 chain,
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位于食物链底部
05:30
was ingesting摄取 these poison pills.
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是否也会吞下这些毒药丸
05:32
We did hundreds数以百计 of necropsies验尸,
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我们做了数百例“尸体检验”
05:35
and over a third第三 had polluted污染 plastic塑料 fragments片段 in their stomachs.
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在超过三分之一的鱼体胃里面都发现了塑料碎片
05:38
The record-holder记录保持者, only two-and-a-half两个半 inches英寸 long,
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最高的记录来自一条仅2.5英寸的小鱼
05:41
had 84 pieces in its tiny stomach.
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它小小的胃里有84块塑料碎片
05:44
Now, you can buy购买 certified认证 organic有机 produce生产.
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你可以买到经过认证的有机制品
05:47
But no fishmonger鱼贩 on Earth地球
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但没有一个鱼贩
05:50
can sell you a certified认证 organic有机 wild-caught野生捕捞 fish.
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能卖给你一条经过认证的有机的,野生捕捉的鱼
05:55
This is the legacy遗产 we are leaving离开 to future未来 generations.
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这就是我们为子孙后代留下的遗产
06:00
The throwaway丢掉 society社会 cannot不能 be contained --
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一个无法控制的“用完就扔”的社会
06:03
it has gone走了 global全球.
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已经成为全球问题
06:06
We simply只是 cannot不能 store商店 and maintain保持 or recycle回收 all our stuff东东.
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我们实在没办法储存或回收所有生产的东西
06:09
We have to throw it away.
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我们必须把它们扔掉
06:11
Now, the market市场 can do a lot for us,
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现在,我们能利用市场做很多事情
06:14
but it can't fix固定 the natural自然 system系统 in the ocean海洋 we've我们已经 broken破碎.
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但市场不能修补我们已经破坏了的海洋自然系统
06:17
All the king's国王 horses马匹 and all the king's国王 men男人 ...
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即使投入所有的人力物力
06:20
will never gather收集 up all the plastic塑料 and put the ocean海洋 back together一起 again.
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也永远无法把海洋里所有的塑料垃圾清理干净
06:26
Narrator旁白 (Video视频): The levels水平 are increasing增加,
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视频:情况正在恶化
06:28
the amount of packaging打包 is increasing增加,
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塑料包装的数量不断增加
06:30
the "throwaway丢掉" concept概念 of living活的 is proliferating增殖,
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“用完就扔”的生活方式大行其道
06:33
and it's showing展示 up in the ocean海洋.
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危害已经波及到了海洋
06:36
Anchor: He offers报价 no hope希望 of cleaning清洁的 it up.
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主持人:他对把海洋清理干净感到希望渺茫
06:39
Straining使劲 the ocean海洋 for plastic塑料
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把塑料从海水中过滤出来的成本
06:42
would be beyond the budget预算 of any country国家
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将超出任何国家的预算
06:45
and it might威力 kill untold数不清 amounts of sea life in the process处理.
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过程中也可能导致海洋生物的死亡
06:48
The solution, Moore穆尔 says, is to stop the plastic塑料 at its source资源:
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摩尔说,解决的方法要从塑料的来源着手
06:51
stop it on land土地 before it falls下降 in the ocean海洋.
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将塑料控制在陆地上,阻止其流入海洋
06:58
And in a plastic-wrapped塑料包装 and packaged包装 world世界,
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而身处一个被塑料袋和塑料包装包围的世界
07:01
he doesn't hold保持 out much hope希望 for that, either.
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他对此也不抱太大希望
07:04
This is Brian布赖恩 Rooney鲁尼 for Nightline,
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这是布莱恩·鲁尼的《夜线》节目
07:06
in Long Beach海滩, California加州.
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发自加利福尼亚长滩市
07:12
Charles查尔斯 Moore穆尔: Thank you.
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查尔斯·摩尔:谢谢。
Translated by lin qiang
Reviewed by Qu Wei

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Charles Moore - Oceanographer
Charles Moore is founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. He captains the foundation's research vessel, the Alguita, documenting the great expanses of plastic waste that now litter our oceans.

Why you should listen

A yachting competition across the Pacific led veteran seafarer Charles Moore to discover what some have since deemed the world's largest "landfill" -- actually a huge water-bound swath of floating plastic garbage the size of two Texases. Trapped in an enormous slow whirlpool called the Pacific Gyre, a mostly stagnant, plankton-rich seascape spun of massive competing air currents, this Great Pacific Garbage Patch in some places outweighs even the surface waters' biomass six-to-one.

Moore said after his return voyage, "There were shampoo caps and soap bottles and plastic bags and fishing floats as far as I could see. Here I was in the middle of the ocean, and there was nowhere I could go to avoid the plastic."

Since his discovery, Moore has been analyzing the giant litter patch and its disastrous effects on ocean life. Through the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, he hopes to raise awareness about the problem and find ways to restrict its growth. He's now leading several expeditions to sample plastic fragments across thousands of miles of the Pacific.

More profile about the speaker
Charles Moore | Speaker | TED.com