Nancy Rabalais: The "dead zone" of the Gulf of Mexico
"نانسي رابالي": "المنطقة الميتة" في خليج المكسيك
Nancy Rabalais has studied coastal marine ecosystems for more than 40 years now and loves to share that knowledge. Full bio
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of one of the largest rivers in the world:
عن واحد من أكبر أنهار العالم.
as the state of Minnesota,
into the Gulf of Mexico.
في خليج المكسيك
to what is in that water.
molecules, nitrogen and phosphorus.
هناك جزيئات النيتروجين والفسفور المتحللة.
of areas called dead zones.
بالمناطق الميتة.
called phytoplankton.
تسمى بالعوالق النباتية.
eat the phytoplankton,
"العوالق النهرية"
large fish eat the small fish
وتتغذى الأسماك الكبيرة على السمك الصغير
nitrogen and phosphorus right now,
من النيتروجين والفسفور،
falling to the bottom
من العوالق النباتية إلى القاع
that use up the oxygen.
from the surface of the water,
and drags for 20 minutes
if this area is 8,000 square miles big?
تمتد ل 8 ألف ميل مربع؟
a decision to go further,
to high-tech equipment
لدي وسائل ومعدات تقنية حديثة.
of the research vessel,
and many more things.
all the way to Texas,
إلى ولاية تكساس،
every now and then and test their waters.
لأفحص مياهها.
of everything that's less than two,
for when the fish start to leave the area.
بمغادرة منطقة ما.
that we have to deploy offshore
التي يجب استخدامها في المياة الدولية أيضًا
of low oxygen or high oxygen.
there's a lot of fish.
هناك الكثير من الأسماك.
the barracuda that I saw one day.
سمكة "العقام" التي رأيتها في أحد الأيام
and I went this way with my camera.
وذهبت أنا في هذا الاتجاه بكاميرتي.
you start to see fewer fish.
تقل كمية الأسماك.
there's no life swimming around.
لا توجد كائنات تسبح هنا.
between the middle of the United States
تكون بمحاذاة الأراضي الزراعية
and the phosphorus goes on the land
يتسرب في التربة
nitrogen in the water
في مياة النهر
and more sinking sails and lower oxygen.
والأشرعة الغارقة، وأوكسجين أقل.
it's been caused by human activities.
إنه نتيجة للنشاط البشري.
and prairie potholes
وغابات ومستنقعات
this type of agriculture
هذا النوع من المزارع
maybe precision fertilizing.
والتحكم في استخدامها.
which has much longer roots
التي لديها جذور أطول
and keep the soil from running off.
ويحافظ على التربة من الانجراف.
our neighbors to the north,
with water quality in the Gulf of Mexico?
في خليج المكسيك؟
to their own backyard.
إلى باحتهم الخلفية.
in Wisconsin in the summer
في الصيف،
and smells like it,
ورائحته تبدو كذلك أيضًا،
couple of summers ago
منذ حوالي فصلين صيفيين
of this blue-green algae
من الطحالب الخضراء والزرقاء
couldn't use it for their drinking water
لم يستطيعوا الشرب من ماء النهر
are having trouble with drinking water.
تواجه مشكلة الحصول على مياه نظيفة للشرب.
I publish my results,
وأنشر النتائج التي توصلت إليها،
I get citations of my work.
ويستشهدون بها في أبحاثهم.
to do the research,
لتمويل أبحاثها،
التي توصلت لها
hopefully to make better decisions
لاتخاذ قرارات أفضل
is I brought in the media.
هي وسائل الاعلام
from the "Washington Post"
من صحيفة "واشنطن بوست"
two inches above the fold.
احتلت الصورة نصف مساحة الصفحة الأولى
the Gulf of Mexico looks like?"
أن خليج المكسيك يبدو هكذا؟"
there's the proof."
"حسنًا، كما تعرف لدينا الدليل."
Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine
السيناتور "اوليمبيا سنو" من "ماين"
algal blooms in the Gulf of Maine.
في خليج ولاية ماين.
congressional testimony,
is chase crabs around south Texas,
السلطعون في جنوب ولاية تكساس"
and Control Act of 1998.
وقرار الكونجرس لعام 1998.
the Snowe-Breaux Bill.
قانون "سنو-برو".
that we had a conference in 2001
the National Academy of Sciences
nitrogen and poor water quality.
ومدى تدني نظافة المياه
was the former governor
when she peered at the audience,
عندما كانت تخاطب الجمهور
"Surely she's looking at me."
of this thing being called New Jersey.
عن ولاية "نيوجيرسي".
I just don't want to hear it anymore."
لا أريد سماع المزيد عن نيوجيرسي."
your nitrogen footprint.
every now and then --
nonethanol gas in
that can make a difference.
especially in the Midwest --
بالذات من هم في الغرب الأوسط الأمريكي...
and how you can make a difference.
أن تحدثوا فرقًا.
of agriculture in the US
and social will for that to happen.
والسياسية حتى ينجج ذلك.
we can translate the science,
a difference in our environment.
تغيير يخدم بيئتنا.
these dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.
مناطق ميتة في الخليج المكسيكي.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nancy Rabalais - Marine scientist, educatorNancy Rabalais has studied coastal marine ecosystems for more than 40 years now and loves to share that knowledge.
Why you should listen
Nancy Rabalais has worked in Louisiana ever since she got her PhD in 1983, studying aspects of marine ecology relevant to environmental health. As she writes: "I work on areas called 'dead zones' that are coastal waters lacking in oxygen in which animals such as fish, shrimp and crabs cannot live. I am also, since 2011, studying the long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on coastal waters and Louisiana wetlands.
"I fell in love with biology in the 8th grade and then marine biology in college. My education was not quite the typical 'academic' training. I worked my way through college, beginning at a two-year college, a regional university for my BS and MS, then worked at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas, Texas, for three years. My desire for further education sent me back to work on my PhD at The University of Texas at Austin. My first job as a PhD was at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, starting in 1983. I am now a professor and Shell Endowed Chair of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University."
Nancy Rabalais | Speaker | TED.com