Nancy Rabalais: The "dead zone" of the Gulf of Mexico
南希·拉巴莱斯: 墨西哥湾的“死亡区”
Nancy Rabalais has studied coastal marine ecosystems for more than 40 years now and loves to share that knowledge. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
是世界上最长的河流之一:
of one of the largest rivers in the world:
as the state of Minnesota,
into the Gulf of Mexico.
全部流入到墨西哥湾。
to what is in that water.
一些微粒、氮和磷都溶解在水里。
molecules, nitrogen and phosphorus.
of areas called dead zones.
水里没有足够的氧气,
浮游植物的微观植物的生长。
called phytoplankton.
eat the phytoplankton,
large fish eat the small fish
nitrogen and phosphorus right now,
falling to the bottom
that use up the oxygen.
from the surface of the water,
and drags for 20 minutes
8000平方英里大,还能去哪里呢?
if this area is 8,000 square miles big?
a decision to go further,
to high-tech equipment
我曾经使用高科技设备,
of the research vessel,
和许多其他数据。
and many more things.
一直到德克萨斯州,
all the way to Texas,
测量一下他们的水体。
every now and then and test their waters.
记录所有数量小于2的东西,
of everything that's less than two,
鱼类开始离开这片区域的地方。
for when the fish start to leave the area.
that we have to deploy offshore
但必须要离岸才能部署,
氧气含量是高是低。
of low oxygen or high oxygen.
there's a lot of fish.
会发现很多鱼,
我之前遇到的一条梭鱼。
the barracuda that I saw one day.
跟它们朝一个方向游。
and I went this way with my camera.
你看到的鱼开始变少了。
you start to see fewer fish.
更没有生物在周围游动。
there's no life swimming around.
between the middle of the United States
and the phosphorus goes on the land
nitrogen in the water
更多的沉船、更低的含氧量。
and more sinking sails and lower oxygen.
it's been caused by human activities.
这是人类活动导致的。
森林、草原坑洞、
and prairie potholes
这里现在是行栽作物的区域。
this type of agriculture
解决这类农业问题,
或许选择精准施肥。
maybe precision fertilizing.
因为它们的根系更加强壮,
which has much longer roots
并且防止土壤的流失。
and keep the soil from running off.
our neighbors to the north,
让他们相信,
导致墨西哥湾的水质出现问题?
with water quality in the Gulf of Mexico?
to their own backyard.
带到他们的后院。
在你最喜爱的水坑里
in Wisconsin in the summer
溢出来的绿油漆,闻起来也像,
and smells like it,
couple of summers ago
几年前的夏天,
of this blue-green algae
连续数日
couldn't use it for their drinking water
都面临着饮用水无法饮用问题。
are having trouble with drinking water.
I publish my results,
发表了研究结果,
我的成果也会被引用。
I get citations of my work.
to do the research,
制定出更好的
hopefully to make better decisions
我能做的一件事是借助媒体的力量。
is I brought in the media.
from the "Washington Post"
距离中折线2英寸的地方。
two inches above the fold.
约翰·布鲁说:
看起来是这样的?”
the Gulf of Mexico looks like?"
there's the proof."
奥林匹亚·斯诺威议员,
Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine
有害藻花问题。
algal blooms in the Gulf of Maine.
congressional testimony,
在德州南部追螃蟹,
is chase crabs around south Texas,
and Control Act of 1998.
“斯诺威-布鲁法案”。
the Snowe-Breaux Bill.
that we had a conference in 2001
我们在2001年开了一次会议,
the National Academy of Sciences
氮和水质恶化问题。
nitrogen and poor water quality.
was the former governor
没人质疑她不是严肃的,
when she peered at the audience,
"Surely she's looking at me."
新泽西州的这个名字,
of this thing being called New Jersey.
我真的不想再听到新泽西了。”
I just don't want to hear it anymore."
your nitrogen footprint.
every now and then --
nonethanol gas in
that can make a difference.
就能够让情况变得不同。
不仅是在座各位,
尤其是在中西部的人们——
especially in the Midwest --
而你们又该如何做出改变。
and how you can make a difference.
of agriculture in the US
and social will for that to happen.
we can translate the science,
我们可以将科学转化为
然后改善我们的环境。
a difference in our environment.
就不会再有死亡区了。
these dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico.
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