TEDGlobal 2009
Rachel Pike: The science behind a climate headline
Rachel Pike:气候头条新闻背后的科学
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报纸头版那些关于气候变化的触目惊心的标题背后隐藏着什么？在4分钟的演讲里，大气化学家Rachel Pike为我们揭开新闻背后科学家们所做的巨大努力。作为众多参与气候研究的小组之一，她的团队为了搜集一种至关重要的分子的数据，展开了一次危险的飞越丛林之旅。
Rachel Pike - Atmospheric chemist
Rachel Pike studies climate change at the molecular level -- tracking how emissions from biofuel crops react with the air to shape weather trends globally. Full bio
Rachel Pike studies climate change at the molecular level -- tracking how emissions from biofuel crops react with the air to shape weather trends globally. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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I'd like to talk to you today about the scale
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今天我想跟大家说说
00:18
of the scientific effort that goes into making
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有关于报纸头条新闻背后的
00:20
the headlines you see in the paper.
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科学家们所付出的努力
00:22
Headlines that look like this when they have to do with climate change,
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事关气候变化时，报纸头版是这样的
00:24
and headlines that look like this when they have to do with air quality or smog.
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这个是关于空气质量和烟雾的头条
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They are both two branches of the same field of atmospheric science.
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它们是大气科学的两个分支
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Recently the headlines looked like this when the Intergovernmental
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这是最近的报纸头条，
00:33
Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC,
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当时，联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会，即IPCC
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put out their report on the state of understanding of the atmospheric system.
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发布了一份针对理解大气系统形势的报告
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That report was written by 620 scientists
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这份报告由来自40个国家的
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from 40 countries.
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共620名科学家撰写
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They wrote almost a thousand pages on the topic.
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在这个主题上，他们倾注了近一千页的努力
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And all of those pages were reviewed by another 400-plus
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同时，来自113个国家的400多位科学家
00:48
scientists and reviewers, from 113 countries.
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和观察员审读了整份报告
00:51
It's a big community. It's such a big community, in fact,
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这是一个很大的群体，
00:54
that our annual gathering is the largest scientific meeting in the world.
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事实上，我们年会是全球物理学界最大的会议
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Over 15,000 scientists go to San Francisco every year for that.
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每年开会时，逾15000名科学家云集洛杉矶
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And every one of those scientists is in a research group,
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他们中的每一个都代表着一个研究小组
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and every research group studies a wide variety of topics.
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以及每个小组的大量研究课题
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For us at Cambridge, it's as varied as the El Niño oscillation,
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在剑桥，我们的研究方向各式各样
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which affects weather and climate,
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有影响天气和气候的厄尔尼诺现象
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to the assimilation of satellite data,
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有卫星数据同化
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to emissions from crops that produce biofuels, which is what I happen to study.
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还有生产生物燃料的农作物的排放，这也是我正好在研究的
01:15
And in each one of these research areas, of which there are even more,
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在每一个研究领域里，当然远不止这些
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there are PhD students, like me,
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都有像我这样的博士生
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and we study incredibly narrow topics,
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我们都在研究非常狭窄的课题
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things as narrow as a few processes or a few molecules.
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窄到只是寥寥几个反应或者几个分子
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And one of the molecules I study is called isoprene,
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我正在研究其中一种叫异戊二烯的分子
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which is here. It's a small organic molecule. You've probably never heard of it.
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大家看，是种小有机分子，你们可能从未听过
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The weight of a paper clip is approximately equal to
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一个回形针的质量大约等同于
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900 zeta-illion -- 10 to the 21st -- molecules of isoprene.
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10的21次方个异戊二烯分子
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But despite its very small weight,
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尽管这种分子很轻
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enough of it is emitted into the atmosphere
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每年排放到大气中的该种分子的质量相当于
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every year to equal the weight of all the people on the planet.
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地球上所有人类的体重总和
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It's a huge amount of stuff. It's equal to the weight of methane.
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这可是很大一堆东西，跟甲烷的总质量相当了
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And because it's so much stuff, it's really important for the atmospheric system.
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正因如此，这种分子对大气系统举足轻重
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Because it's important to the atmospheric system,
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这种分子是如此重要
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we go to all lengths to study this thing.
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以至于我们不遗余力的去研究它
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We blow it up and look at the pieces.
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我们使它进行化学反应，然后看看反应遗留的分子碎片
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This is the EUPHORE Smog Chamber in Spain.
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这是位于西班牙的EUPHORE装置的烟雾室
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Atmospheric explosions, or full combustion,
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分子在大气中经过充分的燃烧
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takes about 15,000 times longer than what happens in your car.
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这个过程所花费的时间比在你车里反应所花的长15000倍
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But still, we look at the pieces.
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即便如此，我们仍然观察反应结果
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We run enormous models on supercomputers;
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我们在超级计算机上运行大量的模型
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this is what I happen to do.
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这正好是我在干的事
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Our models have hundreds of thousands of grid boxes
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我们的模型里有成百上千的网格
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calculating hundreds of variables each, on minute timescales.
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每个网格在分钟级的时间尺度上计算成百个变量
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And it takes weeks to perform our integrations.
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我们花费数周的时间整合数据
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And we perform dozens of integrations
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为了理解究竟发生了什么，
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in order to understand what's happening.
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我们进行数十次的整合
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We also fly all over the world looking for this thing.
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同时，我们在世界各地搜寻这种物质
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I recently joined a field campaign in Malaysia. There are others.
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最近我在马来西亚参加了一个野外研究项目，别处也有类似的项目
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We found a global atmospheric watchtower there,
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我们在当地雨林里建立了一个全球大气监视塔
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in the middle of the rainforest, and hung hundreds of thousands
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我们在塔上悬挂了
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of dollars worth of scientific equipment
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价值数十万美元的科学设备
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off this tower, to look for isoprene,
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这是都是为了探测异戊二烯分子
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and of course, other things while we were there.
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当然，也可以探测别的存在的东西
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This is the tower in the middle of the rainforest, from above.
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这就是雨林中的那座塔，这是从上看
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And this is the tower from below.
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再从下方看看
02:41
And on part of that field campaign we even brought an aircraft with us.
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在上次的野外考察中我们还动用了
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And this plane, the model, BA146, which was run by FAAM,
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FAAM旗下的BA146型飞机
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normally flies 120 to 130 people.
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这种飞机通常客容量在120至130人之间
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So maybe you took a similar aircraft to get here today.
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也许在座的各位今天就是搭乘类似的飞机到达会场的
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But we didn't just fly it. We were flying at 100 meters above the top of the canopy
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但科学家的工作可不只是搭乘飞机这样简单。
02:56
to measure this molecule -- incredibly dangerous stuff.
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为了测量这种分子飞机的飞行高度离森林中天棚似的树荫仅为100米--很危险
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We have to fly at a special incline in order to make the measurements.
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为了进行测量，飞机要保持在一个特殊的飞行角度
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We hire military and test pilots to do the maneuvering.
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为此我们请来军事和飞机试驾飞行员来驾驶飞机
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We have to get special flight clearance.
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此外我们还准备了特殊飞行许可
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And as you come around the banks in these valleys, the forces can get up to two Gs.
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当飞机一路从河谷飞过，阻力就已高达2G
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And the scientists have to be completely harnessed in
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要进行测量
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in order to make measurements while they're on board.
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科学家们就一定要在机舱里进行控制
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So, as you can imagine,
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想象一下
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the inside of this aircraft doesn't look like any plane you would take on vacation.
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我们的飞机机舱可不是普通飞机可以媲美的
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It's a flying laboratory that we took to make measurements in the region of this molecule.
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它是测量分子的空中实验室
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We do all of this to understand the chemistry of one molecule.
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这是我们为了解化学分子所进行的努力
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And when one student like me has some sort of inclination
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像我一样的学生们要是对某一分子情有独钟
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or understanding about that molecule,
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或有独到见解
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they write one scientific paper on the subject.
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就会把自己的看法写成科学论文
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And out of that field campaign we'll probably get
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然后对那几十种分子的研究就会积累
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a few dozen papers on a few dozen processes or molecules.
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几十篇文章
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And as a body of knowledge builds up,
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这样知识体系就构建起来了
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it will form one subsection, or one sub-subsection
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次级学科，或次次级学科就形成了
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of an assessment like the IPCC, although we have others.
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包括IPCC在内，我们有很多这样的研究
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And each one of the 11 chapters of the IPCC
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IPCC的11个章节中
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has six to ten subsections.
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都有六至十个次级学科
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So you can imagine the scale of the effort.
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科学的努力付出可见一斑
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In each one of those assessments that we write,
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我们的每一篇研究报告
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we always tag on a summary,
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都会有一个
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and the summary is written for a non-scientific audience.
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为普通大众所写的摘要
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And we hand that summary to journalists and policy makers,
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然后摘要就交给记者和政策制定者
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in order to make headlines like these.
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新闻报道的标题就形成了
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Thank you very much.
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非常感谢
04:05
(Applause)
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（鼓掌）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rachel Pike - Atmospheric chemistRachel Pike studies climate change at the molecular level -- tracking how emissions from biofuel crops react with the air to shape weather trends globally.
Why you should listen
Rachel Pike knows the intricacies of climate research -- the laborious, exacting and subtle techniques behind findings that end up in IPCC reports and, later, news headlines.
As a Ph.D candidate at Cambridge, Pike's research on isoprene, a major biofuel crop emission, and other molecules has taken her soaring over rainforest canopies in multi-ton labs-on-wings, into the cooled-down sub-levels of supercomputer grids, and into massive experimental atmospheric chambers. Her exhaustive work represents a major step toward a complete picture of how human activity affects the global ecosystem.
Rachel Pike | Speaker | TED.com