TEDGlobal 2009
Rachel Pike: The science behind a climate headline
Rachel Pike: 氣候報導頭條背後的科研工作
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跟住落唻嘅四分鐘時間，大氣化學家Rachel Pike會同大家介紹一眾科學家為氣候變化的頭版頭條消息編撰所作出嘅辛勤付出。Rachel嘅團隊雖是滄海一粟，但他們爲了搜集一個關鍵分子的數據必須於熱帶雨林之上展開歷險飛行。
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.
00:15
I'd like to talk to you today about the scale
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今日我想同大家講下
00:18
of the scientific effort that goes into making
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要創造一篇你們在報紙上看到的頭條
00:20
the headlines you see in the paper.
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所蘊含的科研投入的程度
00:22
Headlines that look like this when they have to do with climate change,
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像這個關於氣候變化的頭條
00:24
and headlines that look like this when they have to do with air quality or smog.
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還有這個跟空氣質量和濃霧有關的頭條
00:28
They are both two branches of the same field of atmospheric science.
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它們是大氣科學的不同分支研究
00:31
Recently the headlines looked like this when the Intergovernmental
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近來的頭條是這個樣子的，當政府間氣候變化專門委員
00:33
Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC,
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簡稱IPCC
00:35
put out their report on the state of understanding of the atmospheric system.
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提交對於大氣系統的瞭解狀況報告的時候
00:39
That report was written by 620 scientists
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該份報告由620位科學家共同撰寫
00:41
from 40 countries.
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它們來自40個國家
00:43
They wrote almost a thousand pages on the topic.
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寫出了幾近一千頁的報告
00:45
And all of those pages were reviewed by another 400-plus
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而每一頁又都經過另外400多位
00:48
scientists and reviewers, from 113 countries.
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來自113個國家的科學家和審稿人的審核才發表
00:51
It's a big community. It's such a big community, in fact,
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這是一個龐大的團隊。事實上，它大到讓
00:54
that our annual gathering is the largest scientific meeting in the world.
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我們的年會變成了世界上最大的科學家聚會
00:57
Over 15,000 scientists go to San Francisco every year for that.
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每年有超過一萬五千名科學家會齊聚在三藩市參加年會
01:00
And every one of those scientists is in a research group,
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而每一位與會者都是一個研究團隊的成員
01:02
and every research group studies a wide variety of topics.
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每一個研究團隊致力於一系列不同課題的研究
01:05
For us at Cambridge, it's as varied as the El Niño oscillation,
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對於我所在的劍橋的團隊，研究範疇包括從影響天氣和氣候的
01:08
which affects weather and climate,
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厄爾尼諾現象
01:10
to the assimilation of satellite data,
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到衛星數據的同化
01:12
to emissions from crops that produce biofuels, which is what I happen to study.
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以及製造生物燃料的作物的排量等，最后這項剛好也是我的研究內容
01:15
And in each one of these research areas, of which there are even more,
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而在每一個研究領域之中有更多
01:18
there are PhD students, like me,
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同我一樣的博士研究生
01:20
and we study incredibly narrow topics,
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我們研究的是非常狹小的課題
01:22
things as narrow as a few processes or a few molecules.
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專門到某一小部份進程或者某幾個分子的研究
01:24
And one of the molecules I study is called isoprene,
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而我所研究的其中一個分子是異戊二烯(isoprene)
01:27
which is here. It's a small organic molecule. You've probably never heard of it.
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就在這裡。它是一個很小的有機分子。你可能從未有聽講過。
01:31
The weight of a paper clip is approximately equal to
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一個回形針的重量大概相當於
01:33
900 zeta-illion -- 10 to the 21st -- molecules of isoprene.
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900 × 6 × 10^23－約10的21次方個異戊二烯分子
01:37
But despite its very small weight,
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雖然輕若無物
01:39
enough of it is emitted into the atmosphere
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每年釋放到大氣中的數量
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every year to equal the weight of all the people on the planet.
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卻足以抵上地球上全人類的重量
01:44
It's a huge amount of stuff. It's equal to the weight of methane.
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數量之大與甲烷的重量相當
01:47
And because it's so much stuff, it's really important for the atmospheric system.
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正因為如此，它對於大氣系統有舉足輕重的影響
01:50
Because it's important to the atmospheric system,
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也正是由此
01:53
we go to all lengths to study this thing.
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我們竭盡全力去研究它
01:55
We blow it up and look at the pieces.
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把它分解爆破再研究所得的碎片
01:57
This is the EUPHORE Smog Chamber in Spain.
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这是位于西班牙的EUPHORE烟雾舱
01:59
Atmospheric explosions, or full combustion,
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虽然这里大气爆炸完全燃烧要比
02:01
takes about 15,000 times longer than what happens in your car.
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私家车慢1.5萬倍
02:04
But still, we look at the pieces.
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我们仍旧要分析这些碎片
02:06
We run enormous models on supercomputers;
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我们用超级计算机做大量的模型演算
02:08
this is what I happen to do.
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这个刚好是我做的事
02:10
Our models have hundreds of thousands of grid boxes
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我們的模型佔據成千上萬個網格箱
02:12
calculating hundreds of variables each, on minute timescales.
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每個負責計算上百個變量以一分鐘為單位的變化
02:15
And it takes weeks to perform our integrations.
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整合這些數據需要數個星期時間
02:17
And we perform dozens of integrations
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而我們要做幾十種整合
02:19
in order to understand what's happening.
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來瞭解正在發生的狀況
02:21
We also fly all over the world looking for this thing.
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我們還飛到世界各地去尋找這種分子
02:24
I recently joined a field campaign in Malaysia. There are others.
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最近我就為此和同伴們去了馬來西亞考察。
02:27
We found a global atmospheric watchtower there,
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我們在那裡發現了一個全球大氣瞭望塔
02:29
in the middle of the rainforest, and hung hundreds of thousands
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它位於熱帶雨林的中央。我們在那裡懸掛了價值數十萬
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of dollars worth of scientific equipment
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美金的科學儀器
02:33
off this tower, to look for isoprene,
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用來尋找異戊二烯
02:35
and of course, other things while we were there.
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當然，亦都觀察其他的東西
02:37
This is the tower in the middle of the rainforest, from above.
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這是從上方觀察到的雨林中的瞭望塔
02:39
And this is the tower from below.
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這是由下至上的角度
02:41
And on part of that field campaign we even brought an aircraft with us.
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我們還為這次的實地考察配備了飛機
02:44
And this plane, the model, BA146, which was run by FAAM,
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型號為BA146，屬於FAAM(氣測量飛行設備公司)
02:47
normally flies 120 to 130 people.
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通常可以運載120到130人
02:50
So maybe you took a similar aircraft to get here today.
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你們今天有可能是乘坐類似的機型抵達這裡
02:53
But we didn't just fly it. We were flying at 100 meters above the top of the canopy
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但是，我們並不僅僅是乘客而已。我們的飛行高度為樹冠上空100米
02:56
to measure this molecule -- incredibly dangerous stuff.
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這是爲了測量分子， 不過也是危險行為
02:59
We have to fly at a special incline in order to make the measurements.
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我們需要以特殊的傾斜角度飛行來進行測量
03:02
We hire military and test pilots to do the maneuvering.
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所以聘請了軍事和測試飛行員來操作飛機
03:04
We have to get special flight clearance.
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我們需要獲得特殊的飛行許可
03:06
And as you come around the banks in these valleys, the forces can get up to two Gs.
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當環繞這些山谷斜坡飛行時，重力可達2G
03:09
And the scientists have to be completely harnessed in
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所以科學家們必須全程系緊安全帶
03:11
in order to make measurements while they're on board.
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才能在飛行期間做測量工作
03:13
So, as you can imagine,
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正如你所想像的
03:15
the inside of this aircraft doesn't look like any plane you would take on vacation.
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這架飛機的內部和你們度假是乘坐的那些完全不一樣
03:18
It's a flying laboratory that we took to make measurements in the region of this molecule.
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它是一個飛行中的實驗室，我們用它來對該地區的這一分子進行測量
03:23
We do all of this to understand the chemistry of one molecule.
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我們所做的一切都是爲了瞭解一個分子的化學性質
03:26
And when one student like me has some sort of inclination
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當像我這樣的學生對一個分子有了某種想法
03:28
or understanding about that molecule,
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或瞭解以後
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they write one scientific paper on the subject.
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他們會以此寫一篇科學論文
03:32
And out of that field campaign we'll probably get
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從那一次的實地考察裏面我們大概可以
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a few dozen papers on a few dozen processes or molecules.
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寫出關於幾十個過程或分子的十來篇論文
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And as a body of knowledge builds up,
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而當知識量建立起來以後
03:39
it will form one subsection, or one sub-subsection
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它就會成為像IPCC這樣的評估中的一個副章節，或者是其下屬的子部份
03:42
of an assessment like the IPCC, although we have others.
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當然我們還有其他的評估
03:45
And each one of the 11 chapters of the IPCC
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IPCC報告的11個章節當中
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has six to ten subsections.
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每一章都有六到十個副章節
03:50
So you can imagine the scale of the effort.
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這樣你就可以想像其中需要付出的努力有多少
03:52
In each one of those assessments that we write,
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在我們撰寫的每一份評估當中
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we always tag on a summary,
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都會包含一個摘要
03:56
and the summary is written for a non-scientific audience.
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摘要是寫給沒有科學背景的讀者的
03:59
And we hand that summary to journalists and policy makers,
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我們把摘要提供給記者和決策者
04:01
in order to make headlines like these.
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用來製作這樣的頭條
04:03
Thank you very much.
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謝謝
04:05
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
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