A guide to the energy of the Earth

地球能量指南

來源視頻

Energy is all around us,

a physical quantity that follows precise natural laws.

Our universe has a finite amount of it;

it's neither created nor destroyed

but can take different forms,

such as kinetic or potential energy,

with different properties and formulas to remember.

For instance,

an LED desk lamp's 6?Watt bulb

transfers 6?Joules of light energy per second.

我們周圍充滿了能量，

一種嚴格遵循自然規(guī)律的物理質(zhì)量。

宇宙中的能量是有限的；

能量不會產(chǎn)生也不會毀滅，

但能以不同形式存在，

如動能和勢能，

有不同的性質(zhì)和公式要記。

比如，

一個LED（發(fā)光二極管）燈的6瓦燈泡

每秒轉(zhuǎn)移6焦耳的光能。

But let's jump back up into space

to look at our planet, its systems, and their energy flow.

Earth's physical systems include

the atmosphere, hydrosphere,

lithosphere, and biosphere.

Energy moves in and out of these systems,

and during any energy transfer between them,

some is lost to the surroundings,

as heat, light, sound,

vibration, or movement.

但讓我們回到宇宙空間

看一看我們的星球，它的系統(tǒng)，及其能量流。

地球的物理系統(tǒng)包括

大氣層，

水圈

巖石圈，

和生物圈。

能量在這些系統(tǒng)之間出入流動，

能量在它們之間轉(zhuǎn)換的時候，

有些在周圍事物間流失了，

比如熱、光、聲、震動，或運動。

Our planet's energy comes from internal and external sources.

Geothermal energy from radioactive isotopes

and rotational energy from the spinning of the Earth

are internal sources of energy,

while the Sun is the major external source,

driving certain systems, like our weather and climate.

我們星球的能量來自于

內(nèi)部和外部的能源；

地熱能來自于放射性同位素

以及地球自轉(zhuǎn)時產(chǎn)生的旋轉(zhuǎn)能，

這些是內(nèi)部能源。

而太陽則是最主要的外部能源，

影響了一些如

天氣和氣候的系統(tǒng)。

Sunlight warms the surface and atmosphere in varying amounts,

and this causes convection,

producing winds and influencing ocean currents.

Infrared radiation, radiating out from the warmed surface of the Earth,

gets trapped by greenhouse gases and further affects the energy flow.

陽光不同程度地

溫暖著表面與大氣層，

這就引起了對流，

引起了風并影響了海洋氣流。

紅外線輻射，從地球溫暖的表面

散發(fā)出來

被溫室氣體籠罩住

從而進一步影響能量流動。

The Sun is also the major source of energy for organisms.

Plants, algae, and cyanobacteria

use sunlight to produce organic matter

from carbon dioxide and water,

powering the biosphere's food chains.

太陽也是一個主要的能源

對于有機體而言。

植物、海藻類，和藍細菌

用陽光從二氧化碳和水中

產(chǎn)生有機物質(zhì)，

為生物圈的食物鏈提供能量。

We release this food energy using chemical reactions,

like combustion and respiration.

At each level in a food chain, some energy is stored

in newly made chemical structures,

but most is lost to the surroundings,

as heat, like your body heat,

released by your digestion of food.

我們由化學(xué)反應(yīng)

釋放食物中的能量，

比如氧化和呼吸。

在食物鏈的每一層，

一些能量都被儲存于

新產(chǎn)生的化學(xué)結(jié)構(gòu)中，

但大部分能量都流失在周遭了，

一些成為熱量，如你身體散發(fā)的熱量，

在你身體消化食物的時候被釋放出來。

Now, as plants are eaten by primary consumers,

only about 10% of their total energy is passed on to the next level.

Since energy can only flow in one direction in a food chain,

from producers on to consumers and decomposers,

an organism that eats lower on the food chain,

is more efficient than one higher up.

當植物被主要消費者吃掉的時候，

全部能量中只有大概10%

被傳輸?shù)较乱粚印?/p>

由于在食物鏈里

能量只向一個方向流動，

從生產(chǎn)者到消費者再到分解者，

吃食物鏈中比之低級的生物，

比高層的效率更高。

So eating producers is the most efficient level

at which an animal can get its energy,

but without continual input of energy to those producers,

mostly from sunlight,

life on Earth as we know it would cease to exist.

所以動物得到能量的方式中，

吃生產(chǎn)者是效率最高的。

但如果生產(chǎn)者

不能持續(xù)得到能量供應(yīng)，

主要是從陽光中，

我們所知的地球生命

將不復(fù)存在。

We humans, of course, spend our energy doing a lot of things besides eating.

We travel, we build, we power all sorts of technology.

To do all this,

we use sources like fossil fuels:

coal, oil, and natural gas,

which contain energy

that plants captured from sunlight long ago

and stored in the form of carbon.

我們?nèi)祟愑梦覀兊哪芰?/p>

做許多吃東西以外的事情。

我們旅行，我們做東西，我們發(fā)明各種科技。

為了做這些事，

我們使用礦物燃料：

煤炭、石油，和天然氣，

這些都含有能量

是常年從陽光中

所吸取的能量

并以碳的形式保存著。

When we burn fossil fuels in power plants,

we release this stored energy

to generate electricity.

To generate electricity,

heat from burning fossil fuels is used to power turbines

that rotate magnets,

which, in turn, create magnetic field changes

relative to a coil of wire,

causing electrons to be induced to flow in the wire.

當我們在動力廠燃燒礦物燃料時，

我們就釋放出這些保存的能量

用來發(fā)電。

在發(fā)電過程中，

燃燒礦物燃料產(chǎn)生的熱量

用來給渦輪發(fā)電

渦輪旋轉(zhuǎn)磁鐵，

這樣就產(chǎn)生了相對于線圈的

磁場變化，

于是在電線里產(chǎn)生電子。

Modern civilization depends on our ability

to keep powering that flow of electrons.

Fortunately, we aren't limited to burning non-renewable fossil fuels

to generate electricity.

Electrons can also be induced to flow

by direct interaction with light particles,

which is how a solar cell operates.

Other renewable energy sources,

such as wind, water,

geothermal, and biofuels

can also be used to generate electricity.

現(xiàn)代文明依賴于我們

持續(xù)為供電提供能量。

幸運的是，我們并不局限于

燃燒不可再生的礦物燃料

來發(fā)電。

電子也可以被促使流動

當直接與光子接觸當時候，

這也是太陽能電池的操作原理。

其他的可再生能量資源，

比如風能、水能、地熱能，和生物燃料

都可以用來發(fā)電。

Global demand for energy is increasing,

but the planet has limited energy resources

to access through a complex energy infrastructure.

As populations rise,

alongside rates of industrialization and development,

our energy decisions grow more and more important.

Access to energy impacts health, education,

political power, and socioeconomic status.

If we improve our energy efficiency,

we can use our natural resources more responsibly

and improve quality of life for everyone.

地球?qū)δ茉磳σ笤谠鲩L，

但地球上只有有限的資源

是可通過復(fù)雜的資源結(jié)構(gòu)得到的。

當人口在增長，

工業(yè)的發(fā)展也在隨之增長，

我們對于能源的決定也變的越發(fā)重要。

得到能源

影響著健康、教育、政權(quán)，和社會經(jīng)濟的處境。

如果我們能提高能源效率，

我們就能更可靠的使用天然資源

并提高每個人的生活質(zhì)量。