我参与制作的在线课程带你展望气候变化的未来 | 盖茨笔记

I got hooked on video lectures back in the Stone Ages—when you had to order them on DVD. Now that they’ve moved to streaming, I’ve watched courses on many different sites, but I’ve probably spent the most time on Wondrium. (It used to be known as the Great Courses.) Like a lot of people who love online learning, I have my list of all-time favorite professors and classes. Timothy Taylor’s lectures on economics and John Renton’s geology talks are near the top. I’ve also enjoyed three series on the history of the Bible and one on birdwatching, among others.

我对视频讲座的兴趣可以追溯到“石器时代”——那时你还得订购刻录数字光盘来观看这些讲座。现在，视频资源已经转向流媒体。我在许多网站上观看过课程，花费时间最多的可能还是Wondrium（该网站曾经叫The Great Courses）。和很多喜欢在线学习的人一样，我也列了个最喜欢的教授和课程的排行榜，其中蒂莫西·泰勒的经济学课程和约翰·伦顿的地质学讲座位列前茅。此外，圣经历史课程和观鸟课程也深得我心。

So when I was asked to participate in a new Wondrium documentary and series that were focused on one of the most urgent issues the world faces today, I was eager to do it. It’s called Solving for Zero, and it explores both the challenge of climate change and some of the most promising solutions. (It is based on the book about climate change that I published last year.) I’m hardly impartial about it, but I think the project, which launched this week, is an excellent overview of this complex issue.

因此，当Wondrium邀请我参与制作一部新纪录片和相关课程时，我欣然同意。该课程名为《实现零排放》，聚焦于当今世界面临的最紧迫的问题，并探索气候变化带来的挑战和一些最具希望的解决方案。（其内容基于我去年出版的一本讲述气候变化的书。）这么说可能略带私心，但我认为本周启动的这一项目是对上述复杂问题的极好概述。

Most people now accept that to avoid a climate disaster, the world has to get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In the series, which consists of ten half-hour episodes, you learn why that’s true and what it will take to get there. You get a framework for understanding the main sources of carbon emissions, and you meet some of the brilliant people who are working on breakthroughs that could make it possible to get to zero.

现在，大多数人都接受了这样的观点：为了避免气候灾难，世界必须到2050年实现净零碳排放。在课程中（共十集，每集三十分钟），你将了解为什么实现净零目标迫在眉睫，以及实现它需要做出什么努力。通过课程，你将了解碳排放的主要来源。你还会见到一些杰出人士，他们正在致力于实现突破，让净零排放成为可能。

That’s actually one of my favorite parts of my job—getting to learn from super-smart innovators and entrepreneurs—and Solving for Zero does a good job of introducing you to a few of them. You’ll meet the team at EcoCem, a French company with an intriguing way to reduce the massive emissions from cement—about 4 billion tons of CO2 each year—using byproducts from the production of cast iron. And in the episode on food, you’ll hear from scientists from the amazing nonprofit CGIAR, which has done more to feed the world than any other organization and has turned its attention to lowering emissions from growing crops.

这是我工作中最棒的部分之一——向极具智慧的创新者和企业家学习，而《实现零排放》会向你介绍一些这样的人。你会见到来自法国EcoCem公司的团队，他们用一种新颖的方式——利用铸铁生产的副产品——来减少水泥制造过程中排放的大量二氧化碳（每年约减少40亿吨）。在关于食物的那一集，你会听到来自非营利组织——国际农业研究磋商组织（CGIAR）——科学家们的发言，该组织为促进世界农业发展做出了卓越的贡献，令人赞叹。CGIAR现正致力于降低种植作物所产生的碳排放。

What I like most about this project is that it leaves you with a sense of optimism about the world’s ability to solve this problem. The people profiled are inspiring on their own—and they’re just a few of the many innovators around the world who are trying to make it possible to decarbonize the world’s economy and prevent the very worst effects of climate change. The series also covers the ways that policy and finance need to support getting to zero, and it’s quite practical too: In the final episode, you get useful advice about how you can contribute meaningfully to the solution. I’m glad I got to be a part of this project and encourage you to take a look.

这个项目最让我喜爱的一点是，它让你对全球解决气候问题的能力感到乐观。课程中提及的人物本身就很鼓舞人心——他们只是全世界众多创新者中的一小部分。这些创新者正在努力实现全球经济脱碳，并阻止气候变化产生的最坏影响。课程还介绍了如何使用政策和资金来支持实现净零碳排放。课程也很实用：在最后一集，你会获得有关如何为实现这一目标做出贡献的有用建议。我很高兴能参与这个课程的制作，希望你能去看一看。