TED演讲：如果人类突然消失了，地球会变成什么样？

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人类无处不在，足迹遍布每个大陆，不管是丛林、海洋还是苔原那种最孤立的角落。 我们的影响如此深远，大多数科学家认为人类在地球的地质记录上留下了永久的印记。 那么，如果人类突然全部消失了，地球又会变成什么样子呢？

演讲者：Dan Kwartler

演讲题目：What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared?

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Human beings are everywhere. With settlements on every continent, we can be found in the most isolated corners of Earth’s jungles, oceans,and tundras. Our impact is so profound, most scientists believe humanity has left a permanent mark on Earth’s geological record. So what would happen if suddenly, every human on Earth disappeared? 

人类无所不在。在每块大陆上都有人定居，人类的踪迹甚至遍及地球上最与世隔绝的角落，包括丛林、海洋，和冻原。我们的影响非常深刻，大部分科学家相信人类在地球的地理纪录上留下了永久性的痕迹。所以，如果地球上的每个人都突然消失了，会如何？

With no one maintaining them, some of our creations backfire immediately. Hours after we disappear, oil refineries malfunction, producing month-long blazes at plants like the ones in western India, the southern United States, and South Korea. 

一些由人类创造出来的东西，在没人维护的情况下会立刻出事。我们消失几小时之后，炼油厂会故障，产生长达数月的火灾，烧毁植物，就像发生在西印度、美国南部，及南韩的状况一样。

In underground rail systems like those in London, Moscow, and New York City, hundreds of drainage pumps are abandoned, flooding the tunnels in just three days. By the end of the first week, most emergency generators have shut down, and once the fires have gone out, the earth goes dark for the first time in centuries. 

在地下的铁路系统中，像是在伦敦、莫斯科，和纽约市的系统，数百个排水泵被弃之不顾，三天之内隧道就会被水淹掉。在第一周结束时，大部分紧急发电机都会停止运作，一旦大火熄灭，地球将会数世纪以来首次陷入一片黑暗。

After the first catastrophic month, changes come more gradually. Within 20 years, sidewalks have been torn apart by weeds and tree roots.Around this time, flooded tunnels erode the streets above into urban rivers. In temperate climates, the cycle of seasons freezes and thaws these waterways, cracking pavement and concrete foundations. 

在灾难性的第一个月之后，改变会渐渐发生。二十年内，人行道会因为杂草和树根而四分五裂。大约在这时，淹水的隧道会侵蚀到上方的街道，将之变成城市河流。在温带气候区，四季循环会让这些水道结冰之后又融化，路面和混凝土地基会因而破裂。

Leaking pipes cause the same reaction in concrete buildings, and within 200 winters, most skyscrapers buckle and tumble down. In cities built in river deltas like Houston, these buildings eventually wash away completely -filling nearby tributaries with crushed concrete. 

在混凝土建筑物中，破漏的管线也会造成同样的反应，在两百个冬天之内，多数摩天大楼都会变形倒塌。在河流三角洲上的城市，像是休斯敦，这些建筑物最终会被完全冲走——让附近的支流满是破碎的混拟土。

Rural and suburban areas decay more slowly, but in largely unsurprising ways. Leaks, mold, bug and rodent infestations - all the usual enemies of the homeowner- now go uncontested. Within 75 years, most houses' supporting beams have rotted and sagged, and the resulting collapsed heap is now home to local rodents and lizards. 

乡村和郊区的衰败速度会比较慢，但衰败方式大多不会让人感到意外。漏水、发霉、虫害，和囓齿目动物大量出没——屋主最常见的所有敌人——现在都无法无天了。在七十五年内，大部分房子的支柱会腐坏和下陷，造成许多房子倒塌，成为当地囓齿目动物和蜥蜴的家。

But in this post-human world, “local” has a new meaning. Our cities are full of imported plants, which now run wild across their adopted homes.Water hyacinth coat the waterways of Shanghai in a thick green carpet.Poisonous giant hogweeds overgrow the banks of London’s Thames River. 

但在这个「后人类」世界，「当地」这个词有新的意义。我们的城市满是外来的植物，这些植物如今在收养它们的家庭中放肆生长。上海水道表面满是布袋莲，形成厚厚的绿色地毯。有毒的巨型猪草在伦敦泰晤士河河岸过度生长。

Chinese Ailanthus trees burst through New York City streets. And as sunken skyscrapers add crumbled concrete to the new forest floor,the soil acidity plummets, potentially allowing new plant life to thrive. 

臭椿长满了纽约市街道。下陷的摩天大楼，在新的森林地面上增加了破碎的混拟土，土壤pH值降低（也就是碱性的程度减少），可能会让新的植物生命茂盛生长。

This post-human biodiversity extends into the animal kingdom, as well.Animals follow the unchecked spread of native and non-native plants,venturing into new habitats with the help of our leftover bridges. In general, our infrastructure saves some animals and dooms others. Cockroaches continue to thrive in their native tropical habitats, 

「后人类」的生物多样性也延伸到了动物王国里。动物会追循着本土与非本土植物不受管制的散播，靠着剩下的桥梁协助，冒险进入新居住地。一般来说，我们的基础建设拯救了一些动物，也害死了一些动物。蟑螂在牠们原生的热带居住地依然很繁盛，

but without our heating systems, their urban cousins likely freeze and die out in just two winters. And most domesticated animals are unable to survive without us – save for a handful of resourceful pigs, dogs, and feral housecats. 

但没有我们的暖气系统，牠们的都市堂兄弟姐妹很可能会在两个冬天之后就冷死而绝迹。最习惯家庭生活的动物，没有我们就会无法生存——除了一些很机智的猪、狗，和变野的家猫。

Conversely, the reduced light pollution saves over a billion birds each year whose migrations were disrupted by blinking communication tower lights and high-tension wires. And mosquitos multiply endlessly in one of their favorite manmade nurseries – rubber tires, which last for almost a thousand years. 

反过来说，光害的减少每年可以拯救超过十亿只鸟，过去牠们的迁移会被用闪光沟通的灯塔及高拉力钢线给打断。蚊子在牠们最喜欢的人造滋生地之一不断繁殖——橡胶轮胎，它们能使用近一千年。

As fauna and flora flourish, Earth’s climate slowly recovers from millennia of human impact. Within 35,000 years, the plant cycle removes the last traces of lead left by the Industrial Revolution from Earth’s soil, and it may take up to 65,000 years beyond that for CO2 to return pre-human levels. But even after several million years, 

随着动物群和植物群繁盛，地球的气候会渐渐从数千年的人类影响中恢复。在三万五千年之内，植物循环会清除掉最后仅存的铅痕迹，工业革命留在地球土壤中的铅，还要花六万五千年，二氧化碳才能回到人类出现之前的状态。但即使是数百年之后，

humanity’s legacy lives on.Carved in unyielding granite, America’s Mt. Rushmore survives for 7.2 million years. The chemical composition of our bronze sculptures keeps them recognizable for over 10 million. And buried deep underground, the remnants of cities built on floodplains have been preserved in time as a kind of technofossil. 

人类的遗产还是会存留着。美国拉什穆尔山上坚硬花岗岩的雕刻能够存活七百二十万年。我们的铜像，会因为其化学成份，在超过一千万年之后仍然可辨视得出来。深埋在地底下，建在泛滥平原上的城市的遗迹，未来会被保存下来成为某种技术化石。

Eventually, these traces, too, will be wiped from the planet’s surface.Humanity hasn’t always been here, and we won’t be here forever. But by investigating the world without us, perhaps we can learn more about the world we live in now. 

最终，这些痕迹也还是会被从地球表面上抹除。人类并非一直存在于地球上，也不可能会永远存在下去。但，藉由探究没有人类的世界，也许我们能对我们现在所居住的世界了解更多。

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