动物的末日（2009）

不停寻找着可以生存的安全避难所
always on the lookout for an elusive safe haven.
地处亚洲北部的丽齿兽因为饥饿和疾病
The Gorgons of Northern Asia have seen their population cut by half
数量已经减少了一半
due to hunger and disease.
年轻的一代完全不知道它们祖先之前的辉煌
The younger generation knows nothing of their ancestors glory days,
只知道现在它们的处境既可怜又绝望
just its meager desperate existence.
而且它们的痛苦得不到缓解
And there is no relief,
更多的灾难即将从空中降临
more punishment is about to strike from above,
那就是酸雨
acid rain.
下个阶段的灾难正在上方的云层里酝酿着
The next stage of the disaster is brewing in the atmosphere itself.
来自火山的二氧化硫和水蒸气结合
Volcanic sulfur dioxide, combines with water vapor
形成硫酸
to create sulfuric acid.
现在就连雨水都有杀伤力了
Now even the rain has the power to kill.
在顺风的地方 情况一定像
The the downwind consequences would have been a lot like
住在很落后的东欧火力发电厂附近
living there really bad Eastern European coal generating plant,
那样的生存环境会非常地糟糕
just would have been awful place to live.
你会看到一座座森林被酸雨摧毁
You see these pictures where acid rain has just killed whole forests,
有些松树还没有倒下 但是叶子已经枯黄并开始掉落了
and you have pine trees standing which have turned brown of the leaves are falling.
如果这种情况就像西伯利亚暗色岩事件那样持久的话
If that's continuing over a long span of time as probably happened in Siberia,
酸雨就会杀光地球上所有的植物
acid rain would kill all the plant's life.
日复一日 这种具有腐蚀性的酸雨毫无遮挡地降到地球上的每个角落
Day and day out, the caustic liquid rains down on every corner of the globe,
杀光了所有植物
killing all the vegetation,
对于那些无处可逃的动物来说
and for those with no place to hide.
每天的生活变得非常痛苦
Daily life becomes excruciating.
只有我们的祖先 瘦小的三尖叉齿兽
Only our ancestor, little Thrinaxodon,
才可以找得到地方来躲避致命的暴风雨
is small enough to find shelter from the storm.
三尖叉齿兽会成为唯一的幸存者吗？
Will Thrinaxodon being the lone survivor?
距离灾难发生已经过去了50年
50 years into the disaster,
西伯利亚超级火山的喷发还在继续
volcanic eruptions continued in Siberia.
到了这个时候岩浆把新的杀手带到地面
However now the lava carries a new killer to the surface.
灾难将会变得更加可怕
A lethal twist of fate,
西伯利亚暗色岩的喷发地点
the Siberian Traps are situated
正好位在史前世界上最大的煤炭层上面
over one of the largest coal reserves in the prehistoric world.
煤炭层中有一种挥发性的有毒气体
Trapped within the cult is a noxious and volatile substance,
甲烷
Methane.
甲烷也是一种温室气体 威力比二氧化碳强上25倍
Methane is a greenhouse gas, 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
已经遭受污染的大气再加上这种气体
With this new addition to the already polluted atmosphere,
让全球变暖在全世界范围内以数以倍计的速度恶化
global warming accelerates exponentially throughout the world.
大气里的温室气体浓度通常由植物调节
The level of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is normally regulated by the planets vegetation,
但是这时甲烷和二氧化碳气体浓度上升得太快
but now methane and CO2 levels are rising so fast,
植物也来不及处理
but the plant life can't keep up.
这是一种完全失控的温室效应
It was a kind of a runaway greenhouse model,
这时大气里的热量和不断被重新加热的效应
one of the effects of heat in the atmosphere and repeatedly reheating it,
阻挡植物吸收过量的二氧化碳
is the prevent plants from mopping up the access carbon dioxide,
让大气不能恢复到原来的水平
and kind of returning the atmosphere to his normal condition.
在现在的亚利桑那州沙漠地带
In what is now the Arizona desert,
热带冲积平原没有一个地方可以让动物躲避灾难
a tropical floodplain offers little escape from the oppressive conditions.
曾经很茂密的针叶林 也就是现代常绿植物的祖先
The once majestic forests of conifers, the ancestors of today's evergreens,
开始以百万计地枯死
are dying by the millions.
植物在热浪中逐渐枯萎
Plant life withers in the stifling heat,
植物可是食物链的基础
with vegetation the foundation of the food chain,
因此这个时候饥荒开始蔓延
starvation now runs rampant.
受影响最大的是大型草食动物 例如二犬齿兽
Hardest hit are the large herbivores, like Dicynodon.
它们鼓鼓的肚子里有一系列复杂的消化器官
They're bulging abdomens mask and intricate cluster of digestive organs,
用来处理它们赖以维生的粗纤维
that process the course roughage on which they subsist.
这一类东西主要是不太营养的植物
These sorts of things, they were largely blue nutrition kinds of plants,
所以吃植物的动物要很努力
so the plant-eaters would have had to work hard,
它们大概是一整天都在不断地吃着东西
they would have been eating all day probably.
这时候二犬齿兽的食物来源开始枯竭
Now the Dicynodon's food sources are literally drying up.
它们的下一代适应得不够快 应付不了这越来越严重的饥荒
The new generations are adapting fast enough to deal with the growing famine.
它们的数量正在逐渐下降
Their numbers dwindle,
把它们当成猎物的其他掠食者也是一样的
but so do the others that feed upon them.
我们必须要了解动物世界有食物链存在
We need to understand as a food chain operating,
植物灭绝会影响一切 也会影响到所有的动物
so that the extinction of plants will affect, everything, all the animals.
不管它们是不是吃植物的动物
Whether they eat plants or not,
正因如此如果所有植物死亡的话 食草动物就会完全或大部分消失
and the sequence is if you kill the plants you lose all or most of the plant eaters.
食肉动物也会跟着完全或部分消失 因为它们没有东西可以吃了
Therefore you lose all or most of the flesh eaters because they have nothing to eat.
丽齿兽眼睁睁地看着它们的猎物在眼前消失
The Gorgons witness their largest food supply simply vanish before their eyes.
以前这里的食物可是非常充足
Where once there was more than enough food to go around,
到了现在它们连最小的猎物都要抢
now, there's competition for even the smallest pray.
现在的食草动物数量逐渐减少
So you've got fewer herbivores,
一大♥片♥区域要有很多的食草动物分布
takes a lot of herbivores a big territory,
才能让一只处于食物链顶层的食肉动物过得好
to keep a top carnivore alive and happy.
如果食草动物的食物越来越少 它们的数量也会越来越少
As you reduce the food or the herbivores as there are fewer and fewer of them,
丽齿兽的数量也会越来越少
they could support fewer and fewer of the Gorgons.
它们原始的颚部结构在食物充足时并没有什么问题
Their primitive reptilian jaw structure was never a problem when food was so abundant.
但是现在 它们不能撕扯猎物尸体的缺陷
But now their inability to properly tear a carcass apart,
就要让它们付出沉重代价
is costing them dearly.
丽齿兽快要饿死了
The Gorgons are starving to death.
距离大灭绝开始已经过去200年了
It's 200 years since the extinction began,
地球上已经几乎被完全摧毁
Earth keeps inching closer to complete destruction.
这是一个绝无仅有的毁灭时代
It's a time of unprecedented annihilation,
这是地球历史上从未经历过的巨大灾难
a depth of devastation never experienced before or since.
一种名为古鳄的可怕掠食者日渐发展了起来
One predator rises to power, Proterosuchus.
对于这种冷血动物来说 气温越高它们就越舒服
The high temperatures are a boon to this cold-blooded creature.
纵观整个地球历史 当个冷血动物可比当个温血动物好多了
Through time's history, when it's better to be a cold-blood than a warm-blood.
如果我们的世界本来就十分温暖 而且晚上也不会变冷
If we have a world where is already warm anyway, and it never gets cold at night,
我的意思是 那种环境对冷血动物来说很适合生存
I mean, this is a great place to be a cold-blooded animal,
而且需要摄入的能量也少
you need less energy.
我们的祖先三尖叉齿兽 注定可以一直生存下去
Our ancient ancestor, Thrinaxodon, is also fated for survival.
作为一个小小的食腐动物 它可以很轻松地以其他动物遗留下来的食物为生
Being a tiny scavenger, she has no problem living on morsels of food, that nobody else wants.
现在 如果你附近拥有世界上所有种类的昆虫
Now if you have all the insects in the world,
这里有许多腐肉 有许多小型爬行动物和两栖动物
you have dead meat this out here, you have small reptiles, you have amphibians.
你周围有很充足的食物来源
You have a lot of food sources available to you.
如果你是一个大型食肉动物 那情况可就不一样了
When you're a very big top carnivore, that's not the case.
三尖叉齿兽体现出了强大的意志力
Thrinaxodon embodies tenacity.
其他的生物可能会在如此恶劣的条件下放弃生存
Where other creatures might give up in the face of such harsh conditions,
三尖叉齿兽每天都在为它后代获得足够的食物并保护它们的安全
she fights every day to keep herself and her offspring fed and protected.
也许是它原始哺乳动物的本能在驱使着它
Perhaps it's her proto mammalian instincts that drive her.
不管怎么样 包括我们人类在内的所有现代哺乳动物的未来
Whatever it is, the future of all mammals including mankind,
都取决于它不屈不挠的求生意志
depends on her unrelenting will to live.
但是挑战还远远没有结束
But the challenges are far from over.
现在大灭绝开始入侵二叠纪时期的海洋
Now the great dying is invading the Permian ocean.
这个拥有地球上70％生命的辽阔海洋王国的毁灭
The destruction of this vast undersea kingdom, where 70% of all life resides,
将地球所有生命推向毁灭的边缘
will push everyone and everything to the brink.
距离西伯利亚暗色岩第一次喷发已经过去了一万年
10,000 years have passed since the Siberian traps first erupted,
原本这件事只发生在亚洲北部的一个偏远地区
what started in an isolated region of Northern Asia,
现在它所带来的影响蔓延到了全世界
has now engulfed the whole planet.
地球上的生物正处在被完全灭绝的境地
Life on earth is on the precipice of complete extinction.
泛大♥陆♥各地的植物已经枯死 正在逐渐腐烂
Everywhere in Pangaea, the vegetation is dead and rotting,
并同时冲走了几百万吨♥的地表土壤
along with millions of tons of topsoil.
太多的物质被冲入海洋 让海洋受到了污染
The influx of so much waste is turning the seas into a cesspool.
全球变暖还造成更多的危害
And global warming is causing even more damage.
如果地球上所有地方都变暖了
If you're warm everywhere on the planet,
就没有东西驱动空气 没有东西推动海水
nothing drives air, nothing drives the oceans.
二叠纪结束时
The end of the Permian then
地球已经暖得连洋流也完全停止了
we've heated the planet to the point that ocean currents stop,
一旦洋流停止 地球就会开始失去氧气
once they stop, you start losing oxygen.
温水能保存的氧气比冷水少
Warm water holds less oxygen the cold water,
海洋失去氧气之后 地球上的所有生物就会开始死亡
and once oceans moves oxygen start killing things.
海洋失去氧气 就会让所有动物窒息
As the see loses oxygen, life is smothered.
我们有洋流停止的确凿证据
We got good evidence of this stagnation of the oceans,
通过查看岩层记录得知
that when you look at the rock record,
灭绝发生之前海洋中有很多的珊瑚礁 一片生机勃勃
you can see before the event, there are abundant reefs with all kinds of life,
不同的动物在海床上钻洞等等
and creatures borrowing in the seabed and all the rest of it.
灭绝发生之后 岩石就变黑了
After the crisis the rucks go black,
这是海洋氧气不足所导致的
this is evidence that of the oceans it become poor and oxygen,
所以洋流停止了活动
they become stagnant.
没有任何动物或植物可以扭转局面
There's no group of animals or plants to unaffected.
很多在海洋生态系统中称霸了几百万年的物种消失了
Many of the groups that dominated ecosystems in the oceans for hundreds millions of years,
它们彻底地灭绝了
disappear, they're gone.