动物的末日（2009）

甚至连死去鹦鹉螺的尸体都不放过
Even the corpses of dead Nautiloids.
这些大型食肉动物既吃活的动物也会吃腐肉
The big carnivores which eat live stuff and also scavenge on dead stuff,
也是最晚意识到周围危机的存在
would been the last to feel anything happening.
但随着时间的推移 它们也会逐渐灭绝
But over time even they too are gonna die off,
因为食物链的运作是一种加速型的波动
because the food chain works is sort of an accelerating,
这直接贯穿着整个生态系统
ripple right through the entire ecosystem.
在现在的北美洲大西洋海岸
In what is now the Atlantic coast of North America,
巨大的直壳鹦鹉螺离开垂死的硼瑚礁出去寻找吃的
giant straight Nautiloids abandoned the dying reefs in search of food.
它们迁徙到含有盐分的水域
They move into brackish water,
但是这里是板足鲎类的地盘
but this is Eurypterid's turf.
当鹦鹉螺进入到这些水域寻找食物时
With Nautiloids moving into these waters in search of food,
它们跟板足鲎类长久以来的斗争又再度展开了
the ancient power struggled with Eurypterids is renewed.
尽管这里是板足鲎类的地盘
This may be Eurypterid's territory,
但是命运之神还是比较眷顾体型较大的动物
but fortune still favors the larger creatures.
对鹦鹉螺来说 这是一顿大餐
For the Nautiloids, it's a feast.
只有少数板足鲎类能逃脱
Only a few Eurypterids managed to escape.
但是大家最后还是逃不过饥荒
But famine is inescapable,
就连曾经最强大的动物也不能幸免
even for the once powerful.
随着伽马射线大爆发的灾难加剧
As the gamma-ray apocalypse intensifies,
灭绝威胁着地球上的每一个生物
extinction threatens every species.
从那些浮游动植物
From microscopic plankton,
到巨型鹦鹉螺
to the giant Nautiloids,
最后到我们自己的祖先 无颌鱼类中的星甲鱼
to our own ancestors, the jaw-less fish as Astraspis.
如果连它们都无法存活的话
If they don't survive,
地球上的生物还会有未来吗
will there not be a future for anyone?
科学家怎么会那么清楚地知道远古时代发生了大灭绝呢
How do scientists really know that mass extinction occurred in the distant past?
答案就藏在地球之中
The Earth itself holds the key.
地质学家第一次正式开始收集化石的时候
As geologists began to really start collecting fossils for the first time,
发现特定岩层中有的化石并没有出现在上面的岩层里
they realized there were fossils that were present within a specific group of rocks that were present above,
而这些化石在某些岩层分界上又大规模消失
but at some of the rock divisions there would be wholesale disappearance.
早期的地质学家只发现了集体大灭绝的最初证据
What these early geologists found was the first evidence of a mass extinction,
现代科学家继续进行这项工作
modern scientists carry on this legacy.
在世界各地的岩层中
Scouring rock formations all over the world,
寻找能够解释这些大灾难的线索
for clues to the true nature of these epic catastrophes.
在美国西部的沙漠里
In the deserts of the Western United States,
这些在奥陶纪时期曾经是海床的裸♥露♥岩石里
rocky out crops that once formed the Ordovician sea floor,
埋藏着几千个动物化石
contain thousands of fossilized animals.
这些岩层记录了整个奥陶纪时期的灭绝事件
These rock formations are a record of the entire Ordovician extinction event.
这些化石被弄碎了
These fossils have been broken up,
它们死亡之后出现了大风暴
they died went through the storm,
风暴弄碎了化石 让岩层更难分辨
and that's breaks up the fossils, and, uh, makes it the rock much more difficult to look at.
但是同时让我们看到里面有很多化石
Much prettier because we see a lot of fossils in it.
这块岩石上有很完整的单独的绉纹珊瑚 或者被称为角状珊瑚
This one has some nice solitary rugose corals, the horn corals,
中间有孔的小圆圈就是海百合的茎
a little circles with a hole in the middle and the stems of the crinoids,
海百合是生活在海床上的动物
the crinoids of those animals that they lived on the ground,
是跟海星很相似的棘皮类动物
can be very kind echinoderms relate of the starfish.
腕足类动物和双壳动物并不是实际意义上的软体动物
Brachiopods, bivalve shells not related to mollusks like our claims,
它们是自成一类的化石
but their own group of fossils,
而且是奥陶纪时期最强势的族群
and that were one of the most dominant groups in the Ordovician.
现代科学家就是在这些地方解开了大灭绝的谜团
This is where the mystery mass extinction is unraveled by modern-day scientists.
有个很受争议 但也能让人信服的新理论指出
According to a controversial but compelling new theory,
附近的超新星所产生的伽马射线暴
a gamma-ray burst produced by a nearby supernova,
很有可能触发了地球历史上第一次集体大灭绝事件
may have triggered the first great mass extinction in the history of the planet.
死亡射线造成了可怕的连锁反应
The death rays set in motion a horrific chain reaction,
威胁着地球上所有的生物 包括它们的后代
that threatens all life on Earth, present and future.
大灾难发生之后八个月
8 months into the disaster,
世界发生了非常大的变化
the world is drastically changed.
大气层被冲散的气体分子围绕着地球旋转
The shattered molecules of Earth's atmosphere swirl around the globe,
形成了像是从巫婆的药锅里所散发出来的有毒气体
forming a witch's brew toxic gases.
原子重新排列成二氧化氮
Atoms realign into nitrogen dioxide,
就是我们今天叫做烟雾的棕色有毒气体
the notches brown gas we know today, as smog.
一层厚厚的腐臭空气遮住了一半的阳光
The thick blanket of putrid air blots out half the Sun's rays,
全球气温急剧下降了10度
world temperatures plummet ten degrees Fahrenheit.
在北欧 水温下降
In Northern Europe, the drop in water temperature
对卷壳鹦鹉螺来说是个坏消息
is bad news for the coiled Nautiloids.
它们几个月前产下的卵不能正常发育
Their eggs laid months ago aren't developing normally.
水温的降低让这些胚胎生长速度减缓
The cool water temperature has slowed down the embryos growth,
这样等于是公然在邀请细菌进入卵细胞内
and open invitation for hungry bacteria to move in
侵蚀正在发育的鹦鹉螺胚胎
and consume the developing Nautiloids.
这个物种岌岌可危
The species is in jeopardy.
生物会逐渐适应它们生存的环境
Organisms are adapted for their local environment.
如果这种环境改变了
If that environment changes,
它们就有麻烦了
they're in trouble.
如果变化得太厉害 它们就会死掉
If it changes extremely, they'll die.
但如果只是改变一点点的话或许还可以存活 但是就不会繁衍后代了
If it changes just a little bit, they'll still live, but they won't reproduce.
少数的小鹦鹉螺存活了下来 但它们不得不面对如此恶劣的环境
The few hatchlings that do make it are thrust into a harsh and unforgiving world.
它们短短一生中的大多数时间都在拼命寻找食物
They'll spend most of their short lives searching desperately for food.
不过跟其它物种比起来 它们过得算挺好的了
And still they're doing well compared to other species.
坚硬的螺旋形外壳能让它们在较深的水里生活
Their strong spiral shells allow them to live in deeper water,
避开了全球气温骤降所导致的灾难
sheltered from the worst effects of global cooling.
伽玛射线大爆发已经过去了10年
It is now 10 years after the gamma-ray burst.
墨西哥南部的变化非常大
In Southern Mexico, the change is stark.
这片珊瑚礁的温度下降了20度
The temperature of this reef has dropped 20 degrees,
加速破坏了食物链
accelerating the destruction of the food chain.
曾经生机勃勃的栖息地 现在却变成了荒凉的坟场
A once-vibrant habitat, is now a dingy graveyard.
当气温下降时 有能力迁徙的动物都已经转移了
As temperatures cooled, those animals that could move did.
但是在奥陶纪有很多动物是无法迁徙的
But so many of the animals in the Ordovician were not movable.
这些生物只会单独地在某个位置上生长
These things grow in place solitary,
包括珊瑚 腕足类动物和海绵
the corals, the brachiopods, the sponges,
它们是没有办法转移的
there's no pick it up and moving.
无论周围的环境恶不恶劣 都会一直留在那里
you're there for the duration for better, for worse,
当环境变得更加恶劣时 它们就完了
and as it got worse, that was the end of them.
形成珊瑚礁的动物外壳的主要成分是碳酸钙
Calcium carbonate makes up the shells of many of the animals that form a reef.
碳酸钙在生理学的角度上来说 很难在冷水里分泌出来
And calcium carbonate, physiologically, it's difficult to secrete in cold water.
所以水温降低就意味着这些动物的日子变得越来越难过
Cooler water meant much more difficult times for these organisms.
它们分泌不出与之前同样分量的碳酸钙
They couldn't build as much calcium carbonate,
珊瑚礁实际上已经死亡了
the reefs essentially died.
全球气温下降还有另一个灾难性的副作用
This is another catastrophic side effect of global cooling,
那就是致命且变化无常的气候
deadly, an unpredictable weather.
地球的气候本来非常稳定 但是好景不常
The climate was incredibly stable, not anymore.
地球几百万年以来第一次出现如此巨大的温度变化
For the first time in millions of years, there are big temperature swings,
使其造成强大的洋流并席卷全球
creating strong ocean currents,
而同时强大的洋流又带来更加糟糕的天气
which in turn drive more violent weather.
感觉就像接连有五级飓风横扫全球
It's like a never ending wave of category five hurricanes sweeping the globe.
我们可以想象那些虚弱的珊瑚礁和海里的动物被抛到礁石上
We can be brief animals are smashed against the rocks.
还剩下一点力气的动物 离开波涛汹涌的海面寻找遮蔽
Those that still have some strength left, seek shelter away from the turbulent surface water.
这些动物要逃亡就一定是往深处逃
And escape for these guys would have been let's go deep,
只要到了深处就安全了的想法就成了主要的策略
certainly that initial sense of their safety and depth would have taken hold.
你会看到很多长锥形鹦鹉螺紧急下潜
And you see all these long cone Nautiloids crash diving,
它们成群结队地前往更深的海里
just this huge herd of things heading for deeper water.
但是下潜到安全的地方也会有潜在的危险
But the dive to safety carries hidden danger.
它们长而直的外壳承受不了深海的水压
The water pressure is too great for their long straight shells.
具有讽刺意味的是 地球上最强大的掠食者现在却成为了受害者
The ultimate irony, the planet's greatest predator is now its victim.
它们的近亲卷壳鹦鹉螺有着比较坚固粗壮的螺旋形外壳
Their cousins, the coil Nautiloids have tougher sturdier spiral shells.
它们能在更深更稳定的海水里等待风暴过去
They can wait out the storms in the deeper, more stable water.
全年不停歇的强烈风暴系统肆虐全球
Year around, violent storm systems pummeled,
前景黯淡
future is looking bleak.
死去的动物被汹涌的海浪冲上了世界各地的海岸
The dead wash ashore on coastlines across the world.
陆地上没有动物吃它们的遗体
With no service animals to scavenge their remains,
无数动物的尸体被堆叠在一起 那场面就像战争里的遇难者
their bodies pile up by the thousands, like casualties of war.
距离伽马射线大爆发已经过去了500年
500 years after the gamma-ray strike,
地球上有将近三分之一的动物已经不复存在
1/3 of the world's animals cease to exist.
对于那些仍在挣扎求生的动物们来说
And for those creatures still struggling to survive,
能生存下去的地方变得越来越少
there's a little home.
地球上的所有生命都摇摇欲坠
All life on Earth, is teetering,
处在被完全灭绝的边缘
on the brink of extinction.
距离伽马射线袭击地球已经过去了15万年
150,000 years after the death-ray struck,
地球上的生物正在经历着惨不忍♥睹的灾难
life on Earth is in shambles.
少数存活下来的物种常年以饥饿度日
The few surviving species live in constant hunger.
鹦鹉螺曾经是这个领域里的霸主
Nautiloids were once the invincible rulers of this domain,