我们星球上的生命（2023）

为了克服恶劣环境所带来的挑战
To overcome the challenges of a more hostile world,
灵长类动物依赖于社会智力
primates relied on their social intelligence,
这一特征
a trait that, in time,
有朝一日会导致一种灵长类动物
would lead to one species of primate
取得全球主导地位
achieving global domination.
（1.6万年前）
北方冰冻影响全球气候
The buildup of ice in the north affected the climate across the planet.
但就在生命逐渐适应 更寒冷、更干燥的条件时
But just as life got used to colder, drier conditions,
一切都改变了
everything changed.
随着地球轨道再次发生变化 冰开始融化
The ice began to melt as Earth's orbit shifted once more
全球温度开始上升
and global temperatures began to rise.
最初的融水溪流
What started as a series of meltwater streams
很快变成洪水
soon turned into a deluge.
在北美 融水形成一个巨大的冰川湖
In North America, the meltwater formed an enormous glacial lake
深达600米 面♥积♥达一万平方公里
600 meters deep and covering 10,000 square kilometers.
阻止水流向西淹没陆地的
The only thing stopping the water from flooding the land to the west
只有一堵高耸的冰墙
was a towering wall of ice.
在远端 这堵墙有近1000米高
On the far side, the wall was almost a kilometer high...
似乎坚不可摧的屏障
...a seemingly unstoppable barrier...
但坚持不了多久
but not for much longer.
随着温度不断升高 融水湖不断扩大
As temperatures kept rising and the meltwater lake kept growing,
来自后方的压力增加
the pressure from behind increased.
不久之后 墙开始从内部碎裂
Before long, the walls started to crumble from the inside out...
最终导致灾难性的崩溃
until finally, catastrophic collapse.
一瞬间
In an instant,
一个像爱尔兰海那么大的湖泊 倾泻而下
a lake the size of the Irish Sea is unleashed.
向南30公里
Thirty kilometers south,
大灾变即将到来的迹象初现
and the first hint of the coming apocalypse.
震动
Tremors.
它们感知到了危险
They sense danger...
但无处可躲
...but there's nowhere to hide.
它们首先看到一道尘土墙
The first they see is a wall of dust.
高100米
A hundred meters high,
这是巨型海啸的先锋部队
it's the vanguard of a giant tsunami.
仅仅十小时
In just ten hours,
大洪水在美洲大♥陆♥上 形成了800公里长的通道
the megaflood smashes an 800-kilometer-long path through the American continent,
直通海洋
all the way to the ocean.
原本需要数千年才能形成的自然奇观
Natural wonders that might otherwise take millennia to form
仅数小时便化为现实
are created in a matter of hours.
但这些壮丽景观很短命
But these spectacles are short-lived.
仅仅几天之后
Just a few days later,
只剩下一片诡异的寂静
all that remains is an eerie silence.
大洪水造成的无法磨灭的痕迹
The indelible scars of this megaflood
如今仍在美国的地貌上显现
still mark the American landscape today...
然而自从冰河时期起始之时
yet since the dawn of the Ice Age,
已经发生50多次结冰融化的循环
there have been more than 50 cycles of ice buildup and melt...
每一次都引发了大规模洪水
each causing its own epic floods.
上一次大规模融化引起的混乱 平息之后
Once the turmoil of the last great melt subsided,
大地逐渐恢复平衡
balance slowly returned across the land.
降雨变得更频繁
Rainfall became more regular...
令森林得以复苏
allowing forests to bounce back.
沙漠缩小并变绿
Deserts shrunk and greened
水再次流动起来
as, once again, water flowed.
哪里有水流
And where water flows,
生命就会随之而来
life soon follows.
欧洲的多瑙河三角洲
Europe's Danube delta
是世界上最大的湿地之一
is one of the largest wetlands in the world.
它是上一次大规模融化之后形成的
It formed after the last great melt
很快成为大批动物的家园
and quickly became home to an incredible wealth of animal life.
这里食物丰富
With so much food on offer,
须浮鸥会飞行数千公里
whiskered terns travel thousands of kilometers
来到这片富饶的水域繁殖
to breed in these rich waters.
这里是建立家庭的绝佳场所
It's the perfect place to raise a family...
但如果雄鸟来得太晚 以至于找不到雌鸟
...but it's a wasted journey
那就会白跑一趟
if a male arrives too late to find a female.
只能看着别人幸福美满
All he can do is watch the success of others.
对手走了
With his rival gone...
它的机会来了
...now is his chance.
食物是很好的礼物
Food makes an excellent gift...
但对方不以为意
...but she's not impressed.
尽管如此 它还是努力一把
He tries his luck nonetheless...
可惜白费功夫
but to no avail.
遭到拒绝的雄鸟只得独自就餐
The spurned male must dine alone.
只有在生活如此富饶时 雌性才能如此挑剔
Only when life is so bountiful can females afford to be so choosy.
冰河时代的结束 不仅带来了丰盛的食物
The end of the Ice Age ushered in not only a time of plenty...
也带来了稳定的气候
but also a time of great climate stability...
这个时代被称作全新世
a time known as the Holocene.
（1.17万年前）
在这个时代
During this period,
温暖潮湿成为主流
warm, wet conditions prevailed...
全球平均气温波动不到1摄氏度
...and average global temperatures fluctuated by less than one degree Celsius,
使生命得以在世界每个角落繁荣发展
allowing life to flourish in every corner of the world...
每个物种都拥有
...each species boasting
一条绵延40亿年的连续谱系
an unbroken line of ancestry stretching back four billion years
一直可以追溯到地球生命的起源
to the very origin of life on Earth.
然而并不是一切 都能在全新世兴旺发展
However, not everything thrived during the Holocene.
一种奇怪且高度选择性的灭绝 正在进行之中
A strange and highly selective extinction was underway.
全球范围内
Across the planet,
最大的陆地动物正在消失
the largest land animals were disappearing.
猛犸象、穴狮 以及数以百计其他物种消失了
Mammoths, cave lions, and hundreds of other species vanished.
北美尤其遭受重创
North America was particularly hard-hit,
失去了70%以上的巨兽
losing over 70% of its giants...
但也有例外
but not all.
没有了竞争对手
In the absence of competitors,
野牛接手大平原
bison took over the great plains...
四处游荡 数量庞大
...roaming in huge numbers.
但它们并不孤单
But they weren't alone.
由于大型猎物减少
With fewer big prey to choose from,
野牛成为另一群幸存者的重点目标
bison became the focus of another group of survivors.
宿敌
Age-old enemies.
它们最好的防御是警惕危险
Their best defense is to keep an eye on the danger,
聚在一起 冷静前行
stick together, and calmly move on.
但这些可不是普通的猎手
But these are no ordinary hunters...
冰河时代见证了新捕食者的扩张
...for the Ice Age saw the spread of a new predator.
与狼一样
Like wolves,
我们集体狩猎
we hunted in groups.
在力量与速度上的不足
And what we lacked in strength and speed...
我们用智慧和狡猾弥补
we made up for with intelligence and cunning.
巨大而复杂的脑部的进化
The evolution of our large, complex brains
使我们与其他灵长类动物区分开来
had set us apart from other primates
令我们能够以越发复杂的方式捕猎
and enabled us to hunt in increasingly sophisticated ways.
模仿狼群
Mimicking wolves
使用精心摆放的石堆
and using carefully placed stone stacks,
猎手们将野牛驱赶数公里
hunters corralled the bison for miles,
直到它们落入埋伏
until they were exactly where they wanted them.
这时他们才从背后接近野牛群
Only then do they close in behind the herd.
如果太早暴露
Reveal themselves too soon
多日的努力将付诸东流
and days of effort will be wasted.
他们最终的目标不是杀死一只
Their ultimate prize isn't the death of one,
而是让众多野牛倒下
but the fall of many...
让集体有足够的食物度过数月的冬天
to feed many over the winter months.
圈套已设好
The trap is set.
只需稍加鼓动
All they need is a little encouragement.
到全新世早期
By the early Holocene,
人类已从非洲 扩散到地球上几乎每一个大♥陆♥
humans had spread out of Africa to almost every continent on Earth
成为世界上最危险的捕食者
and become the world's most dangerous predator.
尽管我们的崛起导致 大型陆地动物在全球灭绝
While our rise contributed to the global extinction of large land animals,
但如果表现不够出色
our story could have been a short one
我们的故事原本可能非常短暂
had we not done something remarkable.
我们通过与大自然结盟
We freed ourselves from the uncertainty of a hunter-gatherer existence
摆脱了狩猎和采集的不确定性
by forming alliances with nature.