我们的星球（2019）

Just 50 years ago,
就在五十年前
we finally ventured to the moon.
我们终于登上月球
For the very first time,
这是我们第一次
we look back at our own planet.
回头看到我们的星球
Since then, the human population has more than doubled.
自那以来 人口增加了一倍多
This series will celebrate the natural wonders that remain,
这个系列将去赞颂现存的自然奇观
and reveal what we must preserve
并揭示我们必须守护什么
to ensure people and nature thrive.
才能确保人与自然的蓬勃发展
When human beings built their first settlements
人类建造第一批家园
some 10,000 years ago,
是在约一万年前
the world around them,
那时他们周围的世界
on the land and in the sea,
不论陆地还是海洋
was full of life.
都生机勃勃
For generations,
世世代代
this stable Eden nurtured our growing civilizations.
这个可靠的伊甸园滋养着我们的文明发展
But now, in the space of just one human lifetime,
但如今 在人类短短一生的时间内
all that has changed.
一切都改变了
In the last 50 years,
过去五十年间
wildlife populations have, on average, declined by 60 percent.
野生动物数量平均减少了百分之六十
For the first time in human history,
人类历史上第一次
the stability of nature can no longer be taken for granted.
自然的稳定性不再是理所当然
But the natural world is resilient.
但自然界具有复原能力
Great riches still remain.
富饶的资源仍然存在
And with our help, the planet can recover.
在我们的帮助下 这个星球可以恢复
Never has it been more important
理解自然界的运转方式
to understand how the natural world works,
以及帮它恢复的方法
and how to help it.
已成为重中之重
Wildlife still flourishes in astonishing numbers
在一些珍贵的栖息地
in a few precious places.
仍有大量野生动物繁衍生息
Along the Peruvian coast of South America,
南美洲的秘鲁海岸沿岸
seabirds congregate in colonies millions strong.
数以百万计的海鸟聚集于此
They come here to breed.
它们来这里繁衍后代
Every morning, the birds leave their colonies
每天清晨 海鸟们离开聚集地
to fish in one of the richest seas on Earth.
去地球上最丰饶的海洋之一捕鱼
It is an astonishing daily migration
五百万只海鸟每天都进行这样的迁徙
of five million birds.
着实非常惊人
The huge flocks of cormorants and boobies
大群的鸬鹚和鲣鸟
are all seeking one thing:
都在寻找同一个目标
anchovies.
鳀鱼
The boobies carpet-bomb the shoals.
鲣鸟对鱼群进行"地毯式轰炸"
More and more birds join the feeding frenzy.
越来越多的海鸟加入饕餮盛宴
All in this immense assembly are here
它们如此大规模地聚集于此
because a powerful oceanic current, the Humboldt,
是因为强大的洪保德洋流
sweeps up from the Antarctic,
从南极席卷而来
bringing with it rich nutrients from the ocean's depths.
带来了来自深海的丰富营养物
90 percent of the life in the oceans
海洋中百分之九十的生物
is found in the shallow seas close to the coast.
栖息于靠近海岸的浅海
Away from the land,
远离陆地的深海
the seas, for the most part, are a blue desert.
海洋的绝大部分堪称蓝色荒漠
But even these distant waters
但即便是遥远海域
may be enriched by a most unexpected connection
也可以通过与陆地之间不可思议的关联
to the land.
得到丰富资源
Some deserts,
有些沙漠
often hundreds of kilometers from the ocean,
往往距离海洋数百千米
provide the raw materials for life.
却为生命提供了原材料
Every year, winds sweep up two billion tons of dust
每年 二十亿吨♥尘土
into the sky.
被风吹上天空
At least a quarter of it eventually falls on the sea,
至少四分之一的尘土最终落入海洋
providing nutrients needed by the microscopic organisms
为微生物提供所需的养分
that are the foundations of ocean life.
这些微生物是海洋生命的基础
Dolphins explore the vast, open ocean
海豚在广袤开阔的海洋中探索
in search of the riches that distant deserts may have nourished.
搜寻这些可能受到遥远荒漠滋养的资源
A shoal of mackerel has discovered a swarm of krill...
鲭鱼群发现了一大群磷虾
the small crustaceans
这种小型甲壳类动物
that feed on the ocean's floating microscopic plants.
以海洋中的浮游植物为食
But the mackerel themselves are food for the dolphins.
但鲭鱼自身也是海豚的猎物
They drive the mackerel towards the surface,
它们把鲭鱼赶向海面
and into the range of birds.
进入海鸟的捕猎范围内
Shearwaters.
海鸥
The wings that normally propel the birds through the air
平时推动它们在空中飞行的翅膀
now drive them six meters down through the water.
现在驱动它们潜入六米深的水中
Whilst the birds pick off the top of the shoal...
当海鸟从上方进攻时
the dolphins attack the underside.
海豚从下方夹击
After 20 minutes of feasting,
二十分钟的大快朵颐之后
the predators from both the sea and the air
海洋和空中的捕食者
have had their fill.
都饱食餍足
The stability of life on our planet
地球上生命的稳定性
relies on such connections between different habitats.
离不开这种不同栖息地间的关联
Water evaporating from the surface of the sea
从海面蒸发的水
condenses to form great clouds.
冷凝成庞大的云
And these eventually release the fresh water as rain.
而这些云将淡水以雨的形式释放
But these life-giving rains are not evenly spread over the land.
但这些滋养生命雨水不会均匀落到陆地上
This vast salt pan in Africa
这片位于非洲的广阔盐田
is all that remains of an ancient lake.
是古老湖泊留下的遗迹
It's totally waterless and oven-hot.
这里没有一滴水 温度如火炉般炽热
Few places on the land are more hostile to life.
陆地上鲜有比这更恶劣的生存环境
A few tracks cross it,
几条穿越盐田的踪迹
made by animals searching unsuccessfully for water.
是徒劳找水的动物留下的
But very occasionally,
但极少数情况下
this whole landscape is transformed.
这里的地貌会彻底改变
A huge deluge drenches the salt pan.
一场大暴雨淋透了这片盐田
Triggered by some unknown signal,
不知收到什么信♥号♥♥
flocks of lesser flamingos
成群的小火烈鸟
arrive from thousands of kilometers away.
从数千千米外飞来
The algae that the flamingos feed on
火烈鸟赖以生存的藻类
have lain dormant as spores in the dust.
现在仍是孢子 在尘土中休眠
But most importantly,
但最重要的是
the birds are here to breed.
它们是来繁殖的
Perfect conditions might occur only once in a decade.
完美的条件十年中也许只会出现一次
The birds nest on an island far from the shore.
火烈鸟在远离湖岸的岛上筑巢
They build mounds of mud that raise up their eggs
它们建造泥土堆托起自己的蛋
and so keep them just marginally
这样蛋的温度
cooler than they would be at ground level.
比在地面上稍微低一些
The water surrounding the island is so salty
岛周围的水盐度很高
that predators do not venture into it.
捕食者不会闯入
So the nests are safe.
所以鸟巢十分安全
Thirty days later, thousands of chicks start to hatch.
三十天后 成千上万的幼鸟破壳而出
But there is no shelter from the scorching sun.
但这里没有抵挡烈日的遮蔽物
The water that once surrounded their island, protecting them,
岛周围曾经保护它们的水
has now dried up altogether.
现已完全干涸
The last to hatch step out into a desperately harsh world.
最后孵出的幼鸟将步入一个残酷的世界
Somehow or other,
无论如何
the growing chicks must find fresh water to drink.
成长中的幼鸟必须找到淡水
They cannot yet fly, so they must walk,
它们还不会飞 所以必须在
guided by some of the adults.
成年火烈鸟的带领下徒步前进
They may have to trek for 50 kilometers.
它们可能要跋涉五十千米
Some... cannot keep up.
有些幼鸟 跟不上队伍
The salt has solidified around their legs.
盐在它们的腿上凝固
Most of the chicks, in spite of everything,
尽管困难重重 大多数幼鸟
and having walked for days,
在跋涉数天后
eventually reach fresh water.
最终找到了淡水
It is the end of a long journey...
这是漫长旅程的终点
but only the first of the trials
但由于降水不规律
that will be imposed on these flamingos
这只是火烈鸟要面临的
by the irregularity of the rains.
最初的挑战而已
If rainfall is more predictable and certain,
如果降水更加规律可靠
then life can flourish more richly,
生命便会更加繁荣
both in numbers and variety.
不论是数量还是种类
The Serengeti plains in East Africa
东非的塞伦盖蒂草原
support over a million wildebeest.
养育着一百多万头牛羚