Will hacking nature protect us from climate change? 入侵大自然可以保護我們不受氣候變遷影響嗎？

(CNN)To avoid a global warming catastrophe by the end of the century, humans may need to actually hack the climate.

為了避免在這一世紀末發生全球暖化的災難，人類可能會需要真的入侵氣候。

Whether you call it hacking, or "fiddling with the knobs in the climate system," or the less-imaginative "geoengineering," it revolves around this question: Can humans game the system by using science to reverse global warming?

不論說是入侵或是「亂轉氣候體系的把手」或是用比較沒想像力的講法「地球工程」，這都圍繞著這個問題，人類可以用科學勝過大自然，來反轉全球暖化嗎？

One way to keep global average temperatures from warming beyond a catastrophic 2-degree-celsius tipping point, according to some experts, is to suck massive amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

要保持全球均溫不暖化成攝氏2度的災難臨界點，根據一些專家所述，有一個方法是要從大氣層中吸出大量的二氧化氮。

How would you do that?

那樣要怎麼做？

Responding to a recent climate change story by CNN's John Sutter, Trevor Algatt of Los Angeles asked about a possible solution he heard about.

回覆最近一則由CNN的John Sutter所寫的氣候變遷故事，拉斯維加斯的Trevor Algatt提到一個他耳聞的可能解決辦法。

"There's a new technology that can extract carbon from the air and condense into 'fibers' for use in buildings, electronics, cars, clothing and other manufactured goods," Algatt wrote. "I'm sure you guys have seen/read/heard about it — the inventors say that, if implemented on a large enough scale ... it could return our atmospheric carbon to pre-industrial levels within a decade. How legitimate is this? Is this cause for celebration? Or a cool technology that's more pipe dream than solution?"

「有一個新科技可以從空氣中取出碳，並把他們凝結成「纖維」用在建築、電子設備、汽車、服飾和其他製造品」Algatt這麼寫，「我確定你們大家都看過/讀過/聽過這個技術－發明者們說，如果大規模的實行這個技術…它可能讓我們大氣層中的碳在十年內回到工業化前的水平。這是合法的嗎？這應該慶祝嗎？又或者這個很酷的技術是一個夢想多過於解決辦法？

Well, yeah. Scientists say it's theoretically possible to extract CO2 from the air and turn it into materials for buildings and clothes and other everyday stuff.

嗯，是的，科學家表示從空氣中抽出二氧化碳，並把它們變成建築用物料、服飾和其他日常用品，這理論上是有可能的。

But wait, it's not quite time to put on our party hats and celebrate. There are a couple of problems that have to be solved first.

但等等，這還不是可以舉杯慶祝的時候，還有很多問題我們必須先解決。

1.         The process would be very expensive

2.         Sucking all this CO2 out of the air creates a logistical problem: Where will we put it?

1.         這樣的流程成本非常高。

2.         吸出全部在大氣中的二兩化碳會產生一個邏輯問題：我們要把它放在哪裡？

"What people don't grasp is the sheer size," said Dr. Klaus Lackner, director of Arizona State University's Center for Negative Carbon Emissions. "If you drive a car, you put out about a pound of CO2 per mile. Per person, we put out 15 tons of CO2 per year." There are limits, Lackner said, to how much CO2 we can capture and store.

「人們無法掌握全部的大小」亞利桑那州立大學負碳排放量研究中心的董事長Klaus Lackner博士表示。「如果你開一輛車，你開一呎大概會排放一磅的二氧化碳，我們每年，一個人會排放15噸的二氧化碳」Lackner說我們可以捕捉和儲存多少的碳有很多限制。

Assuming that problem will be figured out eventually, Lackner and other ASU scientists are developing a machine that can pull CO2 out of thin air.

假設這些問題最後都會被解決，Lackner和其他亞利桑那州立大學的科學家正在研發一個可以在稀薄的空氣中抽出二氧化碳的機器。

A concept drawing for the machine looks like a huge box, with a big sail attached to it. Inspired by trees, these sails act as the "leaves" of ASU's machine. The sails are made of plastic resin. As air flows over the plastic resin sails, they grab CO2 and hold on to it.

這台機器的概念圖看起來是一個很大的盒子，有很大的帆裝在上面，靈感是由樹而來，這台機器的這些帆像是落葉一樣擺動，這些帆適用塑膠樹脂做的，隨著空氣流過這些塑膠樹脂的帆，他們會攫取二氧化碳並緊緊抓住。

CO2 binds to the plastic when the material is dry. To release the CO2 from the plastic, you have to get it wet. That's how the CO2 will be harvested from these machines -- either for immediate use, or to be put into storage. CO2 also should be captured at fossil-fuel burning power plants, Lackner said.

二氧化碳綁在塑膠上，當這個物質乾燥的時候，為了將這些二氧化碳從塑膠中釋放，你必須把它弄濕，那就是把二氧化碳從這些機器上收穫下來的方法，不論是立即使用或是要把它們儲存起來。化石燃料在發電廠燃燒的時候，這些二氧化碳也應該要被捕捉起來，Lackner表示。

In Massachusetts, urban design group SHIFTBoston is waiting for Lackner to fully develop his carbon-scrubbing resin so it can be used to create "Boston Treepods" -- synthetic, solar-powered devices that would scrub CO2 and provide light at night.

在麻薩諸塞州，城市設計組織SHIFTBoston正在等Lackner將他們捕碳樹脂發展完全，然後他們就可以用來創造「波士頓樹架」--可以抓碳和在夜晚能提供照明的太陽能設備所合成。

註：Treepods是融合Tree樹和Tripod三腳架兩個單字而成。

For now, ASU's device is being developed for use in greenhouses, to feed plants. Plants need CO2 to grow. "I don't think that's solving the climate problem, but it demonstrates that the technology works," said Lackner. If it proves itself, maybe someday machines like these could be used for massive carbon dioxide farms that harvest CO2 from the air.

現在，亞利桑那州立大學的設備正在發展溫室使用的用途上，用來照顧植物，植物需要二氧化碳才能生長，「我不認為那會解決氣候問題，但是它證明這個科技能運作」Lackner說，如果它可以證明自己，或許有一天像這樣的機器可能可以用來做從空氣中獲取大量二氧化碳的農場。

Some of of the CO2 could be used to make liquid fuel or building materials. Massive amounts of CO2 would have to be stored in a safe, stable environment. That's never been done before on that kind of scale.

有些二氧化碳可能會被用來製作液態燃料或是建築物料，大量的二氧化碳可能會需要被儲存在一個安全、穩定的環境，以前從來沒有執行過這樣的規模。

"The simplest place to put it is at the bottom of the ocean," said Yale University geologist Donald Penman, who studies carbon fluctuations underground, in the ocean and the air. "You have to be worried about unforseen side effects. Addressing one problem by manipulating global-scale geochemical fluxes; it just sounds like you're asking for other sorts of trouble. It's fiddling with the knobs in the climate system. You might be opening Pandora's box."

「存放它們最簡單的地方就是放在海底」耶魯大學研究碳在地底、海洋與空氣流動的地理學家Donald Penman表示，「你必須要擔心還未被預見的副作用，操作全球規模地球化學物流動產生的一個問題；聽起來像是你在問其他類型的麻煩，要亂轉氣候系統的把手，你就像是再打開潘朵拉的盒子」

Other skeptics of climate hacking worry it will needlessly lengthen human reliance on fossil fuels. Let's keep our eye on the ball, they say. Getting rid of fossil fuels and carbon emissions should be the most immediate goal. "We're at that moment when we could make change, and geoengineering gets in the way of that change," said Bill McKibben.

另外一些氣候入侵令人懷疑的擔憂會不必要的加深人類對化石燃料的依賴，讓我們專心看，他們說。消除化石燃料和二氧化碳排放可能是立即的目標，「在這個時刻，當我們可能改變，而地球工程就是那個改變的方法」Bill McKibben說。

The widely respected National Academy of Sciences recommends more research into large-scale CO2 removal while focusing on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

普遍認同的美國國家科學院建議要做更多關於大規模二氧化碳移除的研究，當我們專注在減緩溫室氣體排放的同時。

In November and December, experts will gather at an important United Nations meeting in Paris. They'll try to work out a new agreement on climate change and how to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. New data will be released about changes in the average global temperature.

在十一月和十二月時，專家將會聚集在巴黎的聯合國重要會議，他們會試著達成一項新的氣候變遷與如何減少大氣中二氧化碳的協議，關於全球均溫的新資料將會發佈。

Some experts fear if the average global temperature rises above two degreees celsius, reversing global warming will be even more challenging. Research indicates that to keep below 2 degrees celsius, the world may have to take more CO2 out of the air than we put into it. That might mean using CO2-sucking technology to hack the climate.

一些專家害怕如果全球均溫提升超過攝氏兩度，對抗全球暖化將會變得越來越困難。調查指出，為了維持不超過攝氏2度，全世界必須要從空氣中抽出比我們所排放更多的二氧化碳，這可能也代表要用吸二氧化碳的技術來入侵氣候。

"It becomes one tool in a larger tool set," said Lackner. Bottom line, he said, as long as we consume fossil fuels, the carbon problem will get worse. "Either you abandon fossil fuels, or you find a way to get that carbon back."

「在更大的工具組裡，它變成一種工具」Lackner說，他說，底線是只要我們繼續消耗的化石燃料，碳的問題會更嚴重，「你要捨棄化石燃料或是找到一種可以讓碳水準恢復的方法」

原文網址：http://goo.gl/ZCmSCI