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650 million years ago, ice entombs the planet.
6亿5000年前，冰层覆盖了这一星球
For 15 million years, the Earth is a vast frozen snowball.
整整1500年之久，地球都是一个冻结的大雪球，
But it can't last forever;
然而不能一直这样下去，
something must release the Earth from this frozen prison.
一定要有什么东西帮助地球摆脱这个冰雪牢笼，
And when it does, who knows whether life has survived beneath the ice.
那是谁晓得冰下是否还有生命，
The surface is frozen but the core is still hotter than the sun's surface.
地表冻结，但地心依旧比太阳表面还热。
Volcanoes have been erupting since the world began to freeze.
世界开始结冰时火山就在喷发，
But up until now even their heat and power made no impact on the ice.
只是之前它们的热度与力量抵不过冰。
Volcanoes pump out billions of tons of carbon dioxide.
火山喷发出数十亿吨二氧化碳，
Before the big freeze, the Earth's rocks absorbed most of the CO2.
在大冰封之前，地球岩石吸收了大部分二氧化碳，
But now, with the rocks smothered in ice, there's nothing to absorb the gas.
不过此时，岩浆被冰覆盖，无法再吸收二氧化碳。
So it fills the atmosphere.
于是它充满大气
Like a blanket, it traps the sun's warmth around the planet, allowing the temperatures to rise.
它像毯子般留住太阳的温暖，气温上升。
Now, after 15 million years, the ice begins to melt.
1500万年后，冰开始融化。
It's thought that during Snowball Earth the ice pushed the crust down.
据信雪球地球期间，冰把地壳往下压，
But now, as it melts,
现在冰融化了，
the crust bounces up,
地壳就弹回来，
creating fissures and weak spots,
地壳因此出现裂痕与弱点，
and more volcanoes.
以及越来越多的火山。
The volcanoes release more carbon dioxide and push the temperature up even higher.
这些火山释放出更多二氧化碳，让气温进一步升高。
The melt gathers momentum.
融化速度加快，
And oxygen levels rise.
氧浓度飙升。
