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Hey there! Welcome to Life Noggin.
大家好！欢迎来到脑洞大开的生命奇想。
The world uses nearly countless amounts of oil every year in one form or another.
世界每年会以这样或那样的形式使用几乎数不尽的石油。
The United States alone has been consuming a total of over 7 billion barrels of petroleum products a year,
仅美国一年就消耗了70多亿桶石油产品，
or around 20 million barrels a day in recent times.
或者说，在当今时代，每天大约使用2000万桶。
This reliance on fossil fuels has its own host of long-term environmental problems,
这种对化石燃料的依赖有其自身的一系列长期环境问题，
but when you have an oil spill, you create another world of issues.
但当石油泄漏时，就会产生另一个问题世界。
Oil spills can happen for a variety of reasons,
石油泄漏的原因多种多样，
from careless mistakes or equipment breaking down, to natural disasters like hurricanes.
从粗心大意的错误或设备故障，到飓风等自然灾害。
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
据国家海洋和大气管理局，
there are thousands of oil spills that occur in US waters every year.
美国海域每年都会发生数千起漏油事故。
That said, most are relatively small compared to the big ones that make the news, often spilling less than one barrel of oil.
话虽如此，与制造新闻的大公司相比，大多数公司规模都相对较小，泄漏的石油往往不到一桶。
However, in the past 50 or so years, there have been over 44 oil spills —
然而，在过去50年左右的时间里，已经发生了影响了美国的水域的超过44起石油泄漏事故，
each over 10,000 barrels or 420,000 gallons of oil — that have impacted US waters.
每一起都超过1万桶或42万加仑的石油。
These spills have the potential to be very harmful to the environment, marine life, and even humans.
这些泄漏有可能对环境、海洋生物甚至人类造成极大的危害。
After a spill, since oil is less dense than water, it will typically float on the surface of the water.
因为石油的密度小于水的密度，在泄露后，它通常会飘在水面上。
It doesn't just stay there in some big glob, though.
但它并不只是一大片地停留在水面上。
What usually happens is that the oil will rapidly spread out over the surface of the water until it becomes a thin layer of oil known as an oil slick.
通常发生的情况是，石油会迅速扩散到水面上，直到形成一层薄薄的浮油。
Then it keeps spreading out until it forms a super thin layer called a sheen.
然后继续扩散，直到形成一层超薄的光泽。
But that thin layer of oil can be a big problem.
但那层薄薄的石油可能是个大问题。
Our fur-bearing mammal friends, like the adorable sea otter,
我们的毛皮哺乳动物朋友，比如可爱的海獭，
can lose their ability to insulate themselves when covered in oil and birds can lose the water repellency of their feathers.
覆盖石油后，它们会失去隔冷的能力。鸟类羽毛会失去防水功能。
Without proper insulation, they can end up dying from hypothermia.
如果没有适当的隔冷，它们可能会死于低体温症。
Not to mention, if they try to clean themselves, they might ingest some of that oil.
更不用说，如果它们试图清洁自己，他们可能会摄入一些油。
While fish, shellfish, and other underwater creatures can come into contact with oil if it's mixed into a water column.
而鱼、贝类和其他水下生物在油进到下潜水流后会接触到油。
Adult fish can experience fin erosion when exposed to oil, as well as reduced growth rates and enlarged livers.
成年鱼暴露在油污中时，会出现鱼鳍腐蚀，生长速度降低，肝脏增大。
It can also hinder their reproduction. Even if they can successfully make eggs, the oil can negatively impact egg and larval survival.
油也会阻碍它们的繁殖。即使它们能成功产卵，这种油也会对卵和幼虫的生存产生负面影响。
What's worse is that these kinds of things can last long after the news stops covering them.
更糟糕的是，这类事情在新闻停止报道之后还会持续很长时间。
You know the BP oil spill that happened about a decade ago?
你知道十年前英国石油公司的漏油事件吗？
Some reports claim that animals are still being negatively impacted by the lasting effects of the spill
一些报道称，动物仍然受到漏油持续影响的负面影响，
even though cleanup has largely gotten rid of the initial problem.
尽管清理工作已经在很大程度上解决了最初的问题。
So that brings up the question, how do we clean up the oil then?
这就引出了一个问题，我们如何清理石油呢？
Oil spill cleanup can involve a bunch of different tools, including floating barriers called booms,
石油泄漏的清理可能使用一系列不同的工具，包括称为围油栏的浮动障碍物，
chemical dispersants and biological agents, and skimmers, which are boats that skim or scoop spilled oil off the water's surface.
化学分散剂和生物制剂，还有撇油器，就是把浮油从水面撇去或舀起的船。
Researchers from a 2015 Canadian study threw around some hard truths
2015年加拿大一项研究的研究人员抛出了一些残酷的事实，
when they said that the reality of an oil spill cleanup is that actually collecting and removing the oil is a challenging,
他们说石油泄漏清理的实际情况是，收集和清除石油是一个有挑战性的，
time-sensitive, and often ineffective process — even with favorable conditions.
对时间敏感，并且常常无效的过程。
In addition to all of the time, effort, and negative effects of the spill,
除了所有的时间、努力和漏油的负面影响，
some cleanup methods can mess with marine life even worse that the oil itself.
一些清理油污的方法可能会使海洋生物陷入更糟糕的境地。
That's why making sure that as few oil spills happen as possible should always be the goal.
这就是为什么确保尽可能发生少的漏油事故总是我们的目标。
If you wanna support some really great ocean clean up efforts,
如果你想支持一些真正伟大的海洋清理工作，
I've included some links in the description below my question to you is, what do you want me to talk about next?
我在下面的描述中放了一些链接，我的问题是，接下来你想让我谈论什么？
Use the hashtag Dear Blocko so i can find it, and your question could be included in a future episode!
使用“亲爱的宝高”标签，这样我就能找到它，你的问题可能以在以后的一集里出现！
Gimmie those burning questions! I want to answer them!
给我那些重要的问题！我要回答他们！
As always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!
我是宝高，这里是脑洞大开的生命奇想！
