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So with all this carbon constantly being depleted from the atmosphere, we really need to keep carbon output up to a certain point.
所以，由于碳会被不断地从大气中耗尽，我们真的需要将碳输出量提高到一个特定水平。
So why all the bad press for burning carbon?
那么为什么烧碳有这么多不好的名声呢？
Well, turns out it's the source of the carbon being burned that's the key.
原来关键在于碳燃烧的来源。
It's in fact the burning of what we call "fossil carbon" that creates the imbalance.
事实上，燃烧"化石碳"才会产生这种不平衡。
Fossil fuels, coal, oil, natural gas, these substances are all mined, we have to dig them up or drill a well to release them.
化石燃料、煤、石油、天然气，这些物质全都埋在地底下，我们必须把它们挖起来或钻个井把它们释放出来。
And this is carbon that was in the atmosphere millions of years ago.
而这是几百万年前存在于大气中的碳。
So what happens is: when we burn this carbon, OK, it doesn't really release a whole lot compared to the amount that's already there in the atmosphere, but it adds to the pool.
所以会发生的事是：当我们烧这种碳时，与已经存在于大气中的相比，它真正释放出的并没有那么多，但它增加了大气中的含量。
And over years it accumulates, think of the atmosphere as a big bathtub.
经过数年它会累积，可以把大气层想成一个大浴缸。
It's basically already filled to the brim with carbon, when we start adding fossil carbon into the mix, it starts to spill over.
它基本上已经加满了碳，当我们开始往里面添加化石碳时，它就开始外溢了。
That being said, there's actually a category that's in-between: what we call biomass fuels, probably the most common one is wood.
话虽这么说，实际上还有一类中间的：我们称它为生物燃料，最常见的一种可能就是木头了。
Another example, um, on the North American plains, the Native Americans used to collect buffalo droppings to burn.
再举个例子，在北美平原上，美洲土著以前会捡拾牛粪用来烧。
Uh, in Ireland, they cut up peat from bogs and they burn that.
在爱尔兰，他们会切碎从泥塘中捞来的泥煤，然后烧这个。
So what's the big distinction between this and fossil carbon?
那么这个和化石碳之间的大区别是什么呢？
Biomass carbon is what we might call current carbon.
我们也许会把生物碳叫做活性炭。
It's always going in and out the atmosphere, so if we burn one of these fuels, we're putting its carbon into the atmosphere. Right?
它一直进出于大气层，所以如果我们烧了这种燃料中的一个，我们是在把它的碳放进大气中，对吧？
But in a balanced system, somewhere else in the world the same amount of carbon is going back.
但在平衡机制下，同样数量的碳会回到世界上其他地方。
It gets taken in by growing vegetation, so burning biomass fuel produces sort of not-so-bad carbon.
它会被生长中的植被吸收，所以烧生物燃料会产生不那么坏的碳。
In fact, it can become good carbon if we endeavor as a society, as humanity, to allow forests to recover this carbon, if we don't, say, pave over all the surfaces to prevent things from growing.
事实上，如果我们作为一个社会、作为人类努力起来，让森林恢复这种碳，如果我们不铲平所有的地面，阻止植物生长的话，它会成为好碳。
So whenever we cut down a tree and burn its wood, we have to allow another tree to grow to keep things in balance.
所以无论何时我们砍掉一棵树，烧它的木头时，我们必须让另一棵树生长以保持平衡。
That way, you're carbon neutral.
这样你就能做到碳平衡了。
