Hi, this is David from Minute Earth,
嗨 我是《分钟地球》的David
and here’s something really strange.
给大家讲一件奇怪的事
When certain spots in Australia and Russia
当俄罗斯和澳大利亚两国某处
have the same concentrations of a particular atom in the air,
空气中某种特定原子的浓度相同时
we know that it will start to rain at a certain spot in India 52 days later.
我们就知道52天后印度某地会开始下雨
That seems both random and absurd.
这事似乎随机又荒唐
After all, Australia and Russia are both 8000 kilometers away from India.
毕竟 澳大利亚和俄罗斯都离印度八千公里远
And while the atom in question beryllium-7
我们讨论的铍-7原子
appears to make it rain,
似乎导致了降雨
it doesn’t actually have that power.
但其实际上没有此能力
In fact, it just seems to hang out in the air.
事实上 它似乎只是游离在空气中
The connection doesn’t seem to make any sense.
铍-7原子和降雨似乎没有联系
But, hundreds of years ago,
但是 几百年前
no one knew what connected a full moon to a super high tide,
没有人知道满月和超级涨潮有何关联
or what connected hat making to insanity.
或是制作帽子和精神错乱有何联系
These bewildering connections only made sense
只有弄清了这些联系背后的
once we figured out the invisible mechanisms responsible for them:
隐形机制：重力和汞中毒
gravity and mercury poisoning.
这些令人困惑的联系才讲得通
And what ties beryllium-7 and the far-off rains together
而将铍-7原子和远处的降雨联系起来的
is an invisible mechanism called a Hadley Cell.
是被称为哈德里环流圈的隐形机制
Hadley Cells are giant cyclical air patterns
哈德里环流圈是巨大的空气循环模式
that form as hot air rises from the equator 15 kilometers straight up
当热气流从赤道径直上升15千米
and then splits and flows North and South toward the poles,
接着分别向南北两极的方向流动
before cooling, colliding with air coming the other way,
冷却前 热气流与反方向的气流碰撞
falling back down to earth
沉降至地表
and heading back towards the equator.
然后流回赤道 环流圈就此形成
As Hadley Cells cycle,
哈德里环流圈循环时
they drive all sorts of large-scale moisture patterns around our planet,
它们促使各种大规模水汽模式在全球流动
including the Asian monsoon,
包括亚洲季风
during which 70% of the Indian subcontinent’s annual rain falls.
季风来临时 印度次大陆降雨量达年降水量的70%
And Hadley Cells also drive around random atoms called beryllium-7,
哈德里环流圈也使游离的铍-7原子四处流动
which may not do anything special,
这种原子或许没有特殊影响
but they form somewhere special, 15 kilometers above the earth,
但它们形成的位置特殊 在地球上方15千米处
as cosmic ray particles smash into nitrogen and oxygen atoms
宇宙射线粒子会撞击氮原子和氧原子
to create the beryllium-7 atoms.
从而形成铍-7原子
The beryllium then hitches a ride on the Hadley express to the earth’s surface.
随后 它们搭上哈德里快车到达地球表面
As the sun moves over the course of the year,
随着一年间太阳的移动
the Hadley Cells move with it,
哈德里环流圈也随之移动
which means that during warmer months in the Northern hemisphere,
这意味着在北半球较温暖的月份
there’s usually a higher concentration of beryllium in the air over Dubna,
杜布纳上空的铍原子浓度通常更高
while during warmer months in the Southern hemisphere,
而在南半球较温暖的月份
there’s usually a higher concentration of beryllium in the air over Melbourne.
墨尔本上空的铍浓度会更高
But at a certain date, usually in April,
但通常在4月的某一天
the Hadley Cells are lined up such that they deposit
哈德里环流圈南北平行
equal concentrations of beryllium at the surface in both Dubna and Melbourne.
致使这两地沉积的铍原子 浓度相同
When that happens,
这时
we know that almost exactly seven and a half weeks later,
我们就知道将近7个半星期后
they will drag the monsoon rains across India.
印度全境会迎来季风性降雨
And sure, maybe this weird predictive power
当然 这种奇怪的预测能力也许
seems like just a fun party trick.
看起来只是有趣的派对把戏
But just like we were able to use our understanding of gravitational pull
就好比我们能通过了解万有引力
to predict the rise and fall of the ocean,
来预测海洋的潮起潮落
and use our understanding of mercury toxicity
通过了解汞的毒性
to make hats and lots of other stuff safer,
使帽子及诸多其他物品更无害
we can actually put our understanding of Hadley Cells to use, too.
我们其实也能利用哈德里环流圈的知识
By being able to use the knowledge of Hadley Cell movement
掌握哈德里环流圈的移动
to precisely predict the onset of the rainy season,
来精准预测雨季来临的时间
farmers in the Indian subcontinent—
印度次大陆的农民——
and there are a lot of farmers there,
而且农民人数还挺多
can know precisely when they should plant their crops
得以精确知晓耕种作物的合适时间
to grow as much food as possible.
以种植尽可能多的粮食
And by doing so,
这样的话
they can feed almost a beryllium, I mean, billion people.
他们可以养活一大铍人 呃我是说十亿人口
We’re able to measure beryllium-7 concentrations in the air around the world
多亏全面禁止核试验条约组织 即CTBTO
thanks to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, or CTBTO.
我们能够测量全世界空气中的铍-7浓度
In order to monitor for illicit nuclear tests,
为了监控非法核试验
they’ve set up a series of sensors in locations around the world
该组织在世界各地安装了一系列感应器
that detect all sorts of radioactive atoms,
它们能检测出各种放射性原子
including naturally occurring ones like beryllium-7.
包括像铍-7这样天然产生的原子
This work has been mandated by more than 180 nations,
这项工作已获得180多个国家授权
and the data that is collected worldwide is available to researchers
从世界各地收集而来的数据可供
who want to further expand our knowledge about our planet.
希望深入探索地球知识的研究人员使用
If you’re interested, please contact ctbto.org.
感兴趣的朋友 可访问ctbto.org
Thanks to CTBTO for sponsoring this video,
感谢CTBTO赞助本视频
and for helping keep the world safe from nuclear weapons.
维护世界安全 免受核武器的危害
Also, congrats to our latest caption contest winner.
另外 祝贺图片说明文字竞赛的最新赢家
The next image is ready for awesome caption suggestions
下一张图片已经准备好啦
from all levels of Patreons at Patreon.com/MinuteEarth.
敬请访问：Patreon.com/MinuteEarth