如果我們同時引爆所有核彈會怎樣？：英語精讀講義

Many of our viewers have asked us a very serious question.

我們的許多觀眾問過我們一個非常嚴肅的問題。

What if we made a big pile of bombs and exploded every nuclear weapon in the world all at once? 講解

如果我們把世界上所有的核武器堆成一座大山，然後同時引爆，會發生什麼？

Strangely enough, 表達脈絡

奇怪的是，

we couldn't find a good source to answer this question to our satisfaction. 片語搭配

我們沒能找到一個能令人滿意地回答這個問題的可靠來源。

So, we gathered together a few scientists to calculate what would happen

所以，我們召集了一些科學家來計算會發生什麼，

and find an answer to this extremely important scientific problem

並為這個極其重要的科學問題

once and for all. 慣用語

找到一個最終的答案。

Currently, there are 15,000 nuclear weapons on Earth.

目前，地球上大約有1.5萬枚核武器。

The US and Russia both have around 7,000,

美國和俄羅斯各有大約7000枚，

while France, China, the UK, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea

而法國、中國、英國、巴基斯坦、印度、以色列和北韓

own around 1,000 between them.

總共擁有大約1000枚。

But how much destructive power is this really?

但這到底有多大的破壞力呢？

Let's try to put these numbers into perspective. 慣用語

讓我們試著把這些數字具象化。

On Earth, there are about 4,500 cities or urban areas

在地球上，大約有4500個城市或都會區

with at least 100,000 inhabitants.

擁有至少10萬人口。

Some are bigger than others,

有些城市比其他城市大，

so we'll assume that on average 片語搭配

所以我們假設平均而言

we need three nuclear bombs to completely wipe out one city. 片語動詞

我們需要三枚核彈才能完全摧毀一座城市。

This means we could destroy every single city on planet Earth with our nuclear arsenal, 用詞

這意味著我們用我們的核武庫可以摧毀地球上的每一座城市，

killing more than 3 billion people,

殺死超過30億人，

roughly half of humanity,

也就是大約一半的人類，

in an instant. 片語搭配

在一瞬間完成。

And we'd still have 1,500 nuclear weapons left.

而我們還會剩下1500枚核武器。

Now, that's what an expert would call overkill. 用詞

這就是專家們所說的「火力過剩」。

So, we can say with confidence that we have a lot of nuclear weapons 片語搭配

所以，我們可以自信地說，我們有很多核武器，

and they can do a lot of damage.

它們能造成很大的破壞。

But what if we make a huge pile of all 15,000 bombs and pull the trigger? 慣用語

但如果我們把這1.5萬枚核彈堆成一座巨大的山並按下開關呢？

Let's drop our nuclear pile in the middle of the Amazon rainforest,

讓我們把這堆核彈放在亞馬遜雨林的中心，

just to show nature who's boss. 慣用語

只為了向大自然展示誰才是老大。

Our warheads piled haphazardly fit into a small warehouse.

這些彈頭胡亂堆放起來，剛好能裝滿一個小倉庫。

A typical US warhead has the power of 200,000 tons of TNT,

一枚典型的美國核彈頭威力相當於20萬噸TNT，

so 15,000 warheads would be the equivalent of 3 billion tons of TNT. 片語搭配

所以1.5萬枚彈頭將相當於30億噸TNT。

For scale, 表達脈絡

舉例來說，

this is enough to rebuild the whole island of Manhattan

這足以重建整個曼哈頓島，

with every building and skyscraper using stacks of TNT.

並且讓每一棟建築和摩天大樓都用成堆的TNT建成。

The closest thing we can compare to the energy gathered here is a volcano.

我們能找到與聚集在這裡的能量最接近的比擬物就是火山。

One of the deadliest volcanic eruptions in recorded history took place in 1883 on the island of Krakatoa. 片語動詞

有記錄以來最致命的火山爆發之一，發生在1883年的喀拉喀托島。

The eruption was so powerful that 70% of the island and the surrounding archipelago was destroyed, 文法

那次噴發威力極大，摧毀了該島及周圍群島的70%，

killing tens of thousands of people.

導致數萬人死亡。

Its effects were felt around the world for days after the event.

在事件發生後的幾天裡，全世界都感受到了它的影響。

Our nuclear pile contains 15 times the energy of the Krakatoa volcanic eruption.

我們這堆核彈的能量是喀拉喀托火山爆發能量的15倍。

So, let's finally push the button.

那麼，讓我們最終按下按鈕吧。

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In a second,

在一秒鐘內，

a fireball 50 km across vaporizes everything in its way 慣用語

一個直徑50公里的火球會將其路徑上的一切汽化，

and creates a blast wave that flattens 3,000 square km of forest.

並產生能夷平3000平方公里森林的衝擊波。

Every living thing within 250 km will start to burn.

250公里範圍內的每一個生物都將開始燃燒。

The explosion will be heard literally around the world

爆炸聲將毫不誇張地傳遍全世界，

as the pressure wave circles the Earth tens of times over the next few weeks.

因為壓力波會在接下來的幾週內繞地球旋轉數十次。

Millions of tons of incinerated material are catapulted into the atmosphere.

數百萬噸被焚燒的物質被拋射到大氣中。

The mushroom cloud reaches the outer reaches of the stratosphere, 片語搭配

蘑菇雲直達平流層的最外邊緣，

pushing up against space itself.

甚至擠壓到了太空本身的邊界。

After things have calmed down, 片語動詞

當一切平靜下來後，

a small crater about 10 km across is left in the center of the worst world fires the planet has seen in millennia,

在這場地球幾千年來所見過的最嚴重的世界級火災中心，留下了一個直徑約10公里的小隕石坑，

spreading throughout South America,

大火蔓延整個南美洲，

burning down forests and cities alike. 片語動詞

燒毀了森林，也燒毀了城市。

And now, the unpleasant part begins.

而現在，令人不快的部分開始了。

Extremely radioactive material will kill living things very quickly,

極度具有放射性的物質將迅速殺死生物，

and a large area several kilometers around the crater is now uninhabitable,

彈坑周圍幾公里的大片區域現在已變得不適宜居住，

as is everywhere for hundreds of kilometers downwind. 講解

順風方向幾百公里內的所有地方也是如此。

Much of the fallout is carried high into the atmosphere by the mushroom cloud and carried around the planet. 用詞

大部分的放射性塵埃被蘑菇雲帶到高層大氣中，並在全球範圍內擴散。

The amount of radioactive material in the environment doubles worldwide,

環境中放射性物質的數量在全球範圍內翻倍，

which still isn't civilization-ending,

雖然這仍然不足以毀滅文明，

but we may see more cancer for a while.

但我們在一段時間內可能會看到更多癌症。

A portion of the particles will flow to the edge of space for years

一部分顆粒將飄浮到太空邊緣長達數年，

and cause a nuclear winter that could lower global temperatures by a few degrees for a few years. 文化背景

並引發核冬天，這可能使全球氣溫在幾年內下降幾度。

This explosion was pretty bad if you're in South America and especially Brazil.

如果你在南美洲，尤其是巴西，這次爆炸是非常糟糕的。

The Amazon rainforest is pretty much history, 慣用語

亞馬遜雨林基本上成了歷史，

which is not great.

這可不太妙。

But human life will go on. 片語動詞

但人類的生活還將繼續。

Okay,

那麼，

but what if we explode more nuclear weapons?

但如果我們引爆更多的核武器呢？

Let's suppose humanity decided to mine every bit of uranium on Earth and build as many nuclear bombs as possible. 文法

假設人類決定開採地球上所有的鈾，並製造盡可能多的核彈。

At current usage,

按照目前的使用速度，

it's estimated that there are around 35 million tons of uranium in Earth's crust,

據估計，地殼中大約有3500萬噸鈾，

enough to power human civilization for over 2,000 years

足以維持人類文明超過2000年的運轉，

or to build millions of nuclear warheads.

或者用來製造數百萬枚核彈頭。

For the sake of argument, 表達脈絡

為了便於討論，

let's say we create a pile with the yield of 10 billion Hiroshima bombs, 用詞

假設我們創造出了一堆相當於100億枚廣島原子彈當量的核彈，

which makes up a cube 3 km high 片語動詞

這將形成一個3公里高的立方體，

that contains roughly the energy of the asteroid impact that ended the age of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago,

含有大約相當於6500萬年前終結恐龍時代的小行星撞擊所產生的能量，

except it's also nuclear.

只是它還是核爆。

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Our pile explodes in a fireball stretching so high into the sky that it's visible from half of South America,

我們的這堆核彈爆炸形成了一個直聳雲霄的火球，以至於在南美洲的一半地方都能看到，

with so much power that the ground just splashes like water, 慣用語

它的力量如此之大，以至於地面像水一樣飛濺，

forming a crater 100 km across.

形成了一個直徑100公里的隕石坑。

Bedrock on the scale of whole mountain ranges is vaporized in an instant,

整個山脈規模的基岩在瞬間被汽化，

while thousands of tons of material is catapulted away with such speed that it's ejected into space.

成千上萬噸的物質被以極快的速度拋射到太空中。

Some leaves Earth forever,

其中一部分永遠離開了地球，

while most of it comes raining down as hot, burning debris that heats up the atmosphere to oven-like temperatures, 片語動詞

而大部分則作為熾熱燃燒的碎片如雨般落下，將大氣層加熱到烤箱般的溫度，

killing most big animals and causing firestorms all over the world.

殺死大多數大型動物並在世界各地引發火災風暴。

The Earth's crust rings like a bell struck by global earthquakes stronger than anything in recorded history, 慣用語

地殼就像一口被敲擊的鐘一樣震動，這由比有記錄以來任何地震都要強的全球地震引起，

decimating cities around the world,

摧毀了世界各地的城市，

while hurricane-force winds flatten every single tree in South America,

颶風級的狂風將南美洲的每一棵樹夷為平地，

and wildfires consume the continent.

隨後野火吞噬了整個大陸。

The abundance of hydrocarbons in the Amazon burned to form ash are cast into the atmosphere,

亞馬遜地區燃燒的大量碳氫化合物化為灰燼被拋入大氣，

darkening the sky and keeping sunlight from reaching the surface, 文法

遮蔽了天空，阻止了陽光照射到地表，

dropping temperatures to near freezing worldwide.

使全球氣溫驟降至接近冰點。

The ensuing global winter may last for decades and results in the extinction of every large animal species, 片語搭配

隨之而來的全球冬天可能會持續幾十年，並導致所有大型動物物種滅絕，

humans included. 文法

包括人類。

We could also mention that every corner of the planet is covered with radioactive fallout,

我們可以順便提一下，地球的每個角落都被放射性塵埃覆蓋，

but at this point it doesn't matter that much anymore.

但在此時，這已經不那麼重要了。

This is humanity's extinction event.

這是人類的滅絕事件。

The astronauts aboard the International Space Station get to enjoy a great view for a while, 語氣意圖

國際太空站上的太空人們還能欣賞一會兒壯觀的景象，

but it's not unlikely that the spray of rocks blasted into orbit will destroy the station. 文法

但被炸入軌道的碎岩很有可能會摧毀太空站。

Those lucky enough to be in bunkers or in submarines deep below the ocean surface 文法

那些有幸躲在碉堡裡或深藏海底潛艇中的人們，

may survive the longest before they exhaust their food supplies and have to venture out for more. 講解

可能會存活得最久，直到他們耗盡食物，不得不冒險出去尋找更多補給。

They'll find the world a charred, 文法

屆時他們會發現世界已經變成了一個焦黑、

freezing,

冰冷、

radioactive wasteland.

充滿放射性的廢土。

The planet itself doesn't care at all. 慣用語

這個星球本身根本不在乎這些。

After just a few million years,

僅僅幾百萬年後，

the wounds of the explosions have healed, 慣用語

爆炸帶來的創傷就會癒合，

and life is thriving,

生命將再次繁榮，

arguably even more so than when humans were around. 文法

甚至可能比人類存在時更加生機勃勃。

If intelligent life emerges again,

如果智慧生命再次出現，

it might be able to work out what happened. 片語動詞

他們或許能夠弄清楚發生了什麼。

When they study geology,

當他們研究地質學時，

they'll find a bizarre and very thin layer of rock covering the entire world,

他們會發現一層覆蓋全球、非常薄且怪異的岩層，

enriched in radioactive elements like uranium and the other nasty things it decays to, 講解

裡面富含鈾等放射性元素以及它們衰變產生的其它討厭物質，

mixed with rare Earth metals and plastics that humans used. 用詞

裡面還混雜著稀土金屬和人類使用的塑膠。

They would probably be very,

到了那個時候，他們可能會感到非常、

very confused.

非常困惑。