It has been almost six-and-a-half-years since the American music group Pearl Jam released an album.

距离美国乐队Pearl Jam发布上一张专辑已经快6年半了。

That changed Friday when the band dropped its eleventh collection, Gigaton.

这一情况在上周五发生了改变，因为乐队推出了第11张专辑《Gigaton》。

Many dictionaries define the word as an explosive force equal to one billion tons of TNT, an industrial explosive.

许多字典将这个词定义为一种相当于10亿吨工业炸药TNT的爆炸力。

Critics have noted that this new album includes hard rock.

评论家们注意到这张新专辑包括了硬摇滚。

Reviews are filled with words like fury, thunder, and hammering.

评论中充满了愤怒、雷声和锤击之类的词语。

Entertainment Weekly calls the music "a gathering storm of guitars."

《娱乐周刊》称这种音乐为“吉他的聚集风暴”。

In other words, there is some loud and wild music on Gigaton.

换句话说，在《Gigaton》里有一些喧闹而狂野的音乐。

But most reviews agree that Pearl Jam continued to experiment with less traditional rock and roll sounds on the album.

但大多数评论都认为，Pearl Jam乐队在专辑中继续尝试不那么传统的摇滚音乐。

One of the new songs, Superblood Wolfmoon, has elements of danceable punk rock music of the early 1980s.

其中一首新歌《超级血狼月》有20世纪80年代早期朋克摇滚舞曲的元素。

But – back to the name of the album – Gigaton can also mean the weight or mass equal to 1 billion tons.

但是，回到专辑的名字，“Gigaton”也可以指10亿吨的重量或质量。

The word is most often used these days in stories related to climate science and environmental destruction.

如今，这个词在与气候科学和环境破坏相关的报道中使用得最多。

In fact, former U.S. President Barack Obama famously defined the word during a 2015 speech about climate change in Alaska and the Arctic.

事实上，美国前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在2015年关于阿拉斯加和北极气候变化的演讲中对这个词下了一个定义，广为人知。

He discussed the huge, yearly loss of ice from Alaska's glaciers:

他讨论了阿拉斯加冰川每年造成的巨大冰损失：

"75 gigatons — that's 75 billion tons — of ice each year," he said.

“每年损失75 gigatons——也就是750亿吨——冰，”他说。

Obama compared the amount to the size of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

奥巴马将这个数字与华盛顿特区的国家广场的大小进行了比较，

as if it were a solid block that stood almost 700 meters tall.

就好像它是一座近700米高的坚固建筑。

"Now imagine 75 of those ice blocks.

“现在想象75个这样的冰块。

That's what Alaska's glaciers alone lose each year."

这就是阿拉斯加冰川每年所损失的。”

And climate change issues are at the heart of Pearl Jam's Gigaton.

而气候变化问题是Pearl Jam乐队《Gigaton》专辑的核心。

The album picture shows icefalls in Svalbard, Norway.

专辑中展示了挪威斯瓦尔巴群岛的冰瀑。

Svalbard is one of the northern-most human settlements in the world.

斯瓦尔巴群岛是世界上最北的人类定居点之一。

Some climate scientists say it is warming faster than any other place.

一些气候科学家说，这里变暖的速度比其他任何地方都要快。

Pearl Jam has been active in environmental causes for most of its 30-year existence.

Pearl Jam乐队在成军的30年里，大部分时间都活跃在环境事业中。

The band and its members have won honors for raising money, climate change educational efforts and more.

该乐队及其成员因筹款、气候变化、教育等方面的努力而获奖。

They also invest money in environmental health projects to reduce the group's carbon footprint.

他们还在环境健康项目上投资，以减少该乐队的碳足迹。

Pearl Jam was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Pearl Jam乐队于2017年进入摇滚名人堂。

Lead singer Eddie Vedder's opening comments were about the environment.

主唱艾迪·维德的开场白是关于环境的。

"So, climate change is real," he said.

“所以，气候变化是真实的，”他说。

"And we... we cannot... cannot be the generation that history will look back upon and wonder,

“而且我们……我们不能……不能让后人想起我们这一代人，会这么想：

why didn't they do everything humanly possible to solve this biggest of crises in our time."

他们为什么不尽一切可能来解决我们这个时代最大的危机呢？“

Gigaton makes a similar appeal to listeners in every song.

Gigaton里的每首歌都对听众做出了类似的呼吁。

As Vedder sings in the song, Quick Escape,

正如维德在《Quick Escape》这首歌中所唱的，

"And we think about the old days, of green grass, sky and red wine.

“我们想起了过去的日子，绿草、天空和红酒。

Should've known, so fragile. And avoided this one-way flight."

若早知，如此脆弱。我们便避免单程飞行。”

I’m Ashley Thompson.

阿什利·汤普森为您播报。