I think some folks aren't aware that NASA is such a big contributor to the Earth sciences.

我觉得有些人没有意识到NASA对地球科学做出了非常重要的贡献。

If you look at what NASA is doing right now,

如果你看看NASA现在正在做的事情，

somewhere probably between two dozen,three dozen satellites,

例如在大约二十四到三十六个卫星之间，

for example,the AIRS instrument is a sounder to look at weather-related data, temperature,clouds,water vapor.

大气红外探测仪作为一个探空器，用来观察与天气有关的数据，如温度、云层和水汽。

I used to work on pollution measurements like TESS that looked at ozone,

我曾经从事污染测量工作，像新太空望远镜TESS，

carbon monoxide,and other gases.

能够观测臭氧、一氧化碳和其它气体。

There's many different things looking at clouds,

有很多不同的设备在观测云雨

looking at rain,looking at all those gases,temperature,water vapor,

和那些气体，温度和水汽，

just many,many different satellites to interrogate the Earth.

还有很多很多不同的卫星在对地球进行着询问工作。

3,2,engine start,1,0,and liftoff of the Delta-2 rocket with OCO-2,

三、二，启动发动机，一、零，Delta-2火箭升空，

tracking greenhouse gas in seek of clues to climate change.

搭载OCO-2，追踪温室气体，寻找气候变化的线索。

So we're measuring carbon dioxide by looking at this reflected sunlight in the atmosphere.

我们通过观察大气中反射的太阳光来测量二氧化碳。

And just a few numbers for your number-loving crowd is when you fly around Earth on OCO-2,

对于那些喜欢研究数字的人来说，只存在着几个数字，

it takes you about 90 minutes to circle the Earth once.

当你乘坐OCO-2绕地球飞行时，绕地球一圈大约需要九十分钟。

So we get about 15,16 cycles a day.

所以我们每天大概会绕行十五或十六圈

We collect that measurement of sunlight,

我们收集太阳光的测量值，

and there's a million measurements per day.

每天会进行一百万次测量。

So we know on an average basis about half of what humans emit is being removed by plants and the ocean.

我们知道，人类排放的二氧化碳平均有一半被植物和海洋所清除吸收掉。

But if you look at the details from year-to-year,

但是如果你仔细看每一年的细节，

you've got these years where it's only 20 percent that's removed.

你会发现这些年只有百分之二十的二氧化碳被吸收掉。

And you've got years where it's 80 percent that's removed.

但是如果你往前看，会发现之前会有百分之八十的二氧化碳被吸收掉。

So one,why is every year so different?

那么首先，为什么每年会产生这么大的不同呢？

What's the driver for that?

是什么导致了这一现象？

And two,if I want to make some estimate of what's gonna happen 30,40,50 years down the road,

第二，如果我想对未来三十年、四十年、五十年将要发生的事情做出一些估计，

I have to really understand the details of these behaviors to make a good prediction for the future.

我必须真正了解这些细节，才能对未来做出良好的预测。

We're motivated to collect the very best scientific data we can,

我们有动力去收集我们所能收集到的最好的科学数据，

and that feeds into scientific inquiry,understanding,better prediction.

而这些数据有助于科学探究，有助于理解和进行更好的预测。

But the ultimate goal is to get that in the hands of the policymakers,

但最终的目标是让决策者掌握这些信息，

because I think all of us want to make sure that policymakers have the best information possible to make the best decisions possible.

因为我认为我们所有人都希望确保决策者掌握尽可能好的信息，从而做出尽可能好的决定。

And that really is what we're trying to feed into.

而这正是我们想要的。

I mean that really motivates me and my work.

这真的激励着我和我的工作。

I think engineering is fun,

我认为工程学很有趣，

but problem solving and having new information that can make positive impact in people's lives is really the most important thing to me.

但是解决问题和拥有新的信息，这些信息能对人们的生活产生积极的影响，对我来说才是最重要的。

So we do have that goal ultimately with what we're doing with our carbon dioxide measurements.

因此，我们在二氧化碳测量中所做的工作的最终目标也是如此。

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