lifting the water and the surfer up and down in the process. |
拱起水面,冲浪者跟着上上下下 |
In effect, the ocean's just transferring the energy of the waves |
实际上 海洋只是在传递海浪的能量 |
to the water in front of it. |
传递给前面的海浪 |
And this movement of energy is so efficient, |
这种能量运动非常高效 |
it would carry on pretty much forever if the land didn't get in the way. |
如果没有陆地挡住去路 它可能永远进行下去 |
When the wave arrives at the shore, the water becomes shallow, |
海浪到达海岸时,水变的很浅 |
so the base of the wave slows down. |
所以浪底慢下来 |
But the top runs on ahead until the inevitable happens. |
但是浪尖仍然向前 直到发生不可避免的现象 |
The peak topples over, creating the breaking wave. |
浪尖翻转,形成了碎浪 |
This is the moment |
就在这一刻 |
when the energy captured from the wind in the distant mid-ocean |
海洋遥远中部从风中捕捉到的能量 |
is finally unleashed. |
才终于得以释放 |
The largest waves crash down with a force of a four-ton weight |
最大的浪拍打下来 力量可以达到4吨 |
landing on your chest. |
拍打在你的胸膛上 |
Without water around you to absorb the blow, it would be fatal. |
如果周围没有水来吸收能量 那浪花将是致命的 |
But there is another far greater source of energy that the oceans capture. |
但是海洋还会捕捉 一种更巨大的能量源 |
The energy that creates the tides comes from our nearest neighbour in space. |
制造潮汐的能量来自 我们在太空中最近的邻居 |
The Moon's gravity tugs at the water in our oceans |
随着地球在月球下方旋转 |
while the Earth rotates beneath it. |
月球的重力吸引着海洋中的水 |
But the Moon doesn't always act alone. |
但是月球不总是独自发挥作用 |
on just a few days of the year, the Moon and the Sun line up together |
每年有那么几天 月球和太阳会在一条直线上 |
and their combined gravitational pull unleashes an extraordinary phenomenon. |
它们共同的万 有引力会带来异常的现象 |
I'm at Arari, a small town in the Amazon basin, |
我现在是在阿拉里 亚马逊盆地一个小镇子 |
and to be honest... Whoa! Whoa! ...I'm wondering why. |
说实话…喔,喔 我真不知道为什么 |
(LAUGHING) |
哈哈 |
I've flown halfway around the world to be covered in mud |
我飞了半个地球就为了浑身是泥 |
and probably rained upon. And all for an ocean phenomenon |
也许还会淋雨 都是因为一个海洋现象 |
that I'm not entirely sure is going to happen, but if it does, |
我也不肯定会发生什么事 但是如果发生了 |
I'm going to get to see tides behave in a quite spectacular way. |
我会看到一次别开生面的潮汐现象 |
on just a couple of days each year, |
每年只发生几次 |
unusually large tides in the Atlantic ocean |
大西洋上无比巨大的潮汐 |
get funnelled into the mouths of the local rivers. |
会涌进当地河流里 |
As the tide rolls inland |
潮水向内陆侵袭 |
and gets forced into the increasingly shallow water of the river, |
不得不流入越来越浅的河水里 |
it turns into a single, powerful, surging wave. |
它就会变成一股力量巨大 向上涌动的海浪 |
A tidal bore. |
潮水钻孔 |
This tide is a bit unpredictable and I'm not exactly sure |
这次涨潮出乎意料 我并不确信 |
what's going to happen, but what we expect to happen |
什么时候会发生 但是我们期待会发生的 |
is for a wall of water to pour up from over that direction. |
是一面水墙从那个方向涌过来 |
Now what should happen is that we should hear it first |
我们首先要听到 |
'cause you hear a little rumbling. |
因为你会听到隆隆声 |
Is that it coming? |
要来了吗? |
I think that's it. You can just see along the horizon there |
我想是的 你们可以从地平线上看到 |
a little low froth. |
很低的泡沫 |
Oh, my. It's the whole width of the river. |
哦,天啊,延伸至整条河 |
We'd better go now, yeah? Okay. |
我们最好了,是不是?好 |
It's over there. I know. I can see it. |
就在那里,我知道,我看得到 |
Check it out! |
快来看看 |
The most surprising thing, |
最让人惊奇的事物 |
the most worrying thing, is the speed of that wave. |
最让人担忧的是这个浪的速度 |
This is a pretty fast boat and we're just staying ahead of it. |
这艘船很快 我们也只能被它紧逼 |
This is mayhem. |
真是狼籍 |
The energy of the tide is phenomenal. |
潮水的能量巨大 |
It can roll inland for tens of kilometres. |
可以流进内陆蔓延几十公里 |
We normally think of rivers flowing out to the sea, but the power of |
我们总以为河水会流到海洋里 |
the tidal surge here means that it goes upstream. |
但是潮水涌起意味着它在向上游走 |
I mean, this channel is about... Is it 400 metres wide? |
我是说,这个河道… 有没有400米宽? |
But the force of the tide makes the river run backwards. |
但是潮水的力量让河水向后流了 |
Woo-hoo! Look at that! |
喔,快看! |
That wave is probably going to travel for 25 kilometres |
那个浪可能要一直奔腾25公里 |
and it's going to move about 400,000 cubic metres of water every minute. |
每一分钟会移动400000立方米的水 |
That's four times the flow of the Niagara Falls. |
是尼亚加拉大瀑布水量的四倍 |
The oceans capture, store and deliver energy |
海洋捕捉,储存,传递着能量 |
whether it comes from the wind |
不管是来自风 |
or the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun. |
还是来自月球和太阳的万有引力 |
The energy is turned into a powerful force |
这个能量变成了一股巨大的力量 |
that has carved the coastline of every continent. |
雕刻出了每个大洲的海岸线 |
This is a battle for territory between land and sea |
这是陆地和大海之间的地盘之战 |
that's been fought for billions of years. |
已经进行了40亿年了 |
on the northwest coast of America |
美国的西北海岸 |
is one of the most dramatic coastlines created by this age-old conflict. |
就是这场持久冲突形成的 最壮观的海岸线 |
But 1 2 million years ago, this coastline would have looked very different. |
但是1200万年前 这条海岸线与今日完全不同 |
Even though the cliffs are made from basalt, a particularly tough rock, |
虽然悬崖是玄武岩形成的 一种非常坚硬的岩石 |
over the years, the sea has attacked every line of weakness. |
但是这么多年 大海袭击了每条脆弱的海岸线 |
Today, only the hardest outcrops are left behind. |
今天只剩下了最坚硬的岩层 |
They're called sea stacks. |
这就是所谓的海蚀柱 |
But even they will eventually be ground away. |
但是它们也将慢慢地被磨掉 |
Closer to home, on the east coast of England, |
离家不远,在英格兰的东海岸 |
where the sea is faced with a less formidable opponent, |
在那里大海的敌人不是很强大 |
the whole process happens terrifyingly quickly. |
整个过程发生的很快,让人害怕 |
Here the cliffs are just loose soil. |
在这里,悬崖不过是松散的土壤 |
This is what the sea destroyed in just three years. |
这就是大海在仅仅3年里破坏掉的 |
over the last 500 years, |
在过去的500年里 |
the coast has retreated more than a kilometre. |
海岸已经向后退了1公里 |
But destroying coastlines |
但是破坏海岸线 |
is only the most evident demonstration of the sea's great power. |
不过是大海伟大力量最显著的表现 |
The oceans influence our planet |
海洋对我们星球的影响 |
in many far more subtle and profound ways. |
更多的是以微妙深奥的方式进行 |
(THUNDER RUMBLING) |
(雷声轰鸣) |
They drive the climate. |
它们改变着气候 |
They deliver oxygen to our atmosphere. |
将氧气输送到大气层 |
And below the ocean's surface is an extraordinary network of currents |
在海洋表面以下 是一片独一无二的洋流体系 |
that are critical to the wellbeing of all life on Earth. |
这对地球上所有的 生命良性发展起到关键作用 |
But four and a half billion years ago, when our planet was born, |
但是450亿年前,地球刚刚诞生 |
it was just a molten inferno. |
它不过是一个正在融化的地狱 |
There was no place for any water at all. |
根本没有水存在的可能 |
Yet the ingredients needed to create water were there, |
但是创造水的成分都存在 |
locked away deep inside the Earth when the planet formed. |
在地球形成的时候 被紧紧压在了地球里面 |
As the first volcanoes erupted, |
第一次火山爆发的时候 |
one of the gases that billowed out was steam. |
第一股爆 发出来的气流中就有蒸汽 |
And as the planet cooled, it formed clouds. |
等到星球冷却下来就形成了云 |