（本节目中的原视频内容拍摄于2023年7月）

本集内容

Bubble Barrier: A new way to fight plastic pollution in waterways 气泡屏障：应对运河水道塑料污染的新方法

文字稿

These bubbles are helping to clean up Amsterdam's canals by tackling plastic pollution in waterways.

这些气泡可以帮助人们清理阿姆斯特丹的运河，因为它们可以处理运河水道中的塑料污染。

Philip Ehrhorn, The Great Bubble Barrier
"Behind me, you see the bubble curtain of our bubble barrier system. We think this is really the last opportunity to capture plastic in our waterways before it flows off into our oceans where it will then start dispersing and some will come back to our beaches, some will sink to the bottom of the ocean. But ultimately, it will start to break down into smaller and smaller pieces."

菲利普·埃尔霍恩       The Great Bubble Barrier 公司
“在我身后的水中，你可以看到我们公司气泡屏障的气泡幕。我们认为这道气泡幕是在运河水道中捕获塑料的最后机会，不然这些塑料就会流入海洋，在海里扩散开来，有些塑料会被冲回海滩，有些则会沉入海底。但最终，塑料会降解为越来越小的微粒。”

Amsterdam has 150 kilometres of canals and lots of plastic gets into them.

阿姆斯特丹有150公里长的运河，有大量的塑料流入其中。

The inventors estimate the barrier stops 86% of that waste from flowing into the river and out to sea.

气泡屏障的发明者们估计，这道屏障能阻止运河水道中86%的塑料垃圾流入河流，进而流入海洋。

Philip Ehrhorn, The Great Bubble Barrier
"So underwater we basically just have a perforated rubber tube. And then we put pressure onto that tube. And then through all the tiny little perforations, small air bubbles will start to rise towards the surface, which create that upwards current that can lift plastic towards the surface, and then guide it towards the catchment system. We see the usual suspects of plastic lids from bottles, cups, fragments of food containers, a lot of tiny little pieces of Styrofoam. This is really everywhere."

菲利普·埃尔霍恩       The Great Bubble Barrier 公司
“气泡屏障的工作原理基本上就是在水下铺设一根穿孔的橡胶管，然后给橡胶管加压。一些小气泡会因压力穿过管子上的微小孔洞，从下而上冒向水面，从而形成上升气流，将塑料冲到水面上，然后引到集水系统中。这里有我们经常看到的塑料垃圾 —— 瓶盖、杯盖，食品包装容器的碎片，还有很多小的聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料颗粒。这种塑料颗粒真的是无处不在。”

A pump keeps the barrier working 24 hours a day. Then the city's barges collect the waste.

一台空气泵使气泡屏障24小时不间断运转。然后市政的垃圾清理船会收走气泡屏障捕获的垃圾。

Aart Breedt Bruijn, Local water authority
"We have three boats going around, and they pick up 42 tonnes of plastics every year. But we can't go around, catch it at all locations, seven days a week. This is one of the places that whatever we miss, it will be filtered out here."

阿尔特·布雷特·布鲁因       Waternet 水务公司
“我们有三条垃圾清理船，每年能捞出42吨塑料。但我们无法一周七天不间断地清理所有的塑料垃圾。而我们漏掉的那些塑料垃圾可以在这个地方被过滤出来。”

Another barrier is planned for Portugal later this year.

该公司计划于今年晚些时候在葡萄牙安装另一个气泡屏障。

This may not stop plastic waste on its own, but it's helping to reveal the extent of the problem.

仅凭气泡屏障也许无法消除塑料垃圾，但它有助于揭示塑料污染问题的严重程度。