This special edition of our show dives into an ocean of plastic, 本期特别节目关注一片塑料海洋，
masses of waste accumulating on and around some remote islands in the Pacific. 太平洋一些偏远岛屿及周围堆积了大量废弃物。
Synthetic plastic, the kind made by people, has been around since 1907, 人类在1907年发明了合成塑料，
and scientists estimate that almost every piece of it made since then still exists. 科学家预计几乎从那时起生产出的每块合成塑料现在依然存在。
Why? It doesn't break down quickly in the environment. 为什么？因为其没有在环境中迅速分解。
And researchers say that tons of plastic trash around the world find a way to leak into the ocean every year. 研究人员表示，每年全世界有大量塑料垃圾会通过某种方式泄漏进海洋。
It might be picked up on the coast and swept out to sea. 这些垃圾可能被扔在海岸上，然后被卷进大海。
It might find its way from streets to storm drains, carried by rivers to the ocean. 也可能是以某种方式从街上进入排水管道，然后被河流带进海洋。
And you're about to see its impact. 大家将看到这种情况的影响。
Before we get into the problem, though, what can be done about this? 在我们陷入困境之前，有什么解决方法？
It's unlikely and probably unaffordable to take plastics out of the environment altogether. 把所有塑料从环境中清除出去不太可能实现，而且我们也负担不起。
But on a personal scale, people can reduce the amount of plastics they use. 不过从个人层面来说，人们可以减少塑料使用量。
Think water filter bottles or jugs instead of throwaway water bottles. 考虑用净水瓶或水壶来代替一次性水瓶。
Think reusable fabric shopping bags instead of plastic ones. 用可重复使用的布料购物袋来代替塑料袋。
Think reusable steel drink bottles instead of single use plastic cups. 用可重复使用的钢制水瓶来代替一次性塑料杯。
And when it comes to the plastic you do use and need to throw away, think recycling every time. 至于你要使用而且要扔掉的塑料制品，考虑一下回收利用。
This will help keep the materials from slipping into the environment. 这将有助于避免塑料进入环境中。
One image that's hard to forget about how plastic can impact the environment 就塑料会如何影响环境来说，一个很难让人忘掉的情景是，
is what you can see in the stomach of a dead bird on a Pacific island. 你在太平洋岛屿上一只死鸟的胃里所看到的东西。
Every time you throw away a piece of plastic, it can be felt here, in paradise. 你每扔掉一块塑料，这座天堂之地都会受到伤害。
This is Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean, 这里是位于太平洋的中途岛，
one of the most remote places on the planet but one of the hardest hit by pollution. 是地球上最偏远的地方之一，同时也是污染最严重的地方之一。
But it's too late for parts of it. 但是现在为时已晚。
Your coffee cup, water bottle, toothbrush, they may all float miles to end up on the shores, 你扔掉的咖啡杯、水瓶、牙刷在漂流数英里后，最后会来到这片海岸，
inside these birds, the blubber of these seals, and the sand, and invisibly in the waves these dolphins call home. 进入这些鸟类的体内、海豹的脂肪和沙子里，还会隐藏在海豚称为家的海浪中。
And eventually, these plastics may well end up inside you. 而最终，这些塑料可能也进入你的体内。
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