那些年飞走的气球
在一个阳光明媚的日子里，你释放了一个氦气球，并看着它神奇地漂浮在天空中。我敢肯定，这时的你会感到一丝兴奋与惊喜，还有对自由的渴望。这就像观看21响礼炮一样，只是更安静。这也像中国人放飞孔明灯一样，只是在白天而已。在美国，人们为纪念仪式、盛大开幕式、生日聚会和游行释放了大量的气球。虽然这只是美国人做的一件有趣的小事，但是这对环境来说真的非常糟糕。
When a balloon ascends into the heavens, it doesn't end up on Jupiter. You know this. Although a helium balloon can rise to altitudes of five miles (8 kilometers) into Earth's atmosphere, it's got to come back down eventually, and when it does, it wreaks some havoc. That colorful little scrap of latex may end up living in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It could get tangled up in the flippers of a sea turtle or be eaten by one who mistakes it for a jellyfish. Or a bighorn sheep could mistake it for forage, or it might land in some farmer's pasture, where a cow chokes on the string. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, animals of the land, sea and air are equally susceptible to mistaking deflated balloons for food, or, arguably worse, getting tangled up and strangled by the ribbon attached to it.
即使氦气球一直向上升，它最终也不会落到木星上去。尽管氦气球可以升到距地面8千米的高度，但它最终还是会回来的，一旦它降落了，就会造成一些破坏。那些五颜六色的乳胶碎片最终可能会掉在北太平洋环流中，它们可能会缠住海龟的鳍状肢，或者被一只把它们当成水母的海龟吃掉。当它们落在陆地上时，一只大角羊可能会把它们误认为是饲料。当它们落在农民的牧场时，气球上的丝带很可能会勒死一头牛。美国鱼类和野生动物管理局的数据显示，陆地、海洋和空中的动物都很容易把气球误认为是食物，更糟糕的是，它们都有可能被气球上的丝带缠住并勒死。
And it's true, some balloons do break down eventually. A big part of the reason releasing balloons is permitted in so many places is that latex balloons are technically biodegradable — it takes one between six months and four years to break down completely, though they deteriorate in seawater more slowly than they do on land. Mylar balloons, on the other hand, are made out of NASA-grade nylon and are not biodegradable, so they can hang out in the environment indefinitely.
上述内容都是真的，气球的确会破裂并带来很大的危害。许多地方之所以允许放飞气球，很大程度上是因为乳胶气球在技术上是可生物降解的。但是它们也需要长达6个月到4年的时间才能完全分解，而且它们在海水中的降解速度比在陆地上要慢很多。还有一种迈拉气球是由NASA级别的尼龙制成的，不能生物降解，因此它们会一直存在于自然界中。
So, if balloons in the environment are so bad, why isn't releasing them outlawed? Well, in many states and municipalities, it is. And a few places in the U.K. and Australia have banned the release of balloons of all kinds. In the U.S., California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia and some cities like Louisville, Kentucky, and Huntsville, Alabama have put the kibosh on balloon releases. But the thing about helium balloons is they don't care about our random geographic boundaries. They land wherever they want to land.
如果环境中的气球是如此的糟糕，为什么释放它们不是违法的呢?其实在许多地方，释放它们都是违法的。英国和澳大利亚的一些地方已经禁止了各种气球的释放。在美国，加利福尼亚、康涅狄格、佛罗里达、田纳西和弗吉尼亚，气球的释放都让人感到不安。
Hundreds of balloons drifting slowly into the wild blue yonder might give you the feels, but is a brief display of color and zero confetti cleanup at your party worth a bunch of dead birds and turtles and many beaches full of trash? Absolutely not. But, on a related note, the world may be running out of helium soon anyway — giving the turtles and the birds a reason to throw their own great big party, sans balloons.
看着数以百计的气球慢慢地飘向远处的海洋可能会让你思绪万千，但是你的派对真的值得让一群鸟儿和乌龟来用生命买单吗?绝对不行。而且，再这样下去，这个世界可能很快就会耗尽氦气。请让海龟和鸟儿可以举办它们自己的派对，没有气球的那种。
