We have become accustomed to the now mundane image of the Earth as seen from the first expedition to the moon-a beautiful blue sphere decorated by swirls of fleecy clouds. It is spectacularl natural object; at that distance, no overt signs of human activity are visible. But this image, now repeatedly thrust before us in photographs, posters, and advertisements, is misleading Even if the global warming catastrophe never materializes, and the ozone hole remains an esoteric, polar phenomenc, already human activity has profoundly altered global conditions in ways that may not register on the camera. Everywhere in the world, there is now radioactivity that was not there before, the dangerou residue of nuclear explosion and the nuclear power industry; noxious flames of smog blanket over major cities; carcinogenic synthetic pesticides have been detected in mother's milk all over the world; great forests have been cut down, destroying ecological niches and their resident species.
自从人类第一次登月起，我们就一直习惯于如今这平常无奇的地球景象一个被旋涡状白云装点的、漂亮的蓝色星球。这真是个壮观的自然天体。隔着么远的距离，人类活动的明显痕迹无法被察觉，但这种曾无数次展现在我们面前的照片、海报和广告上的景象都是误导。即使全球变暖这种灾害永不发生，即使臭氧层空洞仍然只是一种深奥的极地现象，人类活动已极大地改变了全球条件，这些也许是用照相机拍摄不出来的。世界的每个角落都出现了由核爆炸和核能工业的危险剩余物质所产生的辐射现象，那是从前不存在的；烟雾的有害烈焰笼罩在世界大都市的上空；各地都有报道发现母乳中有致癌的合成杀虫剂的成分；大片大片的森林被砍伐，摧毁了生态小环境，也毁灭了生存在其中的物种。
Clearly, we need to understand the interaction between our two worlds: the natural ecosphere, the thin global skin of air, water, and soil and the plants and animals that live in it, and the man-made technosphere-powerful enough to deserve so grandiose a term. The technosphere has become sufficiently large and intense to alter the natural processes that govern the ecosphere. And in turn, the altered ecosphere threatens to flood our great cities, dry up our bountiful farms, contaminate our food and water, and poison our bodies-catastrophically diminishing our ability to provide for basic human needs. The human attack on the ecosphere has instigated an ecological counterattack. The two worlds are at war.
显而易见，我们需要认识这两个世界间的相互作用：一个是稀薄的地表空气、水、土壤和植物、动物们赖以存在的生态圈；另一个是人造技术圈它庞大的力量完全配得上这一称号。如此庞大和强烈的技术圈已经改变了控制生态圈的自然进程。接着，被改变了的生态圈也已淹没我们的城市，耗尽我们丰厚的农场资源，污染我们的食物和水源，并毒害我们的身体使我们削弱了供应人类基本需求的能力。人类对生态圈侵害已遭到生态圈的反击两大世界正处于交战状态。
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