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英語部分為編者翻譯，編者英語四級水平，如有錯(cuò)誤，純屬必然，歡迎指正，共同進(jìn)步。

As more heat-trapping carbon dioxide continues to concentrate in our atmosphere — and to wreak havoc on our climate — scientists are desperately seeking solutions. Some are looking for ways to limit the greenhouse gas we spew from smokestacks, tailpipes and the like; others, whose efforts remain largely under the radar, are aiming to thin the layer of gas that already blankets our planet.

隨著越來越多的溫室氣體二氧化碳持續(xù)富集在我們的大氣中 - 并且對我們的氣候造成嚴(yán)重破壞 - 科學(xué)家們也在拼命尋求解決方案。有些人正在尋找限制我們從煙囪、排氣管中排放溫室氣體的方法；另一些人，他們更多的是在雷達(dá)后努力，目的是減少已經(jīng)覆蓋我們星球的溫室氣體。

One group of researchers in Canada, taking the latter approach, may have hit upon a novel yet ancient idea: harness and accelerate the carbon-absorbing power of rocks.

加拿大的這組研究人員屬于后者，他們有一個(gè)新穎而古老的想法：利用并加速巖石吸收碳的能力。

"We have to learn how to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, because we've already put too much into it," said Roger Aines, a senior scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's energy program, who was not involved in the research. "Just making everything electric. Just making everything renewable. We have to do that, but that's not enough."

“我們必須研究如何從大氣中去除二氧化碳，因?yàn)槲覀円呀?jīng)過多地排放了二氧化碳，”勞倫斯利弗莫爾國家實(shí)驗(yàn)室能源項(xiàng)目的資深科學(xué)家羅杰艾因斯說，他沒有參與這項(xiàng)研究。 “將一切電氣化，將一切循環(huán)起來。我們必須這樣做，但這還不夠。”

Throwing rocks at the problem, in other words, could make a significant dent.

用石頭去解決問題，或許會(huì)很不一樣。

The oceans, soils and trees aren't the only tools nature employs to capture and store away carbon dioxide. Minerals soak up the gas, too. Just one cubic kilometer of rock laden with magnesite and other carbonate minerals — about the size of a medium-sized mountain — could lock down a billion tons of carbon dioxide.

海洋、土壤和樹木并不是大自然用來捕獲和儲(chǔ)存二氧化碳的唯一工具。礦物質(zhì)同樣也吸收氣體。僅僅一立方公里的富含菱鎂礦和其他碳酸鹽礦物的巖石 - 大約相當(dāng)于一座中型山的大小 - 就可以固定十億噸二氧化碳。

But this occurs over extremely long time frames — far too slow to keep up with the rate at which the world emits carbon dioxide, which is estimated to be about 40 billion tons a year.

但這種情況發(fā)生在極長的時(shí)間尺度內(nèi) - 這個(gè)速度太慢而無法跟上我們排放二氧化碳的速度，二氧化碳每年的排放量估計(jì)約為400億噸。

Now, the Canadian team has devised a recipe to speed up the formation of magnesite, or magnesium carbonate, from hundreds or thousands of years in nature down to just 72 days in the lab. The key ingredient: tiny polystyrene microspheres — essentially latex beads — coated with charged molecules that help magnesium ions bond with carbonate ions to create magnesite.

現(xiàn)在，加拿大的團(tuán)隊(duì)已經(jīng)設(shè)計(jì)出一種配方，其可以加速菱鎂礦或碳酸鎂的形成，從自然環(huán)境中數(shù)百年到數(shù)千年縮短到實(shí)驗(yàn)室中的72天。其關(guān)鍵成分是涂有帶電分子的微聚苯乙烯顆粒（本質(zhì)上是乳膠顆粒），其可以幫助鎂離子與碳酸根離子結(jié)合形成菱鎂礦。

Compared to other carbonate minerals common near the Earth's surface, magnesite is particularly reluctant to form, and is therefore an apt target for the chemical cajoling. And once formed, the mineral is very stable. One ton of magnesite securely holds about a half ton of carbon dioxide.

與地球表面常見的其他碳酸鹽礦物相比，菱鎂礦特別不易形成，因此是化學(xué)固碳的合適目標(biāo)。一旦形成，礦物質(zhì)就非常穩(wěn)定。一噸菱鎂礦可以牢固地容納約半噸二氧化碳。

"It's a great way of storing carbon dioxide for a long period of time," said Ian Power, an environmental geochemist at Trent University in Canada, who presented his team's research at the Geochemical Society's Goldschmidt Conference in Boston on Aug. 14.

“這是長期儲(chǔ)存二氧化碳的好方法，”加拿大特倫特大學(xué)的環(huán)境地球化學(xué)家伊恩·鮑爾說，他于8月14日在波士頓地球化學(xué)學(xué)會(huì)的Goldschmidt會(huì)議上展示了其團(tuán)隊(duì)的研究成果。

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