你知道嗎? 放飛氣球有趣但有害!

It's just a thing we Do, and it's fun. But it's really, really terrible for the environment.

雖然這只是人們喜歡做的一件有趣的事，但是這對環境來說真的非常糟糕。

When a balloon ascends into the heavens, it doesn't end up on Jupiter.

當一隻氣球升上天空，它不會落到木星上去。

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.

那些五顏六色的乳膠碎片最終可能會掉在太平洋垃圾帶。它們可能會纏住海龜的鰭狀肢，或者被海龜當成水母給吃掉。

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.

大角羊可能會把它們誤認爲是飼料。它們落在農民的牧場時，一頭牛可能被絲帶嗆到。

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.

據美國漁業與野生動物服務局透露，陸地、海洋和天空中的動物都容易誤把泄氣的氣球當成食物，更糟糕的是，它們都有可能被氣球上的絲帶纏住並勒死。

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.

誠然，有些氣球最終會分解掉。許多地方之所以允許放飛氣球，很大程度上是因爲乳膠氣球在技術上是可生物降解的。但是它們也需要長達6個月到4年的時間才能完全分解，而且它們在海水中的降解速度比在陸地上要慢很多。

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.

還有一種邁拉氣球是由美國宇航局級別的尼龍製成的，不能生物降解，因此它們會一直存在於自然界中。

Helium balloons can interfere with airplanes. In Singapore, you have to get permission from a government aviation regulation agency in order to release balloons.

氦氣球會干擾到飛機。在新加坡，你必須得到政府航空管制署的許可才能放飛氣球。