English Life & Culture

双语热点:整个国家“断联”!全球海底电缆有多脆弱?

Sina English

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现今,海底电缆已是全球化和全球通信的基石。百万公里的海底电缆环绕全球,提供各大洲之间的互联网和通信连接。这一关键基础设施遭破坏或中断,可能会对当地、区域甚至全球造成灾难性后果。这正是火山、海啸等灾难后汤加所发生的事情。

The Tonga volcanic eruption has revealed the vulnerabilities in our global telecommunication system

In the wake of a violent volcanic eruption in Tonga, much of the communication with residents on the islands remains at a standstill. In our modern, highly-connected world, more than 95 per cent of global data transfer occurs along fibre-optic cables that criss-cross through the world’s oceans.

在南太平洋岛国汤加发生猛烈的火山喷发后,岛上居民的大部分通信处于停滞状态。在我们这个高度互联的现代世界中,超过 95% 的全球数据传输是通过穿越海底的纵横交错的光缆进行的。

Breakage or interruption to this critical infrastructure can have catastrophic local, regional and even global consequences. This is exactly what has happened in Tonga following Saturday’s volcano-tsunami disaster. But this isn’t the first time a natural disaster has cut off critical submarine cables, and it won’t be the last.

对这一关键基础设施的破坏或中断可能会对当地、区域甚至全球造成灾难性后果。而这种后果正是此次汤加遭受火山海啸灾难后所要经历的又一个冲击。但这不是自然灾害第一次切断重要的海底电缆,也不会是最后一次。

What exactly has happened in Tonga?

汤加海底电缆到底怎么了?

Tonga was only connected to the global submarine telecommunication network in the last decade. Its islands have been heavily reliant on this system as it is more stable than other technologies such as satellite and fixed infrastructure.

汤加在过去十年才连接到全球海底电信网络。该岛国严重依赖海底电缆通信系统,因为它比卫星和固定基础设施等其他技术更稳定。

The situation in Tonga right now is still fluid, and certain details have yet to be confirmed – but it seems one or more volcanic processes (such as the tsunami, submarine landslide or other underwater currents) have snapped the 872km long fibre-optic cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world. The cable system was not switched off or disconnected by the authorities.

汤加目前的情况仍然不稳定,某些细节还有待证实。但汤加连接世界其他国家和地区的关键——一条长872公里海底电缆——似乎被一个或多个火山活动(如海啸、海底滑坡或其他水下洋流)切断了。

This has had a massive impact. Tongans living in Australia and New Zealand can’t contact their loved ones to check on them. It has also made it difficult for Tongan government officials and emergency services to communicate with each other, and for local communities to determine aid and recovery needs.

这个故障造成的影响是巨大的。居住在澳大利亚和新西兰的汤加人无法联系到他们的亲人了解他们的情况。这也使汤加政府官员和紧急服务部门难以相互沟通,当地社区也难以确定救助需求。

Telecommunications are down, as are regular internet functions – and outages keep disrupting online services, making things worse. Tonga is particularly vulnerable to this type of disruption as there is only one cable connecting the capital Nuku'alofa to Fiji, which is more than 800km away. No inter-island cables exist.

海底网络电缆和电话信号中断,互联网信号亦如此,这严重影响了其在线服务,使情况变得更糟。汤加特别容易受到这类干扰的影响,因为汤加首都努库阿洛法和800 多公里外的斐济只有一条电缆连接,而两岛间没有其他电缆连接。

Risks to submarine cables elsewhere

海底电缆风险不只汤加有

Cables are laid in the shortest (that means cheapest) distance between two points on the Earth’s surface. They also have to be laid along particular geographic locations that allow easy placement, which is why many cables are clustered in choke points.

电缆铺设在地球表面两点之间最短的距离内,这么做是因为成本较低。它们还必须沿着便于放置的特定地理位置铺设,这就是许多电缆聚集在一些“咽喉要道”的原因。

Some good examples of choke points include the Hawaiian islands, the Suez Canal, Guam and the Sunda Strait in Indonesia. Inconveniently, these are also locations where major natural hazards tend to occur.

处于这些“咽喉要道”的地方如夏威夷群岛、苏伊士运河、关岛和印度尼西亚的舜达海峡。但麻烦的是,这些地区也往往是重大自然灾害发生的地方。

Once damaged it can take days to weeks (or even longer) to repair broken cables, depending on the cable’s depth and how easily accessible it is. At times of crisis, such outages make it much harder for governments, emergency services and charities to engage in recovery efforts.

一旦被损坏,人们可能需要几天到几周,甚至更长的时间来修复电缆,这取决于电缆的深度和容易接近的程度。在危机时刻,这样的停电使政府、紧急服务机构和慈善机构更难参与相关恢复工作。

Many of these undersea cables pass close to or directly over active volcanoes, regions impacted by tropical cyclones and/or active earthquake zones.

其中许多海底电缆靠近活火山或直接经过活火山,活火山是受热带气旋和/或活跃地震区影响的地区。

In many ways, Australia and New Zealand are also very vulnerable (as is the rest of the world). Australia is connected to the global cable network by a very small number of connection points, from just Sydney and Perth.

不仅是汤加,就连澳大利亚、新西兰等国家和地区的海底电缆也都十分脆弱(世界其他地区也是如此)。例如澳大利亚只从悉尼和珀斯两地通过极少数连接点连接到全球通信网络。

In regards to Sydney and the eastern seaboard of Australia, we know large underwater landslides have occurred off the coast of Sydney in the past. Future events could damage the critical portion of the network which links to us.

此前悉尼海岸曾发生过大型水下山体滑坡。未来,类似事件也很有可能破坏当地网络的关键“大动脉”。

How do we manage risk going forward?

如何管理未来的风险?

Given the vulnerability of the network, the first step to mitigating risk is to undertake research to quantify and evaluate the actual risk to submarine cables in particular places on the ocean floors and to different types of natural hazards. For example, tropical cyclones (hurricanes/typhoons) occur regularly, but other disaster such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions happen less often.

鉴于海底电缆通信网络的脆弱性,降低风险的第一步是进行研究,以量化和评估海底电缆对于海底特定地方和不同类型自然灾害的实际风险。例如,热带气旋(飓风/台风)经常发生,但地震和火山喷发等其他灾害发生的频率较低。

Currently, there is little publicly available data on the risk to the global submarine cable network. Once we know which cables are vulnerable, and to what sorts of hazards, we can then develop plans to reduce risk.

目前,有关全球海底电缆网络面临风险的公开数据很少。一旦了解了哪些电缆易受攻击,以及哪些危险类型易受影响,各国就可以制定降低风险的计划。

At the same time, governments and the telecommunication companies should find ways to diversify the way we communicate, such as by using more satellite-based systems and other technologies.

与此同时,政府和电信公司应该想方设法确保通信方式多样化,例如通过使用更多的基于卫星的系统和其他技术,从而减少对海底电缆通信系统的依赖。

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