You get some idea how dependent we are onoxygen

你明白了我们如何依赖氧气

when you see how it affects something as basic ashuman reproduction.

你会看到氧气影响一些比如人类繁殖这类基本事情

This is the village of Aruya, perched high in the Andes.

在阿鲁亚，有一些乡村栖息于安第斯山脉

It's one of a string of villages in this area

这是这里一连串的山村中的一个

that are some of the highest in the world.

有些是世界上最高的村庄

Many are close to 10,000 feet above sea level.

许多乡村海拔超过四千米

Andean peoples have lived here for generations.

安第斯人民在这些高海拔地区开垦了超过一千年

But when the first Spanish colonists arrived,

但是当第一批西班牙人到来的时候

they faced a problem, they couldn't have children.

他们要面对不少切实问题他们没有孩子

Baby after baby miscarried.

一个接一个孩子都流产了

It took almost 50 years

花了五十年的时间

before any of the immigrant Spanish women gave birth.

才有西班牙移民生下小孩

The problem may have been a lack of oxygen.

问题可能在于空气太稀薄

The newly arrived Spanish, like most people,

新来的西班牙人，大多数人

were used to breathing air at sea level, which is 21% oxygen.

过去都在含有百分之二十一氧气的海平面呼吸

But up here, the oxygen levels are effectively almost halved.

但是在这里，氧气水平几乎只有一半

The An deans had adapted to deal with this

安第斯人适应了这一切

but the Spanish struggled.

但是西班牙移民很顽强