【推荐2】For millions of years, Arctic sea ice has expanded and shrunk in a rhythmic dance with the summer sun. Humans evolved in this icy world, and civilization relied on it for climatic, ecological and political stability. But now the world comes ever closer to a future without ice. The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that 2019’s minimum arctic sea ice extent was the second lowest on record. Arctic summers could become mostly ice-free in 30 years, and possibly sooner if current trends continue. As the northern sea ice declines, the world must unite to preserve what remains of the Arctic.

Although most people have never seen the sea ice, its effects are never far away. By reflecting sunlight, Arctic ice acts as Earth’s air conditioner. Once dark water replaces brilliant ice, Earth could warm substantially, equivalent to the warming caused by the additional release of a trillion tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere and declining sea ice threatens wildlife, from the polar bear to algae that grow beneath the sea ice, supporting the large amount of marine life.

To avoid the consequences the scientific community should advocate not just for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, but also for protecting the Arctic from exploitation. The Antarctic shows the way. In the 1950s, countries raced to claim the Antarctic continent for resources and military installations. Enter the scientists. The 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year brought together scientists from competing countries to study Antarctica, and countries temporarily suspended their territorial disputes (争议). In 1959, 12 countries signed the Antarctic Treaty to preserve the continent for peaceful scientific discovery rather than territorial and military gain.

Sixty years later, we must now save the Arctic. A new Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) Treaty would protect the Arctic Ocean as a scientific preserve for peaceful purposes only. Similar to Antarctica, MAPS would prohibit resource exploitation, commercial fishing and shipping, and military exercises. So far, only 2 non-Arctic countries have signed MAPS; 97 more need to sign on to enact it into law. Scientists can help—just as they did for the Antarctic—by giving statements of support, asking scientific organizations to endorse (支持) the treaty, communicating the importance of protecting the arctic to the public and policy-makers, and above all, by convincing national leaders to sign the treaty. In particular, Arctic nations must agree that recognizing the arctic as an international preserve is better than fighting over it. In 2018, these countries successfully negotiated a 16-year moratorium on commercial fishing in the Arctic high seas, demonstrating that such agreements are possible.

Humans have only ever lived in a world topped by ice. Can we now work together to protect Arctic ecosystems, keep the northern peace, and allow the sea ice to return?

【推荐3】More than 40 percent of Antarctica’s ice shelves have reduced in the past 25 years, potentially accelerating sea level rise by allowing more landice to flow into the ocean.

    1     They play a critical role in slowing the flow of ice on land into the ocean by essentially acting as a wall and surround nearly the entire coastline of Antarctica. When ice shelves thin or retreat(消退), ice on the land can flow into the ocean more quickly and accelerate sea level rise.

Healthy ice shelves naturally retreat and grow over time. An ice shelf is continuously flowing and advancing but will also lose mass through melting or calving, which is when its front breaks off into the ocean.    2     But the large portion of steadily shrinking ice shelves shows this natural cycle is off.

In West Antarctica, the Getz Ice Shelf experienced some of the biggest ice losses, shedding 1.9 trillion tons of ice over the study period. Most ice shelves in East Antarctica however, increased in volume or stayed the same.     3     Region is protected by a band of cold water at the coast, which helps keep nearby warm water at bay. Even so, the study still showed pockets of shrinking ice shelves, and researchers are still investigating the reasons.     4    

The current ice shelf data set is not long enough for researchers to definitively make climate change connection yet, but it would be a ” remarkable coincidence if the natural variability in ice shelves were just that much larger.     5     But we don’t need to hit it before seeing an effect on the planet.

【推荐1】In the Watertown offices of planning and design firm Sasaki Associates, there’s a wall that asks employees to respond to the question, “What makes you happy?” Standing out among a sea of sticky notes listing things like “yoga” and “my cat,” one post says “CHICKENS.”

At most companies it would sound like a joke, but not here. Sasaki, which has an on-site, employee-run garden featuring 30 different kinds of fruits, vegetables, and herbs, is soon adding a chicken coop (笼子) to the mix, and workers seem delighted.

In 2015, Sasaki partnered with Green City Growers, a Somerville —based company that installs (安装) and helps maintain urban farms and vegetable gardens, to give its employees a chance to grow their own produce and experience urban agriculture firsthand.

“It builds a culture of inclusion and community,” said James Miner, a managing principal at Sasaki, who brought the farming idea to the company’s parking lot. “It’s something people can get behind and enjoy. You can just take 10 to 12 minutes away from your screen, get your fingers dirty, talk to your neighbors, and hopefully harvest something.”

While Miner hoped a handful of employees would be excited to take part in the gardens, he was happily surprised when nearly 40 percent of the Watertown office’s employees jumped onboard.

Completely, funded by Sasaki, the company’s urban gardens are owned and tended by employees, who can sign up to manage crops by themselves or in groups. Workers bring home whatever produce they grow —cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, and scallions are just a few of the foods they’ve had success with.

After the addition of the bright pink chicken coop — which will be designed and 3D —printed in Sasaki’s offices —the employees hope to add a garden and explore beekeeping on the building’s roof. Quite a few closet beekeepers, gardeners, and birdwatchers have emerged from the company’s woodwork to lead the charge on these plans.

“People are looking for a higher sense of meaning at work,” Miner said. “The gardens show what it means to be a part of Sasaki.”

From a distance, the grey cement bridge looks unremarkable. Two tunnels on either side of the Trans-Canada Highway are in semi-circles that end bluntly on the pavement below. But on top, away from passing motorists’ eyes, lies a grassy oasis. Against the odds, pine trees and wildflowers have taken root here, giving the overpass a fringe of greenery. On the edges, wire fencing provides safe passage for wandering animals.

Tony Clevenger has dedicated much of his life to studying the performance of Banff’s wildlife crossing structures. When the first wildlife bridges went up, Clevenger, a researcher with the Western Transportation Institute, was living in Canmore, and recalls the distinctly negative atmosphere that surrounded what many saw as a hair-brained scheme by Parks Canada. Save for a few small crossings in the eastern United States, no one had ever attempted something like this before — and no one believed it would work. Editorials in the local paper scoffed at the “waste of taxpayers’ money” and confidently stated animals would never use the $2 million to $3 million man-made bridges. Others believed wolves would herd their prey into the fence, violently killing them before shocked tourists. 

“This project started in a bad spot. There was a lot of opposition and criticism,” Clevenger says. “It took several years of good data, publishing in scientific peer-reviewed journals, to change people’s minds.” 

Clevenger now has 17 years-worth of data proving the efficacy of the crossings. Among large carnivores, mortality (死亡) rates are 50 to 100 per cent lower along sections of the highway where overpasses and underpasses exist. In those same sections, mortality rates for elk are almost zero, compared to 100 elk-vehicle collisions per year in the mid-1990s. Clevenger’s research has shown that 11 species of large mammals in Banff have used the structures more than 200,000 times, including unexpected species such as red fox, hoary marmot, boreal toads, wolverines, lynx, garter snakes and beavers. 

In 2014, a Montana State University study found that not only are grizzly bears using the crossing structures, but the structures are also helping to maintain genetically healthy populations among the bears that use them. Grizzlies were crossing with enough frequency to ensure populations on either side of the highway weren’t genetically isolated from each other. 

“This is Canada’s biggest conservation success story — it’s the largest highway mitigation complex in the world,” says Clevenger. “You won’t find anything anywhere else in the world close to what we have. We have the most overpasses in one localized area and almost half of all the overpasses in North America.”

【推荐3】Humans are not the only ones adapting to the effects of global climate change. Animals are also adapting to the environmental changes—as some warm-blooded animals are beginning to “shapeshift” their bodies in response to shifts in climate, according to a recent study in Trends in Ecology & Evolution led by Sara Ryding, a researcher at Deakin University in Australia.

In the study, researchers identified new evidence that supports the theory that some warm-blooded animals are experiencing changes to their bodies due to the rising temperatures, resulting in larger legs, ears and beaks in some cases. The researchers noted that according to a principle known as “Allen’s Rule,” warm-blooded animals living in colder climates tend to have smaller appendages (like beaks or legs) than animals of the same species living in warmer climates.

Some of the most convincing evidence of shapeshifting was found in birds in Australia and North America, according to researchers. Certain species of Australian parrots have demonstrated about 4%-10% increase in the size of their beaks since 1871, which researchers attribute to rising temperatures. In North America, the dark-eyed junco (暗眼灯草雀) also has been seen an increase in beak size. Larger beaks help birds dissipate additional body heat more effectively, the study said, which is a useful feature as global temperatures rise.

“A lot of the time when climate change is discussed in mainstream media, people are asking ‘can humans overcome this?’ or ‘what technology can solve this?’” Ryding said in a news release from Cell Press. She said that just like humans, animals also had to adapt to climate changes. Ryding added, “The climate change that we have created is putting a whole lot of pressure on them, and while some species will adapt, others will not.” “Shapeshifting does not mean that animals are coping with climate change and that all is ‘fine,’” Ryding said, “It just means they are evolving to survive it.”