【推荐1】Researchers have discovered a unique group of polar bears who’ve survived in the absence of sea ice: by hunting from the ice that breaks off glaciers (冰川). The bears live in southeast Greenland and are a genetically(基因地) distinct subpopulation, which suggests they’ve been separated from other polar bears for around 200 years, according to a paper published this week in Science.

“The findings show us how some polar bears might survive under climate change. but I don’t think glacier habitat is going to support huge numbers of polar bears,” said Kristin Laidre, a polar research scientist at the University of Washington. “There’s just not enough of it. We still expect to see large declines in polar bears across the Arctic under climate change.”

When temporary ice sheets form on the ocean during each fall’s freeze, the bears walk across it in search of food, often by sitting next to gaps in the ice and waiting for seals to come up for air. When the ice melts (融化) in spring, polar bears typically survive between 100 and 180 days without food until the ice forms again. As temperatures rise, however, that period is becoming longer, which is harming the bears and pushing them toward starvation. The bears living in southeast Greenland go even longer without sea ice—around 250 days. But they’ve been able to continue bunting during that period by using large pieces of ice that break off from glaciers into the water.

There are roughly 26, 000 polar bears remaining across the globe. Though the southeast Greenland bears have adapted to surviving in their surroundings, rising temperatures may ultimately cause their glacial ice to shrink, too. As Steve Armstrup, a scientist with Polar Bears International says, the study “is not some kind of effective rescue for polar bears”. While the southeast Greenland bears are able to hunt through glacial ice today, he says, “In the future, that will change unless we arrest the rise of global greenhouse gases.”

【推荐2】A study by Stockholm University and ETH Zurich scientists found that all rainwater on Earth is unsafe to drink due to the levels of PFAS (全氟烷基物质), or poisonous chemicals. These PFAS or poisonous chemicals are becoming a part of a future reality that humans must, unfortunately, learn to live with. PFAS were first found in shampoo, packaging, and even makeup but have begun to spread into our Earth. A professor at Stockholm University and lead author of the study, Ian Cousins noted, “There is nowhere on Earth where-the rain would be safer to drink, according to the measurements that we have taken.”

Using their study’s data, Cousins and his team illustrated that chemical levels in rainwater from remote areas are unsafe and above the US Environmental Protection. Agency’s (EPA) drinking water guidelines. Within this study, they took rainwater samples, from extremely remote areas like Antarctica or the Tibetan plateau. Although these areas are originally known as being remote and untouched, their PFAS levels are around 14 times higher than the US EPA guidelines.

PFAS have been associated with a range of serious health problems including cancer, childhood behavioral and learning problems, immune system disorders, and high cholesterol (胆固醇): Cousins continued by saying, “Based on the latest US guidelines for PFOA (全氟辛酸) in drinking water, rainwater everywhere would be judged unsafe to drink. Although in the industrial world we don’t often drink rainwater, many people around the world expect it to be safe to drink and it supplies many of our drinking water sources.”

Managing Director of the Food Packaging Forum, Dr Jane Muncke, said, “The vast amounts that it will cost to reduce PFAS in drinking water to levels that are safe based on current scientific understanding need to be paid by the industries producing and using these chemicals. The time to act is now.”

【推荐3】What do the following animals have in common? Pandas, rhinoceros, Mexican burrowing snakes, pink pigeons and small tooth sawfish.

They are all endangered animals! Animals become endangered for a variety of reasons. Sadly, humans are behind every one of them!

For centuries, humans have hunted elephants for their tusks, and killed tigers for their beautiful fur, caught fish for food. While we still have elephants, tigers, and fish in the wild, we cannot say the same about many others that have simply died out!

Year 1505 was a dreadful turning point in the natural history of the island of Mauritius — European sailors discovered this beautiful island in the Indian Ocean and brought dogs, pigs, monkeys with them. The arrival of humans and those introduced animal species were bad news for dodo birds. About 50 pounds and flightless, dodo birds did not have any natural enemies until then. They picked fruit fallen from trees and built their nests on the ground. Shortly after humans set foot on Mauritius, however, dodo birds realized that they were in big trouble — men killed them for their meat, and those introduced animal species destroyed their nests and ate their eggs. The effects of excessive hunting and foreign species drove dodo birds to first become much fewer and then die out. The last dodo bird was killed in 1681.

Humans and animals have always competed for land and other natural resources. We clear an area of a forest for farming. We cut down trees and use wood to build beautiful houses. We build reservoirs to make sure that we have enough water to use. At the same time that we are trying to make our life comfortable, we destroy the habitats of wild animals.

More than once we have seen on television that rescue workers are trying their best to save seabirds in spilled oil. More than once we have heard about how emissions of carbon dioxide (二氧化碳的排放) and other gases have raised the earth's temperature and caused global warming. Pollution has a serious and long lasting effect. If we choose to do nothing and continue to pollute our planet Earth, our next generations will have to face an Earth without birds singing and beasts roaring.