【推荐2】A Wonder Plant

Every rainy season, the mountain gorillas (大猩猩) of Central Africa migrate to the foothills and lower parts of the Virunga Mountains to feed on bamboo. For the 650 or so that remain in the wild, it’s a vital food source.     1     Gorillas aren’t the only locals keen on bamboo. For the people near the mountains, it’s a valuable raw material used for building houses and making household items. But in the past 100 years, resources have come under increasing pressure as populations have exploded and large areas of bamboo forest have been cleared to make way for farms.

    2     All over the world, the ranges of many bamboo species appear to be reducing, endangering the people and animals that depend upon them. A report published by the UN Environment Programme has revealed just how profound our ignorance of global bamboo resources is.

Bamboo is a wonder plant. Its ecological role extends beyond providing food and habitat for animals. Bamboo tends to grow in stands made up of groups of individual plants that grow from root systems. Its extensive root systems are crucial in preventing water loss and soil erosion.    3     In India 25% of paper produced is made from bamboo fiber, and in Brazil, 100,000 hectares of bamboo are grown for its production. Because of its flexibility and strength, it has traditionally been used in construction. Bamboo is often the only readily available raw material for people in many developing countries.

    4     Ray Townsend, vice president of the British Bamboo Society, says, “Some plants are threatened because they can’t survive in the habitat—they aren’t strong enough or there aren’t enough of them, perhaps. But bamboo can take care of itself-it is strong enough to survive if left alone.    5    ” When forest goes, it is transformed into something else: there isn’t anywhere for forest plants such as bamboo to grow if you create a cattle grass land.

【推荐3】Jonathan, a Seychelles giant tortoise (巨龟) living on the island of Saint Helena, turned 190 years old. The event was celebrated with a big party, which included a special salad cake.

Nobody knows for sure how old Jonathan is. But in 1882, he was brought from the Seychelles as a gift to Sir William Grey-Wilson, who lived in Saint Helena. Pictures taken around that time show that Jonathan was already full-grown. Since it takes about 50 years for Seychelles giant tortoises to become adults, animal experts say Jonathan must have been born around 1832. To help keep things straight, Saint Helena’s current governor (管理者), Nigel Phillips, gave Jonathan the official birthday of December 4, 1832. That’s earned him the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest land animal.

In 1890, William became the governor of Saint Helena. He brought Jonathan along with him to live at the governor’s home, Plantation House. Since then, over 30 other governors have come and gone from Plantation House. But Jonathan has remained. Currently, another three are staying there with him. Jonathan is a local star. For his birthday, he’s now being honored on a series of stamps. Saint Helena held a three-day party. People were invited to Plantation House to visit him. People made him a special salad cake to celebrate.

Jonathan was born before the Internet, computers, TVs, radios, telephones, or light bulbs ever existed. There weren’t even typewriters, electric motors, or photographs. Forty different presidents have led the US since he was born. Jonathan was born before global warming began and before plastic was ever invented.

Though Jonathan is still very active, he’s blind, and he can no longer smell things. Now he needs to be fed by hand. But he eats lots of vegetables and fruits, including carrots, apples and bananas. His sense of hearing is also still strong. He recognizes the voice of Joe Hollins, who looks after him, and gives responses to it.

【推荐1】Masks that helped save lives are proving a deadly danger for wildlife, with birds and sea creatures trapped in the shocking number of thrown-away facial coverings. Single-use masks have been found around pavements, waterways and beaches worldwide. Worn once, the thin protective materials can take hundreds of years to decompose. “Face masks aren’t going away any time soon—but when we throw them away, these items can harm the environment and the animals,” Ashley Fruno of animal rights group PETA said.

In Britain, a gull was rescued by the RSPCA after its legs became tangled in the straps of a mask for up to a week. The animal welfare charity took it to a wildlife hospital for treatment before its release.

The biggest impact may be in the water. More than 1.5 billion masks made their way into the world’s oceans last year, accounting for around 6,200 extra tons of ocean plastic pollution, according to environmental group Oceans Asia.

Conservationists in Brazil found one mask inside the stomach of a penguin after its body was washed up on a beach, while a dead pufferfish was discovered caught inside another off the coast of Miami. French campaigners found a dead crab trapped in a mask near the Mediterranean. Masks and gloves are “particularly problematic” for sea creatures, says George Leonard, chief scientist from NGO Ocean Conservancy. “When those plastics break down in the environment, they then enter the food chain and impact entire ecosystems.” he added.

There has been a shift towards greater use of reusable cloth masks as the pandemic has worn on, but many are still using the lighter single-use varieties. Campaigners have urged people to bin them properly and cut the straps to reduce the risk of animals becoming trapped. Oceans Asia has also called on governments to increase fines for littering and encourage the use of washable masks.

【推荐2】Microplastics(MPS) are tiny bits or threads of plastic, which are often too small to be seen. The current study shows that MPS are constantly coming down in great numbers, even in remote, protected lands.

The scientists didn't set out to study MPS. Dr. Janice Brahney from Utah State University created the experiment to test her equipment, which was meant to track the way helpful chemicals travel to farms through the air. The experiment used buckets (桶)that opened and closed automatically depending on the weather. This allowed the researchers to separate dust that fell during rain storms from dust that was carried in dry air. These "wet" and "dry" buckets were set up at 11 different protected, remote areas in the western US and checked regularly for over a year.

But when Dr. Brahney and her team began to study the dust they had collected, they got a surprise-MPS. By figuring out how much plastic was falling per square meter, the scientists were able to get a good idea of how much plastic was falling in all of the protected areas in the western US every year. The answer was a shocking 907,185 kilograms,   which is enough plastic to make over 123 million plastic bottles.

MPS have been found in tap waler,   bottled   water, and in sea animals that people eat. Now there is growing proof that we are also breathing MPS all the time. Scientists still don't know how eating or breathing MPS will affect people,   though many of the chemicals from plastics are known to cause health problems. There are concerns that MPS can get stuck in the lungs, where they may lead to long-term problems.

Dr. Brahney says that for these reasons, it’s important to slop producing and using plastic. She points out that much of the dust the scientists collected was too small to lest. Also, she says that the scientists only studied MPS that fell in protected areas in die western US - about 6% of the US land area.

【推荐3】A sad mother whale continued to carry her dead baby for a fifth day on Saturday, which is a rare occurrence in nature and is believed to be grieving (痛心的).

The whale, known as J35, is a member of the endangered (濒临灭绝的）family of killer whales, gave birth to her baby on Tuesday only to watch that it die within half an hour. "The baby was so newborn that it didn't have blubber(鲸脂）. It kept sinking, and the mother would raise it to the surface," said Ken Balcomb, a scientist with the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island, Washington State. Since then, she's been carrying the baby's body around on her nose, diving to pick it up again when it falls off. She was last sighted in the early evening on Saturday in Canadian waters.

Scientists have documented grieving behavior in other animals with close social bonds in small groups observed carrying newborns that did not survive. The baby whale was the first baby born in three years to the endangered species (物种), the Center for Whale Research said.

"More than 24 hours of grieving is a rare occurrence," says Ken Balcomb. "It is horrible. This is an animal that is a sentient being. It understands the social bonds that it has with the rest of its family members. She carried the baby in her womb (子宫）from 17 to 18 months, she is bonded to it and she doesn't want to let it go. It is that simple. She is grieving."

Researchers have been growing more concerned about the fortune of killer whales, who face three major challenges to their survival as a species: toxins(毒素）, traffic and lack of adequate food. The most recent survey has found that they number just 75 in the area. For the last three years there have been no new babies born to the killer whales in the Pacific Northwest.