【推荐2】Research by the Policy Institute at King’s. College London and Ipsos MORI showed that around 54% of British people will miss some parts of lockdown (封城), including family time. 19% of the 2,442 adults said the last year had been better than they expected it to be when the first lockdown started. The research also found that 32% of people felt the past year had been similar to or better than usual for them personally. People have enjoyed being closer to their family, friends, and neighbours throughout to pandemic (流行病), with 28% feeling closer to their family, 19% to their neighbours, and 31% to their friends.

Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, said: “There is no doubt that the public would rather the pandemic hadn’t happened at all — but that doesn’t mean it’s been all bad for everyone, or that people see it deeply influencing their future. What’s surprising about the findings is that for a group of people the last year turned out better than expected, or even better than a normal year.”

He added “Of course, many have been badly influenced. The findings draw attention to a key area of the pandemic, that while action to control the pandemic has been taken, its influence depends hugely on your own circumstances.”

Almost half of the public felt the last year had been worse than expected and 43% expected its mental health because of the pandemic.

The research found that some people plan to continue with some habits they formed in lockdown, with saying they will shop locally more and 38% saying they plan to walk more post-pandemic. Gideon Skinner, research director at Ipsos MORI, said British people expect the pandemic will lead to long-term changes but bold different opinions on what the changes could be.

【推荐2】Politicians and the public tend to worry about carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions (排放) but neglect the effects of cutting methane (甲烷). Actually, dealing with the gas would have a large effect rapidly and at relatively low cost.

Human activity emits far less methane than carbon dioxide, but methane has a heavier impact. Over the course of 20 years, a ton of the gas will warm the atmosphere about 86 times more than a ton of CO₂. As a result, methane is responsible for 23% of the rise in temperatures since preindustrial times. Carbon dioxide gets most of the attention, but unless methane emissions are limited, there is little hope of controlling the climate.

By how much do methane emissions need to fall? Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for centuries, making it hard to reduce its atmospheric concentrations (浓度). By contrast, methane has a half-life of roughly ten years, which means that it degrades quickly. If new emissions can be cut to below the rate at which old emissions reduce, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere will soon fall, slowing global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that, to keep temperatures between 1.5℃ and 2℃ above preindustrial levels, human methane emissions must drop to 35% below where they stood in 2010 by midcentury.

That is entirely possible. A big step would be to stop millions of tons of methane from leaking out of fossil-fuel infrastructure each year, through pipes with holes, leaky valves and carelessness. The International Energy Agency, a global forecaster, estimates that 40% of methane emissions from fossil fuels, equal to 9% of all human methane emissions, can be got rid of at no net cost for firms. The harder task is to reduce emissions from agriculture, but even here farmers can make use of new ideas, including developing new forms of food for farm animals, and changing how rice is watered.

【推荐3】According to reports, three-quarters of all crops around the world depend on pollinating (授粉的) insects like bees and butterflies. By pollinating, pollinators enable the production of seeds. Without them, crop farming can become extremely difficult or costly threatening food supplies and prices globally.

Research has shown a rapid and consistent decline in pollinator populations. Average butterfly populations have almost halved since 1991 and bee populations in particular face a sharp decline. Given the world’s growing dependence on these insects, we can only expect the problem to worsen if no action is taken.

Much has been written about how intensive farming practices the use of chemical pesticides (杀虫剂), and pollution are threatening the survival of these helpful insects. To add to the already critical situation, global warming is contributing significantly to the rapid disappearance of pollinators.

Climate change is a major threat to pollinators, with rising temperatures and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events affecting the food sources and habitats, on which pollinators depend for their survival.

Climate change also changes the timing and availability of lowering plants, leading to mismatches between pollinators and their food sources. A study has found that climate change has shifted plants’ blooming to earlier times and caused certain plants to move to higher areas, resulting in a decline in pollination.

Another study has found that climate change could lead to a decline in the quality of nectar, which is the main food source for many pollinators. As temperatures rise, the sugar content of nectar decreases, making it less nutritious for pollinators. This leads to a decline in the health and reproductive success of pollinators, as well as a decline in the pollination of plants.

Needless to say, cutting global emissions (排放量) is key. It’s essential that we continue to advocate for emission reductions. From country-level to individual businesses, more concrete roadmaps to net zero are a must.

We must at least minimize, if not prevent, the usage of pesticides, since these chemicals are harmful to pollinators and can have a far-reaching effect on pollination as a whole.