【推荐3】Have you heard of these four monuments?

Carhenge. Floralis Genérica. Traffic Light Tree. Hand of the Desert — these are four unusual monuments from around the world you might like to visit.

Carhenge is in Alliance, Nebraska (USA). As the name suggests, it has a lot in common with Stonehenge, the famous stone circle on Salisbury Plain. But while Stonehenge was built with stones, Carhenge was created with cars. The monument was made in 1987 by a local artist Jim Reinders and his family. He used old cars and even an ambulance. At first, the people of Alliance didn’t like it, but they soon changed their minds after it became popular with tourists, who brought lots of money to the town.

Floralis Genérica is a massive statue of a flower. It stands in a pool of water in front of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eduardo Catalano, a native of Argentina, gave the statue as a gift to the city in 2002. Every morning, the flower opens. Ask anyone who has seen it and they’ll tell you that watching it open is an unforgettable sight. In fact, many people believe it is one of the most beautiful statues in the world.

The Traffic Light Tree is situated at Heron Quay, in one of London’s financial districts. The tree has 75 sets of traffic lights. It was created by French artist, Pierre Vivant, and was installed in 1998. A computer controls the lights, which are turned on and off randomly. The roundabout where the tree is was voted the most popular roundabout in the UK in a recent survey.

The Hand of the Desert is in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The sculpture was designed by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrazabal. From a distance, it looks as if there’s a giant in the sand who has stuck his hand out of the ground.

If you’re looking for something new to see, you know where to go!

【推荐1】Last month, a part of the Negro River in the Amazon rainforest reduced to a depth of just 12.7 metres, its lowest level in 120 years, due to the lack of rainfall. In Lake Tefé, about 500 kilometres away, more than 150 river dolphins were found dead, not because of the low water levels, but probably because the lake had reached temperatures close to 40℃.

“The Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil is experiencing a tough time and it is the sum of three things,” says Luciana Gatti, a researcher at Brazil’s National Institute. “The first is deforestation, which is turning rainforest into a drier, hotter place,” she says.

“Additionally, El Ninio climate pattern has begun and it makes things worse,” adds Gatti. El Niño is a phenomenon which occurs every two to seven years. During El Niño, winds that usually blow from east to west along the equator (赤道) are weakened or even turn the other way round. This leads to the change of rainfall in South America, causing dry air in the north, where the rainforest lies, and damp air in the south. As a result, countries in the south are currently greeted by heavy rains, while the Amazon is experiencing the lowest rainfall levels from July to September in 40 years.

The third factor is the unusual warming of the water in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The warming of these waters causes the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (热带辐合带), a region of intense cloud and rain formation, to shift north. The ITCZ takes the storms with it, away from Brazil, and causes less rainfall than usual.

Although it is hard to predict when the next drought might strike the Amazon, studies show that climate change is messing with the timing of El Niño. “The tendency is that we have stronger and more frequent crises,” Gatti says. This could be a disaster for the Amazon rainforest, already hit by deforestation and a warming, drying climate.” The forest’s tipping point is coming closer—and it’s coming quick.

【推荐2】Laura Stone is the founder of Sydney by Kayak（皮划艇）, a company that offers guided kayak tours of Sydney Harbor in Australia. Not only did their business increase during the COVID-19, but one of their tours is actually more popular than ever.

A few years ago, Laura was paddling in the harbor when she noticed trash floating in the water. For reference, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that about 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans each year, causing big problems for wildlife and local plants. Laura was so shocked by the garbage in the water that she decided to dedicate a few paddles each week to trash cleanup. Incredibly, her clients were immediately on board with the idea, so Sydney by Kayak now leads four to five garbage-collecting tours every week!

At the start of the COVID-19, Laura thought her business would drop off as many others had. Instead, desperate for purpose and a way to get outdoors, people flocked to her “Clean Up Kayak” tours. They now routinely take about 441 pounds of garbage out of the harbor each week! “We've been quite surprised, even through the COVID-19, we've been very busy,” Laura said. “Because they can't travel, people are looking for something to do. That is not just good for them, but also good for the environment. ”

Each tour begins with participants preparing with some working tools. Some people come back many times for the satisfaction of collecting trash from the harbor. Julie Greening, for example, has done about 10 tours so far and says “every little bit is worth it”. “We're 7 billion people on this planet, so everyone does a little, but of course it's going to help, ” she said. “It's got to. ”

【推荐3】Gone are the days when humans covered themselves with blankets to keep warm. It’s now the time to put glaciers under blankets to keep them cool because at the rate climate is changing, this seems like a good idea to keep them from melting.

A ski resort in the Swiss Alps, Switzerland uses blankets to protect the glacier from the warm climate. Gian Darms, who handles snow conditions at the ski resort told about this unique procedure and said, “We lay the fleece over the glacier like a natural protective shield.” The blankets are being used to cover the top of the 10, 623-foot Mount Titlis whose glacier has already melted in the last few decades and it is expected to disappear completely in the next 50 years due to global warming.

To diminish the effect of climate change, resort employees have taken it upon themselves to protect the glacier from the heat and for this process, they spend about five to six weeks every summer covering parts of the glacier with protective polyester fleece. This helps to reflect the sun’s energy back into the atmosphere and prevent the glacier from melting, while also preserving the already fallen snow on the glacier in the previous winter season. After the season passes, the employees remove the coating and use the collected snow to fill in any gaps in the glacier’s surface.

This practice has been going on for a while and the amount of the glaciers covered has increased to almost 100 ,000 square meters now. “We’ve been covering more and more glaciers in the last few years. Almost 30, 000 square meters more this year alone. We will have to cover more glaciers in reaction to the climate change,” said Darms.

The ski resort’s actions show the intense effect of climate change on glaciers which have been melting at rapid rates in the past few years. Many different resorts have also started covering their glaciers because if there are no more glaciers, then there is no more business for these ski resorts.