【推荐1】Life on this planet, in all its wide diversity, is disappearing more quickly now than it was at any time in human history, and about 1 million species of plants and animals face extinction, a new research from the IPBES, an organization of the United Nations, has found.

The IPBES published a full report about the new research. The future for the species that we share the planet with — and on which we depend — is dire, according to the report.

On land, the number of animals has decreased by an average of 20 percent, mostly in the last 120 years. Moreover, 1 million square kilometers(386,000 square miles) of tropical forest have been lost since 1980. In the ocean, about a third of corals and marine mammals(海洋哺乳动物) face possible extinction.

Humans have played a major role in these declines, from the way in which we use the land and oceans, such as farming, fishing to logging and mining. The chemicals we use pollute the air and water. Global warming caused by population explosion, air pollution, ecological destruction and so on has forced some species to leave their traditional habitats. All of these have left their mark on Earth’s biodiversity, the report says.

Many experts said that the report demonstrates the need for urgent action. “The IPBES report makes it clear that our response to protecting natural systems must be stronger than ever,” John Robinson said. “The IPBES report on the global state of biodiversity is shocking but not entirely surprising,” said Andrew Norton. “The question is how many evidences and repeated warnings it will take to wake us up to the urgency and act.”

【推荐1】Iran’s Lake Urmia was once the second-largest saltwater lake in the world, covering more than 2,000 square miles at its deepest in the 1990s. In the past two decades, the lake has dried out, decreasing at times to less than 20% of its average size.

It’s not a story of climate change, though that certainly contributed. It’s a case of water mismanagement. Researches blame water overuse and inefficiency in agriculture, new dams(大坝)and irrigation(灌溉)projects, a bridge cutting across the lake, declining rainfall and rising temperature for much of the drying out.

“For me this is a really important topic: the environmental problems in the world,” says photographer Maximilian Mann, who traveled to Iran three times. His photos are collected from all three trips.

Lake researchers say there have been encouraging signs in the past few years. This past spring, massive flooding in Iran helped the lake regain water level as well. Mann’s photos were taken before that flooding.

“The floods certainly helped and increased the water levels,” says Amir AghaKouchak, a professor at the University of California, who has studied the lake. “However, one or a series of floods won’t have a long-term influence. The main issue in the basin is that the water demand is much higher than the renewable water in the basin. If the water demand in the basin is not managed, after a while the lake will continue to dry out. And the situation remains really worrying.”

【推荐3】The "30 by 30" campaign to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030, supported by more than 70 nations, is known mostly for ambition and few achievements so far. Just 7% of the seas are protected and only 2.7% are highly protected.

Setting aside nearly a third of the oceans, the fishers say, is an idea developing nations in South America and elsewhere can hardly afford. That argument against a large expansion of sea protected areas is heard around the world, and the gap between conservationists and fishers has grown wider as fish population declines and the appetite for seafood grows along with the global population.

Research published recently aims to dramatically change that situation. The study suggests that protecting 30% of the oceans not only could restore biodiversity to ocean habitats, it could also increase the annual global catch by eight million tons about 10% of the catch today. After all, the only way to get more food from the ocean is to protect more. And, as a bonus, it would provide a "cheap, natural solution" to climate change by reducing the amount of seafloor carbon emitted （排放）into the seas by fishing trawlers （拖网渔船）.

In the study, an international team of 26 scientists analyzed the world's unprotected ocean waters to calculate which are threatened by overfishing, habitat destruction, and release of carbon. The team then mapped locations globally where protections would provide the greatest benefits to fish resources, biodiversity and climate.

The findings can be used by nations to address the three related aspects separately or in combination. Fully addressing all three will require that at least 30% of the oceans be protected, but nations can still realize significant protections by focusing on key areas, and global cooperation to strategically locate protected areas can be nearly twice as effective as individual nations working alone.