1 . This year saw the publication, in stages, of the sixth report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—a report which was depressing reading for many climate scientists, and in some ways offered a ray of hope.

Why depressing? Because the report confirmed what scientists have been saying for years: that human activity, particularly in the form of emissions (排放) of greenhouse gases, is responsible for the warming in the past few centuries, and that unless such emissions are greatly reduced, we will soon bring about our entire ecosystem’s destruction.

The report concluded that 1.5°C of global warming over the next couple of hundred years is already “baked in”. This makes the goals outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement—that nations agreed to keep warming below 2°C, and hopefully below 1.5°C-much harder to meet. Worse still, the IPCC report was followed later in the year by the COP27 summit (峰会), described by Prof Dann Mitchell, as “a complete failure, other than some commitment to loss and damage.”

And the ray of hope? The IPCC’s sixth report was broader in approach than previous studies—looking in-depth for the first time at the role played in warming by short-term greenhouse gases such as methane(甲烷), for instance.

“Reducing carbon emissions is always the best approach: stop the problem at its source,” said Mitchell. “But we also need other approaches to help with this. Methane is important, but it’s so short-lived-that’s why we haven’t been so bothered when compared with CO,.”

The IPCC working groups showed potential adaptation paths, and they are the other things we can do in terms of fighting climate change and relieving its worst effects, rather than simply reducing carbon emissions. This would include taking measures such as switching to a more plant-based diet (to reduce methane emissions), controlling population growth, reducing financial inequality and developing means by which we might remove CO, that’s already in our atmosphere, rather than simply preventing it being released.

3 . Over the past four decades, more than 450 butterfly species have been hit by the falling numbers. In the US alone, the number of monarch butterflies (黑脉金斑蝶) has seen a drop of 80%, from scientists recording millions of them in the 1980s, and only 29,000 in 2020. It’s part of a wider possibility across the insect group. In 2017, scientists in Germany raised alarm bells after finding that insects had fallen by more than 70% in 30 years.

For farmers, monarch butterflies pollinate (授粉) a very large percentage of food crops. It is very important t protect them because their disappearance could have a huge economic influence. Butterflies are also helpful in the coal mine for other insects, as it is easier for them to feel the environmental change. and relatively easy to record.

Leading environmental organizations have been working hard to find new ways of recording the number of butterflies. As of now, there is no long-term data to develop good protection methods. The scientists wanted to address the challenge that long term recording programs worldwide have faced: they are focusing on training locals as insect experts, which requires much money. They came up with a new method to the problem. In Yasuni National Park, they hired park rangers (护林员) who were trained and then carried out recording. The rangers were able to recognize butterflies with an 85% success rate, which is important for these kinds of recording programs to be successful.

Compared with other recording projects, this study represents a long-term solution. “Our method increases the chance of recording in the long term by reducing the money spent on it such as wages,” said lead author Maria Checa. “Furthermore, it also offers opportunities for public organizations to achieve their environmental goals.”

5 . Peppered moth caterpillars (桦尺蠖毛虫)live north of the equator. But if you’ve never seen one, don’t feel bad: They’re experts at blending in (融为一体). Each caterpillar looks like the branch it stays on, straightening its body into a stick-like shape. It also changes its color to match the branch’s color, whether white, green or brown.

According to a paper published in Communications Biology, the caterpillars sense the color of their surroundings not only with their eyes but also with their skin.

Ilik Saccheri, an author of the paper, normally studies the adult moth. This requires keeping a lot of caterpillars around. Years of observation awakened his curiosity about their color-changing abilities. Each caterpillar hatches tiny and black, and in its early days is blown around by the wind. Once it falls on a plant, it must disguise itself to avoid being spotted by birds.

“I was a bit disbelieving that they could change that only using their eyes,” Dr. Saccheri said.

Amy Eacock, a graduate student in Dr. Saccheri’s lab decided to investigate. First, she tested the caterpillars’ eyes for light-sensitive proteins called opsins (视蛋白). “We did the skin as kind of a negative control,” said Dr. Eacock. “But then we found they were expressed in the skin as highly as they were in the head.”

That’s when she suggested blindfolding the caterpillars. The researchers could cover their eyes, place them on different-colored dowels (木钉) , and see if they still changed to match.

“I thought it was kind of a crazy idea,” Dr. Saccheri said. The blindfolding itself was a difficult task, involving black paint, a tiny paintbrush, a microscope and lots of patience, Dr. Eacock said. Caterpillars molt (蜕皮) several times over their lives, which required that they be blindfolded again frequently.

But Dr. Eacock persisted, eventually testing more than 300 caterpillars. Over and over again, the blindfolded caterpillars successfully changed color to blend in.

Many questions remain, but the behavior alone impressed the researchers. Dr. Eacock said, “I remember turning to Ilik one day and saying, ‘You know what? The caterpillars are cooler than the moths.’” “Yes. They’re pretty amazing,” Dr. Saccheri agreed.

The history of hutongs can date back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271 — 1368), when the term “hutong”,     1     (initial) meaning “water wells”, first appeared in its capital, now known as Beijing. The Yuan nobles and high-ranking army officials     2     (award) lands as their estates in the city. They built houses and courtyards, now called “Siheyuan”, which were arranged in     3     orderly way around the wells.

In the Ming Dynasty (1368 —1644), the center of Beijing was the Forbidden City, with the Inner City and Outer City     4     (surround) it. Upper class citizens were permitted to live closer     5     the center. Nobles lived to the east and west of the palace. The hutongs formed by their houses were lined by spacious homes and gardens. Farther from the palace and to its north and south     6     (be) the commoners. Their Siheyuans were far smaller in size and simpler in    7    (decorate), and the hutongs were narrower.

Nowadays, if you visit Beijing, Nanluoguxiang is a must-see. The 786-meter long south-north hutong is lined with bars, hotels and stores. There are also 8 hutongs —    8     (hide) on the east and west sides of the main lane of Nanluoguxiang as well as former residences     9     celebrities once lived.

Hutongs are the home of the Beijing    10     (local), who have a deep affection for them.

7 . Whales, particularly baleen and sperm whales, are among the largest creatures on Earth. Their presence in the ocean shapes the ecosystems around them. These creatures are also helping to determine the temperature of the planet.

When whales die, they sink to the ocean floor and all the carbon that is stored in their extremely large bodies is transferred from surface waters to the deep sea, where it remains for centuries or more. Scientists found that before industrial whaling, populations of whales would have sunk between 190, 000 to 1. 9 million tonnes of carbon per year to the bottom of the ocean, which equals taking between 40, 000 and 410, 000 cars off the road each year. But when they are killed and their bodies are prevented from sinking to the seabed, that carbon is released into the atmosphere.

But whales are not only valuable in death. The tides of excrement(排泄物) that whales produce are also surprisingly relevant to the climate. Their iron-rich excrement creates the perfect growing conditions for phytoplankton(浮游植物). These creatures may be microscopic, but, taken together, they have a great influence on the planet’s atmosphere, absorbing about 40% of all CO2 produced, four times the amount absorbed by the Amazon rainforest.

“Whaling has removed a huge organic carbon pump from the ocean that would have been having a much larger multiplying effect on phytoplankton productivity and the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon, ” says Vicki James, policy manager at Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

What this means is that restoring whale populations to their pre-whaling numbers could be an important tool in fighting climate change, and helping to slightly reduce the large amount of CO2 from fossil fuels every year.

10 . Several days of unusual warm weather in northern Greenland have caused rapid melting(融化). “Temperatures have been running around -12.2 ℃-15.5 ℃. It is warmer than normal for this time of year,” scientists said. The amount of ice that melted in Greenland between July 15 and July 17 alone—6 billion tons of water per day—would be enough to fill 7.2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to the report from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Put another way, it was enough to cover the whole state of West Virginia with a foot of water.

For the scientists out on the ice sheet(冰盖), the warmth has been alarming. “It really makes me anxious,” said Kutalmis Saylam, a scientist who is now working in Greenland. “Yesterday, we could hang about in our T-shirts, which was not really expected. Since Greenland holds enough ice, sea level would rise by 7.5 meters around the world if ice all melted.”

In 2020, scientists found that Greenland’s ice sheet had melted beyond the point of no return. “No efforts to prevent global warming can stop it from finally breaking into small parts,” said researchers.

Aslak Grinsted, a climate scientist, said that they were trying to get flights into the camp so they can ship out the ice cores(冰芯) they had recently collected. But the warmth is destabilizing the landing site. “The weather we are seeing right now is too hot for the ski-equipped planes to land,” Grinsted said. “So we store the ice cores in large caves we have made into the snow to protect it from the heat of the summer.” Scientists made use of the abnormal warmth while they were waiting, playing volleyball in their shorts on an ice sheet at the top of the world.

Grinsted referred to the temperatures as a heat wave, and noted that the possibility of temperatures getting this hot was clearly connected to global warming.