Should we be rewilding more land?

Every day in the US, 6,000 acres of open land are cleared for various purposes such as farming, housing, roads, and others. This has led to concerns among scientists     1     believe that losing more open land can harm the planet. Natural habitats such as untouched forests, grasslands, and waterways provide numerous benefits     2     wildlife habitats, clean water, and reduced air pollution. To counter this trend, efforts are underway     3     the world to return animals and plants to certain areas. However, some people argue that rewilding is     4     expensive and risky process that may not work and could cause harm.

Despite the potential risks, rewilding can help slow down climate change by restoring forests that absorb harmful gases like carbon dioxide. It can also prevent species from     5    (die) out and reset natural ecosystems. For example, gray wolves     6    (reintroduce) in Yellowstone National Park in 1995, after being hunted to extinction there. The wolves reduced the booming population of elks (麋鹿),     7     gave the plants the elks ate a chance to thrive and serve as habitat for animals like beavers and birds.

    8     its environmental benefits, rewilding can also provide jobs for workers and scientists and attract visitors to an area. Despite the potential concerns and risks     9    (associate) with rewilding, it is an important tool for protecting the planet and its diverse ecosystems. As such, efforts     10     be made to ensure that rewilding projects are conducted responsibly and with careful consideration of their potential impact on the environment.

2 . Are you worried about the planet and tired of waiting around for things to change? Go ahead and take a closer look at the various options available to volunteer for the environment!

Sustainable Agriculture If you decide to volunteer for a sustainable agriculture project, you’ll definitely learn some interesting sustainable farming techniques. You will be learning these techniques from locals or teaching them to the local farmers so they can implement these techniques on their own. Best Places to Volunteer: Central or South Africa, India, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Marine Conservation Volunteers for marine conservation should naturally be attracted to water. It’s important that you don’t fear diving and have a strong interest in learning to dive during your stay. While volunteering, your task as a volunteer will be to help research, maintain and grow the unique marine biology. Best Places to Volunteer: The Bahamas, Cuba, Peru, South Africa, Indonesia, Spain and Italy.

Nature Conservation Conservation projects are dedicated to protecting the natural environment of a specific location. Tasks here may vary greatly depending on the program but it will require volunteers to study the environment and learn about the local wildlife species. You’ll be monitoring the environment and retrieving data while taking action to preserve the local species of fauna and flora. Best Places to Volunteer: Madagascar, the Maldives, South Africa, New Zealand and Russia.

Renewable Energy and Water Projects focused on energy and water create ways for communities to access sustainable energy and water sources. These programs are dedicated to designing system improvements and creating a sustainable supply of energy and water. It’s important for conservation volunteers to evaluate the needs of the community and implement actions to solve these issues. Best Places to Volunteer: Peru, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India and Cameroon.

Requirements: With so many subcategories and such a wide array of organizations, the required skill set will vary for each program. English is the main language on all projects so it’s important that conservation volunteers have a good understanding of English. For projects in South America, you will find it helpful to have a basic knowledge of Spanish.

5 . Greening the blue

Is there a “natural” way to enhance the potential of the oceans to lock away climate-warming CO₂? Planting more trees on land can help draw down more CO₂ from the atmosphere—the basis of many plans for carbon credits that companies buy to offset their emissions (抵消其排放).     1     Seaweed forests and saltmarshes (盐碱滩) are common examples.

Some regard the potential for this “blue carbon” as huge, although as yet there is no mechanism for integrating it into carbon offsetting plans. John Virdin of Duke University in North Carolina says, “    2    ” He adds, “You have to go out and measure all the carbon that’s there, you have to show that it’s not going to be lost, you have to keep monitoring it.” Virdin and others have proposed extending an existing land-based plan called REDD + (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) to the ocean, but that is an idea whose ship has yet to sail.

    3     In March, the UK government’s climate adviser, the Climate Change Committee, found that restoring and creating seagrass and saltmarsh ecosystems in the country would only lock away a small amount of CO₂, removing “well below” 1 million tonnes a year. Nonetheless, these are efficient carbon stores according to the committee.     4    

Meet the Islands

Located 86 km north-east of Bougainville in the South Pacific, the Carteret Islands of Papua New Guinea are composed of low-lying islands     1     (distribute) in a horseshoe shape, with a total land area of 0.6 square kilometers and a maximum elevation of 1.5 meters above sea level.

The Carteret Islands are believed     2     (inhabit) for more than one thousand years. Few places are as calm, peaceful and beautiful as the seaside here on a calm day. People are very     3     (welcome), gentle, and calm. There’s no phone network, shops, computers, roads, cars, or motorbikes. Food is cooked on open fires. People here live sustainably. They don’t overfish or pollute, making no contribution to the warming of our planet. However, they are feeling the consequences of the climate change.

Now, as the land     4     (swallow) by the rising sea, the islanders are faced with an uncertain future. Storms and high tides wash away homes, destroy vegetable gardens and pollute fresh water supplies. The trees on the island are also being impacted by the saltwater. The beach exists     5     fertile soil once did.     6     the coral and seagrasses die, so do the breeding areas for fish. Many seawalls have been built     7     with little success. The islands have gradually become uninhabitable.

The Carteret islanders are labelled as the world’s first official climate-change refugees, as they are forced to abandon their homelands     8     food shortages, rising sea levels, sinking shorelines, and the dangers of storms and tides. In front of     9     is the choice whether to stay and watch the islands shrink and slowly disappear or try to rebuild their community somewhere else. Yet, the relocation is not a move embraced by most, and some are unhappy living away from their home, and have returned after struggling to adapt. On the other hand, relocation will be a great challenge to the preservation of the identity and culture of the Carteret islanders.

The Carteret Islanders’ story illustrates how small island states and coastal communities fall victim     10     rising sea levels caused by climate change. The Carteret Islanders, with a carbon footprint among the lowest in the world, will be among the first to have to leave their homes because of rising seas caused by emissions from other nations.

7 . More than three billion people rely on the ocean to make a living, most of whom are in developing countries. As the global population increases, the demand for seafood is expected to rise, too.

Although ocean ecosystems are stretched to the limit by climate change, overfishing and more, studies nevertheless suggest that seafood can be expanded sustainably to meet future food demands. Success will depend on small-scale fisheries. These fisheries can be remarkably efficient. Almost everything that hand-to-mouth fisheries catch is consumed. By contrast, around 20% of the fish caught by industrial ships is estimated to be wasted, mainly because of unwanted by-catch.

Small fishers rarely have the right resources to expand their operations, or even to survive. If they do scale up, they might lose some of their current advantages or engage in the same harmful practices as do large commercial fisheries. Managed with care, however, small fisheries could provide win-wins for livelihoods and the environment.

Most nations already have management policies for marine ecosystems that provide for small-scale fisheries. But small-scale fishers’ rights to access are often poorly defined, ineffectively enforced or unfairly distributed (分配). Government subsidies (补贴) also require reform. One estimate found that large-scale fishers receive about 3.5 times more subsidies than small-scale fishers do. Instead, subsidies and other funds should be directed towards small-scale fishers to let them expand their access to markets, while keeping them from adopting the negative practices of large-scale operations.

The total global loss and waste from fisheries is estimated at between 30% and 35% annually primarily due to a lack of technology, good manufacturing practices, and infrastructure such as decent roads and cold storage. Public and private investment in cold-storage facilities and processing equipment could help. One promising strategy is to pair international or national funding with direct contracts for feeding programmes linked to schools, hospitals and similar facilities. Such arrangements would provide small fisheries with large, consistent markets and storage infrastructure that boosts local consumption and does not incentivize (刺激) overfishing.

Moreover, simple incentive programmes could be conducted by funders, managers and local governments trying to promote sustainable fisheries. For example, local markets could display a rating system for individual fishers or small fisheries. This could include various elements of sustainability other than environmental ones — such as providing information on the type of fishing equipment, location of the catch and freshness. Promoting the rating as a social responsibility concept would inform consumers of the need to support sustainable fisheries.

Anyway, only joint problem-solving efforts can deliver seafood protein, sustainably, to a world that increasingly needs it.

Tall, young and active

November 14, 1963 was a cold morning. This was nothing out of the ordinary for the fisherman. They were used to the winter weather around Iceland. Suddenly, however, they saw something unusual. Thick, black smoke was pouring out of the sea.     1     (think) a boat was on fire, they raced toward it. Yet as they got closer, they realized it was     2     quite different. Magma (岩浆) was rubbing away from the ocean floor. The fishermen watched as a new island rose from the sea. This island, later     3     (name) Surtsey, joined the thousands of volcanic islands worldwide.

The island of Hawaii is one of the most well-known volcanic islands. Lava (熔岩) from multiple volcanoes built this island. One of these volcanoes is Mauna Kea. Mauna Kea began under the ocean over 1 million years ago. Magma broke through the Earth’s crust- that is, the outer layer of the earth.     4     the magma cooled, it formed an underwater mountain. About 100,000 years ago, the mountain rose     5     sea level. Eruption (喷发) then became more frequent and more violent. Layers of lava hardened into rock. Now, Mauna Kea     6     (measure) 9,966 meters from ocean floor to mountain peak, making it the world’s highest mountain.

Fortunately for Hawaiians, Mauna Kea volcano is quiet - for the time being.     7     volcano on the same island is anything but quiet. Kilauea is smaller than Mauna Kea. However, it has erupted nonstop since 1983 and is the world’s most active volcano,     8     produces between 300,000 and 600,000 m² of lava every day. Over the past two decades. It     9     (add) more than 540 acres to the island. In spite of the danger, it is a popular tourist attraction. Yet,     10     this popular tourist attraction contributes to the Hawaiian economy financially also comes at a cost. Kilauea is responsible for taking both lives and homes.

9 . For most birds, eyes are essential to life on the fly. _________ when studying how birds might adapt to our quickly changing world, ornithologists (鸟类学家) have largely overlooked eye size in favor of traits such as wing length and beak shape. Now, though, a lost “treasure trove” (宝库) of avian (鸟的) eyeball measurements offers a new view.

In 1982 University of Chicago graduate student Stanley Ritland carefully _________ the eyeballs of nearly 2,800 species. He never published his data, but Ian Ausprey, a graduate student at University of Florida, has just given it a second look. His analysis _________ previous work in Peru showing that smaller-eyed birds adapt better to changing habitats.

“We’re able to show strong correlations between eye size, the type of _________ the birds use, as well as their food-searching behavior,” Ausprey says. Ritland’s measurements indicated an inverse relation between eye and _________ size. Birds with smaller eyes tended to be _________, traveling across many habitats; larger-eyed species had _________ ranges, concentrated around the equator (赤道) and often covered by dense forest shade. The study suggests that smaller-eyed birds can _________ handle varying light levels as they travel, whereas larger-eyed birds struggle with bright light outside of their dim woodlands.

Ausprey had already seen this _________ in Peru’s mountainous cloud forests. In these biodiversity hotspots, he says, “eye size is __________ related to how birds respond to agricultural disturbance.” Larger-eyed birds tend to __________ from brightly-lit agricultural and deforested landscapes; smaller-eyed birds adapt. The new study __________ Ausprey’s Peru observations to a wider variety of birds elsewhere, including parrots and woodpeckers.

Allison Shultz, an ornithologist involved in the research, praises it for highlighting the importance of birds’ light __________. Her own work has found a link between bird coloration and environmental light, and she looks forward to future research exploring how light pollution and deforestation might further shape bird eyes. “I’d be very curious if we’re actually seeing eyes __________ to better match newer light environments,” Shultz adds.

Ausprey says the study underscores the importance of __________ habitats across the light-availability spectrum (光谱), especially areas of dense rain forests, to protect birds with eyes of all sizes from habitat loss.

10 . Everybody loves to hate invasive species. The international list of invasive species—defined as those that were introduced by humans to new places, and then _________ — runs to over 4,000. In Australia and New Zealand hot war is fought against introduced creatures like cane toads (蔗蟾蜍) and rats.

Some things that are uncontroversial (无争议的) are nonetheless foolish. With a few important exceptions, campaigns to   _________ invasive species are merely a waste of money and effort — for reasons that are partly practical and partly philosophical.

Start with the practical arguments. Most invasive species are neither terribly successful nor very _________ . Britons think themselves surrounded by foreign plants. _________ , Britain’s invasive plants are not widespread, not spreading especially quickly, and often less of a(n) _________ than vigorous native plants. The arrival of new species almost always _________ biological diversity (多样性) in a region; in many cases, a flood of newcomers drives no native species to extinction. One reason is that invaders tend to colonise _________ habitats like polluted lakes and post-industrial wasteland, where little else lives. They are nature’s opportunists.

The philosophical reason for starting war on the invaders is also _________. Elimination campaigns tend to be   _________ by the belief that it is possible to restore balance to nature — to return woods and lakes to the state before human   ____________ . That is misguided. Nature is an everlasting mess, with species constantly emerging, withdrawing and hybridizing (杂交). Humans have only quickened these processes. Going back to ancient habitats is becoming ____________ in any case, because of man-made climate change. Taking on the invaders is a(n) ____________ gesture, not a means to an achievable end.

A reasonable attitude to invaders need not imply passivity. A few foreign species are truly ____________ and should be fought: the Nile perch – a fish, has helped drive many species of fish to extinction in Lake Victoria. It makes sense to ____________ pathogens (病菌), especially those that destroy whole native tree species, and to stop known agricultural pests from gaining a foothold. Fencing off wildlife reserves to create open-air ecological museums is fine, too. And it is a good idea for European gardeners to destroy Japanese plants, just as they give no space to native harmful grasses like bindweed and ground elder. You can garden in a garden. You cannot garden ____________ . That is universally accepted.