2 . Eco-friendly replacement products for single-use plastic are appearing everywhere. But have you heard of edible (可食性的) straws?Now EQUO, a new eco-friendly company in Vietnam has come up with a natural edible solution to plastic or paper straws. The edible straws are completely plastic free, nontoxic, chemical free, and 100 percent biodegradable (可生物降解的) according to a company press release.

“It’s well-known that plastic straws are harmful to the environment. Most of the 500 million used every day in America end up in oceans where they pollute water and harm marine life. Currently, over eight billion straws create pollute to the world’s beaches,” said Marina Tran-Vu in the press release. “Although there are some plastic and paper straw alternatives on the market, most are environmentally harmful, but we were also unsatisfied with the quality and lasting of paper straws.”

All of the materials are locally from regions that support sustainable farming according to the company’s website and they struggle to have zero-net influence by “using the power of mother nature”. The name of the company was created by combining “ECO” — meaning environmentally friendly — with “STATUS QUO” — meaning the existent state. EQU stands for creating products that have minimal influence on the environment. The company was first shown on Kickstarter on May 18 and hit their funding goal in only 30 days.

Many counties are banning single-use plastics. The EU banned 10 single-use plastic products including straws that will take effect in 2021. Other items that will no longer be made of plastic include cutlery (餐具), and balloon sticks. These 10 items make up a large percentage of ocean waste that harms marine life.

So do your part, use biodegradable cutlery — you can carry your own edible straws, and reusable water or coffee cups. These small items can contribute to buffering plastic waste.

4 . Cows produce much methane, the world’s second worst greenhouse gas, as they breakdown the grass. They are a large source of the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Now scientists have shown the pollution from cows can be reduced by adding a little seaweed (海藻) to their food.

Recently, the researchers from the University of California studied 21 cows on a farm for about five months. They taught the cows to get their food from inside a special hood, which allowed the scientists to know the amount of the methane the cows were giving off. They added a small amount of seaweed to the cows’ food.

The consequences were surprisingly good. In some cases, the cows produced 82% less methane. The improvement depended on the kind of food the cows were given. Even the worst-polluting cows produced 33%less methane. Over the five months, the scientists didn’t see any signs that the cows’ stomachs were getting used to the seaweed and starting to produce more methane again. What’s more, the cows that were fed seaweed gained just as much weight as the other cows.

But there are still some big problems with the idea of feeding cows seaweed. For one thing, there’s not adequate seaweed to feed all of the cows in the world. So farmers would have to figure out a way to grow lots of seaweed. A bigger problem is that for most of their lives, cows live in the fields, where they eat grass. That means there’s no chance to feed them seaweed every day.

Still, as the study shows, something as simple as feeding cows seaweed can help reduce some of the pollution causing the climate crisis.

6 . In 2002, Huang Hui, a researcher of the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, went diving (潜水) near Xisha Islands. In addition to getting an irremovable suntan (晒黑), she was left with memories of a beautiful experience with clear water and masses of colorful corals reef (珊瑚礁). However, due to climate change and human activities, the coral reef is reducing at an alarming rate and much of the breathtaking view of this reef has disappeared. “We started to grow corals near the Xisha Islands in 2010, and restored more than 200, 000 square meters of coral reefs,” Huang said.

In 2004, when Huang was attending the 10th International Coral Reef Conference, she found herself the only person from the Chinese mainland. She said she felt sad but she made up her mind to strengthen communication with other countries to improve China’s level in coral research. She visited top coral research organizations in the US and Australia, establishing long-term partnership with some of the world’s top coral researchers. By far, Huang has worked on coral research and conservation for 22 years.

Huang believes that making people be more ware of coral conservation matters most to the conservation of the coral reefs. “I want to call on more people to love nature and take part in the protection of ocean,” Huang said. “I am 50, and when I become 60, I hope that not only a coral island will be built but a sustainable development pattern (模式) will also be created,” said Huang. “The ideal state is that the coral island should be able to support fishermen and preserve the ecosystem,” she added.

7 . “On Earth, something is always burning,” experts at the American space agency NASA said. They explain that a wildfire could be started naturally by lightning. However, sometimes people using controlled burns to clear land for farming can accidentally start a wildfire. Between 2003 and 2022, 85 percent of wildland fires in the U. S. were caused by human behavior. This includes leaving campfires burning, burning rubbish, throwing lit cigarettes and starting a fire on purpose.

Wildfires can clear dead and dying plants to help new growth. However, wildfires create large amounts of smoke which is dangerous to breathe. Wildfire smoke contains hundreds of chemical compounds. Smoke from burning houses and buildings contains even more toxic chemicals. An increasing amount of scientific research points to possible long-term health damage from breathing in very small particles (微粒) of smoke. There are short-term issues as well. At-risk people can be hospitalized and sometimes die from smoke.

Officials in the U. S. have been moving quickly to better protect people from the harmful effects of wildfire smoke. However, they find it more difficult to communicate these dangers to people who live thousands of kilometers from the fires. Jeff Pierce is an atmospheric scientist. He said smoke loses its odor (气味), but remains harmful even when it travels long distances. A recent study found that people who live close to fires are more likely to be prepared.

If advised, avoid outdoor activities to reduce your exposure to smoke. Keep doors and windows closed. Run an air filter to clean the inside air. Face coverings, or masks, can protect against breathing in smoke. As with COVID-19, the most effective are N95 masks.

NASA satellite images show that wildfires are now burning on every continent. Large wildfires in Australia and the U. S. often attract the world’s attention. Dan Jaffe is a wildfire smoke expert at the University of Washington. He said, “These fires are going to be burning all summer. In terms of bad air quality, everywhere in the country will be worse than average this year.”

8 . Check out our tsunami (海啸) facts and lean some interesting information related to these great walls of water that can cause so much destruction. Find out what causes tsunamis and read about some notable recent examples of tsunamis that have occurred around the globe.

Tsunamis are huge waves of water that are usually caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.

As a tsunami approaches the shore, water may move back from the coast. If it is shallow enough, the water may be pulled back hundreds of meters. If you are in the area, observing this is a good indication that a tsunami is on the way.

Regions in tsunami danger zones often have warning systems in place to give people as much time to evacuate (撤离) as possible.

When tsunamis hit shallow water (often near the coast), they slow down but increase in height.

An earthquake in the Indian Ocean off Indonesia in December 2004 caused a tsunami that killed over 200, 000 people in 14 countries.

In March 2011, the Tohoku earthquake off the eastern coast of Japan caused a tsunami that was a major factor in the death of over 15, 000 people.

The tsunami waves created by the Tohoku earthquake reached heights of over 40 metres (131feet) in mine areas, wiping out coastal towns and causing a number of nuclear accidents.

The Japanese word “tsunami” literally means “harbour wave”.

Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal waves but this term has fallen out of favour because tsunamis are not related to tides.