1 . Beavers (河狸) are famous for building impressive dams in streams. They have a rare ability to transform the landscapes they live in. This is primarily because beavers need to use their dams to hide from predators (捕食者) like bears, wolves, and river otters. Beavers live in dome-shaped constructions within the ponds that can only be accessed by underwater entrances. Inside, they are safe from threats. Besides, they can also store food inside and keep warm in winter.

Beavers build dams up to 5 meters high, and the largest one, in Alberta, Canada, is 850 meters long. Most dams are built from pieces of wood, with stones at the base and a sealing layer of mud and plants on the upstream side. The dams are thicker at the bottom with a shallow slope on the upstream side, meaning that the weight of the water pushes down on the dam, keeping it in place and allowing it to hold back large volumes of water. Their engineering work is so effective that beaver dams can last for decades.

Beaver dams can promote the creation and development of stable wetland ecosystems, one of the most productive ecosystems in the world, which serve as the home of rare and endangered species. In addition, the dams can help water flow to the newly created ponds, thus, preventing flooding in areas downstream of the rivers where these dams are built. They also protect the land from soil erosion (侵蚀, 腐蚀) and block pollutants in the water flow downstream into major water bodies.

However, Ph. D. student Robert Needham, from the International Centre for Ecohydraulics Research at Southampton, expressed a great deal of his concern about the possibility of beaver dams blocking the upstream and downstream migration (迁移) of Atlantic salmon (鲑鱼) and trout during their reproduction seasons, as well as affecting habitat (栖息地) quality. Thus, people should control the construction of beaver dams, especially in human-inhabited areas, near agricultural fields and pasture lands.

2 . 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.

4 . Building good transportation is a good idea. To have environmental value, new transportation has to sufficiently replace or eliminate driving to cut energy consumption overall. That means that a new traffic system has to be supported by reduction in car use. Traffic lanes should be eliminated or converted into bike or bus lanes. Ideally, these should be combined with higher fuel taxes, and parking fees. Needless to say, I have to struggle to make myself extensively understood. But they’re necessary, because you can’t make people drive less, in the long run, by taking steps that make driving more pleasant, economical, and productive.

Lengthy commuting (通勤) time is a forceful factor which can slow the growth of suburbs. The farther people live away from cities, the longer commuting time they need, which means more pollution their cars produce. If, in a misguided effort to do something of environmental value, governments take steps that make long-distance car commuting faster or more convenient—by adding lanes, building bypass, employing traffic-control measures that make it possible for existing roads to accommodate more cars with fewer delays—we are actually encouraging people to live still farther from their jobs, stores, and schools. As a result, governments are forced to further extend road networks, water lines, and other facilities. If you cut commuting time by 10 percent, people who now drive fifty miles each way to work can find reason to move five miles farther out, because their travel time won’t change.

Traffic congestion (拥堵) isn’t an environmental problem; traffic is. Relieving congestion without doing anything to reduce the total volume of cars can only make the real problem worse. Highway engineers have known for a long time that building new car lanes only temporarily reduces congestion, because the new lanes add additional driving. Widening roads makes traffic move faster in the short term, but the improved conditions eventually attract additional drivers, and congestion reappears. With more car on the roads, people think about widening roads again. Moving drivers out of cars and into other forms of transportation can have the same effect, if existing traffic lanes are kept in service: road space stimulates road use.

One of the arguments that cities inevitably make in promoting transportation plans is that the new system, by relieving automobile congestion, will improve the lives of those who continue to drive. No one ever promotes a transportation system by arguing that it would make travelling less convenient—even though, from an environmental perspective, inconvenient travel is a worthy goal.

5 . Lots of animals live and move in groups--elephants in herds, wolves in packs, birds in flocks, and fish in schools. Research has shown that where an individual is located in the group can affect the benefits it gets from hanging out in a crowd. However, Shaun Killen, an ecophysiologist at the University of Glasgow in the UK says, researchers haven’t yet fully explored the role of physiological processes such as digestion in driving animals’ collective behavior.

Killen and his colleagues recently studied schools of Eurasian minnows (修鱼) swimming in a tank against a current. Pieces of food were constantly moving past the fish, and the team recorded how many each minnow ate and the fishes’ positions before and after eating. After calculating the metabolic (新陈代谢的) costs of digesting each fish’s meal and comparing it to the fish’s position ,the team observed a trend: fish that had just gulped down a big meal moved to the back of the school, even when they’d swum at the front at most other times.

“It makes sense that feeding would influence individuals’ positions in a group,” says DamienFarine, who studies collective behavior in birds at the University of Konstanz in Germany, “If a fish is hungry, it’s competing with others in the school to eat, and being at the front gives it access to more food. But once the fish is full, it doesn’t necessarily need to be at the front.” In addition,“being at the back of the group is less energetically costly for a range of reasons,” Farine notes.” An individual at the back doesn’t have to contribute to navigating, and by relaxing the brain load it saves more energy.”

Killen says he’s been thinking about the pros and cons of being at the back of the pack, such as protection from attackers and a boost from schoolmates’ slipstream. Changes in position, especially during the basic trade -off between feeding and movement, appear to influence group leadership ,information transfer, and group decision making. But the consequences of the trade-offs for group power and survival are not yet understood.

6 . The Latest and Greatest Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

At this point, we know that we’re facing a climate crisis. CO_₂ levels are at their highest in 650,000 years, which is why we’ve heard a lot about our “carbon footprint.”

    1     Essentially, your carbon footprint is the amount of CO_₂ emissions(排放) resulting from each of your daily activities, as well as the products you consume. Whether you realize it or not, it affects the environment. So, how can we reduce our carbon footprint?     2    

Change to smart light bulbs(灯泡)

You’ve probably already made the change from traditional light bulbs to energy-efficient LED bulbs. That’s a great first step, but you can do one better by changing to smart LED bulbs.     3     These bulbs can wirelessly connect to the Internet and most importantly, your smartphone, enabling you to turn on the lights or change the color easily.

Use a notebook computer instead of a desktop computer

Consider getting a notebook instead of a desktop, because it uses less energy. Specifically, notebooks use up to 80 percent less electricity than desktops, using between one-fifth and one-third as much energy.     4     Notebook computers are an additional 20 percent more power efficient when running on AC adapter(适配器) power over battery power.

Rethink your transportation strategy

Not everyone has the option of walking, biking, or taking public transportation to work, but if you do, those are the best ways to reduce your transportation-related carbon footprint.     5     If this is the case, you may want to consider using an electric car. While only a few years ago these cars seemed imaginary, they’re now pretty standard, and electric charging stations are getting more common.

Taking these very workable steps is a good start. Doing your part to protect the planet can be as easy as making small, strategic changes to your everyday routine.

8 . Located 150 miles south of mainland Australia, Tasmania is known for its wildlife and landscape, including unique plant and animal species. Perhaps its most famous native animal is the Tasmanian devil, a small but violent animal. The island was also home to a large wolf-like Tasmanian tiger. It lived among the island’s famous giant tree ferns (树蕨), but was hunted by people until the last known animal died in a zoo in 1936.

A team of Australian scientists have discovered that Tasmania is now carbon negative, meaning it absorbs more carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) than it gives off. The team say their findings show the importance of forests in fighting climate change.

Large quantities of CO₂ act as a greenhouse gas, trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and causing climate change. Many countries have plans to become “carbon neutral” (碳中和), but Tasmania is one of the first places in the world to go carbon negative.

The fact came to light when a team from Australian National University (ANU) looked into the CO₂ emissions (排放) of each Australian state. CO₂ is produced by activities such as burning coal, oil and gas for power, but is also released when forests are cut down — especially if the wood is used to make paper and similar products. On the other hand, living forests absorb large amounts of CO₂. In 2011, campaigners blocked plans to build a large new paper factory in Tasmania, leading to a large decline in cutting down Tasmania’s forests. Consequently, CO₂ emissions dropped sharply and allowed forests to continue growing instead. Much of Tasmania’s power comes from hydroelectricity, which does not give off CO₂.

Scientists say that Tasmania’s achievement shows the important role of forests in managing CO₂. They say preserving forests around the world could help many countries to absorb more CO₂. “We need to store a lot more carbon in the environment,” explained Professor David Lindemayer of ANU, adding that “the most effective place to do that is in forests.”

9 . In 1907, Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite — the first ever plastic. Since then, plastics have been used widely in various industries and people’s lives. Plastic bags were introduced to supermarkets in 1977. Now, 160,000 plastic bags are used globally every second!

    1     However, they are extremely inconvenient for the earth:

 Plastic bags live on much, much longer — perhaps as much as 1,000 years in a landfill (垃圾填埋地).

 When plastic breaks down in the ocean, it doesn’t break down completely.     2     The toxic (有毒的) chemicals from the plastic waste then enter the food chain.

 Plastic bags cause the death of many sea animals when they are mistaken for food. In 2008, a whale was found beached in California. It died due to the more than 22 kilos of plastic found in its stomach.

    3     However, sometimes you get to the store and realize you left your reusable shopping bag at home.

The key to improving our environmental behavior is to make a plan. And you should build your environmental muscle memory: Put your recyclable bags somewhere that will ensure you always remember to bring them with you.

If you drive to the store, keep your bags in your car.     4     If you walk, store your reusable bags near your front door.

Through this act of green, you have created a plan to ensure you will always have your reusable grocery bags on hand when you need them.     5     So build a plan and keep to it!