Greenpeace is not satisfied     1     the EU move, saying in statement that the 2032 deadline is too late     2     (limit) global warming below 1.5℃.

“Europe desperately needs to decarbonize transport, but ministers missed a     3     (gold) opportunity. It is now in     4     hands of national authorities to cut car usage, boost public transport, and make more livable cities and towns where more people can cycle or walk.” Greenpeace EU transport campaigner Lorelei Limousin said.

Greenpeace francized EU national governments for     5     (open) the door to further promote “expensive and inefficient synthetic (合成的) fuels that are harmful to the environment and the climate”.

The Czech Republic, which     6     (take) the rotating (轮流) six-month presidency of the Council of the EU from France last Friday, has listed energy sector     7     (transform) as a priority but said that it must be carried out in a socially and     8     (economic) sensitive manner so as not to ruin the living standards of EU citizens and the competitiveness of industry.

European Commission Executive Vice-President Fran’s Timmermans,     9     is in charge of the European Green Deal initiatives, applauded the agreement by EU environment ministers as setting EU on a path toward     10     (it) goals.

3 . In Frank Schätzing’s 2004 novel The Swarm (《群》), sea life develops a collective mind of its own. Whales band together to attack ships, while groups of jellyfish (水母) swallow the shores. It’s as if ocean creatures decided to jointly fight humanity to try to get back their environment.

Scientists say that this scene isn’t made up. Animals do move in groups governed by the collective. Think of a flock of birds, a line of ants, a group of fish — all crowds like those imagined by Schätzing, if not quite as deadly. “Animals regulate these vast collective structures without any leadership, without any individual animal knowing the whole state of the system,” says Nicholas Ouellette an engineer. “And yet it works fantastically well.”

Deborah Gordon, a biologist, studies how ants make collective decisions, such as when and where to hunt for food. A red harvester settlement typically has some hunters waiting in the nest while others hunt out. Studying these ants in New Mexico, Gordon showed that they leave the nest at a rate determined by how often hunters return with food. The more food is available the more often hunters return to the nest; this starts more ants leaving the nest. But if little food is available, the process will throttle down.

Working with computer scientist Balaji Prabhakar, Gordon found that information flowing among the ants was similar to the way the Internet protocols (协议) regulate the rate of data transport depending on how much bandwidth (宽带) is available. The scientists named this naturally produced algorithm (算法) the “Anternet”. The Anternet information seems to help the settlement to search efficiently.

Studies of collective behaviour in birds, ants and fish have meanings for humans. Engineers can take lessons from animals that swarm effectively together to build better swarms of small robots.

And understanding how ants collectively adapt to changes in their network, such as when a tree blows down, could help researchers develop flexible rules for robots working in an unfamiliar environment such as in a burning building. “That’s a lessor for engineering,” Gordon says.

4 . You don’t have to brave the crowds at the Tidal Basin to enjoy the glories of cherry blossom (樱花), which always runs for one month. The delicate pink and white blooms decorate the district. Washington-based nonprofit Casey Trees has a detailed map of where to find them.

Using the map’s explanation, you can check out a neighborhood’s list of trees. The map is color-coded by a variety of cherry blossom, and there are several: Yoshino, Okame, Oshi-ma, and Sour Cherry, just to name a few.

Michaila Musman, the Geographic Information Systems manager at Casey Trees，suggests tracking down the Sargent Cherry, which develops pinkish white blossoms and is called the “cream” of flowering cherries by the Arbor Day Foundation. “They can also support bird species around the city, which is a wonderful bonus.” says Musman.

The map is an annual tradition at Casey Trees. The organization plans to use it to help protect Washington’s trees. To build the map, staff and volunteers walked into the city’s parks to identify and measure every tree they came across. “We can do better advocacy and tree protection if we know what our trees across the city look like.” said Musman.

Other data points for the map come from DDOT’s Urban Forestry Division and from cherry trees that Casey Trees has planted. Most of the trees on the map are located on public land. So if your yard or your neighbor’s yard is the proud home of a cherry tree, it may not appear (considering it as your own secret garden).

And if you miss the cherries this time around, the organization also maintains a separate map of all the flowering trees in the city. Musman recommends checking out the Eastern Red bud. “They are native to this area and they have very beautiful blossoms.” she says, “It seems as though they came right out of a Dr. Seuss’ book.”

The 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (RAMSAR COP14) took place in Wuhan, Hubei Province in November. It was the first time that China    1    (host) this international event.    2    (know) as the kidneys (肾脏)of the Earth, wetlands are among the world’s three major ecosystems together with forests and oceans. China’s wetlands arc vast. diverse and widely distributed (分布),    3    (range) from the cold temperate zone to the hot zone. In recent years. China has been strengthening the protection and restoration of wetlands.    4    is remarkable is that more than 600 wetland nature reserves and 1.600 wetland parks have been established. China’s first law on    5    (specific) protecting wetlands took effect on June 1 this year.

Wuhan, the host city of RAMSAR COP 14. has 162,400 hectares (公顷) of wetlands, accounting    6    18. 9 per cent of its total area. In June,Wuhan    7    (award) Wetland City Accreditation by the Ramsar Convention,    8    international honor for the protection of urban wetland ecology.

Nature provides the basic conditions for human    9    (survive) and development. With a comprehensive approach to the conservation of ecosystems in place. China aims to boost their biodiversity, stability and sustainability. Wetland conservation is a crucial part of the country’s efforts to achieve    10    (it) green development goals.

6 . There has been a very serious decline in the numbers of shallow-water fish as a result of overfishing. People still want to eat fish, so the fishing industry must look at other sources, especially the deep waters of the Atlantic.     1    

Conservation measures will have to be put in place if these deep-sea fish are to survive. Research on five such species shows that numbers have declined by between 87 percent and 98 percent.     2     Many species could well disappear completely if the present trend continues. These are species that have been swimming in our oceans for hundreds of millions of years.

The problem is emphasized by the fact that the decline in numbers happened in less than twenty years. Deep-sea fish take a long time to reproduce and normally live for many years.     3     The average size of such fish also declined, with one species showing a 57 percent decline in average size. This is of particular concern, as large fish tend to produce more offspring than small ones.

    4     The deep-sea species have been caught as if they were the fast-breeding (快速繁殖) fish like sardine and herring. It is like killing elephants as if they reproduced at the same rate as rabbits.

The damage done by overfishing goes beyond the sea environment. Millions of people make a living in the fishing industry.     5     Measures must be taken to not only conserve ecosystems, but also sustain livelihoods and ensure food security.

7 . When tennis player Sam Bencheghib recognized the way the oceans in his home country, Indonesia, were polluted, in 2009 he and his older brother, Gary, co-founded Make a Change World, an organization supporting sustainability(可持续性) as well as helping to cut plastic(塑料) pollution. The company shares short videos encouraging eco-friendly actions.

Bencheghib has worked on several projects overseas. But he wanted to do something in the United States on his own. In January, Bencheghib came up with the idea to run from Los Angeles to New York, to make people pay attention to plastic pollution and its influence on oceans. Starting on June 8, Bencheghib has kept running 20 miles a day for 140 days. Along the way, he plans to host education speeches at schools, universities and town halls as well as organize street and city cleanups to influence people.

Bencheghib said he understands the difficulty of his task but recognizes that taking risks often has advantages. Unsurprisingly, when he told his team and coaches about his plan, he was met with surprise.

“We were all really excited but couldn’t believe it,” teammate Christopher Auteri said. “It’s crazy how long it is, but we know if there’s anyone who’s going to do it, it’s going to be Sam.”

Since Bencheghib broke the news to the team, there have been no plastic water bottles in the locker room, and teammates join Bencheghib on training runs. Coach Wouter Hendrix said Bencheghib’s work shows his persistence(坚持) and courage, which he believes will serve as invaluable qualities for completing his run.

8 . As waterfowl (水鸟) seasons unfold each year across North America, the question “Where are the ducks?” unavoidably arises somewhere. While that seems like a straightforward, easy question, the answer is actually very complex. There are many factors that influence distribution of waterfowl in fall and winter.

Most waterfowl hunters understand the effect weather has on waterfowl migration (迁徙). Except for the few species that are hardwired for more dependable long-distance migrations, such as blue-winged teal (水鸭), waterfowl are adapted to migrating only as far as is necessary for them to find food and places to rest. Waterfowl like to wander at places without freezing temperatures and snow to cover food sources. It is advantageous for them to reduce risk of death from migration. Some birds that arrive earliest on breeding areas have access to the best regions, which results in a higher probability of nesting successfully.

Snow and ice cover and their influence on waterfowl migration are easy to understand to most duck hunters. However, what may be less understood is the trend toward warmer winters. If current climate trends continue in North America, northern regions will have less frequent ice and snow cover in future winters. So waterfowl that are adapted to staying as close to breeding areas are likely to be influenced, meaning significantly delayed fall migrations and shorter periods on southern areas.

In the past 200 years the landscapes that are most important to waterfowl have suffered huge habitat loss, with some states losing more than 90 percent of wetlands, and nearly all losing over 50 percent. Perhaps the most discouraging loss of wetlands important to wintering waterfowl has been in coastal Louisiana, where more than 40 percent of the states, approximately 3 million acres of wetlands have disappeared over the past several decades.

Changes in the number of wetlands and the trend toward warmer winters are likely enabling waterfowl to winter farther north or, at least, delaying fall migration. Unsurprisingly across most of the eastern United States’ many waterfowl hunters saw reduced harvest as a result.