1 . Living downstream from a waste-treatment plant can leave fish tired, a new study finds, led by Graham Scott, a biologist in Canada. “Wastewater treatment plants are pretty good at taking out the waste and treating it before it gets into our waterways,” he said. “But not everything can be taken out,” he added.

For example, some plants beside the stream were not designed to remove remains of drugs. So when some medicines are left over after people use them, they can be released into the environment. These include the drugs used to treat depression and high blood pressure.

Life-sustaining chemical reactions in an animal’s body (including ours) allow it to grow, move and reproduce. These reactions, taken together, are known as the creature’s metabolism (新陈代谢). Some studies have shown that even just one drug can change the metabolism of fish, making their metabolism slow down. Then that will impair their bodies.

That creates a problem for the animals — using the extra energy to rid their bodies of the pollutants which can damage their cells and tissues. “That’s energy they burn just to stay alive,” explained Scott. That is also the energy no longer available to avoid predators (天敌), to find food and to mate.

And they report that fish exposed to a mix of chemicals can use up some of their energy just to deal with those pollutants. Therefore, they will have less energy to eat and avoid being eaten, says Paul Craig, a biologist in Ontario.

“It is up to us to help reduce the types of pollutants in. wastewater,” Craig says. “That includes not throwing leftover medicines down the toilet.” he recommends.

2 . In the 2010s, 34-year-old Brianne Miller travelled around the world and made a surprising discovery: large amounts of plastic littering the water and doing harm to sea life. Miller knew she needed to do something.

Canadians throw out three million tons of plastic waste each year. Groups like A Greener Future, which organize litter clean-ups across Canada, think that 33% of what they pick up comes from food packaging. About one third of food produced worldwide goes to waste too, according to a UN study. Miller decided to solve the problem at the source, imagining a shop where both wasteful packaging and the bad habit of wasting food no longer existed.

In June 2018, she opened her first zero-waste store in Canada. She named it Nada. Customers can bring their own containers (容器), though it’s not necessary: by the front door are quarrels don’t go that far. These days, especially in cities, many people live in buildings. Our neighbours are all around us — so what problems can come from that?

The first obvious cause of arguement is noise pollution. Loud noise through the walls, construction (施工), or people arguing next door can disturb the silence of your living space. Asking someone directly to turn the music down can cause you to feel anxious. However, if you get someone like a building manager to speak to your neighbour, it can make things more awkward because you didn’t speak to your neighbour directly.

And then what about smells? If your neighbour likes eating food with pungent (刺激的) smells, and the smells flow through your window, what can you do? There are some other common problems, such as water running through the wall, pets making noise, and littering from the window above you. These can bring anger over time.

It’s not easy living next door to someone, especially if they’re noisy. But having a clear and honest conversation might help. Also, try thinking if what you are doing could make your neighbours angry. If it’s something that would make you feel bad,maybe think again.

7 . As anyone in mainland Britain who has ever attempted to grow berries or nuts or indeed feed the birds – will know, doing so is equal to an opening move in a game of chess with local grey squirrels, a game the squirrels tend to win. Grey squirrels are also fond of the occasional bird’s egg or the young bird, and enjoy tearing and eating the bark of young broad leaf trees, which can either kill the trees or leave them open to infection. This, apart from affecting biodiversity and landscape, harms the wood industry. The loss is not insignificant: £37 a year in England and walks.

Grey squirrels, introduced from North America in 1876, have almost replaced native red squirrels by competing them for food and habitat. They are larger and stronger, and resistant to squirrel pox virus, while reds are not. About 3 million grey squirrels now live in the UK; the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the grey squirrel among the top 100 most harmful invasive (入侵的) species in the world.

In Britain, much effort and inventiveness has been made in stopping grey squirrel progress, from trapping and shooting them, to releasing pine mar tens into their habitats. The latest move, a workable system for which was thought to be a decade away, is forbidding the breeding (繁殖) of grey squirrels. However, legal challenge brought so many delays that the invasive grey squirrel population expanded to an unmanageable level and wiping out were abandoned. The main issue in Britain was thought to be more technological than legal designing a drug that targets only grey squirrels to prevent their breeding. Another possibility in the years ahead is to use DNA editing to ensure grey female are born unable to give birth.

Grey squirrels have now been here for nearly 150 years. They do actively threaten another species in Britain. There is a strong argument that ecosystems change. In fact, that is their essential nature, and it is unrealistic to stop it. The attraction of controlling the breeding methods of grey squirrels is that they are less inhumane, and aim for balance rather than uprooting.

8 . Welcome to Youth Conservation Corps

We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are now hiring four youths to serve on the Youth Conservation Corps located at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, part of the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District.

Application requirements:

·Ages 15 through 18 years old.

·All applicants must have a valid(有效的)social security number.

·Fill out a Youth Conservation Corps application and return it to the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, 602 State Highway 210 East, Fergus Falls, MN 56537, no later than 4:00 pm on April 18, 2022.

Working conditions:

All members work on wildlife habitat improvement projects. They receive on-the-job training and work mainly outdoors, so exposure to weather conditions, insects, poison ivy and wildlife is expected. Proper personal protective equipment is provided by the district.

Schedule:

The summer work season starts from June 6, 2022 and runs through July 29, 2022. Work each day, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm. Work 40 hours per week for 8 weeks.

Salary:

Each member is paid $10.08/hour.

Special notes:

·You can get application forms for pick-up at area high school career offices and at the visitor center of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.

·We will select the members through a random(随机地)drawing process to be conducted on April 22, 2022.

·To receive an electronic copy, email your request with Youth Conservation Corps

Application as the subject line to joanne_ryan@fws.gov.

Contact Information:

If you have questions regarding the application or the Youth Conservation Corps program, please call Prairie Wetlands Learning Center information desk at 218-998-4480 or email prairiewet@fws.gov.

10 . It’s reported that about 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has disappeared during the past 50 years. Deforestation is not only threatening the millions of unique plant and animal species native to the Amazon River area, it’s affecting humans worldwide. When it comes to the protection of the Amazon, it’s hard for many people to relate because they don’t feel connected to the area. There are actually a lot of direct connections, no matter how far away we are.

A connection that affects everyone on the planet is climate (气候) change. Planting new trees in the forest is basically a way of removing CO₂ from the air. Rain forests have a carbon (碳) reduction nearly equal to half of what is in the air. About half of that is in the Amazon. Another case in point is a big snake called the bushmaster that lives in the Amazon. Today, millions of people use medicines made from its venom (毒液) to treat high blood pressure. So they have longer, fuller, and more productive lives.

In the 1960s, there was only one highway in the entire Amazon. That’s an area as large as the continental United States with one highway and three million people. Today, there are between 30 million to 40 million people, countless roads, and about 20 percent forests have been cut down. But on the plus side, 50 years ago there were only two national parks and a national forest and a reserve in Brazil. Today, more than 50 percent of the Amazon is under some form of protection.

“There’s been a lot of damage done and forest lost, but nothing is gone until it’s gone”, noted National Geographic explorer Dr. Thomas Lovejoy. “We want to see more shared planning between the departments of transportation, energy, agriculture, and the other industries in the area. We think Amazon cities can have higher quality of life and keep people in existing cities so there’s less reason to deforest.”