3 . On 11 March, 2011, a terrible earthquake shook Japan at 14:46, which immediately generated waves high enough to flood towns along the coasts. Onagawa was one of them. The wave not only left the town flattened, but took the lives of 827 people out of a population of 10, 014.

Ten years on, more than 10,400 people now live in a town that has rebuilt itself with a bold approach. It decided to "adapt" to the tsunami that Mother Nature generates.

From any point in Onagawa, you can see the cove (海湾), the very point that brought waves into the town ten years ago. Instead of covering it with a concrete wall as a tide-preventive breakwater, which the neighboring town has adopted, in Onagawa the view to the ocean is wide open. The town decided that it wants to not only live with the beautiful view of the ocean, but also be able to see the wave with their own eyes when it transforms itself into a frightening tsunami, so that they know which way to run.

The town also moved its centre to the coast where the ground is raised with an embankment (筑堤). A comfortable outdoor shopping mall was built, and the school, city hall and work places are located just few metres higher. The structure allows the whole town to act as one, guiding them toward a newly secured path that will save their lives on higher ground, instead of scattering in all directions.

Strong leadership brought the town to what it is today. Onagawa's young mayor played a vital role in keeping the spirit of the people up. But it came down to other individuals, too, said Toshihiko Abe, former head of the recovery division of the city hall. "The town is small enough to make everyone play a role, leading in one way or the other. No one is left behind. We also make sure that those over 60 stand back and let the younger generation take the lead."

4 . Five years ago, we cut nearly every single tree across 19 acres here, piled and burned the branches and left the trunks where they lay. The goal was to restore one of the Ozarks’ rarest ecosystems, a type of dry and rocky grassland.

Logging down trees to bring back grass may seem puzzling in a time of climate change, as forest conservation and tree planting have become popular ways to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. But it is exactly what we should do in some parts of the Southeast. The climate and biodiversity crises are problems to be solved together. We can’t afford to rob biodiversity to pay for the climate. And grasslands are surprisingly good at pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. A single sunflower might not be the carbon grab that an oak tree is, but grass’s deep root systems store the element deep underground, where it can take hundreds or thousands of years to return to the atmosphere.

For the past century, the commonly held belief was that forests once covered most of the region from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. But we now know that’s not true. Much of the Southeast was a string of large and small grassland ecosystems with enormous biodiversity. All of these unique grasslands are under threat, but not all by tree invasion. The few remaining grasslands in Arkansas are being converted to grow rice, Virginia grasslands are being flattened by housing developers, and low-lying coastal grassy plain is facing sea-level rise. Because grasslands are so easily navigated (导航) and settled, they may be the most threatened ecosystems in the world.

And it’s obvious that everywhere, grasslands remain undervalued. Many conservation organizations working in the Southeast are still focused on tree planting and preserving existing forests. The Nature Conservancy’s Cumberland Forest Project covers 253, 000 acres of land in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, part of an effort to store carbon and create continuous habitats for species migration during climate change. In fact, recent laws are beginning to lead us in the right direction.

5 . With greater climate catastrophe (气候突变) on Earth, it is natural for us to make every effort to stop the potential floods, snowstorms, and alarming reports from scientists. For many of us (myself included), part of that means running out to buy reusable straws, organic cleaners, and packaging-free products.

However, before you rejoice in “green” purchases, take a second to consider the results of a new study from Arizona University. By comparing the shopping habits, mental health and environmental impact of young people, the researchers reaffirmed a principle: Buying less beats buying “green” stuff without effort. And that is true whether you are looking at the impact that your purchases have on the Earth or on your own happiness.

It should not come as a shock that simply consuming less is better for the planet. After all, every new item a factory yields requires some resources to produce. Take plastic bag bans for instance. If your city is getting rid of single-use shopping bags, it can be tempting to pay for a fashionable organic cotton bag hanging in the check-out line of your local supermarket. However, experts insist that growing cotton is actually no better for the Earth than producing the conventional plastic bags. Your best bet for carrying your groceries if you care about sustainability? Any bag you already own. This is true of many kinds of “green” products.

It is not just the Earth that will be happier if you buy less. You will feel more contented too, according to the new study. “People believe that they might well be self-satisfied about becoming environmentally conscious through green buying patterns, but it doesn't seem to be that way”, said the lead researcher Sabrina Helm. “Reduced consumption has effects on increased well-being and decreased psychological distress, but we don't see that with green consumption.”

“Owning every new green product on the market might make you feel contented, but if you relieve yourself of that burden of ownership, most people report feeling a lot better,” said Helm.

6 . When storms come rolling in across the ocean, they struck coastlines with tremendous force. Luckily, for thousands of miles of tropical coastlines, nature has provided a remarkable form of protection: coral reefs.

These colorful wonders are best known for their diversity of life, their plentiful seafood, and their draw to scuba-diving tourists. But they are also astonishingly durable and firm structures, built by tiny animals with calcium carbonate skeletons (碳酸钙骨架), which provide an important service to the coastlines standing behind them — they can absorb up to 97% of wave energy.

A new study estimates that reefs offer protection to up to 5.3 million people and $109 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) per decade. The maps in the study scientists generated are at a much finer resolution (分辨率) than previous analyses, which allows users to view coral reefs with more details and see where reefs provide the highest degree of protection for people, GDP and infrastructure (基础设施). “This level of detail means we can use this information in practical ways, like in the marine spacial planning we do to inform conservation strategies around the world,” says Dr. Spalding, the co-author of the study. More accurate data on where reefs protect people and infrastructure from destructive waves can help improve decision-making about which reefs to protect.

We have already lost half of the world’s reefs, and scientists predict we could lose up to 90% if actions are not taken to protect them. Effective management strategies are vital to supporting reef health and recovery.

Coral reefs are often selected for conservation based on their ecological significance, which may mean they are located in remote places, away from the more direct effects of human pressures like development and pollution. “We are failing ourselves as well as nature if we don’t also consider protecting the reefs that are located closer to humans,” says Spalding. “These are the reefs that protect us and provide for us in abundance. Let’s look after them.”

7 . Richard Proenneke did what most nature lovers can only dream of: At age 51, he quit his job as a mechanic and moved to the Alaskan wilderness to become one with nature.

In 1962, Proenneke encountered the area Twin Lakes, now called Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Its wild beauty struck a chord with Proenneke. He thought the area was a perfect place to settle. In 1968, he built a small cabin there and remained for the next 30 years.

Going such long periods without companionship would tax many a person. But that was not the case for Proenneke. An obsessive observer and diarist, Proenneke once noted he was so busy with his life that he was never lonely. He spent most of his free time writing about the weather, the environment and the animals, some of which he befriended with regular treats. He hiked thousands of miles per year, becoming quite familiar with the miles of wilderness around his cabin. He caught and ate fish from the lake. Having no refrigerator, he dug into the ground and created a chilly storage box that helped to prolong his fresh foods.

Yet Proenneke wasn’t a bitter or angry isolationist (孤立主义者). He happily wrote replies to just about anyone who sent him letters. During the 30 years, Proenneke filled up more than 250 notepads with his diary entries. He also carried a camera to record some of his daily activities. Along with a biography composed by his friend Sam Keith, Proenneke’s notepads and camera footage were later turned into a documentary, Alone in the Wilderness.

In his will, Proenneke left behind his Twin Lakes cabin to the park rangers (护林员) as a gift. Actually, he had become such an important part of the park’s ecosystem that the rangers had trouble imagining life without him.

Going green is more than just a fad (一时的流行). Understanding the link between a clean environment and human life is not a new concept. In fact, it was noticed as early as ancient Rome and medieval Europe. However, it was only in the late 1960s that environmentalism grew to become a political and grassroots movement, influencing ordinary people around the world.

The movement has been able to influence governments across the world to be responsible towards the environment in a variety of ways, such as limiting the burning of fossil fuels and managing how harmful waste is thrown away.

Fast-forward to today and we see how green-living has entered so many areas of our everyday lives, from choosing the appliances that use less water and energy to using reusable bags instead of plastic bags and even buying clothes made from recycled sources. For many of us, making small environmentally-conscious decisions, such as bringing a reusable container to take away food, is how we change our normal habits one step at a time. However, there is a growing community of people who embrace a zero waste lifestyle and make great changes to the way they live to reduce their carbon footprint.

Living a zero waste lifestyle means doing one's best to achieve the aim of not sending anything to a landfill (垃圾填埋场). People who adopt this lifestyle cut down on their waste by reducing what they need and want. They reuse what they own and send few things to be recycled.

Despite what this movement is called, experts say true zero waste is difficult to achieve. This is because waste unavoidably comes about whenever an item is created, transported or repurposed (改换用途), either through emissions or energy. The idea, really, is to change mindsets and habits to lessen our negative impact on the environment as far as possible.

10 . Some of you may play Ant Forest, a game on Alipay. Users collect “energy” to make their “trees” grow. When the “energy” reaches a certain level, some organizations and companies will plant a real tree in a desert area of China. And now it seems that the nation’s efforts as a whole to make a greener world have paid off.

According to a research by NASA, China and India are mainly responsible for making the Earth greener over the past two decades. The study has found that since 2000 the Earth’s green leaf area has increased by 5 percent, or over 5 million square kilometers. That’s an area equivalent to the total area of the Amazon rainforest. It is mainly the result of big tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries, according to NASA. China was the major contributor, adding 25 percent to this increase, while India added 6.8 percent.

Over the past decades, China has made great efforts to green the land. In 1978, China began a national-level forestation project – the Three North Shelterbelt Forest Program, also known as the “Great Green Wall”. The program has seen many trees planted in 13 provinces and autonomous regions in northern China to act as windbreaks, according to China Daily. By the end of 2017, the forest coverage rate among the regions of the project had reached 13.57 percent, compared to 5.05 percent 40 years ago.

In the light of China’s success in dealing with desertification, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) believes the country is a good example for others to follow. “China is one of the most successful countries in greening the desert and has lessons to share with the world,” UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim told Xinhua.