A new study     1     (publish) by the Rapid Transition Alliance has revealed that climate change     2     (threaten) global sports events over the next three decades. This group monitors climate change, development and global issues on     3     daily basis. Researchers said that nearly all sports would be affected in the future by     4     they called “an accelerating (加速的) climate crisis”. They highlighted how the weather had already     5     (direct) affected major sports events. Bushfires in Australia made playing conditions     6     (danger) at the Australian Tennis Open. They predicted that fires, floods, heat waves and rising sea levels would cause greater damage.

The Rapid Transition Alliance urged the sports industry     7     (become) carbon-neutral (碳中和的). It said that the carbon emissions from sports events worldwide are equal     8     those produced by a medium-sized country. The study blamed the sport for     9     (it) inaction. It said, “Making a carbon-zero world he common-sense priority (优先) of the sports world would make a huge     10     (contribute) to making it the common-sense priority of all politics.”

6 . In a small tea shop located in Bisalpur, Uttar Pradesh, one can spot unique furniture like stools (凳子) and tables made of bricks and recycled plastic. Other than customers, tourists who come to visit the nearby Jawai Dam often stop by here to hand plastic waste over to the shopkeeper. Run by Kana Ram Mewada, the shop not only sells tea and snacks, but also leads a campaign to reduce the use of single-use plastic in the village.

According to a report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2019—2020, 3. 5million metric tons (公吨) of plastic waste is annually generated in India, and will remain in landfills (垃圾填埋场) for the upcoming hundreds of years.

Kana was deeply disturbed after reading that report on the Internet and began thinking about ways to raise the villagers’ awareness and make his village free of plastic.

He started a campaign by collecting plastic waste from his own shop and roadside. Whenever customers came, he explained the campaign. In order to attract more people, he started giving something in return for the waste they brought. Sometimes, he purchased a few things made of recycled waste to show the villagers and told them they were created from their plastic waste contribution. He also made decorative items out of the waste and placed them around the shop.

As a result, people from the village became curious about his campaign. Even tourists began participating in the exchange. And today, the forest, rivers and public spaces that were once filled with plastic waste are cleaner than before.

He hopes that he can also help the neighboring villages recycle plastic waste and make the whole area plastic-free. “When an ordinary person like me decided to start a cause, it was inspiring that a whole village stood by me and supported me. We can all become torchbearers (启蒙者) for a better tomorrow. What we have to do is take a step forward,” he said.

8 . Every day, China imports (进口）different goods from countries across the globe. These imports also include solid waste, such as plastics, paper and metals. They mainly come from countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.

These goods will no longer be imported next year. China will ban (禁止) all imports of solid waste starting from Jan 1, 2021, said the Ministry of Ecology and Environment

Why does China import this waste? In 1980, China’s economy (经济) was gradually taking off because of the reform and opening — up policy. The country’s factories didn’t have enough raw materials at that time. Therefore. China began importing solid waste. After being processed, it can be turned into materials that are used to make other products.

For years. China has been the world’s largest importer of solid waste, with about 45 million tons arriving each year. Countries that send this waste to China pay about$ 25（163 yuan）to $50 per ton for recycling, China News Agency reported.

Although the waste has helped develop China’s economy, it has brought more risks than benefits. Waste that can’t be used is either burned or buried. The water used to wash the waste is allowed to flow into nearby rivers. This has polluted the air, soil and water, posing a risk to public health, China Daily reported.

China has made some efforts to ban waste since 2017. From 2017 to 2019, imports of solid waste fell by 68 percent, dropping from 42 million to 13 million tons, Xinhua reported.

9 . The world’s nations have promised to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees over pre-industrial levels, which involves shutting down fossil fuel extraction (化石燃料开采) as quickly as possible. But despite this promise, first reached six years ago during the Paris Climate Accords, the fossil-fuel producing nations are on track to extract more than twice as much coal, oil and natural gas as would be permissible under this plan, a new United Nations report says.

To have a chance of limiting temperature increases to 1.5 degrees, production of coal needs to drop by 11% every year between 2020 and 2030. while production of oil and gas needs to drop by 4% and 3%, respectively, the report finds. Instead, production of oil and gas is set to increase, while coal production is projected to drop slightly.

The so-called production gap, the difference between countries’ climate promises and their fossil fuel production plans — hasn’t changed since the United Nations first examined it in 2019, indicating that international climate accords are still closer to theoretical promises than detailed plans.

The report looks at fossil fuel production in 15 countries — including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, the U.S. and the United Kingdom — hat are collectively responsible for three-quarters of the world’s fossil fuel production. Most of these countries have promised to reach zero emissions by mid-century, but they are planning to increase their fossil fuel extraction until at least 2030.

So far, climate efforts from major fossil fuel extractors, including industry, have “focused on extracting fossil fuels in less-polluting ways, not on winding down production levels in line with climate goals,” the report says. While these efforts, such as developing carbon-capture (碳捕捉) technology and reducing methane leaks (甲烷泄露) are important. they fall far short of the changes science demands if global temperatures are to stay at a livable level.

To close that gap, the report urges governments to make realistic plans for winding down fossil fuel extraction, starting with state-owned companies, which arc responsible for more than half the world’s extraction of such fuels.

10 . Sea life near Turkey is being threatened by a layer of brown foam on the ocean s surface.

The actual name for the foam is mucilage (黏液). Scientists first noticed and described mucilage in 2007, when it was found near Turkey. Then, it was also found in other parts of the Aegean Sea, near Greece.

This year’s outbreak of mucilage is the worst ever recorded. It’s been developing for seven months and is now covering large parts of the Sea of Marmara. The Sea of Marmara is an “inland sea”, surrounded by land belonging to Turkey, and connected to the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea.

There are many different kinds of algae (海藻), and it’s natural and normal for algae to grow in the ocean or in other bodies of water. But when there is lots of food for the algae, and other conditions are just right, there can be “an algae bloom” which results in algae growing quickly and in huge numbers And in very bad situations, mucilage is the result.

There are two main causes for the present outbreak of mucilage. One is the heavy pollution sewage, fertilizers, and other chemicals- flowing into the Sea of Marmara. The second cause is higher water temperatures because of climate change.

The mucilage causes problems in lots of different ways. For one thing, by covering the ocean’s surface, it stops sunlight from reaching all the sea life below. “This mucilage is now covering the sea surface like a tent canvas,” says Muharrem Balci, who teaches biology at Istanbul University. Because there is so much algae, it takes up lots of oxygen from the seawater. That means that there’s very little oxygen left for the other sea creatures that depend on it. The BBC reports that divers in the area are seeing large numbers of dying fish. After a while, the mucilage falls to the bottom of the ocean, where it covers the sea floor threatening to poison creatures that live there, like crabs and mussels. This year, the mucilage has been found as deep as 30 meters below the surface.