2 . We’re all familiar with the idea of climate change and how our planet is warming. Extremes in temperature have become more commonplace, making parts of the world difficult to live in. But one place where extreme heat is making life very uncomfortable is our cities. Luckily, innovation might be keeping it under control.

As thermometers(温度计) record temperatures, sometimes above 50 degrees Celsius, solutions are being sought to cool the air in our cities. In India, for example, heatwaves and rapid urbanization have led to a big rise in the use of air-conditioning units, adding to CO2 emissions. So, architects, looking for a sustainable cooling solution, are copying an ancient lattice (框架) design, used in old buildings like the Taj Mahal, to construct comfortable,low-carbon buildings. Yatin Pandya told the BBC: “Traditional architectural forms have proven their performance in combating environmental conditions.”

In America, about 80% of the population lives in cities, and it’s these cities that suffer from an urban heat island effect, caused by factors such as trapped waste heat, concrete structures and pavements absorbing the sun and tall buildings blocking the wind. Residents and developers have tried to cool these places by planting large trees that offer shade and putting plants and gardens on top of roofs to help trap heat. And in Los Angeles, there’s a experiment to cover street s with light-coloured material that reflects rather than absorbs the sun and so they remain cooler than typical black roads.

But it’s satellites in space that are really giving us the best picture of our over-heated cities. Glynn Hulley, who is leading an image-capturing project, called the Land Surface Temperature Monitoring mission, told the BBC: “The data can be used to identify hot spots, weak regions, and assess the cooling impacts of heat mitigation (缓解) approaches.” It’s already found how green spaces, white roads and water features, have helped prevent our cities from boiling over. But with extreme heat still posing a threat to our lives, more solutions are still needed.

3 . Earth’s protective ozone(臭氧) layer is slowly but noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years, a new United Nations report says. The layer of ozone in Earth’s atmosphere shields the planet from harmful radiation linked to skin cancer, cataracts and crop damage. The progress is slow. The global average amount of ozone 18 miles high in the atmosphere won’t be back to 1980 pre-thinning levels until about 2040, the report said. And it won’t be back to normal in the Arctic until 2045. Antarctica, where it’s so thin there’s an annual giant gaping hole in the layer, won’t be fully fixed until 2066, the report said.

Scientists and environmental advocates across the world have long hailed the efforts to heal the ozone hole—springing out of a 1987 agreement called the Montreal Protocol that called on all countries to ban a class of chemicals often used in refrigerants and aerosol—as one of the biggest ecological victories for humanity. “Our success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can and must be done to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases and so limit temperature increase,” professor Petteri Taalas said in a statement. Signs of healing were reported four years ago although the observations at that point were in the early stages. “Those numbers of recovery have solidified a lot recently,” Petteri said.

“There has been a sea change in the way our society deals with ozone reducing substances,” said lead researcher David W. Fahey. Decades ago, people could go into a store and buy a can of refrigerants that eat away at the ozone. Now, not only are the substances banned but they are no longer much in people’s homes or cars, replaced by cleaner chemicals.

Natural weather patterns in the Antarctic also affect ozone hole levels. And the past couple years, the holes have been a bit bigger because of that but the overall trend is one of healing. This is “saving 2 million people every year from skin cancer,” United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen said in an email.

5 . Fiji has become the first country in the Pacific to recognize“waste pickers”,who collect, repurpose and sell rubbish, as environmental champions.

Who are “waste pickers”? These workers are usually women, children and migrants(移民)living in bad conditions. The job comes with many health risks, as workers are exposed to pollutants and poisonous materials,and those who work at open dumps(垃圾场)face risks caused by trucks, fires and surface falls.

They remove millions of tons of CO each year from landfills, yet they are often looked down on and treated poorly. Talking to ABC News, Tikitoro from Fiji said that her children are made fun of at school. “The students laugh and point at them” she shared.

How is Fiji responding? On July 20, 2022, in Lautoka, Fiji recognized the environmental benefits that these workers are providing. Thirty women who took part in informal waste picking were officially registered, given bank accounts and provided with protective gear to make their jobs safer.

A new name was also created for these workers: Collection Pillars of Recycling, The name came from a workshop organized with International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and the Pacific Recycling Foundation.

Amitesh Deo, founder of the Pacific Recycling Foundation, told the Fiji. Their workshop was about human rights，education,legal literacy and financial literacy. One of the key findings in that workshop was the stigma(污名)attached to waste picking, and one of the contributors to the stigma was the name ‘‘informal waste pickers’’.

With around 20 million people picking waste for a living around the world, it is important that they are treated with respect and recognized for the highly valuable work that they do.

6 . Australian children could soon be playing with Lego made from recycled plastic as the toy giant expands its green qualities. The new recycled brick, which uses plastic from discarded (被丢弃的) bottles, is the company’s latest step in its journey to make Lego products from sustainable (可持续的) materials.

It is the first brick made from a recycled material to meet the Danish-based toy giant’s strict quality and safety requirements. A team of more than 150 engineers and scientists in Denmark have been working on the environmentally friendly brick for more than three years, testing more than 250 variations (变体) of plastic materials.

The new recycled brick will “work perfectly” with existing Lego bricks and should be on Australian shelves within 16 to 22 months, according to Tim Brooks, vice president of environmental responsibility at the Lego Group.

The company takes pride in the way its bricks are handed down from generation to generation—bricks that were made in the 1950s are still used together with those produced today.

“We know kids care about the environment and want us to make our products more sustainable. Even though it will be a while before they will be able to play with bricks made from recycled plastic, we want to let kids know we’re working on it and bring them along on the journey with us,”Mr Brooks said.

The discarded bottles are sourced from the US, with a one-litre plastic PET bottle providing enough raw material for 10 Lego bricks. The recycled brick is the latest move in Lego’s plan to make its products more sustainable by 2030.

Mr Brooks said that Lego will devote itself to playing a part in building a sustainable future for generations of children. “We want our products to have a positive influence on the planet. We still have a long way to go on our journey but are pleased with the progress we’re making.”