1 . Forests give us shade, quiet and one of the harder challenges in the fight against climate change. Even as we humans count on forests to soak up a good share of the carbon dioxide we produce, we are threatening their ability to do so. The climate change we are quickening could one day leave us with forests that send out more carbon than they absorb.

Thankfully, there is a way out of this trap — but n involves striking a subtle balance. Helping forests thrive as valuable “carbon sinks” long into the future may require reducing their ability to absorb carbon now. California is leading the way, as it does on so many climate efforts, in figuring out the details.

The state’s proposed Forest Carbon Plan aims to double efforts to thin out young trees and clear brush in parts of the forest. This temporarily lowers carbon-carrying ability. But the remaining trees draw a greater share of the available moisture (水分), so they grow and thrive, fixing the forest’s ability to pull carbon from the air. Healthy trees are also better able to be spared from insects. The landscape is less easily burnable. The need for such planning is increasingly urgent. Already, since 2010, drought and insects have killed over 100 million trees in California, most of them in 2016alone, and wildfires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.

California plans to treat 35,000 acres of forest a year by 2020, and 60,000 by 2030 — financed from the profit of the state’s emissions (排放)-permit auctions (拍卖). That’s only a small share of the total land area that could benefit, about half a million acres in all, so it will be vital to prioritize (优先考虑) areas at greatest risk of fire or drought.

State governments are well accustomed to managing forests, but traditionally they’ve focused on wildlife and opportunities for recreation. Only recently have they come to see the vital part forests will have to play in storing carbon. California’s plan, which is expected to be finalized by the governor next year, should serve as a model.

2 . Every year, the brightest young scientists from around the globe come together to participate in the world’s largest pre-college science competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair(ISEF). They demonstrate their knowledge of science and engineering to improve the way we work and live.

One of the winners, Katie Lu, found a method for removing oil from water. This concept can also be applied to the removal of microplastics from our oceans as well. Here is what Katie told reporters:

My experience at Intel ISEF was amazing! I remember on judging day, walking the exhibit hall and looking at the people gathered outside waiting to get in. My teacher turned to me and said, “That’s the future right there.” It was so amazing to spend time with all of these participants who are going to do amazing things in the future.

My scientific career has taught me not to fear failure and not to be afraid to ask for help. It’s really easy to be overwhelmed(挫败)and wonder if what you’re doing is going to work out, but even if it doesn’t, it’s OK! Always look on the positive side! A failure now doesn’t mean you’re a failure forever. Failure makes success feel earned when it comes. Also, asking for help is good when you’re struggling. You learn how to do things a lot faster and more efficiently.

I’m shocked that some people are still skeptical about climate change. It’s real and dangerous, and it’ s one of the most important issues of our generation. Reducing carbon emissions isn’t a “should”, it is a “must” to continue living on the planet. Additionally, people aren’t really worried about their personal impact on the earth in terms of littering, overusing plastic or wasting resources. If we don’t curb harmful human activity before it’s too late, it will be a problem that affects all humans, not just those that contribute.

Last Saturday morning, we held a meaningfully performance in front of the Walmart supermarket where there were several hundreds people. Our goal was making people to think about the overuse of plastic bags. Several volunteers wore plastic bags and walk around and through the crowd. The performance called on people to use cloth bags instead of plastic one. Some of the plastic bags wore by the performers were collected from the customers in two food markets and the others were collected from the primary school. On that day, when leaving the supermarket, the customers advised to hand in the plastic shopping bags that we didn’t need. Lots of plastic bags were collected for just two hours.

When I was a child, I hoped to live in the city. I thought I would be happy there. Now I am living in a city, but I missed my home in the countryside. There the air is clean or the mountains are green. Fortunately, with the development of industrialization, the environment has been polluted. Lots of studies have been shown that global warming has already become a very seriously problem. The airs we breathe in is getting dirtier and dirtier. Much rare animals are dying out. We must find ways to protect your environment. If we fail to do, we’ll live to regret it.

David was upset by the plastic going into the oceans. To help solve the problem, he had a     1     (create) idea - to create plastic like money. David calls his idea the “Plastic Bank”. The goal of Plastic Bank is to use plastic to help people solve the problems       2     (gradual). The Plastic Bank adds a value to plastic waste by     3     (pay) people to recycle it.

The program began in 2015 in Haiti, a poor island nation with many problems of waste plastic. The Plastic Bank has opened 30 “markets” in Haiti. At the Plastic Bank markets, people can exchange the plastic they’ve collected for     4     they need. The Plastic Bank markets sell lots of things the local people need. The stores also allow plastic collectors     5    (use) the money they earn to pay     6     health care or school. To make sure that the plastic is recycled, the Plastic Bank works with partners,       7     agree to use the plastic that is collected. When customers buy these products, which are labeled “Social Plastic”, they know that they are both helping people in other parts of the world     8     keeping plastic out of the oceans. So far, the Plastic Bank     9    (keep) about 7 million pounds of plastic out of the oceans. It makes a great     10     (contribute) to the ocean world.

9 . Coffee chains create a lot of waste, from disposable take-away cups to the used grounds that are sent to landfills(垃圾填埋场). Starbucks has started to try recyclable alternatives to the disposable cups. But the used coffee is often unnoticed.

The world drinks around 2 billion cups of coffee a day, producing 6 million tons of used grounds every year. When they go to landfills, the grounds give off greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

UK Bio-bean has found a way to turn that waste into a valuable resource. At Bio-bean, used coffee grounds are processed to remove paper cups or plastic bags, and then passed through a dryer and a further screening (筛选) process. They are finally processed into the Coffee Log.

“Coffee is highly calorific and lends itself to being a really fantastic fuel”, says May, director of Bio-bean. “They burn about 20% hotter and 20%o longer than wood logs do.”

While these fuels release greenhouse gases when burned, if they replace other carbon-based fuels. Bio-bean estimates that the recycling process reduces emissions (排放) to by 80% compared with sending the grounds to landfills.

Founded in 2013, Bio-bean grew rapidly, starting coffee collection services across the UK and building the world's first coffee recycling factory only two years later. In 2016 they produced their first product, Coffee Log, and are now ready to launch their first natural flavoring ingredient into the tool and drink industry.

“We’re really managed to succeed with our innovation (创新) because we’ve managed to get to scale. What started as a good idea is today the UK’s largest recycler of coffee grounds. We are tuning 7,000 tons of those grounds per year into the fuel”, says George May. “Despite being delayed by the worldwide COVID-19 epidemic, we plan to expand our operation into northwestern Europe within the next five years.”

10 . Scientists say a huge percentage of bird species are in danger because their habitats, or homelands, are disappearing.

Traditional migration (迁徙) paths take birds through countries that are not protecting the places for birds to stop, rest and feed. The scientists studied the migration or flight paths of almost 1,500 species. They decided that 91 percent of them passed through dangerous areas.

The major danger for migratory birds is development. Buildings and pavements have covered the places where birds stop and feed as they move from one part of the world to another. One of the scientists who worked on the study says “Many of these important places have been lost to land reclamation because of urban, industrial and agricultural land expansion”.

The problem, according to scientists, is that many of these small birds die along their migration paths because they don’t have a safe place to feed and rest. There is no place to restore (恢复) their energy for the next part of their journey. Countries in North Africa, Central Asia and those along the coasts of East Asia are having the most difficult time in protecting land. The scientists say these countries do not have enough areas that are safe for birds. One species that doesn’t exist now is the Eskimo curlew. “Our world gets poorer every time we lose a species,” one of the scientists says.

The researchers say countries need to work together and come up with safe stopping areas for birds that pass through their boundaries. For example, one country might have preserved safe zones for migrating birds. But a neighbor country might not. A bird might die.

One scientist who is not connected with the report tells Los Angeles Times that while some habitats are changing, more work can be done to make urban areas safe for birds.

He says small changes, like planting more native plants or keeping cats out of the areas birds would be likely to use, could make a big difference.