2 . Once again, China has conquered the world’s highest peak, Mount Qomolangma, on May 4th, 2022. Thirteen members of the Chinese Earth Summit Mission 2022 scientific expedition (探险) team successfully established an automatic weather station at an altitude of over 8800 meters, the world’s highest of its kind, on Mount Qomolangma on the China-Nepal border, achieving the milestone task of the country’s second comprehensive survey to the roof of the world.

To finish this mission, Yao Tandong, a leader of the expedition, said they have organized a massive party consisting of 16 teams and over 270 researchers, some of whom trained for over two years for the project. Now they have set up eight stations from 5200 meters to 8800 meters on Mount Qomolangma, with four stations higher than 7000 meters respectively at 7028 meters, 7790 meters, 8300 meters and 8800 meters. These weather stations at different altitudes mainly monitor the temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed, pressure and radiation changes in the region, and can realize real-time remote transmission (传输) of data.

Conventional weather observations are generally below 5000 meters and rarely above 5000 meters, and such high-altitude weather observations are scarce at the moment, Zhao Huabiao, a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, said. “The reason for building a weather station at 8800 meters instead of 8848 meters is that the snow and ice on the summit are not suitable for fixing equipment, and in this regard, the weather station was built on bedrock around 8800 meters which is easier,” said Zhao.

The team reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma and used high-accuracy radar to measure the thickness of ice and snow, and collected samples for further research. Kang Shichang, a researcher of the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said studying the changes to the glacier aims to clarify the impact of global warming, which is beneficial to mounting a global response to climate change. “Through the study of glacier changes and glacier air pollutants, we can see the impact of global and regional human activities in the Qomolangma area,” Kang said.

The international community     1    (astonish) by Japan’s action to discharge nuclear-contaminated water from Fukushima plant into the Pacific on August 24, 2023. This move occurred despite the widespread protests and complaints from     2    (nation) across the Asia-Pacific.

Japan’s action is seen as     3     display of extreme self-interest and irresponsibility, with the potential to do immeasurable harm to the ocean ecosystem. The consequences are far-reaching, extending to safety risks in our food chain, the appearance of new illnesses, and an increased likelihood of cancer cases among humans.     4    (eventual), such a course of action will change the fate of our planet,     5    (cast) a shadow of uncertainty over its future.

The radioactive water is discharged into the Pacific resulting from the Fukushima nuclear leakage     6    (cause) by submarine earthquake in 2011. Japan’s 2011 nuclear leak disaster ranks among the     7    (bad) nuclear incidents in history, resulting     8     vital leakage of radioactive substances (放射性物质).

On August 24, the Tokyo Electric Power Company,     9     is responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, started the water discharge process through remote operation from the plant’s monitoring room. As planned, about 460 tons of such water will be released daily for 17 days, with a gradual increase planned after that. The timeline provided by the Japanese government and TEPCO indicates that this oceanic discharge process is expected     10    (last) at least 30 years.

5 . Earth Day falls on April 22 each year to inform people about environmental problems and inspire them to act. It first came into being in 1970, followed in 1972 by World Environment Day. It has been celebrated ever since, slowly but surely picking up steam. Interestingly, it remained a grassroots affair for 20 years before spreading out to 140 countries in 1990. Now, it is celebrated around the world. Humans still face many challenges, such as climate change and plastic pollution. But we can all make a difference.

When Claire was in the seventh grade, she learned about plans to expand and modernize her middle school. As a follower of Earth Day, she wanted to help. Claire asked the school board to add solar panels to the project because, she explained, clean energy would contribute to a truly modern school, and help her school pursue sustainable development.

The board liked the idea but said it could contribute just $25,000, one-fifth of the cost. So Clarie turned to the community, looking for a solution. Her friends and neighbors shared her enthusiasm. Soon Claire organized a group of kids and adults, who set to work raising the rest. They wrote grant (拨款) requests, put on a talent show and asked for donations, even going door-to-door for them at Halloween. And they appealed to charitable foundations too. One donated more than half the cost!

After two years of hard work, the group paid for the solar panels, which now supply one-fourth of the school’s electricity needs, saving the district thousands of dollars. “My favorite part about this project was that one person could start something small and then the project could grow and have a big impact on the community,” Claire said “There are always going to be barriers and hard parts. When there’s a challenge presented to you, use it as a learning moment and an opportunity to overcome it.”

You can be a hero for the environment, so find out what can be recycled where you live.

8 . We often think that buying an artificial tree instead of a real one for Christmas will help the environment by not cutting down trees. However, this argument doesn’t consider the process of producing and disposing of the trees, during which a lot of CO₂, emissions are being let off into the air. Actually, increased demand(需求)for real trees is helping the environment.

Artificial trees, when created, give out an average of 40kg of CO₂. To harvest a real Christmas tree, very little CO₂ emissions are caused. If left to biodegrade (生物降解), a real tree will return to the earth in one to two years depending on conditions. An artificial tree, however, will take hundreds of years to degrade, letting out more pollutants into the air. Further, even if an artificial tree is recycled, the process will continue to produce even more CO₂.

Real trees do not have these problems. They can have positive effects on our health. When they are near a window and regularly watered, they will produce clean oxygen which can improve health.

Undoubtedly, cutting down trees is bad for the environment, so what makes cutting down Christmas trees any different? Christmas trees have specific farms where they are harvested, meaning that protected forests aren’t cut down, and, with every tree harvested a new one is planted. The trees aren’t harvested until they are between 10 and 12 years old and the farms always have trees growing while they’ re harvesting this year’s trees.

If you have already used an artificial tree, the best thing you can do is to keep using it year over year to save it from going to landfill.

10 . Zheng Haiqiang and Ni Decong rose early on Jan. 24, before the break of dawn, to monitor Hainan gibbons (长臂猿). After a one-hour hike, they heard the animals howling, located their positions, and excitedly found one holding a baby cub.

There are 20 gibbon species recognized worldwide, of which six are known to come from China. The Hainan gibbon is the most endangered of them all and one of the world’s rarest primates. They can mainly be found in Bawangling National Nature Reserve in Changjiang county, western Hainan, which is part of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park.

Forty years ago, Bawangling formed a monitoring team, which consists of forest rangers and experienced villagers. The members of the monitoring team, like Zheng and Ni, will get up at 4 am every day. Science and technology help to scope out and predict locations where they may be able to observe the gibbons, and then they’ll wait for them to start howling at around 6 am, before taking photos and recording the lives of the gibbons.

The Hainan gibbons are a critically endangered and important flagship species. They serve as an indicator of the health and stability of the tropical island’s entire ecosystem, according to Qi Xunming, director of the Education and Publicity Division of Bawangling Branch of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park Administration. “If the number of Hainan gibbons increases, it indicates that the local environment is healthy, complete and functioning well”, Qi says.

To educate people on the island’s exclusive residents, exhibitions have been held in schools and communities across the province. From Oct. 24 to 31, a science exhibition, Into the Mysterious “Gibbon Universe” of the Bawangling National Nature Reserve-the Familiar and Unfamiliar Facts of Hainan Gibbons was held at Hainan Library. With interesting, vivid and informative pictures and illustrations, the exhibition presented the living habits and population changes of Hainan gibbons, as well as the effects of conservation on the animal and its habitat.

“Hopefully, with more education and publicity, the national park administration will recruit more talents, and young people with a relatively high educational background will join the monitoring team”, Qi adds.