2 . To produce the classic clothing, blue jeans, producers rely on indigo dye (靛蓝染料), the only molecule known to provide jeans’ unique, beloved color. While indigo itself naturally comes from a plant, growing demand for blue jeans throughout the 20th century gave rise to synthetic (合成的) indigo, which is now more commonly used.

Indigo is the dye that makes jeans blue, but it doesn’t mix with water. To dye clothes, usually, chemicals are needed to make the color stick to the cloth. But in Denmark, scientists have created a new way to dye clothes using an enzyme (酶), which is a kind of protein that can cause chemical reactions, instead of harmful chemicals. This new method is better for the environment and doesn’t use poisonous stuff.

The chemical process for dyeing blue jeans has persisted for the last century. Workers are exposed to the poisonous chemicals, which also pollute the environment near factories. Waste water from those factories often ends up in waterways, decimating local ecosystems and even dyeing rivers blue.

Ditte Hededam Welner, the study’s lead researcher, says their new enzyme works really well and is strong enough for making lots of jeans without breaking down. This enzyme makes dyeing with indican, which is like indigo, much less harmful to the planet — about 92% better than the old way.

However, the new method doesn’t fix all the environmental problems of making jeans. Making a single pair of jeans uses a lot of water — enough to fill many bathtubs — from growing the cotton to putting the final touches on the jeans.

Even though the new dyeing process is better for the environment, it’s not always easy or cheap to change to it. Welner’s team isn’t sure if jeans companies will find it easy or affordable to switch to this method. It costs a little bit more — just seven cents extra per pair of jeans — to use the enzyme for dyeing. But Welner believes it’s worth it because it’s much better for the environment.

3 . Most of us have heard of the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. It is the core principle of a sustainable (可持续的) life, but few of us can apply it in our own lives. Now, there’s a “lab” you can explore and discover a way toward living sustainably.

3R Lab is located in Xuhui district, Shanghai. It offers exhibitions, activities and goods that showcase the 3R principle. The key to a sustainable life, according to Vincent T. M. Fong, the 32-year-old from Hong Kong who created the lab, is to make it a long-term promise. “A sustainable life should be sustainable itself in the first place. You can’t lead a sustainable life on a whim. Small and comfortable changes are exactly what you need,” Fong said.

The lab regularly hosts ugly fruit markets, offering these strange fruits which are often thrown away by traditional markets and consumers at a quite attractive price. “They’re thrown away simply because of their appearance. Buying fruit regardless of how they look reduces food waste significantly in our daily life,” Fong commented.

A water tank with two types of straws is another equipment in the lab. “One type is made from normal plastics widely used in our daily life while the other is from PHA, a new replacement for plastics, and the water is sourced from the Suzhou River,” explained Ni Li, an employee of the lab. Visitors can see how the PHA straws degrade (降解) into a thin layer in just one month, while the others remain unchanged.

“Leading a sustainable life does not necessarily mean sacrifice,” said Fong. Consuming ugly fruit and using degradable plastics are small changes that are good for the environment and easy to stick to. Only in this way can the 3R principle become part of our lives, he added.

After working there for six months, Ni, who wasn’t mindful of the 3R principle before arriving at the lab, now uses her cup every time she buys a coffee. “The job has reshaped my life,” Ni said.

5 . Would you know what to do during a big earthquake? Scientists have some advice for us.

If the ground begins shaking while you are driving stop your car on the roadside and stay in it. If you are in a tall building, don’t use the lift and never jump out of the windows. When you are in a living room, find a strong table or rush into a smaller room like washroom. Then lie down your body. Take care of your head. When you are in a public place, like supermarket or cinema don’t crowding jam (拥挤), or you may fall over and get hurt. Cross your arms to protect yourself . You can also find a place to hide.

After the main shake quickly run out of the dangerous building for there will be small earthquakes. If you are safe, remember not to engage the phone line, keep it free for rescue (援救) using. Don’t go to the hospital if you are not badly hurt, others will really need help. Take part in the rescue action if you can.

6 . GREAT BOOKS TO TEACH CHILDREN ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

Here is a shortened list of books sponsored by the magazines TIME and TIME for Kids that are suitable for primary schoolers. To make the list, we considered how age-appropriate the material was, and whether the tone and story line left the reader feeling engaged and empowered rather than anxious or confused.

Experts recommend the youngest kids to read books that explore the beauty and fragility (脆弱) of nature. When developing an appreciation for the world around them, they can switch to books that show the cause and effect of how humans treat our planet, and why it’s important to respect the environment. For older primary school kids, picture books can illustrate how our use of fossil (化石) fuels contributes to global warming. Most of the books on the list also offer lessons about how children, families, schools, and communities can make a difference.

THANK YOU, EARTH: A LOVE LETTER TO OUR PLANET By April Pulley Sayre This photography book shows to us plants, animals and landscapes in vivid colors and descriptions. From up-close images of insects to pictures of mountain ranges, the pages introduce children to the planets’ diversity in a simple but effective way.	THE LORAX By Dr. Seuss Thanks to its rhyme, and whimsical illustration, this classic tale is suitable for young children who can grasp the scarcity of natural resources, and also older kids who can see a danger in valuing profits over long-term environmental harm.
WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS By Carole Lindstrom A tribute to native tribes that are protecting the planet, this book vividly shows the harms of oil pipelines. Kids will see the value of community action, while adults will recognize the story of the native tribes Standing Rock Sioux’s fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline.	POLAR BEAR, WHY IS YOUR WORLD MELTING? By Robert E. Wells This book introduces the greenhouse effect with illustrations showing how sunlight gets trapped. It then explains fossil-fuel energy, and our reliance on it for electricity and transportation. The pages are full of science.

7 . Hurricanes are large storms that produce winds of 119 kilometers per hour or higher. That’s faster than a cheetah, the fastest animal on land. Hurricanes are not only some of the planet’s most violent storms, but also the costliest natural disasters in the United States, researchers reported in 2019 in the journal PNAS. Ranking (排名) the most damaging hurricanes, however, depends on the measures used: usually, economic cost or lives lost.

Katrina was the most expensive hurricane of all time, causing a huge economic loss when it sabotaged New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas. The cost was over $186 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Katrina’s losses swallowed 1% of the US GDP, or the total value of goods produced and services provided by a country in one year, according to the PNAS study.

John Nielsen-Gammon, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A & M University, told Live Science that the next costliest hurricane was 2017’s hurricane Harvey, which caused $149 billion of damage, mostly due to rainfall that produced widespread flooding across southeast Texas, including Houston.

“Those two storms top the list for economic damage both worldwide and in the US, which is no accidence,” Nielsen-Gammon added. “The most damaging hurricanes are most likely to occur where you have lots of expensive buildings,” he said. “That’s why two United States hurricanes top the list.”

In 2017, Hurricane Maria caused $107 billion in damage in Puerto Rico, placing it third on NOAA’s list of the costliest US storms. Hurricane Sandy, which flooded New York City’s subway tunnels and other areas in 2012, came next on the list ($82 billion), followed by 2021’s Hurricane Ida, which flooded Louisiana. Developing countries also suffered a lot from hurricanes.