3 . New research from the University of Portsmouth has shown a marked increase in shipping in the North East Atlantic. Scientists now warn that more monitoring is required to help protect sea life.

Researchers at the University of Ponsmouth have discovered that rates (率) of shipping in the North East Atlantic area rose by 34 per cent in a five-year period. The research is the first detailed survey of shipping activity in the North East Atlantic. Researchers used data from over 530 million vessel (船) positions recorded by Automatic Identification System(AIS). They looked at the change in shipping between 2013 and 2017 across ten different vessel types. In total the study area covered 1.1 million km², including waters off Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal. Spain, and the UK.

Lead author, James Robbins said: “This change is likely to put more pressure on the marine (海洋的) environment, and may influence the protection of at-risk species. Renewed monitoring effort is needed to make sure that protective measures are enough to save species under threat in a changing environment.”

Some of the greatest shipping increases were found in areas close to the Spanish coast. The Espacio Marino de la Costa da Morte saw a rise of 413 percent in vessel activity. It is an area used to protect seabirds.

Dr. Sarah Marley, Visiting Researcher at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Shipping is the most widespread human activity in our oceans, carrying a set of threats-from unnoticeable effects like underwater noise pollution to serious results when ships hit whales.”

Professor Alex Ford. from the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences, said: “Given the well-documented effects that shipping can have on the marine environment, it is necessary that this situation continues to be monitored-particularly in areas used to protect vulnerable (脆弱的) species which may already be under pressure.”

5 . When Alex Lin was 11 years old, he read an alarming article in the newspaper about e-waste. The article said that people were throwing away their e-waste in places it should never go. This was dangerous, the article said, because e-waste contains poisonous chemicals and metals like lead. These harmful substances (物质) can leak into the environment, getting into crops, animals, water supplies — and people.

Alex showed the article to a few of his classmates. They were worried too. But what could they do about this problem with e-waste? How would they even start? “The first thing we did,” Alex says, “was to learn more about the problem.” Alex and his friends spent several weeks gathering information about the chemicals in e-waste and their effects on humans. They learned how to dispose (处理) of e-waste properly and how it could be recycled. “Then,” he says, “we had to find out what the situation was in our town. So we sent out a survey.”

What they found shocked them: Of the people who answered the survey, only one in eight even knew what e-waste was, let alone how to properly dispose of it. Alex and his friends went into action. They advertised in the local newspaper and distributed notices to students, asking residents to bring their unwanted electronics to the school parking lot. The drive lasted two days, and they collected over 21,000 pounds of e-waste.

The next step was to set up an e-waste drop-off center for the town and to find a responsible company to recycle the waste. That was when Alex and his friends learned another scary fact about e-waste — some irresponsible recycling companies don’t break down the e-waste and dispose of it safely themselves. Instead, they ship it overseas to countries such as China and Nigeria, where local environmental laws are not applied. “We checked carefully online to make sure the company we chose didn’t do this,” Alex says.

Because of the work of people like Alex and his team, more and more people are getting the message about safe disposal of e-waste. As Alex says, “Today’s technology should not become tomorrow’s poisonous trash.”

Maybe you think protecting the environment is a big problem and beyond your ability.     1     fact, there are many simple ways to do so.

Plant more trees. Choose an open area near your house or school. Plant a tree every month, and encourage your friends     2    (join) you. Have more and more trees planted and there will come a day when you have a     3    (green) land than before, thanks to your efforts.

Save energy. There are so many electrical     4    (device) you must be using daily. Turn off a device when you don’t use it and remove the plug from its power supply.

Choose to walk short distances instead of taking a car every time. Go walking to school or use     5     bicycle. And each time you avoid using a car, you are contributing to     6    (reduce) air pollution.

Save water. Water is a very important natural resource. It’s we     7     waste it, and pollute it. Turn off the water taps     8    (immediate) after use.

Make your action     9    (know) by putting up posters in the neighborhood, or your school. Organize small activities like planting trees, cleaning an area, and visiting an animal shelter or volunteer for an organization which works towards creating environmental     10    (aware).

10 . How much rubbish do you imagine a person will produce in his lifetime? It’s about 127,604 pounds of rubbish. However, Lauren Singer, who majored in environmental science at New York University, began working toward living a “Zero Waste” lifestyle while still studying at university and has been completely “waste-free” for the past two years, proving that a waste-free lifestyle is possible.

Lauren regularly writes about her experiences of a zero-waste life on her blog. Though she was determined to take a waste-free lifestyle, she admits that the past two years have been very difficult. However, she now feels that she is getting used to this kind of lifestyle. “I stopped buying packaged products and began bringing my own bags at the supermarket,” she explained, “I stopped buying new clothes and shopped for only secondhand things. As more and more time passes, I produce less and less.

Even though the journey is hard, Lauren’s zero-waste life is well worth the effort. She now saves a lot of money because she only buys what she needs rather than buy things blindly. She also eats fresh fruits and vegetables instead of packaged foods.

Today she has learned to make all of her own everyday eco-friendly products, such as toothpaste, shampoo, kitchen cleaner and so on in order to avoid creating unnecessary rubbish. She also founded her own waste-free company, the Simply Co., through which she sells her homemade products.

The 23-year-old girl has become an inspiration to many. And now she is busy giving talks on TV and accepting news reporters’ interviews about her zero-waste lifestyle.

Lead a waste-free lifestyle — We are the future of this planet!