3 . El Nino is a weather pattern that brings hotter temperatures and less rainfall than usual. It is caused by warmer surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean leading to a change in wind movements. Warmer ocean temperatures lead to more rainfall over that part of the ocean and less rain over Northern Australia.

An El Nino weather pattern has been declared in Australia for the first time in seven years and experts say people should get ready for extreme heat. The Bureau of Meteorology（欧洲气象局） said the country would sweat through hot and dry weather for the rest of 2023 thanks to El Nino and another weather pattern called a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, or IOD, which relates to ocean temperatures.

Both weather patterns have already brought hotter and drier weather to southern and eastern Australia while making heatwaves, droughts, bushfires and having effects on coral reefs much more likely.

Australia’s last El Nino was in the summer of 2015 before cooler, wetter La Nina weather took over. The Bureau said it was very likely El Nino would last the whole Australian summer.

“When a positive IOD and El Nino occur together, their drying effect is typically stronger and more widespread across Australia,” the Bureau warned.

The news comes after an unusually long period of warm spring weather, with some places recording temperatures 15°C higher than the average. A disastrous fire warning was announced for the NSW south coast on Tuesday as firefighters battled against the fire in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

Senior Leeturer in Climate Science at the University of Melbourne Dr Andrew King said the recent hot weather “is a warning of the kind of extremes we’re likely to see more of over the next few months”.

4 .

The day starts early for Tang Shengli, a bird protection volunteer in Lanshan county, Yongzhou, Hunan province. At about 5 am, the 60-year-old is in uniform and ready to start his day’s work protecting and recording migratory (迁徙的) birds. Located on the northern side of the Nanling Mountains, Lanshan is an important passageway for migratory birds. From September to December every year, more than 240 species of migratory birds fly from Siberia to Australia via Hunan. In the past 10 years, Tang has recorded more than 120 species of such birds with his camera. “The flight calls of the migratory birds at night attract me so much that I cannot sleep. All I want to do is get up and record them,” Tang says.

When Tang joined the Hunan provincial bird protection organization in 2013, he knew he faced a tough task. Numerous migratory birds were lost each year as a result of killing and illegal trade. At that time, poachers (偷猎者) lit up the hillside to attract the birds there and hunt them. Some nights hundreds of birds would be killed or caught, remembers Liao Changgui, an official with the local forestry bureau.

By day, Tang distributes brochures to villagers in Lanshan to raise public awareness of bird protection, while at night, he goes deep into the wilderness to tackle illegal hunting. “Many villagers didn’t think bird hunting was illegal, and some made a living from it. Our work has affected their business,” Tang explains, adding his wife was threatened at their home in order to stop him doing his work.

To stop poaching, in October 2012, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a notice to prevent the illegal hunting of migratory birds. In December that year, the Hunan provincial government promised to fight against poaching and establish a bird monitoring and protection system. So far, 43 migratory bird protection stations have been built across the province, covering almost all key points on the passageway. In 2020, a “lights out” program started in Lanshan county to prevent the birds from being distracted (使分心).

On Nov 1, the Hunan provincial government issued a ban on hunting migratory birds and other wildlife listed under national and provincial protection. Nationwide, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration is carrying out a two-month special action plan to strengthen patrols and remove illegal hunting equipment in national parks, nature reserves and bird migration routes across the country.

8 . On May 7, “eco-mermaid” Merle Liivand _________her own world record by swimming a full marathon’s distance with a single fin (鳍) in Biscayne Bay, Florida. When Merle Liivand was a child, she had health problems, and began swimming to help her lungs get _________ . In one training session, she nearly wound up swallowing some _________ that was floating in the sea.

That _________ made her think of all the sea animals who faced _________ pollution every day. She decided to work to make people more aware of plastic pollution. Inspired by sea creatures, she began swimming with a special single swimming fin _________ both of her feet. This single fin allows her to swim by _________both of her legs together. She believes swimming with it _________“a bigger message”.

Since 2019, she’s broken records, swimming vast distances—first in California, then in Florida, and this time swimming the _________ of a full marathon. Despite encountering challenges like jellyfish stings, she __________ , collecting trash along her route. Her dedication extends beyond records; it’s about community and global __________.

During her__________, a friend kayaked (划皮划艇) alongside, providing food and water and collecting the trash she __________ . By the end of her marathon, the kayak held three bags full of trash. Liivand’s actions aim to __________ a bigger goal: it’s not just about achievements, but about making a __________ impact on the world.

9 . As AI becomes popular, researchers have noticed its influence on the environment. Training an AI system requires huge computing power and electricity, and the resulting CO₂ emissions (排放) are one way AI affects the environment. But its environmental effect is more than its carbon (碳)footprint.

Jesse Dodge, a scientist at the Allen Institute, says, "The influence of Al systems is going to be from their applications, not the cost of training them." David Rolnick, a computer scientist at McGill University, compares AI to a hammer (锤子) “The main effect of a hammer is what is being hammered,” he says, "not what is in the hammer." Just like a hammer which can either destroy things or build a house, Al can hurt or help the environment.

In 2019, ExxonMobil, an oil company, said it would use Microsoft’s app Azure. With the Al technology, it would increase its production and create billions of dollars. This means Microsoft's AI is directly contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. This is not the only AI application that could be environmentally harmful. AI behind the ads that jump out on Instagram or Facebook pages pushes customers to spend more on products like clothes. This in turn causes more emissions through more production and delivery.

But on the other side of the coin, there are AI applications that can help deal with environmental problems, such as the destruction caused by hurricanes. One such application is xView2, a program started by a U. S. organization. It can recognize buildings damaged and people trapped in natural disasters, reducing danger and saving time for rescuers.

AI could be a valuable tool in the fight against climate change—if the Al industry can reduce its harmful climate effects. "Both AI and climate rules have roles to play." Rolnick says. When creating Al rules, he suggests considering its applications, emissions, and other production costs. Further, Dodge adds that those AI professionals should help set up some value systems to limit the technology's use.

10 . For more than 50 years, seawater has flowed through the Hong Kong’s toilets. And in 2013, Hong Kong built a system that used seawater to cool part of the city. The system sends cold seawater to a factory with heat exchangers. The seawater takes in heat to cool pipes full of circulating (循环的) water. That cooled water then flows into buildings to cool rooms. The slightly warmed seawater is sent back to the ocean. Known as district cooling, this type of system tends to use far less energy than typical air conditioners.

How much water and energy had this strategy saved Hong Kong? And why weren’t other coastal cities doing this? A team at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology set out for answers. They focused on Hong Kong and two other big coastal cities: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Miami, Fla. The idea was to see what it might look like if all three adopted city-wide saltwater systems.

All three places would save lots of fresh water and energy, the researchers found. These savings came from the more efficient saltwater air conditioning. Though costly to build, saltwater-cooling systems could pay off in the long run for many cities.

The researchers figured out how emissions (排放) of greenhouse gases would drop if each city instead used seawater for cooling and flushing (冲刷). Next, they studied how much pollution would be created to build the new system. They compared these results to see how emissions of climate-warming gases would change for each city.

Hong Kong would see the biggest cut in greenhouse gases if the system were expanded to the whole city. It could drop by some 250,000 tons each year. Miami could see a drop of around 7,700 tons of carbon pollution per year. Saltwater cooling would cause more planet-warming gases in Jeddah than it would save. The reason: Jeddah’s unplanned urban expansion and all the pipes that would be needed to service it. The pollution coming from building such a large system would be higher than what the system would save.