KUNMING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua)-Forest police from Hongtupo township, Southwest China’s Yunnan province，recently finished their annual patrol (巡逻) of    1    famous stopover (中途停留) site and habitat for migratory (迁徙的) birds in the Ailao Mountain area.

The officers with the forest police station of Hongtupo, Nanhua county enter forests in the Nanhua area of the Ailao Mountain national nature reserve every September    2    remain there until the following February. During their stay, they patrol the forests in Dazhong Mountain, deep in the Ailao area    3    (prevent) poaching (偷猎) and other wildlife crimes.

The Hongtupo forest police station, known as “a migratory police station”,    4    (establish) in 1984 in response to illegal poaching on the mountain. A huge variety of wildlife was hunted to near    5    (extinct), according to Zhang Yueping, an instructor with the police station.

The police station got off to a rough start, with no running water, no phone service, and significant    6    (challenge) in the delivery of supplies.    7    (initial), the officers had no choice but to live in tents. It was not until 2010 that a house was built for the officers at the foot of Dazhong Mountain.

Despite the tough conditions, generations of protection efforts    8    (pay) off over the years. Since 2019, zero cases of poaching have been reported. During the migration season, birds can be seen    9    (fly) right over people’s heads.

“In October, there are birds all over the mountain,    10    is quite splendid,” says Liu Yan, a female officer with the police station.

The day starts early for Shi Xiaogang, a wildlife ranger (护林员) at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Southwest China’s Sichuan province. He monitors the population of giant pandas and conducts long-range patrols (巡逻) in some of the most extreme environments,     1     is a challenging and, often, dangerous job.

    2     (cover) about 200,000 hectares, Wolong National Nature Reserve is home to one of the largest remaining giant panda populations in China. Thanks to the rangers’ like Shi’s efforts,     3     number of wild giant pandas in the reserve has increased from 104, in 2015, to 149 today. In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature     4     (announce) that the giant panda’s status had been changed from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on its Red List of Threatened Species.

As well as “the home of giant pandas”, the reserve is     5     (wide) known as a “bio-gene bank”. It features a great number of threatened species of plants and animals, including other famous     6     (creature), such as the red panda, snow leopard and clouded leopard among the 121 species of mammals (哺乳动物)     7     (record). There are also 392 bird species.

To mark the rangers’ hard work and contribution to wildlife     8     (protect) in the reserve, last year, 20 rangers     9     (recognize) with special commendations (表扬) at an online award ceremony for the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas’ International Ranger Awards.

The commission speaks highly of their work, saying that they help stop biodiversity loss and protect the important ecosystems that serve     10     natural solutions to climate change and other global challenges.

During the just-ended Spring Festival holiday, former fisherman Wang Chaosheng kept     1    (he) busy tending to his fish ponds, adding new fry and welcoming     2     (visit), who would like to pay     3     (net) their own catch to take home with them.

Living in Sinan county in Southwest China’s Guizhou province,     4     60-year-old had spent 27 years as a fisherman on the Wujiang River, a branch of the Yangtze River. Working hard day and night in his younger years, Wang could make 300, 000 yuan to 400, 000 yuan a year     5     most. But Wang’s life changed on Jan 1, 2021, when a 10-year fishing ban     6     (introduce) — on the Yangtze for ecological conservation and green development.

Wujiang River     7    (flow) through nearly half the townships of Sinan county, and so before the fishing ban began, the county started putting measures to protect the welfare of the fishermen. Wang is one of those     8    (switch) to more ecologically friendly fish farming.     9     missing the old days of fishing, he understands that abandoning his boat “helps protect the environment” and that his new job is better-paid and     10    (sustainable).

“I used to catch fish, and now I keep fish. I’m still doing my job,” Wang said.

Experts say a recent change in the color of the Mekong River—from yellowish-brown to sky-blue-could be a worrying sign. They say the change suggests a possible problem     1     (cause)by dams that have been built along the Mekong. The river covers     2     distance of 4, 300 kilometers. It begins high in the mountains of Tibet and flows through China and five other countries.

The Mekong usually has a yellowish-brown color     3     results from the sediment(沉淀物)it normally carries. But recent     4     (report)say it has been running clear and taking on a bluish-green color. At the same time, the water levels     5     (become)unusually low, creating sandbanks that enable people     6     (stand)in the middle of the river. The low water levels     7     (clear)cause problems for fishermen and farmers. But experts in Thailand say the decrease in sediment     8     (represent)a different threat, one that can result in a greater erosion of the sides and bottom of the river.

Experts and people living along the river blame the changes     9     . a large dam upriver in Laos. The dam began operating in October. Critics say it is blocking much sediment from flowing down the river. About 70 million people depend on the Mekong River for water, food, jobs, agriculture and transportation. Critics say several large dam projects along the Mekong are harming the river and     10     (it)environment.

Global warming is a gradual increase in the earth’s temperature, generally due to the greenhouse effect    1    (cause) by increased levels of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Temperatures and sea levels are rising, possibly contributing    2    more storms. The rising has influenced a lot,     3    (result)in a lot of climate problems, and humans are at least partially    4    (blame). Global warming causes climate change,    5    places a serious threat to life on the earth in    6    (vary) forms like widespread flooding and extreme weather. Climate experts    7    (gather) detailed observations of different weather    8    (phenomenon) since the mid-20th and of related influences on climate. Scientists have high confidence    9     global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come,    10    (large)due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities.