1 . Macquarie Island is a tiny island that’s part of Australia. It’s about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. The island’s been made a world heritage area because it’s so untouched, but this unique environment is under threat from some unwanted visitors.

It all started when seal hunters came to the island in the early 1800s. They brought rabbits with them as a source of food for the journey, and also on board the ships were rats and mice, which made their way onto the island too. They’re being blamed for destroying the homes of marine birds, causing soil loss and ripping up plant cover, as these before-and-after photos show.

So what’s being done about the problem? It starts with a team of helicopters that fly across the island carrying these giant containers. Inside them are poisoned pellets (有毒饲料) which are dropped and spread across the island. For any rabbits that survived the baiting (诱饵) , there’s a plan B. This special team of dogs is being put through a final training. It’ll be their job to track down any remaining rabbits. They have to also learn to behave around the island’s native wildlife. The dogs could be here for years or until the task is complete. The dogs don’t actually kill the rabbits. They find them, then the hunters decide to either catch the rabbits or shoot them.

But the program has received a bit of criticism. Some people argue 25 million dollars is a lot of money to be spending on wiping out rabbits and rodents (啮齿目动物), and in the process, some native birds will be killed because of the baiting.

The reality is the problem isn’t going to be solved overnight. The people running the program say that even if one pair of rabbits is left alive, the whole task will be seen as a failure, which means these guys could be here for a long time, trying to ensure that this precious island remains protected from pests.

2 . In the northernmost edge of Colombia sits the coastal town of Acandí. Access to the town is only by water or air; there is no road that leads there. The residents there are faced with the struggles of balancing livelihoods while protecting biodiversity.

In the past, traditional community fishing methods, passed down by the elders, focused on the reasonable fishing and management of resources. However, the introduction of large-scale trawling vessels(拖网渔船) decades ago gradually depleted the area’s fishing resources, leading to damage to marine(海洋的) life seriously.

Jesús Antonio Julio Cuestas, who serves in the region’s conservation and management of marine resources, stresses the bad impact of these developments and calls for new fishing techniques. “Fishing and conservation co-exist as long as we have good management practices and reasonable use of our fishing resources,” says Cuestas. He and other officials actively monitor fishing activities in Acandí. Each morning, they visit the fish markets to gather data on fishery resources—including prices and sizes—to monitor the state of the local fishing industry.

Along with Cuestas, the fishers work to reduce their impact on the marine ecosystem. By changing fishing methods and adopting new practices, they aim for a more balanced approach to fishing. “This year the local fishermen have not used the trawl net s that were causing the death of the leatherback sea turtles,” explains Cuestas proudly. Changes include the efforts of boats to protect the seagrass that serves as feeding grounds for marine life and an end to fishers throwing net s where turtles lay their eggs.

This marine reserve in Acandí, Cuestas believes, is their greatest treasure. He attaches great importance to working together with local residents to improve the quality of life while preserving the marine ecosystem. By doing so, he imagines a picture where individuals from the fishing community can pursue various careers, such as engineers or lawyers, proudly stating that they are the products of the fishing tradition in Acandí.

China will establish a new batch of national parks, including Huanghekou, Qianjiangyuan-Baishanzu and Kalamayli, in a steady and     1     (order) manner, Guan Zhiou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said on Saturday.

Speaking at the second National Park Forum held in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, Guan said China has adopted the strictest measures     2     (strengthen) the protection of the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystem, and promote the continuous improvement of ecological functions.

China’s national parks are specific land or sea areas     3     main purpose is to preserve the     4     (national) representative natural ecosystems of the country and realize the scientific protection and reasonable use of natural resources.

In 2021, China established the first batch of national parks, with     5     protected land area of 230,000 square km. These parks, including the Sanjiangyuan National Park, the Giant Panda National Park, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park and so on, are home to nearly 30 percent of the key terrestrial (陆生的) wildlife species     6     (find) in the country.

“The Sanjiangyuan park realized the full protection of the source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang     7     (river) and the Tibetan antelope population has recovered to over 70,000. In the Giant Panda National Park, more than 70 percent of wild pandas are     8     good protection,” the official added.

“Efforts     9     (make) to promote high-level protection and facilitate the promulgation (颁布) of the National Park Law,” Guan said,     10     (add) that China will also increase the application of new technologies, build a world-class scientific research monitoring platform, and strengthen national park management capabilities.

7 . Hurricane season is here. Fiona ruined Puerto Rico, and less than two weeks later, Ian struck the west coast of Florida and its remnants(残余部分) moved up and hit the Eastern Seaboard.

Extreme weather events like Ian and Fiona have become more intense because of climate change. That reality has implications for those of us in health care. We have a duty to protect and advance the health of our patients.

We typically think of health as something doctors monitor, offering treatment such as prescription medications as needed. But in reality, only about 20% of a person's health is attributable to the medical care they receive. Social determinants such as people's neighborhood and socioeconomic status are actually responsible for 40% of a person's health outcomes. It's a sad truth that a ZIP code can be more predictive of a person's health than his or her genetic code.

Consider how extreme weather events such as this summer's heat waves affected communities unequally. Poor urban neighborhoods, with sparse tree cover but plenty of concrete and asphalt, absorb and retain the heat of the sun's rays, while leafy, shaded countrysides just a few miles away stay much cooler. A University of California–San Diego study that measured land surface temperatures in over 1,000 counties across the United States found that neighborhoods with the lowest average education and income levels generally recorded higher temperatures.

Extreme weather events such as flood can threaten people's physical and mental health long after it recedes. Almost 1 in 3 people in the flooded area were estimated to have suffered from certain post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, physicians in regions at increased risk of natural disasters may need to be ready to deliver more mental health care. For example, doctors in drought-stricken areas may need to make water safety a part of their conversations with patients, because groundwater sources can become unsafe to drink without sufficient rainfall.

Climate change has posed an immediate and dire health threat. Now is the time for health care providers to take collective action to adapt to this unfortunate reality.

Palm oil (棕榈油) is the most     1     (wide) used vegetable oil worldwide. It’s found in a huge variety of products ranging from vitamins to chocolate and bread. The oil is popular as it has a high melting point and contains healthy fats. The former makes it easy to spread     2     the latter makes it good for our body.

But the oil’s popularity comes     3     a high price. Palm trees need a rainforest and lots of land to grow on. As     4     result, thousands of acres of rainforests in Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil     5     (produce), are being destroyed to make room for palm farms.

With half of the world’s palm oil     6     (come) from Indonesia, orangutans (黑猩猩) have suffered a lot there. In the last 20 years, over 80% of their habitat     7     (destroy). What’s worse, in 2015, wildfires caused by illegal destruction of some rainforests endangered two fifths of the remaining orangutans. Palm farms have also threatened     8     (tiger) and elephants and caused water and air pollution.

The easiest solution is to stop using so much palm oil. However, it’s not easy because no other natural oil has both of its qualities. Now scientists are creating a new oil     9     (replace) it by using food waste and M. pulcherrima, a yeast (酵母)     10     feeds on leaves, fruits and flowers.

10 . The world has a plastic problem—and it is increasing.    1    . But in the meantime, here are five things you can do to reduce plastic waste now.

1. Quit using plastic bags. Instead, take your own reusable shopping bag to the store. People use a trillion plastic bags worldwide every year. About 10 percent are used in the United States alone. That’s almost one bag per American per day.    2    .In 1993, Denmark was the first country to place a tax (税) on plastic bags. Today, other countries either make customers pay for plastic bags or have banned them completely.

2. Skip the straw. Today, around 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches.    3    . In 2018, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to ban plastic straws, and many other cities are set to follow its example.

3. Don’t use plastic bottles. Buy a reusable bottle and fill it with any type of beverage you like.    4    Globally, however, people still buy nearly a million plastic bottles every minute.

4. Avoid plastic packaging. Buy bar soap instead of liquid soap in plastic containers. Don’t buy fruit or vegetables in plastic packaging. In the United Kingdom, leaders are calling for supermarkets to have plastic-free areas. They also want to tax plastic take-out containers.

5. Recycle. We can’t recycle all plastic items, but it is possible to recycle most bottles and milk or juice cartons. Today, Norway recycles 97 percent of its plastic bottle.    5