1 . A leaked IPCC draft reports, “Widespread use across millions of square kilometers globally of tree-planting and bioenergy crops could have potentially serious consequences for food security and land degradation (退化).” In other words, more massive monocultures (单种栽培) and more bioenergy crops, fueled by more fertilizers, could damage the structure of the environmental soil and its capacity to absorb carbon.

Everyone knows that to help ease the increasing climate crisis, we need to plant new trees. It’s said that the earth could support an additional 9,000,000 square kilometers of forest, potentially hosting 500 billion trees capable of capturing more than 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide at maturity. It would be a serious help to the environment.

Bioenergy now holds a 50 percent share of the world’s renewables consumption—as much as hydro, wind, solar and all others combined. It’s good news, but not entirely. If we consider that increasing desertification and rising ocean levels will take away more arable (可耕种的) land, we arrive at a crucial “trilemma”(三难困境). Should we use our spare soil for agriculture, reforestation or bioenergy?

Such a question would make sense in a multilateral, harmonious world, not on a planet where the richest country cancels an environment-saving agreement, thus encouraging the most tropically-forested nation to set about cutting trees.

Last year, 36,000 square kilometers of forest was cut down. Wouldn’t it be better to start by stopping deforestation altogether? Animal farming takes up 77 percent of the world’s arable land and provides us with 18 percent of the calories. Shouldn’t we cut back on global meat consumption? Modern bioenergy is already available. Shouldn’t we get rid of first-generation biofuels, which are produced from food crops?

2 . After decades of work trying to save the giant panda, Chinese officials have announced the species is no longer endangered. The pandas have been reclassified in the country from endangered to vulnerable after efforts to increase the population. Now the number has risen to 1,800 in the wild.

“China has established a relatively complete nature reserves system,” Cui Shuhong, director of the Department of Natural Ecological Protection of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Wednesday. “Large areas of natural ecosystems have been systematically and completely protected, and wildlife habitats have been effectively improved.”

The latest classification upgrade reflects their improved living conditions and China's efforts in keeping their habitats integrated, Cui added.

Bamboo makes up 90% of pandas' diets, and the animals would likely starve without the shoots. Experts believe China’s efforts to replant bamboo forests have been the key to the increase in the population of pandas.

Generally speaking, a panda has to eat at least 26 pounds of bamboo every day to maintain its energy, so large areas of bamboo forests are primary to their survival.

Planting bamboo also has advantages for the planet, as the bamboo is grass, not a tree, and is incredibly efficient at absorbing carbon dioxide, as well as emitting 35% more oxygen than trees.

“The Chinese have done a great job in investing in panda habitats, expanding and setting up new reserves,” Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of conservation at the World Wildlife Fund. told the media. “They are a wonderful example of what can happen when a government is committed to conservation.”

Continuing China's success will be dependent on the country protecting land from agricultural and urban development. As land becomes rarer, measures will need to be extended to protect more land, to ensure bamboo forests can thrive and as a result, protect the future of the world's most lovable, lazy, and monochrome (black and white) creature.

5 . In July 2017, Hoh Xil became a world heritage (遗产) site and there live more than 70, 000 Tibetanantelopes. Every year, pregnant (怀孕的) Tibetan antelopes migrate (迁徙) to Hoh Xil between the end of May and early June to give birth and leave with their children around August. Zonag Lake at the heart of Hoh Xil is known as the “delivery room” for the species.

About 40 female Tibetan antelopes with three young were spotted crossing the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Saturday. Experts say that in recent years, the number of young Tibetan antelopes among the migrating groups consisted of between a fifth and quarter of the population.

“In the early stage of migration, Tibetan antelopes face a high risk of falling prey to predators (盗猎者) so the number of young Tibetan antelopes is relatively small, and there may even be none,” said Lian Xinming, an associate research fellow at Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

According to research, the number of Tibetan antelopes that migrate back has been rising. A total of 5, 952 Tibetan antelopes were spotted migrating in 2020, and 233 more in 2021. “This year’s migration season is expected to finish in early September. The population is expected to continue to increase,” Lian said.

Tibetan antelopes are mostly found in Tibet autonomous region, Qinghai province, and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The species is under first-class state protection in China.

In the 1980s, the Tibetan antelope population declined sharply from 200, 000 to 20. 000, due to illegal hunting. It has recovered thanks to the country’s efforts to improve its habitat and crack down on poaching (盗猎).

To make sure the species go back to their habitats safe and sound, the reserve’s management bureau has staff monitor their migration. When they come over in large groups, they temporarily close some sections of the road to make way for the animals and prevent them from having interactions with humans.

6 . Levon Biss was looking at insects from his garden through a microscope he bought for his son. For fun, they unintentionally placed an insect under the lens (镜片). “It is amazingly beautiful!” they both screamed.

The father had been making a career taking photographs for advertisements. But that experience gave him a new direction. Around the world, insect populations are in decline because of habitat loss and climate change. Biss thought that if people could see what he saw through his son’s microscope, they would care more about protecting insects.

So Biss turned to macrophotography: taking close-up pictures of small things, like flowers or bugs. His work has attracted attention not just for its unusual beauty. It also raises awareness about the need for conservation.

In 2016, Biss showed his first insect project, Microsculpture. The term refers to the features of an insect’s exoskeleton, or outer shell, which develops over time as the bug adapts to its environment.

Biss’s pictures capture the insects in all their microscopic details. Then he blows up the images until the insects become larger than life, some of them eight feet tall. But each image takes weeks to make. He uses a digital camera with a microscope lens. The camera is fixed on a computerized track, which allows Biss to take a shot, then move the camera by seven microns (微米) — a distance equals to about 1/10 the thickness of a human hair — for the next shot. In the end, Biss might take 10,000 shots of a bug. A computer combines these small pictures into a single image.

Biss’s latest exhibition is Extinct and Endangered at the American Museum of Natural History. He selected bugs that were extinct or endangered, hoping his photographs would serve as a better purpose. “I communicate visually,” he says, “The way I work is through pictures. But I think it’s my duty to shake things up and get people to pay attention.”

The beautiful Li River is one of the     1     (famous) tourist destinations, but the     2     (grow) in tourism has had negative effects on the river’s water quality. This report looks at the problem of water pollution and some actions that have been taken to deal with it.

Water quality in the Li River had suffered     3     (great) from an increasing volume of tourists, many of     4    frequently threw garbage into the river. Many tour boats contributed     5     the problem too. The local population rose rapidly, as well as     6     number of commercial and industrial enterprises. Water pollution levels increased, with more household and commercial waste ending up in the river. To feed more people, more chemicals     7     (use) to increase crop production. These chemicals led to severe water quality issues,     8     (cause) a decrease in the number of fish species.

Finally, a series of urgent steps were taken     9     (restore) the river’s original beauty. It     10     (believe) that the beauty of the Li River will be preserved for generations to come.