4 . If you’re aiming to cut back on meat and you want to build muscle strength, you’re not alone. Now, a new study finds that swapping red and processed meat for plant protein a few times a week leads to better health and lowers carbon emission.

“We found that there was an increase in life expectancy of approximately nine months linked to 50% reduction of red meat consumption,” says Olivia Auclair. “When it comes to diet changes to improve health and climate, we don’t need to go to major extremes or completely wipe out foods from our diet.”

But sudden changes can be jarring. For a long time Kyle Backlund had been in the habit of eating meat at many meals, and when he cut back, he felt a drop in his energy level and experienced some tiredness and weakness. When he realized he needed to increase his protein intake, his wife Stephany Marreel — who does most of the cooking and also eats a plant-based diet — found a solution by adding tofu, vegetables, and grains. Kyle says he is now feeling good on his plant-focused diet.

People can get all the protein and nutrients they need from a plant-based diet as long as they do a little planning, says Dr. Christopher Gardner, a food scientist. “If someone is consuming a reasonable variety, meeting protein needs from plant sources is no problem,” Gardner says.

There’s an environmental argument for shifting diet as well, Gardner says. Livestock (家畜) require lots of land and water. Beef production requires 20 times more land and produces 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions, per gram of protein, compared to beans. If people in the U.S. swapped beef for beans, this one switch alone could get the U.S. about halfway to its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

6 . The area in front of Janet and Jeffrey Crouch’s house in Columbia, Maryland, does not look usual for their neighbourhood. That is because the Crouches do not have a grass lawn(草坪). Instead, they have some small trees and many native plants.

In recent years, support for replacing lawns with native plants has been increasing in the US. It can be costly to keep a lawn looking good and green. But the Crouches had to spend much more money for the right not to have one.

People living in a house next to them complained to their homeowner’s association, or HOA. HOAs can make rules about the plants that homeowners in a neighbourhood are permitted to grow. Many HOAs require grass lawns. The HOA ordered the Crouches to pull out their native plants and put in grass. However, they refused. “We knew we were doing things that were beneficial for the environment, ” said Janet Crouch.

Lawns are called environmental dead zones in part because they provide no food or shelter for wildlife. They also do not support pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies. Bee populations have been getting smaller in North America and may be getting smaller around the world.

There are other reasons that lawns are bad for the environment. They require a lot of water and chemicals. Large amounts of water can remove nutrients from the soil. After the water removes the nutrients, people buy even more chemicals to put on their lawns. Scientists say some of these chemicals might cause cancer and other health problems. There are over 16million hectares of grass lawns in the US. That means lawns use more water than any other irrigated(灌溉)crop in the country.

The Crouches’ battle against their HOA took three years. They say they spent $60, 000 fighting to keep their natural garden. They won. Because of their efforts, the state of Maryland passed a law that lets people grow native plants instead of grass, no matter what their HOA wants.

7 . China has made remarkable achievements in promoting the green and low-carbon energy transition and will continue to pursue green, high-quality environmental development to achieve its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Here are some facts and figures about China’s green energy development.

This philosophy for green and sustainable development has well pictured one of the defining features of China in the new era. Under such a guideline, China’s green transition is rapidly gaining momentum, from developing non-fossil energy to updating the industrial structure, from investing in low-carbon technologies to transforming the transport sector.

8 . A new government report has some bad news about sea levels on the U.S. coastline.     1     The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and six other agencies created the report.

“The sea level rise is upon us,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean service.     2     “That’s because the United States coasts are home to a lot of economic activity and 40 percent of the U.S. population,” LeBoeuf explained.

    3     “The greatest rise in the U.S. will be on the Gulf of Mexico and East Coast. The West Coast and Hawaii will be below the average,” said William Sweet, who is the report’s lead writer. The report predicts 0.6 meters of sea level rise in St. Petersburg, Florida. But the study predicts just 0.36 meters in Los Angeles, California.

Cities, such as Annapolis, Maryland, and Miami Beach, Florida, already experience a few minor floods every year during high tides, but those will be replaced by several “moderate (中等的)” floods a year by about 2050. “Higher sea levels mean more floods,” Sweet said, “    4     And many of our major metropolitan (大都市的) areas on the East Coast are going to be increasingly at risk.”

Climate change is the major cause of the sea level rise.     5     To avoid the potential consequences of the sea level rise, great efforts should be made to reduce the negative effects of climate change.

9 . Burning coal for energy adds planet-warming carbon dioxide(CO2) to Earth's atmosphere. As the planet heats up, experts warn that simply cutting greenhouse gas emissions（排放） will not be enough to avoid global warming. CO2 must also be remcved from the atmosphere.

Existing experimental machines that pull CO2 directly from the air are too expensive to be widely used. But a new effective technology to remove CO₂ already exists. It is not expensive and easy. It is forests. Planting trees and watching forests are effective ways to clean the air.

Forests used to cover large areas of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. In the state of West Virginia, coal mining left the land there bare, without trees. Over the years, coal mining and cutting forests took over 90 percent of the red spruce（云杉） forests.

Chris Barton works for the University of Kentucky. He started a group called Green Forests Work, aiming to put trees back on the roughly 400 , 000 hectares of land.

However, Barton explains the land has problems. "If you planted trees on these places, they just didn't grow. The ground was too hard. Water didn't infiltrate（渗透）. The trees can't root. Oxygen can't circulate in those environments. "Using heavy equipment, workers tear the ground. In this way, the trees put down roots.

Barton says not everyone believes the solution is a good idea. "We've had a lot of doubtful look at us twice from people. But after we do it, there's no question that it was the right thing to do. "And it has worked. Forests are coming back to the grounds.

Scientists say that, in West Virginia alone, restoring red spruce forests to the area could send what is equal to 56 million barrels（桶）of oil into the ground. But it will take time—a long time. Around the world, experts say, nature offers powerful tools to fight climate change. But patience is needed. Nature works, but slowly, in its own time.

10 . For more than 30 years, Mauro Morandi has been the only resident of a beautiful island in the Mediterranean sea. He hoped to make it his life-long home, but that is now under threat.

Morandi now faces eviction from the Isle of Budelli, off the coast of Sardinia, if he doesn’t voluntarily leave. Local authorities are speeding up plans to turn his hut into an environmental observatory.

Morandi arrived on the island by accident while attempting to sail from Italy to Polynesia 31 years ago. He fell in love with the pure water, coral sands and beautiful sunsets, and decided to stay. He took over from the previous caretaker shortly afterward and, at the age of 81, he’s still there and ready to fight for his home, whatever it takes.

“I wouldn’t know where else to go live-this is my home. All I ask is, if I must be sent away during the reconstruction work, that I can come back after and keep doing what I do each day: guard the pink coral beach, keep tourists at bay, and protect nature. I fear that if I’m gone, the pink coral beach will survive only on postcards from the past,” Morandi says. An online petition has been launched to this end, which in just a few days has gathered more than 2,600 supporters across the world.

The island has changed ownership several times over the last few years. Since 2015, Budelli has been owned by La Maddalena’s National Park, making Morandi’s role a thing of the past. The authorities say they are simply upholding the law. “Our priority is to intervene against all illegal construction inside the park, including Morandi’s hut. We need to set an example: protect our environment by first restoring this illegal structure, and then move on with a new project which will likely be a scientific center for the spreading of environmental awareness,” La Maddalena’s National Park president Fabbrizio Fonnesu says.