1 . Billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn expects the greatest “demand disruption (中断)” for oil since the 1970s shock to cause an increase in renewable energy investment.

He said high oil prices are “a positive thing” for the climate as the energy crisis results in a “dramatic speed-up” in decarbonisation (碳减排). “The whole world should now be focused on seeking alternatives, whether they’re renewables or hydrogen fuels. All of these things are far more economic.”

He pointed to the recent boost of EU (欧盟) for renewable energy funding, as part of a plan to reduce imports of gas. Even as oil and gas companies obtain record profits from the high prices at present, Hohn said climate-focused investors will ultimately benefit from the energy price shock.

“The oil price increase leads to plans for accelerated decarbonisation,” said Hohn. “I personally believe that we’ll have demand disruption as we had in the 70s, and that there will be a dramatic acceleration in decarbonisation. I actually view it as a positive thing.”

Hohn has pressured companies to give shareholders a vote on their climate plans. Spanish airport operator Aena and aircraft manufacturer Airbus improved their emissions (排放) tar-gets as a result. Hohn has also pushed for stricter regulation on corporate climate promises. “Corporate decarbonisation isn’t going to happen through voluntary methods,” Hohn said.

Hohn is also backing a new rating agency that will grade company emissions strategies, through his charity, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. The Climate Action-plan Rating Centre (Climate-Arc) will analyse public company data and publish climate plan ratings.

Investors often struggle to analyse corporate climate plans. “Because though some organizations declare their commitment to environmental protection, they actually do the opposite,” Hohn said, “I expect a large proportion of companies will get graded F if they’re not doing enough. Even companies with net zero emissions targets have failed to set out plans about how to reach those goals. The impact is going to be a bit like, ‘the emperor has no clothes’.”

Caring for the Environment Starts from Ourselves

6 . In a remote corner of Brazil's Amazon tropical（热带的）rainforest, researchers have spent decades catching and measuring birds. Over 40 years, dozens of Amazonian bird species have declined in mass（质量）. Many species have lost nearly 2% of their average body weight each decade, researchers report November 12 in Science Advances. Some species have grown longer wings. The changes could help birds stay cool in a hotter, more changeable climate, the researchers say.

"Climate change isn't something of the future. It has been happening and has effects we haven't thought of," says Ben Winger, an ornithologist（鸟类专家）at the University of Michigan, who wasn't involved in the research but has documented similar shrinkage（缩水）in migratory birds.

To see if non-migratory birds have also been shrinking, Jirinec and colleagues analyzed data collected from 1979 to 2019 in a remote region in the Amazon that spans 43km. The data include over 11,000 individual birds of 77 species as well as climate for the region.

All species declined in mass over this period, the researchers found. Species lost from about 0.1% to nearly 2% of their average body weight each decade. The motmot, for example, shrunk from 133g to about 127g over the study period.

These changes coincided with an overall increase in the average temperature of 1℃ in the wet season and 1.65%℃ in the dry season. Birds' mass decreased the most in a year or two after especially hot and dry seasons, which tracks with the idea that birds are getting smaller to deal with heat stress.

Wing length also grew for 61 species, with a maximum increase of 1% per decade. Jirinec thinks longer wings make for more efficient, and thus cooler, fliers.

"The Amazon rainforest is mysterious, remote and full of biodiversity," Jirined says. "This study suggests that even in places like this, far removed from civilization, you can see signatures of climate change."

9 . Don't worry about why the chicken crossed the road—the bigger question is whether it'll make it at all.     1     But that road risk has dropped because of the COVID pandemic.

When officials began issuing stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of COVID-19, Shilling and his colleagues quickly realized they were witnessing a novel experiment:     2    

The answer is a lot of things, including fewer accidents and lower greenhouse gas emissions from cars. In their latest report, the researchers found that driving less has also led to a dramatic decrease in roadkills.

"    3     As far as I'm aware, no other action has been taken since creation of the national parks."

The team documented about a third fewer kills in the four weeks following shutdowns. If such a slowdown persisted for a year, 27.000 large animals would be saved in just those three states.

    4     Some populations in urban areas are at risk of local extinction, and vehicles are one of the top killers. However, in recent months, traffic deaths of mountain lions have dropped by 58 percent, revealing an important clue about how to save them.

People are now returning to the roads as stay-at-home orders are lifted.     5     "Yeah, I just say—everybody loves wildlife, you know—and if we can find a way to not kill them, it seems like everybody can line up behind that."