2 . A major new facility to pull CO₂ out of the atmosphere has started operating in Iceland, which is a boost to an emerging technology that experts say could eventually play an important role in reducing greenhouse gases.

The plant in southwest Iceland is the biggest of its kind, its builder says. It is able to capture 900 tons of CO₂ every year but it needs heat and electricity to work. It is using energy produced from waste and is built on the roof of a waste incineration plant, and through the burning of rubbish, energy is generated.

Human-sized fans are built into a series of boxes. They take CO₂ out of the air, catching it in spongelike filters (过滤器). The filters are blasted with heat, freeing the gas, which is then mixed with water and pumped deep into deep underground basalt caves, where over time it turns into dark-gray stone. Pumping CO₂ into the ground is just one way to deal with it. The makers are also selling the gas to be used again. The CO₂ can be captured just a few 100 miles away. It is pumped through an underground pipeline directly into a greenhouse. Vegetables and plants love CO₂ and higher concentrations of the gas within the greenhouse improve the growth of plants.

By 2050, humanity will need to pull nearly a billion metric tons of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year through direct air capture technology to achieve carbon neutral goals, according to International Energy Agency recommendations. The plant in Iceland will be able to capture 4000 metric tons annually — just a small amount of what will be necessary, but an engineer in Climeworks, the company that built it, says it can grow rapidly as efficiency improves and costs decrease.

“This is a market that does not yet exist, but a market that urgently needs to be built,” said Christoph Gebald who co-founded Climeworks. “This plant that we have here is really the blueprint to further increase the size and really industrialize.”

6 . Great Barrier Reef Choking on Pollutants

Attempts to protect the Great Barrier Reef are failing. A report released Monday by the government in Australia says water quality in the Great Barrier Reef is far below what it should be. It showed that pollution have decreased, but not enough to reach environmental targets.

Sediment (沉淀物) and chemicals can weaken coral, hurting its ability to feed and grow. Coral are live animals that take root in the ocean floor, but they are not plants. Reefs are the hard skeletons (骨架) left at the bottom of the sea by small marine creatures called polyps (珊瑚虫). The polyps then form the larger structure of a reef. Corals also are some of the most diverse ecosystems on the entire planet. They can make a home for invertebrates, crustaceans, fish, and sea snakes.

Steve Miles is Queensland’s environment minister. He says the research shows the Reef needs more protection. “Over that five-year period, we did see some progress towards our targets. Sediment is down 12 percent and pesticides (杀虫剂) loads are down 30 percent. But what is most disturbing is that these results are far from our targets. Progress towards these targets flat-lined in the period 2013-2014. If one of my kids came home with a report card like this, I would be a bit disappointed. There is more bad news here than good news. ” said Steve Miles.

The report also found that fewer than one-third of Queensland’s sugar plantations used techniques to reduce the use of pesticides. Only 28 percent of land managers managed their land properly. They had reduced harmful water run off to protect the health of the Reef. The official target is a 90 percent reduction in pesticide use within three years.

Scientists at the University of Queensland and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences published their findings Wednesday, July 18 in the journal Science Advances. It found between 1992 and 2010, the recovery rate dropped by an average of 84 percent. But there is hope. The study also found some corals can recover quickly if “acute and chronic stressors” are lessened.

Meanwhile, the Australian government released its updated reef protection plan Friday. It clearly states global temperatures must be stopped from rising in order to save the world’s largest living structure.

7 . Over two weeks ago I was standing on the summit of Mount Qomolangma. It was the top of many years' hard work, and the_______of a childhood dream.

I have been overwhelmed by the tide of goodwill and support. But one thing has become_________apparent. Many people have constant misunderstandings about Mount Qomolangma. In their minds, Qomolangma has_________her crown. She has become a mountain connected with death, exploitation and_________.

The most common question I get asked is: "Is it_________with rubbish?" As a United Nations patron(资助人)of the wilderness, one of my roles is to_________back the Earth's remaining wildernesses and to act as a_______for the wild.

I climbed Qomolangma expecting a rubbish dump but what I found_________me: I_________saw any litter, from the airport to the summit.

The Nepalese have____________some huge clean-up campaigns in recent years, perhaps to improve their reputation, but also in response to some tragic natural disasters. The government____________a number of requirements including that each climber____________an additional 8kg of litter(not including their own) and incentives(激励)for Sherpas(夏尔巴人)of $ 2 per kilo of rubbish cleaned.

The results have been____________. The country lanes of Great Britain have more rubbish than the path to base camps; despite the 100, 000 footsteps I saw one of the cleanest, tidiest wilderness trails I have encountered.

I have spent time in many of the world's popular wilderness locations and I would say Nepal should be proud. It is an example of man repairing the____________he has done. As our focus turns to the oceans and the seemingly____________task of repairing our marine habitat, we could look at Qomolangma as a fine example of turning back the clock.

8 . NOT that long ago, the world wondered whether clean energy could survive without government support. Now the question is how far it can spread. The number of electric vehicles, which was about 1 million in 2015, last year reached 2 million. In electricity generation, too, trend is with the greens. In the first half of this year wind, solar and hydro generated a record 35% of Germany's power.

Greater success is breeding greater ambition. California is proposing to reach 60% renewable energy by 2030. 176 countries have clean-energy goals. Hawaii, America's most oil-dependent state, has promised to be 100% renewable by the middle of the century and so have 48 poor countries vulnerable to climate change. This week the number of multinationals making a commitment to running their operations on 100% renewable energy rose to 100.

But not every target is helpful. To see why, consider that goal of 100% renewable energy. It makes solving climate change seem easy. In fact, though wind and solar can generate the whole country's electricity some day, renewables still account for less than 8% of the world's total power output. Moreover, cleaning up electricity is only part of the battle. Even though gas-fired heating and cooking can be at least as big a source of greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable heating gets little attention. Transport policy is unpredictable, too. Carmakers may hit their goal of annual sales of 10 million electric vehicles in a decade, but battery-powered road transport, shipping and aviation are dreams. A much-quoted claim that America could rely on wind, solar and hydro alone for its electricity has recently been bitterly criticized by a group of respected academics.

Most importantly, a 100% renewables target confuses means with ends. The priority for the planet is to stop net emissions（净排放量）of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. Putting too much emphasis on wind, solar and other renewables may block off better carbon-reduction paths. New technologies, such as "direct air capture" systems designed to separate carbon dioxide from the air, may in time prove vital. Likewise, greater energy efficiency could reduce emissions by even more than using renewables would.

9 . In 2019, more than 1. 4 million young people around the globe took part in the School Strikes for Climate Action protests that were largely prompted by a 17-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. The inspirational teenage is far from the first or last young person to fight for a better environmental future.

With the rise of social media in recent years, young people around the globe have easy access to surprising information about how we're currently failing to look after the Earth. Websites such as YouTube provide accessible coverage on ecological matters and links to new scientific information are easily shared between peers. But, it's not just online research that exposes the truth, and it's not a distant threat either. Climate change is around us. Our oceans are 30 percent more acidic(酸性的)due to carbon pollution, an increase of droughts and heatwaves means a loss of crop production and forest is cut down every second.

Of course, just because young people are now readily armed with statistics doesn't mean all adults will eagerly listen to them. Many write off young activists simply due to their age, and others still aren't willing to see the environmental challenges we face, but that doesn't mean a diligence can’t be made.

In fact, there are some advantages of being a young activist. A study on participants aged 16-24 in the UN climate negotiations revealed that adults perceived younger activists as being more trustworthy. Young activists not only aren't smudged (弄脏)by agendas being forced on them, they also have an untainted(未染污的)view of what's going on and, being free from politics, they often say what adults aren't willing to.

So, it seems achieving a carbon neutral world in the future might depend on young determined voices inspiring experienced adults who can make a difference. Preferably, young people wouldn't worry about the environment at all, but our civilization forced them into the conversation when their futures were put at stake, so their voices should be included in the solution.

10 . As educators across the globe look to improve students outcomes, a new trend is beginning to take root. Equipped with the knowledge that indoor plants improve general health and well-being, living green walls, like those created by GSky Plant Systems,Inc., are bringing life to educational spaces.

This fall, to help enrich student learning, GSky completed the installation(安装) of a Versa Wall for the new Biomedical Sciences and Engineering(BSE) facility at Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Maryland. “The living wall is meant to almost appear as an extension of the east courtyard exterior(外面的) environment flowing into the building,”said Christopher Case, Project Engineer for Gilbane Building Company.

As the educational model continues its shift toward a science, technology, engineering, art and math(STEAM) curriculum, Educators are looking for more hands-on learning opportunities. Green walls provide teachers with a new way to put STEAM principles into the curriculum.

Known as project-based learning, this method allows instructors to develop educational opportunities for students to interact with a green wall. Michael McCullough, Michael Martin and Mollika Sajady, in their article, “Implementing(实施) Green Walls in school，”explain the benefits of project-based learning：“The project-based learning allows students to construct   meaning and knowledge based on direct experience，interacting with their environment.” In turn, students are encouraged to use critical thinking to develop ways to maintain a green wall, once again, bring them back to the natural world, in spite of being indoors.

The benefits of green walls don't end at better test scores and increased learning opportunities. Because stress levels often run high in schools, green walls naturally help reduce that stress and anxiety. Plus, the addition of greenery in schools decreases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to a reduction in headaches, dizziness, and tiredness,---all of which contribute to students’ ability to focus.

To increase productivity while beautifying a space, Georgetown University also chose a GSky Versa Wall for a student center in one of their residence halls, New South. The 828- square- foot vertical garden is filled with 5000 plants, allowing students to breathe easy.

So, no matter the location or learning style, GSky’s green walls are proving to be a critical element in creating a positive educational experience for students, big and small.