1 . Much of the Amazon’s biodiversity (生物多样性) is under fire-literally. In the last two decades, deforestation (滥伐) and forest fire ate into the ranges of thousands of plant and animal species in the Amazon rainforest.

The extent of the damage is closely tied to the practice of laws in Brazil aimed at protecting the forest from widespread logging (伐木). The findings illustrate the key role that forest use laws have in the fortune of the Amazon rainforest.

Threats to the survival of this biodiversity could have long-term effects. Biodiversity promotes a forest’s resistance to drought. If fire-impacted area continues to rise, not only does the Amazon lose forest cover, but also some of its capacity to deal with the changing climate.

“With fires advancing deeper into the rainforest, more species will experience fire for the first time. These species have not evolved (进化) under conditions with regular fires, so the consequences for those species, like increased risk of population declines or extinction, can be severe,” says Xiao Feng, a biogeographer at Florida State University.

“But we don’t know how fires are impacting the biodiversity across the Amazon basin,” says Feng. The Amazon is a huge area. It’s generally impossible to go there and count the number of species before the fire and after it. So Feng and his team instead investigated how Amazonian plant and animal species’ geographic ranges have been affected by recent fires. The team gathered range maps of 11,514 plant and 3,079 animal species and compared these maps with satellite images of Amazon forest cover from 2001 to 2019. Those images let the team track how logging and fires have led to the reduction of rainforest.

Starting in 2009, when a series of rules aimed at reducing deforestation started being performed, the extent of fires generally decreased. Then in 2019, fires rose back up again, co-occurring with a relaxation of rules. Much of the fire-driven forest loss was concentrated along the more intensely logged southern reaches of the rainforest.

The change suggests effective forest protection laws can slow this trend of destruction and are essential for preventing the region from reaching a tipping point.

2 . Sunscreen protects our skin from sunburn. But did you know that it is harmful to coral (珊瑚) living in the ocean？

Some chemicals in sunscreen, such as benzophenone (二苯甲酮), can kill coral. Every year, about 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen will flow into coral areas, according to the US National Park Service.

About one and half years ago, Zhang Baoxin, 17, who studies at Guangdong Experimental High School, read about this in an article. Then she had an idea – to make an environmentally friendly sunscreen to protect the marine environment.

To make this happen, Zhang read lots of literature and then put forward a new formula (配方). She mixed natural plant oils with safe and commonly-used sunscreen ingredients, such as titanium dioxide (二氧化钛) and zinc oxide (氧化锌) powder .

She tested about 10 kinds of plant oils, including jojoba oil (荷荷巴油) and coconut oil, to figure out whether they can take in sunlight. She then used a microscope to find out if the oil could be mixed with the powder. After trying about 20 formulas, Zhang found a jojoba oil formula that is effective, cheap and easy to make.

Zhang wrote a paper to explain her findings with her experimental process and data. The project made Zhang a nominee (候选人) of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, an award to celebrate teenagers who help solve major water challenges. She was the only nominee from the Chinese mainland in 2020.

After this successful experiment, Zhang made some samples (样品) and printed out flyers (传单) for her new formula. She gave them out to people at swimming pools and water parks. “With my formula, anyone can make sunscreen at home. You just need a blender to mix the oil and the powder,” she said.

Zhang wants to study environmental science in college. “I want to use my knowledge to make a better world,” she said.

3 . I’m Naomi Shah, and today I’ll be talking to you about my research involving indoor air quality and asthmatic（哮喘） patients. 1.6 million deaths worldwide. One death every 20 seconds. People spend over 90 percent of their lives indoors. And the economic burden of asthma go beyond that of HIV and tuberculosis（肺结核） combined.

Now these statistics had a huge impact on me. I started researching, and I soon found that indoor air pollutants were the main causes. But soon after, I developed a novel mathematical model that essentially measures the effect of these environmental pollutants（污染物） on the lung health of asthmatic patients.

I have a volunteer subject in the audience today, Julie. And all of Julie’s data has been pre-entered into my interactive software model. So Julie’s going to her doctor’s office to get treated for her asthma. And the doctor has her sit down, and he takes her peak breath flow rate. I’ve entered it up into the interactive software model. I’ve also entered in her age, her gender and her height. Any users just clicked on “lung function report” and it’ll take them to this report that I created. When the doctor sees this , maybe he would say, “Wow, we need to give her steroids（类固醇), medication and so on.”

But I want everyone here to reimagine a world where instead of prescribing steroids and medication, the doctor turns to Julie and says, “Why don’t you go home and clean out your air cleaner. Clean out the air dusts in your home, in your workplace, in your school. Stop the use of incense and candles. And if you’re remodeling your house, take out all the carpeting and put in hardwood flooring.” Because these solutions are natural, these solutions are sustainable, and these solutions are long-term investments -- long-term investments that we’re making for our generation and for future generations.

So I’m very passionate about this research and I really want to continue it and expand it to more diseases besides asthma, as well as more pollutants. To know more relationship between them is my main task. But before I end my talk today, I want to leave you with one saying. And that saying is that genetics loads the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger（扳机）.

4 . TEDEd Hi Katherine!

This December, the TED-Ed team will host a series of 4 calls for students to learn about climate change, as part of our larger TED Countdown Initiative (方案)

Details about call series:

Each week during the month of December, we’ll meet at the same time on Zoom (an online meeting APP). Students should join in the calls on their own. We’d like students to be able to attend at least 3 of the 4 calls.

Register your students’ interest:

As we plan the time when we will meet with students, we’d love to see how many students are interested in this opportunity. Please share this interest with your students so they can register their interest. In this form we’ll ask them for their parent’s email address for permission.

Share this interest form with your students:

https∶//airtable. com/shr4U7DICbrdHuaGM

More about TED Countdown:

On January 25, we’re hosting the Countdown Summit in Scotland— the firstTED conference focusing on climate solutions. In April, TED hosted an online meeting and announced our plan to help the planet. And as always，education plays an important role in this mission (使命). That’s why we have chosen talks for students to do together virtually for a deeper understanding of this global issue and solutions.

We hope your students join us!

Please note that this event is only for studenst aged 3-19, in high school and below!

Human beings are no stranger to extinctions, where entire species     1    . In the last 500 million years, there have been five times when life on Earth has almost ended. According to scientists, we are now entering the Earth's sixth mass extinction, for which human activity will     2    .

There is a long list of reasons why so many species     3    : pollution, deforestation, farming and overfishing. It is clear that human activity has negatively affected all other species on Earth. If a sixth mass extinction occurs, scientists believe that     4     three quarters of all species on Earth could become extinct. In turn, as we humans depend on so many species for our survival, we would also be     5     extinction.

However, it's not too late to     6     now. We need to take steps to set up nature and wildlife reserves, make good use of wind and solar energy, and reduce our carbon footprint.     7    , if we want to survive, we need to stop destroying the planet that we live on and start to protect it.

8 . An environmental advocacy groups have launched Cut Carbon Not Forests, a campaign to expose the UK’s wasteful subsidies for companies that burn trees for electricity and to put pressure on policymakers to support reform. In the face of the climate emergency, and as the UK government seeks a “green recovery” from the coronavirus pandemic, the campaign led jointly by Biofuelwatch, Dogwood Alliance, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and the Southern Environmental Law Center, calls for an end to these money, redirecting billions of pounds to fill a critical funding gap for genuinely clean and renewable energy solutions like solar and wind.

The UK is the largest user of biomass electricity in Europe, backed by more than £1 billion a year in government subsidies, paid out via a fee on energy bills. However, burning wood in power stations is no better for the climate than burning coal. Further, much of the wood in question is cut down and shipped in from sensitive forests overseas, destroying habitats and wildlife.

“The climate emergency requires us to build a genuinely clean-energy economy and end wasteful subsidies for dirty biomass energy,” said Almuth Ernsting, Co-Director of Biofuelwatch. “Cutting down trees, shipping them from forests overseas and burning them in power plants was never compatible with the need to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees; that’s even clearer today. It’s long past time to redirect this aid to genuine climate solutions like wind and solar energy.”

Research shows British public opinion aligns with a push toward biomass subsidy reform. YouGov polling found 82% of respondents were worried about the impact on wildlife if trees in forests were being cut down to supply power plants. Only 3% of respondents thought the government should promote biomass energy using trees shipped in from overseas forests, which is the UK’s primary source of supply. By contrast, a large majority said the government should promote solar and wind power.(332 words)

9 . Stefani Shamrowicz lives in Colorado. The 24-year-old woman has spent 23 days picking up126 bags of rubbish across the country

Having over a month off from her job at a campus recreation center, Stefani Shamrowicz decided to take a trip to help clean up the environment.

She's now driven over 70 hours through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana Florida,Georgia,Tennessee,Kentucky，Ohio，Pennsylvania，and New York-cleaning up everything from pee-filled bottles to lawn ornaments. About 80 percent of the rubbish was drinking bottles. Stefani said she had found a few fast-food toys and a tire with a pair of cowboy boots in it and her aim wasn't to shame, but rather encourage people to do what they can

Collecting anywhere from one to 16 bags at a time, Stefani's been discouraged. She felt she wasn't doing enough. She said there was a place that had an ocean of rubbish and she pushed out four bags, but then she broke down because she realized how much rubbish there was and it felt like four bags didn't do anything. But she remembered to just do what she could, especially since she had gone beyond her goal. She said she dedicated that to her parents because they raised her to be an independent person and had been very supportive on the trip

People donated $10 a bag for Stefani to clean up in their name, which she uses for lodging and gas. The person's name is written on how many bags they've donated towards and Stefani posted a picture on her Instagram when they were filed, thanking them for helping clean up the cit she was in.

People online and in person have responded positively to the project. Stefani recalled people sent her pictures of bags of trash they picked up. Once, when she started doing a bag on the beach in Florida,two ladies saw her and started helping her fill the bag.

With her job resuming June 1, Stefani is now back home but she has so many good things to say about her unique U.S.road trip.There's litter everywhere, so I'm just happy to be able to make a little bit of an impact everywhere I go. Cleaning up this litter is a huge thank you for all the joy and good times national parks and nature in general has brought to my life,”she said.