2 . As a research scholar at the Indian Institute for Science Education and Research, I once monitored birds that inhabited grasslands in Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area in Northeast India. This habitat forms a part of one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth. Yet despite their ecological importance and uniqueness, most grasslands are classified by the Indian government as “wastelands”.

Ecosystems throughout the world are suffering from the effects of unchecked habitat loss and climate change. While all types of ecosystems—forests, grasslands, oceans, wetlands and deserts—feel these effects, there is evidence of bias (偏好) towards the conservation of forest biodiversity. This bi as hurts the preservation of other ecosystems, including the grasslands that make up 24 percent of the Indian landmass. These grasslands are home to important biodiversity and support the livelihoods of millions of people, yet are defined in India by their value in being turned into forests for fighting climate change.

Apart from being costly, the move overlooks the ecological and social value of grasslands by turning them into mono-culture forests, which do not provide the same ecological benefits. Yet, grasslands could be equally good at storing carbon.

India and other countries with substantial grasslands need to recognize, support and prioritize evidence-based scientific attempts that focus on grasslands by establishing grassland-specific restoration efforts, as well as by mapping their extent and the ecosystem services they provide for humans. The time is ripe for abandoning outdated labelings like “wastelands”.

Already, communities like the Todas and the Idu Mishmi people are protecting grasslands in India through collective action and local stewardship (管理), which are helping them connect with the grasslands. With the aim of preserving the richness of nature, the government must restore greater rights to local communities to manage grasslands. Grasslands are an important feature of an ecologically sound India, one that must be preserved for that value above all others.

5 . Plastic is low-cost and long-lasting. It is not easily degraded(降解) because natural degradation processes can’t deal with its chemical components(成分). It takes in other ocean-present harmful substances. These chemical and dangerous components are gradually got into the atmosphere with additives such as color, which turns out to be really harmful when the plastic breaks down.

The design and development of new plastic products was sped up after World War II. Life without plastic seemed impossible in the modern age. But even though plastic was quite convenient, the dark side of it was seen as people began to enjoy the throw-away community. Many plastic products, such as plastic bags, have a lifetime of a few minutes to hours. However, they’ll stay in the environment for hundreds of years. We are destroying the very world that nurtured us.

Just 9% of plastic has been recycled and 12% burnt after production rose in the 1950s, which leave s about 79% of the 8.3 billion tons produced sitting in landfills(垃圾填埋场) or damaging our fields, oceans, and waterways. And each year the plastic ends up as contaminants. So to beat plastic pollution, we need to work together.

While plastic burning reduces the amount of waste dumped into oceans and lands, harmful gases are still produced, which also leads to greenhouse gases. However, if we make a firm decision and use modern waste management methods, we will be able to create a safe and healthy world. It is high time that we as responsible global citizens, took on the duty of protecting our environment and made great effort in saving our mother earth, instead of just leaving everything to our government. So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s make a promise to successfully deal with plastic waste and protect our world from all possible risks.

6 . When glaciers melt, they leave behind infertile (贫瘠的) landscapes. But a new study found that within just three years, such exposed land was restored by llamas (美洲驼), whose activity enriched the soil and promoted plant growth. By the foot of Peru’s melting Uruashraju glacier, researchers partnered with local farmers to farm llamas on four specific plots. For three days a month from 2019 to 2022, the llamas grazed (吃青草) the plots, fertilizing them with waste and spreading seeds from droppings.

As is the case worldwide, glaciers are disappearing in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountains at an alarming rate. And as the ice melts, nearby ecosystems wither: They lose access to summertime supplies of freshwater and sometimes encounter harmful acidic minerals in rocks once covered by the glaciers.

Llamas may help count er some of these effects. Their transformation of the land, as seen in the new study, could reduce rock weathering and help the soil hold onto more dampness, thus limiting the acidic runoff that can poison farmers’ crops. Such pollution is one reason why local farmers partnered with the researchers. The animals’ behavior could one day even generate new grasslands as soil quality improves.

The idea that animal grazing may positively impact a landscape is not new. Nor is rewilding, the push to bring key species back to their native ecosystems, unique to the Cordillera Blanca mountains. In Finland, for example, the Indigenous Sami are working to reintroduce reindeer in deforested land, potentially restoring it. But the size and speed of the changes the llamas helped bring about surprised the researchers. From 2021 to 2022, the average amount of plant cover in the llama plots grew from about 9 percent to nearly 14 percent—faster than it did in four control plots. The research underscores the valuable roles animals play in shaping landscapes, says ecologist Kelsey Reider of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., “The animals themselves are doing a lot.”

7 . Finding a California condor in the wild would be the most unusual treat. perhaps even more unusual than finding a wolf in Yellowstone National Park. In fact, the wolf was what opened my eyes to the fact that humans could bring an animal back to the place where it had disappeared.

In 1987, there were only 27 California condors left, none of which were in the wild, only in captive breeding programs, It was those breeding programs that contributed to their population rise, enough that by 1991 some of them could be freed into the wild.

Still, the hope of seeing a California condor, which remains an endangered species, is very low, let alone getting a photo of one. California condor population dropped mostly due to human factors, such as poaching and living areas destruction-these are challenges California condors still face today.

Although this is just a bird’s-eye view of the challenges California condors face and there are many others, it is part of why the opportunity to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service team and their partners helping their recovery is so special to me as a photographer. I am not only able to photograph the birds in their wild living areas, but also understand and record how difficult the work is of those people on the front lines of the protection.

I am grateful for the work of the team, and my hope is that California condor population will continue to rise allowing future generations an opportunity I never had when I first got here-to look to the sky and see one flying around.

8 . In the west of the Greek capital Athens, the fish market of Keratsini is busy early in the morning, with trucks waiting nearby to be loaded with fishes. But on his fishing boat, Arapakis sorts out something different—bottles, boots, plastic pipes and fishing nets, all dragged from the bed of the Aegean Sea.

“We are swimming in plastic,” said Arapakis, whose family has fished for five generations. “By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea,” he said, as recent reports noted.

That morning’s plastic catch weighed “about 100 kilograms,” said the founder of Enaleia, a nonprofit that encourages fishermen to collect marine (海洋的) waste caught in their nets. Since its establishment in 2018, it has worked with more than 1,200 fishermen in Greece to raise concern over the degradation of the marine environment.

Active in 42 ports throughout Greece, Enaleia provides fishermen with large bags for marine waste that they can put in garbage cans once back at port. For every kilogram of plastic they deliver, they receive a small amount of money, which is enough for a drink. Since October, fishing crews have dragged out 20 metric tons of plastic and old fishing equipment each month. Nearly 600 tons have been collected over the last five years. The collected plastic is transported to a recycling plant in the industrial area of Megara near Keratsini, to make new products such as socks, swimwear or furniture.

Arapakis said he went about the cleanup project after a trip to Greece’s Cyclades islands, where he saw fishermen throwing the waste gathered by their nets back into the sea.

Arapakis is convinced there has been a “mentality change” among Greece’s fishermen. “Previously we caught large quantities of plastic, but we only kept the fish. All waste was thrown into the sea,” said Mokharam, team leader on the Arapakis family’s boat. “The project brings practical benefits for fishing boats. In the past, the anchor was often caught by waste, especially nets, and the engine would go out. But now things have changed,” he added.

10 . Known as the birthplace of hip-hop, the South Bronx in New York City is a global center for music and art. However, it also suffers from poverty and pollution. Heavy trucks deliver unwanted construction waste to sorting stations, which then transfer waste to distant landfills.

Just graduating from college and working for an environmental group, Omar started to think about redirecting waste to those in need. He wondered, “Instead of destroying things like old doors, why not make this business a ‘cooperative’, which means people who work in the business own it and share the profits?”

Omar decided to start his business. He handed out flyers (小传单) along the truck-jammed, waste-filled streets to find individuals with similar ideas and interests to join him. Eventually, Omar found four workers and secured a warehouse. They reached out to relevant people, offering to remove items from construction sites for free. Soon, their warehouse was filled with donated materials, including 80 new toilets, unwanted doors, theater seats, and even a giant popcorn machine.

A few years ago, Omar started his first cooperative devoted to reusing construction waste. The cooperative began selling construction supplies at reasonable prices to neighborhood builders and home owners. With support from city officials, Omar began developing a new training program to equip local residents with the necessary skills for environmentally impact jobs.

Omar said, “Think about a wooden door that you’ve just bought. In order to produce that, someone had to cut down trees. In order to ship it across the country, someone had to pump oil out of the ground. You can avoid all that if you buy a good used door. And at the same time, you can reduce pollution, save money, and create jobs in communities like the South Bronx.”

Omar even had the image of a future with a whole network of green cooperative businesses in the area, which would work together to reuse different kinds of construction materials. “If you have a use for something,” Omar said, “it’s no longer waste.”