1 . With roaring ships, hammering oil drill, industrial fishing and coastal construction, humans have strongly influenced the underwater soundscape (声音景观) over the past couple of hundred years — in some cases posting a threat to whales, dolphins and other ocean creatures. Until recently, underwater sound pollution had not attracted the same attention. Now, a new paper published in the journal Science lays out the impacts, demonstrating that noise pollution can be just as harmful to the ocean environment as other kinds of pollution.

Even the cracking of glaciers and any drop of rain falling on the water’s surface can be heard deep under the sea. Sea life uses sound to study their habitat, and to keep in communication with each other. They also use sound by listening to know something about their environment.

“It’s a long-lasting problem that certainly weakens the animals all the way from individuals to populations,” says lead author Carlos M. Duarte, distinguished professor at Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), “We are hoping that this report will not only reveal elements of how humans impact the ocean through sound pollution, but that it will also bring the topic to the attention of policymakers who will be able to act based upon the very real solutions.”

Marine (海洋) ecologist Kirsten Thompson of the United Kingdom’s University of Exeter, who was not involved in the study, said the report could not have come at a better time. “It summarizes the fact that we are in this new phase of human-caused noise in our oceans that is having a dramatic impact on different species.” What matters most, she notes, is the fact that the paper “doesn’t just point at the problem, it shows how to solve it.”

Unlike plastic pollution or fertilizer runoff, noise pollution will not take years to fix. The moment we switch our noise off the impact disappears, Duarte says, pointing to marine life surveys conducted around April 5, 2020. Having the world use more renewable energy would lessen the need to drill for oil and gas. The international team of researchers also called for a global regulatory framework for measuring and managing ocean noise.

2 . It might be strange to wear clothes made out of plastic bottles, But in fact, some clothing companies are already making such clothes. Fashion brand JUMA recently showed its newest collection at a workshop in Shanghai. Eighteen clothing items from the collection, including jackets, shirts and dresses, were made from recycled plastic bottles. “We realized that billions of water bottles were being thrown into landfills and oceans every year and that these bottles take hundreds of years to break down.We thought we should use them to create our clothes and help the environment,” said Alia Juma, the company's design director.

Many other fashion companies are finding similar ways to save our planet these days. The process is rather simple. First, the plastic bottles are washed and cut into small pieces. Then they are melted and shaped into small balls. The balls are melted again to for thread. People can then use the thread to make different kinds of clothes.

According to Juma, it takes 67,000 bottles to create 1 ton of thread. This reduces carbon emissions(排放)by 4.2 tons and water use by 6.2 tons compared with the normal way of making thread.“Four bottles can make one pillowcase. Five can make a shirt, 10 a dress and 20 a short coat,”Juma said.

Some people might have doubts about wearing something made out of plastic bottles. But according to Causeartist, a website that focuses on innovation, clothes made from plastics could be even better than some clothing-making materials.Plastic thread can be made into different textures(手感),such as cotton, silk or even wool. “The more we learn about recycled fabrics, the more we realize that they work just like other fabrics.You can get a heavier cotton feeling or a silky feeling by weaving the yarns(纱)into different textures and using different wash methods. There's actually a lot you can do with this fabric.” Juma said.

Currently, the price for the clothes in the new collection ranges from 500 to 3,000 yuan, However, Juma is optimistic that prices will decline when more companies follow the sustainability path taken by her business.

3 . The Great Barrier Reef's outlook remains “very poor” despite coral (珊瑚) recovery over the past year, Australian government scientists said Monday, just days before a UNESCO ruling on the site's world heritage (遗产) status.

The United Nations cultural agency recommended last month that the world's largest reef (珊瑚礁) system be placed on its endangered list because of damage to the corals largely caused by climate change.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) said the corals were now in a “recovery window” after a decade of harmful heat stress and cyclones (旋风). But such opportunities were becoming rarer due to the influence of climate change, the government agency, which has monitored the reef for 35 years, said in its annual report released today. “The increasing emergence of climate-related extreme weather events and starfish outbreaks is causing more severe and frequent pressures, giving the reef fewer opportunities like this to recover,”CEO Paul Hardisty said. The scientists surveyed 127 reef sites in 2021 and found hard coral cover had increased at 69 of the 81 locations surveyed in the past two years.

Separate scientific research released last October found the 2, 300-kilometre (1, 400 miles) system had lost half its corals since 1995, with a series of ocean heatwaves causing mass coral death.

Britta Schaffelke, research program director at AIMS, said the latest findings provided a slight hope that the reef still has the power of recovering. But she added that its future is still very poor because of the dangers of climate change and other factors that are affecting the reef.

UNESCO has urged Australia to take urgent climate action but the government has long resisted calls to commit to net zero emissions (排放) by 2050. The government has said it hopes to meet the target “as soon as possible” without harming its economy, insisting dealing with climate change requires a global effort. The reef was worth about US $4. 8 billion a year in tourism for the Australian economy and there are fears that an “in danger” listing could weaken its tourist appeal.

5 . Sophie, 13, won the 2019 New Zealand’s “Think kind” competition for student. “I_________ a beach clean-up, because it really_________ me that marine(海洋的) life is hurt by thoughtless decisions of humans.”

Sophie saw_________ on the sea floor while snorkeling(徒手潜泳). “It was the first time I’d seen marine life _________ among plastics.”

It was the trigger of her act. “We weren’t taking enough_________. Everyone needs to do their_________, otherwise we’re going to_________our planet.”

Sophie turned to media to get her_________out and ask for volunteers at the clean-up. To her surprise, more than 200 people turned up. 200 kilograms of rubbish were_________ that day. “It was horrible. We knew rubbish was there but we didn’t realize how__________ until we started collecting.”

Once ecological(生态的)__________had hit Sophie, it hit hard. On her l4th birthday, she decided to celebrate differently.__________ holding a party creating waste, she decided to__________ it. On her “party,” Sophie and her friends__________ to pick up the rubbish that__________ along the river bank near the town.

“If there is one thing everyone could do, it is to ‘__________ after yourself’,” says Sophie. “It’s hard for some families to__________plastic alternatives, but just not buying things wrapped in plastic will help.” She suggests using__________ materials like metal straws. “When there are more__________on the market, it will be__________for individuals to make a change.”