2 . October 19th marks the beginning of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights which is marked by colorful but harmful fireworks across India. But this year, the country's top court has moved to carry out a complete ban (禁令) on the sale of fireworks in and around New Delhi. The decision is intended to help improve the Indian capital's poor air quality, but will it work?

It is reported that air pollution led to 1.1 million deaths in India in 2015. New Delhi, considered among India's worst cities in terms of air quality, is on the front line in fighting the harmful effects. But at present, the government's pollution policy largely appears after pollution rather than before pollution. The smog-reducing measures, which include banning trucks from the city's roads and closing coal-fired power plants, are only carried out during periods of extreme pollution.

Air quality measurements provided by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee record smog levels across the city in real time. Those levels are based on the amount of PM 2.5, which are considered particularly harmful because they are small enough to get deep into the lungs and pass into other organs (器官)，causing serious health risks.

The sale of fireworks was illegal last November following the situation of dangerously high PM 2.5 levels immediately after Diwali. However,the Indian Supreme Court thought a complete ban would be an extreme step. As a result,that order was reversed (撤销) this month. It is believed by the public that the government is unlikely to provide a lasting solution.

Fireworks aren't the only reason behind New Delhi's smog. In fact, New Delhi's pollution is also affected by its unfortunate geography. Sitting in a natural bowl and Surrounded by industrial and agricultural centers, the city keeps much of the pollution.

On the basis of a new report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), environment pollution remains the largest threat to human     1    (healthy). The GAHP is make up of more than 80 members,     2    seeks to raise international attention to pollution issues and help governments create solutions     3    (fight) the problem.

The GAHP said that more than 90 percent of the pollution-related deaths occur in developing countries. The report noted that such deaths remain a “neglected”(被忽视的）issue,     4    (particular) in low and middle-income countries. In the GAHP report     5    (publish) in 2017, India and China had     6     largest total number of pollution-related deaths. They     7     (follow) by Nigeria ,Indonesia and Pakistan.

In addition , the report has shown that pollution raises the risk of heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and other condition. It also said pollution brings     8    (serious) consequences worldwide than smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, as well as wars and violence.

Rachael Kupka, GAHP’s acting director ,says the good news is that controls already exist to help reduce the harmful effects     9    pollution. For example, governments in many countries have taken     10     (measure) to control the emission from vehicles.

4 . The measurable threat to the environment has been worsened by the spread of COVID-19 that increases the need for plastic protective equipment. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Millions of tons of greenhouse gas are released from the development of these resources and plastic production and burning.

The end life of plastic is just worrisome. Less than 10% of the plastic produced has been recycled. Even more of it has been burned. But the vast majority of plastic has been buried inland, and it is increasingly polluting the environment. We hear mostly about ocean plastic and the harm done to sea creatures that mistake plastic bags and bits for food. But microplastic is even more worrisome. Plastic doesn't break down biologically but instead breaks down into tiny particles（a very small piece of something）, which have been found in every corner of the planet, on land and in the air, in drinking water and food sources.

Yet the public has not given this global environmental disaster the attention it requires. Instead, they have viewed single-use plastic—which makes up about 40% of plastic used each year—as a litter issue that can be solved through better recycling and waste management. That attitude must change because the recent global breakdown of the market for recycling has made it clear that it has never been, nor ever will be, able to keep up with plastic trash use.

California has been the forerunner of plastic waste reduction—it was the first state to ban single-use plastic bags and may be the first state to transform the way goods are packaged. The state also came close to passing an act which would have required that products sold in plastic packaging in the state have a proven recycling rate of 75% by 2032. California, though influential, can't solve this crisis alone. The US has long been producing a great amount of plastic trash and it should engage in reducing the use of plastic as well.

5 . The World Health Organization warns that millions of people are dying every year from indoor air pollution. Nearly three billion people are unable to use clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating as well as lighting.

These findings show that the use of deadly fuels in inefficient stoves, space heaters or lights is to blame for many of these deaths.

WHO officials say indoor pollution leads to early deaths from stroke, heart and lung disease, childhood pneumonia and lung cancer. Women and girls are the main victims. These diseases can often result from the burning of solid fuels. These fuels include wood, coal, animal waste, crop waste and charcoal.

The United Nations found that more than 95 percent of households in sub-Saharan Africa depend on solid fuels for cooking. It says huge populations in India, China and Latin American countries, such as Guatermala and Peru,are also at risk.

Nigel Brace is a professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool. He says researchers are developing good cook-stoves and other equipment to burn fuels in a more efficient way.There are already multiple technologies available for use in clean fuels.There is really quite an effective and reasonably low-cost alcohol stove made by Dometic (a Sweden-based company) that is now being tested out. LPG (Liquefield Petroleum Gas) cook is obviously widely available and efforts are under way to make those efficient. Another interesting development is electric induction stoves. WHO experts note that some new, safe and low-cost technologies that could help are already available. In India, you can buy an induction stove for about $8.00. And in Africa you can buy a solar lamp for less than $1.00.

But this,the agency says, is just a start. It is urging developing countries to use cleaner fuels and increase access to cleaner and more modern cooking and heating appliances/devices.

7 . Nobody wants to snack on plastic bags or soda rings, but according to a recent study from the University of Neweastle, we could be consuming roughly a credit card's worth of plastic every week.

Microplastic, which are less than a quarter-inch size and come in various shapes, have polluted the natural world and infiltrated(渗入)our bodies. The first clue to microplastic exposure in humans came around 2013, when scientists discovered plastic particles in seafood prepared for consumption. But in 2019, when the University of Newcastle study was published, the scientific community understood that the problem was considerably broader. Microplastics shed off clothes and tires and have been found in beer, honey, table salt and other food items. We breathe in plastic staying in the air and drink plastic floating in our drinks. It's no stretch to conclude that our exposure is significant. What we don't know is what this means for us.

The amount of evidence collected on this subject is growing rapidly, according to Scott Coffin, a toxicologist(毒理学家). Studies done on mice and rats have found that plastic in their bodies can severely damage cells and cause stress.

Because microplastics are too small to clean up, the only solution is to stop plastic waste at the source. And doing so would take a thorough adjustment, given that plastics are deeply embedded in our economy and lifestyle. Stopping using them would fundamentally affect countless industries, including textiles(纺织业), transportation and manufacturing.

"I think we need to have more studies coming out that are directly related to human health before we see a lot more concern from the general public," Scott said. "It takes a lot to convince people that something that is really convenient for them to use is something they should sacrifice."

The question of microplastics and human health needs more attention—from the scientific community ,the general public, the government and funding groups. The issue isn't being ignored, but it's not being prioritized either.

10 . For a long time, beef has been a target of environmentalists because of cattle farming’s contribution to global warming. But what about ordinary shrimp(小虾) and prawns(大虾)? When compared with cows, it turns out the tasty shrimp are just as big an environmental problem. The issue is not so much their life cycle: shrimp do not emit methane(甲烷) the way cows do. But shrimp farms tend to occupy coastal land that used to be covered in mangroves(红树林).

Draining mangrove swamps to make way for aquaculture(水产养殖) is even more harmful to the atmosphere than cutting down rainforest to provide grassland for cattle. A study conducted in 2017 by CIFOR, a research institute, found that in both these instances, by far the biggest contribution to the carbon footprint of the resulting beef or shrimp came from the clearing of the land. As a result, CIFOR concluded, a kilo of farmed shrimp was responsible for almost four times the greenhouse-gas emissions of a kilo of beef. Eating a surf-and-turf dinner of prawn cocktail and steak, the study warned, can be more polluting than driving across America in a petrol-fuelled car.

Eating wild shrimp is not much better: catches are declining around the world as a result of overfishing. Fishing boats can pull as much as 20kg of the unwanted fish and other creatures from the sea for every kilo of shrimp.

Most of the world’s shrimp and prawns come from Asia. The continent accounts for 85% of the farmed sort and 74% of the wild catch. Global sales were around $45 billion in 2018 and are thought to be growing by about 5% a year.

But the industry is controversial(有争议的), not just because of its part in global warming. Destroyed mangroves also leave coastal regions defenceless against flooding. Many shrimp farms are unsanitary(不卫生的); ponds often have to be abandoned after a few years because of problems with disease and pollution.

All this has given one Singaporean company a brain wave. “Farmed shrimps are often bred in overcrowded conditions and literally swimming in waste water. We want to change that by providing farmers with technology that is cleaner and more efficient,” says Sandhya Sriram, one of the founders of Shiok Meats.

The firm aims to grow artificial shrimp, much as some Western firms are seeking to create beef without cows. The process involves producing shrimp cells in a nutrient-rich solution. Since prawn-meat has a simpler structure than beef, it should be easier to reproduce in this way.

Moreover, shrimp is eaten in lots of forms and textures: whole, minced(切碎的), as a paste and so on. The firm is already making shrimp mince which has tested in Chinese dumplings. It hopes the by-product of the meat-growing can be used as a flavoring(调味的) for prawn crackers and instant noodles. Eventually it plans to grow curved “whole” shrimp—without the head and shell, that is.

The problem is that producing shrimp in this way currently costs $5,000 a kilo. Shiok Meats thinks it can bring the price down dramatically by using less rare ingredients in its growing solution.

People want to know more about where their food comes from and how it is harvested, argues Ms Sriram. “Cell-based technology is one of the ways to answer those questions.” And even ordinary shrimp, whether farmed or fished, come at a heady price.