D

Old Problem ， New Approaches

        While clean energy is increasingly used in our daily life，global warning will continue for some decades after CO₂ emissions（排放）peak. So even if emission were to begin decrease today，we would still face the challenge of adapting to climate. Here I will stress some smarter and more creative examples of climate adaptation.

     When it comes to adaptation，it is important to understand that climate change is a process. We are therefore not talking about adapting to a new standard，but to a constantly shifting set of conditions. This is why in part at least，the US National Climate Assessment says that:”there is no ‘one-size fit all' adaptation.” Nevertheless，there are some actions that offer much and carry little risk or cost.

      Around the world people are adapting in surprising ways，especially in some poor countries，Floods have some more damaging in Bangladesh in recent decades. Mohammed Rezwan saw opportunity where others saw only disaster. His not-for-profit organization runs 100 river boats that server as floating libraries，schools，and health clinics，and are equipment with solar panels and other communication facilities. Rezwan is creating floating connectivity（连接） to replace flooded roads and highways. But he is also working at a far more fundamental level：his staff people how to make floating gardens fish ponds prevent starvation during the wet season.

       Elsewhere in Asia even more astonishing actions are being taken. Chewang Nophel lives in a mountainous region in India, where he is known as the Ice Man. The loss of glaciers(冰川) there due to global warming represents an enormous threat to agriculture. Without the glaciers, water will arrive in the rivers at times when it can damage crops. Norphel's inspiration come from seeing the waste of water over winter, when it was not needed. He directed the wasted water into shallow basins where it froze, and was stored until the spring. His fields of ice supply perfectly timed irrigation(灌溉) water. Having created nine such ice reserves. Nophel calculates that he has stored about 200, 000m³  of water. Climate change is a continuing process, so Norhel's ice reserves will not last forever. Warming will overtake them. But he is providing a few years during which the farmers will, perhaps, be able to find other means of adapting.

    Increasing Earth's reflectiveness can cool the planet. In southern Spain the sudden increase of greenhouses (which reflect light back to space) has changed the warming trend locally, and actually cooled the region. While Spain as a whole is heating up quickly, temperatures near the greenhouses have decreased. This example should act as an inspiration for all cities. By painting buildings white, cities may slow down the warming process.

    In Peru, local farmers around a mountain with a glacier that has already fallen victim to climate change have begun painting the entire mountain peak white in the hope that the added reflectiveness will restore the life-giving ice. The outcome is still far from clear, But the World Bank has included the project on its of ‘100 ideas to save the planet”.

    More ordinary forms of adaptation are happening everywhere. A friend of mine owns an area of land in western Victoria. Over five generations the land has been too wet for cropping. But during the past decade declining rainfall has allows him to plant highly profitable crops. Farmers in many countries are also adapting like this—either by growing new produce, or by growing the same things differently. This is common sense, But some suggestions for adapting are not. When the polluting industries argue that we've lost the battle to control carbon pollution and have no choice but to adapt, it's a nonsense designed to make the case for business as usual.

    Human beings will continue to adapt to the changing climate in both ordinary and astonishing ways. But the most sensible form of adaptation is surely to adapt our energy systems to emit less carbon pollution. After all, if we adapt in the way, we may avoid the need to change in so many others.

    Smart phones are so common these days. It's a wonder that our pets don't own one. But they don't necessarily have to. These four apps will help you take care of your best furry friend from dog training to first aid.

Pet First Aid

Price: $3.99

    Pet First Aid helps you provide the basic care and attention that your four-legged friend might need in a medical emergency. The application shows owners how to treat illnesses with helpful videos, pictures and articles on subjects like cuts, wound treatment and more. A section called Pet Info lets you enter in information about your pets including when they had their last vaccinations, any medicines they take, or information about any diseases or conditions your animal suffers from.

Paw Card Pet Tracker

Price: Free

    Paw Card helps you keep a record of your loved one's important information. Use it to record your pet's medical contacts, vaccinations, identity cards, medical conditions and medicines. Additional characteristics include a drawing showing your dog's weight over time.

Dog Park Finder

Price: Free

    Dog Park Finder helps you locate dog-friendly parks and training locations in your area(USA)locations only). The app includes in formation on more than 2,200 off-leash(无需给狗拴链的) areas, user photos and more than 6，500 reviews, so you can have fun with your dog off the leash.

Dog Book

Price: Free

    Dog Book is a social networking application for dogs. Like Face book, users can share with other people what's going on in their dog's life, share photos, and find great animal-friendly places to meet up.

    Now people are very concerned about the food problem. Steve Wilson prefers organic fruit, delivered right to the doorstep. He is willing to pay for it. If this is not possible, the 30-year-old computer technician will spend the extra money at the supermarket to buy organic food.

    “Organic product is always better,” Wilson said. “The food is free of pesticides(农药), and you are generally supporting family farms instead of large farms. And more often than not that it is locally grown and seasonal, so it is more tasty.” Wilson is one of the growing number of shoppers buying into the organic trend, and supermarkets across Britain are counting on more like him as they grow their organic food business. But how many shoppers really know what they are getting, and why are they willing to pay a higher price for organic product? Market research shows that Wilson and others who buy organic food can generally give clear reasons for their preferences—but their knowledge of organic food is far from complete. For example, small amounts of pesticides can be used on organic products. And about three quarters of organic food in Britain is not local but imported(进口)to meet growing demand. “The demand for organic food is increasing by about one third every year, so it is a very fast-growing market,” said Sue Flock, a specialist in this line of business.

    Food is extremely important to us human beings and rice is one of the main food in the world. Australian researchers have discovered a way to genetically engineer rice which would provide significant health benefits to more than half the world's population.

    A study undertaken at the University of Tasmania, published in a respected journal of the National Academy of Sciences, discovered a method to increase the resistant starch (抗性淀粉）content in rice, making it more digestible and leading to lower rate of diabetes (糖尿病）and overweight.

    Steven Smith, the lead author of the study and a foreign expert for the Chinese government who has been appointed to work on crop improvement projects by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said increasing the higher resistant starch content gave this “designer” rice many added health benefits. “We have discovered that we can increase the amount of resistant starch in cooked rice, which could provide health benefits for a large number of people in Asia and beyond,” Smith said in a media release on Friday. “The same approach can be adapted for use in other cereals, including wheat. Not only can it have benefits for diabetes and obesity, but also for disorders of the bowel(肠）including cancer.”

    Rice is the main food for more than half the world's population, providing much of the world with most of their calories. Smith said that as the rate of diabetes and obesity in Asian countries continued to grow, his “designer” rice could provide a way to limit health problems.

    “Not only does resistant starch reduce the possibility of a 'sugar hit' but it also reduces the appetite and promotes the growth of the healthy germs.” Smith said.

Smith divides his time between the University of Tasmania and his research lab in Beijing where he hopes to make significant advance in sustainable (可持续的）living.

    You've probably heard people expressing alarm about the spread of 'fake news' – stories that look like news articles but describe things that never happened. Fake news is written to attract attention, to trick people so they will look foolish, or to work as satire (讽刺) making a point about society. But regardless of the source's motivation, spreading fake news embarrasses you and harms others, so follow these steps to ensure you only share real news.

    Check its grammar

    Legal news sites check their grammar carefully, so articles with many errors are usually fake. Also watch out for sentences written in all capital(大写的) letters and the use of multiple exclamation points(感叹号) at the ends of sentences. These are designed to bring about an emotional reaction, but they aren't considered professional, so trustworthy publications don't use them.

    Read the whole article

    Even in real news articles, headlines sometimes overstate or simplify the point of the article. Before reacting, read the article carefully to make sure you understand the whole context. Sometimes the claims of fake news articles become unreasonable as the article goes on.

    Consider the source

    If you've never heard of the publication, check the 'About' section on its website. Fake news sites often lack such a page, provide little information or even admit that they are fake. Also check an online article's URL; if it ends with '.com.co', it's probably a fake news site.

    Check the support

    Does the article support its claims with quotations and citations(引用)from experts? If not, don't trust it. If so, you should still look up those sources and make sure they actually say what the article claims. There are also websites, such as snopes.com, that will tell you whether the facts in online articles are accurate.

    Do you think the United Kingdom and the United States are alike? Winston Churchill once joked that the people of Britain and the people of America are separated only by their language. Do you think that is true? The British and the Americans both speak English as the official language. However, each uses some different words. We Americans are similar to the British. After all, our country was once owned by the UK,so we have a lot in common. But there are many differences between us.

    The UK has a king or queen, and the leader of the government is the Prime Minister. The US has no kings or queens. Our leader is the President.

    Both the British and Americans use pounds and ounces, pints, quarts, and gallons. Both use miles, yards, and feet. Our money is different, though. The British use pounds and pence. Americans use dollars and cents.

    Driving in a car is very different in the UK. They drive on the left side of the road. We drive on the right. What we call the hood of the car, the British call the "bonnet". British cars run on "petrol", which we call gasoline.

    In our everyday life, we do many of the same things as the British. But we describe them differently.

    A young mother here might push a baby in a baby carriage. A British mum pushes a "pram". The British watch "telly", while we watch TV. We like to eat French fries, but the British call them "chips". Millions of Americans drink coffee, but most British prefer tea.

    So we are different in many ways. But we stay friendly anyway.