The earth is about 4,600 million years old. Modern man has lived on the earth for only 35,000 years, but during that time, we have changed our planet in many ways. Many of the things that we have done are good, but more are not good for the earth.

    Water pollution

    A lot of people, birds and fish die each day because of water pollution. Factories have polluted the land and the water. As a result, many river and lakes are now dead.

    Air pollution

    In big cities, factories, as well as cars, trucks and buses are the biggest cause of air pollution. Many people in cities now have bad health problems. For example, Mexico city used to be a beautiful sunny capital, but today it is almost covered by thick brown clouds.

    Soil pollution

    In order to have a good harvest, most of the farmers use chemicals too much on their fields. That's bad for the soil. But this kind of pollution is difficult to stop.

    Hope for the future

    These problems are very serious for our future, so all of us should do something to improve our environment. If we can stop pollution, our planet will become more and more beautiful and our health will be better. Let's be greener people.

A

    Air pollution is one of the most common types of pollution in the world nowadays. It is quite serious in many places, especially in big cities. It can do great harm to our environment such as making the earth warmer, causing acid rain or destroying the ozone layer. As for human beings, air pollution causes all kinds of breathing problems.

    There are several reasons for air pollution. Firstly, many cities have a lot of factories and there we need to make food, clothing and other things. Every year these factories pour millions of tons of smog into air. Secondly, power factories can also give out harmful air. For example, in 1986 there was a bad accident at a nuclear power station in Russia. A cloud of radiation crossed the whole Europe. It is said that 125,000 people died in Russia as a result of illnesses caused by this accident. Thirdly, there are more cars in cities now. Once they are out in the streets, they will take in fresh air and give out dirty gas. Besides, smoking cigarettes also makes air pollution worse as will as damaging(损害) our health.  

    Humans have learnt many things from nature. These things have helped us in our daily life. The latest thing is self-repairing clothing.

    Scientists have developed a special way for clothing to repair rips and tears by itself, without the need for sewing. It works with materials such as cotton, linen and wool. The scientists are from the Naval Research Office and Pennsylvania State University in the USA. Scientists Dr Walter Dressick and Dr Melik Demirel looked at how a squid can cling on to things so well. The research team found a protein in the rings of teeth that cover the suckers on a squid. The protein is similar to the one found in the silk that spiders use to make spider webs. It is very strong and elastic.

    The new protein has been developed as part of a coating, which is put on clothes. When the coating is dipped in water, the area around the rip or tear joins together in less than a minute. This could help clothes last longer and save money for us. It could also be useful for military and survival clothes. People like soldiers and mountaineers would be safer if they had clothes that could be repaired quickly and easily. Professor Demirel spoke about the invention. He said," The coatings are thin, less than a micron, so they wouldn't be noticed in everyday wear." Then he added, "Even thin, they increase the overall strength of the material. For the first time, we are making self-healing textiles."

    What is the best way to help control air pollution in our towns and cities? Choose public transportation instead of private cars, or reduce the total amount of cars on the street. These can be useful. But here is a more creative way—write a poem.

    "I write in praise of air. I was six or five, when a magician opened my fist(拳头), and I held in my hand the whole of the sky."

    Professor Tony Ryan (the science expert) and Professor Simon Armitage(the words expert), from the University of Sheffield, UK, came up with the idea.

    But in fact, the poem is not the key part. It is the poster that the poem was written on that plays the biggest part. The poster is 10 meters by 20 meters. It is coated with nanoparticles(纳米粒) of titanium dioxide (二氧化钛). It can absorb the waste from around 20 cars each day if you put it by a busy road. The poster is now displayed on one of the University of Sheffield's buildings.

    It doesn't get rid of all the pollutants from traffic, but it will eat up things called nitrogen oxides (氧化氮). These play a part in breathing problems, including asthma(哮喘).

    The technology is cheap. "It would add less than £100 to the cost of a poster and would turn advertisements into catalysts(催化剂) in more ways than one," Ryan told the BBC.

    He's also working on another idea, which is to add the nanoparticles to washing powder, so that your clothes soak up these poisons while you walk along. And you wouldn't be able to see or feel anything different.