B

    According to the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental pollution kills 1.7 million children under the age of five every year worldwide. The WHO warns that child deaths will increase greatly if pollution continues to worsen. Of all the environmental problems, air pollution is being called the most dangerous.

    Most of these deaths take place in developing countries. However, WHO environment and health chief Maria Neira tells that air pollution is a leveler between rich and poor. Everybody, she says, needs to breathe.

    “You can be a very rich child, your parents very rich, but living in a place, in a city, which is very polluted. Then there is very little you can do because we all need to breathe. Air pollution is everywhere.”

    Maria Neira says one of the most important ways to reduce air pollution is to produce cleaner fuels for cooking and heating.

    “Almost half of the world population is using dirty fuels for cooking, heating, and lighting at home. And, this is affecting very much mothers who are staying and cooking at home, but the children who are around mothers—they are exposed as well.”

    Cleaning up how the world cooks, heats and lights homes and other buildings is a big-picture goal.

    But what can every one of us do to limit our family to air pollution?

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the following suggestions:

    ● Avoid walking where there is a high volume of vehicle traffic.

    ● Equip homes with air filters and air conditioning units.

    ● Limit your time outside if you live in an area that issues warnings about air quality.

    ● Wear high-grade, rated face masks tightly to the face when air quality is poor.

    ● If you live or commute in a very polluted area, remove your clothes and wash immediately after entering your house.

    However, the WHO stresses that governments around the world need to take the lead on ensuring that children grow up in a clean environment.

    Possible Earth-Like Planet Next Door?

    Scientists say they discovered an earth-like planet outside our solar system (太阳系). It is a planet that could support life.

    This planet is just 4.2 light years away from us. It is so close that space scientists have considered it as a next door neighbor. They say it could be reached by an unmanned spaceship before the end of the century -- in time for people alive today to see it.

    An international team of scientists found the planet moving around the star called "Proxima Centauri". The result came out last month from the scientific magazine Nature.

    Scientists have long thought that a planet with water is important for life. And it has to be neither too hot nor too cold. The newly-discovered planet is a little larger than earth Scientists have named it Proxima B. It moves around its sun, Proxima Centauri, once every 11 days.

    American scientists have been using instruments for years to look for earth-like planets. In 2013, scientists' best guess was that there are about one billion (1,000 million) "earths" in space.

    Alan Boss is the chairman of a group for outer space research. He said that Proxima B not only confirms (确认) the discovery of a planet, but also increases the number of other possible“earths” greatly.

    Boss said it is possible, even likely, that most stars have at least one earth-like planet, which he considers surprising.

    So from the early number of a billion, this new research suggests there may be as many possible earth-like planets as there are stars in the Galaxy (银河系). That is, anywhere from 250 billion to 500 billion "earths".

    This makes the possibility of living things increasingly likely Boss said he believes human beings will be able to show that there is life in places besides earth in his lifetime. "I am 65," he said, "but I expect to still be alive when it happens."

    These days haze(雾霾) is around us here and there. In fact, everyone has the power to change their living habits to help reduce it. Many local governments call on their people to take action to make the air cleaner.

    Transport is one of the biggest contributors(促成物) to haze. When, where, bow, why and what you drive all affect air quality. When one drives to work for one year, he uses as much energy as a bus rider uses in 10 years. So walk or ride your bicycle to work or school whenever possible. If it is necessary, you can use public transport instead of your car. Each person using public transport for a year instead of a car can save nearly a tonne of pollutants, including CO₂, from going into the atmosphere.

    Carpooling is another way to reduce carbon emissions (排放). Carpooling is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car. It immediately reduces your car's emissions by half.

    What you do inside your living space can have a big effect on the air quality outside it. You can do a lot of things inside and around your home that will help you pollute less and save some money.

    A large amount of our energy supply comes from burning coal, another contributor to haze. By cutting down your electricity use, you are cutting down on haze. So you may try to reduce your use of electricity by turning off lights, using your air conditioner wisely during the summer months, or updating some of your electrical appliances to low-energy models. For example, you can use energy-saving lamps that require less energy and last 10 times longer than common bulbs.