It’s commonly known that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂) causes global warming. The whole world has made great efforts to improve the situation. Especially, the trees planted in China are playing an important role.

A report published in Nature shows that CO₂ absorption (吸收) in two new forest areas in China is more than we thought. The two areas are located in China’s southwestern and northeastern provinces. They make up over 35 percent of China’s carbon sinks. Carbon sinks are natural systems that absorb and store CO₂ from the air. The main natural carbon sinks are trees and other plants.

According to Paul Palmer, these provinces have been working on rapid forestation (造林) in large areas. Over the past 10 to 15 years, the forest areas have kept increasing by 400—4,400 square kilometers per year.

China is one of the world’s biggest countries of human-produced CO₂, ________. In 1978, China began a national-level forestation project. Many trees have planted in the areas of northern China to act as windbreaks. For example, about one third of the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia is now covered with trees. In 2019, Alipay’s Ant Forest program planted 122 million trees and won the UN Champions of the Earth award for helping 500 million people live low-carbon lives.

China’s goal is to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. Carbon neutrality refers to removing as much CO₂ as one puts into the air. If China’s goal is achieved, it will lower global warming by around 0.2 to 0.3℃ alone, according to Climate Action Tracker (CAT).

Aisha lived far from her school. So she always took a bus to school with her best friend, Allen. Another two of her classmates were on the same bus.

Every day the four children waited for their school bus for fifteen minutes, on the same dirty street. There were many old bottles, parts of old bikes, and empty cans everywhere around the bus stop. The trees on, the street had no leaves and seemed to be dead, and there weren’t any flowers on both sides of the street. The street looked dirty and ugly.

One Friday, Aisha looked at the dirty street and decided to do something about it. The next Monday, she took a bag and collected some of the old bottles for recycling. On Tuesday, it took her another ten minutes to pick up old bottles. Her best friend saw it and collected empty cans and put them in a different bag to recycle. On Wednesday, all the other children joined them in collecting. The street became clean!

Though the street looked cleaner but it still looked gray. So the next day the girls planted some flowers along the road. They watered them, and watered the trees there, too. Even though the children only had ten minutes a day to do so, that was enough.

Half a year later, this street became a beautiful street with many flowers and green trees. Maybe a big difference only needed ten minutes a day. All of us should spend ten minutes a day helping our cities become cleaner and greener.

It is more important than ever to live a green lifestyle in today’s world. Do you know how to live a green lifestyle? Here are some tips for you.

【小题1】 You can recycle paper and bottles and choose reusable products whenever possible. Take cloth bags instead of plastic bags when shopping.

Save water and energy. Don’t spend a long time taking showers. Collect rainwater for plants or a garden. Also, you’d better buy LED or CFL bulbs (灯泡). 【小题2】

Play a role in your community. It’s necessary to take an active part in clean-ups and support local renewable energy projects. 【小题3】 Protecting our environment is a community effort, and everyone has a role to play.

Keep the green life in mind. You need to be aware of how your action in daily life influences the environment. 【小题4】 And ask yourself how to do it to take better care of the environment.

Living a green lifestyle seems challenging. 【小题5】 By making changes in your everyday life, you can make the planet a better place.