Since the outbreak (爆发) of the pandemic(疫情), it has made its way around the world.

It has a strong influence on our daily life. People have found a way to protect themselves by wearing face masks (口罩). We must wear masks anywhere in public. But the masks are one-time items. This means that we need to discard them after one or two uses. The world has seen wasted masks strewn (散布在) all over the streets and filling up garbage bins (垃圾箱).

Experts have pointed out that the materials used in masks are difficult to degrade (降解). It will take at least 100 years for them to degrade naturally. Environmentalists become quite worried because a countless number of wasted masks have ended up in the sea! They are polluting the sea! The sea animals suffer (遭受) a lot and so do we humans. If the sea animals eat them by mistake, the rubbish will be hard to digest (消化) and stay in their stomachs forever. The bacteria on the masks may. kill them too. They will not only largely influence the ecological balance (生态平衡) of the sea, but also can spread some more dangerous illnesses. People will also leave these harmful things in their own bodies and may become ill when eating these sea animals.

In general, the harm of wasted masks to the sea is serious, so we must take action to stop it right now. We should leave them in a safe place and find a wise way to recycle them.

The name of Kunming is famous all over the world again. On October 11th, many scientists came to take part in a big international meeting, COP 15 in Kunming in southwest China.

• What is COP 15?

The topic of the meeting is about biodiversity. Biodiversity means different animals and plants live in peace on the earth.

• What does COP 15 work for?

Scientists are working hard to protect rainforest and wetland to return home to animals. To stop the sandstorm and improve weather, COP 15 is developing tree planting plans in deserts(沙漠). When we plan to build cities or farms, we need to make good use of the earth’s land and seas.

• What are the goals(目标) of COP 15?

Scientists hope to protect at least 30% of land on the earth. To do this, we should stop factories from polluting the air and water. We also need to try our best to stop too many ecosystems(生态系统) disappearing, because they offer our basic needs in life.

Protecting other living things means protecting ourselves.

The world is not hungry, but it is thirsty. It seems strange that nearly 3/4 of the earth is covered with water while we say we are short of (短缺) water. Why? Because about 97% of water on the earth is sea water which we can’t drink or use for watering plants directly. Man can only use the 3% of the water that comes from rivers and lakes. And we can’t even use all of that, because some of it has been polluted.

Now more water is needed. The problem is: Can we avoid a serious water shortage (短缺) later on? Firstly, we should all learn how to save water. Secondly, we should find out the ways to reuse it. Scientists have always been making study in this field. Today, in most large cities, water is used only once and then runs to the sea or rivers. But it can be used again. Even if every large city reused its water, still there would not be enough. What could people turn to next?

The sea seems to have the best answer. There is a lot of water in the sea. All that needs to be done is to get the salt (盐) out of the sea water. This is expensive, but it’s already in use in many parts of the world. Scientists are trying to find a cheaper way to do it. So you see, if we can find a way out, we won’t be in danger of drying up.