揽瓜阁俱乐部第二期 Day12 2020.06.26
【自然科学-环境】 Commonwealth nations to protect coral reefs with satellite technology （810字 精读 必做篇）
Commonwealth countries are to gain free access to satellite technology that will help them monitor and protect their endangered coral reefs from threats such as climate breakdown, overfishing and pollution.
Commonwealth countries hold nearly half of the world’s remaining tropical coral reefs, with 47 out of the 54 member countries having a coastline. Nearly half of them are islands or groups of islands, which face particular threats from the climate crisis, and for whom coral reefs are often vital protections against storms as well as fish nurseries and tourist attractions.
“Whatever we do as a Commonwealth family will make a massive contribution to safeguarding the coral reefs that we are dependent on globally,” said Baroness Patricia Scotland, secretary general of the Commonwealth. “We feel this real responsibility around the world. The Commonwealth can change the trajectory of this crisis, if our members are willing to work together, and we will.”
Nearly all the reefs are at risk of extinction in the coming decades as the climate crisis takes hold, and nearly half of the world’s reefs have already been destroyed or badly damaged in the last 30 years owing to changes in the climate, overfishing, pollution and other exploitation. About 250 million people are directly dependent on coral reefs for their livelihoods.
The technology will use high-resolution satellite images and data analyses to allow marine scientists, government officials and policymakers to monitor the health of coral reefs and take the action needed to protect them. Software will be provided to countries free through the Commonwealth’s partnership with Vulcan Inc, a US-based group founded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen, and a new interactive coral reef map will be hosted online at the Commonwealth Innovation Hub.
“[Countries] need data to know what they can do within their tight budgets,” Scotland told the Guardian in an interview. “Being able to share information will galvanise us.”
She said the climate and ecological crises, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, required urgent action, and the health of the oceans was a key part of the global ecosystem. “The world is saying to us, ‘I can’t breathe,’” she said. “When we stop [exploiting it], nature restores itself very rapidly. But we have not got a lot of time.”
The Commonwealth will open up a demonstration of the project on Monday, designated as World Oceans Day, as countries around the world seek to improve the management of their own waters and the high seas.
In the UK, the government on Monday published a review of ocean protections that has recommended setting up new highly protected marine areas, where fishing, dredging, oil drilling, construction and all other forms of exploitation would be banned.
The UK currently has a “blue belt” network of 355 marine protected areas, where activities such as fishing are restricted. The review, led by former fisheries minister Richard Benyon, would require these to be expanded with new zones where everything would be off limits, except for shipping moving through the area and non-damaging leisure activities such as scuba diving and kayaking.
Joan Edwards, director of marine conservation at the Wildlife Trusts, said letting stretches of sea return to their natural state could be a revelation, in allowing marine life to recover after decades of overexploitation. “Our seas are in an impoverished state, and it’s hard for our generation to comprehend how abundant our waters once were. Cod were once as long and wide as humans are tall, and whales, dolphins and basking sharks were many times more common than they are today,” she said. “We need to let the sea show us what it’s capable of.”
Today’s marine protected areas serve only to maintain basic protections against some of the most damaging activities, such as bottom trawling, according to campaigners, and the protections vary across locations.
Ministers have yet to respond to the Benyon review’s findings. Philip Evans, an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: “It’s important that these recommendations not only become a reality, but grow in ambition to cover at least 30% of the UK’s waters by 2030, instead of sitting on ministers’ desks gathering dust.”
The government is currently locked in a battle with the EU over fishing rights after Brexit. British fishermen argue that they have been disadvantaged for decades by agreements reached when the UK was joining the EU in the 1970s that gave greater access rights to foreign vessels, with the result that the majority of the catch in some UK waters now goes to EU fleets. But as part of any Brexit deal, the EU wants to preserve access to British waters for its vessels, as the fishing fleets in several member states would suffer otherwise.
Campaigners are concerned that amid the squabbles, the pledges by both the EU and the UK to halt overfishing and abide by scientific advice on catch size will be lost.
Source: The Guardian
【自然科学-环境】 Partnering to Reduce Ocean Plastics （284字 2分21秒 精听 必做篇）
先做精听再核对原文哦~
温馨提示：音频中如听到专有名词不用逐一写下，可以缩写来区分和代替。比如：
公司名： PepsiCo 百事可乐公司 Procter & Gamble 宝洁公司 Dow 陶氏公司 Danone 达能集团 Unilever 联合利华公司 Coca-Cola 可口可乐公司
国家名： Indonesia 印度尼西亚 the Philippines 菲律宾 Sri Lanka 斯里兰卡 Vietnam 越南
An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic pour into the oceans every year, amounting to the equivalent of one garbage truck every minute, USAID Counselor Chris Milligan told a crowd at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., this week.
“There are now five massive patches of floating garbage in the world’s oceans. We found microplastics in the Arctic Sea ice, at the most remote stretches of islands in the Pacific and in the deepest ocean trenches.”
Most ocean plastics comes from land-based sources, said Counselor Milligan:
“An enormous amount comes from cities in the developing world which cannot adequately manage their waste. This includes a number of cities in the rapidly urbanizing countries of South and Southeast Asia. … Ocean plastic waste is a global problem, but waste management is a local issue.”
That is why USAID has joined forces with Circulate Capital, a firm dedicated to incubating and financing companies and infrastructure that prevent ocean plastic pollution. The firm’s funding is backed by $100 million in commitments from numerous multinational corporations including PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Danone, Unilever, and Coca-Cola. In what is called a Blended Finance Agreement, USAID will provide Circulate Capital with a $35 million, 50 percent loan-portfolio guarantee.
This will help lessen risk for private investors and incentivize private capital investment and new business development in recycling, trash collection, and related businesses in Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. This program will create a new recycling market in these countries, making plastics too valuable to dump into the ocean.
“Our goal, said Counselor Milligan, “is to promote a partner’s self-reliance so that they can participate in the world economy as equals and join us in addressing global challenges.
Source: VOA
【笔记格式要求】
精读笔记格式要求： 1.总结文章中心大意 2.总结分论点或每段段落大意 3.摘抄印象深刻或者觉得优美的句子 4.总结文章中的生词 5.记录阅读时间、总结时间、总时间
精听笔记格式要求： 1.逐句听写整篇文章 2.对照原文修改听写稿，标记出错原因 3.总结文章中心大意 4.总结精听过程中的生词 5.记录听写时间、总结时间、总时间
这里也给大家两点学习小建议哦~ 精读：如遇到读不懂的复杂句，建议找出句子主干，分析句子成分，也可以尝试翻译句子来帮助理解~ 精听：建议每句不要反复纠结听，如果听 5 遍都没听出来，那就跳过，等完成后再回听总结原因，时间宝贵，不要过于执着哦~
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发表于 2020-6-25 20:26:37
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