【正文】 who have a m itm ent l i ke yours, but they do not beli eve they have the power to do anythi ng to im prove our envi ronm ent. That i s not true. Together, i ndivi dual s can m ake a di ference. We do not have to put up wi th pol uti on. The growth of the greenhouse gas, carbon di oxi de i n the ai r actual l y es as a resul t of many thi ngs we do every day. H ere are a few suggesti ons on how to reduce i t. They shoul d get you started with your project. We use a l ot of energy i n our houses. It i s O K to l eave an el ectri cal apli ance on so l ong as you are usi ng i t—i f not, turn i t off! Do not be casual about thi s. So i f you are not using the l i ghts, the TV, the puter, and so on, turn them off. If you are col d, put on m ore cl othes i nstead of turni ng up the heat. Motor vehicl es use a l ot of energy –so wal k or ri de a bi ke i f you can. Recycl e cans, bottl es, pl astic bags and newspapers i f circum stances al low you to. It takes a l ot of energy to m ake thi ngs from new m aterial s, so, i f you can, buy thi ngs m ade from recycl ed m ateri als. Get your parents to buy thi ngs that are econom ical wi th energy—thi s i ncl udes cars as wel as sm al ler thi ngs l i ke fri dges and mi crowaves. Pl ant trees i n your garden or your school yard, as they absorb carbon di oxi de from the ai r and refresh your spi ri t when you l ook at them . Final y and m ost im portantl y, be an educator. Tal k wi th your fami l y and friends about gl obal warmi ng and tel them what you have l earned. Rem em ber—your contri buti on counts! Earth Care Uni t 5 AN EXCITING JOB I have the greatest job in the worl d. I travel to unusual pl aces and work al ongsi de peopl e from al l over the worl d. Som etim es worki ng outdoors, som etim es i n an offi ce, som eti m es usi ng sci enti fi c equi pm ent and som etim es meeti ng l ocal peopl e and touri sts, I am never bored. Although m y job is ocasi onal y dangerous, I don’t m i nd because danger exci tes m e and m akes me feel ali ve. H owever, the m ost im portant thi ng about m y job is that I help protect ordi nary peopl e from one of the m ost powerful forces on earth—the vol cano. I was appoi nted as a vol canol ogi st worki ng for the H awai i an Vol cano O bservatory (H VO ) twenty years ago. My job i s col ecti ng i nform ati on for a database about Mount Kil auea, whi ch i s one of the m ost acti ve vol canoes in H awai i. H avi ng col ected and eval uated the i nformation, I hel p other sci enti sts to predict where l ava from the vol cano wil fl ow next and how fast. O ur work has saved many l ives because peopl e i n the path of the lava can be warned to l eave thei r houses. Unfortunatel y, we cannot m ove thei r hom es out of the way, and m any houses have been covered wi th l ava or burned to the ground. When boi l i ng rock erupts from a vol cano and crashes back to earth, i t causes l ess damage than you m ight im agi ne. Thi s is because no one li ves near the top of Mount Ki l auea, where the rocks fal . The l ava that fl ows sl owl y l ike a wave down the m ountai n causes far m ore dam age because it buri es everythi ng in i ts path under the m ol ten rock. H owever, the erupti on i tsel f is real y exci ti ng to watch and I shal l never fet m y first si ght on one. It was i n the second week after I arri ved i n H awai i. H avi ng worked hard al day, I went to bed earl y. I was fast asl eep when suddenl y m y bed began shaking and I heard a strange sound, li ke a rai l way trai n passi ng m y wi ndow. H avi ng experi enced qui te a few earthquakes i n H awai al ready, I di dn’t take m uch noti ce. I was about to go back to sl eep when suddenl y m y bedroom becam e as bright as day. I ran out of the house i nto the back garden where I coul d see Mount Kil auea i n the di stance. There had been an erupti on from the si de of the m ountai n and red hot l ava was fountai ni ng hundreds of m etres i nto the ai r. It was an absol utel y fantasti c si ght. The day after thi s erupti on I was l ucky enough to have a m uch cl oser l ook at i t. Two other sci enti sts and I were dri ven up the mountai n and dropped as cl ose as possi bl e to the crater that had been form ed duri ng the eruption. H aving earli er col ected speci al cl othes from the observatory, we put them on before we went any cl oser. Al three of us looked li ke spacem en. We had whi te protective sui ts that covered our whol e body, hel m ets, big boots and speci al gl oves. It was not easy to wal k i n these suits, but we sl owly m ade our way to the edge of the crater and l ooked down into the red, boil i ng centre. The other two cli m bed down i nto the crater to col ect som e l ava for later study, but thi s bei ng m y fi rst experi ence, I stayed at the top and watched them. Today, I am just as enthusi asti c about m y job as the day I fi rst started. H avi ng studi ed volcanoes now for m any years, I am sti l am azed at thei r beauty as wel as thei r potenti al to cause great dam age. TH E LAKE OF H EAVEN Changbai shan i s i n Jil i n Provi nce, N ortheast Chi na. Much of thi s beauti ful , mountai nous area is thi ck forest. Changbai shan is Chi na’s l argest nature reserve and i t i s kept in i ts natural state for the peopl e of Chi na and vi si tors from al l over the worl d to enjoy. The hei ght of the l and vari es from 700 m etres above sea l evel to over 2, 000 m etres and i s hom e to a great di versity of rare pl ants and ani mal s. Am ong the rare ani mal s are cranes, bl ack bears, leopards and tigers. Many peopl e e to Changbai shan to study i ts uni que pl ants and ani m al s. O thers e to wal k in the m ountai ns, to see the spectacul ar waterfal s or to bathe i n the hot water pool s. H owever, the attracti on that arouses the greatest appreci ati on i n the reserve i s Ti anchi or the Lake of H eaven. Ti anchi i s a deep l ake