Thanks to the Earth, we have fresh air to breathe, clean water to drink and warm sunshine to enjoy. But it seems that we haven't realized that the Earth is facing many environmental challenges and it is getting "sick".
Scientists say that of all the environmental challenges, climate (气候) change is the biggest one. The temperature on the Earth has risen by more than 0. 5C since 1992. Cities like Singapore and Tokyo that are at low altitudes (海拔) may be covered by the ocean (海洋) in the future.
But this is not the only problem people are facing. Since 1992, the human population has grown by 2 billion, while the population of all other animals has dropped by nearly 30 percent. At the same time, water pollution has become serious. We are also facing problems like light pollution, noise pollution and some other pollution.
However, we have made some progress in saving the Earth. For example, we stop using harmful materials to make the hole in the ozone layer (臭氧层) smaller to slow the rise of the temperature. We do a lot of work to help the animals in danger, or more than two-thirds of the worlds wild animals may disappear (消失) by the end of 2020.
"The progress shows that we can make good changes when we act wisely, "scientists say, "we must take action to protect the environment, or it will be worse."
(①=Para. (自然段)1 ②=Para. 2 ③=Para. 3 ④=Para. 4 ⑤=Para. 5)
