Often in Scotland it can feel like the only difference between summer and the rest of the year is that it doesn't snow. (This isn't a guarantee!) But when the weather is good, it's a truly special place here are some things you can do in summer when the weather is nice.

See

With the richest wildlife across the UK, take the chance to see some of the less common sites. On the West coast of Scotland there are lots of places where you can take a boat trip to see many kinds of whales. If you prefer dolphins, you can see the most northerly colony of bottlenose dolphins (海豚) in the world just off Inverness in the Moray Firth. Of course it's likely that you'll see seals (海豹) and many other animals on these trips too.

Do

The waves of Thurso right in the north of Scotland are just great. If you're not feeling brave enough to go in the water and prefer to watch from the safety of the shore then there're several major surf contests held there.

Another very Scottish activity ideal for good weather is "Munro Bagging". Named after Sir Hugh Munro, the 218 mountains in Scotland over 914m high are called Munros and walkers try to see how many they can climb in a set amount of time. This is not easy though conditions can change suddenly and many of the routes are very tough (艰难的).

Eat

Thanks to a large Scottish-Italian population, there are too many specialist ice cream sellers. One of the most famous of them is Nardini in Largs, Ayrshire. Not only can you watch people actually make ice cream but you can sit and eat in a beautiful refurbished (翻新的) 1930s building facing the river Clyde. There's even a piano player at the weekends.

Tiny microbes（微生物） are at the heart of a new agricultural technique to manage harmful greenhouse gas. Scientists have discovered how microbes can be used to tum carbon dioxide into soil-enriching limestone（ 石灰石）, with the help of a type of tree that grows in tropical areas, such as West Africa. 

Researchers have found that when the Iroko tree is grown in dry, acidic soil and treated with a combination of natural fungi（霉菌） and other bacteria, not only does the tree grow well, it also produces the mineral limestone in the soil around its root. 

The Iroko tree makes a mineral by combining Ca from the earth with CO2 from the atmosphere. The bacteria then create the conditions under which this mineral turns into limestone. The discovery offers a new way to lock carbon into the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In addition to storing carbon in the trees' leaves and in the form of limestone, the mineral in the soil makes it more suitable tor agriculture. 

The discovery could lead to reforestation projects in tropical countries, and help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the developing world. It has already been used in West Africa and is being tested in Bolivia, Haiti and India. 

The findings were made in a three-year project involving researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Granada, Lausanne and Delft University of Technology. The project examined several microbiological methods of locking CO2 as limestone, and the Iroko-bacteria way showed best results. Work was funded by the European Commission under the Future&Emerging Technologies (FET) scheme. 

Dr Bryne Ngwenya of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the research, said:"By taking advantage of this natural limestone-producing process, we have a low-tech, safe, readily employed and easily operating way to lock carbon out of the atmosphere, while improving farming conditions in tropical countries. "

Do you remember playing stickball or jumping rope in the street? Neighborhood streets used to be children playgrounds, but traffic was the problem. Now one organization wants to bring those back to kids by temporarily closing local streets to traffic and letting kids play outside.

Playing is important but community buildings end the fun. So here came Play Streets. It began in Bristol in 2009 with just one street Encouraged by the success, the idea grew. It really took off in 2011 with support from The Funding Network and now thousands of people across the UK are taking part in the activity and playing in the streets. Later, Play Streets became a global movement and moved across the pond to US communities in San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle. Now Play Streets is spreading like wildfire.

"Our society has changed and communities are having higher levels of isolation than ever before and kids aren't playing outside as much either. But Play Streets gives people a place to have street meetings and parties, or simply a place to play for a few hours," Valli Morphett, the chief executive of CoDesign Studios said.

You can bring Play Streets to your street in your neighborhood too. Get a group of neighbors together to organize activities and you can even ask local schools to help plan your activities. But you just can't put up a sign and close your street to traffic. Before you start, you should consider the following question to make sure Play Streets will go well. Is the local government supportive? You should handle the necessary paperwork with the local government so that rules are followed. The local government is normally receptive to the activity and likely to make it easy to close the street. Once the permit has been approved, ifs time for fun. Gather a kit of toys and supplies, get the word out, and get each organizer to take on a role to share the load.