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4
AIRANDCLIMATE
2.Globalwarming
Warm-up
Whatconsequencesofglobalwarmingcanyouthinkof?Discusswithyourpartner.
Exercise1
Matchthewordstothedefinitions,thenreadthetextandunderlinethem.
1.attributedto
2.todesalinate
3.frequent
4.grave
5.manure
6.permafrost
7.aplague
8.tosplit
9.astorage
10.awetland
a.oftenhappening
b.spacewherethingscanbekept
c.groundthatstayspermanentlyfrozen
d.tomakelesssalty
e.todivide
f.aseriousdiseasethatspreadsquicklytoalotofpeople
g.lowlandthatisoftencoveredwithwater
h.seriousandworrying
i.believedtobetheresultofaparticularevent
j.solidwastefromfarmanimals
GlobalwarmingistheriseintheaveragetemperatureofEarth'satmosphereandoceanssincethe19th
century.Thephenomenonhasbeenwidelydiscussedforsometimeanditscausesarepresentlyoneofthe
moststudiedsubjectsintheworld.Theycanbedividedintotwogroups:man-madeandnatural.Oneof
thenaturalcausesisthattheEarthgoesthroughacycleofaclimatechangewhichusuallylastsabout
40,000years.Permafrost,whichisasolidstructureoffrozensoilinthearcticandsubarcticregions,is
warmedup.Forthousandsofyearsithasactedasastorageplaceforgreenhousegaseslikecarbondioxide
andmethane.Permafrostinsomeareasisnowstartingtogivebackitscarbon.Anothernaturalcauseisa
releaseofmethanefromwetlandsandarctictundra.
Therearemanycausesofglobalwarmingthatcanbeattributedtoactivitiesofman.Theyhaveledtoan
increaseingreenhousegaseswhichpreventthereflectionoftheraysfromtheSunandcausethe
temperaturetorise.Thecarbondioxideconcentrationintheairhasincreasedduetotheemissionsfrom
cars,airplanes,powerplants,industriesandfuelburning.Miningofcoalandoilallowsmethanetoescape.
Methaneisalsoreleasedbymanurefromcattlebreeding.AnotherproblemistheCFCusedin
refrigerators,whichdestroysthestratosphericozonelayer.Thisozonebarrierabsorbstheharmful
ultravioletraysoftheSun.Withoutit,theraysreachtheEarthandcausethetemperaturetoincrease.
ThewarminghasnotbeengloballyuniformandalthoughithasbeengreatestoverNorthAmericaand
Eurasia,itaffectsmanypartsoftheworldandisgoingtohaveseveralconsequences,someofthemquite
grave.Asnortherncountrieswarmup,disease-carryinginsectsmigratenorth,causingplagueslikemalaria
inareaswhereithasnotoccurredbefore.Thehigheroceantemperaturewillmostprobablybringmore
frequentandstrongerhurricanes.SomeareasoftheEarthwillsufferseveredroughtsandheatwaves.The
icecapsmeltinginwarmertemperaturesisaseriousdanger.Itwillraisesealevelsandfloodseveral
islandsandcontinentalareas.Theglobalecosystemwillbethrownoffbalancewhenmassesoffresh
waterwilldesalinateseasandoceans.Itwillendangersomespeciesofmarineanimalsorplantsandonly
themostadaptableoneswillsurvive.Scientistsclaimthatunlessemissionsofheat-trappinggasesare
broughtundercontrol,theimpactofclimatechangeislikelytoincrease.
However,opinionsdifferconsiderablyandscepticsclaimthatthereareotherexplanationsforclimatic
shiftthanman-madegreenhousegases.Wecannotignorethetheorythatsomesignificantpartofthe
changesisalsoareflectionofnaturalforces.AwarmerandmoreactiveSuncombinedwithsuchnatural
factorsascontinentaldriftororbitalvariationscanchangeglobaltemperaturesbymorethanscientists
havepredicted.
