This year saw the publication, in stages, of the sixth report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—a report which was depressing reading for many climate scientists, and in some ways offered a ray of hope.
Why depressing? Because the report confirmed what scientists have been saying for years: that human activity, particularly in the form of emissions (排放) of greenhouse gases, is responsible for the warming in the past few centuries, and that unless such emissions are greatly reduced, we will soon bring about our entire ecosystem’s destruction.
The report concluded that 1.5°C of global warming over the next couple of hundred years is already “baked in”. This makes the goals outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement—that nations agreed to keep warming below 2°C, and hopefully below 1.5°C-much harder to meet. Worse still, the IPCC report was followed later in the year by the COP27 summit (峰会), described by Prof Dann Mitchell, as “a complete failure, other than some commitment to loss and damage.”
And the ray of hope? The IPCC’s sixth report was broader in approach than previous studies—looking in-depth for the first time at the role played in warming by short-term greenhouse gases such as methane(甲烷), for instance.
“Reducing carbon emissions is always the best approach: stop the problem at its source,” said Mitchell. “But we also need other approaches to help with this. Methane is important, but it’s so short-lived-that’s why we haven’t been so bothered when compared with CO,.”
The IPCC working groups showed potential adaptation paths, and they are the other things we can do in terms of fighting climate change and relieving its worst effects, rather than simply reducing carbon emissions. This would include taking measures such as switching to a more plant-based diet (to reduce methane emissions), controlling population growth, reducing financial inequality and developing means by which we might remove CO, that’s already in our atmosphere, rather than simply preventing it being released.
8. Which of the following can best describe the sixth report by IPCC?
A.Seemingly contradictory. | B.Wholly promising. |
C.Particularly hopeless. | D.Exceptionally new. |
9. What does the underlined phrase “baked in” in paragraph 3 mean?
A.out of date. | B.to the full. |
C.under discussion. | D.in progress |
10. According to the passage, what can we learn about methane?
A.It has been long regarded as a major source of global warming. |
B.Its role in global warming had been overlooked before the report. |
C.Its boost to global warming is as much as other greenhouse gases. |
D.It is considered as a new approach to reducing global warming. |
11. How many aspects do the adaptation paths involve in the last paragraph?