A powerful typhoon hit East China in July 2016. The     1     and landslides caused a great number of     2     ,left 61 missing and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. The typhoon brought huge loss to the     3     areas along theYangtze River. In the months that have passed since then, tireless     4     have been made to offer help to all the people in need.

Climate change has already affected South America

Scientists have long warned that extreme weather would cause major disasters in the future. But in South America, that future is already here.

In the past month, there have been     1    landslides in Brazil, wildfires in Argentine wetlands and flooding in the Amazon. In just three hours on 15 February, the Brazilian city of Petropolis received over 25 centimetres of rainfall. That is the most recorded in a single day since officials began keeping records in 1932. The     2    landslides killed more than 200 people and left nearly 1,000 homeless.

A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)has found that global warming is changing the strength and     3    of extreme weather events. These events have also become less     4    , the report said, leading to additional damage.

Recently, 70% of the city of Jordao in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest was underwater because of     5    from two rivers. The floods have severely affected the lives of thousands of people in the area, including in 32 indigenous communities.

The entire Amazon rainforest     6    between 150 and 200 billion tonnes of carbon in its plants and soil, says Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist. Nobre told The Associated Press, “If you lose the forest, this carbon dioxide… goes into the atmosphere. It is very important to     7    the forest.”

But most governments across the area have failed to consider the IPCC’s warnings and stop the destruction. In Colombia, a recent increase in forest fires led more than 150 international researchers and activists to send a letter urging the government to do more to prevent them. Local prosecutors and police officials have said the area is more and more dependent on activists for     8    

Alejandra Boloqui     9    a private protected land area in Argentina’s Ibera Wetlands. She has been helping firefighters fight against wildfires there. Recently, she recorded 12 alligators fleeing the fires and walking down a dirt road in search of water.

The alligators and many other animals found     10    in a nearby body of water that had dried up due to lack of rain. It has since been refilled using water pumps powered by the sun.

For millions of years, humans have been involved in the     1     (exploration/eruption) of the world. We’ve explored the North and South pole and made car way all around the globe. Our deep curiosity has formed the     2     (base/climate) of many greatest historical discoveries such as the discovery of dinosaurs.

Our     3     (ambition/landscape) to explore soon became a desire to conquer nature. Humans are constantly trying to     4    (prove/comment) our control over nature, and this has resulted in a     5     (breakdown / run-out) of our deep-rooted connection to the natural world. Because of this, in the not too     6     (distant / equal) future, we may experience large-scale natural disasters. Some people are beginning to make plans in     7     (preparation/observation) for the end of the world, when massive natural disasters occur and cause extensive damage. It’s certainly not a     8     (cheerful/curious) thought, but it’s important to recognise our impact on nature and the world before it’s too late!