The Effects of a Warmer World Are Visible in Animals’ Bodies
For humans, adapting to climate change will mostly be a matter of technology. More air conditioning, better-designed houses and bigger flood defences may help mitigate the effects of a warm world.
Ryding, a phd candidate at Deakin University, in Australia, shows that is already happening. Climate change is already altering the bodies of many animal species, giving them bigger beaks, limbs and ears. In some species of Australian parrot, for instance, beak size has increased by between 4 % and 10 % since 1871.
All that dovetails (吻合)nicely with evolutionary theory. “Allen’s rule”, named for Joel Asaph Allen, who suggested it in 1877, holds that warm-blooded-animals in hot places tend to have larger appendages (附属物) than those in less hot regions.
Ms Ryding examined museum specimens, comparing their bodies to those of their modern counterparts. She is not the first researcher to take that approach.
Studying a broader range of animals will help firm up exactly what is happening. Much of Ms Ryding’s data concern birds, with less information available for other taxa (类群). But it seems clear that the world of the future is not just going to be hotter than humans are used to.
A.And there are other ways to adapt, too. |
B.The animals living in it will look different, too. |
C.Larger wings are heavier, and bigger legs cost more energy to grow. |
D.Animals will have to rely on changing their bodies or their behaviour. |
E.But it is hard to prove that climate change was the cause of an anatomical (结构上的) change. |
F.Since any evolutionary adaptation comes with trade-offs, it is unclear how far the process might go. |
G.Such adaptations boost an animal's surface area relative to its body volume, helping it to shed excess heat. |
strive for greatness wipe out die out be committed to be to blame in one's attempt to get ahead up to in short take action set so apart at risk of boil down to |
Human beings are no stranger to extinctions, where entire species
There is a long list of reasons why so many species
However, it's not too late to
3 . Stefani Shamrowicz lives in Colorado. The 24-year-old woman has spent 23 days picking up126 bags of rubbish across the country
Having over a month off from her job at a campus recreation center, Stefani Shamrowicz decided to take a trip to help clean up the environment.
She's now driven over 70 hours through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana Florida,Georgia,Tennessee,Kentucky,Ohio,Pennsylvania,and New York-cleaning up everything from pee-filled bottles to lawn ornaments. About 80 percent of the rubbish was drinking bottles. Stefani said she had found a few fast-food toys and a tire with a pair of cowboy boots in it and her aim wasn't to shame, but rather encourage people to do what they can
Collecting anywhere from one to 16 bags at a time, Stefani's been discouraged. She felt she wasn't doing enough. She said there was a place that had an ocean of rubbish and she pushed out four bags, but then she broke down because she realized how much rubbish there was and it felt like four bags didn't do anything. But she remembered to just do what she could, especially since she had gone beyond her goal. She said she dedicated that to her parents because they raised her to be an independent person and had been very supportive on the trip
People donated $10 a bag for Stefani to clean up in their name, which she uses for lodging and gas. The person's name is written on how many bags they've donated towards and Stefani posted a picture on her Instagram when they were filed, thanking them for helping clean up the cit she was in.
People online and in person have responded positively to the project. Stefani recalled people sent her pictures of bags of trash they picked up. Once, when she started doing a bag on the beach in Florida,two ladies saw her and started helping her fill the bag.
With her job resuming June 1, Stefani is now back home but she has so many good things to say about her unique U.S.road trip.There's litter everywhere, so I'm just happy to be able to make a little bit of an impact everywhere I go. Cleaning up this litter is a huge thank you for all the joy and good times national parks and nature in general has brought to my life,”she said.
1. Why did Stefani drive ower70 hours across the USA?A.To call on people to donate money |
B.To earn a living by classifying rubbish. |
C.To encourage people to protect the environment. |
D.To enjoy the scenery of the national parks and nature |
A.People offered their help along her journey |
B.Her parents make joint efforts to support her. |
C.People begin to donate their money for her project. |
D.Many people take action to clean up the environment |
A.Discouraged. | B.Anxious | C.Surprised. | D.Pleased. |
A.Cleaning up rubbish is a tough task. | B.A kind act can make a big difference |
C.Believing in oneself is the key to success. | D.One will realize his dream if he persists in it. |
The iceberg that was for a time the biggest in the world is no more. A68, as it was known, covered an area of nearly 6,000 km2
Microplastics, referring to plastic fragments and particles (碎片和微粒) less than 5 millimeters in diameter (直径), have been found on Mount Qomolangma as high as 8,440 meters above sea level, just 408.86 meters below the peak of the mountain, according to a recent study published in the journal One Earth. Scientists collected snow and water samples from 19 different
6 . In the South Atlantic Ocean, there is an island called Tristan da Cunha, which is a six day boat ride from the nearest town Cape Town in South Africa. There’s no airport on Tristan. Every month or so, a boat will bring visitors but not many. The boat will also bring mail and supplies. You can only see about 270 people, 300 cows, 500 sheep, and a whole lot of penguins there.
The British tried to build a military base there in 1816. They gave up after a year. But a soldier and his family talked a few people into staying. Those people slowly built a community. Few trees grow on the island. So they found wood that washed ashore. They used it to build homes and boats. For food, they raised cows, sheep and pigs. They fished and planted potatoes. They promised to share everything they had. Sometimes ships brought supplies to Tristan. But for many years, no one there used money. Instead, people on the island traded potatoes for supplies. It cost five potatoes to send a piece of mail.
Today, nearly everyone on Tristan is a farmer. The island’s main industry is fishing. It has a single factory that cans fish.
Several times, bad luck has nearly destroyed the town on Tristan. In 1885, men died in a boat accident. That left 13 women and only 4 adult men on the island. Still, everyone stayed. In 1961, a bigger disaster stuck. The town was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. All 290 people on the island moved to England. But soon, nearly all of them moved back to the island and rebuilt their town.
What’s so special about life on this lonely island? For islanders like Harold Green, that’s an easy question to answer. Green has lived on Tristan his whole life. He left when the volcano erupted. But England was too loud and too crowded for him. He came back because the island is peaceful.
1. What was used as money on Tristan in the past?A.Fish. | B.Wood. | C.Sheep. | D.Potatoes |
A.A deadly boat accident. |
B.A terrible natural disaster. |
C.The attraction of modern life. |
D.The building of a British military base. |
A.Bored | B.Hopeful. | C.Satisfied | D.Regretful. |
A.A lonely island. |
B.A special lifestyle. |
C.A famous fishing town. |
D.A popular tourist attraction. |