CLIMATE CHANGE REQUIRES THE WORLD’S ATTENTION
We have known about climate change for decades. There is little doubt that Earth is getting warmer and warmer (see the graph). A warming ocean and atmosphere along with melting ice and rising sea levels provide evidence of a dramatic change in the global climate.
In 2013, a lot of people were shocked by a news photo of a dead polar bear that was found on Norway’s Arctic island of Svalbard. According to the scientists who found its dead body, all that remained of the polar bear was “skin and bones”. An expert who has studied polar bears for many years said that from the position of its dead body, the bear appeared to have starved and died. Experts claimed that low sea-ice levels caused by climate change meant the bear could not hunt seals as before, so it had to travel greater distances in order to find food. This alarming case showed how the increase in temperature had an impact on Earth’s ecology.
Then what is causing the increase in the global average surface temperature? Climate scientists often mention a key climate process called the “greenhouse effect”, which has two common meanings: the “natural” greenhouse effect and the “man-made” greenhouse effect. The “natural” greenhouse effect refers to the fact that heat from the sun enters the atmosphere and warms Earth’s surface as short-wave radiation. The heat is released back into space at longer wave lengths. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as methane and carbon dioxide, trap some of the heat, keeping Earth’s climate warm and habitable. Without this process, Earth could not sustain life. However, the “man-made” greenhouse effect has now become a big problem. When people produce huge amounts of extra greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels, more heat energy is trapped in the atmosphere and causes Earth’s surface temperature to rise quickly.
There is strong and comprehensive evidence that the rise in temperature has led to an increase in extreme weather and natural disasters worldwide, not only causing serious damage, but also costing human lives. Climate scientists have warned that if we do not take appropriate actions, this warming trend will probably continue and there will be a higher price to pay. In fact, news reports are frequently broadcast about extreme rainstorms and heatwaves causing deaths and economic losses.
Continued greenhouse gas emissions will result in further warming and long-lasting changes to the global climate. This requires the attention of people all over the world. Governments need to consider making policies and taking appropriate actions and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We as individuals can also reduce our “carbon footprint” by restricting the amount of carbon dioxide our lifestyles produce. It is our responsibility to seize every opportunity to educate everyone about global warming, along with its causes and impacts, because this is the most serious issue affecting all of us on this planet. So what will you do to help?
1. What is the graph about? What information can you get from it?2. Have you ever seen the photo before? What might be the story behind it?
CLIMATE CHANGE REQUIRES THE WORLD’S ATTENTION
We have known about climate change for decades. There is little doubt that Earth is getting warmer and warmer (see the graph). A warming ocean and atmosphere along with melting ice and rising sea levels provide evidence of a dramatic change in the global climate.
In 2013, a lot of people were shocked by a news photo of a dead polar bear that was found on Norway’s Arctic island of Svalbard. According to the scientists who found its dead body, all that remained of the polar bear was “skin and bones”. An expert who has studied polar bears for many years said that from the position of its dead body, the bear appeared to have starved and died. Experts claimed that low sea-ice levels caused by climate change meant the bear could not hunt seals as before, so it had to travel greater distances in order to find food. This alarming case showed how the increase in temperature had an impact on Earth’s ecology.
Then what is causing the increase in the global average surface temperature? Climate scientists often mention a key climate process called the “greenhouse effect”, which has two common meanings: the “natural” greenhouse effect and the “man-made” greenhouse effect. The “natural” greenhouse effect refers to the fact that heat from the sun enters the atmosphere and warms Earth’s surface as short-wave radiation. The heat is released back into space at longer wave lengths. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as methane and carbon dioxide, trap some of the heat, keeping Earth’s climate warm and habitable. Without this process, Earth could not sustain life. However, the “man-made” greenhouse effect has now become a big problem. When people produce huge amounts of extra greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels, more heat energy is trapped in the atmosphere and causes Earth’s surface temperature to rise quickly.
There is strong and comprehensive evidence that the rise in temperature has led to an increase in extreme weather and natural disasters worldwide, not only causing serious damage, but also costing human lives. Climate scientists have warned that if we do not take appropriate actions, this warming trend will probably continue and there will be a higher price to pay. In fact, news reports are frequently broadcast about extreme rainstorms and heatwaves causing deaths and economic losses.
Continued greenhouse gas emissions will result in further warming and long-lasting changes to the global climate. This requires the attention of people all over the world. Governments need to consider making policies and taking appropriate actions and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We as individuals can also reduce our “carbon footprint” by restricting the amount of carbon dioxide our lifestyles produce. It is our responsibility to seize every opportunity to educate everyone about global warming, along with its causes and impacts, because this is the most serious issue affecting all of us on this planet. So what will you do to help?
1. What happened to the polar bear in the photo? Why did the writer write about it?2. Why is the “natural” greenhouse effect important and necessary?
3. What are the consequences of high greenhouse gas emissions?
4. Why did the author mention the climate scientists' warning?
5. What is the author’s purpose of writing this text?
Lightning is very common but one of the most powerful weather forces to hit the Earth.
If you are outside,
If you are indoors during a lightning storm, you could still be
4 . If you can travel back in time, which period of history will you visit? It’s a great question to ask your friends, and time travel is the subject of many science fiction films. Of course, sci-fi is familiar to most of us, but what is cli-fi? The simple answer is climate fiction which focuses on the subject of climate change.
Many of the cli-fi examples we watch tend to be disaster films. The subject could be solar flares (太阳耀斑), ice ages devastating (摧毁) the planet, extreme flooding swamping the earth, or superstorms that threaten life. While films and novels of this style are often subject to the typical images of a hero or heroine battling to save the world, what sets it apart from most sci-fi films is that the plots will often draw on apparently reasonable outcomes in the near future.
Climate change and the potential threats have long been established. Some believe that the issue of climate change has even led to more fans watching films to learn more about what’s happening to the world — seeing it as a form of edutainment (寓教于乐型产品). A study conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication tested the effects that two climate fiction novels can have on their readers and found “significant positive effects” in terms of their attitudes towards the climate crisis — for example, understanding global warming will harm them and future generations.
Most cli-fi films not only are extremely popular action films, but also cause our fear of what some see as the approaching end of the world. This sounds bad, but according to a study conducted on 310 adults in the US, watching such scary films can help us feel more prepared and less alone in situations such as the pandemic. So, it looks like the cli-fi film is here to stay — and there seem to be some benefits. Whether it’s there to educate, entertain or prepare you for a climate crisis, it might have a role to play.
1. Which of the following may be the subject of cli-fi?| A．Time travel. | B．Global warming. |
| C．Weather forecasts. | D．Economic crises. |
| A．They are often about extreme natural disasters. |
| B．They want to show man can conquer nature. |
| C．They usually have similar plots with sci-fi films. |
| D．They can show the true near future of the world. |
| A．To show people like climate fiction novels. |
| B．To prove that climate change has potential threats. |
| C．To tell that cli-fi novels have positive effects on readers. |
| D．To explain how the climate crisis affects human beings. |
| A．Cli-fi films are useful to people. |
| B．Cli-fi films are as popular as action films. |
| C．A study was conducted on adults in the US. |
| D．The pandemic makes people scared and alone. |
