Reading. 3.Read the textand say what impact climate change might have

3. Read the textand say what impact climate change might have. Comment on the opinion of the author. Give your arguments.

Climate change

Most climate scientists agree that the Earth is getting warmer. They’re now trying to work out what the affects of global warming might be - sadly, it’s not as simple as everyone having nicer summers.

The consequences of global warming could be pretty serious. If climate scientists are right, there are several reasons to be worried about global warming. Here’s a few:

61) As the sea gets warmer, it will expand, causing sea levels to rise. This would be bad news for people living in low-lying places, like the Netherlands, East Anglia and the Maldives- they’d be flooded.

62) Hurricanes are formed over water that’s warmer than 26° C – so if there’s more warm water, you would expect more hurricanes.

63) Higher temperatures make ice melt. Water that’s currently ‘trapped’ on land (as ice) will run into the sea, causing sea level to rise even more. There’s another problem too- lots of cold fresh water entering the sea could disrupt the ocean currents.

64) As weather patterns change, the flood we grow will be affected, all over the world. Droughts in some places could force millions of people to move.

65) You’ll notice that the word ‘could’ pops up quite a bit. That’s because the climate is such a complicated system. For instance, if the ice melts, there’s less white stuff around to reflect the sun’s rays out to space, so maybe we’ll absorb more heat and get even warmer. But…when the sea’s warmer. More water evaporates, making more clouds-and they reflect the Sun’s rays. So maybe we’d cool down again. It’s hard to predict exactly what will happen, but lots of people are working on it, and it’s looking too good.

You need to weigh the evidence before making judgments. To find out if our climate is really changing, scientists are busy collecting data about the environment. For instance, we’re using satellites to monitor snow and ice cover, and to measure the temperature of the sea surface. We’re recording the temperature and speed of the ocean currents, to try and detect any changes. Automatic weather stations are constantly recording atmospheric temperatures. Generally, observations of a very small area aren’t much use. Noticing that your local glacier seems to be melting does not mean that ice everywhere is melting, and it’s certainly not a valid way to show that global temperature is changing. Scientists can make mistakes- so don’t take one person’s word for something, even if they’ve got a PhD. But if lots of scientists get the same result using different methods, it’s probably right. That’s why most governments around the world are starting to take climate change seriously.

We,human, have created some big environmental problems for ourselves. Many people and some governments think we ought to start cleaning up the mess. Scientists can help, mainly in understanding the problem and suggesting solutions, but it’s the society that has to do something.

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