高中英语:文档(Global Warming):Global warming.docx
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1、Global Warming: Whose Problem is it Anyway?It no longer seems to make a difference who started the global warming problem, and by “problem J I am referring to the likely enhancement of the naturally occurring greenhouse effect as a result of human activities. Those activities primarily center on the
2、 release of carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. Other heat-trapping greenhouse gases include methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).In their march to industrialization, rich countries have basically saturated the atmosphere with these
3、heat-trapping gases. Each year, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (arguably the most important of the greenhouse gases) increases by more than a part per million by volume. Doesnt that sound infinitesimal? It does to me. But, infinitesimal concentrations become significant when accumul
4、ating in the atmosphere year after year, as carbon dioxide has since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s.As we settle into the 21st century, new major greenhouse-gas-producing nations are appearing on the scene, such as India and China. They want to develop their economies, and t
5、hey have a right, as well as a responsibility, to their citizens to do so. But they are also going to be emitting a larger share of heat-trapping gases, overtaking the industrialized countries that have been the dominant producers of greenhouse gases in the past. Now what?A couple of decades ago, I
6、chose to divide the observers of global warming into three groups: hawks, doves and owls. In the mid-1980s, there were some hawks (those who are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that human activities not only can, but also are, altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere in ways that infl
7、uence global climate); some doves (those who believe that Earths atmosphere is so robust that it can absorb any insult that humans might do to it. Besides, if it gets really serious, either technology will save us, or we Americans can move north into Canada); and mostly owls (those who lean either t
8、oward the hawks or the doves view, but are still not sure what the truth is).Twenty-five years later, the hawks have increased in number, while the doves are about the same with maybe a few more vocal personalities. And the owls numbers have reduced due to new scientific information - appearing in t
9、he media alongside scary photos of disintegrating ice sheets in the Antarctic and depletion of sea ice in the Arctic, stories about a seeming increase in various superstorms J and advertisements from Shell and BP telling us that they too are worried about global warming.Since 1985, however, another
10、category has emerged: the ostrich. The ostriches include those who refuse to think about global warming as a problem, who refuses to consider any new scientific research, and who think that someone somewhere will solve this problem before it becomes a crisis.Global warming is not a hoax. It actually
11、 happens naturally. Industrialization processes in rich countries and now in developing ones are abetting the naturally occurring greenhouse effect.Some say we are spinning out of control, pointing to the Arctic as a canary in the global warming mine. The Inuit are worried. They are on the proverbia
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