4 | Environment intERmEDiAtEUppER

Listening activity online

BRIDGE | April | 2010

mAn-mADE DisAstER

the effects

of global warming

on planet Earth

S cientistsplanet Earth. By 2100 the sea levels will envision¹ a terrifying future for rise, coastlines disappear, Amsterdam and New York will be underwater. 100–200 million people will become homeless. And all because of global warming. So what is this threat? Is the danger real? And what can we do to stop it? To understand this complex subject, besides global warming, the greenhouse effect and climate change must also be explained.

The greenhouse effect

All life on our small blue planet depends on a thin layer² of gases, called the atmosphere. Like a transparent blanket³ , the atmosphere keeps the surface of the Earth warm. Without it the average temperature on Earth would be around minus 18°C. With this atmospheric blanket the average temperature is actually around plus 14 degrees Celsius.

The energy from the Sun, in the form of ultraviolet radiation⁴ , streams in⁵ through the atmosphere and warms the surface of the Earth. In a similar way, the energy is reflected back⁶ out into space as infrared radiation⁷ , and absorbed by the gas molecules, which trap the heat inside, like in a greenhouse. This is called the greenhouse effect. The main greenhouse gases that absorb the heat in this way are water vapour⁸ , carbon dioxide⁹ , and methane¹⁰ .

Global warming

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries people discovered that burning coal, oil or gas, commonly referred to as fossil fuels*, released energy which could be used to power industry. However, burning more and more fossil fuels to generate heat and electricity for all those aeroplanes and motor vehicles has produced a large amount of emissions¹¹ of the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2).

Normally, CO2 is absorbed in the process of photosynthesis* by green plants like trees, and

“In the next 30 years, the global warming might become a ‘small cooling’, or there might be sudden change between extremely hot and cold periods. As for our lifetime, the biggest danger is the change in the direction of winds and consequently of precipitation¹² .”

Dr Václav Cílek geologist and climatologist

phytoplankton* in the seas. Since more forests are being cut down in the tropical rainforests, less carbon dioxide can be absorbed.

The combined effects of CO2 overproduction and lower levels of absorption have increased the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The layer of greenhouse gasses has thickened (in the last 150 years by about a third). As a result, more heat gets trapped and the temperature of the planet and the atmosphere rises. However, climatologist Dr Jan Pretel from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute points out that “it is not only the CO2 emissions that affect the temperature and climate, but also other human activities such as urbanization, soil degradation, etc”.

Climate change

Global warming and climate change are closely related. Scientists claim that the increase in overall global temperature is changing the climate (= the long-term weather patterns). Global warming doesn’t necessarily mean that the weather will be warmer and that beach resorts will spring up¹³ in northern countries, rather the weather will become more unpredictable¹⁴ . That could mean hurricanes and floods in some places, and spells of drought¹⁵ in others. And we have all seen the evidence of this erratic¹⁶ weather behaviour. There have been summer floods and very little

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www.bridge-online.cz

The latest talks about climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009
ended without an agreement. The developed countries didn’t reach
consensus on how to f i nance the reduction of CO 2 in developing countries.

The Czech President Václav Klaus is a strong opponent of climate change, claiming that the increase in the global temperatures has been small and the forecasts are speculative.

snow in Europe, and in comparison lots of snow this year even in places like Great Britain. Hurricanes are much more violent than in the past, causing a lot of damage and loss of life in the Caribbean and the southern states of the USA.

the carbon footprint

Politics and climate change

When you walk across the beach, you leave footprints. Scientists have used this idea to describe the effect we have on the environment in our daily lives. It is called the carbon footprint²⁰ . The culprit²¹ is of course CO2, a dangerous pollutant.

Today, a good lifestyle in a developed country means having lots of electrical appliances¹⁷ and at least one car.

The footprint comes directly from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat and transport. It is also created indirectly from the things that are produced for us.

Developing countries¹⁸ , led by China and India, are now improving their standard of living too. Their industries are producing tonnes of carbon dioxide.

How to reduce your carbon footprint

YoUR How to reduce your carbon footprint
tURn
Look at what you can do to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Which
things are you willing to do?
Switch off
Hang out the lights when
washing instead of not required.
tumble drying 22 it. Turn
down the
Share your car journeys hot water
with someone else and setting
Fill the kettle 23 plan how often you by two
with only as much use the car. degrees.
water as you need.
Buy locally grown fruits
Turn down the central heating and vegetables because
by one or two degrees. Put on the transport of goods
an extra jumper. Don’t expect to from distant places
wear a T-shirt in the house! produces lots of CO2.

Because of the CO2 increase developed countries decided to take action. In 1997 the leaders of these countries met in Kyoto in Japan and agreed that the production of greenhouse gases should be reduced by 5.2% in 2012.

Climate-change sceptics

Not all scientists believe in the existence of global warming. They say that the overall warming of the planet is part of a natural cycle and not due to the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at all. They also doubt the predictions about climate change made by computers. Nevertheless Dr Pretel says “experts who understand climate and deny global warming are in a significant minority¹⁹ .”

nigel Haward (UK)

Vocabulary

• 1 to envision [En”vIZ(@)n] – předvídat 2 layer [“leI@] – vrstva 3 transparent blanket [tr&n”sp&r(@)nt “bl&NkIt] – průhledná pokrývka

• 4 ultraviolet radiation [Vltr@“vaI@l@t reIdI”eIS(@)n] – ultrafialové záření

• 5 to stream in – pronikat 6 to reflect back – odrážet zpátky 7 infrared radiation –infračervené

• záření

• 8 water vapour [“veIp@] – vodní pára

9 carbon dioxide [“kA;b(@)n daI”QksaId] – oxid uhličitý 10 methane [“mETeIn] – methan 11 emissions [I”mIS(@)nz] – emise 12 precipitation – srážky 13 to spring up – objevit se 14 unpredictable [VnprI”dIkt@b(@)l] – nepředvídatelný 15 spells of drought [draUt] – období sucha

• 16 erratic – nevyzpytatelný 17 electrical appliance [@“plaI@ns] – elektrický spotřebič

• 18 developing countries – rozvojové země

• 19 significant minority – výrazná menšina

CARBON FOOTPRINT

• 20 footprint – stopa 21 culprit [“kVlprIt] – viník 22 to tumble dry [“tVmb(@)l] – sušit

v sušičce 23 kettle [“kEt(@)l] – elektrická konvice

*~~GloSSary ~~

fossil fuels (fosilní paliva) – sources of energy formed from dead animals and plants million of years ago; these include gas, coal and oil

photosynthesis – the production of sugar-like substances through synthesis of CO2 and water with the aid of sunlight and the chlorophyll pigment, a process in which carbon dioxide gets absorbed phytoplankton – planton consisting of microscopic plants