The Effects of Climate Change

Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner. Effects that scientists predicted would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.

Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since reliable record keeping began in 1880. It is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100. This is the result of added water from melting land ice and the expansion of seawater as it warms. Sea level rise will continue in the 2100s because the oceans take a very long time to respond to warmer conditions at the Earth’s surface. Ocean waters will therefore continue to warm and sea level will continue to rise for many centuries at rates equal to or higher than those of the current century.

Rising sea level leads to loss in wetlands and other low-lying lands. Wetlands provide habitat for many species, serve as the basis for many communities’ income, and protect local areas from flooding. As the sea rises, the outer boundary of these wetlands will erode, and new wetlands will form inland as previously dry areas are flooded by the higher water levels.

Arctic air temperatures increased by about 5 degrees C during the 20th century - ten times faster than the global surface temperature. The IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 summarized the current state of sea ice projections: "the projected reduction [in global sea ice cover] is accelerated in the Arctic, where some models project summer sea ice cover to disappear entirely in the high-emission scenario in the latter part of the 21st century.″

The northward shift of the subarctic climate zone is allowing animals that are adapted to that climate to move into the far north, where they are replacing species that are more adapted to a pure Arctic climate. Another concern is the spread of infectious diseases to previously untouched populations. This is a particular danger among marine mammals who were previously segregated by sea ice. Some secondary ecological effects result from the shrinkage of sea ice; for example, polar bears are denied their historic length of seal hunting season due to late formation and early melting of ice. United States Geological Survey completed a year-long study which concluded in part that the floating Arctic sea ice will continue its rapid shrinkage over the next 50 years, consequently wiping out much of the polar bear habitat.

Powerful storms and hotter, longer dry periods are predicted by computer models. Warmer temperatures lead to greater evaporation, and a warmer atmosphere is able to hold more water vapour. So there is more water in the atmosphere that can fall as precipitation. Similarly, dry regions will lose still more moisture if the weather is hotter. This will result in droughts and desertification.

More frequent and powerful cyclones and hurricanes, more frequent and intense floods and droughts are predicted. Scientists say that a recent increase in "extreme weather events" is an indication that climate change already has begun.

Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/

10. Skills development. Connecting cause and effect. Look at the chart below. It considers some of the projected changes in extreme events and their effects. Write eight sentences relating the facts from the left column with their effects from the right. Use the following words and phrases.

 

A results in B. B results from A. A leads to B. A causes B. B is due to A. A is responsible for B.

N. As a result M. N. Therefore M. N. Consequently M. N. This leads to B.

*A and B are nouns or phrases; N and M are sentences. 

 

Example: A warmer climate will result in an increase in cooling demand.

           There will be fewer cold days. Consequently, heating demand will decrease.

Projected Change	Projected Effects
Higher maximum temperatures; more hot days and heat waves over nearly all land areas	· Increase in heat-related deaths particularly among older adults · Increased risk of damage to some crops
Higher minimum temperatures; fewer cold days, frost days, and cold waves over nearly all land areas	· Decrease in cold-related deaths · Decreased risk of damage to some crops and increased risk to others · Reduced heating demand
Dry regions tend to lose still more moisture if the weather is warmer.	· Decrease in water resource quantity and quality ·  Droughts and desertification. · Increased risk of forest fire
Increase in tropical cyclone (e.g. tropical storms and hurricanes) rainfall and peak winds over some areas	· Increased risks to human life, risk of infectious disease epidemics and other risks · Increased coastal erosion and damage to coastal buildings and infrastructure · Increased damage to coastal ecosystems

 

11. Vocabulary. Fill in the gaps.

Human-induced warming _____ (достигло) _____ (приблизительно) 1°C   _____ (выше преиндустриальнх уровней) in 2017, with _____ (повышение) at 0.2°C per decade. Global warming is defined as an ______ (возрастание) in combined _____ (средние) surface air and sea surface temperatures taken over a 30-year period. _______ (последствия) of climate change besides _____ (возрастающие) temperatures are shifting rainfall patterns, _____ (повышение уровня моря), _____ (увеличивающееся) ocean acidification, and _____ (экстремальные погодные события), such as _____ (наводнения), _____ (засухи), and heat waves.

 

12. Vocabulary. Put the words in the appropriate column of the chart according to their function.

Decrease, increase, vary, expand, rise, shift, heat waves, fall, severe, heavy, storm, hurricane, considerably, melting of ice, shrink, replace, accelerate, fast, shorten, apparently, cyclone, sufficiently, dramatically, powerful, reduce, dry period.

 

Verbs describing changes

Adverbs describing the intensity (degree) of changes

Nouns naming weather conditions

Adjectives describing the intensity of weather events

Add some more words to the columns. Use the texts in Ex. 11 and Ex 9.

 

Skills development.

Describing changes and trends. Write the verbs in the Past Simple and the Present Perfect.

Rise, increase, decrease, drop, fall, reduce

Which trend, (a) or (b) is described in each of the sentences below?

a)                                                b)

 

 

1. … has risen/increased (sharply/steadily/sufficiently/dramatically/slightly).

2. ……… has gone up to … (number).

3. There has been a decrease/drop/fall in ….

4. … decreased over the period from … to ….

5. … rose over the period from … to ….

6. This graph shows an increase in the number of …

7. … has fallen/dropped/decreased/reduced

8. There has been a/an (slight/sharp/steady/sufficient) increase/rise in ….

9. … has gone down to … (number).

14. Skills development. Saying figures and years. Match a figure on the left with a word or phrase on the right.

 

1954 2005 (year) 1905 50% 10 F 15 C 125 000 1972 1900 (year) 2/3 2.5 2.56 1/2

Fifteen degrees Celsius Two thousand and five Nineteen seventy two A half Two thirds One hundred and twenty five thousand Nineteen fifty four Ten degrees Fahrenheit Fifty percent Two point five Two point fifty six Nineteen hundred Nineteen five

Note the stress!!! Fifty per´cent

Say the numbers: 560, 45 980, 450 000, 500 000, 560 000, 351 670, 56.25, 33.33 %, 4.9, 1/3.

15. Skills development. Find statistics on the following subjects. Greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise, deforestation. Comment on the changes and the effects of the changes.

 

Unit 4

Natural Resources