The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole, and everywhere in between. Globally, the mercury is already up more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius), and even more in sensitive polar regions. And the effects of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. They’re happening right now. Signs are appearing all over, and some of them are surprising. The heat is not only melting glaciers and sea ice, it’s also shifting precipitation patterns and setting animals on the move.
Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening.
- Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice.
- Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adélie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years.
- Sea level rise became faster over the last century.
- Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas.
- Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.
- Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees.
Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues.
- Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters).
- Hurricanes and other storms are likely to become stronger.
- Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active.
- Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years.
- Less fresh water will be available. If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate, it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.
- Some diseases will spread, such as malaria carried by mosquitoes.
- Ecosystems will change—some species will move farther north or become more successful; others won’t be able to move and could become extinct. Wildlife research scientist Martyn Obbard has found that since the mid-1980s, with less ice on which to live and fish for food, polar bears have gotten considerably skinnier. Polar bear biologist Ian Stirling has found a similar pattern in Hudson Bay. He fears that if sea ice disappears, the polar bears will as well.
Source for climate information: IPCC, 2007
VOCABULARY
far-flung: /ˌfɑːˈflʌŋ/ US /ˌfɑːr-/ adj literary
describes places that are a great distance away, or something that is spread over a very large area
e.g. The news spread to all corners of our far-flung empire.
shifting (to shift):/ʃɪft/ v
• [I or T] to (cause something or someone to) move or change from one position or direction to another, especially slightly
She shifted (her weight) uneasily from one foot to the other.
The wind is expected to shift (to the east) tomorrow.
Media attention has shifted recently onto environmental issues.
• [T] mainly US to move the gears of a vehicle into different positions in order to make it go faster or slower
In cars that are automatics, you don't have to bother with shifting gears.
breeding: /ˈbriː.dɪŋ/ n [U]
• the keeping of animals or plants in order to breed from them
The family's business was horse-breeding.
We used to keep pigs for breeding purposes.
• when animals have sex and reproduce
The penguins' breeding season has begun.
bark: /bɑːk/ US /bɑːrk/ n
[U] the hard outer covering of a tree
boomed: /buːm/ v
[I] to increase or become successful and produce a lot of money very quickly
OFTEN in continuous tenses
The leisure industry is booming.
booming
adjective /ˈbuː.mɪŋ/
chewed: /tʃuː/ v [I or T]
• to crush food into smaller, softer pieces with the teeth so that it can be swallowed
This meat is difficult to chew.
You don't chew your food enough - that's why you get indigestion.
• to bite something with your teeth, usually in order to taste its flavour
Would you like some gum to chew?
She gave the children some sweets to chew (on) during the long car journey.
She sat in the dentist's waiting room, nervously chewing (at) (= biting) her nails.
out of sync: (in/out of sync)
If two things are in/out of sync, they reach the same or related stage at the same time/at different times.
bloom: /bluːm/ v [I]
When a flower blooms, it opens or is open, and when a plant or tree blooms it produces flowers
These flowers will bloom all through the summer.
droughts: /draʊt/ n [C or U]
a long period when there is little or no rain
This year (a) severe drought has ruined the crops.
cap: /kæp/ n [C]
• a small usually protective lid or cover
The camera has a lens cap to protect the lens surface.
• an artificial protective covering on a tooth
• a mass of ice and snow that permanently covers a large area of land (e.g., the polar regions or a mountain peak)
• a soft flat hat which has a curved part sticking out at the front, often worn as part of a uniform
• a thin hat that stops your hair getting wet when swimming or taking a shower
a shower/swimming cap
• UK a hat given to someone who plays for their national team in a particular sport, or a player who receives this
Davis has 17 Scottish caps (= has played for Scotland 17 times).
The team contains five international caps.
spread: /spred/ v [I or T] (spread, spread)
• to (cause to) cover, reach or have an effect on a wider or increasing area
The fire spread very rapidly because of the strong wind.
It started off as cancer of the liver but it spread to other areas of the body.
The redundancies are spread across the clothing, banking and building industries.
We spread the picnic rug out on the ground and sat down to eat.
The AIDS virus is spread (= given to other people) through contact with blood and other body fluids.
Are you spreading (= telling a lot of people) gossip/rumours again?
If we spread (= divide) the work between us, it won't seem so bad.
She spread her toast with a thick layer of butter./She spread a thick layer of butter on her toast.
It's a special sort of butter that spreads easily even when cold.
The suburbs spread (out) for miles to either side of the city.
Slowly a smile spread across her face.
skinnier (skinny): /ˈskɪn.i/ adj
• (mainly disapproving) very thin
You should eat more, you're much too skinny.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
1. What effects that are currently happening because of global warming can you remember?
2. What animals have been mentioned in the text?
3. How many effects of the global warming can you remember that may happen in this century?
4. How much will sea level rise?
5. How may polar bears be affected?
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