New climate theories Air pollution is an increasing environmental concern, and rising global warming temperatures are not the only consequence… Climate change is now an indisputable phe- According to Schneider, the results will endanger nomenon Scientists have identified two distinct species such as polar bears The traditional lifeand worrying developments While global warm- style of the Inuit people of the Arctic will also be ing, which has been predicted for some time, is impacted At the same time, the British Antarctic clearly taking place, there is also growing evi- Survey has revised its predictions about the coldence of global dimming – a reduction of sunlight lapse of the Antarctic ice sheet It used to be beAccording to BBC Online, the term global lieved that it would remain intact until the turn of dimming was created by Gerry Stanhill, an En- the 22nd century Now there is a risk of a much glish scientist who lives in Israel Stanhill found more imminent collapse David Walter that sunlight had reduced by 22% in Israel over the past few years He also noted similar changes in the United States (with sunlight down 10%), in parts of the former Soviet Union (with a reduction of 30%), and in parts of the British Isles (with a loss of 16%) the cause appears to be air pollution “Climate change impacts humans and animals Air pollution caused by fossil fuel emissions, will also probably cause a further rise of 0.6 degrees Celsius of global warming, according to professor Stephen Schneider, a leading climatologist from Stanford University in California He points out that in the past century there has already been a 0.7 degree temperature increase READING COMPREHENSION Vocabulary : Find in the text the words corresponding to the following definition …………………………… …………………………… …………………………… …………………………… …………………………… A rise in the world temperature that has become a major environmental issue to direct someone’s attention A gathering of a sample of data or opinions considered to be representative of a whole to fall abruptly and completely to continue unchanged Questions What are the other ways used in the text to express the idea of : global dimming global warming CARTOON Comment on the document with the help of the following questions a) Where and when does the scene take place ? b) What the two characters present exemplify about the situation of the planet today ? c) What does their meeting mean ? d) What is the cartoonist’s message ? Do you share that vision of our planet ? Writing Choose one of the following subjects and write 150-200 words a) Are you environment friendly ? Develop b) Do you think that nuclear energy could be a solution to a cleaner production of energy ? Why ? Why not ? Can’t you think about any other solutions ? What are their advantages and limits ? SPEAKING Role play activity : Choose one of the following roles and discuss in groups on the theme “Saving the environment – what should be done ?” You are the representative of a powerful automobile lobby You are an ecocitizen who tries not to produce too much waste You regularly take part in Greenpeace actions You are a farmer who uses a lot of pesticides and fertilizers WORD BANK Help yourself with and complete the following word bank (cartoon analysis & role play) NOUNS ADJECTIVES VERBS EXPRESSIONS Drought Fateful To melt To be face to face Ecosystem Apocalyptic To waste To run out of (water) Species Bleak (future) To preserve Sustainable development A lack of Barren To maintain … Biodiversity … … … … … … … WEB links A video on the subject of global dimming… http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2058273530743771382 …And articles http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4171591.stm http://www.globalissues.org/article/529/global-dimming#Whatisglobaldimming http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/dimming_prog_summary.shtml http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2003/dec/18/science.research1 http://www.greeniacs.com/GreeniacsArticles/Global-Dimming-Another-Pollution-Side-Effect.html listening Click on the following link : www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/international/watershortage_20050203.shtml Once on the page, to get the audio report and complete the grids, click on the link : “Mike Thompson investigates how the world can deal with polluted drinking water and the effects it has on children” What the following figures correspond to ? 12 million 40 % 60,000 1/3 billion 6,000 16 billion 80 % Explain in your own words what is said about : Wars Access to water Rainfall / Evaporation TEST Comment on the following posters, advertising for the film an Unconvenient Truth, and the cover from Time Magazine To finish with, just as a reminder