Download The Great Meltdown 2011/02/07 As global warming becomes a hit

The Great Meltdown
2011/02/07
As global warming becomes a hit issue where environmentalists confront economists
with the evidence that the monstrous polar ice sheets once ground across the continents are
vanishing, it is time to call a spade a spade, clarifying why we are experiencing drastic
climate change and, thanks to Hollywood, whether we are to face the end of the world. Is it
the Industrialization that leads us on the path to another ice age termination? Or is it
nothing but a commercial trick of the green industry coaxing consumers into buying their
products?
Without doubt, we are to make every effort to protect our planet since we have only
one Earth, while our green consumption is not only for the sake of saving our environment
but also for the sake of our health. Curbing the greenhouse gas emissions by using
alternative energy, taking the place of fossil fuels might be our final resort to tackle the
problem of global warming; however, it plays an important role in decelerating the speed
we deplete natural resources but in stopping the great meltdown.
In fact, there seems to be nothing we can do about it. Climate scientists have long
suspected these glacial cycles are triggered by changes in our planet’s orbit. According to
orbital theories, periodic changes in Earth’s orbit alter the amount of sunshine different
parts of the planet receive. The tilt of Earth’s axis increases and decreases every 41,000
years, making summers hotter and winters colder. Ice sheets will grow in colder summers
as the snow that falls during winter does not melt completely and shrink in warmer
summers. That is to say, the greatest ice sheets of the past are remarkably vulnerable,
melting away when there is just a glimmer of extra sunlight.
What’s more, small changes in sunshine might be greatly amplified by rises in CO₂
levels. As the melting of the ice sheets pours more fresh water into the Atlantic, shutting
down the overturning circulation---- the great ocean current that carries heat north, then
sinks and flows back along the bottom of the ocean. The southern oceans get warmer,
pumping CO₂ into the atmosphere as it is less soluble in warm water, if less heat is carried
north. The entire planet therefore gets warmer, leading to further melting and CO₂ release,
triggering the end of the ice age.
Inevitably, it is such a cycle we are going through. The melting of the ice sheets alters
ocean circulation, producing drastic regional changes in climate in addition to natural
phenomena like El Niño or La Niña. Along with all plausible measurements including
alternative energy and green consumption we are to take delaying the due date, we should
make hay while the sun shines, cherishing every breath we take, in the hope that some of
our descendants can survive in the great meltdown.
(
(
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) 1. According to this passage, which of the following is NOT true?
(A) The great meltdown is inevitable.
(B) Global warming results in the great meltdown.
(C) We can use alternative energy to terminate the great meltdown.
(D) The melting of polar ice helps the climate change drastically.
) 2. According to this passage, we know that El Niño
.
(A) is a natural phenomenon
(B) means drastic climate change
(C) has nothing to do with the great meltdown
(D) produces drastic climate change globally
) 3. The least likely meaning of the word “plausible” is
(A) possible
(B) workable
(C) sensible
(D) incredible
.