“Predicting species’reaction to climate change is a major challenge in ecology, ” said the researchers of several U. S. universities. They said plants had been the key object of study because their reaction to climate change could have an effect on food chains and ecosystem services.

　　The study, published on the Nature website, uses the findings from plant life cycle studies and experiments across four continents and 1, 634 species. It found that some experiments had underestimated (低估) the speed of flowering by 8. 5 times and leafing by 4 times.

　　“Across all species, the experiments under- predicted the speed of the advance—for both leafing and flowering—that results from temperature increases, ”the study said.

　　The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict how plants will react to climate change, it said.

　　Plants are necessary for life on the Earth. They are the base of the food chain, using photosynthesis (光合作用) to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water. They let out oxygen which is needed by nearly every organism on the planet.

　　Scientists believe the world’s average temperature has risen by about 0. 8℃ since 1900, and nearly 0. 2 ℃ every ten years since 1979.

　　So far, efforts to cut emissions (排放) of planet- warming greenhouse gases are not seen as enough to prevent the Earth heating up beyond 2℃ this century—a point scientists say will bring the danger of a changeable climate in which weather extremes are common, leading to drought, floods, crop failures and rising sea levels.

【2016届湖南长沙市高考英语二轮阅读理解训练（38）（含答案）】相关文章：

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍完形填空之夹叙夹议文：体验真题（含解析）

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习书面表达限时测验：6（含解析）

★ 2014高考英语（新人教版）一轮基础训练（12）A、B卷（附答案或解析）

★ 浙江省湖州市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮（暑假）精炼（13）含答案

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (20)

★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练（18）及答案

★ 2014届高考英语一轮复习课时作业(八)必修2Module 2《No Drugs》（外研版）

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (51)

★ 河南省三门峡市2014高考英语一轮（暑假）基础训练（4）附答案

★ 贵州省贵阳市2014高考英语（新人教版）一轮阅读训练（8）附答案