2016届高考英语二轮课后检测：24 Unit1 the written word（牛津译林版）_高考复习指南

2016届高考英语二轮课后检测：24 Unit1 the written word（牛津译林版）

　　C．what we should do to deal with a warmer climate

　　D．what our life will be like if it is 2℃ warmer in 2080

　　The earth is getting warmer. Over the past 100 years Earth’s temperature rose by about 1°F. Scientists predict that Earth will continue to warm by about 2—6°Fover the next 100 years. That may not sound like much, but think about this: During the last Ice Age, Earth was only 9°F cooler than it is today, and large sheets of ice called glaciers(冰河) covered large parts of North America! The warming of Earth’s climate is called global warming.

　　Scientists are not sure of what causes climate change. Earth could be warming on its own, however, most scientists believe that human activity is speeding up the climate change. Earth warms itself through a process called the greenhouse(温室) effect. When sunlight enters Earth’s atmosphere(大气), it passes through a layer of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases occur naturally, but humans also create them by burning fossil fuels. When sunlight hits Earth’s surface it bounces_back toward the sky. The greenhouse gases trap some of the sunlight on Earth and allow the rest to go back into space, making Earth’s temperature warm. The process works much in the same way as a greenhouse, hence its name. If there are too many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, too much sunlight may be trapped, making Earth warmer.

　　Scientists cannot predict exactly what will happen as Earth’s temperature rises. They believe a rapid climate change could upset the balance of the ecosystem(生态系统), causing some land and marine(海产的) life to become extinct. As temperatures rise, the world’s glaciers will melt(融化)into the ocean, causing sea levels to rise between several inches to three feet during the next 100 years. Higher sea levels could cause flooding of coastal lands. Warmer ocean water could cause increased storm activity on the coasts while areas away from the coasts may experience droughts. These are just a few of the possible effects of global warming.