雅思阅读材料：全球变暖问题_雅思英语阅读

雅思阅读材料：全球变暖问题

　　C. And yet the language of this weeks report is still eye-catching: the Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change on Earth. The last authoritative assessment of the topic was done by the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001. That report made headlines by predicting a rise in sea level of between 10cm and 90cm, and a temperature rise of between 1.4C and 5.8C over this century. However, its authors did not feel confident in predicting either rapid polar warming or the speedy demise of the Greenland ice sheet. Pointing to evidence gathered since the IPCC report, this weeks report suggests trouble lies ahead.

　　D. The ACIA reckons that in recent decades average temperatures have increased almost twice as fast in the Arctic as they have in the rest of the world. Skeptics argue that there are places, such as the high latitudes of the Greenland ice sheet and some buoys at sea, where temperatures seem to have fallen. On the other hand, there are also places, such as parts of Alaska, where they have risen far faster than average. Robin Bell, a geophysicist at Columbia University who was not involved in the reports compilation, believes that such conflicting local trends point to the value of the international, interdisciplinary approach of this weeks report. As he observes, climate change, like the weather, can be patchy and you can get fooled unless you look at the whole picture.

　　E. And there is other evidence of warming to bolster the ACIAs case. For example, the report documents the widespread melting of glaciers and of sea ice, a trend already making life miserable for the polar bears and seals that depend on that ice. It also notes a shortening of the snow season. The most worrying finding, however, is the evidence still preliminary that the Greenland ice sheet may be melting faster than previously thought.