Unit 5 - Our environment

Page 56 - Exercise 2A

Climate change

Its biggest cause

We hear a lot today about climate change. Thousands of articles are written about it in newspapers and magazines. TV programs are made about it. Greenhouse gases like CO2, carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. The sun’s heat is trapped by these gases and gradually the world is getting warmer. Scientists believe that as a result, the ice caps will melt. Sea levels will rise and many islands and posts will disappear under the water. We will also see more extreme weather such as hurricanes, heavy rain, high temperatures and drought. A lot of greenhouse gases are produced when fossil fuels are burned by power stations, factories, cars and airplanes. However, the biggest cause is deforestation, the world’s forests, especially the tropical rain forests of South America, Africa and Southeast Asia are very important for the Earth’s climate. But every year over 200,000 km² of forests are destroyed. That’s an area the size of Britain. In some cases, the trees are cut down and the wood is taken away. It’s used for buildings and furniture. However, in many cases the land is wanted for farms. The trees are just burnt down and billions of tons of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. 25% of all CO2 is produced by deforestation. Airplanes produce 3%. If we want to save the planet, we must save the forests.