English for Biology Teachers
Bring It to Mind .
Answer the questions below After we read some articles about natural disasters in
the previous unit, in your opinion, what is the relationship between natural disaster and global
warming? What causes does the global warming emerge?
Let’s Start .
1. Read the text carefully
The Greenhouse Effect
The atmosphere has a natural supply of greenhouse gases. They capture heat and keep the surface of the
Earth warm enough for us to live on. Without the greenhouse effect, the planet would be an
uninhabitable, frozen wasteland. Before the Industrial Revolution, the amount of
carbon dioxide CO
2
and other greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere was in a rough balance
with what could be stored on Earth. Natural emissions of heat-trapping gases matched what
could be absorbed in natural sinks. For example, plants take in CO
2
when they grow in spring and summer, and release it back to the atmosphere when
they decay and die in fall and winter. Industry took off in the mid-1700s, and people started emitting large amounts of greenhouse
gases. Fossil fuels were burned more and more to run our cars, trucks, factories, planes and power plants, adding to the natural supply of greenhouse gases. The gases—which can stay
in the atmosphere for at least fifty years and up to centuries—are building up beyond the Earths capacity to remove them and, in effect, creating an extra-thick heat blanket around
the Earth. The result is that the globe has heated up by about one degree Fahrenheit over the past
century—and it has heated up more intensely over the past two decades. If one degree doesnt sound like a lot, consider this: the difference in global average
temperatures between modern times and the last ice age—when much of Canada and the northern U.S. were covered with thick ice sheets—was only about 9 degrees Fahrenheit. So in
fact one degree is very significant—especially since the unnatural warming will continue as long as we keep putting extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Already, people have increased the amount of CO
2
, the chief global warming pollutant, in the atmosphere to 31 percent above pre-industrial levels. There is more CO
2
in the atmosphere now than at any time in the last 650,000 years. Studies of the Earth’s climate
history show that even small changes in CO
2
levels generally have come with significant shifts in the global average temperature.
Scientists expect that, in the absence of effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, the global average temperature will increase another 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit to 11.5 degrees
Fahrenheit by 2100. Even if the temperature change is at the small end of the predictions, the alterations to the
climate are expected to be serious: more intense storms, more pronounced droughts, coastal areas more severely eroded by rising seas. At the high end of the predictions, the world
could face abrupt, catastrophic and irreversible consequences. Scientists are no longer debating the basic facts of climate change. In February 2007, the
thousands of scientific experts collectively known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC concluded that there is greater than 90 percent likelihood that people are
causing global warming. IPCC, 2007 These latest findings amplify what other highly respected science organizations say:
In a joint statement with 10 other National Academies of Science, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences said:
The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. It is vital that all nations identify cost-effective steps that they can take
now, to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions.—Joint Statement of Science Academies: Global Response to Climate Change, 2005
The American Geophysical Union, a respected organization comprising over 41,000 Earth and space scientists, wrote in its position on climate change that natural influences cannot
explain the rapid increase in global near-surface temperatures observed during the second half of the 20th century.”
Source: http:www.edf.orgarticle.cfm?contentid=6452
2. Write the answers of these following questions in a group of three
1. What isare the functions of greenhouse gases? 2. How was the state of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere before industrial
revolution? 3. What happened to the greenhouse gases in the mid-1700s? Explain
4. “So, in fact one degree is significant…” par. 5 Why is one degree significant? What does it mean?
5. What do the studies of climate history show? 6. What will happen if the condition of the greenhouse which was started in the mid-
1700s continues? 7. What does IPCC stand for? What does it say relating to global warming?
8. What are the latest findings related to the climate change? English for Biology Teachers
9. What is the main idea of the last paragraph? 10. What is the purpose of the text?
3. Challenge yourself Answer the following question
In your opinion, what should human beings do concerning with global warming?
4. Fill in the following crosswords Discuss your results with your friends’
English for Biology Teachers
Across:
1. main 2. mass
5. habitable
antonym 11. decompose
Down:
1. get 2. important
3. produce 4. add antonym
6. gradual antonym
1 2
3 4
5 6
7
English for Biology Teachers
Grammar Battle .
1. Pay attention to these sentences below.
People started emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases. S V
O The above sentence is called simple past tense sentence. Simple past tense is used when we
talk about event in the past and past habit. The rule is:
The difference between simple present tense and simple past tense is lying on verbs used in sentences.
S + V2 + …
See the examples below ¾ I study
everyday. simple
present tense
She studied last night. simple past tense
¾ We go to Parangtritis beach. simple present tense
They went to the cinema last night. simple past tense
¾ I am able to do the homework. simple present tense
He was able to do break-dance. Simple past tense
2. Underline simple past tense sentences in text entitled “The Greenhouse Effect”
3. Find five simple present tense sentences in the text and change them into simple past tense sentences
