“CLIMATE CHANGE” STUDENT’S FILE
(4.5 weeks: 11 March – 10 April)
PLAN
I. Lead-in
 Climate Change Awareness Test
 Reading 1: PICTURING CLIMATE CHANGE
II. Obligatory material
 Reading 2: THE PLANET IN PERIL
 Reading 3: GLOBAL WARMING? THE DENIERS ARE
MY HEROES!
III. Additional texts
 Reading 4: A CLIMATE OF OUR OWN MAKING
 Reading 5: HOW GREEN IS YOUR PET?
 Reading 6: THE DANGER OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR
RUSSIA
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I.
Lead-in
 Climate Change Awareness Test
1. Do such words as “climate” and “weather” denote the same thing?
2. What is the difference (if any) between such terms as ecology, climatology and
environment?
3. What is the mechanism of the greenhouse effect? What are the main greenhouse
gases?
4. What determines a certain shift from fossil fuels to alternative fuels in the world?
5. How dangerous is the ozone layer depletion? Why?
6. What is environmental law concerned with? What are the most important
environmental treaties?
7. How influential is the IPCC in the sphere of climate change?
8. What are the priorities of Greenpeace? What methods does this organisation use
to achieve its goals?
9. What does the term “the Little Ice Age” denote?
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 Reading 1:
Picturing climate change
Stefan Bronnimann
Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland
The possibility of future climatic changes and man’s interference with climate are not new
topics. Concerns of this kind are deep-rooted in our cultures. As a consequence, many
aspects of the current debate on climate change and global warming are not unprecedented
but have a history of their own. This concerns not only the scientific concepts involved.
There is also a history of the public perception of the scientific climate debate, of the
attitudes towards human intervention with climate and of the economic, social, and political
relevance attributed to the topic. There is one often neglected aspect of the history of the
climate change debate, namely how the scientific concept of climate change has been
communicated to the public in the past and how it is presently.
Climate change research
The questions of whether and how climate changes and whether and how man influences
climate have been debated by scientists at least since Theophrastus in the 4th century B.C.
His works were translated into Latin in the Renaissance period and were influential to the
thinking of scientists at that time. Two important lines of debate in the discussion on climatic
change up into the 19th century concerned the impact of land-use changes on climate and
progressive climate changes. In the early and mid 18th century, climate change was a subject
treated by the philosophers of the enlightenment period such as Montesquieu and Hume.
More scientific approaches to climate change research started in the second half of the 18th
century, in line with efforts in agricultural, forestry and medical research and further
advanced by scientific travelling and exchange and the availability of meteorological
instruments.
A milestone in the history of climate change research and its public awareness was the
theory of ice ages which had important implications for climate research in general. It
required mechanisms able to explain a large change in mean temperature. This challenge was
a trigger for many climate change theories, some of which have influenced the discussion
until today. The theory of the CO2 greenhouse effect originated, at least partly, in the debate
on the causes of ice ages. Some scientists speculated that lower concentrations of
atmospheric carbon dioxide could have caused ice ages.
The processes considered in the 19th century to cause shorter-term climate changes were
mainly solar influences and anthropogenic activity, but volcanic forcing and the melting of
ice sheets and glaciers were also discussed. Among the anthropogenic influences on climate,
the oldest topic is the effect of land-use changes. The debate on this topic became more and
more popular during the 19th century when in many European countries deforestation and
desertification became politically relevant. Effects of anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion
on weather and climate have been considered since the 19th century. By the end of the 19th
century, the debates about climate change and anthropogenic influence on climate
culminated in a vivid discussion of the causes of the ice ages, the nature of historical climate
variability, the possible human influence on future climate, and also the impact of climate
change on the evolving economies and societies. The discussion was not confined to the
scientific community, but also included political institutions and was carried out in public.
Public perception of climate change and anthropogenic influence on climate
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The question of whether climate is changing and whether man is influencing climate is not
only or not primarily a scientific one. Climate has always been a matter of vital interest to
societies, and so have changes in climatic conditions. However, climate change cannot be
perceived by individuals and therefore gives rise to speculation and imagination.
Concerning the causes of climatic changes, there has always been the idea in the public
consciousness that man influences climate. It was familiar to people in medieval times. For
example, extreme weather events were perceived as punishment, and prayers and ceremonies
were believed to please God so as to make the weather favourable. Witches were thought to
be able to change weather. After the Enlightenment period and during industrialisation,
anthropogenic climate change appears in the public perception to diffuse concerns. A good
example relates to the ‘year without a summer’, 1816, when in Switzerland some people
blamed the modern lightning conductors for causing the endless rainfalls. In these cases the
anthropogenic influence was not real, and the people were led by religious or mystic beliefs
or simply by superstition and fears, not by scientific arguments. Apart from some scattered
quotes in newspaper reports, there is little indication of scientific views on climate change at
that time.
A public perception of the scientific debate on climate change started only later, probably
towards the end of the 19th century which expressed ambivalence towards climate change:
there were age-old fears about extremes of climate, but there were also tourist illusions of a
warm climate. Despite some fears, climate change was not presented as something entirely
negative. There was a strong fascination for the topic and there was a positive judgement of a
change towards a warmer climate. In fact, ‘global warming’ has for a long time been
considered beneficial to mankind. There was not only a positive judgement, but there were
even plans to make the climate warmer. This positive judgement gave way to a
predominantly negative one only after the 1950s.
Nevertheless, these examples reveal that there are ‘age-old concerns’ about extremes of
climate which are part of the cultural background, for scientists as well as for the public.
These concerns may also play a role in the current debate on climate change, i.e. the way it is
communicated by scientists, activist groups and the media as well as the way it is understood
by the public.
Today, the climate change issue is illustrated more often with photos of recent extreme
weather events. They make allusion to the often heard notion that extreme events have
increased in frequency and will further increase in frequency due to climate change. Thus,
they imply that we are currently witnessing the start of a new, disastrous climate epoch—of
course, the projection of weather extremes into an apocalyptic future climate is not new. The
communication is based on the same age-old concerns. It seems that, in the current news
market, photos of extreme events sell better than illustrations of a slowly ongoing climate
change.
Scientists often portray the global warming issue as something unprecedented, and in many
respects it certainly is. However, we often forget that the statements of today’s climate
researchers add to a debate which has been going on for centuries and in which resound
many deep-rooted notions.
Ex. 1 Read the text and answer the following questions:
1. How long is the history of climate change research? How did it develop?
2. What theory was a turning point in the history of climate change research?
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3. What is the cause of so many speculations about changes in climatic
conditions?
4. How did people account for climate change in the past?
5. When did people’s perception of climate drastically change?
6. How do the media present climate change issue nowadays?
7. What conclusion does the author of the article come to?
Ex.2 Look for words and expressions in the text to match the following definitions, translate
them, reproduce the context in which they are used in the text.
1. to regard as belonging to, resulting from, produced by
2. knowing something, knowing that something exists and is
important, being interested in something
3. a possible effect or a result of an action or a decision
4. to form an opinion about something without knowing all the
details or facts
5. created by people or caused by human activity
6. dissolution of a thick layer of ice covering a large area of land
for a long time, esp. those in Antarctica and Greenland
7. a slowly moving mass of ice originating from an accumulation
of snow
8. the act of cutting down or burning the trees in the area
9. a process by which fertile land turns into barren soil
10. any process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to produce
a significant rise in temperature and the emission of light
11. the fact of climate being likely to vary
12. enclosed within bounds; limited; restricted
13. the simultaneous existence of two opposed and conflicting
attitudes, emotions, etc
Ex.3 Continue the following strings of collocations with the words in bold. Use some of the
word combinations in sentences of your own.
1. to attribute : relevance, __________ , __________ , ___________
2. anthropogenic: activity, __________ ,__________ , ___________
3. to be confined to: ___________ , ___________ , _____________
4. to have, __________ , __________ , _________ , _________ awareness of
5. to have, _________ , __________ , _________ , _________ implications for
Ex.4 Fill in the gaps using the words and expressions from Ex.2 and Ex.3.
1. Surrounded by winter snow and ice, melting seems to be a good thing, but, on
a global scale, the __________ of __________ and __________ is a sign of
global warming.
2. __________ effects, processes or materials are those that are derived from
human activities, as opposed to those occurring in biophysical environments.
3. While much of that debate was __________ to economic terms, some broader
ideas of social planning were also proposed.
4. Generally, the lack of policy development has been due to either limited
awareness or __________ towards climate change issues.
5. Written accounts of miracles __________ to Jesus are believed by different
denominations to varying degrees: much depends upon interpretation and the
reliability of the source.
6. Nowadays due to media coverage as well as increase in public __________,
global warming has become the topic of discussion everywhere.
7. Climate change will have enormous financial __________ in the years to
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come.
8. __________ is expanding and accelerating into the remaining areas of
undisturbed forest, and the quality of the remaining forests is declining.
9. The rest of the dry land has either become desert or is being threatened by
__________.
10. Excluding fossil fuel __________, how else do humans affect the carbon
cycle?
11. Climate __________ can cause abrupt disruptions, such as floods, droughts,
or tropical storms.
12. This contradiction sums up Western Europe’s __________ towards Russia, at
once welcoming it as its own and rejecting it at the same time.
13. Just as one may ___________ on global warming induced catastrophes, one
may just as plausibly also __________ on catastrophes that may result from
absent global warming.
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II. Obligatory material

Reading 2:
The Planet in Peril
Jim Hansen
YaleGlobal, 2006
Global warming, arctic ice melt and rising oceans will shrink nations and
change world maps
In Sweden and Norway, the treeline is marching northward and uphill as the snowline
recedes. In the Arctic, the polar bear finds its habitat shrinking. Elsewhere in the northern
hemisphere, animals are slowly moving north to escape rising temperatures. Behind the
silent movement hides a disturbing story that we had better take note of before it is too late.
If the present warming trend continues, rising seawater will claim coastal cities all over the
world.
Animals have no choice but to move, since their survival is at stake. Of course, climate
fluctuated in the past, yet species adapted and flourished. But now the rate of man-made
climate change is reaching a level that dwarfs natural rates of change. If climate change is
too great, natural barriers, such as coastlines, spell doom for some species.
If emissions of greenhouse gases continue to increase at the current rate – "business as usual"
– then a large fraction of the species on Earth, as many as 50 percent or more, may become
extinct. The species most at risk are those in polar climates and the biologically diverse
slopes of alpine regions. A few species, such as polar bears, no doubt will be "rescued" by
human beings, but survival in zoos or reserves will be small consolation to bears or nature
lovers.
In the Earth's history, during periods when average global temperatures increased by as
much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit, there have been several "mass extinctions," when between
50 and 90 percent of the species on Earth disappeared forever. If human beings follow a
business-as-usual course, continuing to exploit fossil fuel resources without reducing carbon
emissions or capturing and sequestering them before they warm the atmosphere, the eventual
effects on climate and life may be comparable to those at the time of mass extinctions. Life
will survive, but on a transformed planet. For foreseeable human generations, the world will
be far more desolate than the one in which civilization flourished during the past several
thousand years.
To arrive at an effective policy we can project two scenarios concerning climate change. In
the business-as-usual scenario, annual emissions of CO2 continue to increase at the current
rate for at least 50 years. In the alternative scenario, CO2 emissions level off this decade,
slowly decline for a few decades, and by mid-century decrease rapidly, aided by new
technologies. The business-as-usual scenario yields an increase of about 5 degrees
Fahrenheit of global warming during this century, while the alternative scenario yields an
increase of less than 2 degrees Fahrenheit during the same period.
The last time that the Earth was five degrees warmer was 3 million years ago, when the sea
level was about 80 feet higher. In that case, the world would lose Shanghai, Tokyo,
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Amsterdam, Venice and New York. . In the US, 50 million people live below that sea level.
China would have 250 million displaced persons. Bangladesh would produce 120 million
refugees, practically the entire nation. India would lose the land of 150 million people.
The greatest threat of climate change for human beings lies in the potential destabilization of
the massive ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, a catastrophe that would be as
irreversible as the extinction of species. The business-as-usual scenario, with 5 degrees
Fahrenheit global warming would certainly lead to the disintegration of the ice sheets. The
only question is when the collapse will begin. The business-as-usual scenario, which could
lead to an eventual sea level rise of 80 feet could produce global chaos, leaving fewer
resources with which to mitigate the change in climate. The alternative scenario, with global
warming under 2 degrees Fahrenheit, still produces a rise in the sea level, but the slower rate
allows time to develop strategies for adapting to the changes.
The Earth's creatures, save for one species, do not have thermostats in their living rooms that
they can adjust for an optimum environment. But people – those with thermostats – must
take notice, and turn down the world’s thermostat before it is too late.
It’s not too late – but the world has at most 10 years to alter the dangerous trends of global
warming
The threat to the planet from global warming is clear: including species extinction, violent
weather patterns and the washing away of coastal cities, displacing millions. Fortunately, so
are the solutions. Despite what naysayers claim – that energy-use patterns cannot be altered
to any great extent – real change is possible given the political will to enact it. If such change
is not enacted, however, pessimistic prophecies become self-fulfilling, especially with
intensive efforts by special-interest groups to prevent the public from becoming wellinformed.
In reality, an alternative scenario is possible. The US is only half as efficient in energy use as
Western Europe, which encourages efficiency by fossil-fuel taxes. China and India, using
older technologies, are less energy-efficient than the US and have a higher rate of CO2
emissions.
Available technologies could improve energy efficiency. Economists agree that the potential
could be achieved most effectively by a tax on carbon emissions, although only strong
political leadership could persuasively explain the case for such a tax to the public.
Consumers who make a special effort to save energy could gain; well-to-do consumers who
insist on three Hummers would pay for their excess.
Achieving a decline in CO2 emissions faces two obstacles: the huge number of vehicles that
are inefficient in using fuel, and continuing CO2 emissions from power plants. The world
must delay construction of new coal-fired power plants until the technology needed to
sequester CO2 emissions is available. In the interim, new electricity requirements should be
met with renewable energies. Much could be done to limit emissions by improving fuelefficiency standards in buildings and appliances. Such improvements are entirely possible,
but require strong leadership.
The public can act as our planet's keeper. The first human-made atmospheric crisis emerged
in 1974, when chemists reported that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) might destroy the
stratospheric ozone layer that protects the Earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays. How
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narrowly we escaped disaster was not realized until years later. Yet the same scientists and
political forces that succeeded in controlling the threat to the ozone layer now fail in
controlling the global-warming crisis. There is plenty of blame to go around: Scientists
present facts about climate change clinically, failing to stress that business-as-usual will
transform the planet. The media, despite overwhelming scientific consensus concerning
global warming, give equal time to "contrarians" supported by the fossil-fuel industry.
Special-interest groups mount disinformation campaigns, sowing doubt. The government
fails to provide leadership.
Leaders with a long-term vision would place value on developing efficient energy
technology and sources of clean energy. Rather than subsidizing fossil fuels, the government
should provide incentives for companies to develop alternatives. Instead, politicians cast
policies that favor short-term profits of energy companies as providing jobs, in the best
economic interests, taking no account of the mounting costs of environmental damage or
future costs of maintaining the fossil-fuel supply.
Today’s leaders won’t pay for the tragic effects of a warming climate. If we pass the crucial
point, history will judge harshly the scientists, reporters, special interests and politicians who
failed to protect the planet. But our children will pay the consequences. It is not too late. The
world has at most ten years to alter the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions. A good
energy policy, economists agree, is not difficult. Fuel taxes should encourage conservation.
With slow, continual increases of fuel cost, energy consumption will decline without
harming the economy. Quality of life need not decline.
Jim Hansen is director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and adjunct professor of
earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University's Earth Institute.
Ex.5 Suggest Russian equivalents for these word combinations from the text, reproduce the
context in which they are used in the text.
1. shrinking habitat
2. to claim coastal cities
3. survival is at stake
4. to spell doom for
5. extinct, extinction of species
6. biologically diverse
7. to reduce /capture /sequester carbon /CO2 emissions
8. to project two scenarios
9. a naysayer
10. pessimistic prophecies
11. to improve energy efficiency
12. in the interim
13. a contrarian
Ex.6 Continue the following strings of collocations with the words in bold. Use some of the
word combinations in sentences of your own.
1. to claim : coastal cities, __________ , ___________ , ___________ ,
____________
2. shrinking, _________ , __________ , __________ , _________ habitat
3. Survival, __________ , __________ , __________ , ___________ is at stake
4. To improve, ___________ , ___________ , ___________ , ___________
energy efficiency
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Ex.7 Fill in the gaps using the words and expressions from Ex.5 and Ex.6.
1. “Earth's environment has tumbled downhill to the point where humanity's
very ___________,” a branch of the United Nations said.
2. The Asian elephant has played a central role in Thai history, yet rapidly
___________ and a drastic reduction in numbers mean that it is now an
endangered species.
3. Obama's policies __________ for tanker owners as his number one strategy is
to eliminate the need for crude oil imports from the entire Middle East and
Venezuela.
4. The loudest global warming __________ in the Senate, Sen. Inhofe said in a
recent Environment and Public Works Committee hearing that we must rely
on sound science in our actions on climate.
5. In industrial countries, the subject of unemployment evokes ___________ of
a fast-approaching future in which tens of millions of people will never find
jobs.
6. As coal powerhouses continue to proliferate, natural disasters and health
problems will increasingly ___________.
7. The southern Appalachian Mountains are one of the most ___________
regions in the world. Biodiversity is extremely high in terms of both the
variety of different species and the abundance of each species.
8. Most ___________ are not caused by major catastrophes or horrendous
climactic changes, but by small changes in climate or __________, depleted
resources, competition, and other changes that require adaptation and
flexibility.
9. There was a climate change __________ who testified before the Senate last
week. He made the claim that climate scientists were some kind of club and
they all made money by somehow supporting each other's findings.
10. Finding a practical way to __________ carbon emissions is considered
critical to the mitigation of climate change while continuing to use fossil
fuels, which currently account for more than 80 percent of energy production
in the United States and more than 90 percent worldwide.
11. It's been five years since the band released a new album, but __________
they've been touring a lot.
12. In this respect, we _________ with different degrees of integration. In the
first, of "lesser integration", the future process of trade liberalisation will be
similar to that observed since the collapse of the communist system. In the
second scenario, of "greater integration", the opening-up process will quicken
in the future.
13. When companies begin examining how to __________, they quickly realize
that some energy solutions are technological or design-oriented, while others
are related to behavioral or operational issues.
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 Reading 3:
Global warming? The deniers are my heroes!
Alan Caruba, 2009
It has been nearly three decades since I first wrote that “global warming” was a hoax and I
have had to repeat myself countless times since then. Along the way I met many of the socalled “deniers” and “dissenters”. We all knew that Al Gore was lying. We all know that
President Obama is lying. And yet the lies continue. The most amazing aspect of the hoax is
that, despite a decade of global cooling, the mainstream media, print and electronic,
relentlessly continue to write about curbing “greenhouse gases” as if they have anything to
do with the Earth’s climate fluctuations.
The primary greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere is 95% WATER VAPOR. The
primary
source
of
warming
and
cooling
on
Earth
is
the
SUN.
The claim that carbon dioxide (CO2) has anything to do with the climate, other than to react
to changes in it hundreds of years after they occur, is totally discredited, but I still read
magazines like Business Week or The Economist, Time and Newsweek, as well as
newspapers, whose reporters and editors demonstrate an astonishing ignorance—a willful
ignorance—by continuing to publish global warming lies saying that our carbon footprint
must be reduced.
Even the advocates of global warming began to speak and write about “climate change”
several years ago in order to avoid the obvious fact that the Earth began cooling in 1998.
Climate alarmists deny this and in desperation say that global warming has merely “stalled”.
To my way of thinking, the earth is either warming or cooling. It is always doing one or the
other. As to trends over time, it depends on when you want to measure. Alarmists only allow
dates that support their alarmism and refute all other dates as meaningless.
Climate change! As if the Earth’s 4.5 billion year history is not one long record of climate
change! As if there would be any life on Earth without carbon dioxide, the plant food of all
vegetation that in turn sustains animal life.
Led by Joseph Bast, The Heartland Institute, a non-profit, free market think tank has been at
the forefront of the battle for truth for many years. In 2008 and 2009, the Institute brought
together the finest minds from the world of meteorology and climatology in conferences that
laid waste to the unsubstantiated claims of global warming. I attended both conferences and
had an opportunity to meet some of the “deniers”. In the beginning there were a handful such
as Dr. Richard S. Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Others who joined the struggle against an avalanche of lies about “global warming” included
Drs. Patrick J. Michaels, Robert Balling, Tim Ball, and S. Fred Singer, Willie Soon, Joseph
D’Aleo, Vincent Gray, and William Gray, all meteorologists and climatologists of
international repute, as well as Howard Hayden, an Emeritus Professor of Physics. There are
others, who did much to undermine the global warming lies, unnamed here for purposes of
length, but who are no less deserving of honor. Nevertheless, the propaganda war to slander
these men continues to this day. A favorite tactic to discredit them was to post “biographies”
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on Wikipedia suggesting they were all in the pay of corporations and could not be trusted.
Think tanks such as The Heartland Institute, the Hudson Institute, the Competitive Enterprise
Institute, and the Business & Media Institute all deserve praise for taking leading roles in
disputing and debunking the global warming hoax.
The work of these think tanks and individuals is hardly over. The horrid “Cap-and-Trade
bill” is a nightmare of taxation on energy use and a vast transference of billions to near
useless “renewables” (solar and wind). At the same time, access and use of America’s vast
energy reserves of coal, natural gas, and oil continues to be denied by Congress and
administration that is hell bent on destroying the nation’s economy.
The “deniers” are being vindicated by Mother Nature. The truths they have been telling are
showing up this year in America and around the world in early snowfalls, icy road
conditions, and blizzards that will bring entire cities to a standstill. Spring and summer may
be a little late in 2010.
In time, the “deniers” will be honored for their service to humanity, for their courage, and for
hopefully saving this nation and others from the torrent of deceit coming out of the United
Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and every environmental organization
in America and worldwide. For the IPCC to continue promoting the human-induced global
warming scare in the face of clear contrary evidence is grossly improper and should be
subject to independent review. Man-made global warming does not exist. The IPCC should
be challenged to justify its reckless and baseless climate scare-mongering.
Ex.8 Look for words and expressions in the text to match the following definitions, translate
them, reproduce the context in which they are used in the text.
1. a deliberate attempt to deceive or trick an audience into believing, or
accepting, that something is real, when the person knows it is not; or that
something is true, when it is false.
2. a person who does not agree with opinions that are officially or generally
accepted, someone who declines to acknowledge some statement as true
3. to control or limit something, especially something bad
4. constant changes in size, amount, quality, etc., especially from one extreme to
another
5. the total set of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an organization,
event or product
6. someone causing unnecessary fear and anxiety
7. to come to a standstill
8. unsupported, not proved to be true by evidence
9. a sudden or overwhelming flow of untrue statements intended to mislead
10. the opinion that people have of somebody
11. to make a false spoken statement about somebody that is intended to damage
the good opinion that people have of them
12. to expose the falseness of an idea, belief, etc.
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13. brought about by human influence, man-made
14. the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some
specific end with the feared object being exaggerated
Ex.9 Continue the following strings of collocations with the words in bold. Use some of the
word combinations in sentences of your own.
1. to debunk: the global warming hoax, __________ , __________ ,
___________
2. unsubstantiated : claims, __________ , ___________ , ___________ ,
____________
3. human-induced : global warming, ________ , __________ , __________ ,
__________
4. to reduce, __________ , ___________ , ___________ , __________ carbon
footprint
Ex.10 Fill in the gaps using the words from Ex.8 and Ex.9.
1. An __________ claim is not necessarily false; it just offers none of the
concrete “stuff” upon which the claim is based.
2. Some scientists believe that global warming is not anthropogenic and will
soon be reversed, based on an assumption that __________ in climate are
controlled by solar activity.
3. Among other things he talks about how he and other scientists that have tried
to __________ global warming myths have been seriously harassed.
4. While the warming signal is not straightforward, scientists have recently
concluded that the observed warming is caused by __________ climate
change, and that natural forcing, such as solar or volcanic factors, cannot
explain the phenomenon.
5. The choices we make in our homes, our travel, the food we eat, and what we
buy and throw away all influence our carbon __________.
6. When the full scope of the scientific errors involved in the climate change
__________ is exposed everyone will realize this has been the greatest folly
since the flat earth theory.
7. Global warming __________ are meeting in New York this week to state that
global warming is either not real or if it is, is a benefit to the planet.
8. But that's only one small truth amidst an __________ of lies that she has told
throughout her lifetime in a desperate attempt to conceal the shocking,
unbelievable truth about herself.
9. The work of these artists is represented in museums of international
__________ and is internationally acknowledged in specialist circles.
10. For example, while the auto industry has agreed to __________ gases from its
assembly lines, it has not been asked — nor has it promised — to reduce
gases from the tailpipes of the cars and trucks it builds.
11. Climate __________ is big business, which includes falsifying data to instill
climate hysteria and perverting scientific studies into mere propaganda.
12. Climate change _________ claim that the short-term costs of their policy
prescriptions pale in comparison with the apocalyptic costs of no immediate
action.
13. For so many years the church __________ scientists as being tools of Satan,
and just now their true innocence is becoming vividly apparent.
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14. I've been seeing a lot of people making the claim that global warming has
__________ or stopped over the past few years. But I haven't seen any data
yet.
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III. Additional texts
 Reading 4:
A Climate of Our Own Making
Climate change grabs international attention, but spurs little action.
Scott Barrett
YaleGlobal, 2006
In the history of diplomacy, probably no international negotiation has received as much
attention, and achieved as little, as the climate-change negotiations. Atmospheric
concentrations of greenhouse gases have risen every year since negotiations began more
than 15 years ago. A new approach to negotiation is needed, but governments must also
confront the inevitability of climate change. It is unlikely that concentrations will stabilize
within the next several decades. Other kinds of international response are required.
The physics of climate change are simple. Gases that occur naturally in the atmosphere –
primarily carbon dioxide and water vapor – trap the sun’s heat keeping the planet about 34°
C warmer than it otherwise would be. This is the natural greenhouse effect. Human
activity, at least since the industrial age, but probably since the invention of settled
agriculture, has added to this concentration of gases. Higher concentrations are sure to warm
the climate, but predicting climate change is difficult because of other changes, such as the
Earth’s orbit about the sun. Abrupt climate change has occurred in the past, and human
activities could trigger more abrupt change. Of course, if concentrations continue unchecked,
the climate will change still more.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change, negotiated in 1992, establishes the goal of
stabilizing concentrations at a level that would prevent “dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system.” This would seem a sensible goal – who could favor
dangerous interference with our one and only climate? However, the goal may not be the
best way to approach the problem.
One reason is that limiting concentrations has a cost. Substantial reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions within the next few decades would require a massive increase in nuclear
power – the only viable energy alternative available now. In reducing one risk – climate
change – the world would add another. The danger of an accident, a terrorist attack, coupled
with the problem of nuclear waste disposal – all these risks would need to be borne.
As well, we don’t know the concentration level that is “dangerous.” Thresholds undoubtedly
exist, but we don’t know exactly where they exist. We only know that the probability of
encountering a threshold increases with the concentration level. It is also essential to define
“dangerous.” Climate change is unlikely to pose an existential threat to humanity. It won’t
even result in massive loss of human life. Because the consequences of climate change are
limited, the response is also likely to be limited. Hard choices must be made.
Expressing a goal in terms of concentrations implies that mitigation is what matters, but that
is not true. Damages associated with climate change can also be reduced by adaptation. The
term “adaptation” is normally taken to include efforts like switching the crops that farmers
grow or reinforcing the Thames Barrier to protect London from rising tides. But adaptation
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has many more implications.
The poorest countries are the most vulnerable to climate change – more so because of
resource constraints than geographic vulnerability. For example, malaria spreading to
new territories will result in a substantial loss in life. What should be done about it? One
option would be to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations to limit this threat. Another,
however, would be to invest in malaria control, including the prevention of resistance to antimalarial drugs and the development of a vaccine. The latter investments would not only
reduce the increase in malaria associated with climate change, but reduce the burden of
malaria overall. These are the kinds of choices we must face.
Governments and researchers need to think of transforming the nature of technology
worldwide. This will require substantial investment in R&D. With luck, R&D might
discover a “silver bullet” technology that produces energy at lower cost than fossil fuels.
However, this seems unlikely. R&D would have a more profound impact if the technologies
developed were characterized by increasing returns, but no technology currently being
considered displays this characteristic. Finally, a focus on technology may help overcome
domestic political economy challenges for mitigation. Carbon-capture-and-storage has the
disadvantage of being an add-on cost, but it also has a possibly important political economy
advantage: It allows fossil fuels to be burned even while greenhouse gas emissions are cut.
Rich countries will need to finance new technologies, but poor countries should be the
priority markets. Countries like China and India are growing rapidly, and any investment
underlying this new growth should be climate-friendly.
This different approach requires government leadership in R&D, private-sector development
of new technologies, and government leadership in creating markets for the new
technologies worldwide. It will also require a North-South partnership for a new kind of
global development. These are big ambitions, but modest proposals cannot address the
challenge of climate change.
Environmental economist Scott Barrett is professor and director of the International Policy
Program of Johns Hopkins University. He wrote “Environment and Statecraft: The Strategy of
Environmental Treaty-Making,” published by Oxford University Press.
Ex. 11 Summarize the text making use of at least 10 words in bold type from the text.
 Reading 5:
How green is your pet?

23 October 2009 by Kate Ravilious
New Scientist
Should owning a Great Dane make you as much of an eco-outcast as an SUV driver? Yes
it should, say Robert and Brenda Vale, two architects who specialise in sustainable
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living at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. In their new book, Time to
Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living, they compare the ecological footprints
of popular pets with those of various other lifestyle choices - and the pets do not fare well.
Cats and dogs devastate wildlife populations, spread disease and add to pollution. It is
time to take eco-stock of our pets.
To measure the ecological paw, claw and fin-prints of the family pet, the Vales analysed
the ingredients of common brands of pet food. They calculated, for example, that a
medium-sized dog would consume about 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of
cereals over the course of a year. It takes 43.3 square metres of land to generate 1
kilogram of chicken per year and 13.4 square metres to generate a kilogram of cereals. So
that gives him a footprint of 0.84 hectares. For a big dog such as a German shepherd, the
figure is 1.1 hectares. Meanwhile, an SUV - the Vales used a 4.6-litre Toyota Land
Cruiser in their comparison - driven a modest 10,000 kilometres a year, uses 55.1
gigajoules, which includes the energy required both to fuel and to build it. One hectare of
land can produce approximately 135 gigajoules of energy per year, so the Land Cruiser's
eco-footprint is about 0.41 hectares - less than half that of a medium-sized dog.
The Vales are not alone in reaching this conclusion. When New Scientist asked John
Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, UK, to calculate eco-pawprints
based on his own data, his figures tallied almost exactly. "Owning a dog really is quite an
extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," he says.
Eco-pawprints
Then there are all the other animals we own. Doing similar calculations for a variety of
pets and their foods, the Vales found that cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15
hectares (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf), hamsters come in at 0.014 hectares a
piece (buy two, and you might as well have bought a plasma TV) and canaries half that.
Even a goldfish requires 0.00034 hectares (3.4 square metres) of land to sustain it, giving
it an ecological fin-print equal to two cellphones.
This kind of analysis appeals to David Mackay, a physicist at the University of
Cambridge and the UK government's new energy adviser. He believes we should put as
much thought into choosing a pet as we do into buying a car. "If a lifestyle choice uses
more than 1 per cent of your energy footprint, then it is worthwhile reflecting on that
choice and seeing what you can do about it," he says. "Pets definitely deserve attention:
by my estimates, the energy footprint of a cat is about 2 per cent of the average British
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person's energy footprint - and it's bigger for most dogs."
Alternatively, consider the cumulative environmental impact of our furry friends. The
US, which tops the list for both cat and dog ownership in absolute terms, is home to over
76 million felines and 61 million canines. Taking the estimated cat population for the top
10 cat-owning countries, the Vales calculate that the land required just to feed these cats
is over 400,000 square kilometres. That's equivalent to one-and-a-half times the area of
New Zealand. A further five New Zealands are required to feed the pooches living in the
top 10 dog-owning countries - which, perhaps surprisingly, does not include the UK.
Then there are the other environmental impacts of pets. Every year, for example, the UK's
7.7 million cats kill over 188 million wild animals. That works out at about 25 birds,
mammals and frogs per cat. Similar figures have emerged from surveys in the US and
Australia. There is also a knock-on effect because cats feasting on wildlife can leave wild
predators such as hawks and weasels short of food. Dogs are not entirely blameless either.
In 2007, Peter Banks and Jessica Bryant from the University of New South Wales in
Sydney, Australia, monitored bird life in woodlands just outside the city to assess the
impact of dogs being walked there. They showed that bird life in areas frequented by
dogs, even when kept on a lead, had 35 per cent less diversity and 41 per cent fewer birds
overall. Areas with off-lead dogs seem to suffer even more: ongoing studies in the UK
indicate that dogs are aiding the decline of some rare species of bird.
So what is an eco-friendly animal lover to do? If you already have a pet, then changing its
diet can help. Meat is the key, since its production is so energy-intensive. You can
almost halve the eco-pawprint of your dog simply by feeding it many of the same sort of
savory foods that you eat, which are likely to be far less protein-rich than most dog foods.
Dog owners might also want to avoid walking their dog in wildlife-rich areas, and cat
owners could consider keeping their pets indoors. "Cats are nocturnal, so the single most
important thing people can do to reduce predation is to keep cats in at night," says
Michael Woods of the Mammal Society in Southampton, UK.
And if you are thinking of acquiring a pet? "Shared pets are the best - the theatre cat or
the temple dogs," says Robert Vale. But if you must own your own, think about getting an
animal that serves a dual purpose. He recommends hens, which partly compensate for
their eco-footprint by providing eggs. Or there is an even better alternative, if you can
stomach it. "Rabbits are good," he says, "provided you eat them."
Kate Ravilious is a science journalist based in York, UK, and the guilty owner of a
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medium-sized dog
 Reading 6:
The Danger of Climate Change for Russia
By Alexey O. Kokorin and Inna G. Gritsevich, this article originally appeared on the Russian
and Eurasian Security Network
Global warming could significantly change the Russian climate, though it will affect
different parts of the county in different ways. The impact will be especially strong on
Russia’s extensive permafrost and forests. Rising temperatures will also influence the
economy and people’s lifestyles. Russia can help limit the possible adverse consequences,
but doing so will require skillful management and the introduction of a wide range of new
policies.
Observed and Predicted Climate Changes
Recently published international reports and scientific articles make it possible to identify
the consequences of climate change for various Russian regions and to address the three
most important issues: the impact of climate change on energy, agriculture, and the
permafrost zone, which occupies about 60 percent of the country’s territory. On the basis of
this information, it is possible to draw several macro-economic conclusions affecting Russia.
The increase in temperature, which is the main indicator of climate change, will not be
uniform across Russia’s vast territory. Scientists predict different levels of increase in
different parts of Russia. The amount of precipitation will also increase, especially during
the cold period of the year. As a result, in several regions ground water levels will rise,
expanding the extent of the swamps. Because of hotter winter weather in many regions there
will be less snow accumulation, which could have a negative impact on the harvests. The
change in the temperatures and precipitation amounts will also affect the flow of the rivers.
The instability in climatic conditions will grow worse as the frequency and intensity of
extreme phenomena increases. For example the incidence of floods due to heavy
downpours will increase, especially in mountain foothill areas, where they are often
accompanied by destructive torrents and landslides.
Impact on the Permafrost and Forests
Climate change will have several negative consequences for the permafrost, particularly
along its southern border. Additionally, the warmer air temperatures will increase the
number of droughts and heat waves, causing further melting in the permafrost and other
harmful consequences. These changes will have negative consequences for the forests. For
example, there could be a replacement of conifers with deciduous trees since the latter are
less affected by climate change. If the warming of the northern taiga continues, the result
will be an outbreak of epidemics in the forest and the spread of harmful parasites. One likely
consequence of climate change will be an increase in the number of forest fires. The shifting
of climatic zones and the destruction of the current ecological balance will have an impact
on a wide variety of plants and animals.
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Impact on the Economy and Life Styles
In the coming decades, the influence of climate change on the economy, living conditions
and health of the Russian population will increase. In the majority of cases, this influence
will be negative.
Among the positive impacts of climate change, however, most specialists list the reduction
of the amount of time Russians will have to rely on heating. By the middle of the twenty-first
century, the heating season in the central parts of Russia will be 5-10 percent shorter.
Overall, by 2050, Russians could save as much as 10-20 percent of their current energy
usage thanks to global warming. Unfortunately, it is not clear if it will be possible to fully
take advantage of this positive effect. The instability and variability of weather conditions
during various parts of the year will generate negative short-term phenomena – unseasonable
periods of anomalous heat and cold, frosts, strong winds, and snow storms. These will
require additional use of energy.
Thanks to changes in the Earth’s soil due to the melting of the permafrost, increasing ground
water levels, and overall warming and the rising number of extreme phenomena, the
expected life-span for buildings is expected to drop. Current studies show that more than a
quarter of houses in the northern cities of Yakutsk, Vorkuta, and Tiksi, built in the 1950s to
1970s, could become uninhabitable in the next 10-20 years. There will be particular new
pressures on pipes and with a change in the flow of rivers and the amount of ice; there will
also be more pressure on pipes under ground. This pressure will lead to more frequent
accidents, with oil spills and gas leaks, especially in the northern parts of the country, where
most pipes are located.
Some believe that climate change will have positive effects on Russian agriculture. The
extent of farmable land will increase 150 percent. The frost-free growing season will
expand by 10-20 days a year. The quality of the soil in the Black Earth region will improve.
However, the droughts will increase across Russia, which could lead to serious water
problems and a reduction of the harvest.
The amount of water supplied to the population and the economy will have to increase. It
will grow by 12-14 percent by 2015. However, there will be an increase in the inequality of
its distribution across the territory of the country. The most hard-hit areas will be those that
are heavily populated, which today are experiencing a shortage of water. Thanks to rising
temperatures in urban areas, Russia can expect 4,000 to 28,800 more deaths per year. In the
lower Volga and other southern regions, with hotter and drier weather, there could be water
shortages and increased threat of cholera, rodent-borne diseases, and a variety of other health
issues.
Macroeconomic Conclusions and Recommendations
The above discussion focuses only on the direct dangers facing Russia in the coming
decades. In the longer term, the negative consequences could be much worse, especially if
there are no reductions in the global production of greenhouse gases, which would make it
possible to hold the temperature increase to two degrees. Some believe that “with skillful
management of the processes, several countries could avoid losses.” But it is very important
to understand here what “skillful” management means for Russia:


Timely adaptation of the economy to the new climatic conditions.
State support for technologies of the future and incentives for the private sector to
introduce these innovations.
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

Achieving maximal benefits from “natural” energy and economic advantages: the
presence of extensive natural gas reserves, great expanses for growing exportable
bio-fuels, hydro-electricity and reserves of fresh water.
Imposing a strict international regime to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases,
and limiting global climate change by 2050 to 2 degrees.
Those conditions would allow Russia to realize its comparative advantages and make a
contribution to preserving the planet’s climate. Unfortunately, if the temperature rises 3-4
degrees, Russia will face losses that will be much larger than the costs of implementing a
timely transfer to new energy technologies.
Ex. 12 Summarize the text making use of at least 10 words in bold type from the text.
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