WEEKLY_ACTIVITY_Reading_Climate_Change

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CURSO DE BACHARELADO EM 
ENGENHARIA AMBIENTAL 
Componente Curricular: Língua Inglesa 
Prof. Julio Vila Nova 
 
 
Reading Activity 
 
Climate Change 
 
This article is about how the world’s climate is changing and the risks we face 
from more extreme weather. Before you read, look at some of the causes of climate 
change and extreme weather. Think about the possible effects these could have in 
the future. 
 Cause 1: The world’s population is getting larger and more people are living 
in areas affected by extreme weather. Example effect: It may become more 
difficult to protect these people from the effects of extreme weather. 
 Cause 2: Emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are increasing. 
 Cause 3: The average global temperature is rising. 
 Cause 4: Extreme weather events such as drought and flooding are 
happening more often. 
 
Now, see if your ideas are mentioned in the article… 
 
Climate change: what next? 
The world can no longer say that global warming 'might' happen and climate 
change 'could' affect our future. A recent report by the Royal Society in the UK 
tells us that global warming is definitely happening and climate change will affect 
our future. The report warns that extreme weather events, such as floods, storms, 
and heatwaves, will happen more often and will affect more people as the earth’s 
population grows. 
The report’s main author Professor Georgina Mace said: “This problem is not just 
about to come… it’s here already." 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all 
happened in the 21st century and 2014 was the hottest year ever – both in the UK 
and globally. 
 
 
 
But warmer weather does not always mean drier weather. In fact, the opposite is 
true. Look at the information about extreme weather events around the world in 
2014: 
 In September, parts of the Balkans received more than double the average 
monthly rainfall, and parts of Turkey saw four times more rain than normal. 
 The town of Guelmin in Morocco was hit by more than a year's rain in just 
four days. 
 Western Japan saw the heaviest August rain since records began. 
 Parts of the western US suffered from long-term drought - as did parts of 
China and Central and South America. 
 Interestingly, there were fewer tropical storms than usual – 72 were 
recorded in 2014 but the yearly average is 89. 
 12 major Atlantic storms struck the UK, bringing nearly double the usual 
rainfall. 
So, the world’s climate is changing. We are seeing higher temperatures and 
weather that directly affects our lives like heatwaves, drought, and flooding. But 
what effects could these weather events have on our future? And how might we 
prepare ourselves to face these extreme conditions? 
Professor Mace says preparation is the most important factor: “It is impossible for 
us to avoid the worst and most unexpected events. But it is not impossible to be 
prepared for an ever-changing world. We must organise ourselves right away." 
The Royal Society report advises all levels of society to prepare – from strategic 
planning by governments to local schemes by citizens to get ready for floods or 
heatwaves. To fight rising temperatures, the authors say cutting greenhouse 
gas emissions is essential. But they argue that it is not enough - governments will 
also need to do more. 
The simplest and cheapest way of preventing heatwaves, they say, is to protect 
existing green space. Other low-cost options are planting new trees, or painting 
roofs white to reflect the sun’s heat. This could have an important effect in cities 
which will get bigger as the earth’s population grows. Air-conditioning may help 
us stay cool but it produces emissions which will actually make our cities hotter. 
The authors also say generally higher temperatures might be a threat to economies 
and farming because temperatures could become too high for safe outdoor 
work. Some areas may experience many weeks when outdoor activity is limited 
because it will be simply too hot to go outside. 
 
Flooding will also increase, the report says. Large-scale engineering solutions like 
sea walls offer the best protection from coastal flooding - but they are expensive, 
and when they fail, the results can be disastrous. 
The ideal answer, the authors think, may be a combination of engineering solutions 
like walls and environmental solutions like protecting wet areas to allow the 
ground to absorb water. The authors also say that governments and companies 
will need to be prepared financially and may need to spend more money on 
preventing dangers. 
They say: “We must assess and evaluate risks accurately. If we don’t, companies 
might not take them seriously and investments will be poorly informed.” One 
author, Rowan Douglas, from the Willis Research Network, said this might be the 
most important recommendation of the report. 
 
PART 1 – VOCABULARY 
 
Number the meaning of the words found in bold in the text: 
(1) drought ( ) gases which are released into the 
atmosphere by factories, cars, and other 
machines. 
 
(2) right away 
( ) a period of days or weeks when the 
temperature is very high and is dangerous for 
people. 
(3) strategic planning ( ) causing lots of damage or a very dangerous 
situation 
(4) schemes ( ) to take something inside, for example: a 
sponge absorbs water easily 
 
(5) heatwave 
( ) a long period with no rainfall, which causes 
the ground to become very dry and can cause 
living things to die. 
 
(6) tropical 
( ) making very careful plans so that particular 
things will happen at particular times or in 
particular situations. 
(7) emissions ( ) describes a geographical area where the 
weather is very hot and wet. 
(8) disastrous ( ) immediately; now 
(9) absorb ( ) plans that organisations develop to give a 
particular service to a group of people 
 
 
 
PART 2 – Comprehension 
 
1. What were the effects of rising global temperatures in 2014? 
a. Increased risk of drought and floods 
b. More tropical storms 
c. It became more dangerous to work outside 
 
2. How might high temperatures cause economic problems? 
a. It may become too dangerous to work outdoors 
b. People will have to spend more on air conditioning 
c. Companies and governments may have to spend a lot of money to stop 
problems getting worse 
 
3. What may be the best solution to the problem of flooding? 
a. Building sea walls will be enough 
b. Protecting wet areas so they absorb water is enough 
c. A combination of engineering solutions and environmental ones 
 
4. What is the simplest way to prevent heatwaves? 
a. Build sea walls 
b. Protect green areas 
c. Use air conditioning 
 
5. What could help keep temperatures down in cities? 
a. Air conditioning 
b. Limiting the time we spend outdoors 
c. Painting roofs white