Global Warming: A Way Forward: Facing Climate Change
видеоурок по английскому языку (11 класс)

УЧЕБНО-МЕТОДИЧЕСКАЯ РАЗРАБОТКА ПО ДИСЦИПЛИНЕ «ПРАКТИКА УСТНОЙ И ПИСЬМЕННОЙ РЕЧИ»

ПО ТЕМЕ

Global Warming: A Way Forward:

Facing Climate Change

Разработчик:

Старцева Ангелина, студентка группы ЯДА-117

SCRIPT

Planet Earth. In this vast universe of ours we know of no other place so hospitable to life in its infinite variety. But today climate change poses a clear and present danger. It threatens every species on Earth. Increasing the number of extreme weather events that require international action. The time for leadership and meaningful initiatives is now.

As part of an intergovernmental effort, under UN leadership the world's top scientists have concluded that our climate is changing and they have issued urgent warnings about our future we can't afford to ignore.

The IPCC reports leave no room for doubt - global warming is a fact. And human activity including the burning of fossil fuels, industrial emissions and deforestation are the main cause of climate change and its most dangerous side effects. The dramatic rise in greenhouse gases over the last 250 years, particularly carbon dioxide, has caused temperatures to rise across the globe and this warming is projected to accelerate at an alarming and dangerous pace. Science is a powerful witness. Our world is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Dangerous atmospheric changes already observed and measured will continue for decades.

Changes and precipitation patterns will intensify drought in some areas and aggravate flooding in others. And as the world's glaciers disappeared and the oceans heat up, global sea levels may rise between 18 and 59 centimeters by the end of the century. The shrinking of Greenland's ice sheet and large-scale loss of ice in Antarctica could exacerbate the problem with unpredictable speed.

Small island nations already victimized by increased storm surges and beach erosion could one day be lost to the sea. As climate change disrupts nature's balance, biodiversity suffers in the oceans and on land. All of Earth's species are threatened, some may disappear forever.

Climate change could potentially compound growing population pressures on food supplies, already fragile in many places. Over the long term worldwide agricultural yields will likely decrease drastically in all regions and as always, the poorest among us are the most vulnerable. Rain-fed agriculture could drop 50 percent by 2020 in some African countries increasing malnutrition and the need for emergency aid.

Nearly one-sixth of the world's people rely on mountain glaciers for drinking water, crucial supplies which are expected to decline significantly as these glaciers melt away. Forty-four percent of the world's people live within 150 kilometers of the coast and will be exposed to more frequent and more destructive storms and coastal flooding and rising sea levels which may over time inundate low-lying countries islands and cities. Cities like Alexandria, Kolkata, Dhaka, Bangkok and Shanghai, home to hundreds of millions of people.

We will have to adapt. Regions that bear the least responsibility for what is happening will be among the hardest hit. We can shape a different future. The IPCC's reports that have been endorsed by more than 150 countries offer a range of options for moving forward together. Solutions exist but there's no time to waste. First, we must stabilize global greenhouse gas emissions. Then, according to the world scientists, we could limit the rise in global temperature to two degrees Celsius and prevent the most severe impacts of climate change.

If the world reduces its emissions by approximately two-thirds by the year 2050, this must be a global effort and with real leadership it can be done. All of us must change our consumption patterns. Improved conservation and energy efficiency could help enormously without requiring major expenditures. But it's largely up to governments to ensure that the right choices are available and attractive.

Like more efficient modes of transportation and better building codes, better management of our forests can also play a vital role helping the planet to heal itself by drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.  

The IPCC also suggests we change the way we think about energy. The cost of fossil fuels should reflect their long-term impacts on climate change.  A price on carbon emissions would encourage the development of alternative energy sources and that would help developing countries choose a more environmentally sustainable course.

 We must act together and we must act now. One way or another the Earth will survive. By acting together the world's leaders can ensure that we will do and that the planet we leave behind for our children will be a place where they can thrive.

ЗАДАНИЯ

BEFORE YOU WATCH

TOPICAL VOCABULARY

1a. Look at the title of the video. What do you think it means?

1b. Look at the pictures and describe them. How the following pictures can relate to the main topic of the video?

2. Match the items in column A to those in column B. Then find an appropriate definition for each phrase.

WHILE YOU WATCH

1. Look at numbers. Find what they refer to in the video.

2. Use the words in the list to complete the sentences.

long-term, balance, activity, large-scale, consumption, extreme, responsibility, supplies

1. Increasing the number of _____weather events that require international action.
2. And human ____ including the burning of fossil fuels, industrial emissions and deforestation are the main cause of climate change and its most dangerous side effects.
3. The shrinking of Greenland's ice sheet and ____ loss of ice in Antarctica could exacerbate the problem with unpredictable speed.

4. As climate change disrupts nature's ___, biodiversity suffers in the oceans and on land.

5. Climate change could potentially compound growing population pressures on food ____, already fragile in many places.

6. Regions that bear the least ____ for what is happening will be among the hardest hit.

7. All of us must change our ____ patterns.

8. The cost of fossil fuels should reflect their ____ impacts on climate change.  

3. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line.

AFTER YOU WATCH

1a. The two photographs show different ways of helping environment. Compare the photographs and say which way you think is more effective in helping the environment?

1b. How could people help protect the environment?

2. Act out the dialogue, expressing concern. Use the phrases in the box.