Climate change, global warming, climate crisis
The way that we live our
lives is hurting the earth’s ecological system. The factories that produce our
computers and televisions, the planes we fly, and the cars we drive all put
toxic chemicals – pollution – into the air and water. We cut down forests and
destroy coral reefs. We spoil and waste precious resources like the topsoil
where we grow our crops or the stocks of fish in the oceans. We destroy the
homes of animals, their habitats.
Human beings are putting
pollution into the atmosphere. That pollution is trapping heat and raising the
temperature of the air, the oceans and the surface of the Earth.
There are six types of air
pollution, created by human beings, that together are causing the climate
crisis. Five are gases that are normally found in the air, but human beings are
creating more of these gases. This is changing the balance of the atmosphere
and causing global warming.
The pollution that is
causing global warming comes from human activity. Carbon dioxide is produced
whenever we burn something. When we burn coal to make electricity, when we burn
gasoline in our cars, or when we burn gas in our stoves, we add more carbon
dioxide to the air. These are just a few of the ways we are changing the atmosphere
and destroying our climate.
Balance: equilibrium
Cut down forests: make a lot
of trees fall down
Grow our crops: cultivate
plants for food
Hurt: cause damage
Raise: increase, put in a
higher place or position
Spoil: make something worse
Topsoil: the layer of soil
that is near the surface of the ground
Trap: keep (something) in a
particular place
Waste: use more of something
than is necessary
Whenever: every time that
(MARQUES, Amadeus, 2011, p.
10)
……………………………………………………………………..
The changing of the guard
Emperor penguins spend the long Antartic winter on
the open ice and they breed during this
harsh season (unlike most birds, which breed in the springtime). After a
courtship of several weeks, females lay one single egg and then leave it
behind! Every year, female emperors go to the open sea to get their food. They
travel about 80 kilometers across the frozen surface every winter. Where are
the eggs, then? At the feet, literally, of the male emperors.
The male emperor penguin
incubates his egg, keeping it warm on his feet covered by his stomach. He just
stands there, for about 65 days, through icy temperatures, cruel winds and
blinding storms until the eggs hatches. And those dedicated fathers eat nothing
that whole time.
Because of the cruel
Antartic cold, the male penguins stay together, very near each other. The snow
falls. The wind blows very, very hard. But the penguins just stay there. And
survive. Finally, after over two months, the females returns from the sea,
bring food they regurgitate, to feed the now hatched chicks. The two birds
greet each other noisily. Then the male changes places with the female;writers
call this the “changing of the guard”. The mother takes over care of the chick
and the male finally starts the long trip to the open sea and the food.
Breed: (animals) reproduce
Courtship: period of sexual
attraction between a male and a female animal
Harsh: difficult to live in
Hatch: (egg) break open
Hatched: newly born chick
Incubate: keep the egg warm
Regurgitate: bring food up
from your stomach back into your mouth
Survive: stay alive
Take over: assume control of
Unlike: different
(MARQUES, Amadeus, 2011, p.
25)
………………………………………………….
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário