As the world’s climate changes, ocean warming is getting faster and sea levels are rising more quickly, warns a new report. The report also discusses a relatively new problem appearing in the oceans: heat waves.
The unusually hot water affected animals that live off the coast of Maine, which are important to the local fishing economy (经济). What’s more, it quickly became clear that the state wasn’t alone. “Heat wave events have popped up all over the ocean.” says Andrew Pershing, scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. “We’ve actually had three huge heat waves in the Gulf of Maine—2012, 2016 and 2018—and now we’re looking at repeat heat waves in the northern Pacific; Australia’s also had some repeat heat waves.”
That’s a big deal for coastal communities whose economies depend on fish and other seafood. Heat waves in recent years drove a lot of changes in life off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, which in turn led to disastrous seasons for fishermen. Unusually hot water supported the growth of algae that polluted the Dungeness crab (螃蟹) fishery on the West Coast, shutting it down for months. At the same time, the hot water off the coast led to continuous dry weather on land, which killed large numbers of salmon (鲑鱼) and raised the risk of wildfires.
The report suggests actions to slow ocean warming and rising and to adapt to its influences. Most importantly, the authors support what has been known for many years: Greenhouse gas emissions (排放物) are the main driver of changes in the world’s oceans, and the global economy must make a complete change to reduce those emissions.
“Even if we cut carbon emissions right now, we are still looking at 20 to 30 years of change.” Pershing explains. “That means, no matter what we do, we have to work out how we are going to adapt to these changes.”
【小题1】What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?| A．The results of global climate change. |
| B．The increasing frequency of heat waves. |
| C．The cause of heat waves in the oceans. |
| D．The problem ocean animals are facing. |
| A．By presenting research findings. | B．By following the order of time. |
| C．By providing examples. | D．By following the order of importance. |
| A．We should manage to reduce carbon emissions. |
| B．The measures to deal with climate change are useful. |
| C．We have a promising future of the world environment. |
| D．The influences of climate change on oceans are unavoidable. |
