The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported recently that diseases from mosquito, flea and tick bites tripled in the US between 2004 and 2016, with more than 640,000 cases seen during that period of time. Maine alone saw a 20-fold increase in cases of the tick-borne (蜱传播的) illness Lyme disease. The danger showed no sign of abating this year, with ticks crawling into Mainers’ lives as early as May.
Their early arrival was largely a product of warmer temperatures in the region. It is perhaps for this reason that Lyme disease-once a regional problem largely confined to New England-has now been discovered in all 50 states. Warm weather-loving ticks and Lyme disease are just the examples of how our rapidly-heating planet is destroying our health.
Climate change’s most visible symptoms are the natural disasters we’ve seen so often in recent years. When a disaster strikes, the most immediate threat to health is, of course, the danger posed by the event itself. During the 2017 wildfires in California and Oregon, for example, many living near the smoke reported respiratory distress (呼吸窘迫) and other problems because of breathing in the dangerous smoke. But this initial damage is often just a prologue (序幕) to the damage these disasters can have on our health-damage that unfolds over the course of weeks, months or even years.
Take standing flood water for example. It’s a ripe breeding ground for mosquitoes and bacteria and can pose a serious threat in the period following a major storm. Climate change’s impact is combined with the destruction of the basic construction-like power grids and drinking water delivery systems-and the loss of core services-like health care and waste disposal. It can both create new health challenges and complicate the treatment of existing ones.
Climate change can lead to storms and fires, fever and smoke, and the mental and physical health challenges that characterize the long aftermath of disasters. It is through these damages that climate change has gotten under our skin, into our lungs and weighed on our minds to the hurt of our well-being.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “abating” in the first paragraph mean?| A．Decreasing. | B．Distinguishing. | C．Disobeying. | D．Developing. |
| A．Because of the movement of population. |
| B．Because of the wide spread of mosquitoes. |
| C．Because of more natural disasters in the country. |
| D．Because of warmer temperatures all over the country. |
| A．Natural disasters are becoming more common. |
| B．We should take measures to prevent climate change. |
| C．Climate change is becoming more and more noticeable. |
| D．Climate change increases the chance of people getting sick. |
| A．following time order | B．giving examples |
| C．making comparisons | D．presenting research findings |
