Terribly hot weather, pouring downpours... Scientists have long suspected that global warming can cause extreme weather events. Now experts have numbers to support that idea.
The burning of fossil fuels has been leading to a buildup of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. This CO2 is a greenhouse gas. That means it can trap heat in the air. As a result, our planet’s temperature has been rising. And this global wanning will account for a growing share of ever more frequent extreme weather events.
Many governments hope to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above temperatures that were typical before the Industrial Revolution. It will be hard for nations to achieve that. But even if they do, global warming still will be responsible for nearly all heat extremes. Global warming also will be to blame for about 2 out of every 5 extreme rains and snowfalls. “This is a considerable fraction of major weather events,” says climate scientist Peter Stott.
So far. Earth has warmed about 0.85 degree Celsius since 1750. That’s about when the Industrial Revolution got its start. That’s also when fossil fuel use took off, spewing(喷出) lots of CO2 into the air, MOverall, the new study shows that relatively small rises in global temperature translate into large increases in the likelihood of extremes. Stott says.
Erich Fischer and Reto Knutti analyzed 25 different computer models of global climate. These analyses looked at different climate periods, from preindustrial times to the present. The analyses also predicted what weather events were likely to be like in the future. This period was predicted to be warmer by 2 and 3 degrees Celsius.
The computer looked at when extreme heat and precipitation(冰雹) occurred during each climate period. It focused on events of unusual heat or heavy precipitation. Before the Industrial Revolution, such extremes typically would have occurred only once in every 1,000 days.
“But since the globe has been warming, such extremes are no longer nearly as rare. These new findings provide ‘a global statement’,” Fischer says. “You can still get the biggest heat that you have ever seen without any human changes.”
【小题1】The second paragraph is mainly about| A．what damage the global wanning caused |
| B．how the global warming came into being |
| C．where the global warming is becoming serious |
| D．why fossil fuels have to be forbidden |
| A．it is reasonable for climate change to happen |
| B．there is no serious effect of the global warming now |
| C．the influence of the global warming is great |
| D．the extreme weather happens in small numbers |
| A．will happen more often than before | B．happens once in every 1,000 days |
| C．strikes every region without differences | D．has become a rare phenomenon across the planet |
| A．Extreme weather is becoming common now. | B．The role of global warming in extreme weather. |
| C．Earth has suffered from extreme weather. | D．Global warming makes Earth hotter and hotter. |
