VOCABULARY CHANGING WEATHER / ENVIRONMENT / GLOBAL WARMING

Environment the natural world (the land, water, air, plants, animals...) that is affected by
human activiy.
Global Warming the slow increase in the temperature of the Earth caused partly by the
greenhouse efect, which increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
A Flood when a lot of water covers ana rea that is usually dry, especially when it rains a
lot or a river becomes too full: There are floods in many parts of India.
A storm very bad weather with lots of rain, snow, wind, etc: There was a terrible storm
last night.
A rainbow It was painted with every colour of the rainbow.
Thunder the loud noise that comes from the sky during a storm: The thunder last night
woke me up. Also: a thunderstorm (una tormenta elctrica)
Lightning a bright light in the sky caused by electricity during a storm, usually followed
by thunder: He was hit by lightning and was taken to hospital.
A gale a very strong wind: There will be gales in northern parts of Spain tonight.
A shower a short period of rain: Its just a shower. Itll stop soon.
A hurricane / a typhoon a violent storm with very strong winds: Our house was
damaged by a hurricane
Fog thick cloud just above the ground or sea that makes it difficult to see: Theres often
a lot of fog early in the morning
Humid when the air is hot and wet: It gets very humid here in the summer.
A heat wave a period of unusually hot weather that continues for a long time: We had a
heat wave for two weeks last summer.
A cold wave -- a period of unusually cold weather that continues for a long time: We had
a cold wave for 10 days last winter.
A tornado an extremely strong and dangerous wind that blows in a circle and destroys
buildings: There are often tornados in the Caribbean in the summer.

There is more and more heat in the atmosphere because of man-made greenhouse
gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced by burning oil, gas and coal.

Ice cap - an ice mass that covers less than 50 000 km of land area (usually covering a
highland area): I took a wonderful picture of a polar ice cap last winter.
Melt to change a solid substance into a liquid.
Sea level the average level of the sea in relation to the land.
Extremeweatherconditions
Ecologythe study of the environment and the way that plants, animals and humans
live together and affect each other.
Pollutionthe process of damaging the air, water, or land with chemicals or other
substances.
Noisepollutiondangerous or annoying levels of noise
Recyclingthe process of changing waste materials such as newspapers and bottles in
order to use them again.
Deforestation the process of removing / cutting down the trees from an area of land.
 WARM-UP

1. GLOBAL WARMING: Walk around the class and talk to other students
about global warming. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your original
partner(s) and share what you found out.

2. WHAT WE CAN DO: With your partner(s), rank these things which
are best to slow down / control climate change?

Walk or take public transport instead of driving.

Write to US president Barack Obama urging him to do more.
Replace your electricity supply with renewable energy, such as solar or wind
power.
Use the lights in your house less.
Replace your electrical appliances with more energy efficient ones.
Plant a tree in the forest.
Recycle everything you use.
Donate money to organizations pushing for controls on global warming.

3. WARMING FUTURE: In pairs / groups, rank the following outcomes

of global warming - most serious at the top.

Polar bears and penguins will Hurricanes will be stronger

disappear
Winters will be 10 degrees colder
Malaria will spread around the
globe
Cockroaches will be everywhere
Africa will have more droughts
Skin cancer will increase
Drinking water will be expensive
Many countries will disappear
under water
Water wars will break out
between nations
READING
Global warming and climate change

What is global warming?

Heat from the sun is held in the Earths atmosphere by natural greenhouse
gases. These keep the planet warm and without them the average temperature
would be about -18 C instead of -14 C. However, more and more heat is being
kept in the atmosphere because of man-made greenhouse gases, particularly
carbon dioxide (CO2), which is produced by burning oil, gas and coal. This
global warming is already causing changes in the weather all over the world.

How has climate change changed the worlds weather?

Since the 1970s, average global temperature have risen by about 0.6C and
many scientists believe that more extreme weather conditions have been
caused by climate change in recent years. For example, New Orleans was hit
by a huge hurricane in 2005. Many people were killed and thousands were
made homeless. And in the summer of 2003, 15,000 people in France died as a
result of a heat wave.

How will climate change affect the world in the future?

Experts believe that more and more places are going to be affected by climate
change in the future. And as the ice caps at the North and South Poles melt and
sea levels rise further, many towns and villages near the coast will be flooded.
This is a frightening thought because more than half the worlds population live
near the coast.

What can we do to stop global warming?

A lot has been written about what governments and businesses should do to
slow down global warming. However, theres also a lot we can do to save
energy at home. For example, always turn off TVs, DVD players and computers
machines use 70% as much electricity on stand-by as when theyre being
used. Many other useful tips can be found on public information websites.
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