Key aspects Read the following text. Think and talk about the different ways people could react to the facts mentioned and discussed in the text (e. g. denial, depression, analysis of their own carbon footprint, …). Then close the book and write down two or three facts or ideas mentioned in the text in your own words. 6.1 The state of our environment 1. What are the most pressing environmental problems? At the moment, changing “climate patterns and rising global temperatures are perhaps the most pressing of all the problems facing the planet.” According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change is “widespread, rapid, and intensifying.” This has led to “changes to oceans, ice, and land, including more frequent and severe climate disasters like heatwaves, droughts, fires, floods and cyclones. Temperatures are the warmest they’ve been in roughly 125,000 years, […] and CO2 concentrations at their highest in at least 2 million years. […] The […] more greenhouse gases (GHGs) are emitted, the warmer the planet gets and the more frequent and intense dangerous events become.” “Melting glaciers, higher sea levels, coastal erosion, extreme weather, heat waves, infectious disease and disrupted agricultural patterns are all triggered by climate change […] [Children] living at lower elevations may see their homelands entirely submerged by water by the time they become adults.” Air pollution – usually a mix of gases and solid particles in the air – is another severe problem. “Vehicles, factories and fires are among the most significant contributors to air pollution […] Exposure to polluted air is especially dangerous for children, whose lungs and immune systems are still developing.” Moreover, the health of the world’s oceans is threatened as a result of human activities. They “cover over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, so any threat to the ocean, like pollution or overfishing, is a threat to the entire planet. Oil spills, industrial runoff, pesticides and sewage are just a few of the contaminants “The Earth is what we all have in common.” Wendell Berry, American novelist 55 6 Topic Environment & sustainability Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum d s Verlags öbv
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