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Uncertainty threatens the very existence of Quinhagak, Alaska. The village is built on a layer of permanently frozen ground, and

admin2022-06-13  63
问题     Uncertainty threatens the very existence of Quinhagak, Alaska. The village is built on a layer of permanently frozen ground, and as a wanning Earth rapidly turns that to soup and as rising oceans encroach, the unthinkable is looking increasingly inevitable; The town may have to move.
    The story of Quinhagak, told in this week’s cover story by Simon Montlake, is in some ways tied to the town’s Arctic environment. But it also speaks to the fundamental tension in the wider debate about global warming: How do we handle uncertainty?
    The core challenge is that the immense complexity of Earth’s climate means modeling involves significant uncertainty. To some, that uncertainty puts climate change between "a mere annoyance and an existential threat," as theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder put it in a recent New York Times opinion article, suggesting the only answer is a massive investment in supercomputers.
    But climate scientists say the uncertainty is already narrowing. "Where the uncertainty comes in is how soon some of these impacts will be felt—what will the world look like 20 years, or 50 years, or a century from now?" writes Roger Cohn, editor of the online magazine Yale Environment 360, in an email. "But there is a very strong scientific consensus that they will occur. Scientists already know that the impacts will be catastrophic in the future if we continue on the same trajectory. " These uncertainties cause a similar spectrum of responses—from doubting the conclusions entirely to claims that the world is already doomed. How do you chart a course forward when uncertainties result in disagreement about the scope and urgency of the problem? One answer has been to accelerate efforts to convince societies that the threat is existential. Yet without the overwhelming evidence of disaster facing places like Quinhagak seen more broadly, skepticism has remained.
    In his book Enlightenment Now, Harvard University professor Steven Pinker argues that the progress the world has made on health, wealth, and human rights comes from a clear formula; science, reason, and humanism. I would argue that the formula deepens when you exchange "humanism" for "humanity," defined by Webster’s New World College Dictionary as "the fact or quality of being humane; kindness, mercy, sympathy. "
    Can we talk about climate change that way? As science advances, can we use reason to examine policy choices and our own views honestly and with compassion, humility, and restraint—all qualities of humanity in its broader sense? Studies show that kind of discussion can do more to create unity than facts alone. And it also creates a firmer foundation to discuss the uncertainties that remain.
It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that________.
选项 A、it is necessary for man to cope with the climate change
B、uncertainty involved in modeling the climate change is becoming larger
C、scientists have different views on whether the impacts of the climate change will happen
D、despite the climate change, we had better lead our life as usual
答案A
解析 推理题。根据题干提示定位到第四段。第四段最后一句提到Scientists already know that the impacts will be catastrophic in the future if we continue on the same trajectory. “科学家们已经知道，如果我们继续沿着同样的轨道前进，这些影响在未来将是灾难性的。”说明，我们应该针对当前的气候变化，采取相应的应对措施。因此A项是正确的，D项错误。B项中的is becoming larger“正变得越来越大”与第四段第一句中的is already narrowing“已经在缩小”相悖，故排除。C项中的have different views“有不同观点”与原文中第四段第三句中的But there is a very strong scientific consensus that they will occur. “但是有一个非常强烈的科学共识：它们会发生。”相悖，故排除。故本题答案为A项。
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