首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
A commonplace observation of weather fluctuating between a severe heat wave and a fairly cool day may be what dooms us to climat
A commonplace observation of weather fluctuating between a severe heat wave and a fairly cool day may be what dooms us to climat
admin
2013-09-16
114
问题
A commonplace observation of weather fluctuating between a severe heat wave and a fairly cool day may be what dooms us to climate catastrophe, in two ways. On one side, the variability of temperatures from day to day and year to year makes it easy to miss, ignore or obscure the longer-term upward trend. On the other, even a fairly modest rise in average temperatures translates into a much higher frequency of extreme events — like the devastating drought now gripping America’s heartland — that do vast damage.
Then how should we think about the relationship between climate change and day-to-day experience? Almost a quarter of a century ago James Hansen, the NASA scientist who did more than anyone to put climate change on the agenda, suggested the analogy of loaded dice. Imagine, he and his associates suggested, representing the probabilities of a hot, average or cold summer by historical standards as a die with two faces painted red, two white and two blue. By the early 21st century, they predicted, it would be as if four of the faces were red, one white and one blue. Hot summers would become much more frequent, but there would still be cold summers now and then. And so it has proved.
But that’s not all: really extreme high temperatures, the kind of thing that used to happen very rarely in the past, have now become fairly common. Think of it as rolling two sixes, which happens less than 3 percent of the time with fair dice, but more often when the dice are loaded. And this rising incidence of extreme events, reflecting the same variability of weather that can obscure the reality of climate change, means that the costs of climate change aren’t a distant prospect, decades in the future. On the contrary, they’re already here, even though so far global temperatures are only about 1 degree Fahrenheit above their historical norms, a small fraction of their eventual rise if we don’t act.
The great Midwestern drought is a case in point. This drought has already sent corn prices to their highest level ever. If it continues, it could cause a global food crisis, because the U. S. heartland is still the world’s breadbasket. And yes, the drought is linked to climate change: such events have happened before, but they’re much more likely now than they used to be. Now, maybe this drought will break in time to avoid the worst. But there will be more events like this.
Will the current drought finally lead to serious climate action? History isn’t encouraging. The deniers will surely keep on denying, especially because conceding at this point that the science they’ve trashed was right all along would be to admit their own culpability for the looming disaster. And the public is all too likely to lose interest again the next time the dice comes up white or blue.
By the analogy of loaded dice, James Hansen intended to highlight ______.
选项
A、the strong correlation between climate change and daily experiences
B、the equal distribution of hot, average or cold weather conditions
C、the abnormal alternation between cold summers and hot ones
D、the disadvantage that climate change has already put people at
答案
D
解析
第二段指出,詹姆斯.汉森就“将气候变化提上日程”做出了巨大贡献,他提出了“用灌铅的骰子类比气候变化”的建议,指出21世纪初气候骰子会出现四面红色、一面白色和一面蓝色的局面(正常的骰子理应出现红、白、蓝三色出现几率相同的局面)。段末句进一步指出该预测现已得到了,事实验证。可见,詹姆斯.汉森“灌铅的骰子”这一概念形象地向人们展示了“气候变化已经发生且在不久的未来将会更加明显(极端高温天气频繁出现)”的事实。[D]选项正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/VIO4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
WhichofthefollowingreflectsthechangeofCatholicChurch?Therelationshipbetweenthefirsttwoparagraphscanbedescrib
Politicalcontroversyaboutthepublic-landpolicyoftheUnitedStatesbeganwiththeAmericaRevolution.(1)_____,evenbefore
Youaregoingtoreadatextabouttipsofhowtomakeagoodspeech,followedbyalistofexamplesandexplanations.Chooseth
Punishmentdependsasmuchonpoliticsasitdoesoncrime:crimerateshavebeenstableinrecentyearsbutthere’sbeenastri
Punishmentdependsasmuchonpoliticsasitdoesoncrime:crimerateshavebeenstableinrecentyearsbutthere’sbeenastri
U.S.courtrestrictionsonaffirmative-actionsignifythatWhathasbeenadivisiveissueacrosstheUnitedStates?
TheUnitedNationsiscallingforbillionsofdollarstobespentbygovernmentstofightclimatechangeandgreenhousegassest
Schoolshootingsacrossthecountrycontinuetodiscussthestoryofthestudentwhoisoutcastbyfellowpeersanddecidestol
Weakdollarorno,$46,000-thepriceforasingleyearofundergraduateinstructionamidtheredbrickofHarvardYard-is【1】But
GoOnaSpecialAreaOpportunitytoScholarship?AU.S.EducationDepartmentstudyreleasedyesterdayfoundthatDistricts
随机试题
诊断急性细菌性痢疾不需做下列哪项检查
急性心力衰竭出现水肿,钠潴留时,可选用的治疗药物是
A.麻黄汤加减B.桑白皮汤加减C.金匮肾气丸加减D.杏苏散加减E.桑菊饮加减治疗痰热郁肺作喘宜选用的方剂是
长期氧疗是指
某普通住宅,采用现浇钢筋混凝土部分框支剪力墙结构,房屋高度40.9m。地下1层,地上13层,首层~三层层高分别为4.5m、4.2m、3.9m,其余各层层高均为2.8m,抗震设防烈度为7度,Ⅱ类建筑场地。第3层设转换层,纵横向均有落地剪力墙,地下一层顶板可作
估算工程量单价合同结算工程价款的主要依据是投标单价和( )。
如果某投资方案在经济上可行,则一定有( )。
下列属于中国现代著名文学家沈从文的作品的是:
清代的国子监生实行()
Afterthebirthofmysecondchild,Igotajobatarestaurant.Havingworkedwithanexperienced【C1】______forafewdays,Iw
最新回复
(
0
)