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
The battle to prevent or at least slow global warming has intensified in the past year as scientists have learned more about the
The battle to prevent or at least slow global warming has intensified in the past year as scientists have learned more about the
admin
2019-09-30
117
问题
The battle to prevent or at least slow global warming has intensified in the past year as scientists have learned more about the magnitude of the problem. One of the leading climate experts, Inez Y. Fung, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Center at the University of California, Berkeley, recently showed that the earth may soon lose its ability to absorb much of the greenhouse gas that is raising temperatures. The oceans and continents currently soak up about half the carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels. In the oceans, the gas combines with water to form carbonic acid; on land, plants take in more carbon dioxide and grow faster.
But computer modeling done by Fung and her colleagues indicates that these
carbon sinks
will become less effective as the earth continues to warm. For example, as the tropics become hotter and drier in the summer, plants will reduce their respiration of carbon dioxide to avoid water loss. Atmospheric measurements over the past decade have confirmed this effect. If the oceans and land take in less carbon dioxide, more will remain in the atmosphere and global warming could accelerate catastrophically. Despite these warning signs, the government administration has opposed approval of the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty mandating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But nine states in the northeastern U.S. are attempting to sidestep the federal government’s opposition by taking action on their own. Last August the group reached a preliminary agreement to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 10 percent by 2020. The plan requires approval by the state legislatures, but environmentalists are already hoping that other regions of the U.S. will follow suit. If adopted nationwide, the proposal would lower greenhouse gas emissions by roughly as much as the Kyoto Protocol would have.
Steve Howard, chief executive of the Climate Group, is tackling the global-warming problem from a different angle. Founded in 2004, the Climate Group is a coalition of corporations and local governments that have voluntarily committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Members include oil giant BP (British Petroleum Co. PLC), drug-maker Johnson & Johnson, and Starbucks. Businesses in the Climate Group have discovered that improvements in energy efficiency can enhance profits as well as cut fossil-fuel emissions; BP, for instance, slashed its energy bills by $650 million over 10 years. "We have seen important evidence about successful emission reduction scattered here and there in the most surprising places all over the globe," Howard says. "We are working to bring all of it together so that it forms a body of evidence."
What does "carbon sinks" (Para. 2) mean?
选项
A、The process of producing greenhouse gas.
B、The gradual process of land submersion.
C、The absorbers of carbon dioxide.
D、The process of forming carbonic compounds.
答案
C
解析
词义理解题。题目问的是carbon sink的含义。第一段说的是陆地和海洋在吸收二氧化碳方面的作用,第二段通过But引起转折,指出这两种吸收体的效率将降低,因此carbon sink的意思为“二氧化碳的吸收体”,答案为C项。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/wce4777K
0
考研英语二
相关试题推荐
WhentheAmericaneconomywasrunningfulltilttwoyearsago,fewplaceswereasbreathlesslydelightedasSeattle.Itsportwa
______thecomplaintyouhavemad4thereisnothingwecandotoimprovethequalityofthesegoods.
TheoutbreakofswinefluthatwasfirstdetectedinMexicowasdeclaredaglobalepidemiconJune11,2009.Itisthefirstworld
TheoutbreakofswinefluthatwasfirstdetectedinMexicowasdeclaredaglobalepidemiconJune11,2009.Itisthefirstworld
TheoutbreakofswinefluthatwasfirstdetectedinMexicowasdeclaredaglobalepidemiconJune11,2009.Itisthefirstworld
Asia’srealboat-rockerisagrowingChina,notJapan,aseniorAmericaneconomistobserved.Thereissomuchnoisesurround
Workingatnonstandardtimes—evenings,nights,orweekends—istakingitstollonAmericanfamilies.One-fifthofallemployedAm
Newscientificstudiesrevealthehiddencostsofmultitaskingastechnologyincreasinglytemptspeopletodomorethanonethin
Scientistsoftenstruggletocommunicatethefindingsofresearch.Oursubjectmattercanbetechnicalandnoteasilydigestedb
Thosedaysarelonggonewhenplacingatelephonecallmeantsimplypickingupthereceiverandaskingtheoperatortopatchyou
随机试题
2019年1月23日,习近平总书记主持召开中央全面深化改革委员会第六次会议。会议指出,()是绿色发展的重要动力,是打好污染防治攻坚战、推进生态文明建设、促进高质量发展的重要支撑。
假如你是一个房地产公哥的总裁,目前你们公司新开发出来一些商铺,现在正在进行一个招商活动,以吸引广大商户前来使用你们公司的商铺。今天,一个商户给你一封来信,表达了他与你们公司进行商铺合作的意向,但是想要了解更多关于你们公司商铺的一些信息。一份好的这种商务
简述马克思主义中国化的科学内涵。
某新建项目大气环境影响评价等级为三级。根据《环境影响评价技术导则—大气环境》,TSP环境质量现状每期监测时间和每天监测时段符合要求的是()。
【背景资料】A公司经过公开招标,承接了建筑面积为25000m2的18层商业用房,并按照法律规定与建设单位签订了施工合同。在招标与施工过程中,发生了下列事件:事件一:招标文件规定,投标截止日期为2016年11月20日,投标企业必
套期保值能够有效规避价格风险的作用原理包括( )。
下列各项中,根据总账科目期末金额与其备抵科目抵销后的数据填列的是()。
我国目前已初步建立具有中国特色的家庭医生签约服务政策体系。()
Theoilpricerisereactivatedtheboomincommoditypricesand______inflation,whichreachedanannualrateof15percentinth
Iwonderwhowipedthewindowssoclean.Yourmum______it,forshewasoutthewholeday.
最新回复
(
0
)