Inglés 2ªev. XXXV

The world is now warmer than at almost any time since the end of the last ice age and, on present trends, it will continue to reach a record high for the entire period since the dawn of civilization. A study published in the journal Science aims to give a global overview of Earth’s temperatures over the past 11,300 years- a relatively balmy period known as the Holocene that began after the last major ice age ended and encompasses all of recorded human civilization. Their data (compiled by studying such things as ice cores, fossils and ocean sediment) looked back over a much longer era than previous research, which went back 1,500 years. Scientists say there is further evidence that modern-day global warming isn’t natural, but the result of rising carbon dioxide emissions that have rapidly grown since the Industrial Revolution began roughly 250 years ago. Scientists say that if natural factors were still governing the climate, the Northern Hemisphere would probably be destined to freeze over again in several thousand years. Instead, scientists believe the enormous increase in greenhouse gases caused by industrialization will almost certainly prevent that. Shaun Marcott, a geologist at Oregon State University, says “global temperatures are warmer than about 75 percent of anything we’ve seen over the last 11,000 years or so.” The other way to look at that is, 25 percent of the time since the last ice age, it’s been warmer than now. It’s taken just 100 years for the average temperature to change by 1.3 degrees, when it took 5,000 years to do that before. By the end of the century, climate warming models predict an additional increase of 2 to 11.5 degrees, due largely to carbon emissions, the study noted. 4. The Earth’s temperature has increased quickly since …. a) the Industrial Revolution. b) the Holocene. c) 1,500 years ago. d) the Northern Hemisphere.

A new ‘super-Earth’ that could have a life-supporting climate and water has been discovered. The planet, given the catchy name HD 40307g, was discovered in a multiworld solar system 42 light years from the Sun and lies at exactly the right distance from its star to allow liquid surface water. It orbits well within the star’s ‘habitable’ or ‘Goldilocks’ zone – the region where temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold to sustain life. Professor Hugh Jones, from the University of Hertfordshire said: “The longer orbit of the new planet means that its climate and atmosphere may be just right to support life. Just as Goldilocks liked her porridge to be neither too hot nor too cold but just right, this planet, or indeed any moons that it has, lies in an orbit comparable to Earth, increasing the probability of it being habitable.” The ‘super earth’ is one of six planets believed to circle the dwarf star HD 40307 in the constellation Pictor. All the others are located outside the habitable zone, too close to their parent star to support liquid water. 3. Which statement is true of the ‘Goldilocks’ zone?. a) It is a planet which has a habitable climate. b) It refers to a zone which is too close to the parent star. c) It refers to a planet with several moons and a long orbit. d) It is an orbit region which is comparable to the Earth’s.