world environment day

As in many recent winters, the lack of snowfall in December seemed topreview our global warming future, with peaks from Oregon to New Hampshiremore brown than white and the American Sout

HỌC VIỆN NGÂN HÀNGKHOA NGOẠI NGỮ

PORTFOLIOCOURSE: READING

CLASS: ENG04H11TOPIC:WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

Lecturers: Dương Thị Thanh Hoà

Group: 61 Mã SV :26A4010197Họ và Tên: Bùi Đức Thiện2 Mã SV: 26A4011498Họ và Tên: Trần Lan Anh3 Mã SV: 26A4011948Họ và Tên: Nguyễn Thị Xuân Hằng4 Mã SV: 26A4012399Họ và Tên: Lý Thị Lan Hương5 Mã SV: 26A4010189Họ và Tên:Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo

HÀ NỘI, NGÀY 22 THÁNG 4, NĂM 2024

1.Topic 1: Snowfall1.1 Reading text

Snow is one of the most contradictory cues we have for understanding climatechange As in many recent winters, the lack of snowfall in December seemed topreview our global warming future, with peaks from Oregon to New Hampshiremore brown than white and the American Southwest facing a severe snow drought.On the other hand, record blizzards like those in early 2023 that buried Californiamountain communities, replenished parched reservoirs, and dropped 11 feet ofsnow on northern Arizona defy our conceptions of life on a warming planet

Similarly, scientific data from ground observations, satellites, and climate modelsdo not agree on whether global warming is consistently chipping away at thesnowpacks that accumulate in high-elevation mountains, complicating efforts tomanage the water scarcity that would result for many population centers Now, anew Dartmouth study cuts through the uncertainty in these observations andprovides evidence that seasonal snowpacks throughout most of the NorthernHemisphere have indeed shrunk significantly over the past 40 years due to human-driven climate change The sharpest global warming-related reductions insnowpack between 10% to 20% per decade are in the Southwestern andNortheastern United States, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe

The researchers report in the journal Nature that the extent and speed of this losspotentially puts the hundreds of millions of people in North America, Europe, andAsia who depend on snow for their water on the precipice of a crisis that continuedwarming will amplify "We were most concerned with how warming is affectingthe amount of water stored in snow The loss of that reservoir is the mostimmediate and potent risk that climate change poses to society in terms ofdiminishing snowfall and accumulation," said first author Alexander Gottlieb, aPhD student in the Ecology, Evolution, Environment and Society graduate

program at Dartmouth "Our work identifies the watersheds that have experiencedhistorical snow loss and those that will be most vulnerable to rapid snowpackdeclines with further warming," Gottlieb said "The train has left the station forregions such as the Southwestern and Northeastern United States By the end of the21st century, we expect these places to be close to snow-free by the end of March.We're on that path and not particularly well adapted when it comes to waterscarcity."

Water security is only one dimension of snow loss, said Justin Mankin, anassociate professor of geography and the paper's senior author The Hudson,Susquehanna, Delaware, Connecticut, and Merrimack watersheds in theNortheastern U.S., where water scarcity is not as dire, experienced among thesteepest declines in snowpack But these heavy losses threaten economies in statessuch as Vermont, New York, and New Hampshire that depend on winterrecreation, Mankin said even machine-made snow has a temperature thresholdmany areas are fast approaching "The recreational implications are emblematic ofthe ways in which global warming disproportionately affects the most vulnerablecommunities," Mankin said "Ski resorts at lower elevations and latitudes havealready been contending with year-on-year snow loss This will just accelerate,making the business model inviable." "We'll likely see further consolidation ofskiing into large, well-resourced resorts at the expense of small and medium-sizedski areas that have such crucial local economic and cultural values It will be a lossthat will ripple through communities," he said

In the study, Gottlieb and Mankin focused on how global warming's influence ontemperature and precipitation drove changes in snowpack in 169 river basinsacross the Northern Hemisphere from 1981 through 2020 The loss of snowpackspotentially means less meltwater in spring for rivers, streams, and soilsdownstream when ecosystems and people demand water Gottlieb and Mankinprogrammed a machine learning model to examine thousands of observations andclimate-model experiments that captured snowpack, temperature, precipitation, andrunoff data for Northern Hemisphere watersheds This not only let them identifywhere snowpack losses occurred due to warming, it also gave them the ability toexamine the counteracting influence of climate-driven changes in temperature andprecipitation, which decrease and increase snowpack thickness, respectively

The researchers identified the uncertainties that the models and observationsshared so they could home in on what scientists had previously missed whengauging the effect of climate change on snow A 2021 study by Gottlieb andMankin similarly leveraged uncertainties in how scientists measure snow depthand define snow drought to improve predictions of water availability Snow comeswith uncertainties that have masked the effects of global warming, Mankin said."People assume that snow is easy to measure, that it simply declines with warming,

and that its loss implies the same impacts everywhere None of these are the case,"Mankin said "Snow observations are tricky at the regional scales most relevant forassessing water security," Mankin said "Snow is very sensitive to within-wintervariations in temperature and precipitation, and the risks from snow loss are not thesame in New England as in the Southwest, or for a village in the Alps as in high-mountain Asia."

Gottlieb and Mankin in fact found that 80% of the Northern Hemisphere'ssnowpacks which are in its far-northern and high-elevation reaches experienced minimal losses Snowpacks actually expanded in vast swaths ofAlaska, Canada, and Central Asia as climate change increased the precipitation thatfalls as snow in these frigid regions But it is the remaining 20% of the snowpackthat exists around and provides water for many of the hemisphere's majorpopulation centers that has diminished Since 1981, documented declines insnowpack for these regions have been largely inconsistent due to the uncertainty inobservations and naturally occurring variations in climate But Gottlieb andMankin found that a steady pattern of annual declines in snow accumulationemerge quickly and leave population centers suddenly and chronically short onnew supplies of water from snowmelt

Many snow-dependent watersheds now find themselves dangerously near atemperature threshold Gottlieb and Mankin call a "snow-loss cliff." This meansthat as average winter temperatures in a watershed increase beyond 17 degreesFahrenheit (minus 8 degrees Celsius), snow loss accelerates even with only modestincreases in local average temperatures Many highly populated watersheds thatrely on snow for water supply are going to see accelerating losses over the nextfew decades, Mankin said "It means that water managers who rely on snowmeltcan't wait for all the observations to agree on snow loss before they prepare forpermanent changes to water supplies By then, it's too late," he said "Once a basinhas fallen off that cliff, it's no longer about managing a short-term emergency untilthe next big snow Instead, they will be adapting to permanent changes to wateravailability."

driven climate change The research reveals that the most significant reductions,between 10% to 20% per decade, are seen in the Southwestern and NortheasternUnited States, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe This loss of snowpack hasmajor implications for water availability, potentially putting millions of people inNorth America, Europe, and Asia at risk of water scarcity The study alsohighlights the economic impact, particularly on winter recreation in states such asVermont, New York, and New Hampshire, where ski resorts are already strugglingwith year-on-year snow loss The researchers focused on how global warmingaffects temperature and precipitation, which in turn drive changes in snowpack.They used machine learning to analyze thousands of observations and climate-model experiments and identified previously overlooked uncertainties inmeasuring snow depth and defining snow drought The study warns that manysnow-dependent watersheds are nearing a "snow-loss cliff," where even slightincreases in average temperatures lead to accelerated snow loss and permanentchanges to water availability Water managers need to prepare for these changesand adapt to ensure future water supplies.

1.3 Reflection

Some people argue that the loss of snowpacks potentially means less meltwater inspring for rivers, streams, and soil downstream when ecosystems and peopledemand water We completely agree with this opinion As far as we know, theorigin of ice-floes is a result of snow falling in low-temperature conditions,accumulating and compacting over a long period of time So, when snowpacks arelost, in other words, there will be less meltwater in spring for rivers, streams, andso on, and the ecosystems and human life will be endangered Meltwater is themain source that provides water to river and stream basins, if this source is goingto disappear, the amount of water in these basins will also decrease Human needsfor domestic water are supplied mainly through large river basins, for that reason,if there is a shortage of water in these upstream places, people will lack waterresources for daily activities In our point of view, this is truly a worrying problemchallenging people now and perhaps in the future We must make efforts quickly todeal with this issue in order to prevent the severe consequences before theyhappen We should join hands to protect the environment by planting trees tocreate forests, raising awareness among people about the seriousness of theproblem, and using both renewable and sustainable products that are friendly andrecycled easily into the environment

1.4 Word bank

No Words/phrases

PronunciationMeaning in

English

Examples

1 watershed ['wɔ:təʃed] A watershed is an

area of land that drains rainfall andsnowmelt into streams and rivers

Watersheds drain

rainfall and snowmelt into streams and rivers

2 hemisphere [ˈhemɪsfɪə(r)] one of two halves

of the earth, especially above or below the equator

The equator divides the earth into the northern and southern

hemispheres.

3 accelerate [əkˈseləˌrāt] to happen or make

something happensooner or faster:

They use special chemicals to

accelerate the

growth of crops

4 blizzard [ˈblɪzəd] a severe snow

storm with strong winds

There were

blizzards in the

north-west and tornadoes on thesouth coast

out because of toomuch heat and notenough rain

Nothing could grow on the

parched land

6 reservoir [ˈrezəvwɑː(r)] a place for storing

liquid, especially a natural or artificial lake providing water for a city or other area

The dam regulatesthe flow of water from the

8 satellite [ˈsætəlaɪt] a device sent up

into space to travel around the earth, used for collecting information or communicating by radio,

A strong gust of wind almost sent the loose rock tumbling down the

precipice.

10 recreation [,rekri'ei∫n] (a way of)

enjoying yourselfwhen you are notworking

supply up

12 amplify [ˈampləˌfī] increase the

volume of (sound), especially using an amplifier

the goal is to

dimension the

drawing clearly so that the parts are built to your specification

2.Topic 2: Wildfires

2.1 Reading text

For millions of people across the northeastern United States and Canada this week,the sun turned red, obscured in a haze of smoke from wildfires burning in Quebec and Ontario Wildfires are typical in these regions, but this year is particularly intense According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, in an average year, less than a square mile of forest would be burned by now But so far this year, over 600 square miles have been scorched With air quality declared a “very high risk for health” in cities like Toronto and Ottawa, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated across Canada As the smoke has moved south to cities including Boston, New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., it has impacted travel and caused some school districts to suspend outdoor activities On

Wednesday, June 7, the air quality index in and around New York City was the worst since the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began recording measurements in 1999 The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a statewide air quality alert that expired at midnight on June 7, but the worst air quality is expected to hit Toronto on Thursday, June 8, and smoke will continue to blow over parts of the US As the smoke has moved south, it’s forced many residents indoors or to wear masks when they’re outdoors

National Weather Service Philadelphia/Mount Holly

How did the Wildfires Start?Some of these fires were ignited from lightning, and some by humans, but they are stronger due to dry conditions caused by warming temperatures Climate change

creates hotter, drier conditions, leading to longer and more active fire seasons— and, unfortunately, there’s no sign they’re going to slow down anytime soon As large fire events become more common, what can people do to protect themselves?“When I see this level of smoke from wildfires, my first concern is how much worse and more common these events may become with climate change,” says JeffGeddes, a Boston University College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of Earth and environment who studies air quality Many communities in the western United States have been experiencing this for years, but “people who are not used to worrying about the air they breathe will need to start preparing themselves and educating themselves about how to protect their health,” he says.

How Wildfires Affect our Health?When it comes to wildfire smoke, the exact composition depends on the propertiesof the vegetation, the temperature of the fire, and other environmental factors “You can expect a mix of really nasty constituents like soot, carbon monoxide, andtoxic hydrocarbons,” Geddes says Health experts and researchers worry the most about particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, known as PM2.5, andoften called particulate matter or fine particulate matter These particles are potent in wildfire smoke, and small enough to get past the body’s natural defenses, such as the tiny hairs in your nose, and settle in the lungs Air quality alerts often warn residents to stay indoors when PM2.5 levels are above 100—the Air Quality Index, established by the EPA, runs from 0 to 500; the higher the number, the higher the level of pollutants like ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide

“Many studies have shown the negative impacts of exposure to fine particulate matter from smoke,” says Jennifer Stowell, a postdoctoral fellow at BU’s School of Public Health who studies environmental health effects from wildfires

“Wildfire-specific fine particulate matter has been linked to clinical and emergencydepartment visits for respiratory issues, including asthma, decreased lung function, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and others.” These effects are also thought to have a higher impact on vulnerable populations For example, Stowell’s researchhas found more respiratory disease impacts in children when compared with adults.She’s working to delve deeper into the questions surrounding wildfire smoke exposure and pregnant women, who are also considered a vulnerable group “While predicting the future is difficult, I and others have shown potentially dramatic increases in adverse health impacts due to wildfire activity by the 2050s and beyond,” she says