The southwest of Australia has been named as one of 25”hot spots” for future species extinction(灭绝)because of global warming.A new study says global warming will become a top cause of extinction across the world,with thousands of species of plantsand animals likely to be wiped out in the coming decades.
According to the study,global warming ranks among the most serious threats to the planet’s biodiversity and,under some conditions,may be more than that due to deforestation.This study provides even stronger scientific evidence that global warming will result in catastrophic(灾难性的)species losses across the planet.Last month,a UN study said humans were responsible for the worst extinction and urged extra efforts to reach a UN target of slowing the rate of losses by 2010.
Scientists disagree about how far global warming is to blame compared with other human threats such as deforestation,pollution and the introduction of some species to new habitats.But the new study looks at the 25 “hot spots”—areas that contain a big concentration of plants and animals—and predicts that 11.6 percent of all species,with a range from 1 to 43 percent,could be driven to extinction if levels of heat trapping gases in the atmosphere were to keep rising in the next 100 years.
The range would mean the loss of thousands of species.The study gave a wide range because of uncertainties, for instance, about the ability of animals or plants to move towards the poles if the climate warmed. Rare plants,tortoises or birds found only on the southern tip of Africa cannot move south because the nearest land is thousands of miles away in Antarctica.
小题1:According to the passage,which of the following about Australia is TRUE?
A．Australia possesses the richest species in the world.
B．Australia is the country with the highest rate of extinction.
C．The species in the southwest of Australia will be easily affected by global warming.
D．Australia will have the highest temperature in the world.小题2:According to the passage,all the 25”hot spots”-------- .
A．are rich in plants and animals
B．are lacking in natural resources
C．lost most of their plants in 2010
D．will be much hotter than the rest of the world小题3:We can infer if the climate warms,the animals in Australia will most probably move to the ______ .
A．north
B．east
C．west
D．south小题4:What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Australia Named as Extinction”Hot Spot”
B．Global Warming and Species Extinction
C．Global Warming is Number One Killer
D．Australia on the Edge of Extinction
