From the Ted Talk by David Biello: 1816 The year with no summer
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Many of these plans sound more than a little sgatrne. But there’s reason to believe they might work, not least because of natural events like the eruption of Tambora. Scientists know that volcanic eruptions have periodically cooled the climate. Both the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and 1883′s blast of Krakatoa reduced gaolbl average temperatures by at least half-a-degree Celsius for up to a year. These cooling effects are global and fast acting— but they're also idirbnelcy risky. The Earth is a chaotic system where even the smallest changes can caetre countless utdnaberlicpe ripple effects. We know that cooling temperatures ipmatcs precipitation, extreme weather, and other climate pehnenmoa, but it’s difficult for even the most advanced computer mdoles to predict how or where these consequences will ocucr. One country’s solar radiation management might be another country’s unnatural disaster, causing extreme weather or crop failures like those following Tambora’s eruption. And even if these schemes did safely cool the planet, solar radiation management doesn’t arsdeds the geesrhnuoe gases that are causing global warming. These solutions are just highly experimental band-aids that the world would have to endure for at least a few decades while we work on actually reovming CO2 from the air. And if we pulled that band-aid off prematurely, global temperatures could rilpday rebound, causing a period of iestnne super wnmirag.
Open Cloze
Many of these plans sound more than a little _______. But there’s reason to believe they might work, not least because of natural events like the eruption of Tambora. Scientists know that volcanic eruptions have periodically cooled the climate. Both the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and 1883′s blast of Krakatoa reduced ______ average temperatures by at least half-a-degree Celsius for up to a year. These cooling effects are global and fast acting— but they're also __________ risky. The Earth is a chaotic system where even the smallest changes can ______ countless _____________ ripple effects. We know that cooling temperatures _______ precipitation, extreme weather, and other climate _________, but it’s difficult for even the most advanced computer ______ to predict how or where these consequences will _____. One country’s solar radiation management might be another country’s unnatural disaster, causing extreme weather or crop failures like those following Tambora’s eruption. And even if these schemes did safely cool the planet, solar radiation management doesn’t _______ the __________ gases that are causing global warming. These solutions are just highly experimental band-aids that the world would have to endure for at least a few decades while we work on actually ________ CO2 from the air. And if we pulled that band-aid off prematurely, global temperatures could _______ rebound, causing a period of _______ super _______.
Solution
address
greenhouse
create
impacts
intense
incredibly
phenomena
strange
global
models
rapidly
removing
warming
occur
unpredictable
Original Text
Many of these plans sound more than a little strange. But there’s reason to believe they might work, not least because of natural events like the eruption of Tambora. Scientists know that volcanic eruptions have periodically cooled the climate. Both the Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and 1883′s blast of Krakatoa reduced global average temperatures by at least half-a-degree Celsius for up to a year. These cooling effects are global and fast acting— but they're also incredibly risky. The Earth is a chaotic system where even the smallest changes can create countless unpredictable ripple effects. We know that cooling temperatures impacts precipitation, extreme weather, and other climate phenomena, but it’s difficult for even the most advanced computer models to predict how or where these consequences will occur. One country’s solar radiation management might be another country’s unnatural disaster, causing extreme weather or crop failures like those following Tambora’s eruption. And even if these schemes did safely cool the planet, solar radiation management doesn’t address the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. These solutions are just highly experimental band-aids that the world would have to endure for at least a few decades while we work on actually removing CO2 from the air. And if we pulled that band-aid off prematurely, global temperatures could rapidly rebound, causing a period of intense super warming.