Role-play
Let’s return in time and imagine that this or another panel on climate change has recently completed the research and produced their report. The scientific findings are presented in a very technical way and now a reporter has arranged an appointment with the project manager to ask some straightforward questions and receive comprehensible answers for their TV programme. Return to the text “Global Warming: from Fantasy to Future”, look at the key points of the report, make use of the text “Global Warming: Try It, You Might Like It”, take a few minutes to prepare some clever questions and, eventually, act out the conversation in the form of a successful TV panel.
Fill in the gaps in the text below with the provided expressions. Then imagine that it is the year 2020 or thereabouts, and you feel like having a small break somewhere nice. There are a number of holiday destinations, but many have irrevocably changed. Now you are at a travel agency, looking for a suitable place to go to for a few days. There is a long list of attractive centres, but you know there’s something wrong with each of them. The agent, on the other hand, seems to be “unaware” of the recently cropped up problems. Act out the conversation at the agency. Choose something for yourself, but don’t get sold on the agent’s glowing colours of descriptions and promises. (In heart, hoping for better scenarios and developments in the not-so-far distant future.)
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Global Warning
Guardian Unlimited, September 1, 1999
Spainwill be (a)_______________, theeastern Mediterraneanwill be as hot as the Sahara desert, (b)_____________will swamp parts of theAmerican coastlineand there will be almost no snow in theAlps. This is the (c)_______________painted in a new report on the effects of global warming on 10 of the world's most popular tourist destinations in the next century.
The study, commissioned by the (d)_______________(WWF), found that profitable tourist destinations could be turned into "holiday horror stories".
By 2020 visitors to the Costa del Solcould risk (e)_______________as global warming brings more frequent heat waves, makingSpaina (f)_______________ for malaria-bearing mosquitoes, while increases in summer temperatures to more than 40C may make parts ofTurkeyandGreece(g)_______________in July and August.
The study by the climatic research unit of the University of East Anglia in Britain suggests that countries that rely on holidaymakers for (h) _______________will need to take account of the changing climate when planning resorts or (i)_______________.
David Viner, the senior research scientist who (j) _______________, said: "Areas such as theMediterraneancould become unbearable during the traditional summer holiday season. As temperatures begin to soar, many tourists will stay away."
The report says a (k) _______________overAustraliawill increase (l)_______________, increasing the risk of sunburn and skin cancer.
Winter tourism in the Alpsand other European (m)_______________will be affected because they will have less snowfall and shorter skiing seasons. Lower-lying resorts inAustria, and areas where commercial skiing operations are already marginal, such asScotland, will (n)_______________.
The southeast coastline of the United States, including parts ofFlorida, may be threatened by rising sea levels. Safari holidays ineast and southern Africamay be affected as droughts and changes in temperature alter the (o)_______________. Some islands inthe Maldivescould disappear as they are (p)_______________.
The tourism industry could be faced with (q) _______________as global warming begins to influence decisions about when and where people are going to go on holiday. From 594m international travellers in 1996, numbers are expected to rise to 702m in 2000, 1.1bn in 2010 and 1.6bn in 2020.
