The passages given below are followed by a set of questions. Choose the most…
2024
The passages given below are followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question
Global climate change pundits have for long been blowing heat and cold over melting ice caps, rising ocean levels and unusually hot summers on the one hand and receding deserts, shrinking biodiversity and colder winters on the other. Climatologists are, however, unanimous in their opinion that regional variation notwithstanding, the earth as a whole is becoming warmer - and largely due to increased human activity. And yet, as a continent Antarctica would seem to be bucking the trend. Recent reports quoting American scientists from the south pole say that while temperatures in every other continent have risen over the past century, Antarctica has become appreciably colder over the past 35 years and continues to cool, becoming the only one of Earth's seven continents to react differently to global warming. The world's average temperature over the last 100 years has risen by 0.06c a decade and the average actually went up to 0.19c between 1979 and 1998. In the Antarctic, on the other hand, temperatures fell on an average by 0.7c a decade. Traditional theories of climate change have held that the effects of global warming ought to be magnified at the poles.
Nonetheless, recent research points out that while the Arctic is indeed getting warmer, the Antarctic is definitely getting cooler. This will mean that previous estimates of rising sea levels that included the melting ice caps of both the north and south poles will have to be suitably revised. So what is the mystery behind the cooling of the white continent? Since most of the inhabited and industrialized countries are clustered close to the Arctic, polluting emissions waft across to the north pole, creating a greenhouse effect, warming the air and loosening the ice sheets. The complex interplay of ocean currents appears to have changed temperatures cooling the southern ocean around the Antarctic and transforming the pole’s temperature profile. Antarctica’s harsh desert valleys are turning cooler, setting off a series of ecological consequences in the region. Meanwhile, here's another contradiction: reports from new Zealand describe how there is a surfeit of global warming-induced break-away icebergs in the southern hemisphere.
According to the passage, it can be said that
- A.
The average temperature rise for the decade 1979-1998 was more than the average rise in temperature over the last 100 years.
- B.
Antarctica has become colder than the Earth over the last 35 years
- C.
The decade growth in temperature is much higher for Antarctica than the Earth itself
- D.
Antarctica has become colder than the other continents of the world
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation:
The passage states that the world's average temperature rose by 0.06°C per decade over the last 100 years, and that the average rose to 0.19°C per decade between 1979 and 1998.
Since 0.19°C per decade is greater than 0.06°C per decade, the statement that the average temperature rise for 1979–1998 was more than the average rise over the last 100 years is directly supported by the passage.
The passage also contrasts this global warming with Antarctica's trend: Antarctic temperatures fell by 0.7°C per decade, so Antarctica is cooling rather than experiencing the same warming trend.
Key point: The correct statement is the one that compares the two global rates (0.19°C per decade vs 0.06°C per decade) and notes that the 1979–1998 rate is higher.
Why other statements are wrong or misleading: they either misinterpret the passage's trend comparisons or contradict the Antarctic cooling figure (−0.7°C per decade).