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    1) While scientists have not been able to reliably predict natural disasters, most acknowledge that risks from events like earthquakes, hurricanes and droughts are increasing due to climate change. 2) Populations and infrastructure are increasingly located in high-risk coastal and flood-plain areas, exacerbating the impacts of disasters. Over one-third of the world's population lives within 100km of coasts vulnerable to tsunamis and hurricanes. 3) In response, governments are taking actions like building floating houses, strengthening flood barriers, and installing green roofs to reduce risks and cope with rising risks from a changing climate given the difficulties of reliable prediction.

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    1) While scientists have not been able to reliably predict natural disasters, most acknowledge that risks from events like earthquakes, hurricanes and droughts are increasing due to climate change. 2) Populations and infrastructure are increasingly located in high-risk coastal and flood-plain areas, exacerbating the impacts of disasters. Over one-third of the world's population lives within 100km of coasts vulnerable to tsunamis and hurricanes. 3) In response, governments are taking actions like building floating houses, strengthening flood barriers, and installing green roofs to reduce risks and cope with rising risks from a changing climate given the difficulties of reliable prediction.

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    1) While scientists have not been able to reliably predict natural disasters, most acknowledge that risks from events like earthquakes, hurricanes and droughts are increasing due to climate change. 2) Populations and infrastructure are increasingly located in high-risk coastal and flood-plain areas, exacerbating the impacts of disasters. Over one-third of the world's population lives within 100km of coasts vulnerable to tsunamis and hurricanes. 3) In response, governments are taking actions like building floating houses, strengthening flood barriers, and installing green roofs to reduce risks and cope with rising risks from a changing climate given the difficulties of reliable prediction.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    33 views2 pages

    2 Reading Text 1

    Uploaded by

    desy fitri
    1) While scientists have not been able to reliably predict natural disasters, most acknowledge that risks from events like earthquakes, hurricanes and droughts are increasing due to climate change. 2) Populations and infrastructure are increasingly located in high-risk coastal and flood-plain areas, exacerbating the impacts of disasters. Over one-third of the world's population lives within 100km of coasts vulnerable to tsunamis and hurricanes. 3) In response, governments are taking actions like building floating houses, strengthening flood barriers, and installing green roofs to reduce risks and cope with rising risks from a changing climate given the difficulties of reliable prediction.

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    of 2

    Pathways 3 Unit 4

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    Coping in a World of Risk
    For decades, scientists have been researching ways to predict natural disasters. Reliable
    A methods of prediction could save hundreds – or sometimes thousands – of lives. However, despite
    researching various early warning signs that might indicate impending disasters, scientists have not
    generally been successful at making reliable predictions. Some experts and governments have come to
    the conclusion that if natural disasters cannot be reliably predicted, then anticipation and preparation
    are the best defenses we have.

    Is Risk on the Rise?

    Most scientists acknowledge that the risk of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, floods,
    B and drought is increasing, partly as a result of global warming. While they are reluctant to point to
    specific natural events as being caused by climate change, most scientist agree that the consequences of
    global warming will likely continue to have a significant impact on the number and the severity of
    natural disasters.

    Take, for example, the drought that has struck Australia for more than a decade. This calamitous
    C dry spell has destroyed orchards, livestock, and many of the nation’s rice farms. Climatologists say this
    damage and destruction fits the pattern they expect from global warming. The same is true in
    Bangladesh, where people have been coping with the opposite problem – flooding. Two-thirds of this
    country of 150 million people is less than 17 feet (5 meters) above sea level. Climatologists say that by
    2050, approximately one-fifth of the land could be under water due to rising sea levels, driving millions
    inland to already crowded cities.

    In the past 15 years there has also been an increase in the number of hurricanes hitting the U.S.
    D coast. Experts predict that this increase will continue. “We expect the number of strikes over the next
    five years to be about 30 percent higher than the long-term historical average,” says Robert Muir-Wood
    of Risk Management Solutions, a company that advises insurance companies.

    Some of the increased risk comes as the result of human behavior, such as increased human
    E migration to high-risk areas. “Whether by choice, chance, or mistake, more of us have been moving into
    hazard-prone regions,” say Brendan Meade, a geophysicist at Harvard University. Ne-third of the world’s
    population currently lives within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the coast, where people face greater risks
    form tsunamis and hurricanes. Other people settle in earthquake zones, or live dangerously close to
    volcanoes. Still others live near rivers that are prone to flooding during heavy rains.

    Why do so many people choose to live in these high-risk areas? One reason is that farmers prefer
    F the fertile lands of river deltas and volcanic slopes. Another likely factor is that workers in industrial
    countries find more jobs in coastal cities, where trade and international commerce thrive. People also
    sometimes choose to live near rivers, mountains, and beaches for their scenic beauty, and because of
    the many opportunities for outdoor activities.
    Pathways 3 Unit 4

    Taking Action to Reduce Risk

    Whatever the causes of the increased risk may be, the costs of disasters keep growing. Disaster-
    G related risks are nine times higher than they were in the 1960s. Many nations are therefore taking
    action to protect their populations. In the Netherlands, for example, architects have designed floating
    houses that rise and fall with the changing water level in rivers. In the United Kingdom, government
    officials are strengthening flood-control barriers on London’s River Thames. Chicago, Shanghai, and
    other cities are using green rooftops to reduce the effect of urban heat islands. Considering the
    uncertainties of climate change and the difficulties of prediction, nations around the world are taking
    steps to get ready before the next disaster strikes.

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