Part One: Warm Up
Discuss the following questions with a partner or group:
- Is global warming backed up by evidence?
- What will the effect be of increasing temperatures around the world?
- Why do you think people deny that global warming is real?
- Why are acres of rainforest being cut down each day? Why is this a concern?
Part Two: Listening
Exercise
Open Exercise One to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document. Then go on to Exercise Two. The recording is from ELLLO.
Transcript
Person 1: So, have you seen all these freakish weather events on the news all around the world?
Person 2: Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to pay attention, yeah.
Person 1: It's been pretty bad in some places, I think. It's been the wettest January on record in the UK at the moment.
Person 2: Right, right, right.
Person 1: So do you think it's kind of indicative of climate change? Are you a climate change believer or a climate change denier?
Person 2: I think it's hard to deny, really. I think what humans do to the planet is going to have some effect. And science is science, you know. It's backed up by evidence and facts. And scientists don't tend to say things until they know it's true, or as true as it can be. So, yeah, I'm definitely a believer in climate change. I think that we are affecting things on the planet. How about you?
Person 1: I've read quite a lot about it. And yes, there is science to support it. But there's also a lot of science to, not to deny it, but there's definitely a lot of questions that aren't answered yet. It's a very complex issue. These global systems of weather, and you've got all these organic processes going on, that we just don't really understand. And then trying to explain all these complex events by saying it's climate change. I mean, what worries me is that by denying it, it seems to also be a sort of justification for us to continue living the way we are. Which worries me a lot. Whether it's true or not, I think we need to be thinking about how we can live better. And that means live in ways that are less damaging on our environment.
Person 2: Yeah, I agree. I agree. I've also read a bit about weather systems that are perhaps not because of climate change. Every planet has weather systems that come and go. And I understand that part, but I also fully agree that we have to stop being so destructive. I think it's pretty clear. You can't continue cutting down acres and acres and acres of really valuable resources like the rainforest. I mean, we need that to breathe. So it just doesn't make sense.
Person 1: Yeah, we definitely, I think we definitely have to stop being so destructive.