E
Rapidly warming climate is
likely to seriously change crop yields in the tropics
and
subtropics by the end of this century and, without adaptation, will leave half
the
world’s
population facing serious food shortages, according to a study to be published
on
Friday in Science Magazine.
The population of this equatorial (赤道的) belt is among the poorest on Earth and
is
growing faster than anywhere else, the study said.
‘‘The stresses on global food
production from temperature alone are going to be huge, and that doesn’t take
into account water supplies stressed by the higher temperatures,” David
Battisti, lead author of the study, said.
Battisti, a professor at the
University of Washington,cooperated with Rosamond
Naylor,
director of Stanford University’s Program on Food Security and the Environment,to examine the influence of climate
change on the world’s food security.
By combining direct
observations with data from 23 global climate models that
contributed
to a Nobel Prize-winning research in 2007, Battisti and Naylor determined that
there is greater than a 90 percent probability that by 2100 the lowest
growing-season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics will be higher than
any temperatures recorded there to date.
In the tropics, the higher
temperatures can be expected to cut yields of the primary food crops, maize (玉米) and rice by 20 to 40
percent, the researchers said.
The serious climate issues
will not be limited to the tropics, the scientists conclude. As an example,
they cite record temperatures that struck Western Europe in June, July and August
of 2003. The summer-long heat wave in France and Italy cut wheat yields and fodder (饲料) production by one-third.
56.
The direct result of the rapidly warming climate will be .
A. food shortages
B. the change of weather
C. a drop of crop yields
D. fast rising of sea water
57.
According to David Battisti, .
A. the temperature change is the
only stress on global food production
B. both the temperature change and
the lack of water supplies are big problems
C. water supplies stressed by the
higher temperatures are even more serious
D. it’s lucky that water supplies
haven’t been stressed yet at present
58.
Paragraph 5 tells us the following information EXCEPT that_______.
A. Battisti and Naylor were the Nobel
Prize winners in 2007
B. the result comes from the
direct observations and data from 23 global climate
models
C. data from 23 global climate
models was a great help to Battisti and Naylor's
research
D. the temperature in the tropics
and subtropics will last till 2100
59.
The underlined phrase “to date” probably means“ ”.
A. so far B. in
history C. up to
then D. at any
time
60.
We can infer from the text that .
A.the serious climate issues
will influence any place of the world
B.Western Europe will suffer the most in crop
yields
C.half of the population of the
world will starve to death by 2100
D.warming climate will not
affect other places except the tropics and Europe