Heat Wave in Europe

 

Vocabulary

alert	issue (4)	cool down
heat	damage	state of emergency
savor	role (2)	emergency
call for	sunshine	present (3)
severe	level (3)	slaughter
crop	drought	current (3)
aid	declare	appreciate
failure	shortage	record (3)
cattle	immense	organic (2)
decade	suffocate	unprecedented
debate	wild (2)	man-made
swelter	common	role to play

 

 

Video: Heat Wave in Europe

 

Transcript

Many in Spain head to the beach to cool down. Heat alerts have been issued for much of the country.

In Italy, authorities have declared a state of emergency, raising the health alert in five cities to the maximum level.

People in France are savoring every single drop of water they can.

Germany is sweltering, as temperatures hit thirty-nine degrees (39˚C) in some places.

While many appreciate the sunshine, and the ever present ice-cream, the current weather is causing immense problems. In some rivers, water levels have dropped so low that shipping has become more difficult.

Severe drought has damaged so many crops that German farmers are now calling for special aid.

Crop failure is causing a shortage of animal feed in Denmark: a record number of organic cattle have had to be slaughtered.

Fish are suffocating in the water.

Wildfires have been burning in Sweden for weeks, as the country experiences and unprecedented drought.

In Greece, more than ninety (90) people lost their lives this week in the country’s deadliest wildfire in decades.

A debate has begun on whether this extreme weather is normal.

Many scientists have agreed on one thing: man-made climate change has a role to play, and such weather could become more common in the future.

 

 

Questions

1. There have been public warnings in southern Europe. True or false? If yes, why have there been warnings and alerts?

2. Does the heat wave only affect the Mediterranean region?

3. The extreme temperatures are affecting the economy. Is this right or wrong?

4. Have the high temperatures caused any disasters?

5. Scientists and experts all agree as to the nature and causes of the heat wave. Is this correct or incorrect?

6. Is there a political element in this report?

7. Are they optimistic, pessimistic, both or neither?

 

A. What is the summer like? What were previous summers like? Describe previous summers. Are you surprised?

B. What have your family and friends said about the weather?

C. Why might the climate be changing? Is this often featured in the media?

D. Is there much discourse, debate and argument about the climate among scientists, politicians and journalists?

E. What might happen in the future?

F. Should politicians, people and businesses do anything? If yes, what should people do?