Climate Change - Unit 1 - Gold Reading Comprehension Worksheet

The worksheet from an English teaching resource focuses on the environmental issue of climate change, specifically the role of deforestation and fossil fuel consumption in increasing atmospheric CO2 levels. Students are tasked with reading comprehension questions that probe their understanding of the text's content, such as identifying places with significant wood burning and forest clearance, and the reasons behind using Britain as a reference point for the size of rainforest affected in 1987. The questions also challenge students to think critically about the comparative impact of deforestation and other CO2-producing activities, interpret scientific uncertainty regarding future CO2 levels, and list technologies that contribute to daily fossil fuel consumption.

The text provided in the worksheet explains that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas affected by both deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels. It outlines how deforestation, particularly in tropical rainforests, exacerbates the release of CO2 into the atmosphere, highlighting a significant event in 1987 where an area of the Amazon rainforest the size of Britain was burned. This event alone added a substantial amount of CO2 to the atmosphere. However, the text clarifies that deforestation is responsible for less than half of the annual total CO2 emissions, with the remainder coming from burning coal, oil, and other fossil fuels, particularly in wealthier nations. The document also touches on the role of energy consumption in homes and transportation as contributors to CO2 emissions and notes the disparity in CO2 contributions between developed and developing countries.