BBC News Review 地球的气候防御失败

From BBC, learning English. This is learning English from the news, our bookcast about the news headlines In this program, trees are earth's great defense against climate change.

But

last year they failed. Hello, I'm Georgie, and I'm Pepper.

In this program, we look at one big new story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode, as well as a worksheet, on our website, bbc learning english dot com.

So let's hear more about this story.

The Earth s oceans and land taken about half of all human carbon emissions.

This is the planet's natural defense against human made global warming.

But a new study has shown that last year, the hottest year on record, earth's forests, plants and soil, took in almost no carbon from the atmosphere.

Now, this is important, because as the Earth heats up, scientists are worried that these natural processes, which are essential for fighting climate change, aren't working properly.

And we've got a headline that summarizes these concerns.

Trees and land absorbed almost no co last year.

Is nature's carbon sink failing? And that's from The Guardian, a newspaper in the U-K?

Okay, let's hear that again. This one is from The Guardian in the U-K.

Trees and land absorbed almost no co last year.

Is nature's carbon sink failing? Now, this headline is about the new study that is worrying scientists.

And we're looking at this word absorb.

And it has a few meanings, doesn't it?

Yes, literally, it means take something in, so that could be a liquid or gas moving inside or moving through a surface.

So think about a sponge. A sponge absorbs water, OK, so that's liquid, but in the headline, we're talking about the gas, carbon dioxide.

Co Trees absorb co They remove it from the atmosphere and take it in.

They absorb it. What else is interesting about the word absorbed Georgie?

Well, it also has some metaphorical meanings.

We often talk about the ability to absorb information or knowledge, e.g., we're teaching our listeners in vocabulary, but if they really want to absorb the knowledge, they should practice using the worksheet on our website.

That's right. And something can also be absorbing, which is an adjective, which means interesting.

E.g. I went to see a film last night and it was so absorbing.

3 H just flew by, I was absorbed by it.

We've had absorb take something in, e.g.

I've got a new mop, and it absorbs so much water, it's great.

This is learning English from the news.

Our bookcast about the news headlines.

Today, we're talking about a new study which found that in 2023, the land absorbed almost no carbon.

So why are scientists so worried about this?

Well, reaching that zero targets would be almost impossible without nature's help.

Yes, we don't yet have technology that can remove carbon from the atmosphere on such a large scale.

So earth's land and oceans are an essential part of our defense against climate change.

In fact, for more than 100 countries, they need the land to do its job properly, to even meet their climate targets.

OK, let's have our next headline.

This one is From Down to Earth, which is an online magazine.

Carbon Sink broken last year Trees and land barely absorbed any co That headline Again From Down to Earth, an online magazine Carbon sink broken last year Trees and land barely absorbed any CO2.

So this new study is causing scientists to ask if the carbon sink is broken.

We're interested in this phrase carbon sink.

Now, pepper. I know what a sink is.

I have one in my kitchen and bathroom.

It's like a bowl where I wash my hands.

Yes, that's the noun. And as a verb, it means to move downwards, usually through water, e.g.

a stone sinks to the bottom of a lake.

And I think both of those meanings are useful to understand carbon sink exactly.

So 1st imagine co moving downwards from the atmosphere to the trees the CO2 sinks.

Then remember our kitchen sink. The sink takes in or absorbs the water.

Imagine the Earth land like a kitchen sink.

It drains the CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in the trees, plants and soil.

So nature's carbon sinks are very important, and scientists worry that they are broken or failing, we've had carbon sink, something that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere and stores it, e.g.

we have to be careful about damaging carbon

sinks like the oceans and forests.

This is learning English from the news.

Our podcast about the news headlines today.

We're talking about concerns that nature's defense against

climate change is failing. So the Earth seems less able to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

But why? Well, with arise in extreme weather, the planet is seeing more wildfires and drought.

And wifis in particular mean that instead of forests absorbing co they become producers of it.

Yes, this is because when trees burn, they release all the carbon they've stored into the atmosphere.

And they also won't be around in the future as a carbon sink.

Droughts are also important, because they mean plants are less able to grow, which means they won't absorb as much CO2 as they could.

Yes, and we have a headline about these concerns.

Wildfires Weaken Global Carbon Sink, putting climate targets at risk.

And that's from Meteord. That headline again from Meteord.

Wildfires weaken the global carbon sink, putting climate targets at risk.

And this time we're looking at the verb weaken.

Now we should know what the adjective weak means.

It's the opposite of strong. But pepper.

What about weaken? Well, weaken means to make something weak.

So in the headline, the wildfires are making the carbon sinks weak.

Wildfires weaken the global carbon sink.

So with some adjectives, we can convert them into verbs by adding E-N, weak becomes weaken, yes.

And this is particularly true of adjectives which are about the condition of something Loose becomes loosen.

Tight becomes tight. In I could tighten the lid on the jar or loosen it, yes, exactly.

Um. But there are some strange ones.

So strong becomes strengthen long becomes lengthen So here, the 1st vow also changes from O to E, and we also add the T-H in their Strengthen we ve had weaken make something weak, e.g.

over time, storms, weakened the bridge, and now it's too dangerous to use.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from The News.

Will be back next week with another new story.

If you want to learn more language about climate change, we have loads of programs on our website that can help visit bbc learning english dot com.

And don't forget to find us on social media.

Just search BBC Learning English on your favorite platform.

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