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In a panorama of the evidence, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) declared that the impact of global warming could be "abrupt or irreversible" and

no country would be spared.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to political leaders to push for "a real 

breakthrough" at a key conference running on the Indonesian island of Bali from December 3-14.

"We cannot afford to leave Bali without such a breakthrough," he said, branding climate change as the "defining challenge of our age."

Global warming bore the seeds of "catastrophe" yet there was also hope, he said.

"There are real and affordable ways to deal with climate change."

The new report is intended to act as a guide to policy makers for years to come.

It summarises three massive assessments published this year on the evidence for global warming, its impacts and the options for tackling the emissions that cause it.

The report said notably:

          - Evidence of the planet's warming was now "unequivocal" and the effects on the climate system could be "abrupt or irreversible."

          - Retreating glaciers and loss of alpine snow, thinning Arctic summer sea ice and thawing permafrost show that climate change is already on the march.

          - By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 C and 6.4 C compared to 1980-1999 levels.

           - Sea levels will rise by at least 18 centimetres. An earlier estimate of an upper limit of 59 centimetres does not take into account "uncertainties" about the impact of disrupted carbon cycles and melting ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic, the new report says.

           -  Heat waves, rainstorms, tropical cyclones and surges in sea level are among the events expected to become more frequent, more widespread or more intense this century.

            - "All countries" will be affected by climate change, but those in the forefront are poor nations, especially small island states and developing economies where hundreds of millions of people live in low-lying deltas.

            - Reducing emissions can be met at moderate cost relative to global GDP, but the window of opportunity for quickly reaching a safer, stable level is closing fast.

"We need a new ethic by which every human being realises the importance of the challenge we are facing and starts to take action through changes in lifestyle and attitude," said IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri.

Story/photo AFP

Vocabulary

stark, adj: strong; powerful

to prompt, v: to make somebody do something

to smash, v: to break by using violence; to use great effort to change

deadlock, n: situation when two or more actions work against each other so that nothing happens at all

panorama, n: complete view; complete consideration

irreversible, adj: impossible to be changed back

breakthrough, n: a sudden change that makes it possible to advance farther

to brand, v: to give something an image; to say that something has certain characteristics

unequivocal, adj: having only one possible meaning; impossible to be misunderstood

surge, n: sudden increase

Questions

1. What does IPCC stand for?

a. Ideal Planetary Cooling Commission

b. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

c. Incomprehensible Procrastinator Climax Cohesion

d. Integrated Population Concentration Conglomerate

2. According to the article, what is the "defining challenge of our age"?

a. over-fishing

b. alien invasion

c. over-population

d. climate change

3. What is a clear sign of global warming?

a. rising oil prices

b. thawing permafrost

c. increasing solar flares

d. extended summer holidays

4. Who will be affected most by climate change?

a. eco tourists

b. vegetarians

c. poor nations

d. oil producers

5. What can be done to stop global warming?

a. Carbon emitters must be nuked

b. Poor nations must stop building cars.

c. Everybody must change their lifestyle

d. Wealthy nations must finance the world

Synonyms

Which of the following words or phrases replace the ones from the passage best?

1. yet

a. so far

b. in time

c. belated

d. formally

2. tackle

a. avoid

b. repeat

c. take on

d. postpone

3. abrupt

a. sudden

b. gradual

c. temporary

d. intermittent

4. spare

a. doom

b. target

c. except

d. annihilate

5. bear

a. hide

b. carry

c. protect

d. destroy

KEY

Questions      1. b, 2. d, 3. b,4. c, 5. c

Synonyms      1. a, 2. c, 3. a, 4. c, 5. b

By Ajarn Horst Baelz