2014年职称英语考试 理工类阅读理解(二).doc

第十七篇 A Sunshade for the
Even with the best will1 in the world, reducing our carbon emissions is not going prevent global warming. It has e clear that even if we take the most strong measures to control emissions, the uncertainties in our climate models still leave open the possibility of extreme warming and rises in sea level. At the same time, resistance by governments and special interest groups makes it quite possible that the actions suggested by climate scientists might not be implemented soon enough.
Fortunately, if the es to the worse2, scientists still have a few tricks up their sleeves3. For the most part they have strongly resisted discussing these options for fear of inviting a sense placency that might thwart efforts to tackle the root of the problem. Until now, that is. A growing number of researchers are taking a fresh look at large-scale “geoengineering” projects that might be used to counteract global warming. “I use the analogy of methadone4,” says Stephen Schneider, a climate researcher at Stanford University in California who was among the first to draw attention to global warming. “If you have a heroin addict, the correct treatment is hospitalization, and a long rehab. But if they absolutely refuse, methadone is better than heroin.
Basically the idea is to apply “sunscreen” to the whole . One astronomer e up with a radical plan to cool Earth: launch trillions of feather-light discs into space, where they would form a vast cloud that would block the sun’s rays. It’s controversial, but recent studies suggest there are ways to deflect just enough of the sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface to counteract the warming produced by the greenhouse effect. Global climate models show that blocking just 1. 8 per cent of the incident energy in the sun’s rays would cancel out the warming effects produced by a doubling of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That could be crucial, because even the most severe emissions-control measures being proposed wou