Climate and extreme weather ⏲️ 6 Minute English
BBC Learning English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEO9-iPZQWA

Transkript (automatisch erstellt)

0:07 Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.
0:12 It seems that we're hearing about more and more terrible weather events, but how exactly is climate change affecting extreme weather?
0:20 I'm lucky today to be joined by BBC weather forecaster, meteorologist and presenter Sarah Keith-Lucas. Hi, Sarah.
0:27 Hi, Phil, it's great to be here. Sarah is here to help us understand what's happening with extreme weather.
0:33 She'll also help explain some of the words and expressions used in a new series of BBC Learning English videos, all about weather and climate,
0:41 and the language we use to talk about them. You can find the link to them
0:44 on our web page or in the show notes for this podcast. Sarah, let's start with a really important question.
0:50 What's the difference between climate and weather? That's a great question, Phil.
0:56 The weather is what you see and feel every day. Climate is more long term.
1:01 Today, I'll explain how a change in the climate over the long term can be seen in the weather that we experience.
1:08 And as always, we'll also be learning some key vocabulary to talk about the topic.
1:13 And Sarah, it's traditional for us to set a quiz question. Have you got one for us? Yes I have.
1:19 By how much has the Earth's temperature increased since 1970? Is it a) around 0.5C?
1:28 b) around 1C or c) around 2C? Erm, around 2C?
1:35 I'll give you the answer at the end of the programme, so listen to the end to find out.
1:40 Now we're going to talk about tropical storms. What do we mean by tropical storms, Sarah?
1:47 Well those are hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons. They're large rotating storms formed over warm tropical waters.
1:55 They're actually the same. We just use different names depending on where in the world they form.
2:01 Hurricanes in the Atlantic. Cyclones in the Indian Ocean and typhoons in the West Pacific.
2:08 As the world warms, climate scientists think that these storms will get more destructive.
2:14 In one of our new learning English for weather videos. Meteorologist Darren Bett tells us about another worrying change.
2:22 Scientists also think storms are slowing down. They're not moving across as quickly.
2:28 And that means if a storm is in the same area for longer, the winds will be stronger for longer and the rain will last for longer,
2:37 producing more flooding and more likelihood of flooding and landslides and also mudslides.
2:45 Darren said that if a storm moves more slowly, there will be more likelihood of flooding.
2:51 'Likelihood' is the noun that we use to say how probable or how likely something is to happen.
2:57 Darren also told us about landslides and mudslides. Yes, landslides are where a large amount of earth
3:05 or rock moves down a slope quickly. Mudslides tend to be faster and more liquid.
3:12 Both of these things can happen after particularly heavy rain and can cause damage to buildings.
3:19 People can also be killed or injured by them. What else causes loss of life in a hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone?
3:26 Well, something else that is very dangerous is a storm surge. Let's hear again from my colleague Darren Bett.
3:33 Storm surge. That's that body of water that gets swept inland
3:37 and produces widespread flooding. Climate change is warming our seas and the sea levels are rising.
3:45 That potentially could mean that storm surge, which is one element of a storm that produces more casualties than any other.
3:55 Those storm surges could become even more dangerous. So, we had the word 'casualty',
4:02 and this is used to talk about people killed or injured by an accident, a military attack, or in this case, an extreme weather event.
4:09 Darren talked about storm surges. A storm surge is where the sea level rises quickly,
4:16 pushed by strong winds caused by a storm. This water comes onto land with an enormous amount of force,
4:24 and storm surges can be up to ten metres high. Buildings get destroyed and people can drown.
4:31 We heard about the storm sweeping inland. Something sweeping in is moving quickly and powerfully,
4:37 and you can hear more from Darren in the videos on our website. Sarah, how about the answer to the quiz question you asked earlier?
4:45 OK, Phil. So I asked by how much has the world's average temperature increased since 1970?
4:52 And I thought it was around 2C. It's actually around 1C.
4:58 1C is just an average across all of Earth's land and ocean surface. Some places are warming much quicker than this, such as the Arctic.
5:07 That's warming three times faster than the average rate, just a small increase in average temperature can lead to
5:13 a much bigger increase in extreme events such as heatwaves, wildfires and floods. Wow. So that is an important difference.
5:22 OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned starting with 'likelihood', which is the noun that we use to talk about how probable
5:30 or how likely something is to happen. Landslides and mudslides, which can occur after heavy rainfall,
5:37 make earth or mud move downhill very fast. A storm surge is a sudden rise in the sea level that can move inland,
5:46 causing destruction. If something sweeps in, it moves in very fast and very powerfully.
5:52 And finally, a casualty is someone who is injured or killed by an accident, attack,
5:58 or something like an extreme weather event. Once again our six minutes are up. Goodbye. Thanks for joining us today,
6:04 Sarah! Bye!