Questão 2548436

Instruction: Answer questions 31 to 40 based on the following text.

Global warming: uneven changes across planet

Kate Ravilious

01 ____ Less than 2°C of global warming for the Earth, the target agreed by leaders at the COP21

02 climate conference in Paris last November doesn’t really sound too ambitious. In fact, many of us

03 would welcome an extra couple of degrees warmth. So what is all the fuss about?

04 ____ Unfortunately the warming would not occur evenly around the world. A study published

05 recently in Nature shows what 2°C of warming – a rise, of this level, above the pre-industrial

06 global mean surface temperature – might really feel like and which regions may be hit hardest.

07 ____ Some of the regional hot spots cited are the Mediterranean countries, Brazil and the US,

08 where 2°C of global warming could translate into local temperature increases of more than 3°C.

09 But the region expected to suffer most is the Arctic, where night-time temperatures are predicted

10 to soar by 6°C.

11 ____ “Some countries are much more exposed than others,” says Rob Wilby, from Loughborough

12 University.

13 ____ The Earth has already warmed by an average of 1°C, and the uneven nature of this warming

14 is becoming clear with Arctic regions already beyond the 2°C mark. Meanwhile, climate models

15 suggest that the Mediterranean could pass the 2°C level once global temperatures have risen by

16 1.4°C.

17 ____ Oceans, which cover 70% of the planet, warm much more slowly than land and are partly

18 responsible for the uneven pattern of warming. Local factors, like loss of heat-reflecting snow in

19 the Arctic, make a difference, too.

20 ____ And it isn’t just temperature: changes in rainfall are also expected to be unequally

21 distributed, with most land areas getting more of a dousing, according to the researchers. “Recent

22 flooding episodes in the UK give us an insight into just how vulnerable we are,” says Wilby.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/feb/10/weatherwatch-ravilious-global-warming-limit-climate-change-uneven- arctic-europe-us

The word “Meanwhile” (line 14) can be replaced, without changing the meaning in context, by: