A new season?

[Torsten]

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Somehow we all seem to be affected by global warming -- either directly or through the media. How important is this issue in your country? I mean, one of the effects global warming seems to have is the constant rise of the average temperature. Alan describes this in A New Season and I wonder what people in countries like Saudi Arabia think about global warming. As you know, the average temperature seems to be rising here in Europe and a country like the UK probably benefits from this development. But what about countries that frequently suffer from heat waves?

http://www.english-test.net/newsletter/a-new-season-89.html

TOEIC short conversations: Two colleagues talk about their current projects.

[Jamie (K)]

The biggest effect of global warming in my country is that the media release a lot of gas into the atmosphere talking about it, and they allow almost no exposure to the scientists who disagree with the premise, or agree that it's happening but don't think it's bad.

If it gets hotter, they blame it on global warming. If it gets colder, they blame it on global warming, because they claim it's supposed to get colder before it gets warmer. They blamed Hurricane Katrina on global warming (and by extension on President Bush, because everybody knows he's a major cause of global warming), even though meteorologists said that the storm was part of a regular 40-year cycle of severe hurricane activity that scientists have known about for years.

And they still have to explain why the 1930s were hotter than this decade.

The whole thing is a scam. In the late 1960s they told us that by 1980 there would be no more petroleum left anywhere in the world. In the 1970s they told us that ruination was imminent because the earth was cooling, the polar ice caps were going to expand, cover New York, and we wouldn't be able to grow enough food. Then this global warming thing came.

The funny thing is that no matter what they say the earth is doing, they always claim the same things cause it. Capitalism, prosperity and technology were depleting the petroleum in the 1960s, cooling the earth in the 1970s, and are supposedly warming it now. And the answer they always come up with is more government control over the decisions of individual people. I've seen it blamed on people eating bananas, on cow flatulence, all kinds of things that just happen to be related to things that so many greenies personally object to. I have never seen any of these things blamed on the volume of plastic used by the music industry or anything else that greenies personally like.

The whole global warming hoax is just another environmental scare fad started by people who want to eliminate capitalism. In a few years it will be disproven, just like Marxism, and they'll be scaring people with something else. That something else will be caused by the same things they say cause global warming.

Two questions:
1. Why would you believe a guy who flies a private jet around the world to tell people to limit their use of fossil fuels and then goes home to a mansion where just the pool house uses more carbon-based fuel in a month than an average American house does in a year?
2. If they can't predict the weather accurately for next month, why do you think they can predict what it will be like 25 years from now?

[Daemon99]

[Jamie (K)]

[Quangquang]

Torsten, global warming is one of prime importance issues at present and all countries in the word are being effected by this. But in fact are existing a contradiction that poor countries which have exhaust gas emission less are being effecting more than rich countries which have exhaust gas emission much.If the average temperature rise about 3-4 degrees celsius, in Vietnam has about 22 milion people are lost habitat, and lost farm land in poor countries, famine, flood, an epidemic disease...

[Sirin]

Hello Mr. Allen

Thank you very much for the subject of "a new season". I really like every single word you write, your language is so impressive. But what makes me a bit worried is the way you use phrasal verbs "walk up" and the placement of adverbs . I actually do my best to improve my written and spoken language; unfortunately the problem of adverbs and phrasal verbs break out continuously ! wish you can present me with some tips on the subject.

Thanks in advance

[Wifak Souilah]

Hi

I am an English teacher, but I have to admit that your lessons served me a lot. In fact I have the same problem of sirin, as I find it sometimes difficult to choose the suitable phrasal verb which should be used in different contexts. can you help me with some golden tips.

Thanks.

[Jose]

Hi!
The story is good and entertaining.Thank you very much and I encourage you.
Jose

[Minnie]

I do think that the weather is changing quite a lot from when I was a child in northern China. My parents talk about it gets warmer in the automn than usual. It's a good thing that they can enjoy outdoor work in such nice days. And the winter will not be that cold in the south where I live. Though we do not have snow, it's ok, just enjoy automn a little longer. The sky is so blue and high, the sunshine is always welcome!

[Mano]

Thank so much Alan for your useful essay all I can say is that I am Arabian girl with British mind because I studied English literature in my university I love your literature so much , u remember me of the most romantic poett John Keats and his poem
Thanks

[Mano]

Well , I will tell you about my country Saudi Arabia , here in Saudi Arabian it is not so hot as you imagine the weather is Saudi are moderate in some region like northern region and southern too…
May be Riyadh as the capital city suffer from the global warming …….
I wish you understand me because I love few words
Mano your Arabian friend

[Abdol]

Dearest : Alan, A lot of thanks to you , you make us have interesting, I' m from Libya , the Weather in Libya hot, dry summers, warm wet winter, there are periods of drought and drought, but the weather here is somewhat appropriate and attractive, is characterized by calm, and that the presence of Long Beach.

Abdolrahim Elabed

[Jose]

Hello everyone!

The global warming may be a big problem but few poeple are aware of it. The reason may be we can still live normally. one day we dont know what might happen.
In my country, the change is that some sources of water disapear. Soil becomes dry and dry and the rainfall decreases. The weather changes actually because sometimes winter becomes summer and summer becomes winter or fall,etc... Next the temperature increases. The effects are bad especielly about the product(agriculture).
Thank you!
Jose

[Hiwot]

Dear Alan

I am from East Africa-Ethiopia. My country is well known as " Thirteen Months of Sunshine". In my age, before 15 yeargs ago, the weather had proper flow and seasons were as expected, heavy rainy season was for two or three months only, the other months are a well suited air condition with limited sunshine,rain, and wind in almost all parts of our country. But, today there are a lot of changes. The rainy season become more than three months or only for one month within each year. The sunshine is also become too hot. Sometimes, we need to use an umbrella for protection because we didn't adapt such hot weather. Besides the wind also blow heavily. And when I examine these things, the cause for all these is the Developed World.

The Developed Countries use very advanced industries and technologies and as a result the whole world become globally damaged or polluted. I beleive that we, the developing countries, do not have or use such industries, or technologies which will cause damage to the global world not even for our country!! Even though advanced industries are vital for development, it becomes cause for damages too.

But still we do have 13 months sunshine no matter how. However, we do not know the future. It depends on the advanced world.

Thanks,

[Swangchuk]

Hi,

I had a good reading on the topic new season. Keep it up.

Thanks in advance.

Sangay