World News for Students of English

28-08-2020 07:00

This week, scientists said that Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice last year. It was a new record, and Greenland is melting faster than ever before.

586 billion tons of ice are 140 trillion gallons of water. It is not easy to imagine the amount; however, scientists say that it would be enough to cover the US state of California in more than four feet of water.

Scientists believe that melting ice is the result of climate change. It is a dangerous situation for some parts of the world because when the ice melts, the sea level rises. Scientists say that some islands will disappear under water. Last year, water from Greenland’s ice added 0.06 inches to the world’s sea level. Maybe you think that it is not so much water; however, when you imagine how big our world is, the number is really big.

Difficult words: melt (when something turns into liquid), climate change (changes in the earth’s usual weather and temperature), disappear (when you cannot see something any longer).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.