1.) Watch the video and answer the following questions:
1. What milestone did global temperatures reach in 2024?
2. What were some of the impacts of the global temperature rise in 2024?
3. How does the global temperature in 2024 compare to the pre-industrial period?
4. What was the Paris Agreement’s goal regarding the 1.5-degree threshold, and how does the 2024 temperature rise relate to that goal?
5. What does the director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service say about the possibility of avoiding further global warming?
6. How have the impacts of climate change been affecting people around the world?
7. How has the political will to address climate change changed in some countries?
2.) Watch again and fill in the gaps:
Global warming officially breached 1.5°C threshold in 2024 | REUTERS
The world has just experienced the first full year in which global temperatures _______________(1) 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial times, scientists said on Friday. 2024 saw temperatures rise on every continent, resulting in __________________(2), __________________(3) and __________________(4). The milestone was confirmed on Friday by scientists at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
They’re warning that climate change is pushing the planet’s temperatures to levels never _______________(5) by modern humans. Here’s Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“Every single month, January to July, has been the warmest on record. July was the second warmest and then from then on has been the second or close to first around. When you put all of those together, then the _________________(6) is just incredible and sums up to the warmest year on record.”
The planet’s average temperature in 2024 was 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than in 1850 to 1900. That’s the ____________________(7) period before humans began burning CO2-emitting ___________________(8) on a large scale. What’s more, 2024 was the hottest year since records began, and each of the past 10 years was among the 10 warmest on record. The governments promised under the 2015 Paris Agreement to try and prevent average temperatures exceeding the symbolic ____________________(9) of 1.5 degrees to avoid more severe and costly climate disasters.
Yet _______________________(10), the first year above 1.5 degrees does not breach that target, which measures the longer-term average temperature. According to Buontempo, it’s not too late for countries to rapidly cut ________________________(11) and avoid global warming rising faster, although they need to act fast.
“The Paris Agreement will be reached in the near future. We can discuss whether it will be the late 2020s, early 2030s, but we are _____________________(12) 1.5 in the terms of the Paris Agreement and exceed it. It’s not a done deal. We have the power to change the trajectory from now on. We can do it, but we need to do it based on our actions, on facts, on evidence, and there are plenty of evidence available that we can base our actions on.”
The ____________________(13) of climate change are now visible on every continent, affecting people from the richest to the poorest countries on Earth. It is worsening storms and _____________________(14) rainfall because the hotter atmosphere can hold more water, leading to intense downpours.
But as the costs of these disasters _____________________(15), political will to invest in _____________________(16) emissions has waned in some countries. US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on the 20th of January, has called climate change a ______________________(17), despite global scientific _____________________(18) that it is human-caused and will have severe consequences if not addressed.
3.) The students are in pairs. There is a third student observing. The 2 students have a conversation on the basis of the topic “Global warming, climate change”. The sentences below are on folded slips in a bag. The task is to involve one of the sentences into your conversations when the third student says “fish” – by taking one random slip out of the bag:
| 1. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has exceeded safe levels for human health and the environment. |
| 2. During the summer, cities around the world have suffered from dangerous heatwaves that affect both people and wildlife. |
| 3. Many farmers in California have struggled due to a severe drought that lasted for several years. |
| 4. Climate change is causing more extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and heavy rainfall. |
| 5. Last year, our community experienced a record number of flooding incidents due to heavy rains. |
| 6. Scientists warn that if we don’t act soon, global temperatures will continue on an alarming trajectory. |
| 7. The current levels of carbon emissions are significantly higher than those seen in pre-industrial times. |
| 8. Transitioning away from fossil fuels is crucial for reducing global warming and pollution. |
| 9. Experts believe we are getting close to a threshold where climate effects could become irreversible. |
| 10. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to limit the impact of climate change. |
| 11. If we do not take action now, global temperatures are bound to reach levels that threaten ecosystems. |
| 12. The impacts of climate change can be felt everywhere, from rising sea levels to disrupted agriculture. |
| 13. The torrential rains caused widespread damage in many parts of the city last month. |
| 14. If we continue to ignore climate change, we may spiral into a crisis that affects our future generations. |
| 15. Curbing our reliance on plastic can help reduce pollution and protect marine life. |
| 16. Some people still insist that climate change is a hoax, despite overwhelming scientific evidence. |
| 17. There is a strong consensus among scientists about the urgency of addressing climate change. |
| 18. Signing the Paris Agreement was a significant milestone in the fight against global warming. |
| 19. To effectively tackle climate change, we need solutions that work on a large scale. |
| 20. Without serious commitment, countries may breach the target set for reducing emissions by 2030. |
4.) The video is muted. The task is to produce the voice-over for the video. (the video could be watched again before this activity if necessary.)
Correct answers:
1.) Questions
1. Global temperatures officially breached the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial times in 2024.
2. The temperature rise in 2024 resulted in heatwaves, drought, and extreme weather on every continent.
3. The planet’s average temperature in 2024 was 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than in 1850 to 1900, the pre-industrial period.
4. The Paris Agreement aimed to prevent average temperatures from exceeding the 1.5-degree threshold, but 2024 was the first full year in which global temperatures exceeded that level.
5. The director says it’s not too late for countries to rapidly cut emissions and avoid global warming rising faster, but they need to act fast.
6. The impacts of climate change are now visible on every continent, affecting people from the richest to the poorest countries on Earth.
7. The political will to invest in curbing emissions has waned in some countries, such as the United States under the incoming President-elect Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax.
2.) Fill in the gaps:
1. exceeded
2. heatwaves
3. drought
4. extreme weather
5. experienced
6. trajectory
7. pre-industrial
8. fossil fuels
9. threshold
10. despite this
11. emissions
12. bound to reach
13. impacts
14. torrential
15. spiral
16. curbing
17. hoax
18. consensus
To create this lesson I used Twee and Turboscribe for activities 1 and 2.
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