地球？火球？

It's a slow drip, but it's melting glaciers¹ and we are to blame. That's according to a new research which finds the earth is now the hottest since it has been in 400 years and potentially the last 2000 or more. And the study says the recent warm is unprecedented². Commission by a congressional committee, The National Academy of Sciences' report says human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming. On Thursday, the panel of top climate scientists presented the findings.

Human activities are increasing the concentrations of certain gases in the atmosphere. Because of the physical properties of these gases, they inevitably³ cause warming. Over the last century, the warming has occurred with a magnitude of a bit more than one degree Fahrenheit⁴.

Some scientists say these findings are not a matter of debate. Evidence of the warming was taken from nature, retreating glaciers, ice cores, water sediments⁵ and other sources. The 155-page report was meant to request questions as to whether global warming is a major threat. The results will challenge the Bush administration the view that global warming is not severe enough to warn new pollution controls. According to the White House, these controls would cost 5 million Americans their jobs.

John Belon, the Associated Press .......

1 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

4 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

5 sediments   

沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 )； 沉积物

参考例句：

• When deposited, 70-80% of the volume of muddy sediments may be water. 泥质沉积物沉积后，体积的70-80％是水。
• Oligocene erosion had truncated the sediments draped over the dome. 覆盖于穹丘上的沉积岩为渐新世侵蚀所截削。