GreenhouseEffect

　　Aworldwidegreenhouseeffectmightproduceadangerouslywarmerworld.

　　Sincethelate19thcentury,theaverageglobaltemperaturehasincreasedbetween

　　0.54°Fand1.08°F(0.3°Cand0.6°C).Internationally,1990wasthehottest

　　yearonrecordsinceofficialweatherrecordsfirststartedbeingkeptbytheBritish

　　inabout1860.

　　Estimates(估计)ofglobalaveragetemperatureshaveprojected(突出)an

　　increaseofasmuchas9°F(5°C)beforetheyear2100.Suchariseinglobaltemperaturewouldproducenewpatterns(模式)andextremesofdrought(干旱)andrainfall,whichwouldseriouslydisrupt(破坏)foodproduction.Thiscouldpotentially(潜在地)cripple(削弱)theNorthAmericancornbelt(北美生产玉米的地带）,whichproducesmuchoftheworld'sgrain,leadingtomuchhigherfoodprices,andevenlessfoodfortheThirdWorldthantheyalreadyhave.However,itwouldalsomeanthatsomecountrieswhicharefurthernorthwouldbeabletogrowcropstheyhadneverbeenabletobefore,althoughthereislesslandasyoumovenorthfromthecornbelt.

　　Theotherseriousworryisthatrisingsealevelsfromthemeltingofthepolar(极地的)icecapscouldseverelyfloodmanycountries.Ariseinsealevelsofonemetre,whichmanyexpertsarepredicting(预言)bytheyear2100(andsomeassoonas2030),wouldflood15percentofEgypt,and12percentofBangladesh(孟加拉国).TheMaldives(马尔代夫)intheIndianOceanwouldalmostcompletelydisappear.Mostofthecountrieswhichwouldsuffermostfromariseinsealevelsarethepoorislandstates,sotheislandsintheCaribbean(加勒比海),SouthPacific,MediterraneanandIndianOceanhaveformedtheAlliance(联盟)ofSmallIslandStates,AOSIS,sotheyhavealoudervoiceininternatioanlpoliticsandcanmakethericherdevelopedworldlistentotheirproblems.Closertohome,BritainwouldlosemostofEastAnglia(英格兰的拉丁名称),andtoprotectthecoastlinewouldcostanestimated5to10billionpounds.