首页
登录
职称英语
One of the obvious problems with predicting the future effects of climate ch
One of the obvious problems with predicting the future effects of climate ch
游客
2024-11-25
33
管理
问题
One of the obvious problems with predicting the future effects of climate change is that they haven’t happened. This makes climate studies highly dependent on models, which invariably and unavoidably make simplifying assumptions. This means that using their results to say anything of practical import needs care and caveats, both of which can often be in short supply, or stripped out to make a point.
However, it is now ever more possible for studies of climate change to look at the past, not the future. The 20th century saw a fair amount of warming, and it is sometimes possible to compare what this warming did and didn’t do with what future warming might or might not do. This is what a paper published in Nature this week does in an attempt to re-examine, and perhaps close down, long-running debates about malaria and climate change.
Both the malaria parasite and the mosquitoes which spread it respond to temperature and moisture. Understanding those responses makes it possible to model what changes in climate might mean to the incidence of the disease. Such models have suggested that in a warmer world the area subject to endemic malaria would increase, perhaps quite a lot, though some places would see a reduction due to increased aridity. The caveats here include noting that the climate models can make no great claims to accuracy at the regional level and that such an approach does almost nothing to deal with changes in land use, wealth and public health programs.
One of the main thrusts of the new Nature paper is to see how much of what happened to the spread of malaria in the 20th century can be explained by what happened to the climate. The answer, according to Peter Gething of Oxford University and his colleagues, is not much. They conclude that claims that a warming climate has led to more widespread disease and death due to malaria are largely at odds with the evidence, which shows the areas effected shrinking, and the size of the effect shrinking too. Increases in the spread and severity of the disease burden foreseen over the next 40 years by the biological models are far smaller than the decreases in comparable measures seen over the past century.
The second tack of their argument is to compare the sort of effect seen in biology-based models of where malaria might spread with both models of and data on the effects direct intervention against the disease can have. Again the effects due to climate are small, even negligible, compared with the effects that interventions have achieved already and might achieve in decades to come. The marginal areas where climate might enlarge the area at risk are also, the article argues, the areas where the greatest declines in transmission have recently been seen thanks to increased intervention.
The conclusion is clear. People who are thinking about what to do about malaria should bear in mind that the biological basis of its distribution may change in a warmer world. Those thinking about the overall danger that climate change represents should not spend their time worrying about its impact on malaria.
Is there a wider conclusion to draw about computer models such as those that underlay frightening statements about malaria in a climate-changed world? Perhaps; but like the models themselves, it comes with caveats.
Scientists tend to model what can be modeled, and natural scientists, in particular, tend to prefer models that incorporate at least some aspects of the underlying processes which they are interested in, rather than working purely on empirical correlations. This means that if you search the scientific literature for approaches to the future, you will tend to find answers based on natural processes. If other knowledge suggests that natural processes aren’t the most important aspect of the problem at hand, then it’s a good idea to look at the models with that provision in the forefront of your mind.
The other vital lesson is that the caveats matter. Pretty much every paper presenting a biology-based model of malaria’s dependence on climate contains a warning that changes in economy, technology and society matter too, and aren’t in the model. To transmit the model’s results without important caveats is reckless.
If one is going to be optimistic about the future of malaria, one might also, with caution, be optimistic about the future of assessments of climate change. Things can, over time, get better, especially when the record of what has happened to date gets taken seriously. They will do so quicker if people accept both the usefulness and limits of models of the future, as well as the appeal of models of the past. [br] The Nature paper suggests______may be an influential factor affecting malaria.
选项
A、warmer climate
B、human involvement
C、drought
D、biology diversity
答案
B
解析
细节题。第五段第二句指出,相对于各种干预措施而言,气候对疟疾的影响是微乎其微的;最后一句接着提到,气候变化确实会增加少部分地区的疟疾扩散,但是由于外来因素的影响,这些地区也是疟疾扩散下降幅度最大的区域,可见,人为干预是影响疟疾传播的重要因素之一,故[B]正确。第四段第三句指出,气候变暖使疟疾的传播区域扩大的说法是没有证据的,故排除[A]和[C];[D]是根据“biology-based models”衍生出来的无关选项,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3859954.html
相关试题推荐
Oneoftheobviousproblemswithpredictingthefutureeffectsofclimatech
Oneoftheobviousproblemswithpredictingthefutureeffectsofclimatech
Oneoftheobviousproblemswithpredictingthefutureeffectsofclimatech
Oneoftheobviousproblemswithpredictingthefutureeffectsofclimatech
ThePacificnorthwestisfavoredwitha______climatelikethatofBritain.A、Medi
Youngpeoplearefacinganuncertainfuture.Asthe21stcenturydawned,the
Youngpeoplearefacinganuncertainfuture.Asthe21stcenturydawned,the
Youngpeoplearefacinganuncertainfuture.Asthe21stcenturydawned,the
Youngpeoplearefacinganuncertainfuture.Asthe21stcenturydawned,the
Fundingpublictransitisoneofthebiggestproblemsfacingcitiestoday.Ofte
随机试题
Thereasonfruitsandvegetablesaresoimportanttoyouroverallhealthis
小宋和小李是一个窗口的办事服务人员,在一次工作交接中,由于小宋的错误导致小李受到
可以根据原生动物的种类来判断水处理的程度。当活性污泥中以植物性鞭毛虫和伪足类为主
男性,肝硬化腹水病人经药物治疗后,血钾为2.4mmol/L,尿钾40mmol/L
大额存单的发行渠道包括()。A.发行人的营业网点 B.发行人的电子银行 C
A.单核细胞增多B.嗜酸性粒细胞和嗜碱性粒细胞均增多C.嗜酸性粒细胞增多D.淋巴
护士执业中的伦理原则包括A:自主原则 B:不伤害原则 C:公正原则 D:行
下列属于贷款抵押风险分析内容的有()。A.抵押物虚假或严重不实
根据一节课所完成的任务的数量,课的类型可分为_课和综合课。
临床使用不当可引起肝损伤的动物类中药有A.海螵蛸 B.蜈蚣 C.鸡内金 D
最新回复
(
0
)