Valeria Treviño Mtz 2894736 Apr 6, 2021 Global Culture 2

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What’s New on the Climate Crisis?

Today, NewsForKids.net takes a look at some recent news stories related to the climate
crisis.  They include efforts to put a price on pollution, a new US push to tackle the climate
crisis, and a suggestion to study dimming the sun.

Carbon Pricing – Putting a Price on Pollution Carbon pricing is an idea that’s gained
support in the last week. Carbon pricing programs require businesses to pay for polluting.
Usually they pay in taxes or by buying “credits” from a group that’s removing
pollution.Carbon pricing isn’t new. But as the threats of the climate crisis have gotten more
serious, groups that used to oppose the idea have begun to support it. These groups include
large oil companies like Shell, BP, and Exxon.

Climate Crisis 
The climate crisis is a global emergency caused by the change in weather patterns around the
world because of human activity. Global heating is a huge part of the climate crisis. The world
is getting hotter, mainly because humans are burning “fossil fuels” like coal, oil, and natural
gas to make energy. These fuels give off pollution which makes the climate emergency worse.
These kinds of pollution are often called “greenhouse gases” or “carbon emissions”.
The world’s countries have agreed to pollute less, but so far not much has changed. The effects
of global heating will make life hard, and sometimes impossible, for most living things.
Scientists say humans must take strong action before 2030 to avoid the worst effects of the
climate emergency.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) represents oil and natural gas companies. It has
long fought against carbon pricing. Last Thursday, the group announced that it now
supports the idea. The API hopes that by supporting carbon pricing, it can avoid new rules
limiting fossil fuels businesses in other ways. Carbon pricing got another boost in Canada.
In 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government passed a national carbon pricing law.
The law isn’t popular in areas of Canada that earn money from fossil fuels. Several
provinces took the national government to court to stop the law. Last week, Canada’s
Supreme Court ruled that the law is allowed by the country’s constitution. Now all
Canadian provinces will need to begin a carbon pricing plan or use the national
government’s system.

US Focusing on Climate Crisis Again In the US, there’s a new focus on the climate crisis.
Ex-President Donald Trump took the US out of an important climate agreement known as
the Paris agreement. President Joe Biden has joined that agreement again. That’s an
important step for fighting climate change. It shows that the US – one of the world’s
biggest polluters – is taking the problem seriously. Many people in Mr. Biden’s cabinet
have promised strong action on the climate crisis. On Friday, Mr. Biden announced that he
Valeria Treviño Mtz 2894736 Apr 6, 2021 Global Culture 2
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is organizing a two-day meeting on the climate. The meeting will begin on April 22 – Earth
Day. Mr. Biden has invited 40 world leaders, including the leaders of Russia and China.
Because of the coronavirus, the meeting will be held online. During the meeting, Mr. Biden
plans to announce new US goals for cutting pollution. He’s expected to challenge other
countries to make similar efforts.

Scientists Suggest Studying Ways to Block Some Sunlight On Thursday, scientists at the
US National Academies of Sciences (NAS) released a report saying that the US should
spend at least $100 million to study ways of possibly dimming the Sun’s light. On
Thursday, scientists at the US National Academies of Sciences (NAS) released a report
saying that the US should spend at least $100 million to study ways of possibly dimming
the Sun’s light. Making this kind of huge change to the Earth’s basic systems is called
geoengineering. Geoengineering carries big risks. Changing one part of a system can
change other parts in unexpected and dangerous ways. NAS isn’t saying that the US should
try dimming the Sun’s light, just study the idea. They point out that so far, countries aren’t
cutting pollution quickly enough to slow down climate change. The group says that by
studying these ideas now, the world will be better prepared if they are needed in the future.

QUESTIONS
1. What agreement has president Joe Biden joined again?
2. What is the climate crisis?
3. What is the API and what does it hopes for?
4. When will Mr. Biden organize a meeting for the climate and how many leaders are
involved?
5. What is the NAS trying to point out?

ANSWERS
1. Paris agreement
2. Is a global emergency caused by the change un weather patterns around
the world because of human activity.
3. American Petroleum Institute, and hopes that by supporting carbon pricing it
can avoid new rules limiting fossil fuel business in other ways.
4. April 22, and there are 40 world leaders involved.
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5. That countries aren’t cutting pollution quickly enough to slow down climate
change. 

https://newsforkids.net/articles/2021/03/29/whats-new-on-the-climate-crisis/