There are still some people who say that climate change is not real! Others say that it is real, but we _______ do anything to stop it, so we need not try. A few people even say that climate change is not caused by human beings. But most people now understand that our world is getting hotter, and we have to do something about it. We only have one Earth, and we _______ get another one.
Twenty years ago, people _______ perhaps imagine that climate change was not a real problem, because some scientists still had doubts. Today almost all the world's scientists agree: the world is getting hotter, and it is the fault of human beings. Our planet is going towards a climate catastrophe, but we _______ stop its effects. Indeed we _______ do everything possible to stop them.
In November 2021, world leaders (or most of them) met in Glasgow, in Scotland, for the COP26 summit. They took quite a few decisions, to try and stop the Earth getting too warm. Many countries promised to become "carbon neutral" before 2050. Some have promised to become carbon-neutral even faster. World leaders agree that we have to stop using coal and oil to generate heat and electricity; we _______ use green energy sources instead, known as "renewables."
Before the year 2100, all the energy that we use _______ perhaps come from renewable sources; the sun, the sea, the wind and rivers _______ produce more than enough energy for everyone on our planet, but we still have a long way to go.
The green energy revolution has already begun, but the challenges are still enormous. "Going green" _______ cost an enormous amount of money, and use some kinds of technology that do not yet exist. Also there are some people who believe that it _______ be too expensive.
Although most people care about our planet and know that we have to act now to avoid a climate catastrophe, there are other people who have different priorities. There are people who just don't care, and there are people who care more about themselves than about the world around them. There are people and big companies that just want to make money, and are not interested in anything that gets in their way. Most importantly, there are politicians who are frightened of doing anything that other people _______ not like; they make promises, but they do not keep them.