영어1 동아 박용예 3과 빈칸 변형

Over the past two centuries, human activities have generated a significant amount of carbon dioxide, commonly ____ to as CO₂.

____ gas itself is not dangerous when we encounter it in everyday situations.

However, excessive amounts of this ____ in the atmosphere have contributed to the greenhouse effect, resulting in a gradual increase in the Earth’s surface temperature.

To make matters worse, this increase has sped up in recent years and is seriously ____ life on our planet.

____ must act immediately to stop any further climate change.

While many high-tech solutions such as carbon capture have been proposed, they are ____ too expensive to be used widely.

Fortunately, there are also low-tech, economical, and even ____ solutions available.

In this report, we will ____ on one of the most powerful nature-based solutions to climate change: whales, the giant helpers living under the sea.

Whales are ____ creatures.

They are enormous and live ____ long lives.

The largest blue whales can ____ as long as 30 meters and weigh over 200 tons, and some whales have been known to live for more than 100 years.

These giants do extremely beneficial things for the environment throughout their long ____ and even after death.

According to scientists, a ____ whale can absorb about 550 kilograms of CO₂ per year, while a tree can absorb only 22.

Moreover, after they die, whales sink to the ocean floor with all the CO₂ they absorbed during their ____

Their bodies then become food ____ habitats for deep-sea creatures.

This process is called a whale ____

____ falls permanently bury about 145,000 tons of CO₂ under the sea every year.

This achievement is basically what expensive carbon capture technologies aim to do—capture carbon and then store it ____

In addition to their direct absorption and burial of CO₂ through ____ falls, whales also make a significant indirect contribution to reducing CO₂ through an act called a whale pump.

This ____ to the vertical movements of whales that help circulate nutrients across different depths of the ocean.

Whales dive deep into the ____ to feed on prey such as krill and small fish, and they occasionally swim up to the surface to breathe.

When they near the ____ they release an enormous amount of waste.

This waste is rich in nutrients that ____ essential for creatures living in that area.

Specifically, it creates the perfect growing conditions for some microscopic creatures floating at the surface ____ the ocean.

These creatures, called phytoplankton, may look tiny and insignificant, but when taken together, they play a significant role in reducing ____

They ____ about 40% of the carbon in the atmosphere and produce about 50% of the atmosphere’s oxygen.

They ____ this through photosynthesis, a process that creates energy using carbon, water, and light.

It is estimated that increasing the world’s phytoplankton by ____ is equivalent to planting 2 billion new trees.

Whale pumps deliver ____ not only to the ocean surface but also to deeper areas of the ocean.

As whales swim back down to feed at the ocean’s bottom, their movements stir up the water and bring nutrients down to the creatures living ____

Whale pumps promote the growth of marine life at ____ depths throughout the ocean.

____ spread nutrients in the ocean not only vertically but also horizontally through a process called the great whale conveyor belt.

These giant mammals ____ over long distances at certain times of the year.

For example, in the ____ humpback whales tend to stay near Alaska, where the water is cold but rich in nutrients and prey for them to feed on.

As winter approaches, they ____ up to 4,800 kilometers to breed in the warm waters near Hawaii.

Nutrients are relatively scarce in warm ____ which makes it difficult for phytoplankton to survive.

Fortunately, when the whales arrive in Hawaii after eating their ____ in Alaska, they release a large amount of nutrient-rich waste.

This process can be thought of as a conveyor belt that moves nutrients from cold waters to warm ____

These nutrients support ____ life of many marine animals and, importantly, encourage the growth of phytoplankton even in warm waters.

The spread of phytoplankton leads to increased ____ absorption throughout the entire ocean.

Whales circulate ____ and nutrients to every corner of the ocean, helping to combat climate change.

Despite the important roles of whales in our environment, their lives ____ at serious risk.

The number of whales had ____ dropped until killing them for commercial purposes was officially banned in 1986.

It is estimated ____ the global whale population fell from 4 to 5 million to just over 1 million during the decades before the ban.

Today, whales are still threatened by various man-made dangers, such as ____ nets, ship strikes, and microplastic pollution in the ocean.

It is important to recognize that whales are valuable partners in our fight against the climate crisis and that protecting them is an ____ and cost-efficient way to address this global challenge.

Let’s take action to ____ more whales live longer and healthier lives.