Read the given passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
It's a tough time to be a glacier. Scientists expected Venezuela's Humboldt Glacier to last another decade, but in 2024 it melted into an ice field, shrinking to under two hectares. This marks the loss of the country's last glacier and signals a grim future for others. Scientists warn that glaciers in countries like Germany and Mexico will also disappear as fossil fuel consumption accelerates global warming. Communities depending on glaciers for fresh water face challenges, as glaciers in mountain ranges like the Andes provide vital drinking and irrigation water for millions of people.
However, about 80% of global glaciers, excluding polar ice sheets, could survive if countries rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical glaciers in regions such as the Andes, East Africa, and Indonesia, however, are unlikely to recover due to higher temperatures. Despite pledges in the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, current projections suggest a rise of 3°C, potentially raising sea levels by nearly 10 feet by 2100, threatening island nations like Fiji and the Maldives with destruction.
A proposal to protect ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland involves a 62-mile-long removable underwater curtain, but experts like James Kirkham from the International Cryosphere Initiative caution that such measures are distractions from the real issue: halting global heating. Without decisive action, glaciers will continue to melt, and more countries will lose their ice. The urgency of addressing climate change has never been clearer, and the world's glaciers can't afford any more delays.
There is hope of survival for a significant number of global glaciers in case _______.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → collective responsibility is undertaken to rapidly reduce green house emissions globally
The passage says about 80% of global glaciers could survive if countries rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "Countries" acting together is collective, worldwide responsibility, which is the condition for the glaciers' survival.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: large-scale geoengineering projects are implemented the world over — Incorrect. Contradicted: the only such project mentioned, the underwater curtain, is called a distraction by experts; the passage pins its hope on cutting emissions.
Option 2: communities depending on glaciers for fresh water and irrigation would wean off their dependency — Incorrect. Wrong link: to wean off something is to slowly stop depending on it. The passage mentions these communities only as people who will suffer; their giving up glacier water would not save a single glacier.
Example: The doctor helped him wean himself off sleeping pills.
Option 3: innovative proposals like the 62-mile-long removable underwater curtain are not nipped in the bud — Incorrect. Contradicted: to nip something in the bud is to stop it at an early stage. The passage does not want the curtain protected; experts call it a distraction from the real issue.
Example: The teacher nipped the quarrel in the bud.