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. |
Why might the proposal to build a removable underwater curtain be viewed with skepticism by experts like James Kirkham? |
The curtain is considered only one of the viable solutions to preserve glaciers. The underwater curtain may not significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It diverts attention from urgently addressing the root cause of glacier melting. It is an irreversible and irrational solution that does not guarantee glacier survival. |
It diverts attention from urgently addressing the root cause of glacier melting. |
The correct answer is Option (3) → It diverts attention from urgently addressing the root cause of glacier melting. The passage directly quotes James Kirkham's perspective: "...experts like James Kirkham from the International Cryosphere Initiative caution that such measures are distractions from the real issue: halting global heating." The skepticism is not about the technical feasibility of the curtain, but the concern that investing time and resources into a local, palliative measure distracts from the fundamental global solution, which is reducing greenhouse gas emissions to stop the climate from heating. |