Reading Test: Text: Could Sea Otters Save the Planet?
Text: Could Sea Otters Save the Planet?
“Furry swimming creatures could be star fighters in the struggle to stop global warming.”
Sea otters have another important job besides swimming around the Pacific Ocean and looking incredibly cute. Recent scientific studies suggest that these furry swimmers also take a big bite out of global warming.
How can a sea otter help slow down climate change? A sea otter's favorite meal is sea urchin, a spiny underwater animal that eats a type of seaweed called kelp. When sea otters eat their favorite chow, they keep the population of sea urchins down. That allows underwater forests of sea kelp to flourish.
These kelp forests reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, a harmful greenhouse gas, in the Earth's atmosphere. Carbon dioxide helps trap heat in the atmosphere. Experts say that too much of this gas leads to climate change, and many say that global warming may cause changes that could prove deadly for life on Earth.
BROKEN FOOD CHAIN
Scientists say sea otters could help the planet just by eating, but there's one problem: There aren't enough sea otters to keep the sea urchin population in check. Therefore, sea urchin populations are rising while the number of kelp forests is falling.
In the past, sea otters almost became extinct because hunters killed them for their fur. Now, killer whales—another species brought back from the brink of extinction—may be significantly lowering sea otter populations. The number of otters is so low, they have been listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Scientist Chris Wilmers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, recently studied the effect sea otters have on global warming. His study found that when kelp forests lose their otters, "all you are left with is piles of urchins and very little else."
Wilmers says that if otters were restored to healthy populations along the coast of North America, the ocean ecosystem could keep around 10 million tons of carbon from entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Task one: Chose the multiple-choice item that makes the sentence correct.
1. Sea otters are indigenous to
These furry swimmers could help to combat
Sea otters love to eat
Kelp forests help to reduce the amount of
Humans hunt sea otters for their
Carbon dioxide is a ______ greenhouse gas.
Killer whales eat
Task two:
The more sea urchins the less kelp; the less sea urchins, the more kelp.
If in healthy numbers, sea urchins could keep around 10 million tons of carbon from entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Scientist Chris Wilmers from the University of Santa Cruz recently studied the effect killer whales have on global warming.
Due to the number of otters being so low, the U.S. Endangered Species Act has listed them as threatened.
Humans hunt killer whales, killer whales hunt sea urchins, sea urchins hunt sea otters and sea otters eat kelp.
Both sea urchin populations and kelp forests are growing.
Carbon dioxide retains warmth in the atmosphere.
Wilmers says that otters will be restored to healthy populations along the coast of North America with the next few decades.
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