Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.

5C climate target, shows study

Level 1: Elementary

1
  Warmer

a. How much meat do you eat in one week? Do you think you can reduce how much meat you eat
to save the planet? Why? Give reasons for your answer.

2
  Key words

a. Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.

decrease global warming green increase lower

methane safe scientist study

1. The problem that causes the temperature of the earth to go up is .

2. is a gas with no colour or smell that is used as fuel.

3. When something grows in size, amount, or number, it has an .

4. A person trained in science is a .

5. A research project that examines a problem or subject is a .

6. When something can become less or go down in value, it can .

7. A type of energy that does not harm the environment is called .

8. When you reduce something in number or amount, you it.

9. Something that is does not involve much risk.

b. Choose three of the words from task A and write personalised sentences.
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 Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study
Level 1: Elementary
Damian Carrington 9 Professor Pete Smith at the University of
06 March, 2023 Aberdeen, UK, said that, in 2021, they saw that
57 per cent of gases from food comes from
1 Gases from food will push the world past animal farms, which shows how important it is
1.5C of global warming unless we make fewer to make changes. However, only a third of the
high-methane foods. This increase is mostly world’s countries have included farming in their
caused by meat, dairy (milk, yoghurt, cheese climate plans.
etc.) and rice. © Guardian News and Media 2023
2 Scientists have done a study. They say that, First published in The Guardian, 06/03/2023
without change, there will be at least 0.7C of
global warming from food by the end of the
century, and there has already been a 1C rise.
This means food can make the temperature go
above 1.5C.
3 75 per cent of this heat comes from high-
methane foods, such as cows and rice fields.
However, the scientists said the temperature
could decrease by 55 per cent if we eat less
meat, help cows make less gas, and use
green energy.
4 The future temperature could be much hotter
because people may eat more meat. It may go
up by 70 per cent by 2050.
5 Catherine Ivanovich, at Columbia University,
US, said methane is a big part of this change.
If we continue to make food in the same way,
we will not lower the temperature. It is essential
to reduce the amount of these gases in the air.
The scientists checked 94 types of food. This
showed that making food the way we do today
means a rise of 0.7C to 0.9C by 2100.
6 Because the temperature went up more than
1C by 2021, the scientists said that more
warming from making food is enough to exceed
1.5C. This means that the climate’s future isn’t
safe without changes.
7 If people ate red meat only once a week, as the
Harvard Medical School says, the temperature
could decrease by 0.2C. This means people
eating less meat in rich countries but could
mean people eating more meat in some poorer
countries.
8 Changing what cows eat could reduce the
temperature by 0.2C, and changing to green
energy could reduce the temperature by 0.15C.
Ivanovich said that, in the future, they might be
able to change even more.
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 Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study
Level 1: Elementary

3
  Comprehension check

a. Answer the questions using information from the article.

1. What will make the temperature go up by 0.7 degrees Celsius?

2. What three types of food make the temperature go up the most?

3. With no change, how much hotter will it be by the end of the century?

4. How much of the heat comes from high-methane foods?

5. What three things could decrease the temperature by 55 per cent?

6. How many types of food did scientists check?

7. By 2100, how much will the temperature increase if we continue making food the way we do today?

8. How often should a person eat red meat in one week?

9. What percentage of these gases come from animal farms?

10. What proportion of countries included farming in their climate plans?

4
  Key language

a. Complete the table with the correct forms of the adjectives from the article. The adjectives in
the right column are comparative adjectives.

1. few
2. cleaner
3. hot
4. bigger
5. safer
6. richer
7. poor

b. Complete the sentences with some of the comparative adjectives above.

1. The temperature is usually in the summer.

2. Without a job, you will be much .

3. This farm has five fields. It is than that one.

4. Will you feel with a security camera outside?

5. Thank you for washing the car. It is much now.

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 Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study
Level 1: Elementary

5
  Discussion

a. Discuss these statements.

• “Eating meat once a week is enough.”

• “Science will fix all our problems.”

• “More countries should change their farming plans.”

6 In your own words

  

a. Use an internet search engine to find more information about the gases that increase the
earth’s temperature. What are they? Where do they come from?

b. Report your findings to the class.

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 Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study
Level 1: Elementary – Teacher’s notes
3. Comprehension check
Article summary: The article describes how
food production impacts climate change and a. The answers given are only suggested answers.
what can be done to prevent it. Students may correctly answer the questions
in different ways, e.g., in item 1, they may say,
Time: 60 minutes ‘Methane will make the temperature go up’ or similar.

Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing Key:

1. gases from food
Language focus: Comparative adjectives 2. meat, dairy, rice
3. at least 1.5 degrees Celsius
Materials needed: One copy of the 4. 75%
worksheet per student
5. eating less meat, helping cows make less gas,
using clean energy
6. 94
1. Warmer 7. 0.7 to 0.9 degrees Celsius
8. once
a. This activity aims to get students to think about what 9. 57 per cent
they eat and what they might change about their diet, 10. one third
particularly meat. As an extension activity, consider
asking students to answer the same question about 4. Key language
dairy and rice.
a. Students could be asked to do this exercise
2. Key words individually, and then compare their answers in pairs.
The missing words are used in the text.
a. Ask students to do the exercise individually and
compare their answers in pairs or small groups. Key:
Note that the word study is used as a noun, and it is 1. fewer 5. safe
similar to ‘research’. 2. clean 6. rich
3. hotter 7. poorer
Key: 4. big
1. global warming
2. Methane b. Students could be asked to do this exercise
3. increase individually and then compare their answers in pairs.
4. scientist The answers come from the comparative adjectives
5. study in task A.
6. decrease
7. green 1. hotter
8. lower 2. poorer
9. safe 3. bigger
4. safer
b. Allow the class to personalise some of the 5. cleaner
vocabulary they have covered in the previous
activity. Encourage students to choose three words 5. Discussion
they are interested in practising or unsure how to
use correctly. Monitor and assist students as you a. Allow students time to note their ideas about each
walk around the class. Allow time for feedback, so statement and encourage them to say why they
students can share some of the sentences they agree or disagree with each.
have written.
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 Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study
Level 1: Elementary – Teacher’s notes

6. In your own words

a. Have students use an internet search engine to

find more information about the gases that increase
the earth’s temperature. Ask them to find out what
they are called and where they come from. As an
extension, students could offer suggestions for
reducing these gases.

b. Students then present their reports to the class.

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