WARMING UP OR COOLING DOWN?

Some scientists warn that another Ice Age is on the way. In a thousand of years time Britain and much of northern Europe, America and Asia may be covered with snow and ice all round.

In the meantime the Earth is getting warmer. Cars, truck, factories and power stations are polluting the air with carbon dioxide. This gas hangs in the air and forms a warm blanket around the Earth keeping in the heat. But don’t think the weather will get better as the Earth warms up. There will be more storms, Hurricanes and droughts. Much of Southern Europe will become like the Sahara.

The highest winds are whipped up by tornadoes. In 1958 winds of 450km per hours (280 miles per hour) hit Wichita Falls in Taxes, USA. That is faster than the fastest passenger train and as fast as a racing car.

Tornadoes seldom last more than an hour and move very slowly across the country. Yet in that time they do tremendous damage. In 1925 a tornado killed 700 people in the southern-central United States of America.

The world’s worst hurricanes hit Bangladesh in November 1970. A million people were killed by the floods whipped up by the winds and the rain.