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Unit 10. Natural Forces. Read the texts and do the exercises.

How will life be in the future? This is a question that we should often ask ourselves.

There are many predictions about how the future of the Earth will be and what kind of problems

we will suffer from. Let's take a look at some of them.

1. Volcanic eruption. Possibly within zero to one hundred million years. Volcanic eruptions

cause disasters throughout history. Two hundred fifty million years ago, a volcano erupted

and wiped out the life on Earth. Henrik Svensson from the University of Oslo in Norway says

that this can happen again, but no one knows when exactly it will happen.

2. Deforastation. Within zero to one hundred years. Deforastation is the destruction of

forests as a result of natural causes and mostly human activities. When forests are destroyed,

life on Earth is in danger because forests are the sources of oxygen for us. Forests are

also home to different ecosystems, so other species are in danger too. According to international

reports, rain forests can completely turn into deserts in about 100 years. The country

with the most severe deforestation is Indonesia, according to the United Nations Environment

Program.

3. Drought. Tomorrow or very near future. We can define drought in different ways. A meteorological

drought, for example, occurs when there is no rain. A hydrological drought is when the

lack of rain goes on long enough to dry rivers and other water sources. Agricultural drought

begins when the lack of water starts killing crops. And after that, people may start dying

too. Drought is the biggest threat of climate change. Its impacts are global. If people

pay enough attention to the impacts of drought, we can prevent the near future effects of