阅读理解
Which topic drew the most attention from people around the world in 2019? It was climate change, according to three well-known English dictionaries.
The Oxford, Collins and Cambridge dictionaries chose climate emergency（气候紧急状态）, climate strike （罢工） and upcycling（升级改造）, as their ―Word of the Year‖. This tells us that climate change was a widely-discussed issue（重要议题）in 2019. Climate emergency means a situation in which urgent（紧急的）action is needed to reduce climate change. ―Climate strike refers to people leaving work or school to call for more action to protect the environment. ―Upcycling refers to making new items out of old or used items to reduce waste.
Climate change has already affected（影响）the world in many ways. Take Venice for example. Because of climate change, Venice experienced the worst flooding it has seen in the last 50 years in 2019. Many stores, restaurants and hotels were flooded. This caused serious damage totaling hundreds of millions of euros（欧元）.
Although we've known about global warming for a long time, our large companies and governments have been slow to respond to it. The year 2019 might have been the turning point that will finally encourage（鼓励）our leaders to take responsibility（责任）.
Decades ago, when the science on the climate issue was first increasing, the impacts（影响）could be seen as an issue for future generations, ‖ Katharine Mach, a Stanford University climate scientist, told The New York Times. It's surely our responsibility now.
However, simply realizing that climate change is a threat(威胁) is not enough. We must take real action before it is too late.
