Definition
Climate action refers to the efforts, policies, and personal choices made to reduce the causes of climate change (like cutting greenhouse gas emissions) and to adapt to its already-occurring effects.
Major human activities contributing to climate change include burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) for energy and transport, which releases carbon dioxide, and deforestation, which removes trees that would otherwise absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Two major negative effects of climate change: rising global temperatures leading to more frequent and severe extreme weather events (heatwaves, floods, droughts), and rising sea levels (from melting ice and thermal expansion of warming ocean water) threatening low-lying coastal areas.
Remember
Poorer and developing countries are often more vulnerable to climate change's effects even though they typically pollute far less, because they generally have less financial and infrastructural capacity to prepare for or recover from extreme weather, less access to advanced agricultural or disaster-response technology, and are often located in regions (like low-lying coasts or drought-prone areas) that are especially exposed to climate impacts — this mismatch between who causes the most emissions and who suffers the most harm is exactly why climate change is widely described as a matter of moral responsibility, not just a technical or economic problem.
Definition
The Paris Agreement is an international treaty (adopted in 2015) whose main goal is to limit global warming to well below C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit it to C — its purpose is to unite nearly all the world's countries in a shared, coordinated commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the ability of vulnerable regions to adapt to unavoidable climate impacts.
Definition
Individuals can contribute to protecting the environment through everyday choices: reducing personal energy use, using public transport or carpooling instead of driving alone, reducing waste and recycling, supporting sustainable products, and raising awareness among family and friends — examples of small but meaningful individual climate actions in daily life.
Remember
The phrase 'a global conversation rather than a fringe concern' suggests that climate change has moved from being a niche or marginal topic discussed only by a small group of specialists or activists, to being a mainstream issue actively discussed and acted upon across governments, businesses, and the general public worldwide.
Definition
A euphemism is a mild or indirect expression substituted for one considered too harsh or blunt — in a phrase like referring to serious action as simply 'climate action,' the softer term can make an urgent, complex crisis sound more manageable or routine than it really is, which is exactly the concern raised when a euphemism is used to frame a genuinely serious issue.
An oxymoron combines two contradictory terms for effect — a phrase like 'deafening silence' pairs a word suggesting overwhelming loudness with one meaning the total absence of sound, creating a striking contrast that emphasizes how noticeable and troubling an absence of action can be, precisely because it's presented as impossible to ignore despite being 'silent'.
Writers use vivid figures of speech like 'silent killer' and 'ticking time bomb' to make an abstract, gradual threat feel immediate, dangerous, and emotionally urgent — these expressions shift the tone from a dry, factual report into something alarming and pressing, pushing the reader to feel the urgency rather than just intellectually understand it.
Definition
A strong story opening paragraph introduces a situation or problem, hints at its stakes (why it matters to the character or reader), and establishes at least one character — doing all three quickly is what pulls a reader in from the very first lines.
Turning a flat opening like 'I woke up and got ready for school' into something engaging usually means adding tension, a specific sensory detail, or an unresolved question — e.g. starting mid-action, hinting something is wrong, or raising a question the reader wants answered.
A scene combining dialogue and description shows a character facing a challenge by letting their spoken words reveal their attitude or emotion, while descriptive details (setting, body language, small actions) show the situation around them — together, showing rather than simply stating what's happening and how the character feels about it.
Quick Recap
- ●Climate action: reduce emissions adapt to effects. Causes: fossil fuels, deforestation. Effects: extreme weather, rising sea levels
- ●Poor countries: pollute less but suffer more (less capacity to adapt, greater geographic exposure) — a moral responsibility issue
- ●Paris Agreement (2015): limit warming well below C, pursue C, unite countries in coordinated climate commitments
- ●Individual action: energy use, transport choices, recycling, awareness — 'global conversation, not a fringe concern' means climate is now mainstream
- ●Euphemism: softens a harsh reality. Oxymoron: contradictory terms together for emphasis (e.g. 'deafening silence'). Vivid figures of speech raise urgency/tone
- ●Strong story openings: situation/problem stakes character, quickly. Show (dialogue description), don't just tell
