Professor Hall: The concentration of these natural (1) ____________________ in the ice cores indicates that runaway warming pushed Earth into an (2) ___________ which lasted two centuries. Diplomat A: I’m confused. I thought you were talking about global warming, not an ice age. Professor Hall: Yes, it is a paradox, but global warming can trigger a (3) ________________. Let me explain. The Northern Hemisphere owes its (4) _________________ to the North Atlantic Current. Heat from the sun arrives at the equator and is carried north by the ocean. But global warming is melting the polar ice caps and disrupting this flow. Eventually it will (5) _________________. And when that occurs, there goes our warm climate. Diplomat B: Excuse me. When do you think this could happen, professor? When? Professor Hall: I don’t know. Maybe in 100 years, maybe in 1,000. But what I do know is that if we do not act soon, it is our children and grandchildren who will have to (6) _________________. Vice President: And who’s going to pay the price of the Kyoto Accord? It would cost the world’s economy hundreds of billions of dollars. Professor Hall: With all due respect, Mr. Vice President, the cost of (7) ______________ could be even higher. Our climate is fragile. At the rate we’re burning fossil fuels and polluting the (8) _______________, the ice caps will soon disappear. Vice President: Professor Hall, our economy is every bit (9) _____________ the environment. Perhaps you should keep that in mind before making sensationalist claims. Professor Hall: Well, the last chunk of ice that broke off was about the size of Rhode Island. Some people might call that (10) _____________________. (Stop global warming! Stop global warming!)