UN: Rising sea levels disaster for all: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English,

this is Learning English from the News – our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme –

Rising sea levels are a global catastrophe, says the UN.

Hello, I'm Beth.

And I'm Neil.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet, on our website, BBCLearningEnglish.com.

So, let's hear more about the story.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

has warned that rising sea levels are going to be disastrous

for the Pacific Islands.

Those are islands in the Pacific Ocean, such as Tuvalu and the Cook Islands.

However, a new UN report warns that rising sea levels will be a catastrophe

for everyone across the globe.

His comments come after two UN reports on the state of the climate.

OK. We have our first headline about this story and

it's from BBC News here in the UK.

Surging seas are coming for us all, warns UN chief.

And again, that headline from BBC News: Surging seas are coming for us all,

warns UN chief.

So, we know that rising sea levels are severely affecting Pacific islands,

but this headline says surging seas –

that means rising sea levels – are coming for us all,

and we're interested in this phrase 'coming for us all'.

Beth, can you explain?

Yes. 'Coming for us' or 'coming for you'

describes someone or something's

action towards you which is harmful or dangerous – a threat.

Imagine a pickpocket or a thief is coming for you.

This means they want to steal from you,

and that is their intention.

Yes, but we can also use 'coming for you'

for things that don't have a personality, like sea levels.

The rising sea levels don't intend to attack or harm us, unlike the thief.

But we will eventually be physically attacked by rising sea levels,

floods and land falling into the sea, so it will feel like a harmful action,

even though it doesn't intend to harm us. It's a threat.

Yeah, I have a different example of 'coming for us'. Beth,

I was at a barbecue at the weekend and this bee just kept following me

around the garden.

Everyone kept saying "it's coming for you".

It was chasing me for ages! Oh, dear.

We've had: coming for us – threatening to hurt us with or without intention.

For example: Watch out!

That dog looks like it's coming for us. Run!

This is Learning English from the News,

our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about rising sea levels.

Now, what can we do about rising sea levels?

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

has said that big polluters have a clear responsibility to cut emissions,

or we risk a worldwide catastrophe.

And especially talking about the Pacific Islands,

he said "the small islands don't contribute to climate change,

but everything that happens because of climate change is multiplied here."

And so we have to act quickly to save these islands from even more damage,

according to the UN.

Now, Neil, I have a headline about this.

This is from South Coast Register, which is a newspaper in Australia.

UN issues rallying cry on climate for Pacific.

That headline again, from the South Coast Register, a newspaper in Australia.

UN issues rallying cry on climate for Pacific.

We're looking at the phrase 'rallying cry'. So, a rally is

where people come together to protest, or show support for something,

and a cry, in the headline, is a shout.

So, together, a 'rallying cry' means saying something

or shouting something to bring people together, to act. Now, on a battlefield,

the commander might literally shout "charge!"

to get everyone together to fight the enemy.

And that is literally a rallying cry. That's right.

But, of course, in the headline, a rallying cry isn't literal. Here

it just means that the UN are metaphorically shouting.

They're appealing for people to come together

and support these Pacific islands by helping reduce climate change

and rising sea levels.

What else can we use 'rallying cry' for?

Could I issue, for example,

a rallying cry to my family when I want to change the TV channel?

Not really. It's for bigger, more important events where action is needed.

So, for example, a hospital might issue a rallying cry

for more blood donations if they are short of them.

We had: rallying cry – an appeal to bring people together to act.

For example, The politician gave a rallying cry and the crowd cheered.

This is Learning English from the News from BBC Learning English.

We're talking about rising sea levels. Now,

the UN have said there is an obligation on the G20,

that's a group made up of the 20 largest economies in the world,

to help because those countries cause 80% of emissions.

Mr. Guterres said

we can only prevent global damage that can't be changed

if we limit global warming to 1.5°C.

And our next headline is about this.

This comes from the Daily Sabah in Turkey.

World running out of time to turn tide on rising sea levels:

UN. That headline again: World running out of time to turn tide

on rising sea levels: UN.

That's from the Daily Sabah in Turkey.

So, this headline says the world is running out of time.

We don't have much time left to turn the tide on rising sea levels.

Now, 'turn the tide' is what we're looking at. In the headline

it's 'turn tide', but the phrase is normally 'turn the tide'.

Firstly, let's explain 'tide'.

Now, the tide is the natural rise and fall of the sea.

So, if you live by the coast, you'll notice that the sea is higher

at some times and further away at other times of the day.

Now, the phrase 'turn the tide' usually means to reverse current trends,

and it can be something that is quite difficult.

Neil, can you give us an example?

Yes. So, at the weekend my son's football team were losing 2-0,

but they managed to turn the tide on the opposition

and they won 5-2 in the end.

Wow, that's really good! So, they reversed the direction of the game.

But here the headline is actually talking about reversing the rise

in sea levels, which is quite difficult.

And it's a bit of a clever headline, isn't it?

It has a double meaning. It does,

yes, because we have 'tide' and then we mention the sea,

so it's a pun because the UN really do want to change the sea levels.

They don't want sea levels to continue rising.

We've had: turn tide – reverse a current trend.

For example, The latest battle could turn the tide

in the country's civil war.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

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Goodbye. Bye.