Is the planet warming up faster? - 6 Minute English

90,108 views ・ 2021-09-09

BBC Learning English


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Hi! Neil from BBC Learning
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English here.
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Did you know that
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Hello. This is 6 Minute English
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from BBC Learning English.
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I'm Neil.
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And I'm Sam.
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"No one is too small to make
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a difference". Do you know
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who said that, Sam?
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Wasn't it climate change
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activist, Greta Thunberg?
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That's right. She went on to
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say this in her message to
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world leaders: "I don't want
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you to be hopeful. I want
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you to act as if your house
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is on fire. Because it is."
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Her speech reflected the
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feelings of many young people
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around the world who think that
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not enough action is being
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taken on climate change.
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And they may be right, judging
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by the record-breaking
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temperatures that hit Canada
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and the north-west of the
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United States in July this year.
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Yes, Greta Thunberg's plea to 'act
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like your house is on fire' became
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a reality for residents of the
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small town of Lytton, Canada
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which burned to the ground in
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a shocking wildfire - a fire
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that is burning strongly
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and out of control.
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So, was the Lytton wildfire yet
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another climate change
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wake-up call?
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A wake-up call is the expression
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used to describe a shocking event
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that should make people realise
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that action is needed
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to change something.
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Well, maybe not, according to
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some climatologists who,
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worryingly, say that what
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happened in Lytton should
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not even have been possible.
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So in this programme we'll
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be asking if scientists
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have dangerously misunderstood
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the realities of climate change.
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But first it's time for my
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quiz question and it's about
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that extreme weather in Canada.
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It broke records when the
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temperature in Lytton hit an
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all-time high on 1st July - but
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just how hot did it get?
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Was it:
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a) 39 point 6 degrees?,
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b) 49 point 6 degrees? or
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c) 59 point 6 degrees Celsius?
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All those temperature look really
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high, especially for snowy Canada.
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I ll say a) 39 point 6 degree C.
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OK, Sam, we'll find out the
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answer later on. Seeing your
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hometown burn to the ground is
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bad enough, but perhaps even
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worst was the fact that the
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wildfires were so unexpected.
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According to weather pattern
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modelling done by a team of
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Oxford University researchers,
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such extreme heat was
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impossible - in theory, at least.
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The research team was led by
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climatologist, Geert Jan van
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Oldenborgh. Here he is in
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conversation with BBC World
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Service programme,
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Science in Action:
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This is a wake-up call beyond
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the wake-up calls that
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we've had before.
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Yes, and it's a very big shock
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in the sense that we thought we
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knew how heatwaves react to
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global warming and within
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which boundaries they're
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increasing (of course they're
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increasing in temperature) but
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it's a gradual process we
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thought and then you get this
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thing and it's not gradual
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at all - it's a huge jump!
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Professor Van Oldenborgh had
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been studying the
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impact of global
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warming on heatwaves - short
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periods of time when the
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weather is much hotter than usual.
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Along with other climatologists,
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he thought that climate change
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was gradual - changing or
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happening slowly, over a
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long period of time.
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But the Canadian heatwaves
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caused him to think again.
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Instead of being gradual the
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temperatures saw a jump,
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or a sudden
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increase, of five degrees. And
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it's this sudden jump that s got
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Professor Van Oldenborgh and
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his team worried.
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By collecting data from all
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over the world climatologists
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try to predict changes in
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the pattern of global warming.
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But, as Geert Jan van Oldenborgh
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told BBC World Service's,
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Science in Action, the heatwave
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in Lytton didn't fit
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these predictions at all:
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Everything looked like a nice
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regular gradual trend like we
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were used to up to last year and
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then you suddenly break all
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your records by four or five
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degrees, I mean, this is
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something that's no supposed
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to happen and it has really
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shaken our confidence in how
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well we understand the
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effect of climate
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change on heatwaves.
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Despite all his research,
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Professor Van Oldenborgh is
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still unable to explain such
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extreme and sudden
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changes in the
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climate - and this, he says, has
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shaken his confidence - made him
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doubt something that he was
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certain was true.
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And it's this lack of understanding
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worrying researchers because, as
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the story of the town of Lytton
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shows, the effects of climate
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change may be even worse
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than expected.
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Maybe it's time we all took
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notice of Greta Thunberg's
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wake-up call to take action
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on climate change.
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Especially if even cold,
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northern countries like Canada,
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or Britain for that matter,
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can experience such
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extreme changes. Speaking of
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which, Neil, what was the
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answer to your quiz question?
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Ah yes, in my quiz question
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I asked you exactly how high
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the temperature reached in the
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Canadian town of Lytton.
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What did you say, Sam?
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I thought it was a)
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39 point 6 degrees Celsius.
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Was I right?
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Well, you were close but, in fact,
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it got even hotter, actually reaching
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49 point 6 degrees Celsius - the
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highest temperature ever recorded
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in Canada by at least 5 degrees!
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Phew! That's hot. Well, we'd
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better recap the vocabulary from
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this programme because we might
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be hearing these words a lot more
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in the future! Let's start with
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a wildfire which is an
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out-of-control fire that
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is burning the countryside.
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A wake-up call is an event which
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should make people realise
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that action needs to be
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taken to change a situation.
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A heatwave is a period of
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days or weeks when the weather
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is much hotter than usual.
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A jump is a sudden increase
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whereas gradual
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means happening
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slowly, over a long time.
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And finally, if something
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shakes your confidence, it makes
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you doubt something that
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you thought was true.
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That's it for our look at
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one of the hottest years
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on record.
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Bye for now!
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Bye!
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