Nature constantly adjusts the atmospheric carbon level. An increase in the level causes the atmosphere to hold more h...
ginakdJune 8, 2020
Why E
I've read all the discussions below, but I still don't understand how E weakens the argument in the passage. Can I get some further clarification? Thanks!
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The passage concludes that environmentalists should not be worried that burning fossil fuels may allow atmospheric carbon to rise to a level which threatens human life because nature will continually adjust the carbon levels in the atmosphere.
What evidence is provided in support of this conclusion? Nature constantly adjusts the atmospheric carbon level. Any increases in atmospheric carbon cause the atmosphere to hold more heat, causing more water to evaporate from the oceans, causing increased rainfall. This rainfall counteracts the increase in atmospheric carbon to an extent as it washes some carbon from the air into the oceans where it eventually becomes part of the seabed and, therefore, no longer affects atmospheric temperatures.
Answer choice (E) is correct because it weakens the author's ability to draw their conclusion that environmentalists should not be worried about the levels of atmospheric carbon as nature will adjust the levels.
The natural adjustment process sounds like a promising solution to the increase in atmospheric carbon; however, if it takes millions of years, then carbon may rise to a dangerous level before the adjustment process can remove it from the atmosphere.
Additionally, this answer choice tells us that the process allows for wide fluctuations in the carbon level in the short term. This further weakens the conclusion as it suggests that the levels of atmospheric carbon could still rise to a level which threatens human life in the short term.
Hope this helps clear things up a bit! Please let us know if you have any further questions.
