How climate change affects animal migration

Introduction Climate change can affect the way animals migrate, but did you know that some animal migration could be used to fight climate change? Neil and Beth discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary. This week's question How many animals are thought to take part in The Great Migration, the annual migration of animals around the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Maasai Mara in Kenya?  a)    1 million b)    1.5 million c)    2.5 million Listen to the programme to hear the answer. Vocabulary migrate move to another place because of the weather or temperature what kind of (something, e.g. price, distance) are we talking? used to rephrase a question that starts with how much or how far swathes large areas of something secret weapon something nobody knows about that gives you an advantage over a problem or enemy sequester separate and store for perspective used to explain the size or importance of something, particularly when that thing is difficult to imagine TRANSCRIPT Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.  Beth Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Beth. Neil And I'm Neil. You can find a transcript and worksheet for this podcast on our website bbclearningenglish.com. Beth So Neil, today we're talking about animal migration: that's the movement of animals from one place to another, usually because of the weather or temperature. Neil Yes. For example, wildebeest are famous for their migration. They travel around the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Maasai Mara in Kenya every year depending on the rain. It's often called The Great Migration. Beth Yes, and I have a question for you about this, Neil. How many animals are thought to take part in The Great Migration every year? Is it:  a)    1 million b)    1.5 million c)    2.5 million Neil Well, I don't know… but I'm going to guess 2.5 million. Beth OK. I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. Now, wildebeest are not the only animals who travel large distances. Neil That's right. Many sharks also migrate – they move to a different place because of the weather or temperature. Beth Trisha Atwood researches sharks and their migration for Utah State University and explained more to BBC World Service programme, The Climate Question. Trisha Animals migrate for all types of reasons. So, some of them migrate for food resources, things like mating or for giving birth. Neil So, animals can migrate for food, mating and giving birth. Host of BBC World Service's The Climate Question, Sophie Eastaugh, wanted to know more. Sophie And what kind of distances are we talking with these migrations? Are they covering huge swathes of ocean? Trisha Some of these shark species can travel massive distances. We've seen great white sharks that have travelled from the coast off of Perth, Australia, all the way to South Africa. Beth Sophie asks, "What kinds of distances are we talking with these migrations?" This is an informal way to ask, "How far are the migrations?" We can rephrase lots of questions in this way. For example, you could ask "What kind of price are we talking?" to ask how much something costs. Neil Sophie goes on to ask whether sharks travel across huge swathes of ocean. Swathes of ocean means large areas of ocean.  Beth Yes, and in fact, sharks do travel across large areas. For example, great white sharks can travel from Australia to South Africa. That is a long way to swim! Neil But, as climate change causes changes to the temperature of the ocean, it's changing the way that sharks migrate. Beth This is a problem; sharks scare away other creatures, such as sea turtles, and these creatures eat seagrass, which absorbs a lot of carbon from the atmosphere. Neil So, basically, when the sharks are around, there's more seagrass on the ocean floor and so more carbon is absorbed. So, sharks can actually help fight climate change. Beth Yes. In fact, lots of species that migrate are really important for fighting climate change. Let's hear more from BBC World Service programme, The Climate Question. Sophie Sharks aren't the only migratory animal that acts as a secret weapon against climate change. Trisha Research that we worked on shows that by just managing about 10 groups of animals we could be taking out or sequestering more CO2 from the atmosphere by about six gigatonnes of carbon per year. Sophie So, for perspective, some experts say that we need to suck 10 gigatonnes of CO2 a year out of the atmosphere to meet our climate goals.  Neil Sophie says that many animals that migrate, like sharks, are a secret weapon against climate change. A secret weapon is something nobody knows about that will give you an advantage over a problem or enemy. Beth By protecting sharks and other animals that migrate, Trisha's research shows that we could be sequestering six gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, or CO2, a year from the atmosphere. Sequester means remove and store the carbon, for example in plants like seagrass. Neil Six gigatonnes is a lot of carbon! Sophie says that, for perspective, it's about 60% of the amount of carbon dioxide that some scientists believe we need to remove from the atmosphere each year. We can use the phrase 'for perspective' to explain the size or importance of something, particularly when it's difficult to imagine that thing. Beth Alongside sharks, another species that Trisha believes is important to helping remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is the wildebeest. Neil Yes, and that reminds me of your question, Beth. You asked me how many animals take part in The Great Migration, and I think I went for option c) 2.5 million. Was I right? Beth You weren't, I'm afraid. The answer was b) 1.5 million, so still a lot of animals. OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with migrate: move to a different place. For animals, this is usually because of the weather or temperature. Neil We can use the structure 'What kind of (something) are we talking?' to rephrase a question more informally, particularly one about distance, cost or numbers. For example, "What kind of distance are we talking?" Beth Swathes means large areas of something. Neil A secret weapon is something nobody knows about that gives you an advantage over a problem or enemy. Beth If you sequester something, such as carbon dioxide, you remove it and store it. Neil And we can use the phrase 'for perspective' to explain the size or importance of something, particularly if that thing is difficult to imagine. Beth Once again, our six minutes are up. Why not test what you've learned using the interactive quiz on our website? Bye for now! Neil Goodbye.