Contrary to earlier conjectures, it may be that increased atmospheric

Hi jlgdr,


• Contrary to earlier conjectures, it may be
o that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide as a result of burning fossil fuels would cool the globe
 by reducing the amount of solar energy absorbed by snow.


MEANING

• The sentence states something in contrast to the earlier hypotheses. It says:
• It is possible that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide would cool the globe.
o This increase in the atmospheric carbon dioxide resulted from the burning of fossil fuels.
• How can it cool the globe? - by reducing the amount of solar energy absorbed by snow.

So, now we know what the author wants to convey through the original sentence. Let’s look at the options one by one and find out the errors, if there are any:


OPTION A: Incorrect

‘…increased carbon dioxide as a result of burning fossil fuels…’:
Let’s consider a simple example:

India, as a result of win over Australia, moved into the semi-finals.
In this sentence, the action of India moving into the semi-finals happened as a result of India’s win over Australia.
Similarly, option A indicates that the atmospheric carbon dioxide would cool the globe as a result of the burning fossil fuels. This meaning is illogical. The possibility is that the increased atmospheric carbon dioxide would cool the globe.


OPTION B: Correct

The verb-ing modifier ‘resulting’ modifies the preceding noun ‘increased atmospheric carbon dioxide’ and tells us about the reason of the increase in the carbon dioxide.


OPTION C: Incorrect

The result of the combustion of fossil fuels is ‘increased atmospheric carbon dioxide’ not ‘increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere’.
‘Increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere’ is wordy in comparison to ‘increased atmospheric carbon dioxide’.

OPTION D: Incorrect

1. Since ‘that’ refers to ‘carbon dioxide’, it is singular. Hence using plural verb ‘increase’ is incorrect.
2. This option states that the carbon dioxide would cool the globe, while the original sentence stated that the increased carbon dioxide would cool the globe. The meaning is changed.

OPTION E: Incorrect

‘…atmospheric carbon dioxide that increased from….’ means that the atmospheric carbon dioxide increased something. ‘increased’ is acting as a verb here for the subject ‘that’. It cannot act as a verb-ed modifier because then there would be no verb in the dependent clause starting with ‘that’.


P.S.: ‘atmospheric carbon dioxide’ simply means the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere.


Hope this helps!
Manyu