whatsupenglish: vocabulary

Saturday 21 March 2015

What is measles?

Measles can be a very serious disease - and children who have not been vaccinated are at risk.

What is measles?

Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease characterised by a high fever, a rash and generally feeling unwell.

The first symptoms include runny nose, sore eyes, a cough and fever.

Around the fourth day of the illness, a rash - flat red or brown blotches - may appear, usually starting on the forehead and spreading downwards.

There may also be diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

While this may be the full extent of the illness in many, resolving itself within two weeks of the first symptoms, other complications may arise in about one in 15 cases.

These include a severe cough and breathing difficulties, ear infections, pneumonia and eye infections.

In a very small number of cases, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) may follow. This is extremely dangerous, as 25% of those affected are left with brain damage.

From: BBC Health News

Global Warming is the increase of Earth's average surface temperature due to effect of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels or from deforestation, which trap heat that would otherwise escape from Earth. This is a type of greenhouse effect.

The earth’s atmosphere is all around us.
It is the air that we breathe.

global warming process

Sunlight enters the Earth’s atmosphere,
passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases.

global warming process

As it reaches the earth’s surface, the land
and water absorbs the sunlight’s energy.

global warming process

Once absorbed, the energy is sent back into the
atmosphere in the form of infra-red rays.

global warming process

Some of the energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, causing our globe (earth) to warm up.

global warming process

This warming is what we call Global Warming, and it is caused by the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is important. Without the greenhouse effect, the earth would not be warm enough for humans to live. But if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it could make the earth warmer than usual. Even a little extra warming of the earth may cause problems for humans, plants and animals.