The dawn of the 21st century witnessed the melting glaciers oscillating between giving too much and too little to billions of people who depend on them for fresh water. The UN climate report estimates that without deep cuts to man-made emissions, at least 3/4 of the northern hemisphere's surface permafrost could melt by the end of the century. Given the evidence of negative global effects of billions of people displaced by rising seas, nation states need to rethink their carbon footprint for political concerns, if not for environmental ones. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the given passage? A. Nation-states do not have environmental concerns. B. Nation-states are responsible for providing fresh water to billions of people. C. Billions of people are responsible for man-made emissions. D. Billions of people are affected by melting glaciers.
GATE 2020 · General Aptitude · Verbal Reasoning · medium
Answer: Option D is correct. The passage directly establishes that billions of people depend on glaciers for water and are displaced by rising seas, so billions of people are indeed affected by melting glaciers.
- Evaluate option A: The passage does not say nation-states lack environmental concerns; it actually implies they should act on them. Option A contradicts or goes beyond the text.
- Evaluate option B: The passage says billions depend on glaciers for water, not that nation-states are responsible for providing fresh water. Responsibility is not attributed to states for the supply itself.
- Evaluate option C: The passage says nation-states need to cut man-made emissions, but it does not say billions of people are individually responsible for those emissions. Responsibility is placed on nation-states.
- Evaluate option D: The passage explicitly states that glaciers affect billions who depend on them for fresh water AND mentions billions displaced by rising seas. Therefore the statement 'billions of people are affected by melting glaciers' directly follows from the text.