This is News Review from BBC Learning English. I'm Beth.

And I'm Phil.

Make sure you watch to the end to learn all the vocabulary that you need to talk about this story.

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel to learn more English from the news headlines.

Now the story.

There are more animals on the list of endangered species than ever before.

Around 2000 more creatures have been added to the Red List of Threatened Species.

The figures were announced at COP 28, the annual International Climate conference.

Scientists say climate change is putting the planet in a biodiversity crisis.

You've been looking at the headlines, Phil, what's the vocabulary that people need to understand this new story in English?

We have 'trickle, 'captives,' and 'tipping point.'

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look now at our first headline.

This is from The Conversation. Climate change: if warming approaches 2°C, a trickle of extinctions will become a flood.

Now, this headline talks about warming, that's global warming.

It says that if temperatures increase by two degrees, there will be even more species that could become extinct.

Now, we're looking at the word 'trickle.'

This is related to water, isn't it?

Yes, it is. A trickle is a very small flow of water.

So, let's think about a bath.

If you've got a bath and you turn the tap a tiny little way, you'll get a trickle of water coming out of the tap.

Now, Beth, what would happen if you left that trickle alone for a very long time?

Well, the water would increase, increase, increase, and flow over the top, and the bathroom would flood, and yeah, it wouldn't be good.

Yeah, it would become dangerous.

Now, this headline is using trickle metaphorically as more species are added to the list of potential extinctions, and that's the trickle.

It will become more dangerous for the planet. That is the flood.

That's right.

And we do often use the word trickle metaphorically to talk about a small number of things or a little bit of something.

And it doesn't have to just be a liquid like in this headline.

Ok. Let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline.

This is from Euro News. Climate captives': The wins and losses of 2023's threatened species list.

Now we are looking at the word 'captive.' In this headline, it's in the plural form, 'captives.'

Phil, what do you have in that mug?

I've got a spider.

I captured it.

It's my captive.

Now, a captive is something that's trapped.

It can be a person or it can be an animal like this spider. I'll let it go now.

Good.

Ok. So this headline mentions climate captives.

Does this mean then that these animals are literally trapped because of climate change?

Yeah, it does.

They're physically trapped like my spider was. For example, rising sea levels mean that saltwater is traveling up rivers and that's trapping animals like frogs and salamanders who they have less space to live.

And that's why they're in danger.

Ok. So these animals are literally trapped by climate change.

They are climate captives.

And we can also use the word captive for people.

For example, if somebody is trapped or taken prisoner in a war, for example. Let's look at that again.

Next headline, please.

This is from EIN Press Wire: A biodiversity tipping point as first marine fish extinction declared.

Now this news story is also about the list of threatened species.

It says that the world is at a biodiversity 'tipping point.'

Phil, can you explain 'tipping point' for us?

Yes. Now, it might help if we think about this visually.

So, imagine a set of scales, and you keep putting weight onto one side of the scale.

What's gonna happen, Beth?

Well, that side will tip over.

Yes.

And that is the tipping point.

Now, we often use this metaphorically where there's lots of small things keep happening until they reach a point where there's a big significant change.

That is the tipping point, and it's usually negative.

So this headline is saying that it's a critical time.

We are at a tipping point where biodiversity is changing dramatically and for the worse.

Yes.

Well, you often see this in news stories and it is often negative.

You might see it in a story about inflation, for example.

You could say that prices have gone up bit by bit until it reaches a tipping point, which might be where people can't afford to buy basic things, for example.

That's right.

Ok, let's look at that one more time.

We've had trickle -- a small amount which can increase.

Captives -- trapped people or animals.

And tipping points -- a critical time where things might suddenly change for the worse.

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