UESB 2018

TEXTO:

    During a total solar eclipse, the sky darkens to twilight
levels and air temperatures drop. Over the centuries,
people who have witnessed these effects have also
noted that a variety of animals seem to change their
[5] behaviors in response.
    Reports of unusual animal reactions to solar eclipses
date back centuries. One of the earliest stories comes
from Italian monk Ristoro d'Arezzo, who described what
happened during a total eclipse on June 3, 1239. As
[10] the sun disappeared and the sky turned dark, “all the
animals and birds were terrified; and the wild beasts
could easily be caught,” he wrote.
    During an eclipse seen in Portugal on August 21,
1560, astronomer Christoph Clavius wrote that during
[15] totality, “stars appeared in the sky and the birds fell
down from the sky to the ground in terror of such horrid
darkness.”
    While it’s hard to confirm such colorful anecdotes
from history, modern astronomers and eclipse chasers
[20] have also reported wild and domestic animals noticeably
reacting to eclipses: Dairy cows return to the barn,
crickets begin chirping, birds either go to roost or
become more active, and whales breach in the seas.
    Eclipse-chaser and author Dave Balch was in Kona,
[25] Hawaii, for the 1991 total eclipse and noticed excited
activity among the birds along the pier during the partial
phases before and after totality. “We could hardly hear
each other talk! Then came totality – not a sound. It was
deathly quiet. The difference between the noise levels
[30] before and during totality was stunning.”

DURING a total... Disponível em: https://news.nationalgeog raphic.com/2017/08/animals-react-total-solar-eclipse-augustspace-science/. Acesso em: 11 jan. 2018. Adaptado.