Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 24 to 28.

The impacts of global warming are being felt everywhere. Extreme heat waves have (24)____ tens of thousands of deaths around the world in recent years. (25)____ in an alarming sign of events to come, Antarctica (26)____ been losing about 134 billions metric tons of ice per year since 2002. This rate could speed up (27)____ we keep burning fossil fuels at our current pace, some experts say, causing sea levels (28)____several meters over the next 50 to 150 years.

          (Text adapted from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/global-waring-101)

The impacts of global warming are being felt everywhere. Extreme heat waves have (24)____ tens of thousands of deaths around the world in recent years.