39 The first sentence of the article most likely mentions “economic worries,” “another freezing winter,” and “the cascade of scandals…” in order to...

39 The first sentence of the article most likely mentions “economic worries,” “another freezing winter,” and “the cascade of scandals…” in order to

A explain some of the factors that have made global-warming research so imprecise.
B list some possible reasons for the public’s decreasing preoccupation with global warming.
C expose some potential flaws in the arguments of those who do not consider global warming a serious problem.
D offer an alternative theory about why global warming has become such a serious problem in the last thirty years.
E justify the defensive attitude that many global-warming specialists have adopted in reaction to the growing resistance to their research findings.