Find the word or phrase that best fits the meaning given.

Threat to Biodiversity

Water Shortage

Pollution of Seas and Rivers

Global Warming

Environmentally Unfriendly Energy Sources

Acid Rains

An Increasing Human Pollution

1. Factories and cars release poisonous chemicals into the air, the polluted rain that forms later damages trees, water sources, has a harmful effect on human health.

2. Much of our energy supply comes from coal, oil, natural gas or radioactive elements. The undesirable effects of pollution both from burning fossil fuels (as well as their depleted resources) and from nuclear waste by-products encourage using renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal power and others).

3. There is less and less wilderness in the world. An increasing human population is taking up ever more land for agriculture and urban areas.

4. In the last 50 years we have lost 300,000 species. One of four mammal species and one in eight bird species face a high risk of extinction in the near future.

5. The amount of water in the world is limited. Water covers about two-thirds of the Earth's surface. But most is too salty for use. Water crisis is one of the most worrying problems for the new millennium. Today, one person in five across the world has no access to safe drinking water.

6. Water in sea, rivers and lakes are polluted by wastes and toxic chemicals. Sea animals, fish and birds are killed by oil spills.

7. The global warming induced by greenhouse gases (largely by burning fuels) leads to the climate change. The area covered by sea ice is decreasing. The ice at the North and South Pole can melt causing serious floods in many parts of the world and turning into deserts others. Some scientists think that there is a definite link between the global warming and the hurricanes, the number of which has considerably increased recently.

2. Answer the questions:

1) What do you know about the environmental problems?

Which of them worry you most? Why?

2) What in your view are 4 major industrially created dangers facing the environment? Chose from the list bellow. Rank them in accordance with their importance. Try to justify your choice.

- nuclear reactors

- industrial emissions

- destruction of the rain forest (deforestation)

- industrial wastes - nuclear wastes

- carbon monoxide fumes from vehicles

- marine oil spills

- chemical effluence - greenhouse effect

- consumption of non-renewable energy

- use of non-biodegradable materials

- stock pile of chemical weapons

3) In what way public concern about green issues help (to) save environment? Have you ever heard about Greenpeace, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and other organisations of the kind (If so, in what connection was it?) What are eco-warriors? Is it a new word?

4) Is it true that what is good for business must always be bad for the nature? In other words, are the commercial gain and ecological balance incompatible?

5) What can you say about the ecological problems in your city/country?

6) What problems can be considered as the most acute?

Before reading answer the questions:

1. Has the pollution become an urgent problem recently or did it exist long ago?

2. What can be polluted by human activities?

3. What can cause pollution?

4. What consequences can pollution cause?

5. What can be done to decrease harmful effect on environment?

Read the texts and check your answers.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

People have always polluted their surroundings. But until now pollution was not such a serious problem. People lived in uncrowded rural areas and did not have pollution-causing machines. With the development of crowded industrial cities which put huge amounts of pollutants into small areas, the problem has become more important. Automobiles and other new inventions make pollution steadily worse. Since the late 1960's people have become alarmed with the danger of pollution.

Air, water and soil are necessary for existence of all living things. But polluted air can cause illness and even death. Polluted water kills fish and other marine life. On polluted soil food can not be grown. In addition environmental pollution spoils the natural beauty of our planet.

Pollution is as complicated as serious problem. Automobiles are polluting the air but they provide transportation for the people. Factories pollute the air and the water but they provide jobs for people and produce necessary goods. Fertilizers and pesticides are important for growing crops but they can ruin soil.

Thus, people would have to stop using many useful things if they wanted to end pollution immediately. Most people do not want that of course. But pollution can be reduced gradually. Scientists and engineers can find the ways to reduce pollutions from automobiles and factories. Government can pass the laws that would make enterprises take measures for reducing of pollution. Individuals and groups of people can work together to persuade enterprises to stop polluting activities.

ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Since ancient times Nature has served Man being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

The pollution of air and the world's ocean, destruction of the ozone layer are the result of man's careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crises.

The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18% of the territory of Byelorus was also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people's health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and other nations.

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. As many as 159 countries - members of the UNO - have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl. An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international organization Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment.

But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generations.

TEXT 1

Read and answer the questions:

1. What is the link between the population growth and the environmental impact?

2. What can you say about the level of consumption in the different countries of the world? Is it possible to say that it is almost the same?

3. What are the causes behind the essential decline in the biodiversity?

4. What part of all current population on the earth is urban?

5. What basic requirements should be met to provide sustainable development?

Population and the Environment

1. As the century begins, natural resources are under increasing pressure, constituting a threat to public health and development. Water shortages, soil exhaustion, loss of forests, air and water pollution, and degradation of coastlines afflict many areas. Most developed countries currently consume more resources, than they can regenerate. At the same time most developing countries with rapid population growth face the urgent need to improve their standards of living. The link between population growth and the environmental impact seems obvious at first glance: more people consume more resources, damage more of the earth and generate more waste. The simple reasoning is true as far as it goes, but the larger picture of the link is more complex. A very small proportion of the population consumes the majority of the world's resources. The richest fifth consumes 86% of all goods and services. An average American's environmental impact is 30 to 50 times that of the average citizen of a developing country such as India. Per capita consumption in all industrialised countries is permanently growing.

2. Human action has transformed between one-third and one-half on the entire land surface on the earth. We have lost more than one-quarter of the planet's birds and two-thirds of major fisheries are fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted. We live in the period of the greatest extinction of plant and animal species since the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. Two of every three species are estimated to be in decline. In contrast to the previous extinctions which were due to the change in climate and sea level, the last one has begun because of humanity's gross misuse of the earth's resources.

3. It should be mentioned that worldwide about three-quaters of all current population growth is urban. As cities grow ever larger, their impact on the environment grows exponentially. Millions people move from country side to the city to seek a better place to live, but they often find that their lives become more difficult. In many cities 25% to 30% of the urban population live in poor shanty towns or squatter settlements or they live on the streets of Rio de Janeiro's 10.6 million residents, for example, 4 mln live in squatter settlements and shanty towns. Nevertheless, cities in the developing countries continue to attract more and more people. Cities occupy only 2% of the world's land surface, but city populations have a disproportional impact on the environment. For example, London requires roughly 60 times its land area to supply its 9 mln residents with food and forest products. Because commerce and trade have spread dramatically in recent years, city residents consume resources not just from the surrounding areas but, increasingly, from around the world. Urban areas also export their wastes and pollutants, affecting environmental and health conditions far from the cities themselves. The UN coined the term megacities in the 1970s to describe cities with 10 million or more residents. Currently, there are 19 megacities, of which 15 are in developing countries. By 2015 the number of megacities will grow to 23.

4. Technological advances can mitigate some of the population growth and market mechanisms raise prices for some diminishing resources, triggering substitution, conservation, recycling and technical innovations so as to prevent depletion. If natural resources were valued in the same way that manufactured assets are valued, it might help economists learn to use them more effectively and to conserve them in order to assure continued use in future. But market systems often subsidise industries such as logging, mining and grazing without tallying environmental costs. There is no doubt that unchecked consumption and rapid population growth are likely to overwhelm technological improvements in affecting the environment.

5. It is necessary to balance the requirements of growing population with the necessity of conserving earth's natural assets. Improving living standards without destroying the environment is a global challenge. While the population growth has slowed, the absolute number of people continues to increase - by about 1 billion every 13 years. As population and demand for natural resources continue to grow environmental limits will become increasingly apparent. Slowing population growth would help improve living standards and would provide time to solve sustainability problems. Without practicing sustainable development humanity faces a deteriorating environment and may even invite ecological disaster.

Match the statement that best expresses the main idea with the corresponding paragraph:

a) The extinction of plant and animal species has been caused by humanity's gross misuse of the earth's resources.

b) As cities grow ever larger, their impact on the environment grows exponentially.

c) Although at first glance it seems that more people consume more resources, but on the other hand one should take into consideration the inequality in the access to goods and services in the different parts of the world.

d) It is necessary to balance the requirements of growing population with the necessity of conserving earth's resources.

e) There is no chance that the impact of unchecked consumption and rapid growth of population on the environment will be overwhelmed by technological improvements.

Odd-one-out. Explain why.

at first glance deficit average change exploit impact roughly provide transfer decrease tally (with) per head

at first sight shortage usual conserve misuse access exactly restrict face increase match per annul

in the first place excess uncommon transform use effect approximately supply deal with deplete deviate per capita

Make up phrases.

A	В
misuse	advances
urgent	conditions
average	areas
technological	growth
water	level
population	shortage
sea	citizen
urban	resources
living	need

Discuss in groups:

1. Why is the environment getting worse as the population grows? What ecological problems are connected to the population growth?

2. Why does the world need to do a better job of forecasting the possible outcomes of current human activities, including population trends, per capita resource use, and the wealth distribution?

3. What can be done to reduce the impact of large cities on the environment?

TEXT 2

Read the text and answer the questions:

1. What are the main sources of acid rain?

2. In what way can acid rain affect fish, plant and animal life?

3. Why does acid rain problem cross national boundaries?

4. Why acid rain is threat to human health?

5. Does the effect of acid rain depend on the type of soil on which it falls?

6. Which type of soils can neutralize large amounts of acid and what soils have very little ability to do so?

7. What is natural buffering?

8. Why is acid rain an environmental problem of international importance?

ACID RAIN

1. The emissions, which cause acid rain, come chiefly from power stations and road traffic. Acid rain damages buildings as well as plant and animal life. It comes from sulphur con­taining in coal and oil. When fossil fuel is burnt, sulphur dioxide (SO₂) is formed. Then it is oxidized by reaction with oxygen to produce SO₃ gas, which combines with water in the air to produce droplets of sulphuric acid (Н₂SO₄) a major component of acid rain. Nitrogen monoxide from exhaust fumes of cars and industrial emissions is also oxidized in the air and mixes with water to form nitric acid. Sulphic and nitric acids arc carried long distances with air currents and fall as acid rain. Acid rain can travel thousands of miles, so pollution in one country can become acid rain for another country. In Sweden, for example the timber and fishing industries have suffered badly because of acid rain originating in British factories and power stations.

2. Emissions of SO₂ can be declined significantly by using special equipment to remove sulphur from flue gases. An alternative approach is to switch some power generation from coal to gas. Oil, natural gas and hard, black coal (anthracite) produce much less sulphur dioxide than soft, brown coal (lignite). But brown coal is cheap and plentiful in many developing countries. Sulphur based smog is a major source of air pollution in newly-industrializing countries such as India and China. However, the famous London's fogs are now the thing of the past since in the 1950s clean air zones have been introduced and factories and houses are no more allowed to burn coal and instead of it must use smokeless fuel. Sulphur dioxide is, incidentally, also emitted from volcanoes when they erupt; this "natural" sulphur dioxide can cause the same environmental problems as industrial emissions. Fortunately, they do not happen frequently.

3. As already mentioned, acid rain has a number of adverse effects. For centuries, acid from air pollution has contributed to deterioration of buildings and monuments particularly in urban areas. Many buildings, some of great historic and artistic importance are under threat of destroying due to effect of acid rain. Acid gases in high concentration can be a hazard for people with bronchial and asmatic conditions. The very high levels of air pollution in parts of Eastern Europe are known to have caused serious health problems. Acid rain can impoverish wild life habitats. Damage to one part of food chain can have effects higher up. For example, changes in number of insect larvae in streams can affect the population of insect-eating birds. This has already been seen to have effect on rare species. Acid rain places addition stress on trees, which are close to their survival limit, and extreme levels of acidic air pollution undoubtedly damage and kill trees. By increasing the acidity of surface waters, acid rain can kill fish and other fresh water life. Besides mineral acids rainwater can contain other dangerous substances.

4. The effects of acid rain vary enormously according to the type of soil on which it falls. Alkaline soils based on limestone can neutralize large amounts of acid, whereas peat or granite soils have very little ability to do so. The ability of certain chemicals within the rock (such as calcium carbonate) to reduce the acidity of the water is called natural buffering. But if the lake lies on an insoluble or acidic rock such as granite, no natural buffering will occur and the acidity of the water will remain high. The problem first came to light in Scandinavia because its geology makes it especially sensitive to the effect of acid rain. In those places where the soil does not contain enough of alkalis, which are needed to neutralize the acid, the fish in many lakes and rivers are poisoned by high acid concentrations. Scientists have tried to reduce the acidity of lakes artificially by adding chemicals to the water, but this intended remedy sometimes upsets the ecological balance even further.

Find the word or phrase that best fits the meaning given.

1. exhaust fumes (1)

2. make (1)

3. have been badly affected by something (1)

4. very small quantity of liquid (1)

5. reduce (2)

6. worsening (3)

7. danger, risk (3)

8. unfavourable (3)

9. become more unacceptable or severe (3)

10. surface layer of the land in which plants grow (4)

11. change (4)

12. vulnerable (4)

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