Cutting evolution down to our size

We have a good idea of what made evolution tick in the past. Now we need to consider how to keep it ticking at a time when thanks to disruption to the environment, we are not only eliminating many species, but also severely reducing the natural capacity to general replacements.

All living forms are in flux, although the speed of change can vary greatly according to species; a few thousand generations of evolution can leave a shark as a shark or turn a mouse into something the size of elephants. Evolution can take many millions of years; or react quickly to changing conditions: an asteroid hits earth, tectonic plates push up mountains, volcanoes cover the sky with dust, variations of climate create or drown deserts. But over 3.8 billion years of change life carried on, and even produced such exotic creations as us.

Our impact on the conditions of life on earth is already evident. A periodical visitor from outer space would find more changes in the past 200 years than in preceding 2,000 and more change in the past 20 years than in preceding 200.

First, there has been an amazing increase in human numbers, from about 1 billion 200 years ago to more than 6 billion today. Next is deterioration of the land surface, with increasing exploitation of resources, and ever-mounting quantities of waste, some of it toxic. Then there is pollution of fresh and salt water. We are at present using at least half of all available water.

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

We are changing the chemistry of the atmosphere, with acidification of certain areas, depletion of the ozone layer, and large increases in carbon dioxide among other greenhouse gases affecting the world’s climate. The poisoning of the world's land, air, and water is the fastest-spreading disease of civilization. It probably produces fewer headlines than wars, earthquakes and floods, but it is potentially one of history's greatest dangers to human life on earth. Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out for ever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today will have become extinct twenty years from now. If present trends continue for the next several decades, our planet will become uninhabitable.

VOCABULARY AND COMPREHENSION

2. Translate the following words using a dictionary:

Tick, disruption, flux, to eliminate, to hit, severe, to push up, to drown.

3. Give Ukrainian equivalents of the following word-combinations:

A periodical visitor, according to, exotic creations, exploitation of resources, ever-mounting quantities, at least, all over the world, depletion of the ozone layer, the fastest-spreading disease of civilization, for ever, present trends.

4. Translate the words in the brackets into English:

1. We are not only eliminating many species, but also severely (зменшуємо) the natural (здібність) to general replacements. 2. Our (вплив) on the conditions of life on earth is already (очевидний). 3. We are changing the chemistry of the atmosphere, with (окислювання) of certain areas, depletion of the ozone layer, and large increases in carbon dioxide among other greenhouse gases (що впливають) the world’s climate. 4. If present trends continue for the next several decades, our planet will become (непридатна для життя).

5. What is the thesis statement (the main idea to get across to a reader) of the article?

6. Comment on the following:

The poisoning of the world's land, air, and water is the fastest-spreading disease of civilization. It probably produces fewer headlines than wars, earthquakes and floods, but it is potentially one of history's greatest dangers to human life on earth.

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1. Read, translate and comment on the following dialogue:

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