The unknown southern land.

Australia is the world's largest island and its smallest continent. In the east the continent is washed by the Pacific Ocean, in the west it is washed by the Indian Ocean.

There are three great deserts in Australia.

Australia is divided into six states and two territories.

New South Wales is Australia's main state. Sydney, the largest city in Australia, is situated here.

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria. Sheep and wheat are the main products here. Citrus fruits, grapes, peaches and apricots are grown here.

Queensland is Australia’s second largest state. Queensland has long sandy beaches. Its coast is a popular place for holidaymakers.

The state of Western Australia is dry and empty.

South Australia is the third largest state. Some of Australia’s desert lands occupy the greater part of the state.

Tasmania, the island state, is sometimes called the apple island because it produces most Australia’s apples.

Northern Territory is the least populated and least developed part of Australia. Crocodiles still live in some of swamps along the coast.

The capital of Australia is Canberra. The city doesn’t belong to any state. It is situated in the Australian Capital Territory.

CLIMATE (CLIMATE CHANGES).

Climate is the weather a certain place has over a long period of time. Climate has a very important influence on plants, animals and humans and is different in different parts of the world.

Russia is the largest country of the world. It lies on a huge territory from the coast of the Pacific Ocean to the centre of Europe and its climate in the north, south, east and west is very different.

But recently the climate has changed a lot in our country, especially in its European part. Winters have become warmer. Some scientists think the world is becoming hotter.

Many people say that it is so because of the greenhouse effect. It works like this: sunlight gives us heat. Some of the heat warms the atmosphere, and some of the heat goes back into space. Nowadays the air surrounding the earth has become much warmer because the heat can’t go back into space. That’s why winter and summer temperatures in many places have become higher.

During the last 100 years people have produced a lot of carbon dioxide ['kɑːb(ə)n daɪ'ɔksaɪd]. People and animals breathe in oxygen, and breathe out carbon dioxide. We produce carbon dioxide when we burn things. Trees take this gas from the air and produce oxygen. But people have cut down a lot of forests.

Carbon dioxide works like glass in a greenhouse. It lets heat get in, but it doesn’t let much heat get out.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16