Atmospheric Aerosol Pollution
Atmospheric aerosols can be either natural or man-made. Unlike greenhouse gases, most aerosols have a net cooling effect on the climate because they reflect sunlight back into space, instead of allowing it to warm the Earth. The famous Year Without a Summer in 1816 was the result of large amounts of natural aerosols being thrown into the atmosphere by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora.
Unfortunately, excessive aerosols are nevertheless undesirable because of their damaging effects on human and animal health, among other things. Smog and other forms of air pollution contribute to chronic respiratory illnesses and even deaths for millions of people every year. In fact the World Health Organization estimates that 2.4 million people every year die as a direct result of aerosols and other forms of air pollution. This problem is most severe in industrialized areas and areas that use "slash-and-burn" agriculture methods or wood fires for cooking.
Land Use Changes
The authors of «Planetary Boundaries» chose land use changes as one of their top environmental concerns, which is felt to be a slightly redundant choice, because changes in land use, for the most part, have the same negative effects as several of their other choices. For example, loss of wildlife habitat leads to loss of biodiversity. Depending on what the habitat is replaced with, the change can also lead to air or water pollution from factories and farm fields, depleted groundwater reserves due to impervious surfaces such as city roads, and carbon emissions from almost any human activity you could name.
Land use changes are also particularly difficult to define a tipping point for because their effects vary so significantly, so that in fact the exact environmental impact of one land use change is different from the impact of every other land use change ever made.
A less redundant and easier to measure choice might have been soil depletion due to erosion, desertification, and unsound agricultural practices, among other factors.
The Stratospheric Ozone Layer
The ozone layer filters out the most harmful wavelengths of UVB ultraviolet radiation from the sun before it reaches the earth's surface. A depleted ozone layer would mean increased rates of skin cancer for humans, as well as damage to plants and ecosystems. Ozone depletion received a lot of attention in the 1970's and 80's when scientists discovered a giant and growing "hole" in the ozone layer above Antarctica.
Fortunately, the scientists were able to convince the world community to act quickly to limit the production of ozone depleting substances such as CFCs and halons and the problem of ozone depletion today seems to be on the path to successful resolution, though due to the long lifetime of ozone depleting compounds the Antarctic ozone "hole" is not expected to recover completely until 2050 and the overall levels of ozone in the atmosphere will recover to pre-1980 levels only about 2060-2075.
The goal for the future will be to maintain the progress we have already made on this issue.
This chart depicts loss of virgin forest in the US between 1620 and the present, and demonstrates the scale of some of the land use changes humans have perpetrated.
Exercise 1. Give Ukrainian equivalents
The Holocene era, to thrive, planetary boundaries, to deplete natural resources, the overwhelming majority, salinization of soil, slash-and-burn" agriculture method, carbon dioxide levels, wavelengths of UVB ultraviolet radiation, pollination, irreversible change, energy efficiency, to be in the midst of mass extinction, to regain, habitat destruction, waste decomposition, CFCs, nitrogen cycle, a disastrous domino effect, desertification, pollutant, agricultural runoff, to a far lesser degree, to mine smth, unsustainable use, irrigation of crops, acidification.
Exercise 2. Give English equivalents
Бути спричиненим людською діяльністю, зіткнутись із загрозою оточуючому середовищу, бути схожим на щось, спричинити змінення, впливати на щось значним чином, зберігання енергії, серйозне питання, зловживання чимось, виклик, безпосередній результат, біологічне розмаїття, масштаб, пов’язувати щось з чимось, екологічна проблема, вид, дуже варіюватися, невірне використання, надмірний, хронічні респираторні захворювання, очищення води та повітря, врожай, морська екосистема, небажаний, удобрення, прісноводний, нагальна проблема, не мати доступу до чогось, кислотність, непроникний,
Exercise 3. Find words (terms) from the text to the following definitions
a) ___ – a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun’s UV radiation;
b) ___ – the natural environment of an organism;
c) ___ – a substance formed from two or more elements chemically united in fixed proportions;
d) ___ – a substance that makes land, water, air etc. dirty and not safe or suitable for use;
e) ___ – passively floating or weakly swimming usually minute animal and plant life of a water body;
f) ___ – incapable of being changed;
g) ___ – the process by which soil and rock are removed from the Earth’s surface by exogenic processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations;
h) ___ – using up, reducing or exhausting;
i) ___ – a salt of the anion CO3, typically formed by reaction of carbon dioxide with bases;
j) ___ – water within the Earth especially that supplies wells and springs.
Exercise 4. Work in groups. Choose any word and explain its meaning to your partners for them to guess
atmosphere |
natural resource |
endocrine disruptors |
halon |
climate change |
aerosol |
wildlife |
energy efficiency |
tipping point |
heavy metals |
virgin forest |
ecosystem services |
Exercise 5. Fill in the blanks with the words from the text
Climate ___ is undoubtedly the single ___ issue of the 21st century. So says Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of the Environment Dr. Roodal Moonilal. He told the high-level segment at the 16th Climate Change Conference in Cancun that climate change and the ___ layer issue are an unprecedented ___ to mankind and one which can undermine development efforts, ___ of poverty and sustained economic growth.
He emphasized: “Trinidad and Tobago is ___ presented with the growing ___ of developing sustainably while ensuring ___ economic growth. We find ourselves in a unique position as a ___ resources producer with a still growing industrial sector, but also as a small island developing state possessing inherent characteristics that define our vulnerability. Mitigation and adaptation, including biological ___ problems and ___ impact, are therefore of equal ___ to us. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago acknowledges that all countries that are ratified signatories to the UNFCCC have a legally binding responsibility to ___ to achieving the objective of the UNFCCC, regardless of the quantum of their ___ gas emissions. Trinidad and Tobago is committed to contributing to this objective. However, we reject the use of per capita ___ emissions or any other such metric as any basis for defining the obligations of countries to reduce their emissions.
Minister Moonilal said Trinidad and Tobago believes that equity ___ needed to be defined, not on any notion of polluting ___, but on the rights of all countries to develop in a sustainable manner and not at the expense of others.
Trinidad and Tobago as a responsible member of the global community recognizes the need to take domestic action and they have drafted a ___ change policy as well as ___ strategies and approaches to address their ___ gas emissions. Their goal is to define an ambitious, yet practically feasible greenhouse gas emissions ___ objective in the near future. At the same time, adaptation remains their major concern and their ability to address climate change ___ will ___ depend on the level of technological and financial support provided by our developed country partners. In this regard, it is important that Cancun should achieve a commitment to strive for ___ cuts that would lead to ___ warming of no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Exercise 6. Fill in the correct word(s) from the list below. Use the words only once.
To make, tourist, civil, to need, bamboo, close, to become, wildlife, high, to pay
1) ___ extinct; 2) ___ a profit; 3) ___ spirits; 4) ___ shoots; 5) at ___ quarters; 6) ___ schemes; 7) ___ war; 8) ___ conservation society; 9) ___ large amounts; 10) ___ protection.
Exercise 7. Answer the questions
1. According to Text A, what are the top ten most urgent environmental problems facing the world today?
2. How are the environmental threats mentioned in the text interconnected?
3. What measures should be taken to maintain the Holocene climate?
4. What are the causes of the current loss of biodiversity?
5. What is meant in the text by "ecosystem services" and what are their functions?
6. What has caused ocean acidification and what ecological dangers does it imply?
7. What are the damaging effects of excessive aerosols?
8. What humanity goal for the future is set in connection with the stratospheric ozone layer issue?
9. Innumerate all the types of pollution mentioned in the text and dwell on each of them in brief.
10. What does the term “depletion” mean within the framework of each environmental issue discussed in the text?
Exercise 8. Retell Text A
Exercise 9. Translate into English
1. Кожний раз, коли помічник голови компанії намагався звернути увагу свого боса на ту серйозну загрозу екології, з якою вони можуть зіткнутися, реалізуючи свій зухвалий план виробництва, він і сам замислювався на тим, які наслідки все це може мати для майбутнього його власних дітей. 2. Переважна кількість вчених, які працюють у царині кліматології, вважають, що зараз саме людська діяльність є причиною значного погіршення стану існуючих екосистем нашої планети. 3. Очікується, що найближчим часом рівень кислотності у цій частині світового океану виросте на 10%, а рівень насиченості води карбонатом, відповідно, зменшиться, що для планктону матиме ефект на кшталт остеопорозу. 4. Ми ще нечітко розуміємо масштаби такого порушення екологічного балансу, але згодом це дійсно може перерости у глобальну катастрофу зникнення біологічного розмаїття Землі. 5. Бажано, щоб у своємо інтерв’ю Ви зазначили як довго Ваша лабораторія займається проблемами згубного впливу цих хімічних речовин та аерозолів на здоров’я людей та тварин. Мабуть, з того часу, коли науковці дізналися про існування озонової діри? 6. Занадто багато курити та зловживати алкоголем не можна ні у якому віці. А до цього ще додайте нашу екологію, смог, забруднення повітря, води, землі заводами та фабриками! І зовсім недивно, що ми постійно хворіємо респираторними захворюваннями та маємо пошкоджену ендокрінну систему, чи не так? 7. Ви помітили, що клімат змінився? – Давно вже. А ще й рівень океану росте й росте. Все менше залишається прісної води, ось що сьогодні є найболючішою проблемою усього людства. – А скільки прибережних міст і сел затопило! І ще скільким таке загрожує! 8. Треба дуже старатися зменшити використання зазначеної хімічної речовини щонайменш втричі, бо вона дуже шкодить представникам цього виду рослин. 9. Представник екологічної організації наголосив на тому, що у багатьох випадках ерозія – це результат невірного ведення сільского господарства у цьому регіоні. 10. Змінення клімату безпосередньо пов’язано з усіма іншими екологічними питаннями, і тому, розв’язуючи цю проблему, ми розвязуємо й інші, що, у свою чергу, позитивно впливає на загальний стан оточуючого середовища.
Exercise 10. Using the vocabulary units of Text A, talk about the causes and results of the following problems in presentation formats, making them interactive, convincing and bright. Make a difference!
1. Dangerous chemicals from factories are poured into oceans, rivers and streams, killing fish.
2. Forests are disappearing as trees are burnt or cut down. Less and less oxygen is being produced.
3. Our society is producing too much packaging and food waste which are dropped in the streets or end up on the rubbish tip; diseases spread more easily.
4. Factories and cars release poisonous chemicals into the air. The chemicals mix with the water in the clouds, and the polluted rain which later falls damages trees, lakes and buildings.
5. Animals are losing their habitats as growing cities cause the countryside to disappear.
PRE-READING TASK
How environmentally aware are you?
What does your family do with empty bottles?
A take them to a recycling bin
B return them to the supermarket
C throw them in the rubbish bin
2. When you buy one or two items at the supermarket, you
A take a plastic carrier bag
B reuse an old plastic carrier bag
C use your own bag
3 How often do you choose products which contain recycled materials?
A always
B never
C sometimes
4. If you were asked to contribute to a Save the Animals project, you would
A give generously
B give a small amount
C refuse to give anything
5. A local beach has been polluted with oil. You
A donate money for the clean-up project
B do nothing
C volunteere to help with the clean-up
6. You eat a chocolate bar in the street. What do you do with the wrapper?
A drop it on the pavement
B put it in a trash
C save it for recycling
7. When you buy paper products, you
A buy whatever is cheapest
B try to purchase recycled paper
C purchase recycled paper as long as it doesn’t cost more
8. When you clean your teeth, you
A turn the tap on only when you need water
B leave the tap running until you have finished
C only use one glass of water
-
1
1A
B2
C0
2
A0
B2
C3
3
A3
B0
C2
4
A3
B2
C0
5
A2
B0
C3
6
A0
B2
C3
7
A0
B3
C2
8
A2
B0
C3
Keep up the good work! You are doing your part to protect the environment.
There is some room for improvement. Change you habits and you will soon be green.
0-12 You are part of the problem. You should try to become part of the solution
TEXT B