V. Read and translate the following word combinations.
Environmental endangered
Air extinct
Water rare species
Land existing
Soil pollution surviving
Noise
Chemical
Radio-active
serious illness
an average rise in temperature
catastrophe for wildlife
to cause skin and eye problems
much damage
¼ of all species on Earth to vanish the destruction of the ozone layer
V. Read the following text and: a) discuss the environmental situation in the world; b) say what the burning problems of nature preservation are and which of them are vital for your region.
NATURE PROTECTION
Computers project that between now and the year of 2030 we are going to have an increase of the average temperature between 1,5 – 4,5 degrees C. Sea levels would rise by several metres, flooding coastal areas and ruining vast tracts of farmland. Huge areas would be infertile and become uninhabitable. Water contamination could lead to shortages of safe drinking water. It looks like the end of civilization on the Earth.
For hundreds of thousands of years the human race has thriven in Earth's environment. But now, at the beginning of the 21st century, we are at a crucial turning point. We have upset nature's sensitive equilibrium releasing harmful substances into the air, polluting rivers and oceans with industrial waste and tearing up the countryside to accommodate our rubbish. These are the consequences of the development of civilization. We are to stop it by joint efforts of all the people of the world.
The range of environmental problems is wide. But the matters of people's great concern nowadays are atmosphere and climate changes, depletion of the ozone layer, freshwater resources, oceans and coastal areas, deforestation and desertification, biological diversity, biotechnology, health and chemical safety. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concentrates its activities on these issues.
ACID RAINS
One of the most alarming forms of air pollution is acid rain. It results from the release into the atmosphere of sulphur and nitrogen oxides that react with water droplets and return to earth in the form of acid rain, mist or snow. Acid rain is killing forests in Canada, the USA, and central and northern Europe. (Nearly every species of tree is affected.) It has acidified lakes and streams and they can't support fish, wildlife, plants or insects. (In the USA 1 in 5 lakes suffer from this type of pollution).
DEPLETION OF THE OZONE LAYER
The protective layer of the Earth, the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from the sun's destructive UV (ultraviolet) rays, is being damaged by CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons). They are released by the daily use of industrial and household products: refrigerators, air conditioners, foam insulation, cleaning chemicals, food packaging. In the ozone layer they attack the ozone molecules making a «hole». This «hole» allows more UV rays to penetrate to the Earth. It increases the risk of skin cancer, weakens the immune system of people. Besides, UV rays influence the oceans, the growth of plankton, an essential part of the marine-life food chain in the negative way, reduce economically important crops (rice, cotton, soy beans). The life cycle is going to be undermined by the ozone.