ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF THE BLACK SEA

The main polluting (1)…….. of the sea environment are petroleum products. A constant level of the petroleum content in the sea water is (2) …….. by the operations of industrial enterprises, ports, discharges of waste during bunkering, and by sewage discharged by municipal services into the rivers (3) …….. into the sea. Many ports of Ukraine experience a slightly increased concentration of petroleum products. Thus, water samples taken in many points around the ports show a content of petroleum products (4) …….. the permissible pollution level or even exceeding it.

In the last few years the most ecologically (5) …….. zone of Ukraine in terms of sea pollution with petroleum products has been the Sevastopol bays. In many cities the municipal (6) …….. systems are in critical condition which causes the release of large amounts of unpurified sewage into the coastal waters. (7) …….. recent years no beaches have been closed due to excessive sea water pollution by chemical agents, however, in several instances beaches have been closed in Odessa, Eupatoria because of (8) …….. contamination. In some areas the petroleum product concentration (9)…….. the maximum by two to three times, namely in the Danube estuary. The level of contamination of the sea water with cadmium, lead, zinc, brass, nickel chromium and mercury is four times as high as the maximum permissible (10) ……..

1. A) parts B) components C) ingredients

2. A) caused B) polluted C) contaminated

3. A) going B) moving C) flowing

4. A) reaching B) cleaning C) consuming

5. A) safe B) high C) dangerous

6. A) litter B) sewage C) garbage

7. A) For B) During C) In

8. A) sanitary B) epidemiological C) healthy

9. A) shows B) rises C) exceeds

10. A) level B) surface C) value

Model: 1 – b (components)

 

7.17. Match the two parts of the sentences.

1. The Volga-Caspian Basin ecosystem cannot resist giant industry enterprises	a) may lead to a water shortage in the nearest future.
2. Resources of river, lake and underground fresh waters	b) therefore, their rational use helps to compensate for moisture shortages.
3. A sharp increase in water consumption on the planet	c) without treating it at all.
4. Supplies of underground wastes are considerable,	d) is the greatest in Asia and South America.
5. The oceans of the world form one vast ecosystem	e) which are scattered about the river and its tributaries.
6. The underwater landscape is just as varied as that on land,	f) are distributed very unevenly on the continents.
7. The annual fresh water discharge into the ocean	g) and the most beautiful is the tropical coral reefs.
8. Many cities discharge their sewage into the sea	h) covering 70% of the planet surface.

7.18. Read the text and answer the questions after it.

During last centuries mankind has been developing very aggressively and has reached tremendous achievements in all fields. Unfortunately it has achieved great success in polluting its environment too. Currently, humanity has plenty of global environmental problems: deforestation, freshwater contamination, destruction of the ozone layer, pollution of space, etc. Desiccation of the Aral Sea is one of the items on the list. The Aral Sea is still considered to be the fourth largest lake in the world but it has been shrinking for decades. In comparison with the size of the sea in the 1960s, it has declined in size by 76%. The initial reason for the Aral’s decline is the fact that Soviet planners diverted water from the Aral’s two big feeding rivers (the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya) into cotton fields on the territory of Uzbekistan. Because of this irrigation, the sea is now seventy miles away from its former bank (in some places even more). Ninety percent of the Syr Darya’s water is diverted into canals and reservoirs.

Along the former shoreline salt has accumulated due to evaporation and solonchaks have developed. As a result of the strong NE winds in this area, the salt is picked up and transported by aeolic processes and through deflation lands on the irrigated fields in the south. In addition the north of the Amu Darya delta used to be an important ecosystem with a large variety of flora and fauna. The increasing salinity and the water shortage have led to a vast degradation of these areas.

The discharge of salt is also decreasing the agriculturally useable area, destroying pastures and creating a consequent shortage of forage for domestic animals. Deserted and sandy areas are being extended by the impact of wind. Further desertification is taking place, increasing the dust and toxicity content in the air.

► 1. How do you pronounce: useable, fauna, reservoir, desiccation, salinity?

2. What does desiccation mean?

3. Match the synonyms: tremendous empty

currently very big

deserted nowadays

4. What syllable is stressed in canal?

5. What is the opposite to shrink?

6. What is the difference between sea, lake, reservoir?

7. How many years does decade cover?

8. Explain the difference and similarity between bank, shore and coast.

9. Does salinity mean much salt or little salt?

 

7.19. Read the text again and give a three sentence summary of it.

 

7.20. Read the text below and do the exercises after it.

The ocean itself plays a vital role in the earth’s water cycle. Its huge surface area allows vast quantities of water to evaporate into the atmosphere. The water then condenses to form clouds.

For thousands of years, man has harvested fish from the seas as a valuable food source. Today the global catch plays a vital part in feeding the world’s growing population.

Over-fishing by large modern fishing fleets now threatens the livelihoods of traditional fishermen throughout the world. This has caused stocks of many fish species to become dangerously low. It is now vital that we have more international cooperation to sustain fish harvests.

Some of the largest creatures of the oceans actually feed on the smallest. Baleen whales, like the Blue whale which grows up to 30m long, exist solely on a diet of zooplankton.

Dead matter sinks to the ocean floor where it is either eaten by bottom dwellers (in shallower areas), like crabs and sea anemones, or it decays, producing minerals. Some form new rock, the rest are circulated by currents and taken in by plants.

The average depth of the ocean is 3, 700 m, though parts are much deeper. Even the darkest depths are not devoid of life, however – thousands of weird and wonderful creatures have adapted to life in near total darkness.

► 1. What paragraph gives the information about:

a) fishing? b) water cycles? c) ocean depths? d) the largest ocean fish?

2. Look at the first paragraph and say whether evaporate and condense are synonyms or antonyms.

3. Look at the second paragraph and say which words have the same meaning as: important, increasing.

4. Look at the third paragraph and explain the word over-fishing.

5. Look at paragraphs 4 and 5 and say whether these statements true (T) or false (F). a) Whales eat fish.

b) Whales are the largest creatures of the ocean.

c) Crabs eat everything including dead matters.

d) Sea anemones produce minerals.

6. Look at paragraph 6 and answer the question: What weird (strange) and wonderful species live in the darkest depth?

7. How often do you eat fish? They are very good for you: high in protein and low in fat. Find out what sorts are available in your area, and where they come from. Have any become rarer or more expensive?

 

7.21. The Ganges, in India, is a sacred river to the Hindus, but it is severely polluted. Why? Read the text and answer the question.

THE GANGES

The Ganges is one of the earth’s longest and most polluted rivers. It descends from the Himalayas and flows some 25000 km across India before it runs into the Bay of Bengal.

It poses a unique dilemma for environmentalists. Every year, Hindus dump more than 45000 bodies in the Ganges, first inserting a red-hot coal into the mouth of each corpse before casting it adrift. No sane ecologist would ever dare to prevent this. Hindus believe that the Ganges can free the dying from the cycle of rebirth, so in many river cities, such as Varanasi, Calcutta and Allahabad, ashes from the cremation pyres are sprinkled into the river. Dead babies, lepers, suicides, people killed by snakebites and sages are also given a river burial. Sometimes in Varanasi the body-burners scrimp on wood for the pyre and simply toss the half-charred remains into the river, just upstream from where thousands of Hindus bathe every day.

The main pollutants, however, are not dead bodies but the waste spewed into the Ganges from hundreds of factories, tanneries, petro-chemical plants, paper mills and sugar refineries along its banks. The Ganges provides water for more than 250 million people living in the flat, hot Gangetic plains. It irrigates their crops and quenches their spiritual thirst. At its source, in the Himalayan glaciers above Gangotri, it is a fast shining-white stream. By the time it reaches Patna, the Ganges has widened to six miles and begins to divide itself into a delta before reaching the ocean. At one time there were freshwater dolphins, giant 6-metre crocodiles, turtles and more than 265 species of fish living in the Ganges. Six years ago environmentalists calculated that 1000 million litres of waste water a day were pouring into the Ganges. If left unchecked, the sacred river would die.

(Adapted from The Independent on Sunday, 9 August 1994)

 

7.22. Write the review of the text below.

THE MISSISSIPPI

The Mississippi meaning “Great River” or “Father of Waters” is one of the world’s largest rivers. Its source is in the north central part of Minnesota, where it issues as a small stream from Elk Lake. It passes through Lake Itasca and a number of others and thence has a general course toward the south until it flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The entire length of the Mississippi is ca. 2, 330m, while the Missouri River has a length of 2, 365m before reaching the Mississippi; thus the combined length of the two rivers is close to 5, 000m. The whole area drained by the Mississippi system is 1, 257, 000 square metres. It constitutes one of the most fertile and valuable regions in the world. At Minneapolis are the Falls of St. Antony, which furnish immense water power; and here, as elsewhere, navigation is obstructed, but in many places vast improvements have been made by canals and levels, the latter being maintained to protect portions of the valley from flooding during high water. The regions subject to overflow are situated south of St. Louis, where the river becomes a vast system of rapidly moving water and carries large quantity of sediment to the Gulf. Among the principal eastern tributaries are the Wisconsin, the Illinois, the Ohio, and the Yazoo. The western confluents include the Minnesota, the Des Moines, the Missouri, the Arkansas, and the Red rivers.

At its source the Mississippi is only a few feet wide, but at the mouth of the Ohio it is 4, 470ft and at New Orleans it is 2, 500ft while the maximum volume of water per second during a flood is estimated at 1, 500, 000ft. The sediment transported annually is sufficient to cove a square mile to the height of 250ft. In the upper course the water is clear and transparent, but it gradually grows dark with silt, which it deposits. During the past ages it has carried the land surface far into the Gulf and formed a large number of bayous and islands. The government of the US has had jetties constructed to protect the channel for the passage of vessels.

The Mississippi River and its tributaries furnish about 16, 090m of navigable waters, which make possible a vast inland commerce by steamship. Numerous canals connect the various rivers and lakes near them, one of the most important being the connection of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Among the important cities on the Mississippi River are St. Paul and Minneapolis, Davenport, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans.

(Keating, Bern. The Mighty Mississippi. National Geographic Society, 1971.)

 

7.23. Project Work. Choose some aspect of water which especially concerns the local community ( pollution, waste, flood, drinking water ). If you take the last point, you may discuss the following items:

● Is the drinking water clean?

● If the water is polluted, what is it caused by?

● How can pollution be prevented?

● What can people do locally?

● Are there rules or laws?

● What is each person’s responsibility?

● What should the government do?

UNIT 8 LAKE BAIKAL

INTRODUCTION

8.1. This unit is about Lake Baikal and its reserve. Can you remember:

a) where Baikal is?

b) how deep Baikal is?

c) what lakes may be compared with Baikal?

 

8.2. You are going to read a passage from the article The World’s Great Lake, by Don Belt, an American journalist. The following words are in the order in which they appear in the passage. Check that you know what they mean.

Average / get thick / support / supply / flatcar / thaw / hack / furious / squall / roar / confirm / tugboat / vessel / resume / volatile / provide / controversy / effluent / band / ignite / issue / comprehensive / abolish / logging / bilious / mollify / publicize / threaten / aquatic / evolve / incredibly / thoroughly / sink / doubt / sign / discharge / distinct / purity / hardy / generosity / soul / precious

THE WORLD’S GREAT LAKE

Crown jewel of Russia’s natural inheritance, Baikal is the world’s oldest and deepest lake – an environmental battleground and a godsend in hard times.

The snows of Siberia come to Lake Baikal in early October. By November the lake itself begins to freeze. With the average winter temperature around minus 20˚ C (0˚ F), the ice gets thick enough – well over a metre – to support truck convoys laden with supplies for the more remote towns along Baikal’s shore. In 1904, during the Russo – Japanese War, sections of railway track were even laid across the ice to transport more than 2, 000 flatcars and 65 locomotives to the battlefront.

By mid-April the ice, begins to thaw and break apart, hacked to pieces by furious squalls that roar down river valleys on winds reaching 160 kilometres an hour. Then in May, after a scout plane confirms that it is clear enough of ice, several hundred ships – tugboats, timber barges, research vessels, and fishing boats – resume their labours on the world’s great lake. So huge and volatile is Baikal that sailors here talk in spring of ‘going to sea’.

Still remarkably clean, Baikal nevertheless feels the effects of air and water pollution from various sources, including industries around Irkutsk and from the Selenga River, which provides half the water flowing into Baikal. Most controversy centres on the effluent from a cellulose plant at Baikalsk.

In 1957, when the public first heard about plans for this factory, people began to protest. Local scientists, writers, fishermen and ordinary citizens banded together, to fight the plant, igniting an environmental movement. After years of protest, the lake’s defenders were rewarded in April 1987, when the Soviet government issued a comprehensive decree protecting Lake Baikal. Among other things, it abolished logging anywhere close to the lakeshore and decreed that the cellulose plant be ‘reprofiled’ for activities harmless to the environment by 1993. Meanwhile the dumping of industrial waste into Baikal continues, and bilious smoke still rises from the plant 24 hours a day. The Baikalsk Cellulose-Paper Plant pollutes only a tiny portion of the lake, but that does mollify many Russians. Baikalsk has become a national symbol of the dangers facing our environment. Less publicized but just as threatening are coal-fired power plants which may do as much harm by causing acid rain.

Recently the Baikal International Centre for Ecological Research has been founded. Each field season brings more scientists from abroad to study what many consider the world’s most interesting lake. Baikal is indeed a living museum of aquatic plants and animals that have evolved during its life span. It is also incredibly rich in life at all depths. Unlike lakes in hot climates, Baikal mixes thoroughly; as its cold waters sink, they carry oxygen even to the deepest parts of the lake.

Samples taken from the southern end of the lake tell that the cellulose plant pollutes some 200 square kilometres. Scientists are especially alarmed by the presence of chlorinated compounds – they may one day accumulate to toxic levels in the food chain. Because of this plant some even speak of Lake Baikal in the past tense, as if its ecosystem is already dead. Other scientists disagree with that dire conclusion. But there’s no doubt that the plant pollutes the area. Its emissions make Baikalsk one of the most polluted cities in Russia, and forests of larch and pine nearby show unmistakable signs of degradation.

In 1995 the plant discharged 26, 000 tons of minerals, 200 tons of suspended substances and 2, 500 tons of organic by-products into Lake Baikal.

People say, “We must save Baikal for our children”. Lake Baikal is a symbol, of all the things that give Siberian life its distinct sweetness – the natural beauty, the purity of open air, the hardy generosity of people and the poetry in their collective soul. This is what Russians mean when they talk about the Motherland. And nothing is more precious to them than that.

 

8.3. Here are some words from the passage. Match them with their meanings in the context of the passage.

1. to transport	a) extremely large
2. scout	b) extremely small
3. huge	c) extremely terrible
4. to centre	d) to carry from one place to another
5. defender	e) to be opposite to
6. harmless	f) to make dirty
7. to dump	g) to throw down carelessly
8. waste	h) to focus
9. to pollute	i) somebody or something that is getting information
10. tiny	j) someone who protects
11. to face	k) unable to cause damage
12. span	l) unwanted material
13. dire	m) a period of time

 

8.4. Complete the definitions. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1. A sailor is a person who ……... 4. A fisherman is a person ……...

2. A scientist is a person who ……... 5. A citizen is ……...

3. A writer is a person ……... 6. A defender is ……...

 

8.5. Fill in the chart with the family words and translate them into Russian. If necessary, use a dictionary.

noun	verb	adverb	adjective
depths
			furious
			sweet
		vertically
nature
	close
	widen
purity
			clear
		chemically
			environmental
		remarkably
generosity
		incredibly

 

8.6. Look at these sentences from the passage. Decide who or what the word in italics refers to. The sentences in the text are underlined.

1. …it abolished logging anywhere close to the lakeshore…

2. It is also incredibly rich in life at all depths.

3. …they carry oxygen even to the deepest parts of the lake.

4. …they may one day accumulate to toxic levels in the food chain.

5. Its emissions make Baikalsk one of the most polluted cities in Russia…

6. We must save Baikal for our children.

7. This is what Russians mean when they talk about the Motherland.

 

8.7. Match the words in A with their synonyms in B.

A B

1. barge	a) emission
2. vessel	b) factory
3. resume	c) different
4. labour	d) tugboat
5. volatile	e) continue
6. various	f) clear
7. provide	g) boat
8. plant	h) work
9. distinct	i) changeable
10. discharge	j) supply

 

8.8. Use a dictionary to find or check the answers to these questions. (They are all based on the text “The World’s Great Lake” by Don Belt).

1. How do you pronounce: issue, aquatic, dead, precious, thoroughly?

2. What does degradation mean?

3. What part of speech is bilious?

4. What part of speech is enough?

5. What letters are silent (=not pronounced) in the words: doubt, hour, half, sign?

6. What prepositions are used after the verb talk?

7. What is the opposite of generosity?

8. What is the opposite of furious?

9. What is the difference between emission, effluent and dumping?

10. What does must mean: permission, obligation or advice?

11. What syllable is stressed in effort?

12. Homework is a compound noun. Find ten compound nouns in the passage.

13. Presence is a noun, but what is the verb with the same meaning?

8.9. Find all the words from the text connected with each of these topics:

Transport	Pollution	Lake Baikal
e.g. railway track	industries around Irkutsk	the world’s oldest and deepest lake

 

8.10. Read the factfile and answer the questions below:

1. Which fact do you find the most surprising?

2. Which fact arouses the mostoptimism?

Factfile

Lake Baikal is the most ancient lake on the earth, it’s great age is more than 25 million years. So, it is the oldest body of fresh water.

It is the deepest lake, measuring 1, 635 metres from top to bottom, more than a mile.

It holds one-fifth of the planet’s fresh water and 80 per cent of the former Soviet Union’s – more water than all of North America’s Great Lakes combined.

Baikal extends for 635 kilometres from north-east to south-west, covering the area of 30, 500 square kilometres.

Baikal sits in the planet’s deepest land depression. Its depression formed of hard, fixed rocks holds 23, 000cu km of chemically very pure and extraordinary clear water.

Its cold waters move vertically, carrying oxygen to the bottom, where 1, 500 endemic species were spotted. Lake Tahoe has two endemic species, Lake Superior – four endemic species.

Fifty-two species of fish inhabit these waters.

Baikal owes its longevity to the tectonically active rift it occupies, which may cause it to widen by as much as 2, 5 centimetres each year.

The Buryat – ethnic Mongols – settled its shores long before the 13^th century conquests of Genghis Khan. Russian fur traders arrived in the 1640s.

 

8.11. Read the text On the Coast of Baikal and answer the questions after it.

ON THE COAST OF BAIKAL

For 50 kilometres along the Baikal coast the reservation earth is spreading.

The reservation is situated on west slopes of the Barguzin chain. The total surface of the reservation is about 263, 000 hectares.

There is a strong influence of Baikal on season changes of climate, on fauna and flora composition. In summer and autumn the lake cools the coastline, in winter and autumn it warms. Among the trees of the coast taiga a larch is mainly dominating. On the trees nearby the lake “white-tail” eagles and ospreys are making their nests.

The taiga occupying more than a half of the reservation territory, dresses in velvet the slopes of the Barguzin ridge. And in its value for the life of animals the taiga takes the main place. The mountain taiga is a kingdom of cedars and firs, of a dark Barguzin sable. The lives of many inhabitants of the taiga is connected with cedars which give them food and shelter.

Forests protect slopes of the mountains from floods, they accumulate moisture of rains and snow and give it slowly to Baikal.

Steep rocky sides of high mountains are covered with large thickets of cedar dwarf. Below, along the wide plain valleys of rivers and springs spreading are sparse growths of trees, mostly of stone birch and fur and more rarely – of spruce and poplar.

The reservation winter is cold, snowy, but rather mild, by Siberian judge. Almost for half a year it lasts on the Baikal coastline. And it is usually getting calm, sunny and frosty only after Baikal is frozen up.

The summer in the reservation is cool, cloudy with mists, frequent rains.

Summer begins here only in the second half of July. In summer time reservation inhabitants are busy with the cares of their young generation, with the preparations for winter. In August, the warmest month, berries ripen, mushrooms appear, the autumn flying of birds begins.

In September the time of the golden autumn is coming. Colours of the golden autumn are fading away under wind and rain. The taiga is getting dark, from day to day the net of the larches crowns is getting more transparent. At the end of October snow covers all the earth till the spring comes.

1. What adjectives are used to describe: the taiga, seasons, mountains?

2. What words are used to describe the beauty of the Barguzin reservation (reserve)?

3. In which parts of the world can you find the following trees: larch, birch, cedar, fir, spruce, poplar?

4. What is a hectare equal to?

5. Is a lake: a) bigger than a pond b) smaller than a pond c) the same size?

6. What is the opposite of steep?

7. Give the definitions of flora and fauna.

8. Give the synonyms of mist, frequent, dominate, ridge.

 

8.12. Which descriptions best fit Lake Baikal?

1. large, beautiful and interesting

2. deep, huge and popular

3. unique, ancient and great

 

8.13. Read the text The Sustainable Development of Eco-tourism in the Baikal Region below and answer the questions after it.

THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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