CLEAN AIR, FRESH WATER - ONLY A DREAM?

Environmental protection is one of the global problems facing the planet's civilization today. Our environment is deteriorating at a surprisingly fast tempo.

Air pollution has increased most dangerously in many countries and recently has exceeded the critical point. The use of fossil fuels is the most important cause of air pollution. High levels of impurity have been measured in the largest cities and highly industrialized areas of the world. About 50% of emissions come from energy production and the burning of fuel in stationary plants. The remaining 50% are caused by industrial processes. Pollution by traffic as well as fuel and industry, contribute to air spoilage. This pollution affects many people due to emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, lead and dust.

Industrial waste is the most serious source of water pollution in terms of toxicity, destruction and scale. The handling of poisonous waste waters has proven most problematic that is why the chemical, metal and textile industries provide a major source of water pollution. Considerable pollution of water is caused by agriculture and animal husbandry.

Water protection has to be increased principally through restricting the causes of pollution and also through planning and research. The connections of water protection and other areas of environmental protection - especially air protection and waste management have to be taken into consideration.

Soil pollution is a consequence of intensive agricultural development. Soil erosion has been the most widespread negative effect of human activity. Over 25% of agricultural land suffers from increased acidity and salinization all over the world. The intensification of farming methods with the greater use of fertilizers, innovations in technology and the growing strain on water resources make the problem more acute.

Some causes of pollution may come from the neighbouring countries and account for a considerable damage done to the natural assets. They are generally referred to as «imported pollution» and comprise such facts as acid rain and transportation of nitrogen oxide, toxic substances, radioactive wastes, poisons and materials which affect the ozone layer of the earth.

Environmental problems should be solved by means of co-operation between independent scientists, politicians, project planners and citizens of every country involved and certainly by broad international co-operation of environment loving individuals.

Vocabulary

environment окружающая среда

pollute загрязнять

pollution загрязнение

emission отбросы

to deteriorate загрязнять

dangerous опасный

fuel топливо

production производство

source источник

poisonous ядовитый

animal husbandry животноводство

protection защита

consequence следствие

neighbouring соседние

Exercises

I. Read and translate the text.

II. Look through the vocabulary and be ready to write the word-dictation.

III. Make up a situation or sentences, using the topical vocabulary.

IV. Translate from English into Russian:

environmental protection, global problems, fossil fuels, impurity, air spoilage, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, lead, toxicity, waste management, soil erosion, acidity, salinization, fertilizers, the ozone layer.

V. Translate from Russian into English:

1. Защита окружающей среды - одна из глобальных проблем, стоящих перед населением земного шара сегодня.

2. Во многих странах опасно возросло загрязнение воздуха, а в последнее время оно превысило критическую отметку.

3. Использование разных видов органического топливо является важнейшей причиной загрязнения воздуха.

4. Загрязнение, вызываемое транспортом, также как и загрязнение от топлива и промышленности, вносят свой вклад в порчу воздушной среды.

5. Промышленные отходы являются самым серьезным источником загрязнения воды по степени их токсичности, разрушительного воздействия и количества.

6. Защита водных источников должна увеличиваться за счет сокращения источников загрязнения, тщательного планирования и научных исследований.

7. Загрязнение почвы является следствием интенсивного развития сельского хозяйства.

8. Проблемы окружающей среды должны решаться сотрудничеством ученых, политических деятелей, тех, кто планирует будущие проекты, а также сотрудничеством простых граждан всех заинтересованных государств и широким международным взаимодействием всех людей, любящих природу.

VI. Answer the questions based on the text:

I. What problem is facing the planet's civilization today?

2. What are the most important causes of air pollution?

3. Why does air pollution affect many people?

4. Why do the chemical, metal and textile industries provide a major source of water pollution?

5. How must water protection be principally increased?

6. What amount of land suffers from acidity and salinization all over the world?

7. What facts can be refterrcd to as «imported pollution»?

8 How should environmental problems be solved?

VII. Retell the text.

TOXIC WASTELAND

The incidence of ecology-related deseases has been growing. Death rates from cancer have been rising in a number of regions, as has infant mortality, while the average life spans are falling. The quality of food is also going down. No other great industrial civilization so systematically and so long poisoned its air, land, water and people. None so loudly proclaiming its efforts to improve public health and protect nature so degraded both.

Communism has left Russia and the other republics too poor to rebuild their economics and repair the ecological damage at the same time, too disorganized to mount a collective war on pollution and sometimes too cynical even to try. The damage is so widespread that cleaning it up will take decades.

A radiation map, which has never been released to the public but which was made available to US News pinpoints more than 130 nuclear explosions, mostly in European Russia. They were conducted for geophysical investigations, to create underground pressure in oil and gas fields or simply to move earth for building dams. No one knows how much they have contaminated the land, water, people and wildlife, but the damage is almost certainly enormous.

Some 920.000 barrels of oil -- roughly one of every 10 barrels produced -are spilled every day in Russia.

The Siberian forests that absorb much of the world's carbon dioxide are posing a bigger threat to the world environment than the destruction of the Brazilian rain forests. Most of the damage is caused by pollution and indiscriminate clear-cutting mostly by foreign companies. Local authorities, particularly in the Far East, have extended vast timber-cutting rights to foreign companies without either imposing strict controls on their methods or requiring reforestation.

Every nuclear power station is in no good condition, a lot of leaks- In the short term Russia has little choice but to stick with nuclear power, which provides 60 per cent of the electricity in some regions.

The dual legacy of poverty and environmental degradation has left the new political leaders to face rising demands for jobs and consumer goods, growing consternation about the costs of pollution and too few resources to attack either problem, let alone both at once. Environmental consciousness has permeated only a small fraction of society. Only a handful of lawyers, and even fewer judges, arc familiar with environmental law. The courts are ill-equipped to handle claims from individuals and would be overwhelmed if people tried to collect damages from polluters.

Russia's polluted environment is also a source of danger for other countries. Scientists have long been talking about transborder pollution. The global ecological problems have been engendered by suicidal economic activity of the whole of mankind, but our contribution to the pollution of environment is far greater than our share in the world's economic production. For example, Russian industry discharges vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, aggravating the impact of the greenhouse effect.

Only the vastness of the country is staving off the ecological catastrophe, but in 10-15 years from now the environment will be ruined beyond repair.

Two-thirds of the country's population live in cities notorious for their polluted environment: Moscow. Kemerovo, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, etc.

Lives of Russians are endangered by the impermissible condition of the environment. This particularly concerns future generations. Infant mortality here is appalling - far worse than in advanced countries. When considering innate deformites rate, we are not a civilized country. Accumulating mutations are nearing the critical level of genetic freaks spelling national degradation.

Vocabulary

disease болезнь

cancer рак

effort усилие

to improve улучшать

public health здоровье людей

nuclear ядерный

investigation достижение

pressure давление

barrels of oil баррель нефти

destruction вырубка

local authorities местные власти

environmental degradation ухудшение окружающей среды

resource ресурс

to consider предполагать

Exercises

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