Sources of Greenhouse Effect

A: Hello. Why are you so puzzled?

B: Hi. You know, I have noticed that this winter began much later than usually. I think

it was caused by the greenhouse effect which keeps our Earth too warm nowadays. A: Oh, I know something about the greenhouse effect. It is produced by exhaust gases

of fuel burning. B: You’re almost right. Actually, there exists a natural greenhouse effect created by

such gases as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. It contains water vapour

too. A: Some names of those gases seem familiar to me. I know that carbon dioxide

emanates from burning fossil fuels. B: It’s true. And do you know that since 1750 carbon dioxide in the air has risen by

more than 30 per cent, due to the human activities? A: But that’s great! The more gases we get the more heat we receive. In a few years we

won’t need to go to Egypt for some sun! B: Aha, and for some sea also! It will simply come to us. Don’t you understand that we

are violating the natural balance!!! We heat the atmosphere, the atmosphere heats

the pole caps, the pole caps melt and flood almost everything, to say nothing about

the total climate changes during the warming! A: It’s really awful. But what can we do about it? Everybody needs cars, coal for

heating and elimination of garbage. B: Yes, but maybe it is not too late to change our lifestyle. We can use cars on solar

power, for example. A: And I’ve also heard about useful garbage recycling. Bottles and some plastic car

parts are made out of it. B: It is a great source of raw material as well. Instead of oil, coal and natural gas people

have found alternative sources of power such as wind power and the power of

waves. A: It is so nice, but not that simple as it seems. There are lots of economic and political

questions about this problem. B: They’d better solve it quickly before it’s too late.

***

Global Warming

A: I’ve been thinking a lot about ecological situation in the world recently. The

problem of adding nitrous oxide to the atmosphere is disturbing me. B: Really? You know, yesterday I watched a TV programme on Discovery Channel

dedicated to this issue. I was shocked to hear that every year we add seven up to

thirteen million tons of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere. A: Quite so. And it is the automobile exhausts as well as disposing of human and

animal wastes that are responsible for that. B: Yes, I quite agree with you because this is an urgent problem of humanity, but I

think the global warming is also a big problem.

Professional ethics

213

A: Some of the ways that the Earth may respond to the global warming must be rapid.

By continuing to add the greenhouse gases to the air we may be surprised by some

nasty changes. B: As the Arctic gets warmer, huge amounts of methane, now frozen under the ocean

and land could escape into the air. Because methane is a greenhouse gas that traps

heat in the atmosphere, those added emissions could cause the Earth to warm even

faster than it is now expected. A: Yes, and scientists are working on this issue. To estimate the impact of global

warming on future harvests scientists build computer simulations or models of

climate, crops and market conditions. The models are first tested in present day

conditions, and then used to predict possible future changes. And have you heard

how the global warming may affect people’s health? B: Well, it may affect in a variety of ways. People may suffer from heart strokes and

heart attacks. Also such diseases as malaria and yellow fever may become

widespread in many countries that are situated in warm climatic zones. A: In my opinion, we need a lot of such useful programmes telling us more and more

about pollution on the Earth. B: And also each of us needs to take practical measures to prevent the pollution of the

Earth and not add to the global warming.

Task (b) Work in pairs. Read the interview, clarify the meaning of some new words and discuss the main ideas and problems arisen with your group-mate and then with the class. Try to use your own experience and knowledge.

Ethics in Science

1.

T. Your opinion of the personality, of a scientist, please.

S. Well, it should be someone with a perfectly clear record, who’s thinking creatively.

T. So, you emphasize two things: honesty and creativity, don’t you?

S. Quite so. Nowadays, many people don’t seem to understand that honesty is the best policy in science.

T. As far as I see, you focus on honesty, why?

S. Because lots of facts clearly show the contrary behaviour of some scientists. You know, there have been dozens of books published in the last ten years or so telling stories of successful scientific discoveries as episodes of cutthroat competition and cutting corners by scientists anxious to get there first and win the biggest prizes and grants.

T. They seem to believe that the end justifies the means.

S. Oh yes. I think mi's rush to get things done even if it means doing risky things, is a real threat to science.

2. T. And what about criticism and praise which always accompany any research work?

Unit 6

S. I believe, peer review, mutual criticism should be objective and impartial. You need to judge work by how good the work is, not by who did it or where he/she is from.

T. Now, let us talk about conflict of interests.

S. To my mind, it’s a very serious and compUcated problem. It’s difficult to award

grades without being influenced by how you like or dislike student’s manners. T. And if the student is also a friend, child, or a spouse? S. You should avoid having such people in your plass. First, it protects you from an

intolerable conflict of interests, between wanting to be fair and desire to please

someone you care about. Second, it also protects the rest of the class from being

suspicious of the teacher and jealous of his protege.

4.

T. Well, you’ve given an example of conflict of interests as a problem for individuals. But is it only a personal matter?

S. No, it is not. Institutions too can and do suffer from conflict of interests. Universities, for example, need money for the desirable and valuable things they do.

T. Could you give some examples, please?

S. Sure. In September 1989, the National Institute of Health (NIH) (USA) proposed that people funded by NIH (or their assistants, consultants, spouses, or children) shouldn’t own stock in the companies that would be affected by the outcome of the research; and those results could not be shared with private firms before they had been made public. They also proposed that people applying for grant should disclose all sources of support, including honoraria and consulting fees.

T. Doesn’t all that sound reasonable?

S. Yes, but nevertheless NIH was flooded by protests. The NIH guidelines would have prohibited investigators from taking money from companies whose products they were evaluating in a government-funded project.

T. Seems a sensible enough safeguard, doesn’t it?

S. “Blanket prohibitions don’t work”, once said the Vice-President for Research at one of the leading universities of the USA.

T. And what works? What is common practice?

S. Accepting gifts from parents, graduates, and other benefactors has been standard practice.

T. And does it usually cause trouble?

S. Unless, of course, a wealthy donor has a stupid nephew whom he wants enrolled and given a degree.

T. And could you dwell on problems concerning scientific institutions, please?

S. Well, in the USA institutes hire lobbyists to persuade the government to designate some funds for a new building or program. Universities hire for 6-figure fees -people who try to persuade members of Congress to put into some bill, say $60 million dollars for a supercomputing center at Cornell University. That’s an actual example from about ten years ago. This new method of using political clout rather

Professional ethics

than intellectual merit to make decisions, pork-barreling in other words, is an almost hallowed American tradition but it has only recently been taken up by universities. The American Association of Universities - the most prestigious organization of research universities in the United States - admitted that this pork-barreling is a bad thing, and wished that it wouldn’t happen; but it refused to criticize those of its members who were doing it, on the grounds that the need for resources is so great.

T, In other words, was the Association saying that the end justifies the means?

S. I think, the end can never justify the means. Use force instead of persuasion, and you’ll have a society that’s controlled by force; use pork-barreling to get what you want, and you’ll have a society that works through bribery and not on the basis of merit.

(Adapted from the Internet)

Answer the following questions:

1. Should you choose a project which is interesting for scientific reasons or because there’s money to be made out of it?

2. What is your opinion about contact between academia and industry?

3. Are you always preoccupied with rapidity?

4. Is it better to be fast than to be sound?

5. Is it better to get false results quickly than valid results slowly?

6. If conflict of interests is permitted, why assume that only one person would suffer from it rather than everyone?

7. Can any person be trusted as much under a conflict of interests as when there is no such conflict?

8. What is your personal experience of handling a conflict of interests?