Coastal destruction speeds climate change

 

Mangroves provide coastal protection from storms, reduce the impacts of floods and are important fish nurseries, but they are being damaged by human activities and are becoming increasingly susceptible to climate change related impacts. Much of the carbon emitted when mangroves, seagrasses or tidal marshes are destroyed is estimated to be thousands of years old because the CO2 stored in these ecosystems is found not only in the plants, but in layer upon layer of soil underneath. Total carbon deposits per square kilometre in these coastal systems may be up to five times the carbon stored in tropical forests. This is due to their ability to absorb carbon at rates up to 50 times those of the same area of tropical forest.

Dr. Emily Pidgeon, Marine Climate Change Director at Conservation International, said “We have known for some time the importance of coastal ecosystems for fisheries and for coastal protection from storms and tsunamis. We are now learning that, if destroyed or degraded, these coastal ecosystems become major emitters of CO2 for years after the plants are removed. In the simplest terms, it’s like a long slow bleed that is difficult to clot. So we need to urgently halt the loss of these high carbon ecosystems, to slow the progression of climate change.”

Draining a typical coastal wetland, such as a mangrove or marsh, releases 0.25 million tons of carbon dioxide per square kilometre for every meter of soil that is lost. Global data shows that seagrasses, tidal marshes, and mangroves are being degraded or destroyed along the world’s coastlines at a rapid pace. Between 1980 and 2005, 35,000 square kilometres of mangroves were removed globally – an area the size of the nation of Belgium. This degraded area still continues to release up to 0.175 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year – equivalent to the annual emissions of countries such as the Netherlands or Venezuela.

Wendy Watson-Wright, Executive-Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission added, “Scientific studies have shown that although mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes account for less than 1 percent of the total plant biomass on land and forests, they cycle almost the same amount of carbon as the remaining 99 percent. So the decline of these carbon-efficient ecosystems is a valid cause of concern.”

 

1. What is the role of coastal ecosystem on our planet?

2. What are mangroves? Why are they important?

3. What is happening to sea grasses and marshes?

 

Are these sentences true or false?

1. Coastal ecosystems can be great emitters of CO2 if plants are removed.

2. Coastal ecosystems can’t provide any protection from tsunami.

3. The amount of mangroves and sea grasses is to small to cycle all carbon on our planet.

 

 

Choose the right modal verb and translate the sentences

1. Small doses of the sun-ultraviolet radiation result in nothing worse than sunburn and larger amounts ______ cause cataracts or skin cancer, and affect the growth of plants.

a) may b) can c) must

2. International regulations _____ be modified to prohibit the discharge of all garbage at sea.

a) have to b) should c) may

3. From an animal’s point of view, obtaining food without being eaten is critical it ________ be able to gather enough food to meet its energy requirements and reproduce the next generation.a) must b) can c) could 4. Explosive charges and air cannons fired underwater in the hunt for oil ______ kill millions of fish but fortunately Norwegian fishing industry officials managed to prevent it. a) can b) could c) might 5. Aquaculture can create jobs, enhance the overall economy of a region however it ________ be looked upon as the means to prosperity for large numbers of those who live in the developing nations of the world.a) shouldn’t b) mustn’t c) can’t

Choose the right variant of Participle and translate the sentences

1. The _________ Arctic ice sheet is forcing more bears to live on land over the summer, where they have more encounters with humans as they search for new food sources.

a) shrinking b) shrunk c) being shrunk

2. The scientists made some experiments along one line of 35 g charges, _______ cod in cages at three different distances from the line.a) placed b) placing c) having placed 3. Trout and salmon lay their eggs in shallow nests (known as redds) _________ in the gravel bottoms of lakes and streams.a) constructed b) constructing c) being constructed 4. The fish or invertebrates being reared by an aquaculturist may all be harvested over a short period of timea) reared b) being reared c) rearing 5. The main services _________ by the gas regulation function are the maintenance of clean, breathable air, and the prevention of diseases.a) provided b) providing c) being provided

Choose the right form of the verb and translate the sentences.

1. Wind power is an alternative energy source which ________ for many years in countries like Holland and Denmark.

a) used b) was used c) has been used

2. Increasing waste from pulp-and-paper plant, poaching of Baikal omul, the lake’s iconic fish, and the chaotic construction of private housing and recreation centers _________ the lake’s ecology.

a) effect b) are effecting c) effects

3. It has become an inevitable trend to make reasonable use of fisheries resources while we ________our living area.a) are exploiting b) exploit c) exploited4. The Department of Energy’s office of Biological&Environmental Research has informed those managing the experiments that their current research ________ by 2012. a) will phase out b) will be phased out c) will have been phased out

5. For more than a decade, the U.S. federal government _______ millions of dollars pumping elevated levels of carbon dioxide into trees to test how forests will respond to global warming in the next 50 years.

a) spent b) will spend c) has spent

 

 

Variant III

Read the text and translate it

Aquaculture

Aquaculture, the controlled or semi-controlled production of aquatic plants and animals, has considerably increased since the early 1980s. This increase has been in response to declines in commercial harvests of wild stocks of fish and shellfish. Oceans of the world are currently at maximum sustainable yield. As global population grows, demand for fish and shellfish increases, and the percentage of aquatic products grown in aquaculture must likewise rise to meet the supply of those products. Projections for increased production are in the range of 40–100 mmt (million metric tons) of new aquaculture production by about the year 2030.

There are fewer than thirty large species-specific aquaculture industries globally. However, there are over twenty-five thousand species of fish and there are estimates that one thousand new species are being evaluated for their culture potential. As a subsistence enterprise, aquaculture has been practiced for over four thousand years. As a series of large industries, aquaculture is less than fifty years old, often stimulated by declining wild stocks of fish. The channel catfish industry, which only began in the late 1960s in the southern United States, is illustrative of a relatively young industry. Today, over 90 percent of the U.S. supply of Atlantic salmon is cultured. In 1980, that figure was only a fraction of 1 percent. Inevitably, as new aquaculture species are brought into culture settings, new diseases are identified that were previously unknown. In the past ten years, new viral diseases have been identified in shrimp and salmon, both of which caused large-scale losses from production facilities.

Of the approximately 25 mmt of global aquaculture production, there are only a few industries that produced over 1 mmt in 1996. Several of the species of Asian carp and the common carp account for the largest industries. Silver carp production was 2.2 mmt, grass carp production was 1.8 mmt, bighead carp production was 1.1 mmt, and common carp production was 1.5 mmt. Virtually all of this production occurred in China with the exception of common carp, which is raised throughout Europe. Of the species typically available in U.S. markets, pen-raised Atlantic salmon accounted for 0.4 mmt, rainbow trout production for 0.3 mmt, channel catfish production for 0.2 mmt. Production of several invertebrates was significant. Shrimp production was 0.9 mmt, oyster production was 1.1 mmt, mussel production was 1.0 mmt, and clam production was 1.0 mmt. Production of brown seaweeds was 4.5 mmt and red seaweed production was 1.6 mmt. Thus, the largest aquaculture industry is the production of brown seaweeds, largely for nonfood use. In the beginning of the twenty-first century a greater demand has not resulted in increased production yet.