Text 1. Enviromental pollution

1. What forms of environmental pollution do you know? Team up with your groupmate and make a list of as many forms as you can think of.

2. Transcribe the following words and translate them into Russian.

Ecosystem, oxide, monoxide, dioxide, ozone, respiratory, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, chlorofluorocarbons, sulfur, lead (свинец), sewerage, to combat (e.g. to combat global warming), incinerator, anthropogenic, refuse (n), herbicide, pesticide, habitat, cesspool, lethal, debris, species, defect (v; n), inalienable, cardiovascular, dilution.

3. Read the first part of the text about environmental pollution and give it a title.

Part 1

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Environmental pollution had been a fact of life for many centuries. Pollution started from prehistoric times when man created the first fires. Soot found on ceilings of prehistoric caves provides ample evidence of the high levels of pollution that was associated with inadequate ventilation of open fires. Core samples of glaciers in Greenland indicate increases in pollution associated with Greek, Roman and Chinese metal production, but at that time the pollution was comparatively small and could be handled by nature.

The burning of coal and wood, and the presence of many horses in concentrated areas made the cities the cesspools of pollution. The Industrial Revolution brought an infusion of untreated chemicals and wastes into local streams that served as the water supply. King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke became a problem.

It was the industrial revolution that gave birth to environmental pollution as we know it today. London also recorded one of the earlier extreme cases of water quality problems with the Great Stink on the Thames of 1858, which led to construction of the London sewerage system soon afterward.  

The emergence of great factories and consumption of immense quantities of coal gave rise to unprecedented air pollution and the large volume of industrial chemical discharges added to the growing load of untreated human waste. Pollution became a major issue in the United States in the early twentieth century, as progressive reformers took issue with air pollution caused by coal burning, water pollution caused by bad sanitation, and street pollution caused by the 3 million horses who worked in American cities in 1900. The generation that first saw automobiles replacing the horses saw cars as "miracles of cleanliness." By the 1940s, however, automobile-caused smog was a major issue in Los Angeles.

Awareness of atmospheric pollution spread widely after World War II, with fears triggered by reports of radioactive fallout from atomic warfare and testing. Then a non-nuclear event, The Great Smog of 1952 in London, killed at least 4000 people. This prompted some of the first major modern environmental legislation, The Clean Air Act of 1956.

The development of nuclear science introduced radioactive contamination, which can remain lethally radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Lake Karachay, named by the Worldwatch Institute as the "most polluted spot" on earth, served as a disposal site for the Soviet Union throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Second place may go to the area of Chelyabinsk Russian as the "Most polluted place on the planet".

A recently discovered problem is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge concentration of plastics, chemical sludge and other debris which has been collected into a large area of the Pacific Ocean by the North Pacific Gyre. This is a less well known pollution problem than the others described above, but nonetheless has multiple and serious consequences such as increasing wildlife mortality, the spread of invasive species and human ingestion of toxic chemicals.

4. Paraphrase the underlined word-combinations and translate them into Russian.

5. Answer the following questions to Part 1.

1) When did environmental pollution begin?

2) What were the main sources of pollution in the Middle Ages?

3) In what way did the industrial revolution change pollution?

4) Why did awareness of atmospheric pollution spread widely after World War II?

5) What danger does the development of nuclear science pose for the environment?

6) What are the environmental consequences of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Part 2

FORMS OF POLLUTION

The major forms of pollution are listed below along with the particular contaminant relevant to each of them:

· Air pollution: the release of chemicals and particulates into the atmosphere. Common gaseous pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles. Another contributor is particulate matter, or fine dust.

· Light pollution: includes light trespass, over-illumination and astronomical interference.

· Littering: the criminal throwing of inappropriate man-made objects, unremoved, onto public and private properties.

· Noise pollution: which encompasses roadway noise, aircraft noise as well as industrial noise.

· Soil contamination occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground leakage. Among the most significant soil contaminants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals (such as lead found in rechargeable batteries), herbicides and pesticides. Ordinary municipal landfills are the source of many chemical substances entering the soil environment (and often groundwater), emanating from the wide variety of refuse accepted.

· Radioactive contamination, resulting from 20th century activities in atomic physics, such as nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons research, manufacture and deployment.

· Thermal pollution, is a temperature change in natural water bodies caused by human influence, such as use of water as coolant in a power plant.

· Visual pollution, which can refer to the presence of overhead power lines, motorway billboards, scarred landforms (as from strip mining), open storage of trash, municipal solid waste or space debris.

· Water pollution, by the discharge of wastewater from commercial and industrial waste (intentionally or through spills) into surface waters; discharges of untreated domestic sewage, and chemical contaminants, such as chlorine, from treated sewage; waste disposal and littering.

· Plastic pollution: involves the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans.

6. Provide contexts for the following words and word-combinations, paraphrase them and translate them into Russian.

Carbon monoxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), particulate matter, littering, soil contamination, spill (n.), leakage, lead (metal), rechargeable, herbicides, pesticides, landfill, emanate, refuse (n), nuclear power, coolant, billboard, storage of trash, municipal solid waste, chlorine, adversely affect, habitat.

Part 3

SOURCES AND CAUSES

Air pollution comes from both natural and human-made (anthropogenic) sources. However, globally human-made pollutants from combustion, construction, mining, agriculture and warfare are increasingly significant in the air pollution equation.

Motor vehicle emissions are one of the leading causes of air pollution. Principal stationary pollution sources include chemical plants, coal-fired power plants, oil refineries, nuclear waste disposal activity, incinerators, large livestock farms (dairy cows, pigs, poultry, etc.), plastics factories, and other heavy industry. Agricultural air pollution comes from contemporary practices which include clear felling and burning of natural vegetation as well as spraying of pesticides and herbicides.

In February 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing the work of 2,500 scientists from more than 120 countries, said that humans have been the primary cause of global warming since 1950. Humans have ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the consequences of global warming, a major climate report concluded. But to change the climate, the transition from fossil fuels like coal and oil needs to occur within decades.

 Pollution can also be the consequence of a natural disaster. For example, hurricanes often involve water contamination from sewage, and petrochemical spills from ruptured boats or automobiles. Larger scale and environmental damage is not uncommon when coastal oil refineries are involved. Some sources of pollution, such as nuclear power plants or oil tankers, can produce widespread and potentially hazardous releases when accidents occur.

In the case of noise pollution the dominant source class is the motor vehicle, producing about ninety percent of all unwanted noise worldwide.

7. Provide English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations. Use them in sentences of your own.

Вызванный деятельностью человека, горение, строительство, горная промышленность, военные действия, автомобильные выхлопы, электростанция, мусоросжигательная печь, скотоводческая ферма, сплошная рубка леса, глобальное потепление, выбросы парниковых газов, ископаемое топливо, нефтеочистительный завод.

8. Answer the following questions to Part 3.

1) What are the natural sources of pollution according to the text? Can you add your own examples to this list?

2) What are some of the anthropogenic sources of pollution? Which of them do you consider the most dangerous ones?

 

Part 4

EFFECTS

Adverse air quality can kill many organisms including humans. Ozone pollution can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease,throat inflammation and chest pain. Water pollution causes approximately 14,000 deaths per day, mostly due to contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage in developing countries.  

Oil spills can cause skin irritations and rashes. Noise pollution induces hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, and sleep disturbance. Chemical and radioactive substances can cause cancer and as well as birth defects.

Perspectives

"The solution to pollution is dilution ", is a dictum which summarizes a traditional approach to pollution management whereby sufficiently diluted pollution is not harmful. However, such simple treatment is no longer an option. It’s widely recognised that we are hugely overspending our current budget of natural resources – at the existing rates of its exploitation, there is no way for the environment to recover in good time and continue “performing” well in the future.

Perhaps we should adopt a holistic view of nature – it is not an entity that exists separately from us; the nature is us, we are an inalienable part of it, and we should care for it in the most appropriate manner. Only then can we possibly solve the problem of environmental pollution.

9. Provide deinitions for the underlined words and word-combinations and translate them into Russian.

10. Answer the following questions to Part 4.

1) What are the adverse effects of pollution?

2) Why is the dictum The solution to pollution is dilution no longer an option for humanity?

3) What view of nature may help us solve the problem of environmental pollution?

11. Read the whole text again and pick out from it words containing the Latin suffix –cide. What is the meaning of this suffix? Search a dictionary and find more words with this suffix, give definitions of the words you have found and translate them into Russian.

12. Point out similarities and differences in the usage of the verbs emanate, discharge, emit, give off, release in the meaning «испускать, выделять». Find sentences containing these verbs in Text 1. Use a dictionary and provide more examples to illustrate the usage of each verb.

13. Comment on the following quotations:

1) “I am, therefore I pollute.” That applies to any process. (from: Marquita K. Hill. Understanding Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press, 2004)

2) “Our world civilization and its global economy are based on beliefs incompatible with enduring habitation of the earth: that everything has been put on earth for our use, that resources not used to meet our needs are wasted and that resources are unlimited.” (from: Marquita K. Hill. Understanding Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press, 2004)

3) “The more the population grows, the more the rights of the common will impinge on the rights of the individual.” (from: Marquita K. Hill. Understanding Environmental Pollution. Cambridge University Press, 2004)

4) “For change, we need three factors: leadership from above, pressure from below, or some exemplary catastrophe. ” (Crispin Tickell, Oxford University)

5) “The air and water grow heavier with the debris of our spectacular civilization.” (Former US President, Lyndon B. Johnson)

6) “The dose makes the poison.” (Paracelsus)

14. The list below suggests some of the ways in which you can reduce your exposure to pesticides. Which three of these steps do you think are the most important? Why? Which of them do you take now or plan to take?