3. Определите, являются ли предложения истинными или ложными.

a) Natural disasters left a lot of people homeless.

b) Environmental pollution is largely linked to heavy use of fuel by humans.

c) All living organisms have changed their environment through their interaction.

d) The largest changes have been brought in the environment by animals.

e) Scientists now are more concerned and developing about the replacing and renewable energy.

4. Соедините пары.

diverse вредное изменение

interact материал

destruction наводнение

effort топливо

soil pollution усилие

flood сокращение

reduction места отдыха

detrimental alteration взаимодействовать

recreational facilities бедствие

thermal глобальное потепление

disaster загрязнение почвы

material вредный

fuel разрушение

dangerous тепловой

global warming поток

current разнообразный

harmful опасный

5. Дополните предложения, используя данные слова и словосочетания:

environment, the Ozone Layer, The nonliving, Water pollution, soil pollution,

a) The world is facing a lot of environmental problems – such as air pollution, water pollution, or _____.

b) The human population’s impact on the natural ____ has led to the destruction of ecosystems and created ecological problems.

c) _____ includes any detrimental alteration of surface waters, under ground waters or the marine environment with a thermal or material pollution.

d) _____ features, also known as abiotic factors include ocean currents, temperature, wind and rainfall.

e) The problems brought about by man’s selfish interaction with the environment include pollution, global warming, and destruction of life giving ecosystems as well as reduction of _____.

7.Тема 2: Изменение климата

CLIMATE CHANGE

1. Прочитайте текст “Climate change”. Подберите заголовок к каждому абзацу. Один заголовок лишний.

a) Population growth

b) Consequences of increase in temperature

c) How to stop climate changes

d) Global warming

e) Statistics of last years

f) The reasons forcing people to live in dangerous conditions

2. Переведите текст, используя словарь.

Climate Change

1) Climate change, sometimes called "global warming", is the most serious and most complex environmental issue ever to confront the international community. The Earth's climate is changing and extreme weather events — droughts, floods, and storms — are becoming more frequent. Scientists believe that higher global temperatures will lead to a greater number of extreme weather events. The climate has changed before, but gradually, long enough for most plants and animals to adjust through evolution or migration. Yet there is still much debate about the issues of the climate change and the threat it poses to the world.

2) All over the world last years set numerous local and regional records for windstorms, rain intensities, floods, droughts, and temperatures. Economic losses from weather disasters worldwide increased. Weather disasters also took a significant human toll. A lot of people died in storms, floods, droughts, heat waves, or extreme cold. Many who survived faced the threat of diseases, including cholera, dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever. The frequency of severe weather events is clearly on the rise. Worldwide, the number of big weather catastrophes has quadrupled since the 1960s. Environmental disasters — including severe weather—are to blame for millions of environmental refugees all over the world.

3) These economic and human costs have multiplied over the years due to not only the surge in extreme weather events but also rising global population and increasing concentrations of people and wealth in vulnerable regions. Human activities such as clear-cutting of upstream slopes have increased the impacts as well. In many cases, efforts to prevent or lessen disaster, such as construction of dikes, dams, and avalanche barriers, have drawn people to coastal areas, riversides, and hillside locations, giving them a false sense of safety.

4) Scientists believe that rising global temperatures may increase the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events even more. Even slight temperature increases can shift low-pressure systems from their usual paths, causing sudden und significant increases in the frequency of heavy rainfall in a particular area. Small increases in event severity can lead to multiple increases in damage and costs — for example, a 10-percent increase in wind speed can increase damage by 150 per cent. Thus climate change is expected to aggravate the upward trends of economic and human costs.

5) While the burden of climate-related disasters falls most heavily on developing nations least able to adapt, the burden of responsibility lies with the industrial nations that have contributed the bulk of carbon emissions through fossil fuel burning. Two powerful global forces — growing environmental degradation and high levels of poverty make poor people living in precarious conditions the most vulnerable to storms and floods. The situation is made worse by deforestation, soil erosion, and climate change.

From Комарова, Окс, Бадмаева