Comprehension check

1. Divide the text into logical parts. Entitle each part.

2. Answer the following questions:

1. When did the problem of pollution become dangerous?

2. What problems threaten human lives on the Earth?

3. Why is air pollution harmful?

4. Is it dangerous to breathe polluted air?

5. What does the burning of fuel produce?

6. What are the most dangerous pollutants?

7. What is the main reason for the greenhouse effect and ac rains in our planet?

8. Can we solve the problem of environmental protection?

3. Give English equivalents for the following Russian expressions:

загрязняющие компоненты, сжигание, сгорание, сернистый газ, побочные продукты, макрочастицы, угарный газ, органическое топливо, испускать, выбрасывать.

IV. Complete the sentences with the information from the text.

1. The problems that threaten human lives are ....

2. Particulates are the products of....

3. Amoeg the most dangerous pollutants are ....

4. The main reason for the greenhouse effect is ....

5. It is yet not too late to solve the problems because ....

AIR POLLUTION AND ACID RAINS

Pre-reading activity: look up the words in the dictionary and memorize their pronunciation:

Incalculable sulphate

diesel fumes nitrates aerosols

lead sulphur dioxide

exhausts nitrogen oxides

ubiquitous asthma

origin bronchitis

combustion chlorophyll

Without air there can be no life. Without air of good quality there cannot be a healthy life. Air pollution is an old prob­lem, which has in this century assumed wide economic and social significance. Perhaps the first general realisation of the new dangers came with the great London smog of December 1952. For live days the capital of England was enveloped in a grey shroud, and over 4 thousand people had died and incalculable numbers had suffered a worsening of bron­chitis and heart disease.

An average person requires over thirty pounds of air a day or about six pints every minute. Daily the individual draws 26000 breaths, between 18 and 22 each minute, many of which arc of filthy air. The lungs of town inhabitants are usually greyish in col­our, those of country, people are normally pale pink.

The air is being polluted by acid gases, dust, petrol and diesel fumes and poisonous chemicals. These come from cars, factories and power plants

Of all the pollutants, that taint the air, fine suspended particu­late matter, sulphur dioxide and ozone pose the most wide-spread and acute risks. However, airborne lead pollution, coming from car exhausts, is a critical concern in man) cities as well.

Particulate Pollution

Suspended particulate matter is nearly ubiquitous urban pollutant. It is a complex mixture of small and large particles of varying origin and chemical composition. Larger particles, ranging from 2.5 microns to 100 microns in diameter, usually comprise smoke and dust from industrial processes, agriculture, construction and road traffic, as well as plant pollen and other natural sources. Smaller particles - those less than 2,5 microns in diameter -generally come from combustion of fossil fuels. These particles include soot from vehicle exhaust, which is often coated with various chemical contaminants or met­als. They also include fine sulphate and nitrate aerosols that form when sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides condense in the atmos­phere. The largest source of fine particles is coal-fired power plants, but auto and diesel exhaust are also prime contributors, es­pecially along busy transportation corridors.

The health effects of particles arc strongly linked to their size. Small particles, such as those from fossil fuel combustion, are most dangerous, because they can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, setting in areas, where the body's natural clearance mechanisms can't remove them. The constituents in small particles are more chemical Inactive and may be acidic as well and therefore more damaging.

Particulate pollution causes acute changes in lung function, respiratory illnesses, heart decease and aggravation of asthma and bronchitis. During major pollution events, when particulate levels in the air increase up to 200 micrograms of particulate matter per cu­bic meter, daily mortality rates could increase as much as 20 per cent.