I. Warm-up activities

1.1. Read the words properly and state the part of speech:

Ancient, environment, civilization, byproducts, to pollute, to breathe, vast, to upset, dust, harmful, substance, oxygen, hydrogen, rare, species, to befall (befell, befallen), to increase, disaster, crisis, to preserve, onward, vehicle, to threaten, disease, dioxide, fewer, uninhabitable, particle, sign, ocean, micro.

1.2. Find the Russian equivalents for the following:

Man’s interference in nature; industrial enterprises; the land we grow grain; harmful substances; are cut and burn in fire; some rare species of animals; a number of rivers and lakes dry up; ecological disaster; the consequences of this explosion; universal concern; man’s careless interaction with nature; a sign of the ecological crisis; ecologically poor regions; initial steps; must be carried onward; urgent measures; ozone layer; numerous conferences have been held; is co-operating; joint project; permafrost zone; green house effect; to restore oxygen balance; refillable.

Всеобщая проблема; парниковый эффект; совместный проект; зона вечной мерзлоты; были проведены многочисленные конференции; сотрудничает; срочные меры; озоновый слой; первые шаги; надо двигаться вперед; экологически неблагополучные регионы; небрежное обращение человека с природой; признак экологического кризиса; вмешательство человека в природу; некоторые редкие виды животных; вредные вещества; вырубаются и сжигаются; земля, на которой мы выращиваем пшеницу; последствия этого взрыва; многоразовый; промышленные предприятия; восстановить кислородный баланс; экологические бедствия; ряд рек и озер высыхают.

1.3. Match the words with their definitions:

1. environment	1. the supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels
2. oppressive	2. to cause disorder in; disrupt
3. to upset	3. close and sultry
4. irrigation	4. the natural world, as a whole or in a particular geographical area, especially as affected by human activity
5.byproducts	5. the action of clearing a wide area of trees
6. deforestation	6. an incidental or secondary product made in the manufacture or synthesis of something else
7. to eliminate	7. make something happen
8. rare	8. a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life
9. disaster	9. not found in large numbers and so of interest or value
10. to cause	10. completely remove or get rid of (something)

II. Reading

Part 1. The most serious ecological problems nowadays

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man’s interference in nature began to increase. The more civilization is developing, the greater ecological problems are becoming.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. There are over 150 supercities in the world with population from one to 15 million and more. New York, London, Moscow, Tokyo, Mexico city, Rio de Janeiro are just a few of cities which have become supercities. People in these cities suffer from polluted environment: bad water, bad air and noise. A new term «urban climate» is used now for such cities. It means higher temperature, oppressive atmosphere and intensive smog.

The air in many cities and towns is being polluted by traffic. The number of cars and lorries is growing all the time. The vehicles produce most of toxic micro-particles, which do most harm. Toxic gases in the atmosphere in critical concentration could change the world’s climate. The dangerous air pollution comes also from the cigarette smoke, which pollutes public places.

People living near airports suffer from the noise of increasingly larger and more powerful jet airliners taking off and landing.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. The byproducts of the activity of the industrial enterprises pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.

Deforestation is another serious ecological problem throughout the world. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up. Air pollution influences the health of people. For example: ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer. Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from such radiation, but if there are holes in the ozone layer ultraviolet radiation can get to the earth.

Another serious ecological problem is water pollution . It is changing from national to an international problem, especially in territories where rivers cross several countries. The seas and oceans are also becoming seriously polluted. In several years tourists will find fewer beaches where it’s safe to swim.

The pollution of air and the world’s ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man’s careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crisis. The poisoning of the world’s land, air, and water is the fastest-spreading disease of civilization.

Also one of the most serious problems is green house effect. It works like this: sunlight gives us heat, some of the heat warms the atmosphere and some of the heat goes back into space. Nowadays the heat cannot go into space. That is why winter and summer temperatures in many places have become higher. If the temperature continues growing up the snow on the mountains and ice will melt, so the most of the earth will be under water.

The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18 percent of the territory of Belarus was also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people’s health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Belorussian and other nations.

Part 2. Environmental protection

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. Urgent measures must be taken if we don’t want to leave a dangerous planet to future generations. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

At present scientists in industrially developed countries are working on the theory of interaction of all the atmospheric and oceanic global processes that determine the climate and weather of the world. The essential feature in the environment protection is that many problems can be solved only on the level of world community. It is necessary to develop an international program to study the data on land , forest, atmospheric and oceanic resources.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. About 160 countries - members of the UNO - have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl. An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international organization Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment. Russia is co-operating in the field of environmental protection with the United States, Canada, Norway, Finland and other countries. Russia and the United States are carrying out joint projects to study and protect the environmental systems of the Arctic and Subarctic regions, and also to study some of the natural processes in the permafrost zone.

It is eco-economy that we need to save our planet. An eco-economy is one that satisfies our needs without affecting the prospects of future generations to meet their needs. Therefore, it is necessary to turn our economy in eco-economy. To build eco-economy means to restore carbon balance, to stabilize population and water use, and to conserve forests, soils and variety of plant and animal in the world. Building a new economy means eliminating and replacing old industries, restructuring existing ones, and creating new ones. The generation of electricity from wind is one such industry. In some countries wind provides both electricity and hydrogen. Together, electricity and hydrogen can meet all the energy needs of a modern society.

Another industry that will play an important part in the new economy is management of available water supply most efficiently. Irrigation technology will become more efficient. The recycling of urban waste water will become common. At present, water flows into and out of cities, carrying waste with it. In the future, water will be used again and again , never discharged. As water does not lose its quality from use, there is no limit to how long it can be used, as long as it is cleaned before reuse.

One can easily see eco-economy changes in some countries. It is known that Denmark is the eco-economy leader. It has stabilized its population, banned the construction of coal power plants, banned the use of non-refillable drink containers, and is now getting 15 per cent of its electricity from wind. Besides, it has restructured its urban transport networks; now 32 per cent of all trips in Copenhagen are on bicycles. Denmark is still not close to balancing carbon emission, but it is moving in that direction.

But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only at the present but also for the future generations. It probably produces fewer headlines than wars, earthquakes and floods, but it is potentially one of history’s greatest dangers to human life on earth. If present trends continue for the next several decades, our planet will become uninhabitable.