3.Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out for ever.

4.Industrial enterprises emit tons of harmful substances.

5.Beauty will save the world.

IS THE EARTH GETTING HOTTER?

It sounded like nature’s own apocalypse.

“The earth’s temperature would rise, melting the icecaps, raising the seas, flooding the land. Arizona would turn into a rain forest and the agricultural Midwest would become a desert”. At least, that was how TV weathermen interpreted a report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the “greenhouse effect”. The EPA predicted “catastrophic consequences” if contingency plans weren’t made with “a sense of urgency”.

Fortunately, the news improved later when the National Academy of Sciences said that although the greenhouse effect was very real, “caution not panic” was in order.

In fact, the science of the phenomenon is more interesting than frightening. The greenhouse effect results when CO2 and certain other gases in the atmosphere allow the sun’s ultraviolet rays to penetrate and warm the earth but then absorb the infrared energy the earth radiates back into space – much as glass in a greenhouse effect doesforming a kind of “thermal blanket” around the planet. By burning huge amounts of fossil fuels, which release CO2 into the atmosphere, man has raised the CO2 level from 280 to 340 parts per million since 1860. And continued use of coal and other fossil fuels is expected to double the concentration of CO, by the year 2050, elevating the earth’s temperature by 3 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. The greenhouse effect will mean much more than hotter summers and milder winters. It may alter rainfall, affect crop yields and eventually – as glaciers begin to melt-raise the level of the sea.

Both reports predict that the temperature change will be greater in the Polar Regions than near the equator. In general, they speculate that snowfall will begin later, the growing season will lengthen and

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higher latitudes will get less rain. The EPA says that the sea level will probably rise at least two feet before the year 2100, which could flood “many of the major ports of the world, disrupt transportation networks, alter ecosystems and cause major shifts in land development patterns”.

Although use of fossil fuels is the main cause of the CO2 increase, the government agencies don’t advocate any sweeping changes in energy policies. Even a total ban on the burning of fossil fuels in the United States wouldn’t have much impact, because the United States accounts for only 25 per cent of the world’s total manmade CO2 emissions. A worldwide coal ban instituted in 2000 would delay the warming by about 15 years but is considered economically and politically unfeasible.

If we can’t prevent the greenhouse effect, we can prepare for it.

Suggestions include breeding plants that need less water, improving irrigation systems, and many others.

However, not all experts are convinced that the heat is coming. Some think that the use of primary energy sources such as coal could decline 60 per cent by 2050 and, perhaps, “the opposite of the EPA scenario is true. If the rate of fossil fuel use is going down, the amount of CO2 we add to the air is getting less every year”.

TEST TO THE TEXT

“IS THE EARTH GETTING HOTTER?”

I. Соотнесите понятия с их объяснением:

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es, as carbon dioxide on a planet’s atmosphere raising the temperature

i.layer caused by heat or temperature

j.system formed by the interaction of

acommunity of organisms with their environment

II.Подберите пары антонимов:

III. Образуйте прилагательные от слов, приведѐнных слева, с помощью одного из суффиксов, приведѐнных справа:

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7.economy (n)

8.effect (n, v)

9.interest (n, v)

10.consider (v)

IV. Выберите правильный вариант сказуемого:

atmosphere allow the sun’s ultra-violet rays to penetrate and warm the earth.

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have … impact because the US accounts for only 25 per cent of the

5. The Earth is getting hotter with every passing day and the situation becomes … and …

a. worse b. bad c. the worst

VII. Какие из предложений неверны?

1.The greenhouse effect will probably form a kind of “thermal blanket” around the planet.

2.Scientists’ reports predict that the temperature change will be greater near the equator than in the Polar Regions.

3.The greenhouse effect will mean much more than hotter summers and milder winters.

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4.The US accounts for more than 50 per cent of the world’s total man-made CO2 emissions.

5.If we can’t prevent the greenhouse effect, we can prepare for it.

VIII. Какое предложение отражает основную мысль текста?

1.The EPA predicted “catastrophic consequences” if contingency plans weren’t made with a “sense of urgency”.

2.By burning huge amounts of fossil fuels man has raised the CO2 level on the planet.

3.The greenhouse effect may alter rainfall, affect croup yields and eventually raise the level of the sea.

4.The Earth is getting hotter and if we can’t prevent the greenhouse effect, we can prepare for it.

5.A worldwide coal ban would delay the warming of the planet by about 15 years.

IX. Какое предложение содержит ответ на вопрос:

What kind of suggestions can help to prevent the greenhouse effect?

1.People should not smoke.

2.Governments should sweep changes in energy policies.

3.Breeding plants that need less water, improving irrigation systems and many other measures can help prevent the greenhouse effect.

4.Scientists should invent installations protecting the Earth from the Sun.

5.People should stop fighting with each other.

X. Какую область знаний или человеческой деятельности отражает данный текст?

1.architecture

2.construction

3.environment

4.agriculture

5.physics

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