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Файл:English for Environmental Engineers (Английский для инженеров-экологов). Часть 2. Учебное пособие
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Text 5. Climate myths: Hurricane Katrina was caused by
global warming
The chaotic nature of weather makes it impossible to prove that any
single event such as Hurricane Katrina is due to global warming. It is also
impossible to prove that global warming did not play a part, so debates
about the causes of individual events are futile.
It is possible, however, to determine whether global warming is
increasing the frequency or intensity of extreme events. It is a bit like
throwing dice: getting one six proves nothing, but if sixes keep coming up
more often than the other numbers, you know the dice is loaded.
So is global warming loading the dice when it comes to tropical
cyclones (also known as hurricanes and typhoons in different parts of the
world)? A host of atmospheric factors have to be just right for a cyclone
form and grow. Sea surface temperatures play a big role and they are
steadily increasing.
But the temperature difference between the sea surface and the air
also matters, and global warming might have little effect on this. Then there
is the question of how warming will affect factors that weaken storms such
as high level winds that chop off the top of developing hurricanes, an effect
called wind shear.
Increasing intensity
General climate models are not detailed enough to accurately
predict the effects of warming on hurricane activity. Instead, modellers
have tried to feeding in predictions from general models to detailed
regional models of hurricanes. This has produced some widely varying
results, but the consensus among experts is that global warming will not
lead more hurricanes overall, but will increase the average intensity of
storms.
A growing number of studies of hurricane records suggest this
trend can already be seen. In 2005, for instance, Kerry Emanuel at MIT
published a research suggesting that tropical cyclones in the West Pacific
and Atlantic have become more powerful over the past 50 years. That same
year, another study concluded that the frequency of the strongest tropical
cyclones has almost doubled globally since the early 1970s.
There are problems with such studies. For starters, tropical cyclone
activity in some regions seems to rise and fall in cycles lasting many
decades. “This variability makes detecting any long-term trends in tropical
cyclone activity difficult” concluded the 125 members of a World
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Meteorological Organisation international workshop on tropical cyclones
43
and climate change, held in December 2006.
Researchers studying past activity are also only too aware of the
shortcomings of the databases. For example, the techniques for measuring
storm intensity have changed dramatically over the past 30 years. On the
fundamental question of whether global warming is affecting tropical
cyclones, the WMO group decided: “no firm conclusion can be made at this
point".
Stalagmites and coral
More data is needed settle the issue. Some are looking to natural
records of past hurricane activity in stalagmites, lake deposits and coral
rubble. Others are re-analysing existing databases. In February 2007, one
such re-analysis concluded that over the past two decades, hurricane
intensity has increased in the Atlantic but not in other parts of the world.
Yet another complicating factor is that changes in climate can also
change the paths that tropical cyclones tend to take, determining whether
they remain over oceans or strike land.
What everyone agrees on is that over the past few decades there has
been a huge rise in the number of people being killed or injured by
hurricanes, and in damage to infrastructure, and this trend looks set to
continue. The main reason for this, however, is that more and more people
are living and building in hurricane zones43.
16 May 2007. NewScientist. Emma Young
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Text 6. 'Green roofs' could cool warming cities
Covering city buildings in vegetation – creating “green roofs” and
walls – could substantially save energy by reducing the need for air
conditioning on hot days, say researchers.
Green roofs and walls can cool local temperatures by between
3.6°C and 11.3°C, depending on the city, suggests their new study.
Eleftheria Alexandri and Phil Jones at the Welsh School of
Architecture, at the University of Cardiff in the UK, mimicked the
microclimate around and inside buildings using computer modelling. They
compared local temperatures when buildings were made of bare concrete
with when the concrete was covered in vegetation.
Such green surfaces are already in use – roofs that are strong
enough to take the additional load can be covered with mosses, turf and
even trees. In Switzerland, roofs covered in alpine plants that require little
soil are becoming increasingly common. Walls can also be greened, often
by climbing plants planted at ground level.
Temperature drop. The researchers compared the effects of green
surfaces in nine cities around the world, including subarctic Montreal in
Canada, temperate London in the UK, humid Mumbai (India), and tropical
Brasília (Brazil). In all cases, they studied the month during which that city
sees its hottest temperatures.
They found that green walls and roofs would cool the local climate
around a building in all of the cities – and the hotter the climate, the greater
the cooling effect. If, for example, a group of buildings in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, is entirely clad in vegetation, the gap between the buildings will
become 9.1°C cooler during the day, according to the researchers' model.
The gap's peak temperature of the day is brought down by 11.3°C. And in
London and Montreal, the peak temperature drops by just over 4°C.
Greening the walls only, and not the roofs, results in smaller
effects. Maximum temperatures in London and Montreal, for example, drop
by between 2.5°C and just over 3°C between the buildings.
Green surfaces cool local temperatures in two ways. Firstly, the
green surfaces absorb less heat from the sun. Hot surfaces warm the air
around them, so by cooling the surface, the vegetation also affects air
temperatures. Secondly, the plants also cool the air by evaporating water in
a process known as evapotranspiration.
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Lowering demand. Being dense regions of concrete and paved
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surfaces, cities and towns lose the cooling effects of vegetation. This
generates what is known as the "urban heat island" effect.
Alexandri and Jones say their results suggest the urban heat island
effect could be countered by introducing green roofs and walls in cities.
They point out that, other than making cities more comfortable and safer to
live in, green roofs could also significantly reduce the demand for
electricity – most of which is generated by burning fossil fuels and
therefore contributing to man-made global warming. In recent years,
Europe and North America have been hit by severe heatwaves, the effects
of which are often most extreme in cities. In 2003, a heatwave in Europe is
thought to have killed 35,000 people and hundreds died this summer in
Eastern Europe. Research has shown that the frequency of extremely hot
days has nearly tripled in Europe since 1880.
Eliminating air-con. "In addition to the fact that they add a further
insulation layer to the building, the green surfaces can decrease air
conditioning demands inside the building," says Jones.
In Brasília and Hong Kong, he and Alexandri found that the need
to air-condition a building during the hottest month of the year is
eliminated if it is given a green roof and green walls. Buildings in these
cities would normally need air conditioning in the afternoon and early
evening.
In hotter cities, such as Riyadh, the number of hours when air
conditioning is needed would be cut from 12 hours to just 5. Some air
conditioners still use chemicals that deplete the ozone hole and demand for
air-conditioners is expected to rise as a result of global warming, so green
buildings could help counter this demand44.
28 September 2007. NewScientist. Catherine Brahic
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Text 7. The accident at Chernobyl
45
Prior to a routine shutdown, the crew at Chernobyl Reactor
Number 4 began preparing for a test to find out how long the turbines
would spin and supply electricity following a loss of power from the
reactor.
They carried out a series of actions, including disabling automatic
shutdown mechanisms and withdrawing control rods in contravention of
safety protocols.
Similar tests had been carried out at Chernobyl and other plants,
despite the fact that these reactors were known to be very unstable at low
power. As the flow of coolant water was reduced, the reactor became
hotter.
When the operator tried to shut down the unstable reactor, there
was a catastrophic power surge. This was a know design problem, resulting
from the use of graphite as the moderator in combination with water as the
coolant.
The fuel elements ruptured and the explosive force of superheated
steam blew the massive steel cover plate off the reactor, releasing fission
products to the atmosphere. A second explosion threw out fragments of
burning fuel and graphite from the core and allowed air to rush in, causing
the graphite moderator to burst into flames. The graphite burned for nine
days, causing the main release of radioactivity into the environment45.
www.wfp.org
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GLOSSARY
Abnormal: different from what is usual; not normal.
Absorb: take in.
Abundance: Term used in ecology to describe plentiful amounts of a
particular species or resource.
Acid rain: Rain acidified by sulfuric, nitric, and other acids.
Acidification: The process by which geographical areas or ecosystems
become more acid.
Acute: Diseases with a rapid onset and a short though severe course.
Adapt: to develop and change in order to survive in a particular habitat.
Aerosol: a small metal container from which liquid can be forced out using
high pressure.
Africa: The world’s second largest continent comprising many of the
worlds poorest countries.
Agriculture: The science of utilizing land to produce crops and raise
livestock.
AIDS: abbreviation for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a disease
which causes people to die because they cannot fight the illnesses they
develop.
Air pollution: Contamination of the air, especially by smoke or gases from
vehicles or factories.
Alga (pl. algae): Any of a large number of plantlike photosynthetic
organisms ranging from single-celled creatures to giant kelp in the oceans.
Alkaline: Term used to describe substances with a pH greater than 7,
opposite of acidic.
Alkalinization: The process by which ecosystems become more alkaline
through either natural or human-made processes.
Alter: to change in some way.
Aluminum: a silvery gray metal, which is light in weight, easy to shape,
does not rust, and is widely used in manufacturing.
Ammonia: Nitrogen based chemical (NH3) used to manufacture fertilizers.
Amphibian: A vertebrate of the class Amphibia characterized by having an
aquatic larval stage with gills and a land-dwelling adult stage with lungs,
e.g. frogs.
Anaerobic: Term used to describe a process or organism that works or
lives without the presence of oxygen.
Antarctica: the most southern continent of the world and very cold.
Anthropogenic: Any impact on the environment that is caused by humans.
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Antiretroviral drugs: Drugs that inhibit the reproduction of retroviruses,
used to treat HIV infections.
Arable land: Land which has been cultivated for farming.
Archipelago: a group of small islands.
Arctic: the most northern part of the world and very cold.
Arsenic: Highly poisonous element used extensively in insecticides and
weed killers.
Artisanal fisheries: Highly individualistic labor-intensive local fishing
operations.
Asia: The world’s largest continent comprising many developing countries
including the two most populous nations of the world, India and China.
Asphalt: a hard black substance that is used to make the surface of roads.
Asthma: A chronic respiratory disease which usually arises from allergies.
Atmosphere: the mixture of gases that surrounds the earth.
Atom: the smallest piece of a substance that can exist alone or can combine
with other substances to form a chemical chain.
Bacillus thuringiensis: A spore forming bacteria that is naturally toxic to
insects and is used as an insecticide.
Baculovirus: A type of virus that specializes as a pathogen of insects and
is used as a biological control agent for the control of pest species.
Baleen whale: Any of the usually large whale species in the suborder
Mysticeti that feed on krill using baleen plates in their mouth to filter the
tiny marine creatures.
Baleen: A horny material from the upper jaws of baleen (filter-feeder)
whales that was traditionally used as a structural material in the ribs of fans
or as stays in corsets.
Bedrock: Solid rock usually found beneath other layers that make up
Earth’s crust.
Benthic: The area or zone at the bottom of the sea or lake regardless of
depth.
Bioaccumulation: When chemicals are stored and gradually accumulate in
the bodies of organisms.
Biodiversity: the entire variety of life on earth, the full range of species,
genes, and ecosystems in a given geographical location.
Biological communities: Plant and animal species that live together and
interact.
Biological control: Controlling pests using biological rather than chemical
means, usually by the introduction of natural predators.
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Biomass: The total mass or amount of all living things in one particular
area.
Biosphere reserve: Internationally designated areas that are managed to
combine conservation with the sustainable use of natural resources.
Biosphere: The part of Earth and the atmosphere where living organisms
exist.
Birth control: Any voluntary method of controlling the number of children
conceived, usually involving contraception.
Birth defect: A physical or mental abnormality that develops during or at
birth.
Birthrate: the number of births for every 1000 people in a particular area
during a given time.
Bleaching: Phenomenon by which coral lose their colour and eventually
die as a result of pollution or environmental changes.
Blubber: A thick insulating layer of fat under the skin of large marine
mammals such as whales and seals.
British Thermal Unit (btu): One btu is the amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit.
By-catch: The part of a fishing catch made up of nontarget species that is
unwanted or commercially unusable.
Cadmium: A blue and white soft metallic element (Cd) used in solders,
batteries, and nuclear reactor shields.
Calcium: A silvery metallic element (Ca) found in limestone that is a
major component of animal bone.
Calorie: A unit used for measuring the energy content of foods
(kilocalories).
Cancer: a serious disease in which the body's cells increase too fast,
producing a growth that may cause death.
Carbohydrate: Any of a large group of organic compounds including
starch, sugars, and cellulose.
Carbon cycle: The continuous cycle of carbon through the atmosphere,
oceans, and living organisms.
Carbon dioxide: a poisonous gas that is produce when gasoline is burned
in the air.
Carbon monoxide: a poisonous gas that is produced when gasoline is
burned in the air.
Carbon sink: A natural environment that absorbs and stores more CO2
from the atmosphere than it releases.
Carbon: a chemical element found in coal, graphite, and diamonds.
108
Carcinogenic: Any cancer-causing agent.
Carnivore: Any animal that consumes other animals as a source of
nutrition.
Cash crop: A crop that is grown for direct sale and not for animal feed or
human subsistence, such as coffee or tobacco.
Cataract: a growth on a person’s eye causing a slow loss of sight.
Cement: gray powder used in building, which becomes hard like stone
when mixed with water and allowed to dry.
Cesium: A silvery-white, soft metal element (Cs) that is liquid at room
temperature and used in photoelectric cells.
Cetacean: The whales and dolphins, a group of mostly marine mammals
that are characterized by having smooth, hairless skin.
Chaco: A large, mostly uninhabited lowland plain of South America.
Chlorine gas: A highly poisonous gas made fromchlorine.
Chlorine: a greenish-yellow gas that has a strong odor and is often used to
disinfect water.
Chlorofluorocarbons: gases (commonly referred to as "CFCs") that are
used in aerosols, refrigerators, and in making some plastics.
Chloromethane: a clear, colorless, naturally occurring gas that is difficult
to smell.
Cholera: Bacterial disease of the small intestine with acute symptoms
including diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration.
Chronic: A long lasting disease or condition where symptoms frequently
recur.
Climate change: The long-term change in the world’s weather patterns
now thought to be a result of the greenhouse effect.
Colonization: The act of humans, plants, or animals populating an area.
Combustion: the act of catching fire and burning.
Combustor: a facility for controlled burning of solid waste to reduce its
volume and weight, and, often, to produce energy. communicable disease: a
disease that is transmitted between people.
Competition: In ecology, when two or more organisms demand the same
limited environmental resources, such as food or living space.
Composed of: generations of coral polyps.
Compound: A substance composed of two or more elements.
Computer models: Computer programs used to predict events, trends, or
actions by using mathematical formulas.
109
Condominium: a building that consists of separate apartments, each of
which is owned by the people living in it; a single apartment in one of these
buildings.
Consensus: general agreement.
Conservation: the controlled use and systematic protection of natural
resources.
Conserve: to use carefully, avoiding waste.
Consumption: the using up of something.
Contaminated: impure, dirty, infected, and polluted.
Contraception: The intentional prevention of pregnancy through the use of
physical barriers or other means.
Copper: A metal element (Cu) that is a good conductor of heat and
electricity, used for electrical wiring and water pipes, and in the production
of alloys.
Coral reef: Rocklike calcium carbonate structures.
Coral: Marine invertebrate organisms that build reefs.
Crop variety: A crop with different characteristics suited to growing in
different regions.
Crop: a plant or plant product such as grain, fruit, or vegetables grown by a
farmer.
Crossbreeding: The creation of different breeds or varieties by
hybridization.
Crude oil: The base form of oil as it is extracted from the ground and used
to make all petroleum products.
Crush: to break into very small pieces or powder. cultivation When land is
prepared to grow crops for the production of food.
Cull: The controlled reduction of a population of animals by killing some
of them.
Current: belonging to the present time.
Cycle: a number of related events that happen again and again in the same
order.
Dam: A physical barrier across a river or other water body to control the
flow of water or generate power.
Damage: to harm, hurt, or destroy.
DDD: An insecticide similar to DDT with similar properties.
Debt burden: Term used when a country has a large debt which it finds
difficult or impossible to repay.
Debt relief: A scheme launched in 1996 by the IMF and World Bank to
reduce debt.
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