Active Vocabulary

amount n количество

burn (burnt) v гореть, пылать

by-product побочный продукт

carbohydrate n углевод

carbon n углерод

~ dioxide n углекислота, углекислый газ

~ monoxide n угарный газ

charge v заряжать

combine v 1. объединять (ся); 2. сочетать (ся), смешивать (ся)

compound n смесь; состав, соединение

constituent n составная часть

content n содержание (вещества)

derive v 1. получать, извлекать; 2. происходить

emit v 1.испускать, выделять; 2. излучать

evaporation n испарение; парообразование

evolve v развиваться; развертываться

exert v оказывать давление, влиять

grain n зернышко; крупинка, песчинка; мельчайшая частица

harmful a вредный, губительный

interaction n взаимодействие

layer n слой, пласт

manufacture n производство

nitrogen n азот

nitrous a азотистый

nutrient n питательное вещество

odorless a без запаха

oxide n окись. окисел

oxygen n кислород

particle n частица, крупица

penetrate v проникать внутрь, проходить сквозь

require v требовать

respiration n дыхание

scatter v рассеиваться

vapour n пар; пары

Additional Texts Greenhouse gases

An increase in the greenhouse effect (caused by an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) may lead to global warming, with disastrous consequences.

The higher average temperatures produced by global warming could cause dramatic changes in the weather. Less rain might fall over large land masses. Central Africa, south Asia and some of the United States could risk severe drought and famine. More rain might fall in coastal areas and over the oceans; there might be more storms and hurricanes in the Pacific. A rise in the earth’s average temperature of only one or two degrees would probably melt large expanses of ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic (the polar ice caps) and raise sea levels. Sea levels throughout the world are already rising by about two millimeters a year. If the polar ice caps melt, sea levels could rise by more than a meter over a few decades. Many heavily populated regions, such as Bangladesh, the Nile delta, the Netherlands and Indonesia, would be permanently flooded. Cities are often found on the coast where a river meets the sea, so many of the world’s major population centers could become uninhabitable. About one billion people would lose their homes and become environmental refugees. Some islands, such as the Maldives in the Pacific, might disappear completely.

Carbon dioxide accounts for 55 percent of the greenhouse effect; CFCs account for 17 percent; methane for 15 percent and nitrous oxide for 5 percent. Carbon dioxide occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It is produced when animals and plants respire. But “natural” carbon dioxide forms only 0.03 percent of the atmosphere. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide are not natural at all. Carbon dioxides are produced when living things burn, so it is a by-product of industrial processes which use fossil fuels (coal, gas or oil), and motor vehicles which burn gasoline or diesel fuel. It is also produced when volcanoes erupt and when tropical rainforests are cleared by burning. Methane is also a “natural” gas, produced when living things decompose in the absence of oxygen. Methane in the atmosphere comes from rotting vegetation, particularly rice fields, and from cattle (because bacteria in their intestines produce methane). It also comes from leaks in the extraction of natural gas. Methane in the atmosphere breaks down relatively quickly (in about 10 years, compared to over 100 years for carbon dioxide and CFCs), so it is a relatively minor environmental problem. However, some scientists believe that huge quantities of methane are trapped within the polar ice caps and will be released suddenly if the polar ice caps melt. This phenomenon would accelerate global warming. Nitrous oxide in the atmosphere comes from bacteria beneath the earth’s surface, which convert nitrates in the soil to the gases nitrogen and nitrous oxide. The increased use of artificial fertilizers in recent years has increased the production of nitrous oxide. Levels of nitrous oxide in the air will continue to increase for many years, because there is already a large reservoir of artificial nitrates within the soil.