Otázka: Environment and its protection
Environment includes plants, animals, air, water, our civilization etc. We could say that is everything what is around us.
Environment is influenced by:
- 1) processes in nature
- 2) activity of people.
Processes in nature/Natural disasters
Natural disasters are:
- Natural wildfire
- Volcano eruption
- Dust/Sand storm
In our country we can notice quite often the floods. Floods are generally caused by long heavy rains or when a lot of snow melt in the spring and water run down from mountains. This water flood towns, roads and their surrounding. The floods damage houses, bridges, roads and kill people and animals who don´t run away.
Fire burns also everything what is on the way. It´s caused by someones´s inattention or by dry, hot season. Wind helps to extend (expand) the fire. But fire brigade try to stop this catastrophe. I think this profession is one of the most dangerous at all.
Huricanes and tornadoes are caused by presure changes in the atmosphere.We can meet with this phenomena often in the area of the Caribbean sea. The speed of huricane can reach up 119 km/hour. It´s very strong wind destroying everything on the way.
The movement of the litospheric boards causes earthquakes and explosions of volcanoes.
In the course of earthquake: the land is crashing and shaking. Buildings fall down and everybody is in danger. Earthquake under the ocean can cause a big tidal wave which floods the coast.
On the other hand, the volcanoes produce a lot of dust, smoke and lava which pours out and burns everything what is in the land´s surface.
Civilization has brought people many advantages but its products also pollute and damage the environment in which we live.
Ozone hole: Ozone forms a layer in the upper atmosphere which protects life on Earth from ultraviolet rays, which cause skin cancer. This layer is destroyed by freons. The biggest ozone hole has formed over Antarctica and Australia.
Pollution: what causes the pollution?
Air pollution is the biggest problem in large cities and in areas with concentrated industrial production. Emissions range from smoke (produced by coal fired power stations and factories which burns fossil fuels), dust, and smells to car and lorry exhausts. Substance such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide mix with the air moisture and then acid rain falls down onto trees and slowly kill them. Trees are very important for us, because they produce oxygen for breathing.
A big danger in nowdays is destruction of rain forests (deforestation) for building materials.
The air is polluted by:
- exhaust fumes from transport and cars: people use cars to go to work or to go shopping, and there are often traffic jams, especially in big cities
- factories and power stations. There are lots of coal power stations in North Bohemia (Tušimice, Prunéřov, Počerady). They are desulphurized today; in spite of that they emit lots of pollutants every day.
- freons and other gases
Water is polluted:
- by cargo ships and disasters on the sea
- by people who wash their cars by rivers and ponds
- by fertilizers used in agriculture
- by chemical factories
Water is polluted by households, industrial processes, by pesticides and other chemicals used in agriculture, by waste and ships (mainly by tankers which crashed and oil run out). We should find technologies for saving water, reduce chemical fertilizers, controlle industrial processes.
Soil is polluted by fertilizers used in agriculture and by landfills (especially illegal landfills).
Global warming is caused by the greenhouse efect. Manmade atmospheric emissions, like carbon dioxide (produced by burning fossil fuels), nitrogen oxides (from car exhausts), freon (from aerosol and refrigerators), methan and water vapour prevent the heat from escaping the Earth. Then the Eart´s temperature rises, arctic ice melts and areas near the sea level floods.
How can the problems of air pollution be solved?
- First of all, people should try to use alternative sources of energy, such as solar, water, wind, geothermal and perhaps tidal energies.
- People should use public transportation or fast railways more. New cars should run on unleaded petrol.
- Factories and power stationsshould have effective filters.
- Households should use natural gas.
Nature and Environment – Questions + answers
- What is an ecosystem?
- An ecosystem is a group of living things and the whole place where they live. They all live together and need each other. For example, one kind of ecosystem is a desert. It has special plants that can live only there, lizards, snakes, vultures, and special insects.
- Are there any environmental problems in your region? What are they caused by?
- Yes, there are some problems. The main problem is … [water pollution/air pollution, etc.] There are many factories in my region, and many people … [drive cars/burn coal, etc.]
- Are you aware of any global environmental issues? Which is most serious and why?
- Yes, I know a bit about global warming. This is a very serious problem. Most scientists agree that it could seriously harm our lives, unless we stop it. Glaciers and polar ice are melting, rain forests are dying, and farms are turning into desert.
- Tell me a bit more about global warming. What is it?
- This is the general increase in air and water temperatures around the world. It’s normal for temperatures to sometimes be cooler for many hundreds of years, and then sometimes to be warmer. But this time, humans have caused the increase, with carbon from cars and factories.
- What is the Greenhouse Effect? What is it caused by?
- The Greenhouse Effect is when the air or atmosphere gets too hot. Air warmed by the sun gets trapped close to the ground. It can’t escape. It is caused by too much carbon in the air, from factories, electricity plants, and cars.
- What is the ozone layer and what is its function?
- The ozone layer protects us from the harmful rays of the sun. It is in the atmosphere and surrounds the Earth like a clear blanket.
- Now there is a hole in the ozone layer. How did it get there? Is it dangerous?
- I don’t think scientists are sure how it got there. They only think that maybe too much carbon has destroyed part of it. It is very dangerous for us because it lets the strong sunlight through to the Earth’s surface. This can cause cancer in humans.
- Why is it dangerous to cut down the rainforests?
- This is dangerous for many reasons. We need the oxygen that comes from rainforests. Rainforests are the homes of many insects, plants, and animals that we need for medicine and other reasons. Rainforests help catch water and give it back to the Earth in the form of clouds, which bring us water. The roots of trees and plants in the rainforest keep water and soil in place; without the rainforest, there are many problems like floods and mudslides.
- What types of extreme weather have you been in? Is it connected with environmental problems?
- I’ve seen/been in/ a flood in … [place, year]. It was scary – water came down our street like it was a river. … There was a lot of wind damage in our town in [year/month] when there was a [tornado/hurricane/gale-force wind]. Extreme weather is a part of nature but I don’t think / and I do think / it is connected with environmental problems because …
- Which chemicals or chemical products do you use at home? Are they harmful to the environment?
- Well, we have a refrigerator, of course. It contains the gas called “freon,” which is very harmful to the atmosphere. We also have some things for cleaning, which contain strong chemicals.
- How can you tell that a product you buy is ‘environmentally friendly’?
- I can look on the package and see if it has the symbols for this: information on how to recycle the package, whether the product uses some recycled materials, and so on. I can read about different products on the internet, and find out where I can buy recycled things like ink cartridges for my printer.
- What can you do to help our environment as a single individual?
- There are many ways I can help the environment: I can use special light bulbs, turn off the Tv or radio when I’m not really paying attention to it, and put my computer on stand-by mode, all to save electricity. I can ride my bike or walk instead of taking the car or the bus, to save petrol. And I can recycle all my paper, glass, and plastic.
- What is the difference between ‘recycled,’ ‘recycling,’ and ‘recyclable’?
- “Recycled” means that some or all of the materials in something have been cleaned and can be used again – for example, a glass bottle. “Recycling” is the activity of not throwing something into the garbage, but putting it into a special bin where it will be taken away and used again. “Recyclable” means it’s possible to be used again, but it’s up to me to put it into the recycling bin for this.
- What are some types of alternative energy? Which do you like best, and why?
- There is nuclear energy, water and steam power for electricity, solar energy from the sun, and wind power. Some cars can run on alternative energy like electricity or hydrogen. I like …[ ] because … [
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