Environmental issues
Our planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but nowadays it's the only place where we can live. Until now pollution was not such a serious problem. With the development of overcrowded industrial highly developed cities, which put huge amounts of pollutants into surrounds, the problem has become more and more dangerous. Today our planet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution, and overpopulation are the problems that threaten human lives on the Earth.
In order to understand how air pollution affects our body, we must understand exactly what this pollution is. Billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around the world every year. Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains. Our forests are disappearing because they are cut down or burnt. If this trend continues, one day we won't have enough oxygen to breathe, we won't see a beautiful green forest at all. The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear wastes, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out forever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today may soon become extinct. And even greater threats are nuclear power stations. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are. Fortunately, it's not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and even the technology to make our planet a better, cleaner and safer place. |
Think of a place where there is no pollution at all. What is it? Where is it? The environment is something you are very familiar with. It's everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our ability to live on the earth—the air we breathe, the water that covers most of the earth's surface, the plants and animals around us, and much more. |
PollutionDialogue
The greenhouse effect is a natural process, necessary for life to exist on the Earth: certain gases in the atmosphere act like the glass walls of a greenhouse - they let the Sun rays pass through to the Earth’s surface but hold in some of the heat. These gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide, ozone and others.
Without these gases, the Earth’s temperature would be 15 C lower and we couldn’t live here. But the increases in these gases make greenhouse ‘glass’ thicker, causing more heat to be held in the atmosphere than in the past. It doesn’t seem like much, but a slight warming could cause changes in the climate of many regions. If the climate changed enough, the plants and animals that normally live there could no longer survive.
There are 2 ways that greenhouse gases enter our atmosphere. One of them is through natural processes like animal and plant respiration. The other is through human activities. The main human sources of greenhouse gas emissions are: fossil fuel use, deforestation, intensive livestock farming, use of synthetic fertilizers and industrial processes.
People can reduce the usage of gas, electricity and drinking water, they also can reuse many things (clothes, for example), recycle paper, cans and bottles. At the same time people can help birds feeding them in winter and also they can stop picking flowers and damaging trees. The state must make laws which protect the nature, regulate the use of land and water and prohibit harming the nature. Officials check the usage of filters and purifying processes. |
Прием
"Восстанови диалог из реплик" будет не только мотивировать учащихся к учебной деятельности, но и послужит отличной речевой разминкой в начале урока. Все, что необходимо сделать учителю - это разрезать диалог, перемешать фразы и раздать учащимся в начале урока. Учащиеся по очереди, восстанавливая логическую последовательность, произносят фразы диалога. Диалог составлен на основе текста учебника (Ex.2, p.64) |
water pollution
dEFORESTATION
Fill in the chart with their missing causes and consequences
PROBLEMS |
CAUSES |
CONSEQUENCES |
AIR POLLUTION |
► |
► ► reduction of visibility ► production of undesirable odours ► ► the stability of the climate on which life on earth depends is being threatened. As CO2 levels rise, the world’s climate heats up. |
WATER POLLUTION |
► fertilizers and pesticides used on crops to help them grow (can run off and pollute the water) ► ► |
► human health is threatened ► many amounts of fish die – aquatic food chain at risk |
DEFORESTATION |
► ► ► agricultural land ► pastureland ► urbanisation |
► the amount of C02 is increased, which rises the temperature ► ► the loss of trees makes the soil unstable (soil erosion, landslides, soils cannot hold so much water) ► |
THE EXTINCTION OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE |
► ► ► increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere (global warming) |
► ► the loss of biodiversity, which can in turn cause great changes in the way natural ecosystems function |
WASTE |
► human development both technologically and socially |
► ► consumption of natural resources at an unsustainable rate, thus contributing unnecessarily to climate change. ► ► landfills have shown to leak and nearby groundwater sources become polluted ► |