З. Мадиева - Английский язык. Учебно-методическое пособие к практическим занятиям для биологов бакалавриата и магистратуры

Since 1986 the Aral Sea problem has become a major public issue in the former USSR. Under considerable public pressure, the former Central Government of the Soviet Union issued a decree on the Aral Sea in September 1988. It ordered development and implementation of a program to improve medical and health services in the region around the Aral Sea, ensure safe drinking water supplies, improve ecological conditions in the deltas of the Amu-Dar'ya and Syr-Dar'ya, rebuild and raise the efficiency of irrigation systems and guarantee the delivery of at least 21 cubic kilometers of water per year to the Aral Sea by 2005.

In February 1991, the State Commission on the Aral Sea released a concept for coping with the crisis, developed by an "expert working group". It proposed a broad program intended to a) improve land and water use;

b) diversify the economy in the Aral Sea region with less emphasis on irrigated agriculture and cotton production and light manufacturing as means of reducing water use, increasing local food supplies and improving living standards;

c) improve health and medical care and;

d) ensure delivery of much more water to the Aral Sea as well as stabilizing the dried bottom to limit deflation of salt and dust.

The program was to be implemented in 3 stages: 1991-1995, 1996-2000 and 2001-2010. Total cost was estimated as nearly 60 billion (1990) rubles. The recession of the Aral Sea would first be halted and then its level gradually raised and stabilized at 40-41 m by 2010. Restoration of such a level would reconnect the small sea in the North and the large sea in the South into one water body. Also, even though the salinity would be too high for restoration of endemic fresh water species, more salt tolerant, commercially valuable species from the Black Sea, Mediterranean, or open ocean could be introduced. Past experience indicates that some of these new inhabitants would flourish and assuming the Aral Sea did not become polluted, the fishery could be rehabilitated. However, the cost of the scheme is daunting and the period of implementation, considering its scope, short.

The break-up of the USSR at the end of 1991 altered the approach to the Aral Sea problem. The five newly independent states of the Aral Sea basin have taken full control of natural resources located on their territories. All the Aral Sea basin states are members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS declared the Aral Sea problem, along with Chernobyl, an "all Commonwealth concern". In May 1992 the presidents of the CIS, meeting in Tashkent, signed an agreement on the Aral Sea which includes provisions for financing research and improvement efforts.

An important step was taken in February 1992 with the signing by all basin states of an agreement on the joint management and protection of interstate resources. The agreement obliges the republics to work jointly to resolve ecological problems connected with the desiccation of the Aral Sea.

In May 1992, the five republics, along with other members of the CIS, signed a ten-year agreement on cooperative efforts to improve the region's situation. An intergovernmental Aral Committee and Aral fund, which would receive contributions from all CIS members, were also created. Another agreement was signed in March 1993. It established an Interstate Council for the Aral Sea Basin Crisis with membership for all basin states and observer status for Russia.

The Aral Sea Basin states have asked international organizations to provide aid for alleviating their problem. The World Bank has become involved, it sent an evaluation team to the region in September 1992. In March 1993 the World Bank agreed to formulate and implement an Aral Sea Environment Assistance Plan. To be implemented over 10 years, the plan is estimated to cost US $ 50 mln in loans, grants and credits, and is aimed at health and medical care infrastructure development, improving the water management and stabilizing the Aral Sea.

EXERCISES:

1. Give derivatives of the following words and translate them:

implement, environment, assist, estimate, aim, health, medical, develop, improve, manage, stable, pollute, fish, consider, nature, local, declare, sign, agree, provide, important, protect, resolve, ecology, connect, region, situate, govern, contribute, create, establish, observer, nation, organize, value, press, form, center.

2. Find in the text the Russian equivalents for the following words and word-combinations:

общественное давление, улучшать экологические условия, повысить эффективность оросительных систем, предложить программу, землепользование, орошаемое земледелие, производство хлопка, легкая промышленность, улучшение жизненного уровня, выполнять, общая стоимость, оценивать, останавливать, восстановление, опыт прошлых лет, процветать, загрязнять, независимые государства, взять полный контроль над природными ресурсами, Содружество Независимых Государств, подписать соглашение, решить экологические проблемы, совместные усилия, создавать, учредить, статус наблюдателя, вовлекать, обеспечить помощь, заем, кредит

3. Copy out of each paragraph the sentences containing the most important information.

4. Read the text again and write a brief summary of it.

5. Make up a plan of the text.

New words and expressions:

concerted – согласованный

alleviate – облегчать

beset – осаждать

adequate – адекватный, достаточный

implementation – выполнение

priority – приоритет

dike – насыпь, ров

trap – капкан, ловить

frequency – частота

expanse – пространство

feasible – осуществимый, возможный

consolidate – укреплять

loose – свободный, рыхлый

hence – отсюда, с этих пор. следовательно

restore – восстанавливать

revive – возрождать

reasonably – разумно, основательно

assume – принимать, предполагать

original – оригинальный, первоначальный, подлинный

remain – оставаться

maintain – поддерживать

competitor – конкурент

indigenous – туземный, местный

Read the international words and give their Russian equivalents:

chief, resources, storm, chemicals, consolidate, material, situation, practical, condition, zone, optimal, argument, original, flora, fauna, type, select, cooperative, state, national, community, critical, problem, region, adequate, population, result, reconstruction, irrigation, priority, decade

With a concerted and cooperative effort among the Aral Sea Basin States and the real help from Russia and the international community, there is hope to alleviate, at least partially, the most critical problems that beset the Aral Sea region. The key issues of health and medical improvement, providing an adequate supply of clean drinking water and implementation of measures to bring down population growth should be started immediately and could show major results within a decade. Reconstruction of irrigation systems to save water is also a priority, but will take decades to implement fully.

Efforts to preserve the delta of the Amu-Dar'ya are important because of its ecological and economic value. One proposal is to construct a low dike or dikes on the dried bottom in front of and around the delta to reflood former gulfs and raise ground water levels, partially restoring its former ecological character; improving agriculture, fisheries and trapping: and providing a barrier to salt, sand and dust blowing from the dried bottom of the Aral Sea.

Reducing the frequency and severity of salt and dust storms is also a priority. This could be accomplished by stabilization of the large expanses of saline former bottom along the northeastern and eastern shoreline of the sea which are the chief sources of such storms. The most feasible means for stabilization is planting of salt-tolerant vegetation (e.g. black saksaul) and application of chemicals to consolidate the loose surface material.

Partial restoration of the small sea is also feasible. Naturally separated from the large sea in 1987 its level could be raised with relatively small increases of inflow, compared to the situation for the large sea, since its surface area, and hence evaporation losses, are much smaller.

To restore the entire Aral Sea to its size would be a daunting task.

Practical consideration may dictate that even under the best of future circumstances, the Aral Sea can only partially be revived. Assuming the discharge to the sea were reasonably clean, endemic flora and fauna could be reintroduced to the sea from lakes in the Amu-Dar'ya and Syr-Dar'ya delta where they still survive (or from other lakes with similar ecological conditions to the pre1960s Aral Sea, such as Balkhash). They would probably do well in the freshened zones around the mouth of the Amu-Dar'ya and Syr-Dar'ya, even though the salinity in the open sea would be above the optimal for them. This is a powerful argument for making efforts to preserve what remains of the original flora and fauna of the Aral Sea, either in deltaic lakes or in parts of the remaining sea in which habitat conditions of the pre-recession Aral Sea could be artificially maintained. More salt-tolerant types of fishes could also be introduced, as long as care was taken to select species that would not become major competitors to the indigenous varieties.

EXERCISES:

1. Form nouns from the following verbs and translate them into Russian:

plant, restore, separate, increase, implement, consider, revive, compare, situate, evaporate, select, dictate, argue, maintain, introduce, cooperate, state, result, reconstruct, irrigate, alleviate, issue, improve, provide, supply, measure, show, start, save, propose, trap, reduce, stabilize, mean.

2. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations:

согласованные усилия, реальная помощь, международное сообщество, ключевой вопрос, чистая питьевая вода, снизить рост населения, немедленно, в течение десятилетия, оросительные системы, поднять уровень воды, рыбный промысел, пыльная буря, средство, частичное восстановление, эндемическая флора и фауна, искусственно поддерживать, конкурент.

3. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the most critical problems of the Aral Sea region?

2. Why is it important to preserve the delta of the Amu-Dar'ya?