Татьяна Муратова - Baikal lessons. Your environments. Уроки Байкала. Твои окружающие среды. Методическое пособие для изучающих экологию на английском языке

– Озера становятся более кислотными.

– Кислотные дожди – это разновидность загрязнения

воздуха.

– Кислотная вода подобна уксусу или лимонному соку.

– Некоторые разновидности деревьев не могут жить в почве, которая очень кислая.

– На некоторых больших площадях деревья погибают.

Up in the sky

When we look up, we see the clouds and the blue sky. But there are other things in the sky that we don’t see. Some of these are harmful to the Earth.

What happens

When power plants burn coal to make electricity, and when cars burn gasoline, invisible gases are released into the air. Some of these gases can mix water and make it acidic, like lemon juice or vinegar.

What can happen

Sometimes the gases get into rain clouds, where they get mixed in with rain or snow. Then the acid falls back to earth with the rain or snow. This is called acid rain.

Bad news

Acid rain is extremely harmful to plants, rivers and lakes, and the creatures that live in them. In some places it is killing forests. And it pollutes the water that animals and people need to drink.

Our mission

It’s very important for us to stop making acid rain. One good way to do that is to drive our cars less. Another good way is to save energy. The less energy we use, the less coal those power plants will have to burn.

You and your family can save energy in lots of ways. Saving energy means saving the Earth. To find out more about what you.

Man has been trying to make his life easier for many centuries. In doing so, he invented machines and instruments. They have been working – and polluting the world we live in.

In this world around us, there are two things that do not belong to any one country: air and ocean water. In both the air and the water, there is much pollution. People are concerned about the air and the water used by everyone, and they are also concerned about the future of the Earth.

One of the most important pollution problems is in the oceans. Many ships sail in the ocean water – fishing ships, some ships carrying people, some carrying oil. If a ship loses some of the oil in the water, or trash from the ships is put into the ocean, the water becomes dirty. Many fish are dying in the sea, others are getting contaminated. Fishermen catch contaminated fish which may be sold in markets and people may get sick from eating them. Fish may also move to another part of the ocean. Lakes and rivers are getting, too. Some beaches are considered dangerous for swimming.

The second important problem is air pollution.

Cars and factories pollute the air we use. It also destroys the ozone layer which protects the Earth from the dangerous light of the Sun.

Another problem is that our forests are dying from acid rain.

This, in turn, affects the balance of nature.

If we want our children to live in the same world we live in, or in a better and healthier world, we must learn to protect the water, the air and the earth from pollution.

Topical Vocabulary

to invent machines and instruments – изобретать машины и

инструменты

to pollute – загрязнять

to be concerned about – беспокоиться о чем-либо

to put trash into – сбрасывать мусор

the polluted water – загрязненная вода

to get contaminated – быть отравленным

air pollution – загрязнение воздуха

to destroy the ozone layer- разрушать озоновый слой

to die from acid rain – погибать из-за кислотных дождей

to affect the balance of nature – оказывать влияние на гармонию в природе

to protect the water, the air and the earth from pollution – защищать воду, воздух и землю от загрязнения

Answer the questions:

1.Why are people concerned about air and water?

2.What are the consequences of water pollution?

3.What are the consequences of air pollution?

4.What should people do if they want to live on the Earth?

Translate into English:

1.Чтобы облегчить свою жизнь, люди изобретали машины и инструменты.

2.Люди озабочены загрязнением воды и воздуха.

3.Суда, сбрасывая отходы в океан, загрязняют воду.

4.Рыба в загрязненной воде умирает или становится ядовитой.

5.Машины и фабрики загрязняют воздух и разрушают озоновый слой Земли.

6.Кислотный дождь нарушает баланс в природе.

7.Люди должны научиться защищать землю и воздух от загрязнения.

Pollution – Any substances in water, soil, or air that degrade the natural quality of the environment, offend the senses of sight, taste, or smell, or cause a health hazard. The usefulness of the natural resource is usually impaired by the presence of pollutants and contaminants.

Pollution Prevention – Actively identifying equipment, processes, and activities which generate excessive wastes or use toxic chemicals and then making substitutions, alterations, or product improvements. Conserving energy and minimising wastes are pollution prevention concepts used in manufacturing, sustainable agriculture, recycling, and clean air \clean water technologies.

Particulates – Liquid or solid particles such as dust, smoke, mist or smog found in air emissions.

Emission – The release or discharge of a substance into the environment. Generally refers to the release of gases or particulates into the air.

Polluter pays – The idea that a person or organisation causing pollution should pay for cleaning it up.

Too much garbage!

Garbage away!

When you throw something away, it goes in a garbage can. Once a week the garbage truck comes and the can is emptied, and that’s the last you see of it. But what do you think happens to the garbage then? Does it just disappear? No way!

What happens

Almost all garbage is taken to a garbage dump, or landfill, where the garbage truck empties it onto the ground. After the truck leaves, a big tractor comes along pushes dirt on top of the garbage. So, most of our garbage is just buried.

The big mess

Now we are making so much garbage that in many places, there is not enough room to bury it all.

Our mission

We have to act fast and cut down the amount of garbage we make. Can we do it? You bet!

Here’s how

We can recycle (which means re-using materials instead of throwing them away) and precycle (which means not buying things that can’t be re-used, like plastic wrapping and other packaging). If we recycle we will produce a lot less garbage, and help our planet green!

Recycling and precycling projects can de lots of fun. To find out more about what you can do, see Guarding Our Buried Treasures, and Be a Paper-Saver.

You have read a lot of interesting things about the air, the sun, the sky, the clouds, the rain, about rivers, seas and oceans. All these things around us are parts of our environment. Plants, animals and people need clean land, clean water and clean air. But some people have not learned how to take care of our earth. They are doing harmful things to our land, water and even air. They are making pollution. You can imagine what happens to a living thing if its environment is polluted or changed in a harmful way.

Of course, you cannot see some of the pollution in our country, but as you read this book, you will find out about it.

We are worried about water pollution in the country. Most big cities pour their waste into seas and rivers. For a long time people did not understand the danger. The first alarm came from Japan. Some sixty people died because they had eaten polluted fish.

We love rain. Rain helps our plants to grow big and strong. But sometimes the rainwater is not as clean as it could be. Man- made chemicals get into the air and mix with the rainwater, making acid rain. The acid water runs into rivers and lakes. The rivers and lakes become so acid that fish cannot live there.

We like to go to the river, lake or sea to swim. But if there are chemicals in the water, it is not safe enough for swimming. If the water is polluted, it can make us sick.

Another kind of pollution is air pollution. When there are too

many harmful things in the air, it is polluted.

People and animals need clean air with plenty of oxygen in it. Oxygen is added to the air by plants. So you understand how important it is to have a lot of trees, bushes and grass.

Fume from the chimneys of factories, gases which are in refrigerators and sprays pollute the air. They damage the ozone layer that covers the earth. This layer of gas protects us from the dangerous rays of the sun. There are now holes in the ozone layer because there are too many gases in the air.

With the help of sputnics our scientists discovered two large holes in the ozone layer. One is over the North Pole and the second over the South Pole, over Antarctica. It is very dangerous for people as it can make them sick.

Some people pollute the air by smoking. Too much smoke in the air can hurt our lungs.

The wind blows a lot of the air pollution out to sea. Sometimes the rain helps to clean the air, but sometimes the rain water mixes with the gases in the air. Then the air pollution also becomes land and water pollution.

Air and water pollution is one of the problems millions of people are worried about today.

Questions:

1.What is environment?

2.What water, air, and land do people need?

3.How is water polluted?

4.Why is the rainwater not always clean?

5.What is acid rain?

6.What happens with fish in the rivers and lakes which become acid?

7.What do you know about air pollution?

8.What damages the ozone layer that covers the earth?

9.What does the ozone layer protect us from?

10.What are there in the ozone layer now?

11. Why are the holes in the ozone layer dangerous for people?

12.Do you have air pollution in your city?

Air Quality Standards –The level of selected pollutants set by law that may not be exceeded in outside air. Used to determine the amount of pollutants that may be emitted by industry.

Bubble (Bubble Policy) –Existing sources of air pollution with several facilities may control more than is required at one emission point where control costs are lower, in return for comparable relaxation at a second point where costs are higher or more difficult to achieve.

Water Quality Standards –The combination of a designated use and the maximum concentration of a pollutant which will protect that use for any given body of water. For example, in a trout stream, the concentration of iron should not exceed 1 mg\l

Effluent imitations –Limits on the amounts of pollutants which may be discharged by a facility; these limits are calculated so that water quality standards will not be violated even at low stream flows.