World Problems of Ecology
Донедавна наша планета була великим світом, у якому людська діяльність і природа були в рівновазі. Кислотні дощі, глобальне потепління, зменшення озонового шару, широко розповсюджені поява пустель і вимирання багатьох видів – із усим цим нам зараз доводиться мати справу.
Екологія й економіка дуже тісно пов’язані. На початку економіка впливала на стан навколишнього середовища. Тепер ми зіткнулися з виснаженням ґрунту, води, атмосфери і лісів. Мільйони дерев вимирають у Німеччині у Шварцвальді, і тисячі озер у Швеції настільки кислотні,
Until recently the planet was a large world in which human activities and the nature were in balance.
Acid rain, global warming, ozone reduction, widespread desertification and species loss: we have to face them now. Ecology and economy are very closely connected. First economy influenced the state of our environment. Now we have to face degradation of soils, water, atmosphere and forests.
Millions of trees are dying in Germany’s Black Forest and thousands of lakes in Sweden are so acidic that nothing can live in them. In Scotland farmers complain that acid rains kill their fish. Forests in Denmark, France, Northern Italy, Greece and Norway are damaged. Thousands of lakes in Canada and the USA can no longer support fish life. The Mediterranean Sea has one of the dirtiest coastlines in the world. Ten million tons of oil, industrial waste, chemicals are pumped into the sea every year. It causes diseases like typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera. The Rhone in France, the Po in Italy, the Ebro in Spain and the Nile in Egypt carry pesticides and chemical wastes. Many industries produce waste products, which can be difficult or dangerous to dispose of.
Many countries have no storage facilities for the spent nuclear fuel.
The search for ways to dispose of radioactive waste goes on. In 1982 seventeen countries took part in the United Nations environmental programme. The World Commission on Environment and Development, headed by the Prime Minister of Norway, was set up in 1983 by the United Nations. Its aim was to examine the environment and development problems on the planet and to formulate realistic proposals to solve them. Now some chemicals are banned and some must be controlled.
In several countries there is frequent analysis of the water around the coasts. The time has come for the governments and their people to take responsibility for the policies that cause the environmental damage.
Vocabulary:
Balance [‘bselans] – рівновага, баланс acid rain [‘sesid rem] – кислотний дощ species [‘spi:Ji:z] – вид, рід Denmark [‘denma:k] – Данія Greece [gri:s] – Греція Norway [‘no:wei] – Норвегія the Mediterranean Sea [medita’remian’si:] – Середземне море the Rhone [raun] – Рона Italy [‘itali] – Італія the Nile [nail] – Ніл Egypt [‘i:d3ipt] – Єгипет environment [m’vaiaranmant] навколишнє середовище degradation [,digra’deijn] – вичерпання
Questions:
Were human activities and the nature in balance? Are ecology and economy closely connected? What do mankind have to face nowadays? What did seventeen countries take part in? Is there a party which takes responsibility for the policies that cause the environmental damage?
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