T. The protection of nature has become one of the most burning problems. The development of industry has had a bad influence on the nature of the whole world. People pollute land, water and air. You see, our health depends on our environment, and you know that the range of environmental problems is wide.
На интерактивной доске записаны проблемы для обсуждения.
Problems to discuss:
- Land pollution.
- Air pollution.
- Water pollution.
- Acid Rains.
- The Greenhouse Effect.
- The Ozone Hole.
- E-numbers.
- Disappearing Animals.
P1. Land Pollution.
На интерактивной доске презентация слайдов о загрязнении земли.
The main reason of pollution is rubbish. Most of our rubbish goes to big holes in the ground, called ‘dumps’, or landfill, where the garbage truck empties it to into the ground. But dumps are very dangerous for our life because they are full of rats, which can carry infections away from dumps. Another way to get rid of rubbish is to burn it. But the fires make poisons, which go into the air and pollute it.
Now we are making so much garbage that in many places, there is not enough room to bury it all. We have to act fast and cut down the amount of garbage we make.
We can recycle and reject. If we recycle and reject we will produce a lot less garbage, and help keep our planet green.
P2. Air Pollution
На интерактивной доске презентация слайдов о загрязнении воздуха.
Since ancient times nature has served man, being the source of his life. About 200 years ago the air was clean. But with the development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase. Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises have appeared all over the world today. The byproduct of their activity pollutes the air we breathe. Today the air is so polluted in some places that it’s not always safe to breathe there.
Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. This is so strong in some places that the air, which should be a beautiful blue, looks brown.
The increase in traffic is threatening serious air pollution in our cities, because vehicles, not factories, produce most of toxic micro-particles, which do most harm. Toxic gases appear in the atmosphere in critical concentration of carbon dioxide is expected to increase at rates that could change the world’s climate. The commonest air pollution comes from the cigarette smoke, which pollutes public places.
So it’s very important for us to “clean up our act”, and clean up the air we all breathe.
P3. Water Pollution.
На интерактивной доске презентация слайдов о загрязнении воды.
The planet Earth is mostly water. All our life depends on the water. But we are not doing a very good job of keeping water clean.
Rivers and lakes are polluted by garbage or by poisonous chemicals which are dumped right into them.
Underground water can be polluted by gasoline or by harmful liquids that seep into the ground. Some pesticides used in farming leak down through the dirt, too.
The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.
T. What must we do?
P3. We need to save our water, to keep it clean and healthy.
P4. Acid Rains.
На интерактивной доске презентация слайдов о последствиях кислотных дождей.
Another source of global danger is acid rain.It is a relatively new kind of pollution. When power plants burn coal to make electricity, and when cars burn gasoline, invisible gases are released into the air. Some of these gases mix with water and make it acidic. Some times the gases get into rain clouds, where they get mixed with rain or snow. Acid rains appeared as a reaction of the atmosphere to the air contamination. Acid rains damage water, forest, and soil resources. Acid rains cause the disappearance of fish from many lakes; bring death to the forests and woods in Europe and America.
It’s very important for us to stop making acid rains. We must drive our cars less, to save energy. The less energy we use, the less coal those power plants will have to burn.
P5. The Greenhouse Effect.
What caused the "greenhouse effect"?
The "greenhouse effect" is caused by carbon dioxide, which prevents heat from escaping. Global warming or the "greenhouse effect" can cause melting of the polar ice caps, raising of the sea level, and flooding of the coastal areas of the world. There is every reason to fear that such a climatic change may take place.
If the earth’s temperature gets hotter by just a few degrees, it could change the weather all over the planet in many ways.
P6. The Ozone Hole.
Up in the sky, above the air we breathe, there’s a layer of gas called ozone. It helps us by blocking out the sun rays that can harm our skin, and by letting the rays that are good for us come through.
Now the ozone layer is being damaged by gases that people have made. The gases are called CFCs. They are used in refrigerators, air conditioners, plastic foam and some other things.
The CFCs float up to the top of the atmosphere, where the ozone layer is, and “eat up” the ozone. It increases the risk of skin cancer, weakens the immune system of people.
Scientists are very concerned about the ozone layer, because a lot of it has gone away in just a few years.
P7. E – Numbers.
E – Numbers is a general name for a group of food chemicals, which sometimes added to food.
The chemicals of E – number group give the food better colour, longer time of preservation and better look. They may be dangerous for our health because diseases may start if there is a certain quantity of E–numbers in your body.
P8. Disappearing Animals. People have lived on our planet for many years. They lived and live on different continents, in different countries. People depend on their planet, on the sun, on animals and plants around them.
Every day a big number of animals disappear. People kill animals for different aims: e.g. people hunt whales for their meat and oil; elephants for their tusks, crocodiles for their leather and so on. And also animals are used for medical experiments. The most wide – speared from such animals are monkeys. Modern life is bad for animals, birds, fish. The air isn’t fresh and the water isn’t pure. They don’t have good meal and facilities for the life. You can find their names in the Red Book. Of course, people can’t stay indifferent to these problems. There are a lot of special organizations, which try to save our nature.
T. What must we do to improve the situation? How can we save our planet?
P1. People can reserve rainforests making them national parks.
P2. To keep seas clean it’s necessary to stop polluting them.
P3. We can stop greenhouse effect by: conserving rainforests, using natural energy, stopping to use CFCs that are in aerosols, refrigerators and plastic boxes for hamburgers.
P4. To stop acid rains we need to make factories and power stations cleaner.
P5. To stop pollution we need to:
- buy products with as little packing as possible;
- use and throw away fewer carrier bags;
- waste less paper;
- turn rubbish into energy;
- use rubbish again after recycling.
P6. To avoid chemicals in food we need to use fewer chemicals in food production.
P7. To stop pollution from power plants we need to design, build and use solar, wave, wind, geo-thermal power plants.
T.What will happen if nothing is done to protect the environment?
P8. If pollution of land, water and air continues, the damage caused by these to nature may become irreversible. If people carry on like this, the world will eventually run out of energy, fresh air and clean water. It can bring to the extermination of the people and turning the whole planet into either a desert or the North Pole. Serious actions must be taken now to avoid disaster.
T. Has anything been done to solve ecological problems?
P9. In recent years people have understood the necessity of protecting natural resources and wildlife. It becomes clear that to keep air and water clean, strict pollution control is necessary. Numerous anti-pollution acts passed in different countries led to considerable improvements. In many countries purifying systems for treatment of industrial waters have been installed, measures have been taken to protect rivers and seas from oil contamination. Reservations and national parks for wild animals and undisturbed nature are being developed in some parts of the world.
T. Nature has its rights, and it is the duty of a man to respect and defend these rights.