книги / Экология. Обучение чтению гипертекста (на материале английского языка)

–в случае необходимости найдите самостоятельно в Интернете дополнительные материалы;

–обобщите всю информацию в отдельном файле;

–на основе выделенных фактов подготовьте аргументированное вы-

ступление на тему «Проблема охраны земельных ресурсов и загрязне-

ния земель».

При выполнении коммуникативно-познавательной задачи опирайтесь на следующие ключевые слова:

–soil pollution;

–soil contamination;

–soil degradation;

–types of waste;

–industrial waste;

–agriculture;

–pesticides and herbicides;

–waste disposal;

–oil leaks;

–acid rain;

–humans health;

–organ damage;

–cancer;

–plants growth;

–bioaccumulation;

–decreased soil fertility;

–soil structure changes;

–economic damage;

–remedies.

Коммуникативно-познавательная задача № 9

Вы участвуете в конференции «Экологические проблемы в современном мире». Проведение конференции предполагает работу двух секций. Как участник секции «Проблемы защиты окружающей среды»:

–изучите предлагаемые вам текстовые материалы, сориентируетесь

вих информации;

–найдите тексты и абзацы, в которых содержится информация о проблеме глобального потепления, его причинах и возможных путях решения проблемы;

–в случае необходимости найдите самостоятельно в Интернете дополнительные материалы;

–обобщите информацию в отдельном файле;

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–найдите тексты и абзацы, в которых содержится информация о последствиях глобального потепления;

–составьте список этих последствий;

–изучите особенности каждого из них и расположите в порядке значимости отрицательного воздействия;

–добавьте данную информацию в ранее созданный файл;

–на основе выделенных фактов подготовьте аргументированное вы-

ступление на тему «Глобальное потепление».

При выполнении коммуникативно-познавательной задачи опирайтесь на следующие ключевые слова:

–the late 1800s;

–in 1896;

–human activity;

–greenhouse effect;

–greenhouse gases;

–levels of CO2;

–deforestation;

–fossil fuel combustion;

–methane;

–global warming effects;

–glaciers;

–hurricanes;

–temperature extremes;

–record-breaking cold;

–point of no return;

–to lessen the effects;

–individual efforts.

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THE BANK OF TEXTS

TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS VS ENVIRONMENT

Nowadays technology plays a very important role in human life. Modern technology greatly simplifies life and makes it more interesting. No wonder that 21th century was named technological progress century.

Accelerating scientific understanding, more efficient communications, and faster transportation transformed the world in those hundred years more rapidly and widely than in any previous century. Mass media, telecommunications, and information technology (especially computers, paperback books, public education, and the Internet) made the world's knowledge more widely available. Advancements in medical technology also improved the welfare of many people: the global life expectancy increased from 35 years to 65 years. Rapid technological advancements, however, also allowed warfare to reach unprecedented levels of destruction. World War II alone killed over 60 million people, while nuclear weapons gave humankind the means to annihilate or significantly harm itself in a very short period of time. The world also became more culturally homogenized than ever with developments in transportation and communications technology, popular music and other influences of Western culture, international corporations, and what was arguably a true global economy by the end of the century.

There is no doubt that technological progress is good for the humanity as a whole, but whether it is good for the environment. Some people consider while technological development destroys our environment, to live in harmony is impossible.

Firstly, in many countries technological progress is increasing dramatically, everywhere people try to build new factories, companies in order to support their needs. These objects produce many things, which are not environmentally friendly, in most of the cases these products are harmful to the environment. As a result our planet has lots of problems with greenhouse gases, acid rains, air pollution, global warming, ozone layer, deforestation. Secondly, technological progress is not only in big cities, it’s noticeable in villages. However, some farmers cultivate intensive farming, in order to take benefits from the lands as much as possible. But this type of farming uses a lot of herbicides and pesticides, which have bad effects on ecological situation. Also, the farmers want new lands, so they destroy forests in different parst of the world.

So, people’s requirements are increasing rapidly. We need more food, more water, more machines and place to live. Therefore technological progress is developing further when we are trying to open all new and unknown, each day brings us new ideas, each month brings us new technological solutions, people go straight in development of new invents.

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ECONOMIC GROWTH VS. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

When it comes to economic growth these days, people often point out that it must be sustainable or "green growth." To what extent is a combination of economic growth and sustainability really possible?

With its Energiewende, the energy transition policy from nuclear to renewable energies, Germany aims to gradually increase renewable energies like solar, wind and hydroelectric power. Some say it's an important step towards a more sustainable lifestyle. But not Karl-Heinz Paque. "If we do these things in Germany, it's not really going to have much of a global impact. We're too small for that," Paque, a professor of economics at the University of Magdeburg, told DW. "It's going to be decisive what happens in those countries that are now trying to catch up on economic growth – and they make up two-thirds of the global population." Should developing countries and emerging economies follow the path Europe took? For centuries, Europeans fostered their own economic growth and wealth, before discovering their heart for environmental protection.

"Environmental protection as a priority stems from affluence," Paque said. "For us, it only started in the 1970s, no earlier. In China, it's only just beginning, and it will take a little longer in India."

Comeback for coal

There is much to make affluent and environmentally active Europeans nervous. Across the world, coal – the energy source that in most European countries has a reputation as being particularly dirty – is booming.

"Coal is about to enjoy the biggest renaissance in the history of economics," said Ottmar Edenhofer, deputy director and head economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

In the 1990s, many countries substituted coal with gas. But this trend is now being reversed, since coal has become "incredibly competitive," Edenhofer said.

"Above all, China's economic growth is strongly powered by cheap coal. The same holds true for India, South Africa, as well as some Eastern European countries," he added.

When coal or other fossil fuels are burned, CO2 is emitted, polluting the atmosphere – and contributing to making climate change more likely. Projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA) say that annual medium temperatures could rise 5.3 degrees by the end of the century, if countries across the world don't take action.

But negotiations towards a new international agreement on climate protection have been a failure. Whether it's about limiting greenhouse gas emissions or agreeing on emission rights trading, the interests of the various countries are simply too different.

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Devaluing resources

"A global climate agreement would probably lead to a reduction of coal and oil consumption," said Carl Christian von Weizsäcker of the Bonn-based Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.

That, in turn constitutes a problem for countries with large fossil fuel resources. "A climate agreement would lead to decreasing prices for the resources in these countries," Weizsäcker said. "That makes it even harder to reach an agreement."

To complicate things further, some countries are changing their negotiation positions. Since new oil and gas fields were discovered in Kenya, and Canada found ways to make tar sands exploitation more lucrative, these countries have practically lost interest in a achieving climate agreement; Any limitation to pollution would reduce the value of their resources.

After the failure of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009, the chances of reaching a quick agreement are slim, many experts fear. And it's even more unlikely to expect countries to agree to less, or no, economic growth. Even so, many environmental activists in western industrial nations dream of a world in which economic growth is unnecessary.

Improvements without growth?

From a global perspective, zero-percent economic growth is not a serious option. "The huge disparities, for instance between Africa and Europe, or between Africa and the Americas would be not acceptable," Ottmar Edenhofer said, referring to calculations he undertook for the Potsdam Institute on Climate Impact Research.

"For Africa to reach living standards similar to those in Latin America, the United States would have to reduce its per capita incomes by 80 percent," he said. "Resulting social conflicts would be severe."

Thus, it seems unlikely there will be a conscious limit to economic growth, just as it's unlikely universal targets for climate protection will be agreed anytime soon.

Regional efforts, such as the trading of emissions rights within Europe, only work partially or not at all. That's why many experts see humanity steering towards an apocalypse.

Economist Karl-Heinz Paque, however, is cautious when it comes to such scenarios, pointing out that reliable predictions about the future are simply impossible to make.

"Imagine you had made a prediction in 1913, exactly 100 years ago, about the future of the world – but starting from the state of technological development back then," he said. "What has happened since, within less than three generations, would have been completely beyond your imagination. That's why we have to be very careful about our predictions."

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Don't panic, humanity will come up with solutions - that seems to be the bottom line to this argument. Paque, who has been active in politics with the liberal FDP party, believes such technological progress can be reached with as little state regulation as possible.

Yet Gerd Wagner, who heads the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin, argues that regulations set by nation states will indeed be necessary. "If you want to reduce environmental exploitation you need regulations."

WHAT WE DO

We want the EU to be a global leader in reducing the environmental impacts of transport. We believe Europe should have the lowest levels of greenhouse gas emissions and air and noise pollution from transport; the cleanest vehicles, planes and ships; transport policies that encourage efficiency and smart behaviour, and pricing that makes polluters pay for pollution, not society as a whole. Below is an overview of our main areas of work.

Air pollution

Air is essential for life but polluted air can kill. In spite of the existing legislation, air pollution remains one of the major environmental problems in Europe. In order to protect its citizens and its environment, Europe needs strict and enforced air pollution legislation. Sector-specific legislation, such as for road vehicles (cars, vans and trucks), diesel machinery (construction machinery, inland water vessels and locomotives) and seagoing ships, is key to achieving clean air in Europe. The EU urgently needs to tighten its road, diesel machine and ship emissions legislation.

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PNRPU

Aviation

Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the most climate-intensive form of transport. Aviation emissions have more than doubled in the last 20 years and the sector is responsible for an estimated 4.9 % of man-made global warming. T&E campaigns, together with members of the International Coalition for Sustainable Aviation (ICSA) stand for global targets and measures to reduce emissions within the aviation sector, for reduction measures at EU level to meet EU reduction targets and for removing exemptions on fuel taxation and VAT for airlines in the EU

Cars and CO2

One of the most important steps Europe can take to save drivers money, combat climate change, and create high-tech jobs is to require carmakers to produce more efficient vehicles. In 2008, the EU introduced legally-binding CO2 standards, for the first time setting a goal that, on average, new cars sold in Europe in 2015 should emit 130 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. This weak target has been met early, and most carmakers are on track to meet the 2021 goal of 95g. Half the improvement results from carmakers manipulating the obsolete test that must be replaced in 2017. The Commission also needs to make a new proposal for 2025 standards for cars and vans in 2016.

Cleaner, safer lorries

Trucking poses a major challenge for the environment and road safety. Around three-quarters of freight in Europe is delivered by lorry, and road freight transport is one of the sub-sectors of the transport industry with the fastest growing CO2 emissions and fuel use. Every year the EU imports around 500 million barrels ( 60bn) of oil to fuel its lorry fleet, which makes the EU economy vulnerable to oil price fluctuations.

Dirty Oil

As well as improving the efficiency of vehicles, the world needs to reduce the emissions that result from the production of transport fuels. That means improving refinery efficiency, cleaning up the dirtiest sources like tar sands and coal - to liquid and stopping wasteful gas flaring.

EU Transport Policy

To get to a sustainable low carbon economy by 2050, Europe needs to cut emissions from transport by at least 60 % compared to 1990: that’s a cut of 70 % compared to today’s emissions. This presents a very serious challenge, in par-

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ticular for freight, where increasing truck traffic, modern shift from rail to road and stagnating lorry fuel economy have dominated the last two decades.

Shipping

Shipping is one of the fastest growing sources of transport greenhouse gas emissions, and is also a major source of air pollution causing health problem, acid rain and eutrophication. Like aviation, the sector's international emissions were excluded from the 1997 Kyoto climate targets with responsibility instead handed to a UN global regulator, the IMO. T&E works, together with other members of the Clean Shipping Coalition, to reduce the air pollution and climate impacts of shipping globally and in Europe.

Vans

Fuel bills represent one third of the total cost of ownership of a van and high oil prices make fuel an increasingly important business cost. At the same time vans are one of the fastest growing sources of CO2 emitted from transport, increasing by 26 % between 1995 and 2010 and now accounting for 8 % of road transport emissions. To improve fuel efficiency and counter rising emissions, binding CO2 standards for vans were agreed in 2010. For 2020 a target of 147 g/km (5,6 l/100 km) was agreed.

T&E wants the EU to tighten the fuel efficiency targets for vans to 118 g/km or 4,5 l/100 km - equivalent to the corresponding 2020 target for cars. This would double the fuel savings compared to the 147 g/km target to 825 per year.

Vehicle Noise

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), noise is second only to air pollution in the impact it has on health. It is a major cause, not only of hearing loss, but also of heart disease, learning problems in children and sleep disturbance. Yet traffic noise could easily be halved, with existing technology, if more stringent limits were adopted. T&E is working at the EU and global level for tighter restrictions on sources of transport noise including cars, lorries and trains.

Biofuels

If left unchanged, EU legislation promoting biofuels for transport will lead to higher, not lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. T&E and other environmental organisations are campaigning for Europe to address the environmental impact of indirect land use change (ILUC) caused by biofuel production. Read the drivers impacts of Europe's biofuel policy, download our briefing on ILUC

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and take a look at our report into how the EU could manage the impact of an ILUC-based policy on existing biofuels production.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM

TOURISM'S THREE MAIN IMPACT AREAS

Negative impacts from tourism occur when the level of visitor use is greater than the environment's ability to cope with this use within the acceptable limits of change. Uncontrolled conventional tourism poses potential threats to many natural areas around the world. It can put enormous pressure on an area and lead to impacts such as soil erosion, increased pollution, discharges into the sea, natural habitat loss, increased pressure on endangered species and heightened vulnerability to forest fires. It often puts a strain on water resources, and it can force local populations to compete for the use of critical resources.

DEPLETION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Tourism development can put pressure on natural resources when it increases consumption in areas where resources are already scarce.

Water resources

Water, and especially fresh water, is one of the most critical natural resources. The tourism industry generally overuses water resources for hotels, swimming pools, golf courses and personal use of water by tourists. This can result in water shortages and degradation of water supplies, as well as generating a greater volume of waste water.

In dryer regions like the Mediterranean, the issue of water scarcity is of particular concern. Because of the hot climate and the tendency of tourists to consume more water when on holiday than they do at home, the amount used can run up to 440 liters a day. This is almost double what the inhabitants of an average Spanish city use.

Golf course maintenance can also deplete fresh water resources. In recent years golf tourism has increased in popularity and the number of golf courses has grown rapidly. Golf courses require an enormous amount of water every day and, as with other causes of excessive extraction of water, this can result in water scarcity. If the water comes from wells, overpumping can cause saline intrusion into groundwater. Golf resorts are more and more often situated in or near protected areas or areas where resources are limited, exacerbating their impacts.

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An average golf course in a tropical country such as Thailand needs 1500 kg of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides per year and uses as much water as 60,000 rural villagers.

Local resources

Tourism can create great pressure on local resources like energy, food, and other raw materials that may already be in short supply. Greater extraction and transport of these resources exacerbates the physical impacts associated with their exploitation. Because of the seasonal character of the industry, many destinations have ten times more inhabitants in the high season as in the low season. A high demand is placed upon these resources to meet the high expectations tourists often have (proper heating, hot water, etc.).

Land degradation

Important land resources include minerals, fossil fuels, fertile soil, forests, wetland and wildlife. Increased construction of tourism and recreational facilities has increased the pressure on these resources and on scenic landscapes. Direct impact on natural resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, in the provision of tourist facilities can be caused by the use of land for accommodation and other infrastructure provision, and the use of building materials.

Forests often suffer negative impacts of tourism in the form of deforestation caused by fuel wood collection and land clearing. For example, one trekking tourist in Nepal - and area already suffering the effects of deforestation - can use four to five kilograms of wood a day.

POLLUTION

Tourism can cause the same forms of pollution as any other industry: air emissions, noise, solid waste and littering, releases of sewage, oil and chemicals, even architectural/visual pollution.

Air pollution and noise

Transport by air, road, and rail is continuously increasing in response to the rising number. It is reported that the number of international air passengers worldwide rose from 88 million in 1972 to 344 million in 1994. One consequence of this increase in air transport is that tourism now accounts for more than 60 % of air travel and is therefore responsible for an important share of air emissions. One study estimated that a single transatlantic return flight emits almost half the CO2 emissions produced by all other sources (lighting, heating, car use, etc.) consumed by an average person yearly. (Mayer Hillman, Town & Country Planning magazine, September 1996. Source: MFOE).

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