Environment

Let’s talk about causes, effects, and solutions of environmental challenges Let’s begin with
the most talked about environmental issue today - global warming;

What is global warming? Due to human actions we observe the rise of average Earth tem-
peratures. It may sound like a nice shift for people living in Russia and Canada, but such cli-
mate change triggers some serious negative consequences.

World leaders launch an initiative to accelerate work on global warming.

Global warming also has the potential to change rainfall and snow patterns, increase droughts
and severe storms.

Lets additionally define droughts from this sentence.

Most people think it’s a period of hot and dry weather, but that is not completely true. It is a
state or condition when human demands for water exceed its natural availability.

What consequences are we talking about? It’s very likely that you have heard a lot about
these issues.

Melting Glaciers: The increase in mean temperatures has led to melting of most of the
world’s glaciers. But what drives the increase in temperature?

Greenhouse gases are a widely discussed source. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally,
but human activity leads to release of enormous extra amounts of greenhouse gases.

Population growth, deforestation, and factor farming are creating excess greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

Deforestation: Deforestation is the clearing of trees without the intent of replanting them.

One of the consequences of deforestation is loss of biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the variety of all living things on Earth which include plants, animals, and mi-
croorganisms.

Now we will continue with some new words associated with biodiversity.
Many species within a forest ecosystem are endemic to that habitat. When their habitat is
lost, it could lead to their extinction.
Here we have 3 new words.

The first one is extinction, which means that certain species no longer exist on the planet.

The second word is habitat and means the natural environment of a plant, animal, or another
organism.

And the third word is ecosystem and means any community of living and not living things that
work together.

There are some other useful words and phrases:

endangered species are those considered to be at risk of extinction.
There are over 1,300 species in the United States that are listed as threatened or endangered.
The ozone layer - a belt of naturally occurring ozone gas that sits above the earth and serves
as a shield from the harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Unlike pollution, which has many types and causes, the

ozone layer depletion has been pinned down to one major human activity.

Our next word combination is carbon footprint. It is the amount of greenhouse gases emitted
by something during a given period of time. Let’s find an example.
A carbon footprint can be measured for an individual or an organization and is typically given
in tons of CO2.

In most cases you will need to say or write something like ‘to reduce carbon dioxide emis-
sions we have to do something…'

Our next phrase is hazardous waste.

It’s essential that hazardous waste is handled, stored, transported, and disposed of properly.
No one should touch hazardous waste.
Another popular word when we talk about environment is contamination. Many people use it
as a synonym of pollution, which is not completely correct.

Contamination is the presence of unwanted or foreign substances.

Contamination may be natural whilst pollution is produced by the influence or activities of peo-
ple.
Contamination of the fields could happen through overuse or misuse of pesticides.

Now we will define the word pesticide for you. Pesticides are chemicals that kill or manage
pests.

Landfill: Landfill is an area of land that is used to dispose of waste.

The purpose of a landfill is to bury the waste in a way that it will be isolated from groundwater,
kept dry, and out of contact with air. Each country has a policy for landfills.

Now it’s time to talk about energy, the thing without which people cannot imagine living. The
first phrase is renewable energy sources.
Wind, solar, and other forms of renewable energy could be the fastest growing power sources
over the next few decades.

The next term is tidal energy.

Tidal energy is a power produced by the surge of ocean waters during the rise and fall of
tides.

Engineers around the world are working to improve the technology of tidal energy generators
to increase the amount of energy they produce and decrease their impact on the environment.

Talking about renewable energy, there are some other sources of it, such as wind turbines and
solar panels.

Wind turbines are an affordable, efficient, and abundant source of electricity.

Some companies have embraced solar panels to improve their environmental profiles and
to cut their operational costs.
But unfortunately fossil fuels still play a dominant role on the market. So another new word
here is fossil fuels. Basically they are sources of energy in the form of remains of dead plants
and animals.
Sounds scary? Well, they developed over millions of years and are now available as coal, oil,
and natural gas.
Some fossil fuels, such as coal, are abundant and cheap.
Others, like oil, have a variable cost depending on
geographic location.
Now we will go through some other useful environmental words and phrases. I recommend
that you
write down the ones that you don’t know and return to your list after some time. Try to use
them in
real life situations. Force yourself to do so and eventually you will start to use them naturally
without
noticing! I’m sure you will succeed!

Additional vocabulary

climate change - changes in the Earth's weather patterns;

acid rain - rain that contains dangerous chemicals because of smoke from cars and factories;
industrial waste - damaged, defective, or superfluous material produced by industry;
urbanisation - the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more
and more people begin living and working in central areas;
bio-degradable - capable of being slowly destroyed and broken down into very small parts by
natural processes, bacteria, etc.
environmentalist / environmental activist - a person who works to protect the natural world
from pollution and other threats;
natural disaster - a sudden and terrible event in nature (such as a hurricane, tornado, or
flood) that usually results in serious damage and many deaths;
hybrid cars – cars in which two or more distinct types of power, such as internal combustion
engine+electric motor are used;
fertilisers - a substance (such as manure or a special chemical) that is added to soil to help
the
growth of plants;
rainforest - a tropical forest that receives a lot of rain and that has very tall trees;
chemicals - substances obtained by a chemical process or producing a chemical effect;
sustainable agriculture - is the act of farming based on an understanding of ecosystem ser-
vices, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment; (Wikipedia)
adverse environmental effects - abnormal, harmful, or undesirable impact on environment;
climate change mitigation - consists of actions to limit the magnitude or rate of long-term cli-
mate change (Wikipedia).
emissions - substances discharged into the air (as by a smokestack or an automobile engine)
exhaust fumes - gases ejected from an engine as waste products;
to conserve energy - use energy carefully in order to prevent loss or waste;
toxic – containing poisonous substances;
to recycle - to send (used newspapers, bottles, cans, etc.) to a place where they are made
into something new;

3 R's - reducing, reusing and recycling

Up-cycling - recycle in order to make higher quality products.

USEFUL SENTENCES TO GET HIGHER SCORE

Global warming
Gases such as carbon dioxide trap heat from the sun
This causes global temperatures to rise
This process is known as the greenhouse effect
Human activity is a major factor in the rise of the greenhouse gases
Factories and vehicles produce emissions and exhaust fumes
Many developing countries are becoming industrialised
The number of cars on our streets is growing
Cheap air travel is allowing more people to fly

Effects of Global Warming

Global warming will have a significant impact on our planet
Rising temperature will cause melting of the polar ice caps
Sea levels will rise
More extreme weather conditions can be expected
Flooding and droughts may become more common 23 / 52

Impacts of humans on the environment

The increasing world population is putting pressure on natural resources
Fossil fuels like oil and gas are running out
We are destroying wildlife habitats
We have cut down enormous areas of rainforest
This has led to the extinction of many species of animals and plants

Solutions to environment problems

Governments could introduce laws to limit emissions from factories
They should invest in renewable energy from solar, wind or water power
They could impose “green taxes” on drivers and airlines companies
Government campaigns should promote recycling
Natural areas and wild animals should be protected
Individuals should also try to be greener
We should take fewer flights abroad for holidays
We should take public transport rather than driving
We should choose products with less packaging We should recycle as much as possible

Waste/rubbish
The amount of waster we produce has increased
This problem is a result of our consumer culture
Products are not made to last If something breaks, we throw it way and buy a new one
Advertisers encourage us to buy the newest fashions
Packaging is an important part of selling
Most foods are sold in non-biodegradable plastics packaging
The amount of household waste is growing This waste ends up in landfill sites
Litter
People do not think about the consequences of dropping rubbish
They assume that somebody is paid to clean the streets
Plastic packaging does not break down easily
Most of the litter seen on streets is fast food packaging

Recycling and other solutions

Companies should make goods that last longer
They should not use so much packaging
Governments should be stricter, about waster produced by companies
They should put legal limits on packaging
Consumers should avoid buying over-packaged products
We should recycle and reuse useful materials.
There are collection banks for glass, paper and plastic bottles
Households can use several rubbish bins to separate waste
Recycling saves energy and raw materials.

Nuclear Power: Positives

There are several benefits to build more nuclear power stations
Fossil fuel like oil and gas are running out
Nuclear power is a sustainable energy source
It can be used to produce electricity without wasting natural resources
It could be replace the use of natural resources like coal, oil or gas
Nuclear power stations are cleaner than fossil fuel power stations
They could help to reduce carbon emissions that cause global warming
The risks of accidents are being reduced

Nuclear Power: negatives

Opponents of nuclear power worry about the safety of power stations
The building of new nuclear power stations is unpopular
Nobody wants to live near nuclear power station
Nuclear waste disposal is a significant problem
There is currently no way to decontaminate radioactive material
People worry that terrorists could steal radioactive materials
It is safer to produce energy from solar, wind or water power.