13. Świat przyrody

Klimat, zagrożenie i ochrona środowiska naturalnego

Ćwiczenie 1.

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The climate of the Earth is always changing. In the past it has altered as a result of natural causes. Nowadays, however, the term climate change is generally used when referring to changes in our climate which have been identified since the early part of the 1900s. The changes we've seen over recent years and those which are predicted over the next 80 years are thought to be mainly a result of human behaviour rather than due to natural changes in the atmosphere.

The greenhouse effect is very important when we talk about climate change as it relates to the gases which keep the Earth warm. It is the extra greenhouse gases which humans have released which are thought to pose the strongest threat.

Viewpoints: Saving Species

Species are being wiped out so fast that scientists say humanity may be triggering the sixth mass extinction in history. How much does it matter and what should we do? Should we protect all species or just the ones that are useful? Can we demand that the world's poor stop exploiting the ecosystems they survive on?

Callum Rankine, Species Officer, WWF:

Animals do not exist for our benefit. They exist because they evolved to do a certain job within nature. But if a species does not benefit people directly, they often don't see a reason to conserve it We at WWF (World Wildlife Fund) are looking at it from an ecological point of view: all species are doing a job, even if we don't know what that job is. Removing a species from the ecosystem is like removing a rivet from an aeroplane without knowing its function. Nobody would want to fly in that aeroplane but that is what we are doing to our environment. We are causing species to become extinct without knowing what they do. As far as we know, this is the only planet we can live on. We are stuck here and we are putting at risk our life support system. That doesn't strike me as sensible.

Henrik Saxe, Environmental Assessment Institute:

If we want to conserve every species on Earth starting with bacteria and virus and ending with the African elephant, we are saying that humans should not inhabit this Planet. Civilisation comes with a price. And few of us would do without the comforts of modern life. When we choose to preserve nature, and we should, we have to decide how much we will spend, and how to spend it to preserve the most biodiversity. This takes knowing the greatest threats (agriculture, forest clearing, toxic pollution, climate change, etc.), and putting our money where it works.

Kew Gardens Save The Rainforest

On 3 July 2003 the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was officially placed on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Kew is home to some of the finest specimens of trees from all over the world. It contains examples from as far back as the early 18th century to newly planted rarities from recent Kew plant collecting expeditions. Every specimen is a piece of history, representing the generations of a great historic tree collection. Kew is also undertaking research on a wide range of threatened plants and their habitats. One of the latest projects is called African Tropics.

The great tropical rainforests of Africa are some of the most species-rich natural habitats in the world. Powered by sunlight, heat, and abundant rainfall, these ancient, complex ecosystems are full of life, providing homes to a mass of plants, animals, and fungi, most of which are found nowhere else on earth.

Kew's special area of expertise is the rainforests of western, Cameroon, where most of the current research projects and co­operative ventures are based. The knowledge of British experts is now being shared with a new generation of Cameroon biologists keen to continue researching, monitoring, and conserving the extraordinary biodiversity of their rainforest heritage.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. To what extent does destruction of the natural environment threaten man? Would you agree with the statement that man is his own greatest enemy? Why? Why not?

2. Do you think that money spent on the conservation of rare plants and animals is money well-spent? Why? Why not?

3. The experts in Viewpoints: Saving Species express conflicting views on whether we should conserve all the species that inhabit the planet or only some of them? Which argument do you find more convincing? Present and justify your opinion.

Świat zwierząt

Ćwiczenie 2.

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What is dolphin-assisted therapy? Dolphin-assisted therapy is an alternative way of emotional and physical healing. Dolphin-assisted therapy is used to treat a large spectrum of disorders and disease.

Shown through scientific research, dolphin-assisted therapy (interaction between humans and dolphins) can remarkably reduce stress, increase relaxation, help with depression, help persons with mental and physical disabilities, boost immune systems, and can even help persons with AIDS.

Persons who engage in dolphin-assisted therapy, swim and interact with dolphins in specially designed activities. These miraculous mammals are not only magnificent creatures, but have the capability to heal through presence and interaction.

Their need for luxuries might not extend beyond the occasional bone, but a pair of British dogs never have to worry about money again after being left a fortune in their elderly owner's will.

Tina and Kate, a pair of collie crosses, were the unlikely recipients of 450,000 pounds (675,000 euros, 830,000 dollars) after their owner died aged 89 at the end of 2002, The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.

Nora Hardwell, a reclusive spinster and passionate dog-lover from a village in

Somerset, southwest England, had no remaining family and her only companions were the two pampered pets.

In her will, Nora Hardwell left the money in trust 'for the maintenance of any dogs or dogs which I may own at my death for the period of 21 years from the date of my death or until the death of the last of my dogs, if earlier'.

The money will subsequently go to a series of charities.

Krajobraz

Ćwiczenie 3.

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Turbine Plans Facing Opposition

Plans to build a wind turbine on the site of a business park in Nottinghamshire are facing opposition from local residents.

People living close to the Shireoaks Triangle near Worksop say the 15m-high turbine will ruin the landscape. Nottinghamshire County Council say the development, which includes the turbine, would create 75 jobs. It will also help the authority maintain its policy of ensuring all new buildings are eco-friendly. Dave Ashurst, a resident

of Shireoaks for 40 years, said he did not approve of the wind turbine's location. "I do not want to see these changes in our village. There is a Claylands Industrial Estate which is infested with industrial buildings of all types. I don't disapprove necessarily of that because it brings jobs and industry to this area but why can't these things be installed on land such as that? Why has it got to be stuck right on the edge of a pretty village where it is an eyesore?"

Berlusconi's Motorway

Plans for a motorway running south from Vicenza through the UNESCO-designated world heritage site of the Veneto plain are being forced through by the Berlusconi government. The motorway will cut through a mysterious, predominantly flat rural landscape, at present largely dominated by the villas of Andrea Palladio and his successors. Objectors to the project point out that damage will not be limited to the scar of the motorway itself, but will extend fungus-like around it, as typical

contemporary Italian industrial developments of dumb uncoordinated shedding spread out from it.

An international challenge to the proposal is being mounted by Save Europe's Heritage, which points out that the motorway will cause irreparable damage to the ecology and topography of the quiet landscape with its network of elaborate canal systems that were initiated in Roman times. It will also threaten the environs of several important villas, as well as the fortified medieval town of Montagnana.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. There are people who are prepared to go to great lengths to protect the landscape in the area where they live. To what extent does landscape matter for your comfort and well-being? What do you consider to be an eyesore? Give reasons for your opinion.

2. Think of an area in Poland whose landscape should be protected in your opinion. Present and justify your choice.

Ćwiczenie 4.

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SMOG

Smog is the result of strong sunlight reacting with pollutants created mainly by vehicle exhausts which combine to create ground level ozone. Pollution from cars and industry is blamed for the major cause of smog, which is implicated in breathing difficulties. Looking beyond asthmas, government scientists estimate that it could be causing 12,000 premature deaths every year in the UK so it's certainly bad news.

Ozone pollution can be more apparent in rural areas than in cities, making it an untypical pollutant, according to Friends of the Earth. It can take a long time for the reactions which cause ozone to be carried out, meaning it can gather quite a long way downwind of the original chemicals which formed it. Scientists in California who studied children playing sports in areas high in ozone found they developed asthma at a rate three times higher than those in low-ozone communities.

Ecotourism is tourism that protects and does not damage or significantly alter the local, natural environment. Ecotourism is one way in which people have begun to try to protect coral reefs, tropical rainforests and other important wildlife habitats. The aim of ecotourism is to provide money for tour operators and local

communities by bringing visitors to an area of interest, while at the same time, helping to protect the environment that the tourists are coming to see. It is difficult to say exactly what is ecotourism as some travel companies seem to have started referring to trips as 'ecotourism' in order to attract customers.

The general rules of ecotourism are that it should:

1. Conserve the environment.

1. Allow people to participate in the life of local community and also inspire them.

2. Educate all people before, during and after a trip.

2. Accept the resource as it exists and realise that it may limit the number of visits or tourists involved.

UK Must Catch Up On Recycling

Britons are being urged to recycle a wider variety of waste in a cam­paign launched by former tennis star Pat Cash and TV impressionist Alistair McGowan.

The week-long Big Recycle campaign involves 239 councils, recycling companies, and the environmental firm co-founded by Cash, Planet Ark. "Britons have got to become more aware of what is recycleable," said Cash. The UK recycles just 14.5% of household waste, far behind countries like the Netherlands (59%) and Austria (58%).

The Big Recycle is part of the government's ongoing Recycle Now effort. Recycle Now, including a £10m advertising campaign launched last month, aims to create awareness and desire to recycle, while the Big Recycle will show people how to do that at the local level.

The campaign's website includes a facility to search by postcode and find details of local recycling facilities. Cash said: "The aim is to get more people to recycle more things, more often. You put your milk bottle outside after you use it, there is no reason why you shouldn't put out aluminium cans and plastic bottles and so on."

The government wants the UK to be recycling 25% of household waste by the end of 2005, as part of efforts to meet European Union targets on reducing waste going to landfill.

Recycling: did you know?

• The UK produces enough waste in less than two hours to fill London's Albert Hall.

• Britons throw away an average of seven times their own body weight in rubbish every year.

• If the UK recycled all aluminium cans, 14m fewer dustbins would be filled every year.

• Recycling one aluminium can saves enough energy to power a television for three hours.

• The average British family throws away six trees' worth of paper every year.

1. As our civilisation develops the number of pollutants grows; apart from air and water pollution, scientists now worry about noise and light pollution. What type of pollution is the most dangerous in your opinion? Why?

2. The text UK Must Catch Up On Recycling points out that the British do not recycle as much as they could. How does the situation in Poland compare in your opinion?

Klęski żywiołowe, przestrzeń kosmiczna

Ćwiczenie 5.

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Natural Disasters On The Rise

The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction said the increase iri natural disasters was due partly to global warming. It said 254 million people were affected by natural hazards last year (2003), nearly three times as many as in 1990. Events including earthquakes and volcanoes, floods and droughts, storms, fires and landslides killed about 83,000 people in 2003, up from about 53,000 deaths 13 years earlier.

Not only is the world globally facing more potential disasters but increasing numbers of people are becoming vulnerable to hazards. The problems are made worse because more and more people are living in concentrated urban areas and in slums with poor building standards and a lack of facilities. Urban migrants tend to settle on land vulnerable to natural hazards like flood plains or landslide-prone slopes. Urban concentration, the effects of climate change and environ­mental degradation are greatly increasing the risk of natural disasters.

Environmentalists are warning that the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas could spell disaster for millions of people living in the region. They claim the situation is not being adequately monitored, the last major studies l*aving been done in the 1990s. Swelling glacial lakes would increase the risk of catastrophic flooding. In the long term, the glaciers could disappear altogether, causing several rivers to shrink and threatening the survival of those who depend on them.

There are 3,300 glaciers in the Nepalese Himalayas and 2,300 of them contain glacial lakes. These lakes are quietly growing because of rising temperatures, but a sufficiently close eye is not being kept on them, campaigners say. Nobody knows how many are close to bursting, and no steps have been taken to establish early warning systems for the villages downstream.

A burst lake would cause flash floods which could sweep away people, houses, roads and bridges in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India. Such disasters have already happened more than a dozen times around Nepal in the last 70 years.

The American space agency, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency), has launched an unmanned probe, named Messenger, that will travel to Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. Its journey will take almost seven years and cover a distance of eight billion kilometres. Almost thirty years ago, NASA's Mariner Ten spacecraft took the most recent pictures we have of Mercury, revealing a rocky surface -wrinkled like an old apple. It found a planet of extremes, with surface temperatures reaching five hundred degrees Celsius and shady crevices plunging to minus two hundred. Later observations

seemed to show ice there - one of the things Messenger will search for.

Circling the planet for a full year, instruments on board Messenger will seek to solve other mysteries on Mercury Why is its iron core so big, for instance? Where does its Earth-like magnetic field come from? And where did those wrinkles - actually kilometre-high cliffs stretching hundreds of kilometres across the surface - come from?

Despite the absence of a lander, Messenger will learn much about the internal workings of this strange planet. Solving its riddles will help understand how Metcury formed, along with its rocky neighbours, Venus, Mars and our own planet -Earth.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. The text Natural Disasters On The Rise argues that not only 'nature' is responsible for natural disasters. To what extent is man responsible for the growing numbers of victims of natural disasters? Present and justify your opinion.

2. According to the text Himalaya Glaciers Melt Unnoticed how can the rise in tempera­tures threaten the population of Nepal and India?

3. Do you think that the enormous expense of space exploration is justified? Why (not)?

Dodatkowe zagadnienia do dyskusji

1. How does human activity influence the environment in your opinion? What kinds of human activity have negative results? What kinds of human activity have positive results?

2. Do you think that developed countries should spend money to protect the environ­ment in Third World countries? Why? Why not?

3. If you could donate money to support one species of animals threatened with extinction what species would it be and why?

4. Some people say that the way we treat animals is a mark of our humanity. To what extent do you agree with this statement? Justify your opinion.

5. How can ordinary people change their everyday lives to help save the planet? Which of the following actions are easiest to adopt and most effective in your opinion: saving heat and electric power, using unleaded petrol, using public transport, recycling paper, recycling glass, recycling metal cans and tins, planting trees, joining an environmental organization? Justify your opinion.

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