Environment and Health
People are complex beings who live complex lives. We do not live in isolation from our surroundings, and we us must interact with our environment and society. A person’s health is affected through numerous different aspects of life. So, what aspects of the environment affect our health?
Our health, especially respiratory organs, is seriously affected by the high amounts of contaminants in the air, water, and soil. A large number of people have conditions such as asthma, other respiratory problems or difficulties with other organs of the body. The contaminants in the air have not only affected humans, but animals as well. The atmosphere contains a lot of dust, as strong winds pick it up from the surface of the Earth. As a result of volcano eruptions, forest fires, industrial wastes, etc; air becomes polluted with products not completely burned. There are some basic sources of pollution of the atmosphere: industries, transportation devices, and others.
However, industrial production and its waste products are the strongest pollutant of the air. Their sources of pollution are thermal power stations, which
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together with smoke throw out sulphurous and carbonic gas in the air. The metallurgical plants, especially nonferrous metallurgies, fill the air with nitrogen compounds, chlorine, fluorine, ammonia, compounds of phosphorus, particles and compounds of mercury and arsenic, chemical and cement works, etc. Harmful gases get into the air as a result of the burning of fuel for the needs of the industry, heating of our homes, transportation needs and processing of household and industrial wastes. Aerosols are solid or liquid particles, which contaminate the air. Solid components of aerosols, in some cases, are especially dangerous to living creatures, because they are linked to the cause of specific diseases. In the atmosphere, aerosol pollution is perceived as smoke, fog, haze or fumes.
The manufacture of cement and other building materials is a source of dust pollution in the atmosphere. For these reasons, many people get ill and do not know the cause of their condition. Industrial enterprises emit tons of harmful substances that have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains. Nuclear power stations are even a greater environmental threat. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are for health.
The soi] is a natural formation that holds a number of qualities necessary for a living creature. One of the most important qualities of the soil it is its fertility. As human beings, we don’t fully appreciate the value and the great importance of soil free of contaminants. Frequently, we find the remainders of construction sites containing harmful chemicals; automobile parts often are cast out and leak fluids onto the soil. As a result, iron and other metals pollute the soil. Thus, dangerous compounds of arsenic, mercury, and copper penetrate into the soil. We can observe this especially on the sides of our roads and highways.
Even mineral fertilizers, created to enhance the soil, can cause damage. For many years, different kinds of fertilizers and chemicals were used in agriculture to obtain the best crops; soil, much like every living creature needs vitamins and nutrients. These nutrients are found in healthy soil, and it helps to grow and protect the plants from insects, bugs, and weed killers. The excess amount of pesticides used to “fertilize” and protect the soil turned out to be the ones that harmed the soil the most. But, it didn’t just damage the soil. It also made a negative impact on humans, animals, birds, and fish. The use of insecticides, especially those containing DDT1, may result in upsetting the balance of nature.
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The poisoning of the world’s water supplies is the fastest-spreading disease of civilisation. The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilisers 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. We know that many industrial enterprises are dumping wastes into rivers and lakes. The excessive construction of dams, for example, causes the silting of rivers and the accumulating of nitrates at a faster rate than the surrounding soil can absorb. In many parts of the world rivers run brown, because they are filled with earth washed from the fields bordering them. If it goes on like that we’ll soon feel lack of fresh water even in the places where there are many rivers and freshwater lakes. We all know that human organism contains about 80 per cent of water, thus drinking contaminated water may affect our health in quite an unexpected way.
People are beginning to realise that environmental problems are not somebody else’s. They join and support various international organisations and green parties. If governments wake up to what is happening - perhaps we’ll be able to avoid the disaster that threatens the natural world and all of us with it.
b) Learn the following words and word- combinations from the text.
Being - істота; to interact - взаємодіяти; environment - довкілля; respiratory - дихальний; volcano eruption - виверження вулкана; wastes - відходи; thermal power station -- теплова електростанція; sulphurous - сірчаний; carbonic - вуглецевий; fluorine - фтор; mercury - ртуть; arsenic - миш’як; solid - твердий; haze - легкий туман: fume — дим, випаровування; to emit - викидати, виділяти; disastrous consequences — катастрофічні наслідки; nuclear power station - атомна електростанція; to enhance - збільшувати, підсилювати; weed killer - гербіцид (засіб для боротьби з бур’янами); pesticide - пестицид (засіб для боротьби зі шкідниками); on the brink of extinction - на межі вимирання; silting - замулювання.
32. Find in the text words similar in meaning to the following:
1) Contaminant; 2) smoke; 3) a haze; 4) surroundings; 5) herbicide; 6) catastrophic; 7) earth; 8) bad; 9) motorway; 10) to understand.
33. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following Ukrainian phrases.
1) Прісна вода; 2) хімічні добрива; 3) шкідливі хімікати; 4) загроза довкіллю; 5) несподіваний спосіб; 6) підтримувати міжнародні організації
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Texts for reading and rendering
Great Britain
Sheep breeding-вівчарство; dairy farming-розведення великої рогатої худоби; hereditary-спадковий; elective - виборний; peer - Лорд, Пер Англії (титул); to preside - головувати; a bill - законопроект; signature - підпис.
Geographical Position
Great Britain, which is also known as the United Kingdom, is one of the leading developed countries of the world. It consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Geographically the British Isles are made up of two large islands off the northwest corner of Europe and a group of small islands.
The British Isles are washed by the North Sea in the North, the English Channel, which separates Great Britain from the continent of Europe, in the south, and the Irish Sea, in the west.
The climate of Great Britain is greatly influenced by a stream of warm water, the Gulf Stream, from the Atlantic Ocean. It is neither cold in winter nor hot in summer there. Even in the most northern parts of Scotland snow never lies very long in winter, while in the South of England snow fails only a few times during winter. The rivers there hardly ever freeze.
As a rule there is much rain and fog in Britain in winter with very few sunny days. The fog sometimes gets mixed with smoke of London to form smog. On the whole, Britain is a very damp country.
Though there are many rivers in Great Britain, none of them can be compared in size with those of the continent. But one of the largest, the Thames, on which London is situated, is deep enough to let sea ships reach the London docks. The Severn is the only river, which flows southwest into the Irish Sea. Many of the rivers have been joined to one another by means of canals so that it is possible to travel by water from one part of England to the other.
The mountain ranges of Great Britain, mainly in Scotland and Wales, are not very high and the highest peak, Ben Nevis, is 4,296 feet. The Welsh mountains are very rocky.
Great Britain occupies a total area of 244,000 sq. km with the population over 55 million. Great Britain being an industrial country, the greater part of the population is occupied in industry. Yet there are people occupied in agriculture, especially in sheep breeding and dairy farming.
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Nowadays the country is not as rich in minerals as it was, but coal, iron ore, chalk and other minerals are still mined. The most important branches of industry in Great Britain are textile, chemical, aviation, motor- and shipbuilding. The biggest industrial cities are London, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.