Unit 2 Earth and EnvironmentPart 1 Warming upA1.impact of climate change- damage to crops- worse .2. .2000 delegates northern Brazilthird United Nations Conferenceon Desertification.3.A huge oil spill - Mexico, .4.Wildfires - Florida - contained - a week .5. . Greenland is melting around the edges 50 cubic kilometers raise global sea level .BIt attempts to balance environmental concerns and the needs of thecommunity.2. Reptile species are in greater trouble than amphibian species.3. A new approach in the fight against the illegal drugs trade.4. One in every eight species of plants is threatened with extinction.5. A new local directory for the environmentally-aware, called the“ Boulder County Green Pages .Tapescripts:1. Australia is the world s driest continent. Theres general agreement thatthe country has to use water more efficiently. In many partsupplies are in crisis.1.At a meeting in Canberra, the Council of Australian Governments has approvednational water plan. It attempts to balance environmental concerns and the needs ofthe community. The amount of water taken from rivers for commercial use is to be cutand farmers will be compensated.2. The disappearance and deformity of amphibians such as frogs and salamanders fromrain forests and mountain lakes worldwide has attracted wide-spread scientificattention over the last decade. Now a new study says reptile species including turtles,snakes, and alligators are in even greater trouble. Twice as many reptiles asamphibians, or some 100 species, are currently listed as endangered by the WorldConservation Union. The study says habitat loss and degradation, pollution, disease,climate change, and over-collection for food, pets and drugs are the major threat toreptiles.3. Four regional governors from Columbia, on a visit to Washington, have sharplycriticized an American-backed aerial offensive to eradicate thousands of hectares ofillegal coke and poppy plantations. At a news conference the governors called for adifferent approach in the fight against the illegal drugs trade, saying that theherbicides currently being used were harmful to public health and the environment.4. Much attention has been devoted to the threatened animal species.But what about plants which are the fundamental bases of life One in every eightspecies of plants is threatened with extinction. Since all food chains begin in thesphere of plant life, this is bad news for the animals too, including humans whodepend on plants not only for food but also for medicines, building materials, andother vital purposes.5. A new local directory for the environmentally-aware is now available, called the“ Boulder County Green Pages. ” The Rotary Clubs in Boulder County got togetherwith local recycling and environmental specialists to put together this firsteverdirectory. It includes quick reference to green products and services for recycling,xeriscaping, energy conservation, and more. The $5 cost helps raise funds for thesponsoring groups.Part II News ReportsA.Washingtontheinformationeconomydeterioratinghealthof_theplanetinformationphysicaleconomyexamcommunicationvitalsignseducationclimateandentertainmentspeciestemperatures water tables glaciers forests fisheries to stabilize both climateand world population growthTapescript:An annual study by the Worldwatch Institute here in Washington says with the boom inthe information economy, Americans have lost sight of the deteriorating health of theplanet.State of the World 2000 says the fast growing information economy is affecting everyaspect of life, from communication, commerce and work, to education and entertainment.Lead author and Worldwatch President Lester Brown says while Americans generallyfeel a sense of optimism about the economy, the planet health is suffering. He says it isa mistake “toconfuse the vibrancy of the virtual world with the increasingly troubled stateof the real world. ”“We give the earth an annual plsycal, and this book isthe result of that annual physical.We check its vital signs. And almost all those vital signs, whether it s the number ofspecies, whether it s the stability of climatewhether it s the number of species, whether it y of aSmadetabilit whether it the health ofcoral reefs, all those trends show deterioration. ”Lester Brown says other warning signs are rising temperatures, falling water tables,melting glaciers, shrinking forests and collapsing fisheries.He says the major environmental challenges in the 21st century will be to stabilize bothclimate and world population growth.Worldwatch Institute President Lester Brown also points out initiatives by multinationalcorporations to seek energy alternatives. For example, Daimler-Chrysler and Shell Oilare working with the government of Iceland to turn that country into the first hydrogenpowered economy. BSummary- the severe shortage of water in some developing nations. - global solutions arefound soon.Answers to the questions1.1502.Monday3.Almost one billion people could suffer from a scarcity of water.4.Middle East, parts of Africa, western Asia, Northeastern China, western andsouthern India, large parts of Pakistan and Mexico, parts of the Pacific coast of theUnited States and South America.5.To treat water as a precious resource.6.5 liters7.50 liters8.500 litersTapescript: The UN water experts are warning that a severe water shortage will havewhat they call catastrophic consequences in some developing nations unless globalsolutions are found soon. One hundred and fifty experts around the world will discuss thewater situation at a conference beginning Monday in Geneva.A top official from the World Meteorological Organization Arthur Askew says that by theyear 2025, almost 1 billion people could be living in areas suffering from a scarcity ofwater. He says the number could double by the middle of the next century. Mr Askewsays one area with serious water problems is the Middle East. But he says officials in thearea are already working on ways to deal with the situation.Experts say water shortage problems also could develop in parts of Africa and westernAsia as well as northeastern China, western and southern India, large parts of Pakistanand Mexico, and parts of the Pacific coast of the United States and South America. MrAskew says there asmoral obligation to treat water as a precious resource and a need torealize that large amounts of water are used often wastefully in food production andmanufacturing.“All commodities have used water in their production and you must be aware thereforethat if you rimporting food from one country to another you are in fact importing part ofthe water resources of that country.Mr Askew also says water shortages lead to a conflict between rural and urban demands.“ In many regions of the world, the water crisis is not coming because of humanconsumption directly for potable water, for drinking, or for sanitary purposes, it csmingfor agriculture. And in general about 80 percent of the water, which is consumed, i. e., isextracted from the rivers or from underground resources and is not returned, is foragriculture. And there considerable pressure now on the agricultural sectors to see ifthey cannot use that water ore efficiently.Mr Askew says it s estimated that a person needs about 5 liters of water a day to survive,and a person needs about 5 liters of water a day to survive, and a person livescomfortably with about 50 liters a day. But he says people in many countries are using500 liters of water each day. He says ways must be found to reduce such overuse beforeitPart III City recyclingA a. 2 b. 4 c. 3 d. 1 B1. 130,000 / 80%2. Plastic / glass / tin cans / newspapers3. Recycle truck pick it up.4. One of community5. Each weekdays recycling centers s too late.6. Conducts tours of the plant7. 3 / 48. Sod to other companies that make them into different products9. Made into new containers10. One of the top five in the USATapescript:The United States is running out of landfill space, places to put its trash. Because ofthat, more communities are encouraging their residents to recycle, to set aside certainmaterials that won t golandfill. One area that met the recycling challenge head-on, is the southeast City ofCharlotte, North Carolina. In just a few years, its recycling program has become one ofthe country s most successful.Catherine Smith lives in one of the 130,000 eligible recycling households inCharlotte, North Carolina. Nearly 80 percent of the households participate in the program.Each week, Smith goes to her front porch and fills her red plastic bin with recyclables.Youplastic containers marked one or two. You ve t any glass. They also recycle tin cans andnewspapers. So all of that can go in the curbside pick-up bin. ”“Well, this is the easy part. Then someone, ah, driving a Charlotte Mecklenburg RecyclJoW truck comes and, usually, at somepoint tomorrow or Friday and they pick it up at curbside. And that力 sit.From there, Smith s cans, bottles, and newspapers are taken to one of thecommunity recycling centers. The City of Charlotte actually contracts with a privatecompany to process the recyclables.This plant is operated by a company called FCR. The recycling trucks pull into FCReach weekday morning to drop off the used material. Inside, the processing center atFCRis bustling with activity. One of the first things you notice in the 26,000-square-footfacility is a huge mound of materials called the“ commingle area. ” Basically, it s a bigpile oftrash. There are forklifts transporting garbage, and people sorting through it. PaulaHoffman is education coordinator at FCR. She conducts tours of the plant for more thanone thousand people a month.“Thealuminum cans, the number one and number two plastic conta iners, the spiralcans, the glass bottles and jars are all mixed together into a huge pile. Andwe arereceiving about 100 tons a day,which is 200,000 pounds, so you can imagine how many bottles and cans are in thatpile. ”“ Can we walk around a little bit”“Ayou can see, the bottles and cans are riding up the conveyor belt, and they dhdup on a sorting station, where there are twelve workers that will hand-sort the bottles andcans and other containers. As you can see, from the sorting station, they drop theirmaterial down a chute into a large container below. The sorting station is on a raisedplatform. ”Across from the sorters and the commingle area is a mound of newspaper. Of thematerial brought to FCR, three quarters of it is newsprint. It rides a separate conveyorbelt, is checked, and is compacted into bales, 11 to 12 hundred pounds each. Back in thequiet of FCR suditori um, Paula Hoffman describes what happens to the sorted andprocessed recyclables the company receives from Catherine Smith and the thousands ofother area residents. Hoffman says they sold to other companies that then make theminto different products.“Your food and beverage glass containers are always made into new food andbeverage glass containers. Your aluminum beverage cans are, the biggest percentage ofthe time, made into new aluminum beverage cans. Twenty five percent of all beverage,Coca-Cola,Pepsi bottles are now made into new Pepsi or Coke bottles. However, acertain percentage is also made into other products such as the fuzz on a tennis ball,carpeting your number two plastic a lot of it s made into plastic wo(Charlotte, the surrounding county, and FCRare glad to add new recyclables to theirprogram as long as there a sieed for the recycled material. From its high participationrate to the quality end product, Charlotte recycling program is considered one of the topfive in thenation.But ultimately, the success of the Charlotte area recycling program can be traced tothe curbsides of the many individual citizens who, like Catherine Smith, are activeparticipants in program.