Are you worried about nature?

Year 7, unit 4, lesson 4

S.B., p. 75, ex. 1, part 1Environmental problems

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAbOVeKYgjU

Read and say if you are worried about it.

A lot of waste is produced every day!

Land Pollution How does land get polluted? DOMESTIC WASTE Every single day, tons and tons of domestic waste ranging from fish bones to huge

pieces of rubbish such as unused refrigerator. If all these wastes are not disposed of properly, the damage they can do to the environment and humankind can be extremely devastating.

While waste collected from homes, offices and industries may be recycled or burnt in incinerators, a large amount of rubbish is neither burnt nor recycled but is left in certain areas marked by the government as dumping grounds.

With the rising standards of living, we throw away more things and there is an increase in the quantity of solid waste. This has given rise to problems as new dumping grounds have to be found.

AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES Besides domestic waste, pesticides and herbicides used by farmers to increase

crop yields also pollute the land when they are washed into the soil. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES Industrial activities also contribute to land pollution. For example, in open cast

mining, enormous holes are dug in the ground and these form dangerously deep mining pools. Heaps of mining waste are left behind and these waste often contain many poisonous substances that will contaminate the soil.

Read and say if you are worried about it.

The impact of the Chernobyl disaster lasts even up to now.

The Chernobyl DisasterChernobyl is a small town in Ukraine, Russia.What made this town so famous was the explosion of its nuclear power plant on SaturdayApril 26 1986, which resulted in widespread suffrage of cancer and the contamination of

livestock and agriculture. It was undoubtedly the world's greatest nuclear accident.

What Caused the Incident?There are a few causes for this disaster which are identified and still under speculation . They

are:OPERATORS' OVERCONFIDENCEIt was said the operators in reactor no. 4 were too overconfident in their decision making.DESIGN FLAWSome specialists say that the design of the reactors are ineffective.INADEQUENCY OF SAFETY SYSTEMSThe adequacy of the safety systems and its implementation during the disaster were questioned.

What was the impact of the incident?HEALTH Many people who were exposed to radiation acquired cancer and other radioactive

illnesses. To make things worse, of those who survived, they were most likely to pass the cancer to the subsequent generations. Some were disabled by the accident and a large number remained invalid for the rest of their lives. Recent scientific research has also found that the radiation doses had resulted in "an unexpectedly high (sevenfold) increase" in mutations among children born after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, and that these doses can cause multiple changes in human DNA that are passed on to future generations.

Water PollutionWater pollution occurs mostly, when people overload the water environment such as streams, lakes, underground water, bays or seas with wastes or substances harmful to living beings.The major water pollutants are chemical, biological, and physical materials that lessen the water quality. Pollutants can be separated into several different classes:The first class is petroleum products: oil, fuel, lubrication, plastics. The petroleum products get into water by accidental spills from ships, tanker trucks and when there are leaks from underground storage tanks. Many petroleum products are poisonous for animals. Spilled oil damages the feathers of birds and the fur of animals, often it causes death.The second class is pesticides and herbicides. There are chemicals used to kill harmful animals and plants. If they penetrate into streams, rivers, lakes, these chemicals can be very dangerous. The chemicals can remain dangerous for a long time. When an animal eats a plant that's been treated with it, the poisons are absorbed into the tissues and organs of the animals.

Read and say if you are worried about it.

The third class are heavy metals, such as, mercury, selenium, uranium, radium, cesium, etc. They get into the water from industries, automobile exhausts, mines, and natural soil. Heavy metals also become more harmful as they follow the food chain. They accumulate in living being's cells and when they reach high levels of concentration in the organism, they can be extremely poisonous, or can result in long-term health problems. They can sometimes cause liver and kidney damage.The fourth class is fertilizers and other nutrients used to promote plant growth on farms and in gardens.The fifth class is infectious organisms and pathogens. They enter water through sewage, storm drains, runoff from farms, etc.The last one is thermal pollution. Water is often taken from rivers, lakes or seas to be used in factories and power plants. The water is usually returned to the source warmer than when it was taken. Even a small temperature change in a body of water can drive away the fish and other species that were originally there, and attract other species in place of them. It breaks a balance and can cause serious circumstances in future.

Read and say if you are worried about it.

Watch and say if you are worried about it.This is What Global Warming looks likehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG41xDxrzI8

• For other information to be discussed you should read texts in pdf format.

Read the poem. What do you think of it?• Mrs. Schmidt Talks about Pollution• • You couldn’t ever hang the wash outside:• The wind would blow our way. My Heinrich’s cuffs,• All nice and white, got blackened with the stuff• Before he’d been an hour at work. We tried• To keep things decent, always took a pride• In our appearances, but just a puff• Of air would make us smutty. Like black fluff,• But sort of greasy, too: it never dried• But smeared our hands—the devil to get clean.• And this new soap we tried just made things worse.• Gritty, it was, and never lathered rightly.• Funny to think of now, of course: it’s been• So long since then, but oh dear, what a curse—• Living near Dachau, back in forty-three.• • ~William Dunlop (1997)

Let’s go green.