Unit 2 Earth and Environment
Part 1 Warming up
A
1. ...impact of climate change … damage to crops … wor ...
2. ...2000 delegates … northern Brazil … third United Nations Conference on Dertification.
3. ...A huge oil spill … Mexico, ...
4. Wildfires … Florida … contained … a week ...
5. ... Greenland is melting around the edges … 50 cubic kilometers … rai global a level ...
B
1. It attempts to balance environmental concerns and the needs of the community.
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. There’s general agreement that the country has to u water more efficiently. In many part supplies are in crisis.
At a meeting in Canberra, the Council of Australian Governments has approved national water plan. It attempts to balance environmental concerns and the needs of the community. The amount of water taken from rivers for commercial u is to be cut and farmers will be compensated.
2. The disappearance and deformity of amphibians such as frogs and salamanders from rain forests and mountain lakes worldwide has attracted wide-spread scientific attention 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 as amphibians, or some 100 species, are currently listed as endangered by the World Conrvation Union. The study says habitat loss and degradation, pollution, dia, climate change, and over-collection for food, pets and drugs are the major threat to reptiles.
3. Four regional governors from Columbia, on a visit to Washington, have sharply criticized an American-backed aerial offensive to eradicate thousands of hectares of illegal coke and poppy plantations. At a news conference the governors called for a different approach in the fight against the illegal drugs trade, saying that the herbicides currently being ud 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 bas of life? One in every eight species of plants is thr
eatened with extinction. Since all food chains begin in the sphere of plant life, this is bad news for the animals too, including humans who depend on plants not only for food but also for medicines, building materials, and other vital purpos.
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 together with local recycling and environmental specialists to put together this firstever directory. It includes quick reference to green products and rvices for recycling, xeriscaping, energy conrvation, and more. The $5 cost helps rai funds for the sponsoring groups.
Part II News Reports
A
...Washington … the information economy … deteriorating health of the planet … information economy … communication … education and entertainment … physical exam … vital signs … species … climate … temperatures … water tables … glaciers … forests … fisheries … to stabilize both climate and world population growth
Tapescript:
An annual study by the Worldwatch Institute here in Washington says with the boom in the information economy, Americans have lost sight of the deteriorating health of the planet.
State of the World 2000 says the fast growing information economy is affecting every aspect of life, from communication, commerce and work, to education and entertainment.
Lead author and Worldwatch President Lester Brown says while Americans generally feel a n of optimism about the economy, the planet’s health is suffering. He says it is a mistake “to confu the vibrancy of the virtual world with the increasingly troubled state of the real world.”
“We give the earth an annual physical, and this book is the result of that annual physical. We check its vital signs. And almost all tho vital signs, whether it’s the number of species, whether it’s the stability of climate, whether it’s the number of species, whether it
’s the stability of climate, whether it’s the health of coral reefs, all tho trends show deterioration.”
