Environmental science: a synthesis.

MODULE 1

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

The objectives of the module are:

-to talk about environmental science;

-to discuss environmental hazards;

-to revisit verb tenses;

-to improve writing skills on keeping a lab notebook.

Part 1

Environmental science: a synthesis.

The science of ecology is the study of the relationships among organisms and between organisms and their environment, the scientists engaged in this area are called ecologists.

Environmental science is a composite entity, incorporating natural sciences – such as biology, chemistry, earth science, physics and medicine – and social science – such as economics, political science and sociology. It also involves history, mathematics and statistics, technology, business and management, law, ethics, philosophy, religion, morality and aesthetics. Every aspect of human behavior has some relationship to the natural environment.

Environmental science has its roots in natural history, the study of where and how organisms carry out their life cycles. Natural history observations were the foundation for science of ecology, the study of environmental factors and how organisms interact with them.

Resource management and resource technology also are significant features of environmental science. You probably know that natural resources are classified as either nonrenewable resources or renewable resources. Metal ores, coal, and oil are examples of nonrenewable resources. Biological resources, such as forests and fisheries are classified as renewable resources. But some biological resources are not truly renewable. When a forest is removed in such a way that the soil is left unprotected, for instance, erosion by wind and water may so depredate soil conditions that it is not possible for a new forest to become established.

Of all animal species that ever have inhabited Earth, humans have had the most rapid and drastic impact upon it. Our impact is accelerating because our numbers are increasing at an accelerating rate. We are faced with the “population – resource – environment dilemma”: how can we deal with the needs of more people, while making the most of limited resources and minimizing environmental degradation. This problem is the prime focus of environmental science. At its heart, it is a problem of human ecology, the interaction of humans with the environment.

Finally, environmental science deals with priorities. What conditions of the environment are best for people, for native vegetation and animals and for maintaining usability of the land? How do you balance costs, economic benefits and environmental impacts? How do you determine acceptable levels of risk? Where does armed conflict between countries, its threat or its defendence, fit into the setting of proprieties?

Human priorities are linked strongly, on the one hand, with economic and political expediencies and, on the other hand, with ethics. All of the above questions are difficult and their relevance is demonstrated daily on television news programs and in written news reports and analyses. In the end, each of us will decide, through our priorities, actions and inactions, what the future of Earth will be.

Ex. 1.5 Answer the following questions:

1) What does environmental science deal with?

2) Why is environmental science a composite entity?

3) What made the foundation for the science of ecology?

4) What are significant features of environmental science?

5) Do you know how natural resources are classified?

6) Can you give an example when some biological resources are not truly renewable?

7) What priorities does environmental science deal with?

Ex. 1.6 Find in the text the definition of:

1) environmental science;

2) natural history;

3) renewable resources;

4) human ecology.

Ex. 1.7 With a partner, try to decide whether the following statements are true or false:

1) Every aspect of human behavior has some relationship to the natural environment.

2) All biological resources are classified as renewable resources.

3) Humans have had the most rapid and drastic impact upon Earth.

4) Human priorities are never linked with ethics.

5) Resource management is a significant feature of environmental science.

6) All biological resources are truly renewable.

Ex 1.8 Give Russian equivalents for:

Relationship, to be engaged in, entity, to involve, behaviour, to carry out, to interact, fishery, to remove, to establish, species, to inhabit, impact, to accelerate, to be faced with, to deal with, degradation, priority, acceptable, to maintain, usability, threat, expedience, relevance, a composite entity, to incorporate, resource management, renewable and nonrenewable resources, soil conditions, to depredate species, at an accelerating rate, economic benefits, on the one hand, on the other hand, relevance.

Ex. 1.9 Complete the following with appropriate words and phrases:

1) Environmental science has its roots in …

2) Natural resources are classified as …

3) Biological resources are …

4) We are faced with the …

5) Humans have had the …

6) Human priorities are linked with …

7) Environmental science deals with …

8) Each of us will decide …

9) Our impact on environment is …

Ex.1.10 Give as many collocations as possible and translate them into Russian. Use them in sentences of your own:

general (biology, education, meaning, trends, …)

basic (assumptions, features, principles, subdivisions, …)

to found (a university, a tradition, a theory, a laboratory, …)

to consult (a reference book, a teacher, your scientific adviser, the dictionary, …)

Ex. 1.11 Look back in the text and use the context to guess the meaning of the following phrasal verbs (two-part verbs):

to make up, to carry out, to account for, to bring about, to bring out, to deal with, to look for, to look forward to, to focus on, to bear on, to give up, to keep to, to find out, to face with, to concentrate on.

Ex. 1.12 Form nouns using the following suffixes and translate them into Russian:

- tion ((s)sion) – accumulate, appreciate, assume, investigate, observe, suggest, predict, generalize, populate, interact, depredate, determine, classify, compose, found;

- ance (ence) – accept, exist, occur, depend, patient, tolerant, differ;

- ment – develop, measure, settle, require; move, enjoy, govern;

- ist – nature, ecology, specialty, pedology, communism, journal;

-ee – employ, train, interview;

- ity (iety, y) – special, fertile, necessary, useable, immune, anxious, peculiar.

Ex. 1.13 Form the opposite of the following words by using the prefixes and translate them into Russian:

non – acid, resistant, renewable, sense, smoking, stop;

un – able, common, cultivated, explored, known, usual, healthy, necessary, important, popular, satisfactory, satisfying, happy;

in – capable, efficient, human, exhaustible, essential, attentive, directly; dependent, experienced, secure;

de – to compose, to increase, formation, promotion;

dis – advantage, order, integration, appearance, satisfaction, satisfied, loyal, pleased.

Ex. 1.14 Agree or disagree with the statements given below. Use the phrases in the box:

1) More attention ought to be paid to ecology.

2) We are actually ruining our own habitat.

3) Modern technology does not affect nature in any way.

4) Man has violated laws of nature and is going to pay for it.

5) What most people now breathe is very clean air and they have no idea about pollution.

6) Some biological resources are not truly renewable.

7) Each of us will decide what the future of Earth will be.

8) We needn’t worry about the resources of our environment for they are inexhaustible.

9) Technical progress has greatly affected nature.

10) Environmental science is a multidisciplinary academic field that integrates physical, biological and information sciences to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems.

Verb Tenses

Ex. 1. 15 Choose the best verb form(s) in each sentence:

1) I suggest/ I’m suggesting that you think carefully about your version of events.

2) They have made/ made some successful experiments in the last few weeks.

3) She has been living/ lived next to the student campus since 2007.

4) My scientific advisor has known/ knew this scientist for 5 years.

5) My fellow students are writing/ have been writing the test for 2 hours.

6) I think/ I’m thinking of taking part in an expedition this year.

7) The participants were discussing/ discussed some important issues when a secretary burst into the conference room.

8) Water samples from the Don River will be analyzed/ will have been analyzed by Monday.

9) If I were a very famous researcher, I would discover/ will discover some new drugs that help people to eradicate AIDS.

10) What shall I do if there is/ will be nobody there to meet me?

Ex. 1. 16 Open the brackets and put the verbs into the correct tense:

1. How long you (be) involved in the University project?

2. I don’t see my foreign colleagues very often but I (know) them for 6 years.

3. We (start) studying Geoecology 2 years ago when we were participants of the city’s cleaning party for the first time.

4. How long you (wait)? Follow me please, the meeting already (finish).

5. As soon as he (finish) writing his report, he (join) the project.

6. Sandra felt sorry when she (realize) that her mineral collection (steal).

7. My friend said he (participate) in the “green” party the following week.

8. Have you seen any interesting advertisements in this newspaper? I still (look for) a part-time job.

9. Last term nobody (help) the young scientist while he (make) a very important experiment.

10. When Jane (arrive) late for the interview, she (realize) the Director (leave).

Ex. 1. 17 Translate the following sentences into English:

1) Я занимаюсь проблемами окружающей среды уже 5 лет.

2) Еще в школе я увлекался естественными науками, ставил эксперименты и смотрел научно-публицистические фильмы.

3) Многое изменилось с тех пор, и сейчас я - молодой ученый.

4) В настоящий момент я работаю над диссертацией и занимаюсь поиском информации к первой главе.

5) Перед тем как поступить в аспирантуру, я посоветовался с родителями, со своим научным руководителем и лучшим другом.

6) Они вдохновили меня на участие в международной конференции по проблемам окружающей среды, которая пройдет в апреле.

7) После участия в конференции я осознал, что хочу заниматься исследованием проблем окружающей среды.

8) Экзамены в аспирантуру не были сложными для меня, и я смог продемонстрировать все знания, полученные в ВУЗе.

9) К следующему месяцу я закончу писать первую главу и покажу ее научному руководителю.

10) Надеюсь, что меня пригласят к сотрудничеству с зарубежными вузами после того, как выйдет моя первая публикация по проблемам окружающей среды.

Part 2

Ex. 1.18 Read and review the text using the following phrases:

-The article under review is called …

-The main aim of the article is…

-The author deals with the problem of…

-Much attention is given to…

-The article can be recommended to a wide range of…

Environmental Hazards

Loss of habitat is the principle threat to the survival of endangered plants and animals. Large areas of important natural habitat have been already lost, including 70 percent of the forests in Greece, 91 percent of the moist forests in Sudan, and nearly 100 percent of the tall grass prairies in the United States. Population growth, agricultural expansion, the raising of cattle and other livestock, the building of cities and roads and pollution are among the many causes of habitat distraction. “National Protected Systems” make up 3,7 percent of the Earth’s land area, but the amount of land protected in each country varies from a high of 38 percent in Ecuador to less than 1 percent in Turkey. Both the number and size of “International Protection Systems” have increased over the years, but legal protection does not guarantee actual protection of the land.

Information about wildlife at risk in some courtiers is not always available. For instance, little is known about non-mammals in Africa and about Asian species in general. For some countries, however, information is readily available. For example 43 mammalian species in Australia and 123 bird species in Mexico are at risk, 18 amphibian species in France are threatened with extinction.

Trade in animals and animal products can have disastrous effects on wildlife populations. Some bird species have become endangered solely from being hunted for the pet trade. Much of the trade in animals and animal products is illegal. Many rare birds are taken illegally from their habitat, and the ivory trade has reduced the total elephant population in Africa from an estimated 1.300.000 in 1979 to fewer than 650.000 today.

When we think of wildlife facing extinction, we are usually thinking of large majestic animals such as whales, elephants and rhinos or the “cuddly” black-and-white panda. These creatures are indeed at risk of extinction because of irresponsible and cruel hunting by human predators. But the threat of extinction is not limited to the few species that we can recognize in pictures or visit in zoos. The threat of extinction affects almost every species on earth, down to the tiniest microbe.

The balance of nature within any ecosystem depends on the complex interaction between millions of species of animals, plants and microorganisms. The death of one species could threaten the survival of hundreds of others. A second species might lose its food supply. Another species could lose its predators, so it might become more numerous. The populations of parasites and microorganisms that depend on these larger species will also change. This may lead to the spread of new diseases in the higher organisms. There are many more species of small organisms then of large ones. Insects outnumber all other animal species combined, and bacteria outnumber all the animal and plant species together. Microorganisms influence important physical properties such as the acidity and mineral content of the soil, the salinity of the sea, and the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air. Changes in the populations of microorganisms may, therefore, cause major changes in the composition of the earth and its atmosphere.

Keeping a lab notebook

Ex. 1.19 The abbreviations and symbols below could all be used in a scientist’s lab notebook. In pairs, discuss what you think each one means:

1 ∆ _______

2 RT _______

3 ± _______

4 w/v _______

5 @ _______

6 ˅ _______

7 ˄ _______

8 → _______

9 ↑ _______

10 E _______

11 w/ _______

12 ~ _______

Ex.1.20 Now match the abbreviations or symbols (1-12) to the correct meanings (A-L) below:

12
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