Nature and environment
Nature & environment
Talk about:
- The
seasons of the year /ročné obdobia/
- The most serious ecological problems
najvážnejšie ekologické problémy/
- air pollution
- water pollution acid
rain, global warming, the greenhouse effect...
- land pollution
-
Protection of environment /ochrana životného prostredia (ŽP)/
- Ecological and
environmental organizations /organizácie na ochranu ŽP/
1. The seasons of the
year:
SPRING – spring is the most beautiful season of the year:
-
the snow melts - sneh sa topí
- flowers and trees bloom – kvety a stromy kvitnú /snowdrops – snežienky,
dundee-lions – púpavy, daffodils – narcisy/
- the birds return from the south – vtáci sa vracajú
z juhu
- people start working in the garden
- we have Easter holidays
SUMMER – it is the warmest
season of the year. Everything is green, birds sing, the sky is blue. We don’t have to go to school in summer. People travel for a holiday in
summer and they visit foreign countries – they go to the sea /k moru/, to the mountains /na hory/.
AUTUMN (AmE:
FALL) – it is the season when the leaves on the trees change their colours. At the beginning of autumn the weather is usually
still nice and warm – we call this period Indian summer /babie leto/ - the fruit ripens /ovocie dozrieva/ and people pick
/zbierať/ it from the trees. Later the weather gets colder, the trees shed their leaves /opadá lístie/ and it rains a lot. Birds fly to the
south.
WINTER – the last season of the year. It starts snowing and freezing /mrzne/. People can do winter
sports, such as skiing, snowboarding and ice-skating. In December the Christmas time comes and people buy presents to each other.
2. When we talk about environment, we can talk about several /viaceré/ problems:
- acid rain – kyslý
dážď
- the hole in the ozon-layer – ozónová diera
- the greenhouse effect –
skleníkový efekt
- global warming – globálne otepľovanie
Our life is dependent on /je závislý na/ 3
elements – the air, the water and the land.
a) Air pollution – it is the biggest problem in big cities where
there are many factories and a lot of traffic /doprava/ - it is caused by smoke, dust, emissions, exhaust fumes /výfukové plyny/ - it later causes
the acid rain and the greenhouse gases
Acid rain – chemicals mix with water in clouds /v oblakoch/ and make acid rain which
damages buildings, kills trees and pollutes the soil.
b) Water pollution – it is
caused by the households /domácnosti/ and agriculture – we use detergents /čistiace prostriedky/ fertilizers /hnojivá/, pesticides /postreky/
and other chemicals. The water pollution can also be caused by big cargo ships /nákladné lode/ and tankers – they can cause a catastrophe –
for example the oil /ropa/ can get into ocean and kill fish and plants in the ocean
c) Soil / land
pollution – it can be contaminated by chemicals or by individuals – we throw out our rubbish /vyhadzujeme odpadky/ and so on.
The main problem is caused by the greenhouse gases /skleníkové plyny/ - they influence /ovplyvňujú/ the greenhouse effect and cause the
global warming.
Global warming causes /spôsobuje/ big changes on the Earth:
- the temperature of the
atmosphere rises – teplota atmosféry sa zvyšuje
- the level of the oceans rises – hladina oceánov stúpa
- the glaciers melt /ľadovce sa roztopia/ which may cause floods /záplavy/
- the number of very hot days can
increase /zvýšiť sa/ - this has an effect on the climate changes and the changes in the ecosystem => these changes can affect
/nepriaznivo vplývať na/ people’s health because we will have to change food and we can have health problems – for example the ultraviolet
radiation /ultrafialové žiarenie/ causes the skin cancer /rakovina kože/, different allergies and eye damage /poškodenie zraku/
-
the weather patterns change in many countries – for example the weather in the cold countries gets warmer and in hot countries –
Africa – it can get colder and there can even snow
- global warming can cause draughts /suchá/
- some
species of animals become endangered or extinct /they can die out/ – niektoré druhy zvierat sa stanú ohrozené alebo vyhynú
-
changes on the Earth may cause tornados, earthquakes /zemetrasenia/, floods /záplavy/ and droughts
/suchá/
3. To protect our environment, we should:
-
use our cars and traffic more efficiently – for example 4 people can use one car together instead of driving 4 cars to
work or to school => we should use unleaded petrol /bezolovnatý benzín/ and catalytic converters /katalyzátory/
- change
travelling by car / bus to riding a bike or walking /ísť pešo/
- save electricity /šetriť
elektrinou/ - turn off the lights, TV, computers when we don’t need them
- save water – we should stop the
watertaps from dripping /zastaviť vodovodné kohútiky, aby nekvapkali/
- plant trees /sadiť stromy/ - a good way
to reduce the greenhouse gases because they absorb the carbon dioxine and produce oxygen /kyslík/
- reduce
/redukovať/ and recycle /recyklovať/ and separate /triediť/
o
cans – plechovky
o bottles – fľaše
o plastic bags – plastové vrecká
o newspaper – noviny
- we should buy environmentally friendly products and green
products – they are marked by a special mark – 3 arrows that make a circle /3 šípky, ktoré tvoria kruh/
- we should
use alternative sources of energy /náhradné zdroje energie/ to produce electricity and for heating – for example:
o geothermal energy – geotermálna energia
o wind energy – veteran energia
o water
energy – vodná energia
o solar energy - solárna energia
- protect endangered animals and
plants
- stop deforestation – we should stop destroying the tropical rain forrests /prestať
s ničením tropických dažďových pralesov/
- create national parks and nature reserves – vytvoriť národné
parky a prírodné rezervácie
4. Ecological and environmental organizations are organizations
which look after and fight for /bojujú za/ the protection of the environment. These are for example Green Peace, Children of the Earth. They
organize public campaigns and they inform the people about the importance of the environmental protection. They also organize protests and help to
eliminate the damages to the nature.
Vocabulary:
environment - životné prostredie
ecology – ekológia
protection of environment - ochrana životného prostredia
warning - varovanie
public campaign - verejná kampaň
to ban - zakázať
pollution: air, water, land / soil – znečistenie: vzduchu, vody, zeme
damage - škoda
destroy - zničiť
to endanger - ohroziť
to pollute environment – znečistiť ŽP
threat - hrozba
consequence - dôsledok
global warming – globálne otepľovanie
the greenhouse effect – skleníkový efekt
hole in the ozone layer – ozónová diera
ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation) – ultrafialové žiarenie
skin cancer – rakovina kože
acid rain – kyslý dážď
deforestation – ničenie lesov, výrub lesov
tropical rain
forest – tropický dažďový prales
earthquake - zemetrasenie
flood - záplava,
zaplaviť
drought - sucho
tornado - tornádo
endangered species of animals –
ohrozené druhy zvierat
extinct species - vyhynuté druhy
exhaust fumes - výfukové plyny
smog - smog
dangerous chemicals – nebezpečné chemikálie
carbon dioxide -
kysličník uhoľnatý
detergents - čistiace prostriedky
lead - olovo
poison -
jed
sulphur - síra
toxic waste – toxický odpad
pesticides – pesticídy,
postreky
fertilizers - hnojivá
waste - odpad
rubbish - odpadky
sewage /sjuidž/ - odpadová kanalizácia industrial and city waste - priemyselný a mestský odpad
leak into the soil - presakovať do pôdy
greenhouse gases – skleníkové plyny
energy
- energia
electricity - elektrina
fossil fuel - pevné / fosílne palivo
coal
- uhlie
oil - ropa, nafta, olej
nuclear power station - atómová elektráreň
nuclear waste – nukleárny odpad
radiation - žiarenie
dump- smetisko, skládka
odpadkov
contaminate - znečistiť, zamoriť
ecosystem - ekosystém
environmental
group – skupina na ochranu ŽP,
environmentally friendly- šetrný k životnému prostrediu
solution
- riešenie
green (product) - ekologicky nezávadný (výrobok)
recycle - recyklovať
Zones.sk – Zóny pre každého študenta