THE MAJOR THREATS TO THE EARTH ENVIRONMENT

THE MAJOR THREATS TO THE EARTH ENVIRONMENT

1. EXTINCTION
Destruction of forests and other habitats is driving 100 species of plants and animals to extinction everyday. The losses are especially serious in the tropical forests, which cover only 7 % of the earth’s surface but are home to between 50% and 80% of the planet’s species. The genetic material being lost forever may contain secrets for fighting disease or improving crops.

2. GLOBAL WARMING
If emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are not severely reduced their heat-trapping properties could raise the atmosphere’s mean temperature as much as 8 Fº during the next 60 years. The major sources of C02 are the cars, factories and power plants of the industrial countries and the burning of tropical forests in the less developed world.

3. WASTE
As nations produce millions of tons of household garbage and toxical industrial waste, the world is running out of places to dispose of refuse, and the danger to human health is rising fast. The throwaway societies of developed countries generate the most trash, but the developing nations have problems of their own, most notably the lack of technology to dispose of hazardous chemical wastes safely.

4. OVERPOPULATION
The world’s population, now al 5 billions, is increasing at least 80 millions every year. About 90% of the growth is occurring in developing countries, where most people struggle for survival in the most precarious living conditions.

Overpopulation is leading man to destroy his environment in a desperate effort to produce more food, (by chopping down forests, overgrazing grasslands and overplowing croplands).
(TIME, 2 Enero 1999)

ACTIVIDAD A
SINÓNIMOS O PALABRAS DE SIGNIFICADO PARECIDO.

1) En el párrafo 1, encuentra una (1) palabra cuyo significado sea parecido a:
Extintion: _____________________________________________________________________

2) En el párrafo 2, encuentra dos (2) palabras cuyos significados sean parecidos a:
Warming: _____________________________________________________________________

3) En el párrafo 3, encuentra tres (3) palabras cuyos significados sean parecidos a:
Waste: _______________________________________________________________________





PALABRAS RELACIONADAS
Extrae del texto cuatro (4) palabras mínimo que consideres que se relacionan con cada uno de los temas siguientes:



Extinction


warming


Waste


Overpopulation


ACTIVIDAD C
IDENTIFICACIÓN DEL TEMA
1) Expresa en tus propias palabras en castellano el problema planteado en cada uno de los párrafos:
Párrafo Nº 1.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Párrafo Nº 2.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Párrafo Nº 3.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Párrafo Nº 4.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVIDAD D
En un intento de solucionar estos problemas, se están proponiendo medidas que deberían ser tomadas en cuenta por todas las naciones del mundo.
A continuación, se presentan algunas de estas medidas.
1) Léelas e identifica el problema al cual se refiere cada una de ellas.

SOLUCIÓN
PROBLEMA

Impose special taxes on carbon-dioxide emissions which would encourage energy conservation.

Ban the export of waste.

Developed local organizations and educational programs to impress upon people the value of genetic diversity and irreversible damage that occurs when species are wiped out.

Raise the price of garbage collection and toxic waste removal.

Make birth-control information and devices available to every man and woman.

Set up projects to demonstrate that tropical forests and other endangered habitats can be developed without being destroyed.

Increase funding for the testing of chemicals to determine their toxicity and cancer-causing potential



Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

PREMODIFIERS

PREMODIFICADORES PREMODIFIERS Las estructuras de modificación son aquellas combinaciones sintácticas de sustantivos, adjetivos, verbos o adverbios, como núcleos, con otra palabra o grupo de palabras como modificadores. Los modificadores que se usan delante de un sustantivo, adjetivo, verbo o adverbio se llaman PREMODIFICADORES. En las oraciones que siguen, los premodificadores están subrayados y los núcleos, entre paréntesis: Ejemplo: When summer breaks out, the bare (tundra) of Alaskan (lands) turns into mud. Aquellos modificadores que se usan después de un sustantivo, adjetivo, verbo o adverbio se llaman POSTMODIFICADORES. Ejemplo: They (work) hard . The (winter) there is cold. EJERCICIOS Nº  1 Lea las siguientes oraciones y escriba las estructuras de premodificación colocando el núcleo entre paréntesis y subrayando el (los) modificador (es). 1. The missing books were finally found. 2. When a recently graduated teacher enters a new classroom...
Leer más

Quantifiers with Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Quanti fiers with Countable and Uncountable Nouns           When referring to a quantity, we must first look at the noun and determine if the noun is countable or uncountable. Here are a few pointers that will help you understand when to use which quantity identifier. Countable Nouns Uncountable Nouns A few A little Many Much A lot of A lot of Fewer less Examples for countable nouns We have a few books. There are many teachers here today. I have a lot of shirts. There are fewer students today than yesterday. Examples for uncountable nouns I have a little water left. There is much money in the bank. We have a lot of paper. There is less milk today than yesterday. ***Notice that “a lot of” can be used with countable and uncountable nouns. If you don’t remember when to use “much” or “many” , you can...
Leer más

SOME MISTAKES MADE BY SCIENTISTS

Imagen
SOME MISTAKES MADE BY SCIENTISTS Lee con detenimiento el siguiente texto y conviértalo en español. Encierre en un círculo las estructuras verbales que contengan los verbos modales. Escriba en los espacios correspondientes los equivalentes en castellano de las oraciones o parte de oraciones subrayadas.   (1) A scientist may fall into error while following the procedures of the so-called scientific method. (2) He could make different mistakes in addition to those which will be indicated later. For example, (3) he might fail to read all the relevant literature about the problem he is investigating, and therefore (4) might miss essential pieces of evidence. When designing an experiment or group of experiments, (5) he could incorporate the answers he expects or subconsciously desires. (6) This could happen , especially in the fields of psychology or sociology where the questionnaire method is used extensively. (7) The investigator must be extremely...
Leer más