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Текст 1. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

The word environment means simply what is around us. Some people live in a town environment; for others, their environment is the countryside. Nowadays people understand how important it is to solve the environment problems that endanger people’s lives. The most serious environmental problems are:

· Pollution in its many forms (water pollution, air pollution, nuclear pollution)

· Noise from cars, buses, planes, etc.

· Destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty

· Shortage of natural resources (metals, different kinds of fuel)

· The growth of population

There is no ocean or sea, which is not used as a dump. Many seas are used for dumping industrial and nuclear waste. This poisons and kills fish and sea animals. “Nuclear-poisoned” fish can be eaten by people. Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too. Fish and reptiles can’t live in them. There is not enough oxygen in the water. In such places all the birds leave their habitats and many plants die. If people drink this water they can die too. It happens so because factories produce a lot of waste and pour it into rivers. So they poison water.

Most of the pollution in big cities comes from cars and buses. More and more often people are told not to be in direct sunlight, because ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer. Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from such radiation, but if there are holes in the ozone layer ultraviolet radiation can get to the earth. Many scientists think that these holes are the result of air pollution. Nuclear power stations can go wrong and cause nuclear pollution. Both clean air and clean water are necessary for our health. If people want to survive they must solve these problems quickly. Man is beginning to understand that his environment is not just his own town or country, but the whole earth. That’s why people all over the world think and speak so much about ecology.

Текст 2. ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man’s interference in nature began to increase.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The by-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

The pollution of air and the world’s ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man’s careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crises.

The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18 percent of the territory of Belarus were also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people’s health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Byelorussian and other nations.

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. As many as 159 countries — members of the UNO — have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl.

An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international Оrganization Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment.

But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generations.

Текст 3. RIVERS IN HUMAN LIFE

Rivers have always been of great use to humans. The earliest civilizations, including those of Mesopotamia and Egypt in the Middle East and the Indus Valley in India, developed near rivers. The rivers provided early humans with water to drink and fish to eat. When people learned to build and use boats, rivers supplied a cheap and easy way to travel. The Nile and the Rhine have been highways of trade for many centuries. Floodplains provided fertile soil for crops, and the system called irrigation allowed people to use rivers to water their fields.

People still depend on rivers for much of their water supply. Cities need huge amounts of water every day for industrial and home use. In many places rivers are used to produce electric power. Hydroelectric dams, such as the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, harness the swift flow of rivers to create great amounts of electricity.

Some human activities are harmful to rivers. Large factories built alongside rivers use enormous amounts of water for cooling and other purposes. Then they return the water to the river at overheated temperatures. The unnaturally hot water disturbs the ecology of the river and kills fish. Industries also dump sulfur, lead, and other harmful chemical waste into rivers. Cities near rivers contribute to the problem by releasing their wastes into the water. Another source of river pollution is the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides (insect-killing substances) on surrounding land. These chemicals get into the groundwater and then can enter a river.

Pollution does not just affect the creatures that live in the water. When people eat fish taken from polluted streams, the pollution passes into their bodies and can cause cancer or other health problems.

Текст 4. GREENPEACE

Greenpeace is an international organization dedicated to preserving endangered species of animals, preventing environmental abuses, and heightening environmental awareness through direct confrontations with polluting corporations and governmental authorities. Greenpeace was founded in 1971 in British Columbia to oppose U.S. nuclear testing at Amchitka Island in Alaska. The organization quickly attracted support from ecologically minded individuals and began undertaking campaigns seeking the protection of endangered whales and seals from hunting, the cessation of the dumping of toxic chemical and radioactive wastes at sea, and the end of nuclear-weapons testing. The primary tactic of Greenpeace has been such “direct, nonviolent actions” as steering small inflatable craft between the harpoon guns of whalers and their cetacean prey and the plugging of industrial pipes discharging toxic wastes into the oceans and the atmosphere. Such dangerous and dramatic actions brought Greenpeace wide media exposure and helped mobilize public opinion against environmentally destructive practices. Greenpeace also actively sought favourable rulings from national and international regulatory bodies on the control of environmental abuses, sometimes with considerable success. The organization has a small staff and relies largely on voluntary staffing and funding.

British Columbia - Британская Колумбия ( провинция Канады)

Текст 5. SMOKE+FOG=SMOG

Fog, fog everywhere — down the river where it spreads among the ships; in the streets, creeping into the houses, lingering before the doors; fog in the eyes and throats of chance passers-by, its thick veil all around them. Cars move along at a snail's pace but still street accidents are frequent in the fog. People cannot see each other at arm's length, they, too, collide in the streets.

An old anecdote comes to my mind: in a fog a young man wanted to cross the street, but he was afraid to be run over. At that moment he saw quite near the figure of a man walking with a firm step. Our young man eagerly ran up to him, caught his hand, and they crossed the street together.

"How do you manage to find your way in the fog so well?' asked the young man.

"My dear sir, fog or no fog, it makes no difference, I am blind," was the answer.

The fog begins with a transparent veil through which you can clearly see the sharp outlines of the buildings; then it becomes thicker and thicker, sometimes coloured yellow by the smoke of innumerable chimneys; a thick yellow suffocating fog of this kind is called "smog" (a combination of the words "smoke" and "fog").

There isn't all that much smog in London.

The fog is one of the most typical features of London and the Londoners cannot imagine their capital without it.

Текст 6. ACID RAIN

When we look up, we see the clouds and the blue sky. But there are other things in the sky that we don’t see. Some of these are harmful to earth. When power plants burn coal to make electricity, and when cars burn gasoline, invisible gases are released into the air. Some of these gases can mix with water and make acidic. Sometimes the gases get into the rain clouds where they get mixed in with rain or snow. Then the acid falls back to Earth with the rain or snow. This is called acid rain.

Acid rain can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure through the process of wet deposition. Acid rain is caused by emissions of compounds of ammonium, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Governments have made efforts since the 1970s to reduce the production of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere with positive results. However, it can also be caused naturally by the splitting of nitrogen compounds by the energy produced by lightning strikes, or the release of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere by volcano eruptions.

Acid rain is killing vast stretches of forests in Canada, the United States and central and northern Europe. In Europe nearly every species of tree is affected. Symptoms include thinning of leaves and needles, deformed growth, and, in some cases death. Acid rain has acidified lakes and streams, rendering them unable to support fish, wildlife, plants, or insects. In Sweden at least 40,000 of the 90,000 lakes have been affected, and in the USA on in five lakes suffers from this type of pollution.

It’s very important for us to stop making acid rain. One good way to do it is to drive our cars less. Another good way is to save energy we use. Saving energy means saving the Earth.

Текст 7. CLEAN AIR TIPS

In California, about half the air pollution comes from cars and trucks.  Two big ways to reduce air pollution are to drive less -- even a little less -- and to drive smart.   Fewer trips in your car will help cut air pollution.  And how you drive can reduce your car's air pollution contribution.

Driving less doesn't mean you have to stay home. Try combining driving with other ways of getting where you want to go:

1.   Carpool.

2.   Walk or ride a bicycle.

3.   Shop by phone or mail.

4.   Ride public transit.

5.   Telecommute.

6.   Accelerate gradually.

7.   Use cruise on the highways.

8.   Obey the speed limit.

9.   Combine your errands into one trip.

10. Keep your car tuned and support Smog Check Program.

11. Don't top off at the gas pump.

12. Replace your car's air filter.

13. Keep your tires properly inflated.

14. That's not all. When shopping for your next car...

Look for the most efficient, lowest polluting model - or even a zero-polluting car.

Текст 8. HUMAN BEINGS AND THEIR INVIRONMENT

There are a lot of problems facing people on the planet earth nowadays. The problems that demand world action are: the growth of world population, economic crises, and ethnic conflicts.

But the most urgent problem concerning the people of the whole world is an ecological one.

What is ecology? Ecology is the science that studies the conditions of the habitat of man, animals and plants for the benefit of present and future generations.

What is the environment? The environment is everything around us. It includes all living things. It also includes everything that is not alive, such as the soil, the air and the water.

Human activities can make the environment unhealthy. The gasoline burned inside car engines produces gases that poison the air. Factories burn fuels to run machines, and these burning fuels, too, put poisons into the air. Human activities also poison water. Some factories produce liquid wastes that run into rivers. Often, these wastes contain poisons.

Sometimes, useful chemicals cause problems in the environment.

When small animals eat poisoned insects, they take in the chemicals into their cells. When larger animals eat these small animals, the poison is passed on to the larger animals. The larger animals are eaten by still other animals including people.

Many scientists study the environment. When there is a problem, they try to find out why. Then they look for ways to stop the problem. Scientists have also helped find ways to reduce air and water pollution. New cars burn fuel better and produce fewer poisons. Factories, too, produce fuel poisons. There are laws against dumping poisons into rivers and lakes. People who break these laws should be punished.

Текст 9. BUSINESS GOES GREEN!

Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless manufacturing, processes employed by some industries and lack of consumer demand for environmentally safe products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic, and metal containers are produced, and these are difficult to dispose of.

However, today more and more consumers are choosing “green” and demanding that the products they buy are safe foe the environment. Before they buy a product they ask questions like these: “Will this hairspray damage the ozone layer?” “Is the packaging biodegradable?” “Will it break down in a trash dump?” “Can this metal container be recycled or can it only be used once?”

A recent survey showed that two out of five adults now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it. This means that companies must now change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are “green”, that is, friendly to the environment.

Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels to show that the product is green. Some companies have made the manufacturing of clean and safe products their main selling point and emphasize it in their advertising.

The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of “Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it.” The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.

Текст 10. PLASTICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Most plastics are not biodegradable; that is, they do not break down over time into simpler substances as do foodstuffs or natural fibers. Some scientists are investigating methods of creating biodegradable plastics that deteriorate, for example, on exposure to sunlight. One of the main problems in this type of research is making certain that the plastics degrade only after they are used and not before.

The problem also arises of what to do with millions of tons of plastic waste. In response, the plastics industry and environmental groups are studying ways to recycle plastics. Some plastic objects can be ground up and reprocessed into new products. For example, soft-drink bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene milk jugs have been refabricated into such products as filler for down jackets and sleeping bags, insulation, strapping materials, and plastic lumber. (Plastic beverage bottles and jugs may not be reused for food or drink.) Several states in the United States have laws calling for the recycling of PET soft-drink bottles, and more states are considering such laws.

The effects of plastics on the environment, however, go beyond the issue of recycling. Plastic-foam processors, for example, have used chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as foaming agents. There is now considerable evidence that CFCs deplete the atmospheric ozone layer, which protects the Earth by blocking out much of the sun's ultraviolet radiation. According to the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement signed in 1987, ratifying nations must greatly reduce their use of CFCs by the year 2000. Other foaming agents that do not harm the ozone layer are meanwhile being studied.

Текст 11. HOW CAN WE MAKE OUR PLANET A SAFER PLACE FOR ANIMALS?

Read the text and put the paragraphs in the correct order.

1. Another solution is to promote education about endangered species. If people understand the problem, they will buy fewer products made of materials such as ivory or fur.

2. In conclusion, there are many ways to make our world a better place for animals. We all need to do whatever we can. As Malcolm Bradbury said “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem”.

3. Is our planet a safe place for animals? Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like it. Thousands of species have become extinct and many more are now endangered. We need to do something fast before it is too late for them.

4. Firstly, measures should be taken to protect our wildlife. The destruction of threatened animals’ habitats should be illegal, with long prison sentences for people who break these laws. This would protect animals and the environments they live in.

5. Finally, we should create more national parks and conservation areas. This would allow animals to live and breed safely in their natural habitats. As a result, their numbers would increase and species would not die out.

Текст 12. PRESERVING THE ENVINROMENT.

Recently more and more attention has been focused on the problem of preserving the environment. Over the past thirty years or so the quality of many people's lives has deteriorated in some respects because of tech­nological progress. Those people living near airports are constantly attacked by the noise of increasingly larger and more powerful jet aircraft taking off and landing. We have ugly buildings which have appeared in towns and cities. Some of these are blocks of flats-high-rise buildings built because of the high price of land.

The motor car has been responsible for many changes in the environment. On the one hand it has brought mobility to millions of people but on the other it has led to the construction of more and more noisy and dangerous roads and has polluted the atmosphere with exhaust fumes.

While towns and cities have become larger and uglier and more densely populated, the rural areas have lost most of their population owing to the need for fewer workers in agriculture. The countryside has also been affected by the large-scale use of insecticides. For one thing the killing of insects has resulted in a loss of bal­ance in the ecology. Insects, although a nuisance to farm­ers, provide food for birds. Many people are afraid that fruit and vegetables sprayed with chemicals may have some poisonous effect upon the people who eat them.

Recently, however, certain counter measures against the destruction of the environment have been introduced. One of the first acts of Parliament to coun­ter pollution was the Clean Air Act, which opened the way to smokeless zones in large towns and cities. This followed a very bad winter in which many people with bronchial complaints became very ill or died through the effects of a mixture of smoke, fog and fumes known as "smog". Rivers which are fouled up with industrial chemical waste are now being cleaned, and fish which could not live there a few years ago can be caught again.

Текст 13. THE ATTACK ON BRITAIN’S ENVIRONMENT

Most of the western nations have the same basic environmental problems, but they take different forms in each country. Onу of Britain’s environmental successes has been the control of air pollution, especially in London. Thirty years ago hundreds of people died every year from the dreadful London smogs. Since then London and many other cities have become smokeless zones, area where no coal fires are allowed. But now the increase in traffic is threatening serious air pollution in the cities again.

However , the commonest air pollution comes from the cigarette smoke which pollutes many public places, like cinemas, pubs and restaurants. Though cigarette advertisements are not allowed on TV or radio, you can still see them on posters in cinemas, and in newspapers and magazines. The advertisements don’t tell you that doctors believe cigarettes cause 30,000 deaths in Britain every year.

Traffic and aircraft can cause serious noise pollution. Aircrafts are very noisy when they take off and the noise spreads over a wide area. Heathrow airport, near London, is the busiest airport in the world.

There has been bad pollution on Britain’s rivers, and the government has tried hard to stop it. There are now strict laws against water pollution, though it still quite often happens accidentally. Britain and France share the problem of oil pollution from the channel. This has caused great damage to beaches and wildlife.

The need fro new roads causes great environmental difficulties. They often spoil the countryside and bring noise and pollution to thousand of homes. Since 1985 the pollution of Britain has increased by 11% but the number of cars increased by 400 %.

Cars cause other problems too: thousands of people die in car accidents; car parks use valuable spaces in towns and cities; cars use a lot of limited amount of oil. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to do anything about all this because cars play an important part in the lives of many families, and the car industry employs a large number of people.

Friends of the Earth suggest that the bicycle is the best way to travel because it’s cheap, quiet and riding it keeps you healthy. However, there are far fewer cyclists in Britain than in some other European countries. It can be dangerous to cycle in large cities as British motorists don’t seem to notice cyclists. Some people think that only buses and bicycles should be allowed in the city centers.

Текст 14. COLD? BRITAIN IS ACTUALLY GETTING HOTTER

Most Britons could be forgiven for thinking a new Ice Age is upon us. Small comfort, then, as we struggle through snowdrifts and cope with burst pipes, that the present cold is a sign the British climate is generally getting milder.

Ironically, most scientists now believe the short sharp shock of severe cold that has struck Europe for three winters running is an indicator that the world is growing warmer. The burning of fossil fuels is building up a blanket of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, creating a "greenhouse" effect.

Britain and Europe have certainly experienced weather this cold before. In the 17th century, the Thames froze solid so of­ten that it became a regular winter sports attraction. The weather then was so severe that it is sometimes referred to as the Little Ice Age. Even in the early 19th century, Britain's cli­mate was still colder than it is today. We still have a cherished picture of Charles Dickens's Christmases — although, in fact, snow at Christmas has been a rarity in southern England for 150 years.

Studies of temperature trends around the world show that it has been warming up since the middle of the 19th century. Most experts agree that this is a result of human activities. By burning coal and oil, we are putting carbon dioxide into the air. This acts like a blanket round the earth, trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space. As long as we keep burning fossil fuel, the trend is likely to continue. So why have we had such severe cold spells in Europe recently? According to researchers at the University of East Anglia, it is all part of the same process. When the climate of the globe changes, it doesn’t do so evenly. Britain and Western Europe are just unlucky in being in the path of a particularly significant wind shift.

By comparing the weather in different seasons, during the warmest and coldest years of the 20th century, the researchers have built up a picture of what is going on. Their key new discovery is that although spring, summer and autumn are all warmer, severe cold spells in winter are most likely over the whole of central Europe. So then, short cold spells mean it's generally getting warmer — but the bad news is it could get TOO warm. If the predictions come true — and the present changes are exactly in line with computer forecasts — within the next 40 or 100 years we shall see a change in climate as dramatic as the shift which ended the last Ice Age.

Текст 15. THE VANISHING SPECIES

About 50 million kinds of plants, animals, and microorganisms have made this planet home since the beginning time. Today there are five to ten million species, two-thirds of which live in the tropics. Thus, 490 mil­lion species have become extinct, lost forever. Extinction is the evolution­ary fact of life. But natural extinction differs considerably from impending doom now facing the rhino and tens of thousands of plants and other ani­mals. There are two reasons why natural extinction differs from the accel­erated extinction now taking today.

First, during the course of millennia old species evolved into new ones. Consequently, many of the 490 million extinct species are repre­sented today by their descendants. Modern extinctions, on the other hand, eliminate species entirely. If the rhino should vanish, it would leave no evolutionary legacy. It would be gone forever.

Second, rate of extinction varies considerably. Even through some spe­cies did vanish because of severe climate changes or increasing environ­mental resistance created by excess predation or disease, the rate of natural extinction was slow compared with today's accelerated extinction. Cur­rently, one vertebrate (backboned) species becomes extinct every nine months, compared with a natural rate of one species every 1,000 years. When plants, insects, and microorganisms are added, the extinction rate climbs to one species a day. Many experts fear that we have entered a new era of extinction unparalleled in the history of the earth.

If the world's population continues to grow and nations continue to destroy wildlife habitat at current rates, many expert predict, an average of 40,000 to 50,000 species will destroyed per a year over the next 20 years. By the end of the century we may be losing one species per hour.

Pandas, blue whales, tigers, and chimpanzees are the endangered spe­cies that make the headlines, largely because there are the most appealing or visible victims. But these species are, in fact, only a small part of the picture. Today, about 25,000 species of plants are threatened with extinc­tion-one of every ten plants species on the earth. Far more insect species teeter on brinks on extinction. Interest in less appealing species is often difficult to stir.

Plant and animal extinction results from any underlying forces, such as economics, politics, and psychology. The most important are: habitat al­teration, hunting for commercial products, introduction of alien and do­mestic species, hunting for sport, pest and predator control.

Текст 16. CAN VITAMINS BEAT BACK THE KLLERS?

Vitamins, garlic and fish oils have all been suggested as aids to a longer life. Can fighting disease really be so simple?

Scientists from research centers all round the world claim that foods containing anti-oxidant vitamins can protect the public from developing cancer and might also slow down the growth of early tumors. The long list of other beneficial effects included protection against heart disease, cataracts and the effects of smoking, the delaying of ageing and slowing the progress of Parkinson’s disease.

The latest research reinforces what many experts in disease patterns have long suspected — that a Mediterra­nean-type diet rich in fish, garlic, olive oil and with plenty of fruit and vegetables can prevent premature death from the leading killer diseases. a report published in The Lancet last week revealed hat a diet rich in fatty fish has a protective effect on the heart. This study from the Medical Research Council's Epidemiology Unit in Cardiff found that men with heart disease who ate two or three kipper meals a week had a lower death rate from all causes than those who reduced their dietary fat intake or increased the amount of fiber they ate.

Fatty fish such as herring, mackerel, sardines, salmon, halibut and trout are high in two essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA. These are known to have a thinning effect on the blood, making it less likely to form clots in the blood vessels.

Fish oils are also believed to have a lowering effect on blood fats. The Cardiff researchers conclude that men with heart disease may reduce their chances of dying prematurely by adding 12 ounces of oily fish to their diet each week.

But this was not the only good news on the nutrition front. It was announced that garlic pills may also reduce mortality among heart disease patients. Studies in West Germany have shown that garlic treatment reduced the death rate by half and the number of non- fatal heart attacks by a third. As with fish the effects are thought to result from a lowering of blood cholesterol and a thinning of the blood.

The British researchers are impressed by the growing evidence of the protective effects of the nutrients contained in fruit and vegetables.

Vitamins are anti-oxidants, vitamin C, vitamin D and beta-carotene. Vitamin C is found in cauliflower , potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, Brussels, sprouts and citrus fruits and vitamin E in vegetable oils, corn oil, sunflower oil, margarine, wheat germ, nuts, whole grains and leafy green vegetables.

Beta-carotene is known as a pro­vitamin because it is partially con­verted to vitamin A in the body. Unlike vitamin A itself, large quanti­ties are not harmful. It is found in carrots, cress, spinach, broccoli, tom­atoes, mangoes, melons, apricots, peaches and oranges.

Anti-oxidant vitamins are said to prevent illness by canceling out the effects of free radicals. These are highly unstable oxygen molecules believed to cause cell damage and possibly promote both cancer and the laying down of fatty deposits in the arteries.

About 178,000 people die of heart disease and 160,000 of cancer in the U K each year. The concept of reducing the toll of Britain's big two killers simply by eating more sensibly is enticing, but is it really possible? And if so, what other dietary measures should people take to protect their health?

Текст 17. THE OXYGEN CYCLE

The history of our planet as recorded in its rocks and fossils, is reflected in the composition the biochemical peculiarities of its present biosphere. With a little imagination one can reconstruct from the appearance and subsequent evolution of gaseous oxygen in the earth's air and water, the changing pathways in the metabolism of living things.

Differentiated multicellular life (consisting of tissue and organs) evolved only after free oxygen appeared in the atmosphere. The cells of animals that are truly multicellular in this sense, the Metazoa, obtain their energy by breaking down fuel (produced originally by photosynthesis) in the presence оf oxygen in the process called respiration. The evolution of advanced forms of anima life would probably not have been possible without the high levels of energy release that are characteristic of oxidative metabolism. At the same time free oxygen is potentially destructive to all forms of carbon-based life and we know no other kind of life. Most organisms have therefore had to "learn" to conduct their oxidations anaerobically, primarily by removing hydrogen from food-stuff rather than by adding oxygen. Indeed, the anaerobic process called fermentation is still the fundamental way of life, underlying other forms of metabolism.

The origin of life and its subsequent evolution was contingent on the development of systems that shielded it from or provided chemical defenses against ordinary molecular oxygen (О₂) and atomic oxygen (0). Yet the energy requirements of higher life forms can be met by oxidative metabolism. The simple sugar glucose oxidation e. g. yields 686 kilocalories per mole.

Free oxygen supports life: it arises from life. The oxygen now in the atmosphere is probably of biological origin. Some of it is converted to ozone, causing certain high energy wavelengths to be filtered out of the radiation reaching the earth's surface. Oxygen also combines with a wide range of other elements in the earth's crust. The result of these and other processes is evolutionary interaction among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

Consider where the oxygen comes from to support the high rates of energy release in multicellular organisms and what happens to it and to C0₂ that is respired. The oxygen comes from the air of which it constitutes roughly 21%. Ultimately, however, it originates with the decomposition of water molecules by light energy in photosynthesis. The 1,5 cubic kilometers оf water on the earth are split by photosynthesis and reconstituted once every two million years or so. Photosynthetically generated oxygen temporarily enters the atmospheric bank, whence it is self recycled once every 2000 years at current rates.

Thus oxygen in free state plays the major role in the evolution and present functioning of the biosphere. The carbon dioxide that is respired joins the small amount already present in the atmosphere which is in balance with the carbon dioxide in the oceans and other parts of the hydrosphere. Through other interactions it may be removed from circulation as a part of the carbonate ion in calcium carbonate precipitated from solution. CO₂ sequestered in this way is eventually be returned to the atmosphere when limestone, formed by the consolidation of calcium carbonate sediments, emerges from under the sea and is dissolved by some future rainfall. In this eternal cycle do sea, air and life interact and exchange components.

Текст 18. PECHORA SEA THREATENED BY OIL

Environmentalists and scientists are becoming increasingly worried about the treat posed to the Russian Pechora Sea by oil development. Development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Pechora Sea has already started.

The Sea is home for thousands of ducks, geese and waders, while some of largest population of Brunnich’s guillemots breed on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. It is also home to a major walrus colony in the Atlantic, at Dolgiy Island, near the Prirazlomnoye oil field. The walrus is on the list of rare species in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

Future large-scale development of the Prirazlomnoye oil field and the realization of other oil and gas pipeline projects, such as the oil pipeline from Siberia to Murmansk, the gas pipeline from Shtokmanouskaye gas field to Tiriberka settlement, and large-scale oil shipping from Murmansk, will impact wildlife habitats across the region.

Samantha Smith, director of WWF’s arctic Programme, said: “It is evident that any accidental situation either during the extraction of oil or during shipping, could have disastrous consequence for wildlife in the region.”

“Any response to an oil spill will be difficult in this region due to the extreme climate. It is also impossible to predict a distribution pattern of oil spillage during the ice-cover period. As it currently stands, the Russian Arctic is one of the regions most susceptible to oil pollution give the last rate of development and the difficulties of emergency response.”

Unfortunately, the present development of hydrocarbon field on the Russian arctic shelf takes priority over the preparation of proper nature protection management plans, she said. WWF is now calling for further measures to reduce the possibility of oil spills. In addition WWF wants

oil companies to train employees to rescue wildlife affected by oil spills. They also want special centers to help rescued wildlife and they want clean-up chemicals and equipment stockpiled at key locations.

The strait connecting the White Sea with the Barents Sea, known as Gorlo ( Russian for “throat”), also needs special attention. Shallow waters on the western parts of the Gorlo are home to large number of marine ducks year round, mainly the common eider as well as the king eider and Steller’s eider. In winter the Barents Sea harp seal population uses the ice-cover of this area as the breeding ground and molting area.

On the Murmansk coats of the Kola Peninsula is a narrow offshore zone where more than 100, 000 marine ducks, mainly common eider and Steller’s eider, spend the winter. Three large seabird colonies are found in the mainland and tens of thousands of shags, kittiwakes and guillemots occupy their nest sites here in the breeding period. A rich diversity of seabirds breed in colonies in three archipelagos: Ainov Islands, Gavrilovskiye Islands and Seven Islands. The only large breeding grounds of the grey seal in Russia are also found in these archipelagos.

WWF- Russia in cooperation with the Murmansk Marine Biological Institute and the Arctic and Antarctic Institute from Saint-Petersburg voiced their concerns about the growing threat to the region from oil and gas at the 7^th International Effects of Oil on Wildlife Conference last year.

Glossary:

oil field - нефтяное месторождение

gas pipeline - газопровод

eider - гага (обыкновенная)

guillemot - кайра ( птица )

the Kola Peninsula – Кольский полуостров

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Text 19. SMOKING STUDY SHOWS NEW CANCER RISK

Decades of tobacco trigger change in lungs, say researchers. 'Once this switch is turned on, it appears to be permanent, which may explain why long-term ex- smokers who have not had a cigarette in 25 years are still at high risk for getting cancer'

The deadly nature of cigarettes was reemphasized with a new study suggesting that people who have smoked for more than 25 years may have caused lung cell damage which cannot be stopped by quitting.

According to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, long-term smoking appears to trigger a biological switch in the lungs which causes cell growth and this in turn could lead to cancer.

The researchers looked at three groups: non-smokers, those who had smoked for less than 25 years, those who had smoked for longer.

In people who smoked at least 20 a day for 25 years, the doctors found significantly more evidence of a protein called GRP, which spurs lung cells to divide.

They say that 77 per cent of the long-term smokers showed the pro­tein, but it appeared in only 15 per cent of those who had smoked for less than 25 years. The long-term smokers showed the protein even if they had stopped smoking some time ago.

Dr Jill Siegfried, of Pittsburgh University's lung cancer centre, who led the research, said: "Once this switch is turned on, it appears to be perma­nent, which may explain in part why long-term ex-smokers who have not had a cigarette in over 25 years are still at high risk for getting lung cancer."

She said, however, there was potential good news in the findings, as the protein could help identify patients at high risk of lung cancer who could receive early treatment. In the longer term, if a way could be found of turn­ing off the "switch" it could mean ex-smokers would not get lung cancer.

The anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health said the research should not be seen as an excuse for long-term smokers not quitting.

A spokesman said: "Most smokers die from heart disease. Stopping smoking reduces the risk of heart disease almost immediately. It's always worth giving up, whatever your age, but the sooner the better." Dr Jean King, of the Cancer Research Campaign, said smoking caused at 24 separate diseases and there were clear benefits from stopping at any time.

“There are immediate benefits, short-term benefits and long-term benefits from quitting smoking. This is a small scale study and it doesn't change the message that stopping smoking brings clear benefits both for individuals and their families."

Dr. King added: "Within two years of stopping smoking the increased of heart disease is halved. Even if the findings for lung cancer turn out to be true, there are many other unpleasant diseases, like emphysema, which damage the quality of life and which can be prevented by stopping smoking."

A large-scale study published in 1994 found that cigarettes would eventually kill one in two smokers.

M ore than half the 20,000 heart attacks each year in people under 50 e been attributed to cigarettes — with smokers in their 30s and 40s: times more likely to suffer a heart attack than non-smokers. One of the most powerful men m the tobacco industry admitted publicly for the fist time that smoking was lethal and nicotine was an addictive drug.

Geoffrey Bible, chairman and chief executive of Philip Morris, testified in Florida lawsuit that cigarette smoking may have caused 100,000 deaths.