LITMIR.BIZ

      Garbage away!

      When you throw something away, it goes in a garbage can. Once a week the garbage truck comes and the can is emptied, and that’s the last you see of it. But what do you think happens to the garbage then? Does it just disappear? No way!

      What happens

      Almost all garbage is taken to a garbage dump, or landfill, where the garbage truck empties it onto the ground. After the truck leaves, a big tractor comes along pushes dirt on top of the garbage. So, most of our garbage is just buried.

      The big mess

      Now we are making so much garbage that in many places, there is not enough room to bury it all.

      Our mission

      We have to act fast and cut down the amount of garbage we make. Can we do it? You bet!

      Here’s how

      We can recycle (which means re-using materials instead of throwing them away) and precycle (which means not buying things that can’t be re-used, like plastic wrapping and other packaging). If we recycle we will produce a lot less garbage, and help our planet green!

      Recycling and precycling projects can de lots of fun. To find out more about what you can do, see Guarding Our Buried Treasures, and Be a Paper-Saver.

      4. AIR AND WATER POLLUTION

      You have read a lot of interesting things about the air, the sun, the sky, the clouds, the rain, about rivers, seas and oceans. All these things around us are parts of our environment. Plants, animals and people need clean land, clean water and clean air. But some people have not learned how to take care of our earth. They are doing harmful things to our land, water and even air. They are making pollution. You can imagine what happens to a living thing if its environment is polluted or changed in a harmful way.

      Of course, you cannot see some of the pollution in our country, but as you read this book, you will find out about it.

      We are worried about water pollution in the country. Most big cities pour their waste into seas and rivers. For a long time people did not understand the danger. The first alarm came from Japan. Some sixty people died because they had eaten polluted fish.

      We love rain. Rain helps our plants to grow big and strong. But sometimes the rainwater is not as clean as it could be. Man- made chemicals get into the air and mix with the rainwater, making acid rain. The acid water runs into rivers and lakes. The rivers and lakes become so acid that fish cannot live there.

      We like to go to the river, lake or sea to swim. But if there are chemicals in the water, it is not safe enough for swimming. If the water is polluted, it can make us sick.

      Another kind of pollution is air pollution. When there are too

      many harmful things in the air, it is polluted.

      People and animals need clean air with plenty of oxygen in it. Oxygen is added to the air by plants. So you understand how important it is to have a lot of trees, bushes and grass.

      Fume from the chimneys of factories, gases which are in refrigerators and sprays pollute the air. They damage the ozone layer that covers the earth. This layer of gas protects us from the dangerous rays of the sun. There are now holes in the ozone layer because there are too many gases in the air.

      With the help of sputnics our scientists discovered two large holes in the ozone layer. One is over the North Pole and the second over the South Pole, over Antarctica. It is very dangerous for people as it can make them sick.

      Some people pollute the air by smoking. Too much smoke in the air can hurt our lungs.

      The wind blows a lot of the air pollution out to sea. Sometimes the rain helps to clean the air, but sometimes the rain water mixes with the gases in the air. Then the air pollution also becomes land and water pollution.

      Air and water pollution is one of the problems millions of people are worried about today.

      Questions:

      1.What is environment?

      2.What water, air, and land do people need?

      3.How is water polluted?

      4.Why is the rainwater not always clean?

      5.What is acid rain?

      6.What happens with fish in the rivers and lakes which become acid?

      7.What do you know about air pollution?

      8.What damages the ozone layer that covers the earth?

      9.What does the ozone layer protect us from?

      10.What are there in the ozone layer now?

      11. Why are the holes in the ozone layer dangerous for people?

      12.Do you have air pollution in your city?

      Air Quality Standards – The level of selected pollutants set by law that may not be exceeded in outside air. Used to determine the amount of pollutants that may be emitted by industry.

      Bubble (Bubble Policy) – Existing sources of air pollution with several facilities may control more than is required at one emission point where control costs are lower, in return for comparable relaxation at a second point where costs are higher or more difficult to achieve.

      Water Quality Standards – The combination of a designated use and the maximum concentration of a pollutant which will protect that use for any given body of water. For example, in a trout stream, the concentration of iron should not exceed 1 mg\l

      Effluent imitations – Limits on the amounts of pollutants which may be discharged by a facility; these limits are calculated so that water quality standards will not be violated even at low stream flows.

      LITTLE BY LITTLE OUR WATERS ARE LOOKING LESS LIKE ART AND MORE LIKE TRASH

      Look for 10 words from the text «Air and water pollution»

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