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UNIT 5 - SUSTAINABLE EARTH

LEAD-IN

Give your understanding of what sustainability is. Does it apply only to the environment? What are the factors that contribute to sustaining life on earth? Think of as many collocations as possible with the word “sustainable”, explain their meaning and suggest how they can be translated into Russian.

READING - 1 Is the Planet Full?

Pre-reading: What are the impacts of population growth? Can our planet support the demands of the ten billion people anticipated to be the world's population by the middle of this century?While it is common to hear about the problems of overpopulation, might there be unexplored benefits of increasing numbers of people in the world?Read the texts on the major demographic challenges, answer the questions after the texts and say in what way demographic challenges are important politically.

TEXT 1ABOUT THAT OVERPOPULATION PROBLEM

Jeff Wisewww.slate.comJanuary 9, 2013

Research suggests we may actually face a declining world population in the coming years.The world’s seemingly relentless march toward overpopulation achieved a notable

milestone in 2012: Somewhere on the planet, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the 7 billionth living person came into existence.

Lucky No. 7,000,000,000 probably celebrated his or her birthday sometime in March and added to a population that’s already stressing the planet’s limited supplies of food, energy, and clean water. Should this trend continue, as the Los Angeles Times noted in a five-part series marking the occasion, by mid-century, “living conditions are likely to be bleak for much of humanity.”

A somewhat more arcane milestone, meanwhile, generated no media coverage at all: It took humankind 13 years to add its 7th billion. That’s longer than the 12 years it took to add the 6 billion—the first time in human history that interval had grown. (The 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion, and 5 billion took 123, 33, 14, and 13 years, respectively.) In other words, the rate of global population growth has slowed. And it’s expected to keep slowing. Indeed, according to experts’ best estimates, the total population of Earth will stop growing within the lifespan of people alive today. And then it will fall.

Advance To Proficiency Ekaterina D. Prodayvoda

http://www.slate.com/

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This is a counterintuitive notion in the United States, where we’ve heard often and loudly that world population growth is a perilous and perhaps unavoidable threat to our future as a species. But population decline is a very familiar concept in the rest of the developed world, where fertility has long since fallen far below the 2.1 live births per woman required to maintain population equilibrium. The way things are going, Western Europe as a whole will most likely shrink from 460 million to just 350 million by the end of the century. That’s not so bad compared with Russia and China, each of whose populations could fall by half. As you may not be surprised to learn, the Germans have coined a polysyllabic word for this quandary: Schrumpf-Gesellschaft, or “shrinking society.”

American media have largely ignored the issue of population decline for the simple reason that it hasn’t happened here yet. Unlike Europe, the United States has long been the beneficiary of robust immigration. This has helped us not only by directly bolstering the number of people calling the United States home but also by propping up the birthrate, since immigrant women tend to produce far more children than the native-born do.

But both those advantages look to diminish in years to come. A report issued last month by the Pew Research Center found that immigrant births fell from 102 per 1,000 women in 2007 to 87.8 per 1,000 in 2012. That helped bring the overall U.S. birthrate to a mere 64 per 1,000 women—not enough to sustain our current population.

Why is this happening? Scientists who study population dynamics point to a phenomenon called “demographic transition.”

“For hundreds of thousands of years,” explains Warren Sanderson, a professor of economics at Stony Brook University, “in order for humanity to survive things like epidemics and wars and famine, birthrates had to be very high.” Eventually, thanks to technology, death rates started to fall in Europe and in North America, and the population size soared. In time, though, birthrates fell as well, and the population leveled out. The same pattern has repeated in countries around the world. Demographic transition, Sanderson says, “is a shift between two very different long-run states: from high death rates and high birthrates to low death rates and low birthrates.” Not only is the pattern well-documented, it’s well under way: Already, more than half the world’s population is reproducing at below the replacement rate.

If Europe of today is the rest of the world tomorrow, then the future is going to look a lot different than we thought. Instead of skyrocketing toward uncountable Malthusian multitudes, researchers at Austria’s International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis foresee the global population maxing out at 9 billion some time around 2070. On the bright side, the long-dreaded resource shortage may turn out not to be a problem at all. On the not-so-bright side, the demographic shift toward more retirees and fewer workers could throw the rest of the world into the kind of interminable economic stagnation that Japan is experiencing right now. And in the long term—on the order of centuries—we could be looking at the literal extinction of humanity.


http://www.focus.de/kultur/medien/debatte-die-schrumpf-gesellschaft_aid_215090.html

http://www.focus.de/kultur/medien/debatte-die-schrumpf-gesellschaft_aid_215090.html

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It’s far from certain that any of this will come to pass. IIASA’s numbers are based on probabilistic projections, meaning that demographers try to identify the key factors affecting population growth and then try to assess the likelihood that each will occur. The several layers of guesswork magnify potential errors. “We simply don’t know for sure what will be the population size at a certain time in the future,” demographer Wolfgang Lutz told IIASA conference-goers earlier this year. “There are huge uncertainties involved.” Still, it’s worth discussing, because focusing too single-mindedly on the problem of overpopulation could have disastrous consequences—see China’s one-child policy.

One of the most contentious issues is the question of whether birthrates in developed countries will remain low. The United Nation’s forecast, released in 2010, assumes that low-fertility countries will eventually revert to a birthrate of around 2.0. In that scenario, the world population tops out at about 10 billion and stays there. But there’s no reason to believe that birthrates will behave in that way—no one has ever observed an inherent human tendency to have a nice, arithmetically stable 2.1 children per couple. On the contrary, people either tend to have an enormous number of kids (as they did throughout most of human history and still do in the most impoverished, war-torn parts of Africa) or far too few. We know how to dampen excessive population growth—just educate girls. The other problem has proved much more intractable: No one’s figured out how to boost fertility in countries where it has imploded. Singapore has been encouraging parenthood for nearly 30 years, with cash incentives of up to $18,000 per child. Its birthrate? A gasping-for-air 1.2. When Sweden started offering parents generous support, the birthrate soared but then fell back again, and after years of fluctuating, it now stands at 1.9—very high for Europe but still below replacement level.

The reason for the implacability of demographic transition can be expressed in one word: education. One of the first things that countries do when they start to develop is educate their young people, including girls. That dramatically improves the size and quality of the workforce. But it also introduces an opportunity cost for having babies as women with more schooling tend to have fewer children.

In developed countries, childrearing has become a lifestyle option tailored to each couple’s preferences. Maximizing fertility is rarely a priority. My wife and I are a case in point. I’m 46, she’s 39, and we have two toddlers. We waited about as long to have kids as we feasibly could because we were invested in building our careers and, frankly, enjoying all the experiences that those careers let us have. If wanted to pop out another ankle-biter right now, our ageing bodies might just allow us to do so. But we have no intention of trying. As much as we adore our little guys, they’re a lot of work and frighteningly expensive. Most of our friends have just one or two kids, too, and like us they regard the prospect of having three or four kids the way most people look at ultra-marathoning or transoceanic sailing—admirable pursuits, but only for the very committed.

That attitude could do for Homo sapiens what that giant asteroid did for the dinosaurs. If humanity is going to sustain itself, then the number of couples deciding to have three or four kids will consistently have to exceed the number opting to raise one or zero. The 2.0 that my wife and I have settled for is a decent effort, but we’re not quite pulling our weight. Are we being selfish? Or merely rational? Our decision is one that I’m sure future generations will judge us on. Assuming there are any.

What are the key factors affecting population growth?


http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/keyind.html

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What are the most challenging consequences of overpopulation? What are the most workable ways to mitigate these consequences?

Browse the Internet for difference in the meaning between ‘population decline’, ‘depopulation’ and ‘under-population’, if any. Does either of them threaten your country nowadays?

Are there any effective ways to encourage parenthood?

TEXT 2POPULATION TO HIT SEVEN BILLION: EXPERTS WARN OF BACHELOR

NATIONSThe Telegraph November 26, 2011

As the global population hits seven billion, experts are warning that skewed gender ratios could fuel the emergence of volatile "bachelor nations" driven by an aggressive competition for brides. Many demographers believe the resulting shortage of adult women over the next 50 years will have as deep and pervasive an impact as climate change.

The statistics behind the warnings are grimly compelling. Nature provides an unbending biological standard for the sex ratio at birth of 104-106 males to every 100 females. Any significant divergence from that narrow range can only be explained by abnormal factors. In India and Vietnam the figure is around 112 boys for every 100 girls. In China it is almost 120 to 100 – and in some places higher than 130. And the trend is spreading: to regions like the South Caucasus, where Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia all post birth ratios of more than 115 to 100, and further west to Serbia and Bosnia.

Demographers say that figure is now more than 160 million – women selected out of existence by the convergence of traditional preferences for sons, declining fertility and, most crucially, the prevalence of cheap prenatal sex-determination technology. Even if the sex ratio at birth returned to normal in India and China within 10 years, men in both countries would still face a "marriage squeeze" for decades to come.

UN agencies have issued similar warnings about the correlation between a scarcity of women and increases in sex trafficking and marriage migration, albeit with certain caveats. But while more and more red flags are being raised over the long-term implication of skewed sex ratios, few solutions are being offered.

Do you think sex-selective abortions should be outlawed? Should measures be taken to reduce the population to an ecologically sustainable level?

LANGUAGE FILE to Reading - 1

Ex. 1 Suggest how the following can be translated into Russian. to maintain population equilibrium shrinking society to be the beneficiary of robust immigration to prop up the birthrate to sustain our current population a demographic transition


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population size soared to be reproducing at below the replacement rate the literal extinction of humanity to identify the key factors affecting population growth

Ex. 2 Explain and expand on the following.1. The world’s seemingly relentless march toward overpopulation achieved a notable

milestone.2. A somewhat more arcane milestone, meanwhile, generated no media coverage at all.3. Instead of skyrocketing toward uncountable Malthusian multitudes, researchers foresee

the global population maxing out at 9 billion around 2070.4. The other problem has proved much more intractable: No one’s figured out how to boost

fertility in countries where it has imploded.5. The reason for the implacability of demographic transition can be expressed in one word:

education.6. In developed countries, childrearing has become a lifestyle option tailored to each

couple’s preferences.7. Most of our friends regard the prospect of having three or four kids the way most people

look at ultra-marathoning or transoceanic sailing.

Ex. 3 Translate the following sentences into English using TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST-11. Грузия единственная среди стран постсоветского пространства в прошлом году

вышла на позитивный миграционный баланс.2. Согласно данным управления, показатель чистой миграции стабильно рос с декабря

2008 года.3. В сентябре этого года второй раз подряд в текущем году в России зарегистрирован

естественный прирост населения. 4. Рождение более двух детей на одну женщину указывает на рост населения и

снижение среднего возраста населения по стране.5. По оценкам экспертов, чтобы заместить интенсивно стареющее население, в

Беларусь нужно ввезти 10 миллионов мигрантов.6. Согласно данным Росстата, за первые девять месяцев естественная убыль населения

составила 125 тысяч человек, что на 80 тысяч меньше, чем за аналогичный период 2010 года.

7. В современных условиях ведущим фактором замещения поколений выступает рождаемость.

8. DB отвергает обвинения властей США в том, что его деятельность на американском ипотечном рынке приводит к деградации городов.

9.Эстония - это самая малонаселенная страна в Европе.10. Одним из самых удивительных явлений современной истории стал

демографический сдвиг: чем богаче человек, тем меньше семья.

Ex. 4 Fill in the gaps using the word combinations given below.a) Birth control, life expectancy, urban decay, overpopulation, heavy emigration

1. Its spiralling crime rate and rapid ….. drove white business and residents out.2. Yet, ….. was insufficient to cope with the surplus population.


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3. A team of researchers conducted a state-by-state analysis of ….. and discovered that white men in the US live about seven years longer than black men.

4. The cost of …..—and who should pay for it—has been the subject of a heated national debate in recent weeks.

5. We live on a finite planet with finite resources and the number one problem in the world today is …...

b) Ageing, challenges, compounded, declining, elderly, factors, implications, migrating, population, present, rates, trendsStatistics show that in many countries the population will decline in the next 50 years.

The population of these countries will also age rapidly. What effect will this have on those countries?

If current ….. continue, then in some countries the ….. is expected to dwindle within the next 50 years. This problem is ….. by the fact that not only is the number of inhabitants diminishing, but they are also growing older. This ….. population will bring its own …... At ….. there are sufficient younger people to earn money and pay taxes to support the …... However, within 50 years this will not be the case. There are several possible ….. contributing to this problem. First, birth ….. in these countries are clearly falling. Second, there could be an increase in the number of people ….. away from these areas. The ageing and ….. population is expected to have important ….. for the labour force and the quality of everyday life.

SPEAKING-1 Pair-work + Individual Statements

In pairs bring out major demographic challenges we face today. How can we address and accommodate these challenges? Get ready to speak on the No.1 demographic challenge the world faces today in a 3-minute statement using TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST-1

TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST - 1

declining population (population decline)overpopulation to stress the planet’s limited supplies the rate of global population growtha perilous and unavoidable threat to our future as a speciesfalling fertilityto maintain population equilibriumshrinking societyto be the beneficiary of robust immigrationto prop up the birth-rateto produce far more childrento sustain our current population.demographic transitiondemographic shift toward more retirees and fewer workersinterminable economic stagnation low-fertility countries to dampen excessive population growthto encourage parenthood


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to offer parents generous supportgender ratiototal fertility ratereplacement fertilitynet migrationcarrying capacitybirth control / family planning

DEMOGRAPHY QUIZ

1.Demography is the statistical study of all ________.a. Human populationb. Overpopulationc. Population growthd. Population composition

2.At the end of the 18th century, ________ concluded that, if unchecked, populations would be subject to exponential growth.a. John Stuart Millb. David Ricardoc. Thomas Robert Malthusd. Jeremy Bentham

3.Demographers a. are interested in the distribution of population and in movements of peopleb. assess the impact of such things as life expectancy and the marriage

ratec. count people and calculate the growth rate of a populationd. all of the above

4.Population growth slows down only when a. birth rates are lowb. death rates are highc. both birth rates and death rates are lowd. both birth rates and death rates are high

5.World population began to skyrocket abouta. 2000 B.C.b. 1000 B.C.c. 1000 A.D.d. 2000 A.D.

6.Reasons to LEAVE an area are known asa. Push Factorsb. Pull factors

7.What is the world’s most populated city?a. New Yorkb. Tokyo c. Mexico


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8.What is likely to be the world’s most populated country in 2050?a. Chinab. Indiac. Brazil

9. How many babies are born in the world every second?a. 1b. 4c. 40

10. By how much does the world population increase each day?a. 2,000b. 20,000c. more than 200,000

11. In the world what is the ratio of boys to girls among new-borns?a. boys outnumber girlsb. girls outnumber boysc. boys and girls are born in approximately even numbers

12. What country has the highest life expectancy?a. Switzerlandb. Japanc. US

13. Which of these countries is the most densely populated?a. Singaporeb. Taiwanc. Monaco

14. Which UN body deals with population problem?a. UNFPAb. UNDPc. UNICEF

15. What is the purpose of the 'transitional clause' in EU integrationa. It allows the EU to transition new members by restricting their votes in the EUb. It allows EU members to restrict the free movement of labor from EU accession countries

for up to 7 yearsc. It restricts the movement of members from long-standing EU countries to move and work

in newer member statesd. It deals with transition to the technological age, providing money and resources to better

integrate the members into the digital economy16. Globalization has increased migration because:

a. it has increased the world's population growth rateb. it has promoted improved global communication and lower cost transportation.c. it has increased the need for passportsd. the low cost of living in developing countries has let to a net migration there from the

developed world17. Which of the following is a potential gain from immigration for developed countries?

a. language diversity created in the economy.b. retirees coming into the economyc. increase in educated workers coming into the economy


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d. cheap labor coming into the economy.18. Which of the following is a potential negative effect of migration for developing

countries?a. The loss of trained and educated workers to emigrationb. The remittances received from migrant workers abroadc. Influx of cheap labourd. Influx of capital and technology

19. A push factor and pull factor are two sides of same coin, one is why people leave countries and one is why people choose that country as a new home.

a. Trueb. False

READING- 2 Migration

Pre-reading: What are the basic reasons for migration today? Is large-scale migration a force for good? Read the texts and say if in your opinion immigration should be encouraged or both sending and receiving countries are rather interested in restricting the flow of migrants.What are the ways to deal with illegal migration?

TEXT 1GLOBAL MIGRATION

http://www.encyclopedia.com

During the 1950s, most Western European countries still registered a negative migration balance. Some countries (for instance Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain) lost a substantial number of their citizens emigrating for economic reasons overseas as well as to other European countries.

Western European countries began to "import" guest workers in the early 1960’s to fill jobs Europeans would not consider. These guest workers came mainly from the Mediterranean (to France) and from Turkey (to Germany).

Most European countries closed their doors to labour immigration in the 1970s, following the first Arab oil embargo and the subsequent economic downturn, yet some 500,000 immigrants – primarily family reunification cases – and 400,000 asylum seekers arrive in Western Europe each year.

Over the past 15 years, the number of people crossing borders in search of a better life has been rising steadily. At the start of the 21st Century, one in every 35 people is an international migrant.

Global migration affects almost every state – they are all either sending, transit and/or receiving countries for migrants. While the major countries of emigration are in the developing


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world, western industrialised countries absorbed only about 40% of the world's migrants, the remaining part settling also in developing countries or the former Soviet Union.

Most of those who have left their countries of origin are motivated by a desire for better opportunities. But there are also millions of people who have been forced to migrate for fear of persecution. The current waves of immigrants and asylum seekers from the Middle East and North Africa are linked much more to the worsening conditions in these countries, than with labour shortages in Europe.

At the end of 2002, 10.4 million people around the world had refugee status, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. A further one million applied for asylum that year or had their applications still pending.

As regards intra-European labour mobility, however, despite the progress made in removing obstacles to the free movement of people in the EU, its levels are very low. The most important barriers are the lack of language skills and the problems with opportunities for dual careers. Still, the level of push-pull migration is rising, basically due to insufficient manpower in the cities.

TEXT 2http://www.ilo.org

With constantly increasing flows and varying forms of international migration, both between and within world regions, an increasing number of involved countries assume the multiple role of both sending and receiving country, sometimes even that of a transit country at the same time. It is however obvious that the primary interests that feature in the migration policy of a country with a net emigration of migrant workers are different from the interests on the agenda of a country predominantly at the receiving end.

Labour markets in the countries of destination are usually signalling a demand for immigrants, for the legal or hidden sides of the economy, often for both. However, depending on the magnitude of the immigration flow and its size in relation to the desired scale of legal immigration, the receiving country often wishes to foremost secure the functioning control and regulation of the scale of immigration flows. Countries of origin are not to the same extent interested in regulation of the flows. Rather, countries of origin may adopt active interests in securing maximum repatriation of emigrant earnings abroad and remittances. Furthermore the countries of origin have an interest to develop support measures for families which are divided because of migration. In the international forums dealing with migrants’ rights, it is predominantly the sending countries that are active in developing instruments and mechanisms for the improved protection of the rights and safety of migrants, following their genuine interest to secure the safeguarding of rights and safety of their own citizens abroad.

Migration related interests and obligations are discussed in the numerous intergovernmental forums of regional and interregional cooperation on migration issues that have emerged in the latest few years. Much of the time and effort is allotted to find commonly agreed solutions to manage irregular migration and trafficking in migrants, and, if possible, to provide for orderly flows of migration that could best serve the interests of both countries of origin and destination. These solutions require cooperation and identifying goals that could comply with the interests of both sending and receiving countries.

TEXT 3IMMIGRATION DEAL AT HAND


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ABC news March 31, 2013

Big business and big labor have settled on a political framework for an immigration overhaul. Now, the lawmakers writing bipartisan legislation need to resolve the nitty-gritty — and keep their parties' political flanks mollified.

Business and labor negotiators agreed on a deal that would allow tens of thousands of low-skilled workers into the country and pay them fair wages. It was a last major sticking point before the deal goes to the eight senators — four Democrats, four Republicans — to sign off on the details and propose legislation. They are looking to set in motion the most dramatic changes to the faltering U.S. immigration system in more than two decades.

The pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO* labor coalition reached its deal to allow tens of thousands of low-skilled workers into the country to fill jobs in construction, restaurants and hotels. Under the compromise, the government would create a new "W'' visa for low-skilled workers, who would earn the same wages paid to Americans or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department would determine prevailing wage based on customary rates in specific localities, so it would vary from city to city.

The so-called Gang of Eight's plan would also secure the border, crack down on employers, improve legal immigration and create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants already here.

The detente between the powerful business lobbying group and the nation's leading labor federation still needs senators' approval.

Reading NotesAFL-CIO labour coalition - The American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is a national trade union centre, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of fifty-six national and international unions,[ together representing more than 11 million workers (Американская федерация труда и Конгресс производственных профсоюзов)


Ex.1 Fill the gaps using the word combinations given below.asylum-seeker, sending countries, immigration flow, labour shortages, guest workers, remittances, family reunification, receiving countries, dual career, commuting

1. Germany and Austria warned cash-strapped Greece that they could reintroduce border controls if Athens failed to stem the __________.

2. The train is by far the most commonly used means of transportation for __________ in Japan.

3. For the past 20 years, __________ has been one of the main reasons for immigration to the EU.

4. The most obvious positive impact of __________ family is the greater economic security with both parents earning income.


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5. The Canadian labour market is expected to perform well over the next decade, with no widespread __________ emerging.

6. The terms __________ and refugee are often confused: an __________ is someone who says he or she is a refugee, but whose claim has not yet been definitively evaluated.

7. About 400 __________ from a variety of countries walked off the job and staged a strike to protest their working conditions and pay.

8. The overall economic gains from international migration for __________ and __________ are substantial.

9. The money sent by immigrants to their families in Latin America, known as __________, is five times as large as official development assistance.

Ex.2 Translate the following sentences into English using TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST-2.

1. Поток беженцев с начала 90-х годов стихийно усиливался и никак не регулировался принимающей стороной.

2. Маятниковая миграция является результатом несоответствия размещения производства и расселения людей.

3. В 2011 году объем частных денежный переводов, поступивших на Украину через неформальные каналы, составил около $850 млн.

4. Ежегодно около 10 тысяч человек получают во Франции статус беженца.5. В ближайшее время нехватка трудовых ресурсов будет одной из сложнейших

проблем российской экономики.6. Нелегальная миграция связана в том числе с такими проблемами, как уклонение от

налогов, нарушение трудового права, преступность, наркоторговля и контрабанда.7. Чтобы сократить число иммигрантов во Франции, нужно ввести экзамен для всех,

кто желает добиться воссоединения с семьей.8. Эксперты связывают низкую трудовую мобильность в нашей стране с

юридическими формальностями переезда, а также неоднородностью рынка труда.

SPEAKING -2 Team Work

Below you may find arguments in support of the idea that governments in rich countries should relax the laws controlling immigration. Study them and offer your counter arguments.

People are being kept in unbearable poverty by immigration laws that bar them from pursuing work in the countries where it is available. By allowing them to work in rich countries we improve not only their situation but via remittances that of their family and home country.

People are already entering developed countries for work illegally in enormous numbers. This brings with it dangers that can be stopped by legalisation.

Rich countries are in a demographic crisis with an ever decreasing working population to support pensioners. Developing countries are in the opposite situation and almost all immigrants are of working age and they will ease this demographic strain.


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Rich countries are short of both skilled and unskilled workers who are kept out by stringent immigration law. No economy can grow when there are no workers to keep up with demand. Immigration makes the whole economy bigger and everyone richer in the long term.

This is good for the global economy because it brings workers to where infrastructure and knowledge are.

Immigrants are generally seen to be extremely keen to work and work hard in their new country. The drive to emigrate is a drive from a wish to do well and tends to translate itself into achievement.

Split into two teams (sending and receiving countries). Study additional sources and say, what the benefits and the drawbacks of migration for both sending and receiving countries are. http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp Present your findings giving supporting evidence. Make sure to use the words from TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST -2.

TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST - 2

guest worker labour immigrationfamily reunification to be motivated by a desire for better opportunities to migrate for fear of persecution asylum (seeker)

to apply for~refugee to be given / granted refugee status receiving (host) country, country of destination/sending (donor) country, country of originlabour shortage labour mobility (syn. worker ~; job ~)free movement of peopledual career push-pull migration (commuting, commutation – to commute) immigration flow influx/inflow repatriationremittances irregular migration (illegal, undocumented, informal) trafficking in migrants

READING – 3 Ageing Population

Pre-Reading: What are the causes of an ageing population? What is a generation? Read the texts and do the assignments that follow.


http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp

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TEXT 1THE DEMOGRAPHIC FUTURE OF EUROPE – FROM CHALLENGE TO

OPPORTUNITY Jasmine Ganeshalingam

The demographic challenges facing the European Union are intrinsically important to the growth of the European Union culturally, economically as well as politically. Therefore, it is vital that the member states of the European Union work together so that they can effectively produce legislation to combat the growing demographic challenges of the European Union such as an ageing population, migration and issues concerning gender equality.

By 2030 half the population of Western Europe will be over 50 with a life expectancy at that age of a further 40 years. This will be historically unprecedented as we have never before had a region of the world with over half its population over 50. From one’s own perspective, the challenge of ageing populations is one of the biggest challenges facing the European Union as it not only has social consequences but also economic consequences as their will be more economically dependent people than there is today but with the same size population. This will in effect limit the economic growth of the European Union as for every four economically active people there will be three economically dependent retirees. This equates to each economically active person paying for three quarters of a retiree. Consequently there will be a decline in the working-age population and an increase in the elderly population from 85 to 151 million elderly by 2060, which may potentially affect economic growth if no action is taken. The Reflection group, an independent group of academics, produced a report to the European Council, in which they provided analysis on the future challenges of the European Union including demographic challenges. The Reflection group suggest that in order to tackle the challenge of an aging population, "priority measures must include increasing the proportion of women in the workforce; facilitating a better work-life balance; reforming our approach to retirement, so that it is seen as a right and not an obligation; and developing a more pro-active immigration policy suited to our demographic and labour market needs". Therefore, they suggest that migration to the European Union as the key solution to meeting the challenge of an ageing population as well as reform of the pension system.

However, the reflection group also propose the introduction of other initiatives designed to increase the working age of the current European Union population as well as an attempt through legislation to create a labour market especially for 50 to 70 year olds so that the conditions exist to keep older workers within the work force and contributing to the economic growth of the European Union. The Reflection group also suggests that through initiatives focusing on equal opportunities, non-discrimination and the increase in the priorities for childcare programs, the European Union can provide the conditions in which working parents especially women with young children can contribute to and feel comfortable in the workforce.

TEXT 2


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Ernst & Young Global Ltd DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS TRANSFORM THE GLOBAL WORKFORCE

Despite a growing global population, the availability of skilled workers is actually shrinking, and no longer just in advanced, aging countries such as Japan and Italy. Now, some emerging markets, such as China and Russia, are also feeling a demographic pinch.

The data suggests that this is only the beginning. A “demographic divide” will soon arise between countries with younger skilled workers and those that face an aging, shrinking workforce. The war for talent will become increasingly acute in certain sectors, especially areas requiring high skill levels and more education. More specifically, we expect:

Labor force demographics will shift profoundlyDespite projected growth in the global population from 6.9 billion in 2010 to 7.6 billion

in 2020, the working-age population is expected to decline in many countries. Japan already has more people exiting the workforce than there are workers prepared to enter it. In the European labor market, 2010 marked the first time more workers retired than joined the workforce. While this labor gap is a relatively manageable 200,000, it will surge to 8.3 million by 2030.

By the end of this decade, other large economies such as Russia, Canada, South Korea and China will also have more people at retirement age than are entering the workforce. Other, younger countries stand to profit from those trends. One-third of India’s population is now under the age of 15. Other emerging market economies with young labor forces such as Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia may benefit from a demographic dividend, a surge in productivity and growth as those workers join the labor pool. But the dividend pays off only if the country provides its youth with adequate educational and economic opportunities to develop their skills.

There is a growing mismatch between the skills employers need and the talent available. An estimated 31% of employers worldwide find it difficult to fill positions because of talent shortages in their markets.

When it comes to attracting employees with critical skills, the task becomes even more challenging. Today, 65% of global companies and more than 80% of companies in fast-growth economies are having problems finding employees with the skills they need.

“Generation U” and women to fill the skills gaps. Desperate for workers, many companies will become more accepting of diverse employees, particularly older workers and women.

The leading US advocacy group for retired people, the AARP, believes that 80% of baby boomers will keep working full- or part-time past their current retirement age. The Pew Research Center predicts that Generation U (unretired) workers will fuel 93% of the growth in the US labor market through 2016.

Women, an increasingly well-educated source of talent, have entered the workforce in ever greater numbers in recent decades. However, their talents are still often underutilized. This is particularly true in societies with traditional views of gender roles, including many fast-growing economies.

The talent market is increasingly global and mobile. Economic development and greater integration across markets in the past few decades have caused many talented people to explore career opportunities overseas.

Cross-border migration has grown 42% in the last decade, from 150 million to 214 million, with most of the traffic directed toward OECD countries.

Higher unemployment in developed markets has discouraged many migrants recently. Between a lack of opportunity and local hostility to migrant workers, more would-be migrants


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are staying home. New legal restrictions also have created a disincentive. According to the World Economic Forum, “The return migration of highly skilled workers to their home countries is a growing trend for emerging countries.”

In pairs identify the effects of an ageing population. Present your findings to the class. Classify the 20th century generations and characterize them. What is so special about the

baby boom generation? How can you characterize your generation? Think of a meaningful name for it. How would you dub the succeeding generation?

Orally summarise the main problems likely to arise between people belonging to different generations and say how they can be best overcome.

READING – 4 Urbanisation

Pre-reading: What are the advantages and the disadvantages of living in a big city? What amenities should a city offer its residents and commuters?Read the texts and answer the questions that follow.

TEXT 1CITIES OF THE FUTURE

Earth Action Network, Inc. August 31, 2005

Today's "Mega-cities" are overcrowded and environmentally stressedWe take big cities for granted today, but they are a relatively recent phenomenon. Most of

human history concerns rural people making a living from the land. But the world is rapidly urbanizing, and it's not at all clear that our planet has the resources to cope with this relentless trend. And, unfortunately, most of the growth is occurring in urban centers ill-equipped for the pace of change.

The world's first cities grew up in what is now Iraq, on the plains of Mesopotamia near the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The first city in the world to have more than one million people was Rome at the height of its Empire in 5 A.D. At that time, world population was only 170 million. But Rome was something new in the world. It had developed its own sophisticated sanitation and traffic management systems, as well as aqueducts, multi-story low-income housing and even suburbs, but after it fell in 410 A.D. it would be 17 centuries before any metropolitan area had that many people.

The first large city in the modern era was Beijing, which surpassed one million population around 1800, followed soon after by New York and London. But at that time city life was the exception; only three percent of the world's population lived in urban areas in 1800.

The rise of manufacturing spurred relocation to urban centers from the 19th through the early 20th century. The cities had the jobs, and new arrivals from the countryside provided the


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factories with cheap, plentiful labor. But the cities were also unhealthy places to live because of crowded conditions, poor sanitation and the rapid transmission of infectious disease. Deaths exceeded births in many large European cities until the middle of the 19th century. Populations grew, then, by continuing waves of migration from the countryside and from abroad.

In the first half of the 20th century, the fastest urban growth was in western cities. New York, London and other First World capitals were magnets for immigration and job opportunity. In 1950, New York, London, Tokyo and Paris boasted of having the world's largest metropolitan populations. By then, New York had already become the first "mega-city," with more than 10 million people.

In the postwar period, many large American cities lost population as manufacturing fled overseas and returning soldiers taking advantage of the GI Bill fueled the process of suburbanization. Crime was also a factor. As an example, riot-torn Detroit lost 800,000 people between 1950 and 1996, and its population declined 33.9 percent between 1970 and 1996.

Meanwhile, while many American cities shrank, population around the world was growing dramatically. You've heard of the "birth dearth"? It's bypassing Dhaka, Mumbai, Mexico City and Lagos. While developed countries are losing population because of falling birth rates and carefully controlled immigration, population in the developing world is exploding.

Today mega-cities already suffer from a catalog of environmental ills: level of pollution is threatening, there are major fresh water challenges, residents, crowded into unsanitary slums are subject to serious disease outbreaks. But for many internal migrants, cities offer more hope of a job and better health care and educational opportunities, so people keep moving to cities, imposing even more pressure on their infrastructure and resources, leading to social disintegration and horrific urban poverty.

TEXT 2CHALLENGES OF URBANIZATION

http://www.sciencedirect.comUrbanization has played an important role in the development of under developed and

developing countries. It is believed that the developed countries of the world could achieve fast economic progress due to large-scale urbanization. Urbanization during the industrial revolution helped fast development of some European countries. However, the challenges of urbanization have been quite difficult to deal with.

Environmental pollution and DegradationPollution and degradation

of the environment is one of the most prominent challenges of urbanization. The increased number of vehicles on the roads and industrial wastes are the main sources of air pollution. Urbanization also leads to a rise in the noise pollution levels. Contamination of sea, river and lake water due to various human activities is also a serious issue resulting out of fast urbanization.


http://www.sciencedirect.com/

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Land pollution is also a matter of great concern. These types of pollution can cause adverse effects on the health and well-being of people.

Population ExplosionPopulation explosion means a great rise in the population of a particular area over a time.

It has been observed that industrialization and urbanization lead to an increase in the population of the region at a very fast pace, urban sprawl goes out of control. The population growth results in a situation where the facilities provided by the government are to be shared among many people. This can further cause inequitable distribution of wealth and resources. Providing the huge population with essential resources becomes a big challenge due to population explosion.

Sanitation, Water and Transport ProblemsThe rise in the number of vehicles puts a huge strain on the infrastructure available for

transport such as roads and railways. Water problems are quite common in many parts of urban cities. Keeping the cities clean and well maintained is surely one of the biggest challenges of urbanization.

HousingProviding shelter to a big population is indeed a big challenge posed by urbanization. The lack of space for construction of houses and buildings results in deforestation which causes several environmental problems. The problem of slums in urban cities is becoming more and more difficult to tackle due to the issue of displacement that the huge population residing in these slums will face.

Rising Cost of Living and Wealth InequalityThe cost of living in urban cities is quite high compelling many people to live in poverty.

Inequalities in the distribution of wealth which widens the gap between the rich and the poor is also a serious problem to deal with.

Increase in CrimeOne of the biggest challenges of urbanization is the increase in the crime rate. Surveys

conducted suggest that the crime rate is much higher in urban cities as compared to backward regions. The rise in the number of crimes is due to the need to earn wealth which results in people resorting to unfair means. The average person in the urban areas suffers the most because of the rise in criminal activities.

These are only few of the disadvantages of urbanization. Challenges of urbanization can be dealt with through efficient government policies and proper implementation. It is important for all nations of the world to come together and discuss ways to solve these problems completely.

Are you happy to be living in a big city? Give your personal reasons. What challenges do contemporary cities face? How do immigrants influence the life of big cities?

SPEAKING -3: Individual Statements

Choose a country and get ready to present its demographic profile in a 3-minute statement. You may want to speak about:

population change over time population density


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racial/ethnic composition of the population gender and age structure ethnic composition migration patterns

TOPICAL VOCABULARY - 3

amenities – удобстваto urbanizecrowded (conditions) / congested – перенаселенныйpoor sanitation- санитарные условияto offer better (job, educational, health care, etc) opportunitiesto impose pressure / put a strain (on infrastructure)dense (areas, population) - высокая плотность населенияsparsely (~ populated area) малонаселённая местность

PROFICIENCY FILE

Ex.1 Complete the text with suitable adjectives given below (more than one adjective may be possible).

adequate, basic, booming, catastrophic, decent, enormous, pressing, staggering

MEGACITIESThe world's population is ______, no more so than in its cities. Today, there are 21

megacities, each containing more than 10 million inhabitants, three-quarters of them in developing nations. By 2020, there are expected to be at least 27 megacities. Such a ______ rate of urbanisation brings its own problems, especially in developing nations, where the majority of the megacities will be found.

Employment and educational opportunities are the main attraction of urban centres. But hopes for a better life are often dashed as overpopulation puts an ______ strain on the infrastructure of the cities and their ability to provide ______ necessities such as clean water and a place to live.

Many rural migrants fail to find ______ work, and therefore cannot afford ______ housing. In some megacities up to 50 per cent of the residents live in slums. This problem is ______ with the United Nations predicting that half the world's population will be living in cities by next year. If the infrastructure within those cities does not grow at the same rate the result will be ______.

Ex.2 Open ClozeNEW YORK SHOWS WAY FOR URBAN RENAISSANCE

It's not ….. (1) pleasant to live in New York in the hot days of August. The grime on the sidewalk has really begun to reek. The tourist hordes remind you ….. (2) little room you have.

By next year, according to the United Nations, more than half the world's population will for the first time live in towns and cities. New York's population growth is not spectacular. It's


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….. (3) line with the growth of London, which is adding around 90,000 each year, 40,000 from natural expansion and a ….. (4) 50,000 from inward migration.

But other cities have been growing ….. (5) faster even than New York or London - Madrid, where the foreign population has multiplied four ….. (6) in about six years, and Istanbul, where the population has increased tenfold since 1950.

Cities may also be growing because individuals ….. (7) consumers want to live there. People now want to live in dense areas because dense areas offer ….. (8) people want to consume - opera, sports teams, art museums, varied cuisine.

The number of these "consumer immigrants" is …... (9) small compared with the hundreds of thousands of poorer economic migrants who traditionally head to the inner ….. (10).

Ex.3 Gapped Sentences1. Federal spending cuts, known as the sequester, are now in ………. .

The austerity measures will have little immediate ………. on the average European.After America legalizes drugs, a huge domino ………. would take place around the world.

2. His lawyers argue he will not get a ………. trial at home and should be sent to the Hague.

Book dealers from 50 countries will bring to Abu Dhabi 500,000 titles in 30 languages in the biggest international book ………. yet.Recent research suggests that having ………. hair can seriously damage a woman's career.

3. Petrol retailers warned yesterday that the crisis in the Middle East could force UK ………. prices higher.This would add ………. to the fire for those who are already calling for a rethink on welfare reform.The statement also warned the Arab League against arming Syrian rebels, saying this would only ………. the violence.

4. The heat ……… at the end of September brought unwelcome summertime smog to the UK and set a new pollution record for October.The party will ride the ………. of Mugabe's still great popularity to earn another win in the upcoming elections.Her hair doesn’t need curling; it has a slight natural wave.

READING- 5 Demography and Climate Change

Pre-reading: In your opinion is climate change a reality? In what way are demographic challenges connected to climate change?


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Read the text to define the major environmental hazards of today.

TEXT 1DEMOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

http://www.economist.com/January 21, 2012

There is now little doubt that climate change has become a reality. Glaciers are melting all over the world. Weather patterns are becoming more erratic. The IPPC forecasts increases of global mean temperatures of up to 5.8 degrees Celsius* this century and sea level rises of up to one meter. Half the world's people live within 50 km of seashores and their lives will be severely affected by flooding. Up to a million species of plants and animals could be extinct due to climate change.

The world’s human population doubled from 1 to 2 billion between 1800 and 1930, and then doubled again by 1975. On the 31 of October 2011, it surpassed 7 billion. The combination of growing populations and increasing levels of resource consumption is degrading and depleting the natural resource base. At the same time burgeoning population and industry and the ensuing pollution have demonstrated how easily delicately balanced ecological relationships can be disrupted.

In recent years, the depletion of natural resources has become a major focus of governments and organizations such as the United Nations (UN). This is evident in the UN’s Agenda 21 which outlines the necessary steps to be taken by countries to ensure sustainability of their natural resources. Despite mounting efforts over the past 20 years, the loss of the world's biological diversity, mainly from habitat destruction, over-harvesting and pollution has continued. Urgent and decisive action is needed to conserve species and ecosystems, with a view to the sustainable management and use of biological resources.

As the world’s population grows unsustainably, so do its unyielding demands for water, land, trees and fossil fuels — all of which come at a steep price for already endangered plants and animals. Most biologists agree we’re in the midst of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction event; species are disappearing about 1,000 times faster than is typical of the planet’s history. This time, though, it isn’t because of geologic or cosmic forces.

By any ecological measure, Homo sapiens sapiens has exceeded its sustainable population size. Just a single human waste product — greenhouse gas — has drastically altered the chemistry of the planet’s atmosphere and oceans, causing global warming and ocean acidification.


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We can reduce our own population to an ecologically sustainable level in a number of ways, including the empowerment of women, education of all people, universal access to birth control and a societal commitment to ensuring that all species are given a chance to live and thrive. All of these steps will decrease human poverty and overcrowding, raise our standard of living and sustain the lives of plants, animals and ecosystems everywhere.

Explain, how in your understanding global warming actually works. What is a greenhouse effect? What other factors apart from human population growth contribute to climate change?

Reading NotesTo convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit, you multiply by 9/5 and add 32.To convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius you subtract 32 then multiply by 5/9.

Water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit The commonly accepted average core body temperature is 37.0 C

(98.6 F) (in Russia, the commonly quoted value is 36.6 C (97.9 F) 1 km is 0.6 mile (100kph=60mph) 1 mile is 1.6 km (50mph=80kph) 1 meter is 3.3 feet 1 foot is 30.48 cm 1 kilo is 2.2 pounds 1 pound is 453 grams

TEXT 2CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH

Stefan BronnimannInstitute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland

…The questions of whether and how climate changes and whether and how man influences climate have been debated by scientists at least since Theophrastus in the 4th century B.C. His works were translated into Latin in the Renaissance period and were influential to the thinking of scientists at that time. In the early and mid-18th century, climate change was a subject treated by the philosophers of the enlightenment period such as Montesquieu and Hume. More scientific approaches to climate change research started in the second half of the 18th century, in line with efforts in agricultural, forestry and medical research and further advanced by scientific travelling and exchange and the availability of meteorological instruments.

A milestone in the history of climate change research and its public awareness was the theory of ice ages which had important implications for climate research in general. It required mechanisms able to explain a large change in mean temperature. This challenge was a trigger for many climate change theories, some of which have influenced the discussion until today.

The processes considered in the 19th century to cause shorter-term climate changes were mainly solar influences and anthropogenic activity, but


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volcanic forcing and the melting of ice sheets and glaciers were also discussed. Among the anthropogenic influences on climate, the oldest topic is the effect of land-use changes. The debate on this topic became more and more popular during the 19th century when in many European countries deforestation and desertification became politically relevant. Effects of anthropogenic fossil fuel combustion on weather and climate have been considered since the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, the debates about climate change and anthropogenic influence on climate was not confined to the scientific community, but also included political institutions and was carried out in public.

Since 2001, greatly improved computer models and an abundance of data of many kinds strengthened the conclusion that human emissions are very likely to cause serious climate change. Most scientists and ever larger number of individuals, corporate entities, and government agencies at every level decided that something had to be done. They found that effective steps could be taken right now that are not only cheap and effective, but will actually pay for themselves. For example, coal-fired power plants could be taxed in proportion to their emissions. This could be compensated by an equal decrease in other taxes, leaving government revenue unchanged. (A market-based "cap and trade" system of selling permits to emit pollution can be designed to have an equivalent effect.)

The most effective way to reduce the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time advance prosperity is to develop better technologies and practices. One of such technologies is carbon capture and storage (CCS), (carbon capture and sequestration), which is aimed at preventing the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere from fossil fuel use in power generation and other industries. It is a potential means of mitigating the contribution of fossil fuel emissions to global warming.

It is now very nearly certain that global warming is upon us. It is prudent to expect that weather patterns will continue to change and the seas will continue to rise, in an ever worsening pattern, through our lifetimes and on into our grandchildren's. The question has graduated from the scientific community: climate change is a major social, economic and political issue. Nearly everyone in the world will need to adjust. Citizens will need reliable information, the flexibility to change their personal lives, and efficient and appropriate help from all levels of government. So it is an important job, in some ways our top priority, to improve the communication of knowledge, and to strengthen democratic control in governance everywhere. The spirit of fact-gathering, rational discussion, toleration of dissent, and negotiation of an evolving consensus, which has characterized the climate science community, can serve well as a model.

LANGUAGE FILE to Reading- 5


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Ex.1 In the texts, find words corresponding to the following definitions or synonymous with the following words.

not even or regular in pattern or movement; unpredictable (adj) growing or increasing rapidly; flourishing (adj) a significant stage or event in the development of something (n) things that are likely to happen as a result of sth. (n) an event that is the cause of a particular action, process, or situation (n) a very large quantity of something, plentifulness (n) make (something bad) less severe, serious, or painful (v) sensible and careful (adj) adapt or become used to a new situation (v) trustworthy (adj) ability to be easily modified to respond to altered circumstances (n) suitable or proper in the circumstances (adj) the holding or expression of opinions at variance with those commonly or officially held (n)

Ex.2 Fill in the gaps with the words from the previous assignment according to the context.

1. New Hampshire's commercial development activity will continue ….. to changing supply and demand forces in 2012.

2. Geothermal electricity – generated in ….. in Iceland – would be pumped to the UK through a ‘super-grid’ of high-voltage cables laid on the ocean floor.

3. Six astronauts are celebrating two historic human spaceflight ….. today: the first human spaceflight and the risky first launch of NASA's space shuttle era.

4. Northern Ireland's only Confucius Institute is to celebrate the country’s ….. relationship with China with a week of cultural events.

5. A lawmaker on Thursday said North Korea’s rocket launch will likely have negative ….. on the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region.

6. Spain urged its EU peers to be ….. when making comments about its economic woes on Wednesday following criticism from France and Italy,

7. Higher temperatures, less rainfall, more ….. weather conditions: farmers are already noticing changes in the global climate.

8. Last week skirmishes between troops and rebels tested a shaky ceasefire to end a 13-month crackdown on ….. that has killed thousands.

9. Stronger global governance is needed to ….. human impacts on the earth's climate and to ensure sustainable development.

10. Mitsubishi has a long and lucrative history of producing safe, ….., affordable and fuel-efficient vehicles.

11. The Federal Reserve's ultra-easy monetary policy is ….. given high unemployment and the headwinds facing the economy.

12. China on Tuesday urged Iran and the world powers to demonstrate ….. and patience, saying it will help establish trust needed to resolve the issue peacefully.

13. Subprime mortgages and the housing bubble were the ….. that led to the financial crisis.

SPEAKING - 4: Individual Statements


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Apart from climate change what other environmental threats do we face? Make a list of the threats in order of priority.

Choose two, which in your opinion are the deadliest and get ready with a 3-minute statement on them using TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST -4

TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST -4

melting glaciers mean temperatures rising sea level flooding weather patternextinction of species (sing., pl.)degradation and depletion of natural resourcesdisrupt ecological balancesustainability of natural resources biological diversityhabitat destructionconservation of speciessustainable management (of biological resources)land-useforestrytheory of ice agesgreenhouse effect

carbon dioxideanthropogenic activitydeforestation desertificationfossil fuel combustion"cap and trade" systemcarbon capture and storage (CCS), carbon capture and sequestrationheat waveflooddroughtglobal weirdingglobal warmingnatural calamitytropical cyclonesdelugeheavy rainfall precipitation poaching

READING - 6: Global Warming vs. Global Cooling

Pre-reading: What is the difference between weather and climate? Think how you can define climate change. How is climate change different from/related to global warming? Which in your opinion is nowadays more likely: global warming or global cooling?Read the t text and do the assignments that follow.

U.N. PANEL SAYS WEATHER DISASTERS ARE NEW NORMMarch 29, 2012 /Associated Press

Global weirding' means nations should prepare for more extreme events

Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly natural calamities, an internal panel of climate scientists says in a report issued yesterday.

The greatest danger from extreme weather, which some scientists are starting to call "global weirding", is in highlу populated, poor regions of the world, but no corner of the globe — from Mumbai to Miami — is immune. The


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document by a Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists forecasts stronger tropical cyclones and more frequent heat waves, deluges and droughts.

In the past, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, founded in 1988 bу the United Nations, has focused on the slow inexorable rise of temperatures and oceans as part of global warming. This report is the first to look at the less common but far more noticeable extreme weather changes, which recently have been costing on average about $80 billion a year in damage. It blames the scale of current and future disasters on a combination of man-made climate change, population shifts and poverty.

While all countries are getting hurt by increased climate extremes, the overwhelming majority of deaths are happening in poorer, less developed places. That, combined with the fact that richer countries are generating more greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels, makes the issue of weather extremes one of fairness.

Some aspects of the climate situation are clear from earlier research. As the planet warms, many scientists say, more energy and water vapor are entering the atmosphere and driving weather systems. The IPCC report confirmed that a strong body of evidence links global warming to an increase in heat waves, a rise in episodes of heavy rainfall and other precipitation, and more frequent coastal flooding.

But, while the link between heat waves and global warming may be clear, the evidence is much thinner regarding some types of weather extremes. Scientists studying tornadoes are plagued by poor statistics that could be hiding significant trends, but so far, they are not seeing any long-term increase in the most damaging twisters. And researchers studying specific events, like the Russian heat wave of 2010, have often come to conflicting conclusions about whether to blame climate change.

Scientists who dispute the importance of global warming have long ridiculed any attempt to link greenhouse gases to weather extremes. They claim that the weather is very dynamic, especially at local scales, so that extreme events of one type or another will occur somewhere on the planet every year.

Meanwhile, mainstream scientists agree that global warming is a problem to be taken seriously but sometimes they are in too much of a rush to attribute specific weather events to human causes.

Some of the documented imbalances in the climate have certainly become remarkable. United States government scientists recently reported, for instance, that February 2012 was the 324th consecutive month in which global temperatures exceeded their long-term average for a given month; the last month with below-average temperatures was February 1985. This March, the United States set nearly 6,800 high temperature records. When you start putting all these events together, it's pretty hard to deny the fact that there's got to be some climate signal. No doubt, the extreme weather is one of the major and important types of what we would call 'global weirding.'


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What in your understanding is global weirding and which of the three scenarios (global warming, global cooling or global weirding) is the likeliest?


Ex. 1 In the text, find the terms relating to the topic of climate change that correspond to the following definitions. Use them in the sentences of your own.

1. conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources2. the average temperature3. the average weather for a particular region and time period4. the gradual rise in the earth's temperature caused by high levels of carbon dioxide and

other gases in the atmosphere 5. a heavy colourless gas that is absorbed from the air by plants and does not support

combustion6. human activities which affect the climate7. a very large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley 8. the change of forested lands to non-forest uses9. the progressive destruction or degradation of vegetative cover, especially in arid or semi-

arid regions 10. a fuel that is formed in the Earth from plant or animal remains11. the release of a substance into the atmosphere12. gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that absorb and

re-emit radiation from the sun13. the introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous

effects14. the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir

Ex.2 Complete the text with the words given below.acid, biodiversity, contaminated, deforestation, ecosystems, species, emissions,

environmental, erosion, exhaust, drought, fertilizers, greenhouse, waste, pollution

The advances made by humans have made us the dominant (1) ….. on our planet. However, several eminent scientists are concerned that we have become too successful, that our way of life is putting an unprecedented strain on the Earth's (2) ….. and threatening our future as a species. We are confronting (3) .…. problems that are more taxing than ever before, some of them seemingly insoluble. Many of the Earth's crises are chronic and inexorably linked. (4) ….. is an obvious example of this affecting our air, water and soil.

The air is polluted by (5) …… produced by cars and industry. Through (6) ..… rain and (7) .…. gases these same (8) ..… fumes can have a devastating impact on our climate. Climate change is arguably the greatest environmental challenge facing our planet with increased storms, floods, (9) ….. and species losses predicted. This will inevitably have a negative impact on (10) ….. and thus our ecosystem.

The soil is (11) ….. by factories and power stations which can leave heavy metals in the soil. Other human activities such as the overdevelopment of land and the clearing of trees also take their toll on the quality of our soil; (12) ….. has been shown to cause soil (13) ….. Certain


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farming practices can also pollute the land though the use of chemical pesticides and (14) ….. This contamination in turn affects our rivers and waterways and damages life there. The chemicals enter our food chain, moving from fish to mammals to us. Our crops are also grown on land that is far from pristine. Affected species include the polar bear, so not even the Arctic is immune.

Reducing (15) ….. and clearing up pollution costs money. Yet it is our quest for wealth that generates so much of the refuse. There is an urgent need to find a way of life that is less damaging to the Earth. This is not easy, but it is vital, because pollution is pervasive and often life-threatening.

Ex.3 Find words in the text of Ex. 2 above synonymous with the following.unspoiledunparalleledextremely harmfulinsurmountableunaffected

omnipresentunavoidably (x2)persistentchallenging

Ex.4 Fill in the gaps using the correct form of the words given below. You will need to add prepositions to the words that are underlined. contaminate, danger, dispose, erode, pollute, recycle, risk, sustain, threat

I think our environment is (1) ………. many different things. We have allowed too much (2) ………. to enter our ecosystem and we are (3) ………. poisoning ourselves as a result. I think soil (4) ………. and water (5) ………. are two of the most urgent problems that we need to deal with.

Clearly our current lifestyle is not (6) ……….. The government should educate people about these problems and encourage us to change our habits. They need to show everyone that we are putting the very future of our planet (7) ……….

We can make sure we don't throw (8) ………. items into our normal waste (9) ………. bins. We can also help protect our planet by not using phosphate-based detergents; this will help to keep (10) ………. out of our food chain.

Ex.5 Multiple Choice Lexical ClozeTHE FUTURE

The environmental (1)……….for the future is mixed. In spite of economic and political changes, interest in and (2)……….about the environment remains high. Problems of acid deposition, chlorofluorocarbons and ozone depletion still seek solutions and concerted action. Until acid depositions (3)………., loss of aquatic life in northern lakes and streams will continue and forest growth may be affected. Water pollution will remain a growing problem as increasing human population puts additional stress on the environment. To reduce environmental degradation and for humanity to save its habitat, societies must recognise that resources are (4).......... Environmentalists believe that, as populations and their demands increase, the idea of continuous growth must (5)……….way to a more rational use of the environment, but that this can only be brought (6)……….by a dramatic change in the attitude of the human species.

1 A line B outset C Outcome D outlook


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2 A concern B attention C responsibility D consideration3 A wane B diminish C Depreciate D curtail4 A finite B restricted C Confined D bounded5 A make B force C Give D clear6 A on B about C Off D in

Ex.6 Translate the following sentences into English using your topical vocabulary units1. Авторы исследования уверены, что сегодня Земля страдает от истощения природных ресурсов и сильного воздействия человека на окружающую среду.2. В последние век-полтора содержание некоторых парниковых газов в атмосфере выросло очень сильно.3. К числу приоритетных направлений организации относятся охрана живой природы и естественной среды обитания исчезающих видов животных.4. Изменение климата приведет прежде всего к таянию льдов в Гренландии и западной Антарктиде, а также к увеличению доли углекислого газа в атмосфере.5. Обезлесение приводит к снижению биоразнообразия, качества жизни, а также к усилению парникового эффекта.6. Как засухи, так и наводнения стали следствием роста средней температуры в некоторых регионах.7. С января 2005 года в странах Евросоюза вступила в действие внутренняя система торговли квотами на выбросы углерода.8. Одним из приоритетов нашей компании является применение безвредных для окружающей среды технологий производства.9. Новый доклад экологов свидетельствует: под угрозой полного исчезновения находятся примерно четверть млекопитающих.10. Охрана окружающей среды и сохранение природы должны стать одним из приоритетов работы глав регионов.

Ex.7 Fill in the gaps with the words from TOPICAL VOCABULARY LIST-5:1. A ….. system is a market-based approach to controlling pollution that allows national

governments to trade emissions allowances.2. An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming …...3. ….. is hardly hitting the living conditions of indigenous people who consider forests as

their primary habitats.4. ….. is a naturally occurring process that aids in heating the Earth's surface and

atmosphere.5. The earth supports an incredible array of ….. - from Thailand’s tiny bumblebee bat to the

ocean’s great blue whale.6. ….. can reshape the world’s coastlines and affect some of the most densely populated

areas on Earth.7. ….. raises serious environmental concerns, particularly from greenhouse gas emissions.8. The fact that there are too many people in the world consuming just a moderate amount

of resources is the most likely reason of the …...9. Of all the impacts that ….. can have on the environment, one of the most complex is the

effect on climate.


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10. For the past 10 years, the world has witnessed some of the most devastating ….. and man-made disasters on record.

11. Beneficial ….. is more likely through the arid southern Prairies during the next couple of days before a drier ….. returns.

Ex.7 Translate the following units of active vocabulary nto English:1. Low-input farming for cocoa, and oil palm has resulted in widespread ….. (вырубка

леса) of West Africa's tropical forest area.2. Unusually heavy ….. (осадки) for this time of year is spreading across southern

California and parts of the Southwest, including ….. - stricken (пострадавшую от засухи) Arizona.

3. Alcoa recently announced a new pilot program focused on ….. (технологии улавливания и хранения CO2) designed to sequester industrial carbon emissions.

4. Experts today warned that the alarming levels of ….. (загрязнения и ухудшения состояния окружающей среды) may result in disastrous consequences in future bringing about ….. (стихийные бедствия) like the one witnessed in Japan.

5. Does the European Union have the right to regulate ….. (выброс парниковых газов) from airlines and shippers using its ports and airports?

6. A federal judge has blocked a proposal to lift the ….. (вымирающие виды) protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho.

7. China is home to some of the most magnificent wild species and plays a prominent role in the ….. (сохранение и рациональное использование разнообразия биологических видов нашей планеты).

8. An increase in the use of ….. (возобновляемых источников энергии) doesn't necessarily mean the appetite for ….. (ископаемое топливо) is declining.

9. Climate contrarians proclaim that ….. (повышение глобальных средних температур) is entirely natural and that the ….. (влияние человеческого фактора) to global warming is negligible.

10. State officials plan to cut ….. (переработка отходов) aid to local governments faster than expected.

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS QUIZ

1.What is the most common cause of pollution of streams, rivers, and oceans? a. Dumping of garbage by citiesb. Surface water running off yards, city streets, paved lots, and farm fieldsc. Trash washed into the ocean from beaches, ord. Waste dumped by factories?

2.Which of the following is a renewable resource? a. Oilb. Iron orec. Treesd. Coal

3. Ozone forms a protective layer in the earth's upper atmosphere. What does ozone protect us from?


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a. Acid rainb. Global warmingc. Sudden changes in temperatured. Harmful, cancer-causing sunlight

4. Which of the following household wastes is considered hazardous waste? a. Plastic packagingb. Glassc. Batteriesd. Spoiled food?

5.What is the most common reason that an animal species becomes extinct?a. Pesticides are killing themb. Their habitats are being destroyed by humansc. There is too much hunting, ord. There are climate changes that affect them

6.Which of the following is NOT a renewable resource?a. Ethanolb. Natural gasc. Hydrogend. Methanol7.Which of the following accounts for the largest percentage of total waste in developed

countries?a. Organic wasteb. Paperc. Plasticd. Glass8.Approximately how much of global electricity output is produced from renewable

sources?a. 1%b. 5%c. 8%d. 20%9.Vegetarian diets are more environmentally friendly than meat-based dietsa. Trueb. False

10. 18% of all litter ends up in waterwaysa. Trueb. False

11. Air pollution causes 2 million premature deaths per year worldwidea. Trueb. False

12. Compared to people in many developing countries, North Americans use a. 5 times as much energy b. 15 times as much energy


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c. 50 times as much energy

13. How many years did it take nature to make oil? a. 2,000 years b. 2 million years c. 200 million years

14. What percent of water on earth is fresh water?a. 23%b. 15%c. 8%d. 3%

15. Hazardous waste is defined as poisonous by-products. Which of these is NOT considered hazardous waste?

a. Batteriesb. Ethanolc. Used computer d. equipmente. All of the above16. What percentage of the earth is covered by forests?a. 50%b. 12%c. 30%17. Earth day is observed ona. February 16b. April 4c. April 22d. September 17

READING - 7: Energy Efficiency

Pre-reading: What are the major concerns and fears associated with the issue of energy efficiency?

Read the texts. Compare energy policy of the UK with that of the US. How similar/different are their short and long-term perspectives? Do you think alternative energy can be efficient? Give your examples.

TEXT 1ENERGY SECURITY 'MORE IMPORTANT THAN CLIMATE CHANGE'

Alok Jha, green technology correspondent Guardian.co.uk17 September 2012

Securing the country's supply of electricity is more important than tackling climate change, a new report from energy analysts has claimed. It warned that the UK's economy could be wrecked if there was no action to


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plug the energy shortfall predicted for the next decade, with businesses going bust and hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs.

But the report, led by Ian Fells, a veteran energy policy analyst, has been dismissed as "naive" by Greenpeace, and "overstated" by the energy secretary. Environmentalists argued that the report's recommendation for new coal-fired power stations went against the advice of scientists and that the rest of the world was forging ahead with renewables.

The report said the government had to consider extending the lifespan of the UK's ageing coal and nuclear power stations to meet the impending shortage. Otherwise, Fells warned, the UK would be hit by repeated power cuts that would shut down public transport, reduce hospital services and cause chaos in supermarkets and offices. "Electricity is the life blood of civilisation. Without it we spiral down into anarchy and chaos."

Fells criticised proposed renewable energy schemes as being too optimistic in their promises and highlighted a long-term need for new nuclear power stations and coal-fired stations that were ready to fit carbon-capture technology to maintain future energy security in the UK.

The impending energy gap will be caused by the closure of the UK's ageing nuclear and coal-fired power stations over the next decade. The report estimates the UK will lose a third of electricity generating capacity in this time. Candida Whitmill, a co-author of the report, said: "Nuclear will not be ready, renewables will not be able to cope. Gas is getting politically and geographically dangerous to rely upon. Security of supply must take priority over everything including climate change."

Fells said the situation was like "watching a slow-motion train crash" because government plans to plug the energy shortfall, such as rolling out huge wind farms, were impractical and filled with wishful thinking. Successive governments, said Fells, had failed to come up with any solutions and criticised the current UK energy policy as "not fit for purpose", warning that there could be severe consequences for the economy.

Fells who has long been a proponent of nuclear power, said that the upcoming crisis required some "unpalatable" short-term fixes. "We will have to keep current nuclear power stations going long past their sell-by date. We will probably have to keep coal-fired stations that are coming to the end of their life. And that's no good for the environment." He also advocated building new gas-fired power stations that could be built quickly to shore up the supply and said that the controversial coal-fired plant in Kent would also be needed, though he said this should be made ready to fit technology to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground.

Greenpeace chief Scientist Doug Parr criticised Fells' report for its "long standing love affair with the technologies of the 20th century, but as time goes by [Fells'] fetish for coal and nuclear power looks increasingly naïve. All over the world jobs are being created in the renewable energy sector, but Britain has been left behind for too long by the negative, white flag approach to climate change that this report represents. By proposing projects such as


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new coal fired power stations and the large scale conversion of coal to liquid fuel for use in aeroplanes, Fells has finally lost the backing of the scientific community."

Responding to the report, energy secretary John Hutton said: "Ensuring we have enough clean and secure energy is a national priority and fundamental to our future existence and prosperity. Ian Fells overstates the risk of the energy gap, but he also understates what the government's already doing to secure our future supplies and increase our energy independence - such as a tenfold increase in renewables, a renaissance of nuclear energy in the UK, and backing clean coal technology."

He added: "That's not to underestimate the task we've got on our hands. Securing future energy supplies for the UK is a matter of national security and so we're not going to rule out any radical options. That's why we keep our energy infrastructure under constant review, and will continue to take the tough decisions needed to ensure that we have reliable energy supplies in the decades ahead."

Fells' report also suggested laying transmission lines to Norway, Germany and Denmark and also an additional line to France. "That would mean we were properly connected up to Europe. That would add a great deal of comfort and security, provided there was someone there to make decisions." Greenpeace have backed a similar North Sea grid proposal.

Over the longer term, Fells wants the UK to build more nuclear power stations and also give the go-ahead for the Severn Barrage, a tidal generation system that could produce up to 5% of the UK's electricity needs. He defended his point that energy security was more important than climate change: "You can't go on doing all the right things environmentally speaking if the whole of your system has crashed - it's more important."

TEXT 2A BLOW TO COAL

Mar 31st 2012 http://www.economist.com/

New rules look set to speed the move from coal to natural gasPresidents like to say that they have an “all of the above” energy

policy. But it is hard to see how one fuel, at least, has much of a future under the restrictions on emissions of greenhouse gases from new power plants set out by the US administration this week. The proposed limit, of 454kg of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity generated, would in practice bar the construction of any new facilities powered by coal.

In theory, the rules make an effort to accommodate future coal-fired plants, by allowing them to exceed the emissions cap for the next ten years, provided that they subsequently make up the difference by installing especially effective pollution controls. That is a bureaucratic way of admitting that the technology needed to limit emissions, by extracting


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carbon dioxide from power plants’ smokestacks and storing it underground, is not yet commercially viable.

The problem is that carbon capture and storage (CCS), as the technology is known, is not likely to be commercially viable in ten years’ time either. Thanks to new techniques that have made it possible to extract natural gas relatively cheaply from shale beds in recent years, America’s domestic gas supply has increased dramatically and prices have slumped. Gas is also a less climate-threatening fuel than coal: efficient new gas plants can easily meet the proposed carbon-emissions standard. That makes the already questionable economics of CCS seem downright implausible.

Lobbyists for the coal industry immediately declared that the current administration was “driving up energy prices and destroying jobs”. In fact, low gas prices, along with sluggish demand for electricity in the aftermath of the recession, have kept power prices subdued (petrol prices are another matter). For some time now utilities, faced with falling gas prices and the prospect of stricter environmental regulation, have been favouring gas over coal anyway. So the new rules will only formalise a shift that had already been under way, with little immediate economic impact.

Yet, the White House, having determined that greenhouse gases are a threat to “public health and welfare”, is now obliged under to follow through. In addition to the rules about new power plants, it will soon have to produce an emissions policy for existing facilities.

TEXT 3ALTERNATIVE ENERGY COSTLY, INEFFICIENT

March 26, 2012 Thomas Ryan, Guest Columnist of the Independent

Despite the pleas coming from both the left and right calling for further government intervention in the energy industry, green and alternative energy sources are still unable to compete with coal and natural gas. Alternative energy sources have proven to be unsustainable, costly and detrimental to the economy, especially for working-class families.

When it comes to most issues, liberals and conservatives seem to be at odds with one another, but for some strange reason, they both seem to be on the same side of the aisle when it comes to our country’s energy efficiency. But why should politicians force taxpayers to invest more in an industry that has already cost us billions and produces very little?

This obviously feeble industry, despite being propped up through subsidies, is still very unattractive to profit hungry capitalists. The common misconception that oil tycoons are just greedy and do not care about the environment is a gross example of benigntedness. In reality, any industrialist in a market economy would be more than happy to find, own and produce a cost-efficient alternative to coal and oil. Any energy industry entity that discovers this alternate resource would become immensely wealthy while reducing our oil dependency and increasing our standard of living.


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But wind, solar and biomass plants have proven to not be the answer, despite their governmental free ride. Renewable Portfolio Standards, mandated in 24 different states, create quotas regarding how much production must be dedicated toward alternative energy at production plants.

RPS increases the cost of energy production resulting in higher utility costs. Combining that with skyrocketing gas prices, it becomes obvious that the green movement is detrimental to lower income households. It is time for the state to get out of the energy industry and let market forces and consumers decide how we will power our homes and cars. The push for green energy has proven to be costly, inefficient and harmful to a financially healthy environment.SPEAKING - 5: Individual Reports/Presentations

Use Internet sources to draft a short report on the energy policy of a chosen country or speak on one of the following topics.

1. Problems arising from inefficient land use2. Problems arising from land pollution and degradation3. Inefficient use of resources and energy crisis4. Nuclear development and nanotechnology5. Causes, effects and solutions of air and water pollution6. Waste recycling. Ways to deal with hazardous waste7. How ‘Cap and Trade’ system works8. Ways to prevent global warming

WRITING: an Essay

In class write an essay: “Environmental degradation is largely avoidable”

DEBATE CLUB

Given below are six topics for the debate. In class choose three of them. Split into 2 teams: positive and negative. Elaborate on your team’s line of reasoning, decide on the arguments and get ready to hold a debate.

Developed countries have a higher obligation to combat climate change than developing countries.

The EU should abandon nuclear energy. A cap-and-trade system is preferable to a carbon tax in reducing carbon emissions. Households should be forced to reduce energy consumption. Science is a threat to humanity. The advent of extreme genetic advancements for humans is highly welcome.


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