November 28 is Speech Practice.
Hometask:
1. Laboratory work 3
Something to think about ... and comment on (in the commentaries)
BBC Earth The Climate Wars 1 of 3 Battle Begins
Watch the whole documentary if you feel like it.
Are we really in for the new Ice Age, do you think? Why/ why not?
OR
2. Rendering: week 11
3. Topics 18, plus 15 and 17
Three written, two by heart
18. Home Reading: Daydreaming or Reality? Why do some people prefer to live in the world of their dreams rather than in the real world? Compare the real Walter Mitty with the Walter Mitty of his secret life? (Based on James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty).
Before you write, look through this site:
SITE 1
SITE 2
15. Environmental Issues: “Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it” (Tony Blair). Speak on global warming, its causes and consequences. Do you agree with the quote? What can be done to fight the problem.
SITE 1
SITE 2
15. Environmental Issues: “Global warming is too serious for the world any longer to ignore its danger or split into opposing factions on it” (Tony Blair). Speak on global warming, its causes and consequences. Do you agree with the quote? What can be done to fight the problem.
17. Environmental Issues: Environmental Issues in the News. Speak on the news coverage of environmental issues in the foreign and home media.
While an enduring temperature rise of the same size over the next century would cause humanity to make some changes, it would undoubtedly be within our ability to adapt.
ReplyDeleteEntering a new ice age, however, would be catastrophic for the continuation of modern civilization.
One has only to look at maps showing the extent of the great ice sheets during the last Ice Age to understand what a return to ice age conditions would mean. Much of Europe and North-America were covered by thick ice, thousands of feet thick in many areas and the world as a whole was much colder.
Fair!
DeleteSlips:
The first sentence is not clear, you cannot have 'would' in two parts, besides, thee meaning as a whole makes little sentence
Entering a new Ice Age ...
Nowadays there’s every reason to believe that the changes, happening on the Earth, are evidence of climate change, and mainly of its warming, than cooling. Our planet and its climate are not so big that a person is not able to influence on them. The results of this influence are found not at once, but gradually, accumulating from generation to generation. But the faster humanity "develops" (producing more and more cars, fridges and other technologies, that have a huge impact on the planet; builds more and more factories), the faster the moment is approaching when our planet isn’t be able to tolerate. You don’t even need to walk far to see the examples of human influence on the planet and the climate, because all of them are shown in this film. But for greater clarity, it will be enough to remember some of the recent natural disasters (the eruption of the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier in Island in 2010; earthquake in Japan and ensuing tsunami in 2011; draught and forest fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa in 2012; hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean, the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, and Eastern Canada; and flood in the Krasnodar krai). So it has already become clear that human activity has caused such a phenomenon as global warming.
ReplyDeleteGood!
DeleteSlips:
... are THE evidence of climate change, and mainly of its warming, RATHER than cooling.
Our planet (and its climate cannot be big) IS not so big that PEOPLE ARE not able to influence IT. The AFTEREEFECTS of this influence WILL BE SEEN not at once ...
As for me, I think the new Ice Age is very possible. There is a ton of information that indicates the planet's global cooling not warming that is taking hold of our planet. Antarctica has been cooling for 30 years and the Arctic ice is growing quickly. Moreover, for the last several years winters in our country have become much longer and colder.Heavy snow is already making people unable to get to work or to get home. Thousands have been stranded at airports and bus and train terminals. Tens of thousands of homes have lost power, their power lines cut by high winds and toppling tree limbs.If things get worse year by year, as they have these past few years, mass migrations and famines could end up being the order of the day. Some northern countries might have to be abandoned with a full on Ice Age. Severe global cooling will precipitate mass migrations, famines, food riots, regional conflicts and a loss of human life. Many scientists predict that the freeze will be so complete that people will be able to walk from England to Ireland or across the North Sea from Scotland to northern Europe. It's really frightening and people must do something now to somehow diminish the effects of the coming Ice Age.
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteNastya, how can you be of two opposite opinions at the same time!
Our world is suffering from growing number of disasters, if earlier it was quite seldom, nowadays hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and wildfires happen some times in a year. All of them are the result of global warming. The film showed the bright pictures of what is happening and will probably happen in our future. The new Ice Age? It is quite possibly. No one knows how people’s influence will affect the Earth but it is more dangerous that the next generation of people will continue to harm the planet. They will not be able to stop because they will be our children and grandchildren, they will be growing in such planet, which will continue destroying. But nowadays we can speak only about global warming with lot of evidences of it but not about the new Ice Age. It does not matter what it will be, anyway people will survive not live in the Earth and to predict it we now should limit the harm and our influence on the planet to give the next generation a chance to have a normal life here.
ReplyDeleteGood!
DeleteSlips:
Our world is suffering from A growing number of disasters, if earlier THEY HAPPENED quite seldom, nowadays THERE ARE MORE AND MORE hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, and wildfires EVERY year.
I can't claim that our planet is in for the new Ice Age. I think that global warming is rather possible. Moreover i think that the process of global warming has already started. The evidences of this are deglaciation, migration of tropical diseases and the concetration of carbon dioxide. All these evidences are sciencific, but if we look back at events of recent years we can see another evidences of global warning, such as forest fires in the central Russia in 2010 and anomalous heat in Europe in 2003. Speaking about the Ice Age, perhaps it also can arrive after global warming, because I think our planet develops according to cycles. But the next cycle is global warming I believe.
ReplyDeleteGOOD
DeleteSlips:
evidence is uncountable
... The evidence ... of this are
the GROWING concetration of carbon dioxide.
at THE events of recent years , better still at the RECENT EVENTS
There is no doubt that all environmental changes which are happening now, will somehow effect on our lives and the Earth's condition, sooner or later. There are a lot of controversies, whether it is going to be global warming or Ice Age. In spite of the fact these two notions may seem so different, in fact, they have much in common, especially if we are talking about their causes and displays. The latest environmental issues such as hurricane Sandy, the flooding in the Krasnodar Region and in the Great Britain, earthquakes in Azerbaijan and others have proved that something is going to be...As for versions about the beginning of the new Era of Ice Age...So, why not? The most interesting thing in it that we, humanity, don’t do anything to prevent it, we are just doing everything for its coming! scientific and technological advance gives the opposite results, it destroys our planet, instead of making it more flexible to different environmental issues.
ReplyDeleteThey say that all these talks about global warming or Ice age are baseless, but I think people simply cover our own helplessness, because the process of the future great changes (climate, continent location or some other, I don't know) have already been put into practice.
GOOD!
DeleteSlips:
will somehow AFFECT OURlives ...
... or THE NEW Ice Age...
proved that something is going to be... ??? IS HAPPENING, you mean?
The most interesting thing ABOUT it IS that we, humanS, don’t do anything ...
It’s an open secret that in 1972 a group of scientists sent a letter to the President of the USA about global environment situation in the world. There were lots of questions which were put under discussion: how do we know the climate is warming up and how do we know what’s going to happen next? There was a theory of the coming of the Ice Age. It was supposed to be the war which could be in the future for our kinds.
ReplyDelete70s disturbed the Earth greatly: overpopulation, acid rains with killing lakes and forests. It was a time of ecological doom. It was the time when we could say that the Ice Age could begin in any time, because the planet was killing down. For example, in 60s in Britain snowfalls were one to another. There was a theory why the Earth was cooling – the era of the King cool.
Any case it is the fact; before global warming came global cooling. So, how could pollution lead to cooling? Smokes from chimneys form the layer of a city in atmosphere. CO2 in atmosphere changes all the time. There is a variation of seasons because of carbon dioxides. CO2 hides warm, we can see it in the video during the experiment with camera and the candle. That’s why it becomes colder and colder and sun rays can’t reach the Earth. It’s one of the stage of greenhouse effect.
On the one hand, CO2 comes from smokes, which in its turn, comes from chimneys of factories and plants and other big industrial organization and forms CO2 layer. It is the result of the world economy building when power station pulled smoke into the air.
But on the other hand, why was the Planet colder and colder if the climate became warmer and warmer? The Summer of 1976 was extremely hot. There were lot’s of fires, people suffered from the whole situation. Sun could reach the planet without any barriers, as there were a lot of ozone holes in atmosphere.
The Jason, an organization which makes predictions, reconstructs the climate of the past using samples of ancient ice. Concerning them scientists may say that it is a rapid climate change. But, at the same time, nobody wanted to be wrong. They say, global environment systems is supposed to be a very big system to be influenced by people.
Prof. James Hanse, from NASA, made his own theory: the Earth is warmer in 1988 (when he presented it to public), the global warming is now large enough and it has relationship to the greenhouse effect, summer heat waves destroy Greenland, which is covered by 80% of world ice. There were pros and cons of the theory because it was theу worst as a society not to have conclusion.We have to mansion, that Margaret Thatcher was the 1st leader of the country who named the problem and declared ways how to solve it.
As we see, there are lot’s of facts that there will not be the Ice Age or that the global cooling can occur in the future. Any case we are to cut pollution. The climate is unpredictable. But if we want to live on the Earth we have to care about our big planet. Or if we don’t, one day our children will face the other big problem which can be caused by these two: global warming and global cooling.
Oleg, brevity is a sister of talent, don't you want to be their brother? ;-)
DeleteSlips:
about THE global environmentAL situation ...
THE 70s ...
..acid rains (no 'with') killing lakes and forests...
begin AT any time...
etc
Everything on this universe has a cusp. Scientists can't describe all the phenomena the Earth faced on a planetary scale with all these details (although their ideas and hypothetical direction are especially true). Our world is like a huge swing, but period of it transition from one side to another can be more than a billion of years. All events across our iworld were reconstituted long before the mankind was established, and our presence on the planet only accelerates all these natural processes (either positive one and negative too - in bigger stage ). And of course, the humanity must for the enourmous breakthrough of such swing to the other way - but when it happens, we can't clarify exactly - right. The Universe is timeless.
ReplyDelete* not a cusp, maybe a retirning point, of something that way.
DeleteGOOD!
DeleteSlips:
a cusp as a TURNING point ...
A period of itS transition or REVERSE(no 'from one side to another') can TAKE more than a billion of years.
No more commentaries!
ReplyDelete