IV. Make up questions.

Ask your friend: 1) if he knows about environmental problems; 2) what environmental problems he heard about; 3) what he can tell about water pollution; 4) if he has read about air pollution; 5) what he knows about environment in his country; 6) if there are some environmental problems in his country; 7) what environmental problems there are in the region he lives; 8) if he has heard about any environmental organizations and green parties; 9) if he takes part in green parties activity.

Air pollution

Vocabulary

source of pollution	источник загрязнения
to occur	происходить
to erupt	извергаться
to weather	выветривать(ся)
artificial	искусственный
aero plankton	живые организмы воздушной среды
heating system	система отопления
urban	городской
to emit	выбрасывать
ash	зола
sulphureous gas	сернистый газ
thermal electric plant	тепловая электростанция
oil refinery	нефтеперерабатывающий завод
composition of emissions	состав выбросов
to depend on	зависеть от
fuel	топливо
exhaust fumes	выхлопные газы автомобилей
to estimate	подсчитывать
layer	слой
congestion	перегруженность уличного движения
traffic jams	пробки на дорогах
to cut down	рубить
oxidation	окисление
initial	первоначальный
atomic bomb	атомная бомба
atomic weapons	ядерное оружие
to stockpile	накапливать
to explode	взрывать(ся)
level of radiation	уровень радиации
particle	частица
to disperse	рассеивать(ся)
soil	почва

Scientists distinguish between natural and artificial sources of air pollution.

Natural pollution of the atmosphere occurs when volcanoes erupt, rock is weathered, dust storms take place, forest fires occur as a result of lightning, and sea salt is washed ashore. The atmosphere always contains aero plankton (bacteria, including those causing disease).

Artificial pollution of the atmosphere is characteristics mostly of cities and industrial districts. Cities and suburbs contain numerous industrial enterprises, automobiles and heating system which pollute the air and negatively influence the local climate. It has been established that air pollution in urban areas grows in proportion to the population.

For a long time the problem of air pollution in the cities was mainly connected with coal-burning in heating system which emitted smoke, ashes and sulphureous gas (SO₂). Today industrial enterprises and automobiles are the main sources of atmospheric pollution.

Industry pollutes the air by emissions of harmful gases and industrial dust. Thermal electric plants, metallurgical and chemical factories, oil refineries, cement and other plants are sources of air pollution. The chemical composition of emissions into the atmosphere is different. It depends on the kind of fuel, raw materials, technology, etc.

Today the biggest polluter is the car. Exhaust fumes are the main cause of bad air quality, which can make people feel ill and have difficulty breathing. It is estimated that one car burns up the amount of fresh air needed for 100 adults to breathe. This problem is especially bad in some cities where, on days when there is not much wind, a brown layer of smog hangs in the air. The number of cars is increasing every year, and this causes serious congestion and traffic jams on the roads. Governments then build new roads trying to improve the situation, but this means that they cut down trees and destroy more of the countryside.

City air is polluted not only by exhaust fumes but also by the products of their oxidation, often more toxic than the initial substance. One of them is ozone which is useful in small quantities, but it is extremely poisonous in large concentrations.

The problem of radioactive pollution of the air arose in 1945 after the atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then atomic weapons have become much more powerful and have been stockpiled in large quantities.

When an atom bomb explodes, an extremely high level of radiation covers an enormous area for a long period of time as the radioactive particles are dispersed. Radioactive products fall on the earth, polluting the soil, water bodies and living things. Finely dispersed dust is carried many thousands of kilometers away and causes global radioactive pollution of the air. Radioactive elements are very harmful to living things and cause hard diseases.