Topic: ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE

CLIMATE

-          Humidity (n) : độ ẩm, sự ẩm ướt

-          Sticky (a): Nồm, thời tiết nóng, ẩm 1 cách khó chịu

-          Torrential (a): xối xả (mưa, lũ)

Talk about the weather climate at where I live:

In the city where I live, it has a rainy season. During this time, there is really high humidity so it gets awfully hot and sticky, and we often get torrential rain, which can cause severe flooding. In the early summer, before the rains come, it tends to be boiling hot. Most tourists find the heat unbearable, actually, so I wouldn’t recommend visiting then.

ENVIRONMENT

-          Degradation (n) : sự xuống cấp, thoái hóa

-          Deterioration (a): sự hủy hoại

-          Interdependencies of ecosystem (biodiversity) (a): sự phụ thuộc lẫn nhau của các hệ sinh thái

-          The depletion of a natural resource : sự cạn kiệt của các nguồi tài nguyên thiên nhiên

-          Deforestation (n): sự phá rừng

-          Logging (n): việc đốn gỗ

-          Inextricably intertwine : gắn bó chặt chẽ, mật thiết

-          Soil erosion: sự xói mòn đất

-           

USEFUL EXPRESSION:

Expression	Example
How economic development and environmental protection interrelate	Sự phát triển kinh tế và bảo vệ môi trường có mối tương quan thế nào.
Economic development and environmental protection are not inimical but complementary	Sự phát triển kinh tế và bảo vệ môi trường không phải đối nghịch nhau và bổ sung cho nhau
Impose a severe threat on people’s survival in the years ahead	Tạo ra một mối đe dọa lên sự tồn tại của con người trong những năm tới
Indiscriminate logging of tropical hardwoods has contributed to the destruction of rainforest	Sự chặt phá rừng bừa bãi đã đóng góp cho sự phá hủy rừng nhiệt đới
Off-shore oil spills frequently result in damage to mangrove swamps and the unique species that live there	Sự tràn dầu ngoài khơi thường xuyên dẫn đến việc gây hại cho rừng ngập mặn và những loài vật đặc biệt sống ở đó.
Land has been farmed so intensively that there has been a significant decline in biodiversity	Đất đai bị trồng trọt quá mức dẫn đến sự sụt giảm đáng kể về hệ sinh thái

Environmental problems are serious in may countries. It means that the only possible way to protect the environmental is at an international level.

Globally, environmental degradation has been recognized as one of the main challenges that people have to overcome in the 21^st century. The rapid deterioration of environmental is believed to impose a severe threat on people’s survival in the years ahead, if not solved effectively. In addressing this issue, countries worldwide should join forces and make a concerted effort, instead of working individually for inconsistent targets.

            The first point to support international cooperation is that the impact of an environmental problem can be on the global scale. Common knowledge is that people live in a global environment and share natural resources and survive on the same biosphere (sinh quyển). The interdependencies of ecosystems and the transport of pollutants are the main characteristics of the world. For instance, a stream or lake in a country can be affected by pesticides released from neighboring croplands, lawns (bãi cỏ) and gardens and by pollutants emitted thousands of miles away. Likewise, the depletion of a natural resource ( such as deforestation ) in one nation can have environmental and economic ramifications (sự phân nhánh) in many other countries.

            Another benefit obtained from international cooperation is facilitating the exchange of goods, technology, know-how and capital. Environmental problems are mainly found in undeveloped countries, where industrial or agricultural developments are placed ahead of environmental protection. With a clear intent to restore the damaged environment, those countries have difficulties in making headway, in the absence of facilities or technologies. They need the support from the global community, especially those industrialized countries that have achieved remarkable progress in this field. By sharing experience in environmental management, countries can tackle problems with greater efficiency and at lower costs.

            To summarize, cooperation between countries is inevitable in this global campaign, not only because the ecosystem is a unified mechanism but also because international engagement can make optimal use of financial and human resources. By collaborating with each other, countries are able to protect the global environment with using the least amount of resources.

Some industrialized countries have serious environmental problems. The damage to the environment is an inevitable result when a country tends to improve the standard of living.

            A question central to today’s environmental debate is how economic development and environmental protection interrelate. Some people maintain that no economic target can be attained without some sacrifice made to the environment. As far as I know, there are a couple of complementary components, if operated properly.

            For business, large or small, taking environmental consequences seriously can impel them to improve their production lines, make optimal use of materials and resources and increase the profit margin.        

Reading: Pollution - Causes and Effects

What is pollution?

Pollution, we hear it every other day at school, college and read about it in newspapers. So what is it? Pollution occurs when pollutants (chất gây ô nhiễm) contaminate the natural surroundings; which brings about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely(một cách bất lợi). Pollutants are the key elements or components of pollution which are generally waste materials of different forms. Pollution disturbs our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernization and development in our lives pollution has reached its peak; giving rise to global warming and human illness.

Pollution occurs in different forms; air, water, soil, radioactive, noise, heat/ thermal and light. Every form of pollution has two sources of occurrence; the point and the non-point sources. The point sources are easy to identify, monitor and control, whereas the non-point sources are hard to control.  Let us discuss the different types of pollutions, their causes and effects on mankind and the environment as a whole.

Types & Causes of Pollution

Air Pollution is the most prominent (nổi bật) and dangerous form of pollution. It occurs due to many reasons. Excessive burning of fuel which is a necessity of our daily lives for cooking, driving and other industrial activities; releases a huge amount of chemical substances in the air every day; these pollute the air.

Smoke from chimneys, factories, vehicles or burning of wood basically occurs due to coal burning; this releases sulphur dioxide into the air making it toxic. The effects of air pollution are evident too. Release of sulphur dioxide and hazardous gases into the air causes global warming and acid rain; which in turn have increased temperatures, erratic(không đồng đều) rains and droughts worldwide; making it tough for the animals to survive. We breathe in every polluted particle (một lượng) from the air; result is increase in asthma(bệnh hen suyễn)  and cancer in the lungs.

Water Pollution has taken toll of (gây thiệt hại) all the surviving species of the earth. Almost 60% of the species live in water bodies. It occurs due to several factors; the industrial wastes dumped(vứt bỏ, đổ) into the rivers and other water bodies cause an imbalance in the water leading to its severe contamination and death of aquatic(sống dưới nước) species.

Also spraying insecticides (thuoc tru sau), pesticides like DDT on plants pollutes the ground water system and oil spills in the oceans have caused irreparable(không thể bù đắp được)  damage to the water bodies. Eutrophication (sự thiết oxy trong nước)is another big source; it occurs due to daily activities like washing clothes, utensils(dụng cụ) near lakes, ponds or rivers; this forces detergents(chất tẩy) to go into water which blocks sunlight from penetrating(/’penitrayting/ thẩm thấu), thus reducing oxygen and making it inhabitable.

Water pollution not only harms the aquatic beings but it also contaminates the entire food chain by severely affecting humans dependent on these. Water-borne diseases like cholera(/’kolơrơ/bệnh dịch tả), diarrhea(/daiơ‘ria/ bệnh tiêu chảy) have also increased in all places.

Soil pollution occurs due to incorporation(sự liên kết) of unwanted chemicals in the soil due to human activities. Use of insecticides and pesticides absorbs the nitrogen compounds from the soil making it unfit for plants to derive (chuyển hóa)nutrition from. Release of industrial waste, mining and deforestation also exploits the soil. Since plants can’t grow properly, they can’t hold the soil and this leads to soil erosion.

Noise pollution is caused when noise which is an unpleasant sound affects our ears and leads to psychological problems like stress, hypertension(chứng tăng huyết áp), hearing impairment(sự suy yếu), etc. It is caused by machines in industries, loud music, etc.

Radioactive pollution is highly dangerous when it occurs. It can occur due to nuclear plant malfunctions, improper nuclear waste disposal, accidents, etc. It causes cancer, infertility( /infơ‘tiliti/ /sự cằn cỗi), blindness, defects at the time of birth; can sterilize (làm cho cằn cỗi)soil and affect air and water.

Thermal/heat pollution is due to the excess heat in the environment creating unwanted changes over long time periods; due to huge number of industrial plants, deforestation and air pollution. It increases the earth’s temperature, causing drastic climatic /clai’matic/ changes and extinction of wildlife.

Light pollution occurs due to prominent excess illumination (sự chiếu sáng)of an area. It is largely visible in big cities, on advertising boards and billboards, in sports or entertainment events at the night. In residential areas the lives of the inhabitants is greatly affected by this. It also affects the astronomical observations and activities by making the stars almost invisible.

Effects of Pollution

1. Environment Degradation : Environment is the first casualty (thương vong)for increase in pollution weather in air or water. The increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere leads to smog which can restrict sunlight from reaching the earth. Thus, preventing plants in the process of photosynthesis. Gases like Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide can cause acid rain. Water pollution in terms of Oil spill may lead to death of several wildlife species.

2. Human Health : The decrease in quality of air leads to several respiratory( /’respirơtri/ thuộc về hô hấp) problems including asthma(bệnh hen suyễn) or lung cancer. Chest pain, congestion(tắc nghẽn mạch máu), throat inflammation(/inflơmấysn/ chứng viêm phổi), cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease are some of diseases  that can be causes by air pollution. Water pollution occurs due to contamination of water and may pose skin related problems including skin irritations (sự rát da) and rashes(phát ban). Similarly, Noise pollution leads to hearing loss, stress and sleep disturbance.

3. Global Warming :  The emission of greenhouse gases particularly CO2 is leading to global warming. Every other day new industries are being set up, new vehicles come on roads and trees are cut to make way for new homes. All of them, in direct or indirect way lead to increase in CO2 in the environment. The increase in CO2 leads to melting of polar ice caps which increases the sea level and pose danger for the people living near coastal areas.

4. Ozone Layer Depletion: Ozone layer is the thin shield high up in the sky that stops ultra violet rays from reaching the earth. As a result of human activities, chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), were released in to the atmosphere which contributed to the depletion of ozone layer.

5. Infertile Land (/in’ fơtai/: vùng đất cằn cỗi): Due to constant use of insecticides and pesticides, the soil may become infertile. Plants may not be able to grow properly. Various forms of chemicals produced from industrial waste are released into the flowing water which also affects the quality of soil.

Pollution not only affect humans by destroying their respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological systems; it also affects the nature, plants, fruits, vegetables, rivers, ponds, forests, animals, etc, on which they are highly dependent for survival. It is crucial to control pollution as the nature, wildlife and human life are precious gifts to the mankind.

(Source: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/PollutionTypes.php)

Expressions

It occurs due to + N/NP

Example: It occurs due to the fact that everyone seems to have more expectations from money.