environment

Climate Change Are we doing enough to help?

Climate Change! global warming! these days you hear all kinds of news and opinions about how the environment is Changing. sCary tv shows prediCt massive floods, earthquakes and famines; politiCal leaders from all over the world disCuss what steps to take – everyone is finally paying attention to this global phenomenon.

the effects on people

Is global warming really affecting people now? And where can we see these effects? The answers to these questions are “yes” and “all over the world”.

The year 2007 was the sixth hottest in Australian (recorded) history. People there had to endure bushfires, floods, intense storms and droughts . The European heat wave of 2003 killed 22,000 – 35,000 people. The Arctic region has experienced a temperature rise of 1°C to 3°C over the last 50 years, and Canada, Alaska and Russia are experiencing melting of permafrost .

Hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean were thought to be an entirely North Atlantic phenomenon. In late March 2004, the first Atlantic cyclone to form south of the equator hit Brazil with 144 km/h winds.

In Tanzania, there used to be a drought about every 10 years. Now droughts are more frequent and so is the flooding. Areas which were never affected by mosquitoes now are. The rains come at the wrong time for farmers, causing many problems.

Climate change may be one of the causes of the Darfur

conflict (crisis in western Sudan). The reduction in rainfall has turned millions of hectares of grazing land into desert, forcing the Arab nomads to move south to fight over land already occupied by other people.

Sudan). The reduction in such as Bangladesh and the rainfall has turned millions Netherlands would be worst hit. of hectares of grazing land Hotter temperatures are into desert, forcing the Arab expected to have a direct nomads to move south to fight impact on your health. They over land already occupied by can increase the number other people. of people who die for many reasons because the heart Predictions has to work harder to keep the body cool. Doctors warn that global warming could mean Predictions for the future more cardiovascular disease . include extreme weather, With all these scary an expansion of tropical predictions, it is no wonder diseases , and drastic more and more people are economic impact. What does trying to support efforts to this all mean? There is likely reduce global warming. to be less food as droughts and rising temperatures can create deserts in some areas. Forest fires may occur more regularly. People may fight more over food and land. There could be an increase in diseases carried by insects such as tick encephalitis and malaria as regions become warmer. Higher temperatures will also increase the demand for water. Some researchers predict that over 50 % of animal and plant species may die out.

Many of the world’s largest and most prosperous cities are on the coast, and it will be difficult to protect them against the rising sea levels . Low-lying countries

If global warming continues, extreme droughts can turn some areas into deserts.

Kyoto – yes or no?

Do you remember the fuss created when the United States government decided not to sign the Kyoto Agreement? This international plan is supposed to reduce greenhouse gases (that is, to reduce putting polluting gases into the air, which causes the atmosphere to heat up abnormally) and help the environment.

At the meeting in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, many countries signed an agreement, now called the Kyoto Agreement, which committed the countries to reduce their emissions from 2008 to 2012, and to prove it with statistics.

However, only developed countries were required to reduce emissions. The largest, fastest-growing countries in the world – China, India, and Brazil – did not have to do anything; they could continue polluting as usual. At the same time, the US, which was responsible for 25 % of all greenhouse gas emissions, was assigned to cut far too much fuel usage in a very short time, according to the government administration of President

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George Bush. Nonetheless, many people believe that after Bush leaves office at the end of 2008, the new president may be willing to sign, too.

People say – yes!

Politicians are often not very eager to implement expensive measures to cut emissions. In spite of this, ordinary people have been working on their own for decades to reduce pollution.

One program that helps the environment in the US is called Best Workplaces for Commuters. In this program, employers help employees find better ways to get to work, rather than just hopping into the car and driving alone to the job. It encourages companies to offer benefits such as:

Rainfalls cause disastrous flooding in Bangladesh.

their employees find that some drivers gladly give up their parking place in exchange for cash. Even smaller businesses discover that allowing employees to work at home makes their workers more productive and happier.

Nations has a program (called Clean Development Mechanism) that acts like Robin Hood. This program raises billions of dollars from rich countries and gives them to poor countries to lower their production of greenhouse gases. For example, wind turbines have been built in Inner Mongolia with money from this program.

• free bus passes (or reduced price ones)

• the ability to telework (to use the Internet to work at home)

Perhaps best of all, the environment benefits from the program. For example, the energy saved by the Best Workplaces program in just one year is enough to provide over 200,000 households with electricity over that period. Furthermore, the program has achieved other beneficial results: Saved almost 13,000 acres of forest from deforestation , and saved almost 8,000 railcars of coal.

• matching up people who can carpool to work together (take turns driving each other to and from work)

• funds to help pay for a van to bring workers to the job

the future

• a cash payment to workers who give up their parking place at work Businesses like the Best Workplaces plan because it helps them save money in unexpected ways. For example, large companies which have problems finding enough parking spaces for

In the meantime, countries continue to meet and discuss plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The latest meeting, held in Bali, lasted two weeks in December 2007. The result? Participants agreed to continue negotiating during 2008-09 in order to come up with an international agreement on what should happen next, after the original Kyoto Agreement “dies” in 2012. Hana Škrdlová (Canada), mary matz (USA)

Similar programs are popular elsewhere in the world as well. The United

solar-powered taxi

Many people dream about electric cars, but a Swiss teacher actually built one. And then he drove it all the way from Switzerland to the climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, just to prove it could work.

disCuss:

• Do you consider climate change a serious problem? Do you think governments are doing enough to deal with the problem?

The car pulls a trailer loaded with six square meters of solar panels. The panels absorb sunlight and produce electricity. The power is then fed into a battery which drives the car. It took Palmer three years to build his car, with the assistance of scientists at four universities and financial help from 15 Swiss companies. The car can cover 100 km a day. mary matz (USA)

• What parts of the Best Workplaces for Commuters program do you find most interesting? Which would work best in your area?

• What do you, personally, do to help the environment?

Y Vocabulary

flood [flVd] - záplava earthquake [”@:TkweIk]

• zemětřesení

• famine [“f&mIn] - hladomor phenomenon [fI”nQmIn@n] - jev to endure [In”djU@] - přetrpět, snést drought [draUt] - sucho heat wave - vlna horka temperature rise [“tEmp(@)r@tS@] - zvýšení teploty o

• melting of permafrost [“p@:m@frQst] - tání trvale zmrzlé půdy

• entirely [In”taI@li] - výlučně, pouze cyclone to form south of the equator [saIkl@Un I”kweIt@] - cyklon, který se vytvořil jižně od rovníku

• mosquito [mQ”ski:t@U] - moskyt, komár

reduction in rainfall [rI”dVkS(@)n] - snížení srážek has turned… of grazing land into desert, forcing [greIzIN dI”z@:t fO:sIN] - změnil… pastviny v poušť, což donutilo

expansion of tropical diseases [Ik”sp&nS(@)n dI”zi:zIz] - rozšíření tropických nemocí there is likely to be - je pravděpodobné, že bude tick encephalitis [tIk En%sEf@“laItIs] - klíšťová encefalitida sea level [“lEv(@)l] - hladina moře cardiovascular disease [“kA:dI@U”v&skjUl@]

• kardiovaskulární onemocnění

• fuss [fVs] - poprask to reduce greenhouse gases [g&sIz]

• snížit emise skleníkových plynů to heat up - ohřívat se to commit [k@“mIt] - zavázat (někoho k něčemu) was assigned to cut far too much fuel usage [@“saInd fjU@l “ju:sIdZ] - dostaly za úkol příliš výrazně omezit používání (fosilních) paliv to be willing [“wIlIN] - být ochotný to implement - zavést to hop into - naskočit do benefit [“bEnIfIt] - výhoda bus pass [pA:s] - legitimace

(“tramvajenka”) to match up [m&tS] - dát dohromady to give up - vzdát se, zříci se (něčeho) household [“haUsh@Uld]

• domácnost deforestation [di:“fQrI”steIS(@)n] - odlesnění, kácení lesů railcar [“reIlkA:] - vagon to raise [reIz] - získat (peníze)

Solar-powered taxi

a trailer loaded with [“treIl@ “l@UdId] - přívěs naložený is then fed into a battery [“b&t@ri]

• napájí baterii

Û Glossary

nomad – a member of a community that moves with its animals from place to place commuter – someone who regularly travels between work and home wind turbine – a tall structure with blades (= wide flat parts on a machine) that are blown round by the wind and produce energy

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