VELEUČILIŠTE VELIKA GORICAs pravom javnosti

Studij – Krizno upravljanje

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Skripta za engleski jezik

Pripremila:mr. sc. Jadranka Majić

rujan 2009.

Contentspage

Introduction

1 Crisis Management1

2 Global Warming7

3 Greenhouse Effect 10

4 Deforestation 11

5 Earth Day - 13

6 Car Crisis 18

7 E-waste 20

8 Avian Influenza 22

9 Mad Cow Disease 24

10 Classical Swine Fever 26

11 Tropical Cyclone 29

12 Flood 32

13 Earthquake 34

14 Further Reading 36

15 Occupational Health and Safety 39

16 Waste Management 42

New English File (Self-Study Materials) 48

Introduction

Crisis management is a relatively new field of management. Many people view it

as emergency response or business continuity, while other people will only

consider the public relations aspect concerning recovery of any damage to public

image and assuring stakeholders that recovery is underway. They are all partially

correct, since true crisis management has many facets. In the face of a current,

real crisis, it includes identifying the real nature of a current crisis, intervening to

minimize damage and recovering from the crisis.

It must be thoroughly integrated into the organization’s structure and operations.

Likewise, achieving an effective level of crisis management requires a thorough

internal analysis, strategic thinking and sufficient discussion. When it comes to

integration, think of it this way – if you can foresee a risk affecting your

organization, then your plan must address all consequences of that risk.

For example, if a tornado hits your production facility, you obviously have to get

everyone out safely, but you also need to deal with business continuity issues.

Your customers and suppliers will likely be affected – so you must communicate

effectively with them. Your employees may have lost their homes, and you may

need to offer some assistance if you expect them to quickly get back to work.

Although no plan can address every possible scenario, a solid plan can provide a

structure for an integrated response.

1 Crisis Management

Before we talk about crisis management, we must first all be speaking the same language. One of the reasons for the confusion surrounding crisis management is that the terminology is anything but standardized. Often enough, a single term is used in several ways, or a single element is called by more than one name. So, let’s first look at the terms that describe the main facets of an integrated crisis management plan.

Crisis Management is the umbrella term that encompasses all activities involved when an organization prepares for and responds to a significant critical incident. An effective crisis management program should be consistent with the organization’s mission and integrate plans such as Emergency Response, Business Continuity, Crisis Communications, Disaster Recovery, Humanitarian Assistance, etc.

Emergency Response consists of all activities related to safely managing the immediate physical, health and environmental impacts of an incident. These include providing first aid and emergency medical services; containing any fire or hazardous materials that may have been released; securing sites; and evacuating people who are not actively part of the emergency response.

Business Continuity refers to the efforts required to maintain the consistent delivery of products or services to customers. It includes, but is much broader than, Disaster Recovery. It is also sometimes referred to as business resumption and continuity of operations.

Disaster Recovery refers to those activities required to repair and ensure the ongoing function of technology infrastructure, including data backup and recovery, data processing, and voice and data communications. It should be considered part of Business Continuity.

Crisis Communications typically refers to the public relations aspect of crisis management. It involves communicating both internally and externally about what happened, and what the organization is doing to manage the crisis. The key audiences to be addressed are employees, shareholders, media, customers, suppliers, and the surrounding community.

Humanitarian Assistance consists of efforts designed to address the psychological and emotional impact on the workforce. In contrast to emergency response, which typically focuses on the immediate safety, humanitarian assistance refers to the range of services necessary to get your employees back to original levels of productivity. In addition, there are other terms that we often hear misused. The lack of clarity often leads to inconsistent expectations, which can derail the crisis management planning process. Let’s take a look at some of these terms.

Crisis Management Planning Committee is the group charged with analyzing vulnerabilities, evaluating existing plans, developing, and implementing the comprehensive crisis management program. Sometimes the Crisis Management Planning Committee ends up being the Crisis Management Team, but often the members are different. The Crisis Management Team is typically made up of top-ranking officers - whereas the planning can be delegated.

This planning committee should include representatives of all appropriate departments and disciplines; champions committed to get the task accomplished, who have the support of senior leadership to shepherd the planning process through to completion. The planning committee is most effective if you have a mix of creative and analytical types. In addition, an outside consultant can offer objective advice and guidance.

Crisis Management Team consists of top-ranking individuals responsible for handling the response in an actual crisis situation. They should be trained and tested through simulations. The Crisis Management Team exists to protect core assets – people, finances and reputation – during times of risk. This team must be able to work well together under pressure, and should have clearly delineated responsibilities and levels of authority.

Notification and Activation Drills have the purpose of practicing and streamlining the assembly of a crisis response team so that it can quickly get to work, regardless of the nature of any potential crisis. These drills focus on the processes of communications and logistics that must occur from the moment an organization is first made aware of a crisis until all team members are in place.

Table-top Exercises are scheduled meetings that use a discussion-based approach, to introduce a team to the elements of a crisis response plan. No equipment is involved, and all activity occurs inside a meeting room, or in the organization’s designated crisis command centre. Participants are given a hypothetical crisis scenario, and walked through their expected initial responses. Then additional information updates are distributed, followed by a similar discussion of appropriate actions. After the exercise, a short debriefing is conducted; written comments and feedback are collected later. An evaluation report outlines the strengths observed and improvements needed.

Simulation Drills or Full-Scale Exercises are real-time role-playing exercises. They can be either pre-scheduled, or come as a surprise to team members. In place of the fixed script and limited objectives of a table-top, in a simulation the crisis management team faces a shifting landscape of occurrences that require it to implement solutions, just as it would have to do in a real crisis situation.

Simulations involve two groups: the players, who are the members of the crisis management team, and the simulators, who are producing the drill and evaluating the players’ responses. A large simulation can involve multiple participants. The players operate in the same rooms they would use in a real crisis. The drill then moves in real time, as simulators introduce additional information to the players via phone, fax, email, pre-recorded mock newscasts, and in person. The information revealed to the

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players about the scenario is dynamic, changing based on the players’ decisions. At the end of the drill, both groups are brought together for a lessons-learned debriefing.With clarity and agreement on the terms and processes involved, misunderstandings can be minimized and organizations will be better prepared to respond effectively.

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Language study

1 Find the words in the text that mean:

a part or aspect ______________________________________

false news ______________________________________

theoretical exercises ______________________________________

to guide the process ______________________________________

lessons-learned analysis ______________________________________

common term ______________________________________

2 Write the opposites of these words:

complex ____________________ use ____________________

true ____________________ effective ____________________

success ____________________ understanding ____________________

pre-scheduled ____________________ consistent ____________________

3 Read this passage carefully, and try to classify words into the categories below:

When it comes to integration, think of it this way – if you can foresee a risk affecting your organization, then your plan must address all consequences of that risk. For example, if a tornado hits your production facility, you obviously have to get everyone out safely, but you also need to deal with business continuity issues. Your customers and suppliers will likely be affected – so you must communicate effectively with them. Your employees may have lost their homes, and you may need to offer some assistance if you expect them to quickly get back to work. Although no plan can address every possible scenario, a solid plan can provide a structure for an integrated response.

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb

4

4 Write the synonyms of these words:

actual ______________________ clarity _______________________

encompass ______________________ assembly _______________________

impact ______________________ quick _______________________

large ______________________ champion _______________________

schedule ______________________ respond _______________________

5 Insert the missing words:

Verb Noun

management, manager

recover

maintain

integrate

operation

employ

program

develop

implement

standardisation

simulate

exercise

6 Write correct verb forms:

Present Past Future

am/is

are

bring

commit

cut

develop

equip

5

have

go

put

run

see

6

7 Insert the right form of the verbs in brackets:

Crisis Management __________ (be) the umbrella term that _______________ (encompass)

all activities _______________ (involve) when an organization ___________________

(prepare) for and _______________ (respond) to a significant critical incident. If a tornado

______________ (hit) your production facility, you obviously ______________ (have to) get

everyone out safely, but you also ___________ (need) to deal with business continuity

issues. It can only _____________________ (discuss) and _____________________

(understand) with success if there __________ (be) agreement on the meanings of its

essential terminology. Many people _______________ (view) it as emergency response or

business continuity, while other people ____________________ (only consider) the public

relations aspect. ___________________ (Achieve) an effective level of crisis management

______________ (require) a thorough internal analysis, strategic thinking and sufficient

discussion. The planning committee ____________ (be) most effective if you __________

(have) a mix of creative and analytical types. A large simulation can _____________

(involve) multiple participants. The players _______________ (operate) in the same

rooms they ___________________ (use) in a real crisis. At the end of the drill, both groups

_______________ (bring) together for a lessons-learned debriefing.

8 Translate these terms and phrases:

Crisis Management Team

Emergency Response

Table-Top Exercises

Notification and Activation Drills

Simulation Drills

Full-Scale Exercises

Disaster Recovery

Humanitarian Assistance

Business Continuity

Crisis Communications

Top-Ranking

Lessons-Learned Debriefing

7

Planning Committee

Business Resumption

8

2 Global Warming

It Threatens to Kill Off a Million Species

The earth is getting warmer. People burn coal, oil and gas and this produces carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. These gases, called greenhouse gases, stop the heat of the sun from leaving the earth’s upper atmosphere and this makes the earth warmer, a process called global warming. A few weeks ago a group of scientists produced a report about global warming and the natural world. They wanted to find out if global warming was dangerous for plants and animals. The scientists were shocked by what they found. They say that during the next 50 years about 25% of land animals and plants will become extinct. More than 1 million plant and animal species will become extinct by 2050.

The head of the research team, Chris Thomas, who is professor of conservation biology at Leeds University, said the results of their research were “terrifying”. More than 10% of all plants and animals will become extinct. It is too late to save many plants and animals because of the greenhouse gases that are already in the atmosphere. But the scientists say if we control greenhouse gases now, we could save many more plants and animals from extinction. The scientists studied some regions of the world with a very rich biology. These regions were Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and South Africa.

Their studies showed that species living in mountainous areas had a better chance of survival because they could move uphill to get cooler. In flat areas, such as deserts, plants and animals would have to move very long distances to get cooler, so they are in greater danger of extinction.

The scientists found many shocking things. For example, they found that half of the 24 species of butterfly they studied in Australia would soon become extinct. 60% of the species in the Kruger National Park in South Africa would also die out, and more than 100 of the 300 South African plant species they studied would also become extinct. One of the plants in danger of extinction is the national flower of South Africa, the King Protea. They studied 163 tree species in the Cerrado region of Brazil and found that 70 would become extinct. Many of the plants and trees that live in this region live nowhere else in the world. In Mexico, they studied 1,870 species and found that more than 30% of these were in danger of extinction.

Global warming is getting worse. Many countries, particularly the USA and the European countries, are continuing to produce greenhouse gases. We will not know the true results of this for 25 years but if people continue to burn oil, coal and gas at the same rate as today, about 30% of all life forms will become extinct by 2050.

(Taken from the News section in www.onestopenglish.com)

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Comprehension check

1 Choose the best answer:

1 Why are greenhouse gases dangerous?

a. Because people burn coal, oil and gas.b Because they cause global warming.c Because they stop the heat of the sun reaching the earth.

2 Why is global warming bad for animals and plants?

a Because many of them will become extinct if global warming continues.b Because it is too late to save many plants and animals.c Because some regions of the world have a very rich biology.

3 Why do animals in mountainous regions have a better chance of survival?

a Because they have to move long distances to get cooler.b Because they can move uphill to get cooler.c Because there are no deserts in mountainous regions.

4 What could happen to the national flower of South Africa?

a. It could become extinct.b. It could grow in the Kruger National Park.c. People could study it.

5 What will happen if people continue to produce greenhouse gases?

a The earth will get colder.b We will not know the true results for 25 years.c 30% of all life forms will become extinct by 2050.

Language study

1 Find the words which mean:

1 Very, very surprised. ____________________________

2 Very, very frightening. ____________________________

3 The opposite of “poor“. ____________________________

4 A flat, dry area without many plants or water. ____________________________

5 Another expression for “to become extinct”. ____________________________

6 The opposite of “downhill”. ____________________________

7 Another word for “regions”. ____________________________

8 A word which means “especially”. ____________________________

2 Rewrite the following to make words from the text:

icepess ____________________ bogall _____________________

hogneurese _____________________ nitcext _____________________

atomunusion _____________________ futbertly _____________________

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3 Fill the gaps using an appropriate preposition.

1 _______ example.

2 They were shocked _______ what they found.

3 They want to save plants and animals _______ extinction.

4 Some species have a better chance _______ survival.

5 The King Protea is the national flower _______ South Africa.

6 Many _______ the plants that live in this region are very rare.

7 30% of all life forms may become extinct _______ 2050.

8 Global warming is dangerous _______ plants and animals.

4 Insert the definite article (the) where necessary:

_____ Europe _____ Leeds University _____ Kruger National Park

_____ Australia _____ USA _____ Brazil

_____ Central America _____ Cerrado region _____ King Protea

_____ Mexico _____ European countries _____ Chris Thomas

5 Rewrite these paragraphs using the present and future tense forms:

A few weeks ago a group of scientists produced a report about global warming and the natural world. They wanted to find out if global warming was dangerous for plants and animals. The scientists were shocked by what they found.

The scientists found many shocking things. For example, they found that half of the 24 species of butterfly they studied in Australia would soon become extinct. 60% of the species in the Kruger National Park in South Africa would also die out, and more than 100 of the 300 South African plant species they studied would also become extinct.

Their studies showed that species living in mountainous areas had a better chance of survival because they could move uphill to get cooler. In flat areas, such as deserts, plants and animals would have to move very long distances to get cooler, so they are in greater danger of extinction.

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3 Greenhouse Effect

Have you ever seen a greenhouse? Most greenhouses look like a small glass house, and are used to grow plants, especially in the winter. Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun. The glass panels of the greenhouse let in light but keep heat from escaping. This causes the greenhouse to heat up, much like the inside of a car parked in sunlight, and keeps the plants warm enough to live in the winter. Similarly, the Earth’s atmosphere is all around us. Sunlight enters the Earth's atmosphere, passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases. As it reaches the Earth's surface, land, water, and biosphere absorb the sunlight’s energy. Once absorbed, this energy is sent back into the atmosphere. Some of the energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, causing our world to heat up.

Greenhouse effect

The name for the greenhouse effect comes from an incorrect analogy with the way in which greenhouses are heated by the sun in order to facilitate plant growth. This effect was first discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824, and first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. It is the process in which the absorption of infra-red radiation by an atmosphere warms a planet. So, a greenhouse gas is any gas that absorbs infra-red radiation in the atmosphere, and it behaves much like the glass panels in a greenhouse.

Greenhouse gases include: water vapor, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), halogenated fluorocarbons (HCFCs), ozone (O3), perfluorinated carbons (PFCs), and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Without them, the Earth's surface would be up to 30°C cooler. In addition to the Earth, Mars, Venus and other celestial bodies with atmospheres (such as Titan) have greenhouse effects.

Language work

1 Make your own quiz with multiple choice questions, using the words from the text.

E.g.: Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the _________________.

a) water b) sun c) atmosphere

2 Insert the missing names of the planets in the solar system:

_________________ _______________ the Earth ________________

_________________ _______________ _________________ ________________

_________________

3 Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in brackets:

1 They ____________ (look) like a small glass house, and ______________ (use) to grow

plants.

2 This effect ___________________________ (discover) by Joseph Fourier in 1824.

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3 This _________________ (cause) the greenhouse _____________ (heat) up, and

____________ (keep) the plants warm enough _______________ (live) in the winter.

4 _____________ you _____________________ (ever see) a greenhouse?

5 Once absorbed, this energy ___________________ (send) back into the atmosphere.

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4 DeforestationDemand for Beef Speeds Destruction of Amazon Forest

According to a recent report, last year was a very bad year for deforestation in the Amazon region of Brazil. Satellite pictures showed that almost 26,000 sq km of the world’s largest continuous forest was lost, 40% more than in the previous year. And this year’s loss could be greater, according to the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). The main reason for the destruction of the forest is the increasing demand for Brazilian beef in Europe. Many people are afraid that European cattle are still infected with mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease, so Brazilian beef is becoming more and more popular. The CIFOR report says that EU countries now take almost 40% of Brazil’s 578,000 tonnes of exported beef. Egypt, Russia and Saudi Arabia between them import 35%. The US takes only 8% because it has strict limits on imports in order to protect its own beef producers.

Amazon rainforest Deforestation

"Beef exports are the main cause of the deforestation, as cattle ranchers are destroying the rainforests," said David Kaimowitz, Director General of CIFOR. He said that logging contributed only indirectly to deforestation. The number of cattle in the Amazon region more than doubled to 57 million between 1990 and 2002, the report says. "[In that time] the percentage of Europe’s processed meat imports that came from Brazil rose from 40% to 74%. Markets in Russia and the Middle East are also responsible for much of this new demand for Brazilian beef."

But the report does not agree with the American argument that GM-free soya farming for the European market is leading to deforestation. "Although there has been a lot of concern in recent years about the increase of soybean (BE soya bean) cultivation in the Amazon region, it only leads to a small percentage of total deforestation," the authors say. Mr Kaimowitz said that the rate of Amazonian deforestation could increase in the next few years as foot and mouth disease disappears from Brazil. The report says that giant ranching operations linked to European supermarkets are now dominating the beef export market. "In the 1970s and 1980s most of the meat from the Amazon was being produced by small ranchers selling to local slaughterhouses. Very large commercial ranchers linked to supermarkets are now targeting the whole of Brazil and the global market," Mr Kaimowitz said.

Last month President Luis Inacio (Lula) da Silva announced new measures worth $133m to control the rate of deforestation in the Amazon and provide greater support for local regions and community forestry. "The government’s approach goes in the right direction, but without urgent action the Brazilian Amazon could lose an additional area the size of Denmark over the next 18 months." CIFOR recommends that the Brazilian government should also try to keep ranchers off government land, restrict road projects that open up the forest, and provide economic incentives to maintain land as forest.

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(Taken from the News Section in www.onestopenglish.com)

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Comprehension check

1 Choose the best answer for each question:

1 What, according to the report, is the main reason for the increase in deforestation in Brazil?

a soya farmingb loggingc cattle farming

2 Why is there an increased demand for Brazilian beef?

a because there is still a fear of cattle disease in Europeb because it is cheaper than soyac because the US has strict limits on imports

3 What, according to the Americans, is the main reason for deforestation in Brazil?

a GM-free soya farmingb loggingc cattle farming

4 What will happen if urgent action is not taken?

a cattle farming will increase even moreb an area the size of Denmark could be lost in the next 18 monthsc road building in the forests will increase

Language study

1 Find:

1 a three-word expression that means ‘a brain disease in cattle’ _____________________

2 a noun which means ‘worry’ _____________________

3 a verb which means ‘to increase by 100%’_____________________

4 a word which means ‘the process of growing crops or plants’_____________________

5 another word for ‘writer’ _____________________

6 an adjective that means ‘very, very large’ _____________________

2 Complete the table:

Verb Noun

announce

argue

cultivate

demand

destruction

disappear

dominate

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increase

produce

research

3 Fill in the missing nouns:

Singular Plural

beef

cattle

a foot

a forest

the forests

the information

land

a rancher

the report

research

years

4 Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice in the appropriate tense:

Example: Cattle farming causes deforestation.Deforestation is caused by cattle farming.

1 The EU imports 40% of Brazil’s exported beef.

_____________________________________________________

2 Cattle ranching is destroying the rainforest.

_____________________________________________________

3 Logging does not cause deforestation.

_____________________________________________________

4 Giant ranches dominate the beef export market.

_____________________________________________________

5 The President announced new measures to control deforestation.

_____________________________________________________

6 In the past small ranchers produced most of the meat.

_____________________________________________________

4 Discussion point

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What are the arguments for and against the destruction of the rain forest? Look at it from the point of view of:

a) cattle farmersb) loggersc) local people

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5 Earth Day

Helping the Environment

Earth Day is officially celebrated on April 22 each year. Earth Day is a global holiday created to address environmental issues that directly affect the planet. Today, an estimated 500 million people in over 180 countries participate in Earth Day, staging events and projects to address local and worldwide environmental issues.

History of Earth DayThe first Earth Day was observed in 1970. Wisconsin U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, who had been considering the idea of Earth Day since 1962, founded Earth Day. Nelson proposed Earth Day in hopes of shaking up the political establishment by having the first nationwide environmental protest. The first event was an overwhelming success; more than 20 million Americans showed up at rallies across the country. The first Earth Day saw individuals from different political and socioeconomic levels unite for the sole purpose of rallying to fight pollution from factories, oil spills, raw sewage, toxic dumping and other factors that negatively impact the environment. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.Earth Day continued to grow over the next two decades and by the 1990s, Earth Day was ready to go global. Denis Hayes led a group of environmental leaders in another major campaign that featured more than 200 million people in over 140 countries to once again put the world's environmental issues in the forefront. Since the successful debut of the first Earth Day, the environmental movement has grown from a largely grassroots crusade led by concerned citizens to a full-fledged campaign led by organized professional groups. According to a 2004 survey conducted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, environmental organizations today employ 3,400 full-time employees to address environmental issues year round.

Earth Day CelebrationsToday, Earth Day is not only a recognizable event in the United States, but Earth Day celebrations take place in countries around the world. While conservation efforts come under the spotlight on Earth Day, individuals can make a positive impact on the environment by conserving around the home and in the community. Some of the most basic conservation efforts include turning off lights in rooms not being used, turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth, and recycling as much of your trash as possible. Community efforts may include carpooling to cut down on air pollution as well as collecting trash that gathers by the roadside.

Language study

1 Explain these words in English:

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full-fledged to stage rally to observe trash crusadegrassroots

2 Read these numbers:

April 22 1962 (year) 1.962 3,400 1990s 2009 (year) 180 1970 (year)

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Earth Day Quiz

Team A

1 Fill the gaps by choosing the correct word from those below.

1 Global _________________ describes the rise in temperature of the earth’s

atmosphere.

2 If the earth gets warmer the level of the sea will ________________.

3 The ‘________________ effect’ describes what happens when the atmosphere starts

to contain too much of certain kinds of gas like, for example, carbon dioxide.

4 One of the ways carbon dioxide is produced is by burning ________________.

5 The global average temperature increased by 0.6 ________________ centigrade

during the twentieth century.

6 The country that ________________ the most ‘greenhouse gases’ is the United States.

7 There are now more than six ________________ people on Earth.

8 The World Health Organization says that three million people die every year

because of air ________________.

9 There are about 600 million ________________ in the world, and they produce a lot of

pollution.

degrees

petrol

cars

produces

rise

greenhouse

pollution

billion

warming

2 Prepare a multiple-choice quiz for Team B. Create questions and answers

by using the sentences in 1 and the previous text. Try to be as creative as

possible!

Example: How many cars are there in the world?

a. About 600 million b. About 1 billion c. About 1.5 billion

3 Take it in turns to read your questions to Team B or exchange tests with

Team B and work together to complete Team B’s quiz.

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Earth Day Quiz

Team B

1 Fill the gaps by choosing the correct word from those below.

1 Many scientists have said that a lot of the ________________ in the Arctic and

Antarctic is melting.

2 The global average ________________ is now about 15 degrees.

3 A ________________ is a long period of very dry weather, when there is not enough

rain to grow food – many countries now have more of them than they did 30 years

ago.

4 The world’s ________________ are much smaller than they were 100 years ago.

5 The world’s average ________________ level has risen by 10-15 centimetres in the

last 100 years.

6 July 1998 was the world’s ________________ month since records began.

7 Scientists think that ________________ global temperatures will rise by between 1.8

and 5.4 degrees centigrade between now and 2100.

8 The World Wildlife Fund says that lots of species of animals could become

________________ because of global warming.

9 The 1990s was the warmest ________________ since records began.

temperature

decade

hottest

ice

extinct

forests

drought

average

sea

2 Prepare a multiple-choice quiz for Team A. Create questions and answers

by using the sentences in 1 and in the previous text. Try to be as creative

as possible!

Example: Which was the world’s hottest month since records began?

a. November 2005 b. July 1998 c. August 1976

3 Take it in turns to read your questions to Team A or exchange tests with

Team A and work together to complete Team A’s quiz.

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Earth Day Quiz

What small steps can YOU take toward sustainable living?

Please take a few minutes to have some fun! The answers are below.

1. What is your single most harmful activity to the health of both humans and the environment?

A. Driving your car or light truck.B. Reading the newspaper and watching television.C. Using disposable diapers.

2. Which foods significantly impact land and water use as well as water pollution?

A. Coffee, candy bars and chocolate.B. Meats and poultry.C. Beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages.

3. Fruit and vegetable production uses lots of land and water (about 30% of total water used). Fertilizers and pesticides used in their production and the resulting soil erosion contribute to water pollution. What can you do?

A. Buy dehydrated fruits and vegetables because they use less water.B. Eat foods made with artificial fruit flavors. C. Buy organic fruits and vegetables.

4. Which of the following will improve the energy efficiency of your home and reduce your heating and cooling bills?

A. Insulate around your doors and add insulation to code in your attic and walls.B. Plant shade trees.C. Replace your three most used lights with compact fluorescent bulbs.

5. When looking to buy a new refrigerator, it’s important to compare the:

A. Ability of the salesperson to describe the details of their floor models.B. ENERGY STAR rating comparing the energy efficiency of the different brands.C. Store hours.

6. Clean, renewable energy is:

A. Electricity that is produced from sources such as wind, sun, and natural steam.

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B. Electricity that can be used over again.C. Energy that was sorted and washed.

Answers: 1. A. Household driving is responsible for 28% of greenhouse

gases, 51% of toxic air pollution, and 23% of toxic water pollution according to a recent study reported in The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices.

2. B. According to the same report, meat and poultry production have the largest impact. Forty percent of U.S. land is used for grazing cattle, most of which is for household consumption. Compared with pasta, red meat is responsible for 20 times the land use, 17 times the water pollution, and 3 times the greenhouse gas emissions.

3. C. Although usually somewhat more expensive than traditional produce, organic foods are produced using techniques that are far less harmful to the environment and life in general.

4. All are wonderful steps to improve energy efficiency of your home.

5. B. When purchasing new appliances always compare the ENERGY STAR ratings for their energy efficiency.

6. A.

What you do - matters! Every small step is significant. These questions and answers highlight the most significant steps individuals can take toward living sustainably with the Earth.

So, what can YOU do that will have an impact? Try the following:

1. Driving less. 2. Eating less meat and poultry. 3. Buying organic fruits and vegetables. 4. Improving the energy efficiency of your home’s heating, air

conditioning, hot water, lighting, and appliances. 5. Buying 100% clean, renewable energy!

"It's not easy bein' green!"

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6 Car Crisis

1 Fill the gaps in the following conversation with the correct words from the box below. There are some words that you will not be able to use.

quality relationship convenient manufactured

emissions

depend polluters air healthier developing

surrounded supermarket environmental

pick cleaner

global warming

contribution person weightlifter hugely

ROBERT: Cars have now become a serious _______________________ problem. As a

society, we in Britain ______________________ far too much on our cars – and the same

can be said about most other rich countries. We are setting a bad example to

___________________ countries. Just imagine if other countries like China and India,

which both have populations of over a billion, end up having the same number of cars

per _______________________ as we do! That would mean a very big increase in the

world’s carbon dioxide ___________________. Therefore the ___________________________

crisis would become even more serious.

GEORGE: It’s wrong to say that cars make a significant ______________________ to global

warming. Of course I’m aware that cars produce carbon dioxide emissions, but the

problem has been ____________ exaggerated. What people don’t realize is that cars are

actually getting _______________. The newest models produce fewer emissions than

those that were ______________________ five or ten years ago. And anyway, not all

scientists think there is a ______________________ between carbon dioxide emissions and

global warming, so I don’t believe the stuff the environmentalists are always saying on

the TV and the radio. It’s just scaremongering, I reckon.

JO: For me, the contribution cars make to global warming is not the only issue. I think

there are loads of other ways that our ______________________ of life would be better if

there were fewer cars on our roads. For a start, our streets would be less noisy and the

air would be cleaner. But it’s not just that – I also reckon people who live in cities

would feel freer if they weren’t always ______________________ by hundreds of cars.

Imagine if more areas of our cities were pedestrianized: it would suddenly become

much safer and more enjoyable to walk or cycle from A to B, so people would start

leading ______________________ lifestyles.

SARAH: I don’t know whether the amount of cars in the world makes a difference to

global warming, but I do know that every day I need to use my car to take my children

to their school, which is two miles from our house, and then ___________ them up again

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in the afternoon. What else am I supposed to do? Make them walk? And then there’s

my weekly shop at the______________________, which is at least ten minutes’ walk away.

Do you think I’m strong enough to carry all those bags on my own? I’m not a

professional ____________________, you know!

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2 There are ten mistakes (misspelled or wrong words) in the text below. Find and correct them.

CARFORCE UK

MOTORISTS OF BRITAIN, UNITE!

All over the UK, environmentalists are trying to make motorists feel guilty just because

they choose to drive to their local shops to buy a newspaper or a pint of milk. But why

should you to feel guilty? Why should they turn your comfortable one-minute journey

by car in a physically exhausted twenty-minute hike, dodging puddles, rude

pedestrians and aggressive dogs?

We at Carforce believe that everyone in the UK – and everyone in the world – have the

right to use their cars to drive where they want, when they want. We are sick and tired

of environmentalist scaremongring. They have always exaggerated the connects

between carbon dioxide emissions and global warming. (And even if they haven’t, so

what? Wouldn’t it be quite nice if Britain is a little warmer, particularly in the winter?)

Why should we let the environmentalists push us of our cars and make us walk

everywhere? Drivers have human writes too! The environmentalists might want us to

live in the eighteenth century, but we don’t believe in live in the past: we believe in

the future, and the future is full of cars – big, fast, shiny, beautiful cars!

Join us now!

*Remember! 22nd September is ‘Car Free Day’ in the European Union.

3 Explain these words in English:

pedestrianize _______________________________________________

scaremongering _______________________________________________

environmentalist _______________________________________________

carpooling _______________________________________________

dodging puddles _______________________________________________

3 Insert the missing adjective forms:

Positive Comparative Superlative

bad

big

better

enjoyable

freer

healthier

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new

safer

28

7 E-waste

A recent investigation claims that some computers are being disposed of in ways which are damaging to both health and the environment. What does happen to old computers?

Investigations by BBC programme-makers reveal that computer waste is still being dumped in developing nations. This contravenes the Basel Convention, which regulates the shipment and disposal of hazardous materials. E-waste is a growing problem with much of it being sent to India and China. About 130 million computers will be manufactured and sold this year, and turnover is fast. A number of western countries have made it illegal to dump old computers in landfill sites. They have to be recycled, a process which costs tens of dollars per computer.

But some companies choose a cheaper option — they export them to developing countries where regulations on processing are either non-existent or ignored. Many of these discarded machines end up being dismantled in ways that are damaging to the environment and to the health of the workers who take them apart. These workers, who often have no protective clothing, are exposed to dangerous materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium which can result in serious illness and disability.

Next year, a new European Union directive called WEEE — Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment — comes into force which should make e-waste dumping from Europe a thing of the past. Manufacturers will have to take back computers that have reached the end of their useful lives and make sure they are properly recycled. Unfortunately, negotiations on setting up a similar scheme in the United States, which environmental groups regard as the principal source of e-waste, have broken down. However, most industrialised nations agree that as long as IT products are seen as disposable — it's cheaper to buy a completely new system than it is to upgrade — the only way to control their disposal is through legislation.

(Text by Bloomsbury Publishing Pic 2002)

Language study

1 Find words or expressions in the article which mean:

(a) to do something that is not allowed by a rule, law, or agreement

__________________

(b) large holes in the ground where rubbish from industry is buried

__________________

(c) official controls on an activity, process, or industry

__________________

(d) an official order __________________

(e) to make a computer or machine more powerful or effective__________________

2 What is the meaning of the following verbs?

damage ______________________________________

discard ______________________________________

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dismantle ______________________________________

dispose ______________________________________

dump ______________________________________

recycle ______________________________________

3 Scan the article and find as many of these verbs, or derivatives of them, as you can in just two minutes.

4 Insert the missing words:

Verb Noun Adjective

(to) damage

discard

dispose

dump

exposed

investigation

recycle

regulate

5 Insert the correct form of the verbs in brackets, either active or passive:

1 Many of these machines end up ___________________________ (dismantle).

2 Workers without protective clothing _________________________ (expose) to

dangerous materials.

3 About 130 million computers _____________________________ (manufacture) and

______________ (sell) this year, and turnover __________________ (be) fast.

4 Manufacturers __________________________ (have) to take back computers that

_____________________ (reach) the end of their useful lives and _____________________

(make sure) that they ________________________________ (properly recycle).

5 The BBC investigations ______________________ (reveal) that computer waste

_________________________________ (still dump) in developing countries.

6 A number of western countries ___________________________ (make it illegal) to dump

old computers in landfill sites.

7 E-waste is a growing problem, with much of it ____________________________ (send) to

India and China.

8 Unfortunately, negotiations on ___________________ (set up) a relevant recycling

scheme ____________________________ (break down).

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6 Discuss the following questions in small groups and report your ideas to the class.

(a) What happens to old computers?

(b) What does your company do with computers it no longer needs?

(c) Should companies be responsible for recycling their own e-waste?

(d) How should electronic waste be disposed of?

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8 Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)

Avian influenza is an infection caused by avian influenza (or bird flu) viruses, which occur naturally among birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines, but usually do not get sick from them. However, avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can make some domesticated birds, including chickens, ducks, and turkeys, very sick and kill them. Infected birds shed influenza virus in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces. Susceptible birds become infected when they have contact with contaminated secretions or excretions or with surfaces that are contaminated with secretions or excretions from infected birds.

The HPN1 Avian influenza virus

Domesticated birds may become infected with avian influenza virus through direct contact with infected waterfowl or other infected poultry, or through contact with surfaces (such as dirt or cages) or materials (such as water or feed) that have been contaminated with the virus.

Infection with avian influenza viruses in domestic poultry causes two main forms of disease that are distinguished by low and high extremes of virulence. The “low pathogenic” form may go undetected and usually causes only mild symptoms (such as ruffled feathers and a drop in egg production). However, the highly pathogenic form spreads more rapidly through flocks of poultry. This form may cause disease that affects multiple internal organs and has a mortality rate that can reach 90-100% often within 48 hours.

Usually, “avian influenza virus” refers to influenza A viruses found chiefly in birds, but infections with these viruses can occur in humans. The risk from avian influenza is generally low to most people, because the viruses do not usually infect humans. However, confirmed cases of human infection from several subtypes of avian influenza infection have been reported since 1997. Most cases of avian influenza infection in humans have resulted from contact with infected poultry (e.g. domesticated chicken, ducks, and turkeys) or surfaces contaminated with secretion/excretions from infected birds. The spread of avian influenza viruses from one ill person to another has been reported very rarely, and transmission has not been observed to continue beyond one person.

Symptoms of avian influenza in humans may depend on which virus caused the infection, and have ranged from typical human influenza-like symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches) to eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases (such as acute respiratory distress), and other severe and life-threatening complications.

Of the few avian influenza viruses that have crossed the species barrier to infect humans, H5N1 has caused the largest number of detected cases of severe disease and death in humans. In the current outbreaks in Asia and Europe more than half of those infected with the virus have died. Most cases have occurred in previously healthy children and young adults. However, it is possible that the only cases currently being reported are those in the most severely ill people, and that the full range of illness caused by the H5N1 virus has not yet been defined.

Comprehension check1 What is avian influenza?

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2 How is its virus shed?3 Can it occur in humans and how?4 Which are usual symptoms of bird flu in humans?5 Which bird flu virus is most dangerous among humans?6 What is your attitude towards the bird flu issue?7 Will you stop eating poultry meat?8 What are your future expectations?9 What are your proposals for preventing the spread of bird flu?10 What measures can Croatia take?

Language study

1 Insert the missing words:

Verb Noun Adjective

spread

infected

affection

detect

found

occur

contaminate

transmission

reported

depend

2 Explain these words in English:

contagious ____________________________________

domesticated ____________________________________

secretion ____________________________________

undetected ____________________________________

poultry ____________________________________

outbreak ____________________________________

3 Find sentences with different verb forms used and name them:

33

9 Mad Cow Disease

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is a fatal brain disorder that occurs in cattle and is caused by some unknown agent. In BSE, the unknown agent causes the cow's brain cells to die, forming sponge-like holes in the brain. The cow behaves strangely and eventually dies. The connection between BSE and humans was uncovered in Great Britain in the 1990s when several young people died of a human brain disorder, a new variation of a rare brain disorder called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), which typically strikes elderly people. The new variation was called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD), was similar to BSE and its connection to BSE was based on the following findings: The nvCJD victims had lived in areas where outbreaks of BSE had occurred in cattle

years earlier. No victims were found in areas without BSE outbreaks. The brains of nvCJD victims had proteins called prions (pronounced "pree-ahnz")

that were similar to those from the brains of BSE-infected cows, but different from those found in victims of classic CJD.

The time between the BSE outbreaks and the deaths of the victims was similar to the time that it takes for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to develop.

Brain tissue from BSE-infected cows caused experimental animals to develop symptoms and brain tissue disorders similar to those of the nvCJD victims.

The British government concluded that BSE was probably the cause of nvCJD, and that the victims contracted the disease probably by eating meat from BSE-infected cows.

Origins of BSE

BSE virus

BSE is thought to have come from a similar disease in sheep called scrapie. In the 1980s, producers of cattle feed (which often included ground meat and bone meal by-products from sheep) changed the way they processed feed. The change somehow allowed the scrapie disease agent to survive the cattle feed production process. Thus, contaminated food was fed to cattle, which then came down with BSE. At the time, neither scrapie nor BSE were thought to affect humans. So, meat (nervous tissue) from BSE-infected cows made it into the food supply. Humans who ate the infected meat (probably hamburger or other processed meats) contracted the BSE-causing agent and developed nvCJD.

Comprehension check

1 What is mad cow disease or BSE?2 What is it caused by?3 How is it manifested?4 When was its connection with humans revealed and how?5 Explain the connection between BSE and nvCJD.6 What are the origins of BSE?7 How did the disease transmit from sheep to cattle?

Mad Cow Disease = BSEMad cow disease is more correctly referred to as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE.

34

8 Do you eat beef? If so, did you stop eating it when BSE was first revealed in Croatia?

9 How can BSE be prevented?10 What measures, in your opinion, can Croatia take?

35

Language study

1 Explain these words in English:

to contract a disease _________________________________________________________

to affect _________________________________________________________

brain disorder _________________________________________________________

contaminate _________________________________________________________

victim _________________________________________________________

2 Write the opposites of these words:

uncover ___________________ earlier ___________________

different ___________________ infected ___________________

unknown ___________________ often ___________________

disorder ___________________ young ___________________

probably ___________________ fatal ___________________

3 Write the correct forms of these verbs:

Present Past Past Participle

come

ate

died

feed

found

ground

include

made

process

referred

strike

think

was/were

36

10 Classical Swine Fever (CSF)

African swine fiver virus (ASFV)

Classical swine fever (CSF) or hog cholera (also sometimes called pig or swine plague based on the German word Schweinepest) is a highly contagious viral disease of swine (pigs and wild boar) which can spread via trade in live pigs, fresh pig meat (pork) and certain meat-based products. The infectious agent responsible is a virus CSFV (previously called hog cholera virus). It causes fever, skin lesions, convulsions and usually (particularly in young animals) death within 15 days.

The symptoms are indistinguishable from those of African swine fever. The disease is endemic in much of Asia, Central and South America, and parts of Europe and Africa. It was believed to have been eradicated in the United Kingdom by 1966 (according to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), but an outbreak occurred in East Anglia in 2000. It was eradicated in the USA by 1978, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Other regions believed to be free of CSF include Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scandinavia.

Transmission takes place through direct contact between animals (secretions, excretions, semen, blood) or indirect contact through vehicles, clothes, instruments, needles, insufficiently cooked waste food fed to pigs; it can also be spread by pig traders and farm visitors. Transplacental infection of foeti in the uterus can also take place.

Sources for the virus are blood and all tissues, secretions and excretions of sick and dead animals. Congenitally infected piglets may be persistently viraemic and may shed the virus for months. Spread from infected wild boar to domestic pigs has taken place on several occasions in the past in some areas of Europe.

Prevention can be achieved through effective communication between veterinary authorities, veterinary practitioners and pig farmers, effective disease reporting and animal identification system, a strict import policy for live pigs, fresh and cured meat, prohibition of feeding pigs with waste food and serological surveillance. Eradicating CSF is problematic. Current programmes revolve around rapid detection and diagnosis, and preventive culling, possibly followed by emergency vaccination.

In case of outbreaks, one needs to resort to the slaughtering of all pigs in the infected farms and the destruction of cadavers. A protection zone (3 km radius) and surveillance zone (10 km radius) are established around each outbreak, with restrictions on pig movements. An epidemiological investigation with the tracing of the source of infection and the possible spread is carried out. If appropriate, emergency vaccination can also be used. Additional ad hoc protection measures may be adopted by competent authorities.

Comprehension check

1 What is CSF?

2 How is it spread?

3 What is it caused by?

37

4 Describe the symptoms of CSF.

5 How does transmission take place?

6 Which are sources for the virus?

7 Which prevention measures can be taken?

8 What does one need to do in case of outbreaks?

Language study

1 Write the following proper names correctly, using the definite article the, where necessary:

______ New Zealand ______ United Kingdom ______ Osbornes

______ USA ______ Lake Jarun ______ Zagreb Airport

______ Australia ______ Netherlands ______ Scandinavia

______ Europe ______ United States ______ South America

______ Croatia ______ Hague ______ Americas

______ Adriatic Sea ______ Zagreb ______ Ireland

______ Plitvice Lakes ______ Marko ______ Croats

______ Mount Everest ______ Alps ______ River Sava

2 Match the synonyms:

outbreak contagious eradicate culling

______________ infectious ______________ exterminate or destroy

______________ selective killing ______________ epidemic

3 Match the names of animals and their meat:

(wild) boar cow chicken lamb

turkey calf deer pig

_______________ beef _______________ venison

_______________ chicken _______________ boar meet

_______________ veal _______________ turkey

_______________ pork _______________ lamb

4 Write plurals of the following nouns:

a pig __________________ the pig ____________________

meat __________________ fever ____________________

38

blood __________________ the policy ____________________

the measure__________________ an animal ____________________

a needle __________________ the authority ____________________

39

PIG PLAGUE IN VRBANJA

Police Block Forest Due to Pig Plague

The police have blocked a forest near Vrbanja because of swine plague. Farmers think it is a fabrication. Police have cordoned off all entrance points to the Vrbanja forest because of the incidence of swine plague in the Spačva basin where a dead pig was found last week. The pig died from the disease, Jutarnji list reports. 

Between 1,500 and 2,000 pigs are being held in the open at 4,600 hectares in the oak forest, which is a 300-year long tradition for local farmers that they do not want to give up. Since the disease was confirmed, 19 breeders from Vrbanja are allowed to go to the forest to feed the pigs, but police are forbidding any transport of the animals from the forest to the village and vice-versa. Disinfectant barriers have also been set up on forest paths, next to the police check points.

“The swine plague is fabricated; they are playing games to get us pig breeders out of the forest. They have been chasing us away for the past 30 years.” – said Josip Ćosić, a local who has been breeding pigs in the forest for the past 26 years. He owns 150 pigs.

(Jutarnji list, 5 Mar 2007)

Language study

1 Insert appropriate verb tenses and explain why you used particular forms:

1 They _________________________________ (chase) us away for the past 30 years.

2 The pig ____________________ (die) from the disease last week.

3 The police _____________________________ (block) a forest near Vrbanja.

4 A dead pig _________________________ (find) there two weeks ago.

5 The police ___________________________ (forbid) any transport of the animals.

6 He _______________ (own) 150 pigs.

7 Josip Ćosić _____________________________ (breed) pigs for the past 26 years.

8 Pigs ____________________________ (hold) in the open at 4,600 hectares in the oak forest.

9 Farmers __________________ (think) it _________ (be) a fabrication.

40

10 Some people ___________________ (think) that the swine plague

_________________________ (fabricate).

41

11 Tropical cyclone

A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain. Tropical cyclones feed on heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic windstorms such as nor'easters, European windstorms, and polar lows, leading to their classification as warm core storm systems.The term tropical refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, and their formation in Maritime Tropical air masses. The term cyclone refers to the cyclonic nature of storms, with counterclockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by many other names, such as hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.While tropical cyclones can produce extremely powerful winds and torrential rain, they are also able to produce high waves and damaging storm surge as well as spawning tornadoes. They develop over large bodies of warm water, and lose their strength if they move over land. This is the reason coastal regions can receive significant damage from a tropical cyclone, while inland regions are relatively safe from receiving strong winds. Heavy rains, however, can produce significant flooding inland, and storm surges can produce extensive coastal flooding up to 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the coastline. Although their effects on human populations can be devastating, tropical cyclones can also relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat and energy away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes, which makes them an important part of the global atmospheric circulation mechanism. As a result, tropical cyclones help to maintain equilibrium in the Earth's troposphere, and to maintain a relatively stable and warm temperature worldwide.

Structure

All tropical cyclones are areas of low atmospheric pressure near the Earth's surface. The pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest that occur on Earth's surface at sea level. Tropical cyclones are characterized and driven by the release of large amounts of latent heat of condensation, which occurs when moist air is carried upwards and its water vapor condenses. This heat is distributed vertically around the center of the storm. Thus, at any given altitude (except close to the surface, where water temperature dictates air temperature) the environment inside the cyclone is warmer than its outer surroundings.

Eye and center

A strong tropical cyclone will harbor an area of sinking air at the center of circulation. If this area is strong enough, it can develop into an eye. Weather in the eye is normally calm and free of clouds, although the sea may be extremely violent. The eye is normally circular in shape, and may range in size from 3 km (1.9 miles) to 370 km (230 miles) in diameter.

42

Inside the eye of Hurricane Katrina Intense, mature tropical cyclones can sometimes exhibit an

outward curving of the eyewall top, making it resemble a football stadium; this phenomenon is thus sometimes referred to as the stadium effect. There are other features that either surround the eye, or cover it.

The central dense overcast (CDO) is the concentrated area of strong thunderstorm activity near the center of a tropical cyclone; in weaker tropical cyclones, it may cover the center completely. The eyewall is a circle of strong thunderstorms that surrounds the eye; here is where the greatest wind speeds are found, where clouds reach the highest, and precipitation is the heaviest. The heaviest wind damage occurs where a tropical cyclone's eyewall passes over land.Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina as seen from space

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on 23 August 2005, and crossed southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane, causing some deaths and flooding there before strengthening rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm weakened before making its second landfall as a Category 3 storm on the morning of Monday, 29 August in southeast Louisiana.

It caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed, in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland. The federal flood protection system in New Orleans failed at more than fifty places. Nearly every levee in New Orleans was breached as Hurricane Katrina passed just east of the city limits. Eventually 80% of the city became flooded and also large tracts of neighboring parishes, and the floodwaters lingered for weeks. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion (2005 U.S. dollars) in damage, making it the costliest tropical cyclone in U.S. history.

Comprehension check

1 Are these statements true or false?

1 A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large high pressure center.T F

2 Tropical cyclones can produce extremely powerful winds and torrential rain.T F

43

3 Tropical cyclones can also relieve drought conditions.T F

4 The environment inside the cyclone is colder than its outer surroundings.T F

5 The heaviest wind damage occurs where a tropical cyclone's eye passes over land.T F

6 Weather in the eye is normally calm and free of clouds. T F

Language study

1 Insert correct verb forms, either active or passive:

1 There ________ (be) other features that either _________________ (surround) the eye,

or _______________ (cover) it.

2 If this area ________ (be) strong enough, it can ________________ (develop) into an

eye.

3 Hurricane Katrina ________________ (form) over the Bahamas on 23 August 2005.

4 It _________________ (cross) southern Florida as a moderate Category 1 hurricane,

_______________ (cause) some deaths and flooding there before

__________________________ (strengthen) rapidly in the Gulf of Mexico.

5 Nearly every levee in New Orleans ___________________ (breach) as Hurricane

Katrina ________________ (pass) just east of the city limits.

6 It ________________ (cause) severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central

Florida to Texas.

7 Tropical cyclones ___________ (help) ________________ (maintain) equilibrium in the

Earth's troposphere.

8 This also ______________ (help) people ________________ (live) at relatively stable

temperatures.

2 Find synonyms for these words:

equilibrium _______________________________

costly _______________________________

large _______________________________

severe _______________________________

powerful _______________________________

3 Insert articles, where necessary.

_____ weather in _____ eye is normally calm and free of _____ clouds, although _____

sea may be extremely violent.

44

_____ heaviest wind damage occurs where _____ tropical cyclone's eyewall passes

over _____ land.

_____ eyewall is _____ circle of strong _____ thunderstorms that surrounds _____eye.

4 Insert correct adjective forms:

Positive Comparative Superlative

the costliest

the deadliest

devastating

great

heavy

important

large

moderate

powerful

severe

more stable

45

12 Flood

A flood or a deluge is an overflow or an expanse of water over an area of land, usually low-lying. Since soil and vegetation cannot absorb all the water, it then runs off the land in quantities that cannot be carried in stream channels or kept in natural ponds or man-made reservoirs. Periodic floods occur naturally on many rivers, forming an area known as the flood plain. River or riverine floods normally occur as a result of heavy rain, sometimes in combination with melting snow and glaciers in spring, which causes the rivers to overflow their banks.

A flood that rises and falls rapidly with little or no advance warning is called a flash flood. Flash floods usually result from intense rainfall over a relatively small area. Coastal areas are occasionally flooded by high tides caused by severe winds on ocean surfaces, or by tidal waves caused by undersea earthquakes. Monsoon rainfalls can cause disastrous flooding in some equatorial countries, such as Bangladesh, due to their extended periods of rainfall.

Lahar from the eruption of Mount St. Helens, USA

A flood can also occur when a volcanic eruption melts a large amount of ice and snow quickly. In the case where a snow-capped volcano erupts, the meltwater often picks up substantial amounts of volcanic ash and other debris to become a lahar (mudflow). Hurricanes have a number of different features which, together, can cause devastating flooding. One is the storm surge (sea flooding as much as 8 metres high) caused by the leading edge of the hurricane when it moves from sea to land. Another is the large amounts of precipitation associated with hurricanes.

The eye of a hurricane has extremely low pressure, so sea level may rise a few metres in the eye of the storm. This type of coastal flooding occurs regularly in Bangladesh. In Europe floods from sea may occur as a result from heavy Atlantic storms, pushing the water to the coast. Especially in combination with high tide this can be damaging. Under some rare conditions associated with heat waves, flash floods from quickly melting mountain snow have caused loss of property and life.

Katmai Caldera, Island

Undersea earthquakes, eruptions of island volcanoes that form a caldera (collapse of land) and marine landslips on continental shelves may all give rise to an ocean wave called tsunami that causes destruction to coastal areas. Floods are the most frequent type of disaster worldwide. Thus, it is often difficult or impossible to obtain insurance policies which cover destruction of property due to flooding, since floods are a relatively predictable risk.

Flood defenses, planning, and management

In western countries, rivers prone to flooding are often carefully managed. Defences such as levees, bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent rivers from bursting their banks. Coastal flooding has been addressed in Europe with coastal defenses, such as sea walls and beach nourishment.

The Thames Barrier

London is protected from flooding by a huge mechanical barrier across the River Thames, which is raised when the water level reaches a certain point (the Thames Barrier). Venice has a similar arrangement, although it is already unable to cope with very high tides, and will become increasingly inadequate if anticipated rises in sea level occur.

46

The biggest and most elaborate flood defences can be found in the Netherlands, where they are referred to as Delta Works with the Oosterschelde Dam as its crowning achievement. These works were built in response to the North Sea flood of 1953 of the south western part of the Netherlands. The Dutch had already built one of world’s largest dams in the north: the Afsluitdijk in response to a flooding in 1916.

In some flood-prone areas with high population density, such as parts of the Netherlands, England, and New Orleans and Mississippi River Delta, planning laws have been used to prevent building on flood plains. In some cases, pressure from developers has caused these controls to be eroded, with an increasing number of new developments reliant on artificial defences for protection from floodwaters.

Comprehension check

1 What is a flood?

2 Where does it occur?

3 What does it result from?

4 Define the term flash flood.

5 Explain the connection between volcanoes and floods.

6 Explain the connection between hurricanes and floods.

7 What is a lahar and how is it created?

8 What is a caldera and how is it created?

9 What is a tsunami and how is it created?

10 How do we defend from floods?

Language study

1 Find the words related to weather phenomena:

2 Find as many words related to precipitation as possible:

3 Explain the following expressions:

flood plain _____________________________________________

coastal floods _____________________________________________

riverine floods _____________________________________________

the eye of a hurricane or a storm _____________________________________________

river bank _____________________________________________

prone to floods (flood-prone) _____________________________________________

4 Insert the definite article (the) where necessary:

_____ Netherlands _____ Mississippi River Delta _____ Dutch

_____ England _____ New Orleans _____ Europe

47

_____ London _____ Thames Barrier _____ Bangladesh

_____ River Thames _____ Oosterschelde Dam _____ Danish

48

13 EarthquakeAn earthquake is a sudden and sometimes catastrophic movement of a part of the Earth's surface. Most earthquakes are powered by the release of the elastic strain that accumulates over time; typically at the boundaries of the plates that make up the Earth's lithosphere via a process called elastic-rebound theory. Some are also caused by the movement of magma in volcanoes, and can be an early warning of volcanic eruptions. A rare few earthquakes have been associated with the build-up of large masses of water behind dams, and with the injection or extraction of fluids into the Earth's crust. Such earthquakes occur because the strength of the Earth's crust can be modified by fluid pressure. They can also be caused by the removal of natural gas from subsurface deposits.

Finally, ground shaking can also result from chemical or nuclear explosions, landslides and collapse of old mine shafts. Scientists have been able to monitor nuclear weapons tests performed by governments that were not disclosing information about these tests along normal channels. Such earthquakes are caused by human activity, and referred to as induced seismicity. A recently proposed theory suggests that some earthquakes may occur in a sort of earthquake storm, where one earthquake will trigger a series of earthquakes each triggered by the previous shifts on the fault lines, similar to aftershocks, but occurring years later.

Large numbers of earthquakes occur on a daily basis on Earth, but the majority of them are detected only by seismometers and cause no damage. Most occur in narrow regions around plate boundaries down to depths of a few tens of kilometres where the crust is rigid enough to support the elastic strain. Where the crust is thicker and colder they will occur at greater depths and the opposite in areas that are hot.

Seiche

Large earthquakes can cause serious destruction and massive loss of life through a variety of agents of damage, including fault rupture, vibratory ground motion (i.e. shaking), inundation (e.g. tsunami, seiche - change of water level, dam failure), various kinds of permanent ground failure (e.g. liquefaction, landslide), and fire or a release of hazardous materials. In a particular earthquake, any of these agents of damage can dominate, and historically each has caused major damage and great loss of life, but for most of the earthquakes shaking is the dominant and most widespread cause of damage.

There are four types of seismic waves that are all generated simultaneously and can be felt on the ground. The two types of body waves - P-waves or primary waves and S-waves (secondary or shear waves), and the two types of surface waves (Love waves and Rayleigh waves) are responsible for the shaking hazard. Most large earthquakes are accompanied by other, smaller ones, that can occur either before or after the principal quake — these are known as foreshocks or aftershocks, respectively. While almost all earthquakes have aftershocks, foreshocks are far less common occurring in only about 10% of events. The power of an earthquake is distributed over a significant area, but in the case of large earthquakes, it can spread over the entire planet.

Ground motions caused by very distant earthquakes are called teleseisms. Using such ground motion records from around the world it is possible to identify a point from

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which the earthquake's seismic waves appear to originate. That point is called its focus or hypocenter and usually proves to be the point at which the fault slip was initiated. The location on the surface directly above the hypocenter is known as the epicenter. The total size of the fault that slips, the rupture zone, can be as large as 1000 km, for the biggest earthquakes. Earthquakes that occur below sea level and have large vertical displacements can give rise to tsunamis (seismic sea waves), either as a direct result of the deformation of the sea bed due to the earthquake or as a result of submarine landslips or slides directly or indirectly triggered by it.

The first method of quantifying earthquakes was intensity scales: the European Macroseismic Scale and the Mercalli (or Modified Mercalli, MM) Scale in the United States. These assign a numeric value (different for each scale) to a location based on the size of the shaking experienced there. The first attempt to qualitatively define one value to describe the size of earthquakes was the magnitude scale. In the 1930s, a California seismologist named Charles F. Richter devised a simple numerical scale (which he called the magnitude) to describe the relative sizes of earthquakes in Southern California. This is known as the Richter scale, Richter Magnitude or Local Magnitude (ML). Seismologists now favor a measure called the seismic moment, related to the concept of moment in physics, to measure the size of a seismic source.

Comprehension check

1 What are earthquakes?

2 What are they caused by?

3 What is induced seismicity?

4 What hazards do earthquakes include?

5 Name the types of seismic waves.

6 Explain the terms hypocenter and epicenter.

7 What are tsunamis caused by?

8 How do we define the quantity and quality of earthquakes?

Language study

1 Match the words in the table with their synonyms listed below:

inundation landslip break of strata crust

seiche teleseism vibratory motion deposit

Word Synonym

flood

ground motion

landslide

fluctuation in the water level

fault

Earth’s outer portion

shaking

natural layer of gas, coal, etc.

2 Insert the missing comparatives and superlatives:

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big _______________________ common __________________________

great _______________________ large __________________________

massive _______________________ narrow __________________________

serious _______________________ significant

__________________________

strong _______________________ widespread _______________________

3 Find some more adjectives in the text and say their comparatives and superlatives.

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14 Further Reading

Seismic Waves

Seismic waves are the waves of energy caused by the sudden breaking of rock within the earth or an explosion. They are the energy that travels through the earth and is recorded on seismographs. There are several different kinds of seismic waves, and they all move in different ways. The two main types of waves are body waves and surface waves. Body waves can travel through the earth's inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water. Earthquakes radiate seismic energy as both body and surface waves.

Body Waves

P Waves

The first kind of body wave is the P wave or primary wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave. The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth. It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through just like sound waves push and pull the air. Have you ever heard a big clap of thunder and heard the windows rattle at the same time? The windows rattle because the sound waves were pushing and pulling on the window glass much like P waves push and pull on rock. Sometimes animals can hear the P waves of an earthquake. Usually we only feel the bump and rattle of these waves.

The arrow shows the direction that the wave is moving.

S Waves

The second type of body wave is the S wave or shear (transverse) wave, which is the second wave you feel in an earthquake. An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock. This wave moves rock up and down, or side-to-side.

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Surface Waves

Love Waves

The first kind of surface wave is called a Love wave, named after Augustus Edward Hough Love, a British mathematician who was famous for his work on the mathematical theory of elasticity, and who worked out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911. It's the fastest surface wave and moves the ground from side-to-side.

Rayleigh Waves

The other kind of surface wave is the Rayleigh wave, named for John William Strutt, aka Lord Rayleigh, a British physicist who mathematically predicted the existence of this kind of wave in 1885, and (with William Ramsay) discovered the element argon, an achievement that earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904. A Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground just like a wave rolls across a lake or an ocean. Because it rolls, it moves the ground up and down, and side-to-side in the same direction that the wave is moving. Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the Rayleigh wave, which can be much larger than the other waves.

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Elastic-rebound theory

In geology, the elastic rebound theory was the first theory to satisfactorily explain earthquakes. Previously it was thought that ruptures of the surface were the result of strong ground shaking rather than the converse suggested by this theory.

Following the great 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, Henry Fielding Reid examined the displacement of the ground surface around the San Andreas Fault. From his observations he concluded that the earthquake must have been the result of the elastic rebound of previously stored elastic strain energy in the rocks on either side of the fault. In an interseismic period the earth's plates move relative to each other except at most plate boundaries where they are locked. Thus if a road is built across the fault as in the figure panel Time 1 it is perpendicular to the fault trace at the point E where the fault is locked. The far field plate motions (large arrows) cause the rocks in the region of the locked fault to accrue elastic deformation, figure panel Time 2.

The deformation builds at the rate of a few cm per year, over a time period of many years. When the accumulated strain is great enough to overcome the strength of the rocks an earthquake occurs. During the earthquake the portions of the rock around the fault that were locked and had not moved 'spring' back, relieving the displacement in a few seconds that the plates moved over the entire interseismic period (D1 and D2 in Time 3). The time period between Time 1 and Time 2 could be months to hundreds of years, while the change from Time 2 to Time 3 is seconds. Like an elastic band the more the rocks are strained the more elastic energy is stored and the greater potential for the event. The stored energy is released during the rupture partly as heat, partly in damaging the rock and partly as elastic waves. Modern measurements using GPS largely support Reid’s theory as the basis of seismic movement, though actual events are often more complicated.

Language work

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1 Make your own presentation on earthquakes.

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15 Occupational Health and Safety

The average person finds it difficult to assess risks. For this reason, work practices need to be regulated; otherwise some employees will take risks. In line with that, the labour law addresses the following issues:

occupational health and safety, accident prevention regulations, special regulations for hazardous occupations such as mining and building, provisions for risks such as poisons, dangerous machinery, dust, noise, vibration

and radiation, full range of dangers arising from modern industrial processes, e.g. widespread use

of chemicals.

Examples of dangerous activities are:

welding or grinding without goggles, working on a construction site work without a hard hat, working in noisy factories, cabs, on airport tarmacs and with outdoor machinery

without ear protection, working in chemical areas without protective clothing, smoking near hazardous substances.

The key concerns for health and safety are to assess the risks and hazards, such as:

combustion contamination drains dust explosion flammable materials friction fumes fumigation

gas harmful materials shock spraying toxic materials

vapour

Risk assessment is conducted by identifying and quantifying the effects, such as:

adverse effects impaired fertility cancer burnsvomiting

irreversible effect genetic damage dizziness birth defectdrowsiness

Having completed it, appropriate protective measures can be taken. They include: wearing protective clothing, using safety equipment, avoiding contact with hazardous materials, proper handling and use of machinery, etc.

Safety equipment and protective clothing

Safety equipment and protective clothing comprise:

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Workwear - coveralls (overalls or BE boiler suits), protective suits, dustcoats, uniforms & vests,

Protective headwear - hard hats & safety helmets, Eye protection - safety glasses, safety goggles and visors, Ear defence (protection) – earplugs, ear protectors, etc. Respiratory protection - disposable masks, respirators & emergency escape

smoke hoods, Protective footwear - safety anti-slip shoes or boots, Protective handwear – various gloves, Foul Weather - weather protection, waterproof clothing, high visibility clothing,

hi-vis vests, jackets & trousers, Fall Arrest - helps with working at heights - safety harnesses, restraint belts,

lanyards & fall arrestors.

Language study

1 Which parts of the safety equipment can you also recognise in the previous photos?

2 Can you name these items of safety equipment?

3 The manager in charge of health and safety is explaining things to some new employees. Fill in the blanks with the correct word from the list below.

noise protectors drowsiness dust safety equipment smoke

poisonous fumes risks burns goggles accidents

Manager: New government regulations mean that we are all required to be more

aware of _________________________ in the workplace. As your employer, we will provide

you with the necessary _______________________________. You must wear

______________________ to protect your eyes when working on this machinery. You

should also wear ear ______________________ because the __________________________

from the machines is high enough to cause damage to your hearing. And, of course,

there is a lot of __________________________ in the air, so please wear masks to stop you

breathing it. But, you too are responsible for your safety and for preventing

_____________________________.

Employee: Are we looking at fire risks?

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Manager: Yes, of course. Remember that it is very dangerous to

_____________________________ near the chemical store. In fact, we have a no smoking

policy throughout the company. Chemicals themselves are, of course,

___________________________, so they should never enter your mouth.

They could cause _____________________________ if you get them on your skin. If you

leave them without a lid, _____________________________ may escape and cause

headaches, _____________________________ or dizziness.

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4 Choose the correct word:

1 Store containers in a well-ventilated/good-ventilated place.

2 Wipe up any spillages immediately and wash/rinse with soapy water.

3 Process cooling water can be returned/recycled.

4 This chemical is toxic/intoxicating if swallowed.

5 Leftover chemicals should be disproved/disposed of safely.

6 Please wear protective gloves when fingering/handling this chemical.

7 Remember that asbestos fibres can cause cancer/coma.

8 Pregnant women should not take this medicine as it may cause birth

defects/effects.

9 Increased levels of radiation may lead to compared/impaired fertility.

10 Do not empty chemical paint products into the drains/grains.

11 Protect/Avoid contact with skin and eyes.

12 Do not use with other products as it may release dangerous fumes/fumigation.

5 Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the word in brackets:

1 When working in this area, please wear _____________________________ (protect)

clothing.

2 Do not pour used chemicals into the drains, as they will cause

_____________________________ (contaminate).

3 Heating this liquid may cause an _____________________________ (explode).

4 These chemicals must be kept in a locked cupboard because they are

___________________________ (harm).

5 While they repair the roof, we will close this department as a

____________________________ (precaution) measure.

6 _____________________________ (occupation) health is part of Health and Safety.

7 Working in a noisy factory without ear protectors is _____________________________

(danger).

8 Petrol and air are _____________________________ (flame) chemicals.

9 Make sure the containers are closed _____________________________ (tight).

10 Make sure you are wearing breathing equipment before starting

_____________________________ (fume).

6 Give advice on protection to your classmates using modal verbs (must, should, have to, need to, ought to, etc.), following this pattern:

You ________________ wear /take/use _____________ when working with/in/on ____________.

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7 Discussion point

What precautionary measures do you take at your job?

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16 Waste Management

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing (waste treatment), recycling or disposal of waste materials, usually ones produced by human activity, in an effort to reduce their effect on human health or the environment. A subfocus in recent decades has been to reduce waste materials' effect on the natural world and the environment and to recover resources from them. Waste management can involve solid, liquid or gaseous substances with different methods and fields of expertise for each.

Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential, industrial, and commercial producers. Waste management for non-hazardous residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.

Waste management concepts

The waste hierarchy

There are a number of concepts about waste management, which vary in their usage between countries or regions. The waste hierarchy classifies waste management strategies according to their desirability:

reduce, reuse, recycle.

It has taken many forms over the past decade, but the basic concept has remained the cornerstone of most waste minimisation strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste. Some waste management experts have recently incorporated a 'fourth R': "re-think", with the implied meaning that the present system may have fundamental flaws, and that a thoroughly effective system of waste management may need an entirely new way of looking at waste. Some "re-think" solutions may be counter-intuitive, such as cutting fabric patterns with slightly more "waste material" left -- the now larger scraps are then used for cutting small parts of the pattern, resulting in a decrease in net waste. This type of solution is by no means limited to the clothing industry.

Source reduction

Source reduction involves efforts to reduce hazardous waste and other materials by modifying industrial production. Source reduction methods involve changes in manufacturing technology, raw material inputs, and product formulation. At times, the term "pollution prevention" may refer to source reduction. Another method of source reduction is to increase incentives for recycling. Many countries in the world are implementing variable rate pricing for waste disposal (also known as Pay as You Throw

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- PAYT) which has been effective in reducing the size of the municipal waste stream. Source reduction is typically measured by efficiencies and cutbacks in waste. Toxics use reduction is a more controversial approach to source reduction that targets and measures reductions in the upstream use of toxic materials. Toxics use reduction emphasizes the more preventive aspects of source reduction but, due to its emphasis on toxic chemical inputs, has been opposed more vigorously by chemical manufacturers.

Resource recovery

A relatively recent idea in waste management has been to treat the waste material as a resource to be exploited, instead of simply a challenge to be managed and disposed of. There are a number of different methods by which resources may be extracted from waste: the materials may be extracted and recycled, or the calorific content of the waste may be converted to electricity. The process of extracting resources or value from waste is variously referred to as secondary resource recovery, recycling, and other terms. The practice of treating waste materials as a resource is becoming more common, especially in metropolitan areas where space for new landfills is becoming scarcer. There is also a growing acknowledgement that simply disposing of waste materials is unsustainable in the long term, as there is a finite supply of most raw materials.

Recycling

Recycling is reprocessing of materials into new products, and the means to recover for other use a material that would otherwise be considered waste. Recycling prevents useful material resources being wasted, reduces the consumption of raw materials and reduces energy usage, and hence greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling is a key concept of modern waste management and is the third component of the waste hierarchy. The popular meaning of ‘recycling’ in most developed countries has come to refer to the widespread collection and reuse of various everyday waste materials. They are collected and sorted into common groups, so that the raw materials from these items can be used again (recycled).

Recyclable materials, also called "recyclables" or "recyclates", may originate from a wide range of sources including the home and industry. They include glass, paper, aluminium, asphalt, iron, textiles and plastics. Biodegradable waste, such as food waste or garden waste, is also recyclable with the assistance of microorganisms through composting or anaerobic digestion. Recyclates need to be sorted and separated into material types. Contamination of the recylates with other materials must be prevented to increase the recyclates value and facilitate easier reprocessing for the ultimate recycling facility. This sorting can be performed either by the producer of the waste or within semi or fully-automated materials recovery facilities.

There are two common household methods of helping increase recycling. Firstly kerbside collection (US: curbside collection) is where consumers leave presorted materials for recycling at the front of their property, typically in boxes or sacks to be collected by a recycling vehicle. Alternatively, with a "bring system", the householder may take the materials to recycling banks or civic amenity centres where recyclates are placed into recycling bins based on the type of material. Recycling does not include reuse where items retain their existing form for other purposes without the need for reprocessing.

In developed countries, the most common consumer items recycled include: aluminium beverage cans, steel, food and aerosol cans, HDPE and PET* plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines, and cardboard.

The international recycling symbol

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Other types of plastic (PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS*) are also recyclable, although not as commonly collected. These items are usually composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle into new products. The recycling of obsolete computers and electronic equipment is important, but more costly due to the separation and extraction problems. Much electronic waste is sent to Asia, where recovery of the gold and copper can cause environmental problems (monitors contain lead and "heavy metals" such as selenium and cadmium are commonly found in electronic items).

Recycled or used materials have to compete in the marketplace with virgin materials. The cost of collecting and sorting the materials often means that they are equally or more expensive than virgin materials. This is most often the case in developed countries where industries producing the raw materials are well-established. Practices such as trash picking can reduce this value further, as choice items are removed (such as aluminium cans). In some countries, recycling programs are subsidised by deposits paid on beverage containers. The economics of recycling junked automobiles also depends on the scrap metal market except where recycling is mandated by legislation (as in Germany). In many areas, material for recycling is collected separately from general waste, with dedicated bins and collection vehicles. Other waste management processes recover these materials from general waste streams.

* Remember!HDPE – high-density polyethyleneLDPE – low-density polyethylenePET - polyethylene terephthalatePP - polypropylenePS - polystyrenePVC - polyvinyl chloride

Comprehension check

1 What is ”waste management”?

2 How is the responsibility for waste management shared?

3 Explain the waste hierarchy.

4 What do 3Rs and 4Rs stand for?

5 What is source reduction characterized by?

6 What is “resource recovery”?

7 What idea stands behind the process of recycling?

9 Which recyclable materials are most common?

10 Which methods of household collection of materials are most popular?

Language study

1 Find as many verbs with the prefix “re” in the text as possible.

2 Find the words that mean:

reduction ______________________________

fault ______________________________

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encouragement, initiative ______________________________

the process of getting something back ______________________________

treatment ______________________________

3 Make gerunds (verbal nouns) from the following verbs:

extract ____________________________________

process ____________________________________

recycle ____________________________________

separate ____________________________________

try ____________________________________

4 Discussion point

Put forward your concept of waste management in Croatia.

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Waste management techniques

Managing municipal waste, industrial waste and commercial waste has traditionally consisted of collection, followed by disposal. Depending upon the type of waste and the area, a level of processing may follow collection. This processing may be to reduce the hazard of the waste, recover material for recycling, produce energy from the waste, or reduce it in volume for more efficient disposal.

Collection methods vary widely between different countries and regions, and it would be impossible to describe them all. For example, in Australia most urban domestic households have a 240 litre (63.4 gallon) bin that is emptied weekly by the local council. Many areas, especially those in less developed areas, do not have a formal waste-collection system in place.

Landfill

Disposing of waste in a landfill is the most traditional method of waste disposal, and it remains a common practice in most countries. Historically, landfills were often established in disused quarries, mining voids or borrow pits. Running a landfill that minimises environmental problems can be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials; however, a more efficient method of disposal will be needed in time as less land becomes available for such purposes.

Older or poorly managed landfills can create a number of adverse environmental impacts, including wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin and pollutants such as leachate, which can leach into and pollute groundwater and rivers. Another product of landfills containing harmful wastes is landfill gas, mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide, which is produced as the waste breaks down anaerobically.

Characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to contain leachate, such as lining clay or plastic liners. Disposed waste should be compacted and covered to prevent attracting mice and rats and preventing wind-blown litter. Many landfills also have a landfill gas extraction system installed after closure to extract the gas generated by the decomposing waste materials. This gas is often burnt in a gas engine to generate electricity. Even flaring the gas off is a better environmental outcome than allowing it to escape to the atmosphere, as this consumes the methane, which is a far stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Some of it can be tapped for use as a fuel.

Incineration

Incineration is the process of destroying waste material by burning it. It is often alternatively named "energy-from-waste" (EfW) or "waste-to-energy"; however, this is misleading as there are other ways of recovering energy from waste that do not involve directly burning it (e.g. anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis & gasification).

Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals, and on a large scale by industry. It is recognised as a practical method of disposing of hazardous waste materials, such as biological medical waste. Many entities now refer to disposal of wastes by exposure to high temperatures as thermal treatment (however this also includes gasification and pyrolysis).

This concept encompasses recovery of metals and energy from municipal solid waste (MSW) as well as safe disposal of the remaining ash and reduction of the volume of waste. Though classic incineration is still widely used in many areas, especially developing countries, incineration as a waste management tool is becoming controversial for several reasons.

A landfill compaction vehicle in operation

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Composting and anaerobic digestion

An active compost heap

Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper products, are increasingly being recycled. These materials are put through a composting and/or digestion system to control the biological process to decompose the organic matter and kill pathogens. The resulting stabilized organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes.

There are a large variety of composting and digestion methods and technologies, varying in complexity from simple windrow composting of shredded plant material, to automated enclosed-vessel digestion of mixed domestic waste. These methods of biological decomposition are differentiated as being aerobic in composting methods or anaerobic in digestion methods, although hybrids of the two methods also exist.

Mechanical biological treatment

A material recovery facility (Israel)

Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) is a technology category for combinations of mechanical sorting and biological treatment of the organic fraction of municipal waste. It is also sometimes termed BMT- Biological Mechanical Treatment - however this simply refers to the order of processing.

Pyrolysis & gasification

Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal treatment where materials are heated with high temperatures and limited oxygen. The process typically occurs in a sealed vessel under high pressure. Converting material to energy this way is more efficient than direct incineration, with more energy able to be recovered and used.

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Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas products. The liquid oil and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into other products. The solid residue (char) can be further refined into products such as activated carbon.Gasification is used to convert organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to produce electricity and steam. Gasification is used in biomass power stations to produce renewable energy and heat.

Comprehension check

1 Explain briefly each of waste management techniques.2 Which of them are mostly used in Croatia?

Language study

1 Find the words that mean:

without air _____________________________

to destroy by burning _____________________________

conversion of organic materials into gas _____________________________

solid residue _____________________________

conversion of solid waste into solids, liquids and gases _____________________________

2 Turn these passive sentences into active ones:

1 Classic incineration is still widely used in many areas.

__________________________________________________________________________

2 Landfills were often established in disused quarries, mining voids or borrow pits.

__________________________________________________________________________

3 Disposed waste should be compacted and covered.

__________________________________________________________________________

4 In some countries, recycling programs are subsidised by deposits paid on beverage

containers.

__________________________________________________________________________

5 Recyclates need to be sorted and separated into material types.

__________________________________________________________________________

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