We’ve gone from roasting to processing over thousands of years. What does the future hold for our food? Watch the video above to see what we’ll be eating in decades to come.
Humanity’s relationship with food production has certainly been a fruitful one. Our constant pursuit of refining how we eat is one of the reasons there are billions of us alive today. But it’s also a key factor as to why we are greatly damaging the Earth.
It all begins with fire. As far back as 29,000 BC Central Europeans were using primitive forms of ovens, roasting pits covered by yurts. Back then, mammoth was on the menu.
As we invented tools like ploughs and mills to help turn resources from the earth into food in our bellies, we produced enough to feed houses, then villages, then towns. Human civilization established itself.
One feature of civilizations that evolved was a thing called trade, and we did a lot of it. That’s why most of today’s biggest cities are found close to rivers and trade routes.
As agricultural revolutions took place, our population exploded, our food became more resilient due to developments such as machine refrigeration and pasteurizing, invented by this guy, French chemist Louise Pasteur in 1864. We could send hundreds of thousands of men to war and feed them thanks to food storage in cans.
By the 20th century microwave ovens arrived, meaning the mammoth we cooked 30,000 years ago in a pit, could now spin around in our kitchens.
We reached a point where the scale of production needed to feed everyone was impacting the planet’s resources. By the 1990’s we were selling genetically modified tomatoes to ensure reliable crop results.
This brings us to today’s climate concerns. Current food production is responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. How will we continue to feed a vastly increasing population while reducing damage to the environment? How do we tackle our global obesity epidemic and encourage healthier diets? One thing is certain, we must look immediately for new approaches. We’ve achieved it many times before, so it shouldn’t be too hard too swallow, right?
Well, that was delicious.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta The environment. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta The environment. Mostrar todas las entradas
viernes, 26 de mayo de 2017
martes, 23 de mayo de 2017
Will fossil fuels run out
Greg Foot, from BBC's Earth Lab, looks into the dirty world of fossil fuels. Will we run out of fossil fuels and what cost will we likely pay for their use?
We've all heard that fossil fuels won't last forever but why. And if they are set to run out, how much is left and when will that happen. To dig to the bottom of this one, we first need a quick refresher on how the fossil fuels are created, and sadly, no, they're not mostly dead dinosaurs.
You see, the vast majority of our fossil fuels come from the remains of plants and animals. They lived around 300 to 400 million years ago. We don't see the first dinosaurs until around about 230 million years ago, so when these plants and animals died, that very, very long time ago, they were covered in layers of earth or silt, and because of the combined actions of three things: one, the compression from the weight of all that stuff; two, the microorganisms in there decomposing the contents; and three, the heat underground that transforms them into potential fuels.
Coal is the remnant of ancient plants while oil and natural gas mostly come from marine creatures. The natural gas being made in deeper hotter regions, where the oil gets a little bit more cooked.
Now we dig or drill this stuff out of the ground, and because it has been accumulating for a long time, initially there was a lot, but because it takes so long to make, we're using it much, much faster than it can possibly be replaced. This means that there is effectively a fixed amount of fuel on earth and we're using it up.
So, yes, fossil fuels are going to run out but what is left and when will that happen. Well, we can fairly easily tally up what's known as our proven resources, the supplies that we know the locations of and we think we have a good chance of getting to.
In their statistical review of world energy, BP estimated that the world had just over 1,700 billion proven barrels of oil in 2014. That's enough to make 52 and a half years of global production. They also estimated just over 187 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. That's enough for 54 years. Then 891,531 million tons of coal, enough for a whopping 110 years of global production.
But there's also the stuff that we know about can't reach but think we might be able to get to some day. Hard figures on that are understandably tougher to come by, but oil and gas consulting firm Rystad Energy estimates total probable global oil reserves at 2,092 billion barrels, which is enough for about 70 years if our use doesn't go up.
The total fuel resource, the amount of fossil fuels that could be out there that we know nothing about, could, of course, be even higher, but around four years ago an idea came out that there actually is plenty of oil left, just that we haven't got around to getting it out of the ground yet. This means the numbers for the potential oil out there could, in fact, be way higher.
We've already seen humanity use new technologies to access new fuels that we couldn't get to before. Things like new techniques to extract oil where it's all mixed up in fine grained sedimentary rocks like shale or using high-pressure fracking to extract more oil and gas from the ground. One thing stopping us using these new technologies to extract fuels is that the rising energy cost of extracting it could be just as damaging as the oil running out.
Despite the cost of oil, the amount being extracted has actually remained constant, about 75 million barrels per day since 2005, and this means a plateau has been reached where supply cannot match demand. It's also worth pointing out that fracking is far from ideal. It's been claimed that it has been linked to earthquakes and toxic tap water.
We've already seen how the economics of getting to the fuel can outweigh humanity's demand for it. In 2016 around 460,000 barrels a day of high cost production like fracking was shut down in the US due to the cost. But that just means surely it’s there for later, when the economics are right, right?
Well, maybe we need to leave it there. The planet is warming due to the burning of those fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, trap heat and it causes a greenhouse effect. It's been estimated that we cannot burn more than about a third of those proven resources if we have any hope at all of meeting plans to keep the temperature rise at 2 degrees centigrade or less. Although it may feel that we don't seem to be in a particular hurry to look for alternatives, energy transitions have always taken a long time. It took over 50 years for coal to replace wood as the world's leading source of energy, and another 50 years for oil to overtake coal.
So here's a promising thought. In the end, with so many options for renewable sources of sustainable power being developed, we might actually never have to answer this question of what happens when the oil is finally all gone.
Right, this is where we really want to hear your opinions about this whole subject. Put your thoughts down in the comments below, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already, and then you'll get to know whenever we release a new one, and if you'd like to know if you can become a fossil, click here, it's an interesting one. See you soon.
We've all heard that fossil fuels won't last forever but why. And if they are set to run out, how much is left and when will that happen. To dig to the bottom of this one, we first need a quick refresher on how the fossil fuels are created, and sadly, no, they're not mostly dead dinosaurs.
You see, the vast majority of our fossil fuels come from the remains of plants and animals. They lived around 300 to 400 million years ago. We don't see the first dinosaurs until around about 230 million years ago, so when these plants and animals died, that very, very long time ago, they were covered in layers of earth or silt, and because of the combined actions of three things: one, the compression from the weight of all that stuff; two, the microorganisms in there decomposing the contents; and three, the heat underground that transforms them into potential fuels.
Coal is the remnant of ancient plants while oil and natural gas mostly come from marine creatures. The natural gas being made in deeper hotter regions, where the oil gets a little bit more cooked.
Now we dig or drill this stuff out of the ground, and because it has been accumulating for a long time, initially there was a lot, but because it takes so long to make, we're using it much, much faster than it can possibly be replaced. This means that there is effectively a fixed amount of fuel on earth and we're using it up.
So, yes, fossil fuels are going to run out but what is left and when will that happen. Well, we can fairly easily tally up what's known as our proven resources, the supplies that we know the locations of and we think we have a good chance of getting to.
In their statistical review of world energy, BP estimated that the world had just over 1,700 billion proven barrels of oil in 2014. That's enough to make 52 and a half years of global production. They also estimated just over 187 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. That's enough for 54 years. Then 891,531 million tons of coal, enough for a whopping 110 years of global production.
But there's also the stuff that we know about can't reach but think we might be able to get to some day. Hard figures on that are understandably tougher to come by, but oil and gas consulting firm Rystad Energy estimates total probable global oil reserves at 2,092 billion barrels, which is enough for about 70 years if our use doesn't go up.
The total fuel resource, the amount of fossil fuels that could be out there that we know nothing about, could, of course, be even higher, but around four years ago an idea came out that there actually is plenty of oil left, just that we haven't got around to getting it out of the ground yet. This means the numbers for the potential oil out there could, in fact, be way higher.
We've already seen humanity use new technologies to access new fuels that we couldn't get to before. Things like new techniques to extract oil where it's all mixed up in fine grained sedimentary rocks like shale or using high-pressure fracking to extract more oil and gas from the ground. One thing stopping us using these new technologies to extract fuels is that the rising energy cost of extracting it could be just as damaging as the oil running out.
Despite the cost of oil, the amount being extracted has actually remained constant, about 75 million barrels per day since 2005, and this means a plateau has been reached where supply cannot match demand. It's also worth pointing out that fracking is far from ideal. It's been claimed that it has been linked to earthquakes and toxic tap water.
We've already seen how the economics of getting to the fuel can outweigh humanity's demand for it. In 2016 around 460,000 barrels a day of high cost production like fracking was shut down in the US due to the cost. But that just means surely it’s there for later, when the economics are right, right?
Well, maybe we need to leave it there. The planet is warming due to the burning of those fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, trap heat and it causes a greenhouse effect. It's been estimated that we cannot burn more than about a third of those proven resources if we have any hope at all of meeting plans to keep the temperature rise at 2 degrees centigrade or less. Although it may feel that we don't seem to be in a particular hurry to look for alternatives, energy transitions have always taken a long time. It took over 50 years for coal to replace wood as the world's leading source of energy, and another 50 years for oil to overtake coal.
So here's a promising thought. In the end, with so many options for renewable sources of sustainable power being developed, we might actually never have to answer this question of what happens when the oil is finally all gone.
Right, this is where we really want to hear your opinions about this whole subject. Put your thoughts down in the comments below, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already, and then you'll get to know whenever we release a new one, and if you'd like to know if you can become a fossil, click here, it's an interesting one. See you soon.
domingo, 21 de mayo de 2017
Extensive listening: The future we're building — and boring
Elon Musk discusses his new project digging tunnels under LA, the latest from Tesla and SpaceX and his motivation for building a future on Mars in conversation with TED's Head Curator, Chris Anderson.
Elon Musk is the CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors and the CEO/CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
At SpaceX, Musk oversees the development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to other planets. In 2008, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft won the NASA contract to provide cargo transport to space. In 2012, SpaceX became the first commercial company to dock with the International Space Station and return cargo to Earth with the Dragon.
At Tesla, Musk has overseen product development and design from the beginning, including the all-electric Tesla Roadster, Model S and Model X, and the rollout of Supercharger stations to keep the cars juiced up. (Some of the charging stations use solar energy systems from SolarCity, of which Musk is the non-executive chair.) Transitioning to a sustainable energy economy, in which electric vehicles play a pivotal role, has been one of his central interests for almost two decades. He co-founded PayPal and served as the company's chair and CEO.
You can read a full transcript here.
Elon Musk is the CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors and the CEO/CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
At SpaceX, Musk oversees the development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to other planets. In 2008, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft won the NASA contract to provide cargo transport to space. In 2012, SpaceX became the first commercial company to dock with the International Space Station and return cargo to Earth with the Dragon.
At Tesla, Musk has overseen product development and design from the beginning, including the all-electric Tesla Roadster, Model S and Model X, and the rollout of Supercharger stations to keep the cars juiced up. (Some of the charging stations use solar energy systems from SolarCity, of which Musk is the non-executive chair.) Transitioning to a sustainable energy economy, in which electric vehicles play a pivotal role, has been one of his central interests for almost two decades. He co-founded PayPal and served as the company's chair and CEO.
You can read a full transcript here.
sábado, 20 de mayo de 2017
Reading test: The ridiculous story of airline food and why so much ends up in landfill
In this week's reading test we are going to practise the multiple choice reading comprehension type of task. To do so, we are goint to use The Guardian's article The ridiculous story of airline food and why so much ends up in landfill.
Read the text and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence.
The ridiculous story of airline food and why so much ends up in landfill
You probably know about the waste problem in our oceans. But how about the one in our skies? Airline passengers generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates. That’s the weight of about 2.6m cars. And it’s a figure set to double over the next 15 years. Toilet waste is included in that statistic. But so are miniature wine bottles, half-eaten lunch trays, unused toothbrushes and other hallmarks of air travel.
The airline industry has taken criticsm for its growing greenhouse gas emissions as passenger numbers rise. But could its massive waste footprint be solved without affecting the sector’s growth? A Spanish project launched last autumn by a group of companies including Iberia Airlines and Ferrovial Services is taking up this challenge. The scheme aims to recover 80% of cabin waste coming into Madrid’s Barajas airport by mid-2020 through simple measures such as using trolleys designed for waste separation, says Juan Hermira, Iberia’s lead for the project. About 2,500 cabin crew members will be trained in the basics of waste separation as part of the push, he says.
It’s one of a handful of initiatives that suggest parts of the industry are waking up to waste. Last year, Gatwick opened an on-site waste-to-energy plant, reducing the need for lorries to transport waste elsewhere. The power produced currently goes back into the plant, but Gatwick hopes the facility will eventually help to heat the north terminal. Like Heathrow, it is also targeting a 70% recycling rate by 2020.
America’s United Airlines has switched to compostable paper cups and last year began donating unused amenity kits to homeless and women’s shelters – it expects to divert more than 27 tonnes-worth by the end of the first year. Virgin, meanwhile, has set up a system for recycling all parts of its headsets, including ear sponges, which are used as flooring for equestrian centres.
Despite actions like these, the mountains of airline waste continue to grow. So what more can be done? For Michael Gill, IATA’s head of environment, regulation is key. At the moment EU animal health legislation, drawn up as a reaction to diseases like foot and mouth, dictates that all catering waste arriving from outside EU borders be treated as high-risk and incinerated or buried in deep landfill. A coffee cup from the US, for example, will be treated as hazardous waste because it might have had milk in it. Donating uneaten food to charity is impossible. A more rational approach is needed, Gill says, one which identifies elements of cabin waste that actually pose a risk to health and takes into account the stringent hygiene standards airlines are already subject to. He points to a forthcoming IATA-commissioned report which concludes that dairy and honey in airline waste pose a negligible threat to animals.
Better procedures on the ground would also help ease the classification problem, says Magda Golebiewska, group environment manager at TUI Airlines. East Midlands and Gatwick airports have started tagging rubbish bags with their origin but elsewhere it’s common practice for waste from inside and outside the EU to get thrown together and processed collectively as international catering waste, she says.
Most important, however, is getting the cabin crew’s buy-in, says Golebiewska. This can be a challenge since the crew is already busy meeting on-board sales targets and looking after passengers, she says, but it is crucial: “How well the [waste] segregation is done really depends on how much effort they put into it.”
The environment is not the only concern on the minds of Golebiewska and others. Cabin waste costs the industry $500m (£400m) per year, according to IATA, a figure that it says is rising faster than waste volumes thanks to growing disposal costs. Bringing this down will require airlines to take a different approach to procurement, says Matt Rance. If they can be persuaded to focus on a product’s full life cost, rather than unit price, then investing in more durable headsets or blankets and ditching disposables starts to make sense, he says.
1. The waste airlines produce
A. does not only refer to food.
B. is all burnt.
C. is twice as much as it used to be 15 years ago.
2. The Spanish project launched last autumn
A. contemplates the separation of waste without any human intervention.
B. intends to separate waste on board.
C. is trying to reduce the airlines waste by limiting the sector’s growth.
3. In Britain
A. Gatwick Airport is planning to open a plant to recycle waste.
B. Heathrow Airport currently produces 70% of its power through recycled waste.
C. they are reducing road transportation of waste in some of the main airports.
4. In US
A. United Airlines cups can be used as fertilizers.
B. United Airlines donates uneaten food to homeless and women’s shelters.
C. Virgin recycles all parts of its headsets to make floors.
5. For Michael Gill,
A. dairy and honey from airlines could well be used to feed animals.
B. donating food is a sensible solution.
C. waste from airplanes should be incinerated or buried.
6. According to Magda Golebiewska, in EU
A. all waste is processed equally, no matter what its origin is.
B. airports mark waste bags with their origin.
C. the waste from inside and outside the EU is separated.
7. For Magda Golebiewska
A. airlines’ ground staff have a crucial role in waste segregation.
B. flight attendants are already doing a lot of work.
C. pilots should be responsible for waste segregation.
8. In the last paragraph, it is said that
A. not using disposable products would be a good solution.
B. the price of getting rid of waste is not going up.
C. waste volumes are being successfully controlled.
KEY:
1A 2B 3C 4A 5A 6A 7B 8A
Read the text and choose the option A, B or C which best completes each sentence.
The ridiculous story of airline food and why so much ends up in landfill
You probably know about the waste problem in our oceans. But how about the one in our skies? Airline passengers generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates. That’s the weight of about 2.6m cars. And it’s a figure set to double over the next 15 years. Toilet waste is included in that statistic. But so are miniature wine bottles, half-eaten lunch trays, unused toothbrushes and other hallmarks of air travel.
The airline industry has taken criticsm for its growing greenhouse gas emissions as passenger numbers rise. But could its massive waste footprint be solved without affecting the sector’s growth? A Spanish project launched last autumn by a group of companies including Iberia Airlines and Ferrovial Services is taking up this challenge. The scheme aims to recover 80% of cabin waste coming into Madrid’s Barajas airport by mid-2020 through simple measures such as using trolleys designed for waste separation, says Juan Hermira, Iberia’s lead for the project. About 2,500 cabin crew members will be trained in the basics of waste separation as part of the push, he says.
It’s one of a handful of initiatives that suggest parts of the industry are waking up to waste. Last year, Gatwick opened an on-site waste-to-energy plant, reducing the need for lorries to transport waste elsewhere. The power produced currently goes back into the plant, but Gatwick hopes the facility will eventually help to heat the north terminal. Like Heathrow, it is also targeting a 70% recycling rate by 2020.
America’s United Airlines has switched to compostable paper cups and last year began donating unused amenity kits to homeless and women’s shelters – it expects to divert more than 27 tonnes-worth by the end of the first year. Virgin, meanwhile, has set up a system for recycling all parts of its headsets, including ear sponges, which are used as flooring for equestrian centres.
Despite actions like these, the mountains of airline waste continue to grow. So what more can be done? For Michael Gill, IATA’s head of environment, regulation is key. At the moment EU animal health legislation, drawn up as a reaction to diseases like foot and mouth, dictates that all catering waste arriving from outside EU borders be treated as high-risk and incinerated or buried in deep landfill. A coffee cup from the US, for example, will be treated as hazardous waste because it might have had milk in it. Donating uneaten food to charity is impossible. A more rational approach is needed, Gill says, one which identifies elements of cabin waste that actually pose a risk to health and takes into account the stringent hygiene standards airlines are already subject to. He points to a forthcoming IATA-commissioned report which concludes that dairy and honey in airline waste pose a negligible threat to animals.
Better procedures on the ground would also help ease the classification problem, says Magda Golebiewska, group environment manager at TUI Airlines. East Midlands and Gatwick airports have started tagging rubbish bags with their origin but elsewhere it’s common practice for waste from inside and outside the EU to get thrown together and processed collectively as international catering waste, she says.
Most important, however, is getting the cabin crew’s buy-in, says Golebiewska. This can be a challenge since the crew is already busy meeting on-board sales targets and looking after passengers, she says, but it is crucial: “How well the [waste] segregation is done really depends on how much effort they put into it.”
The environment is not the only concern on the minds of Golebiewska and others. Cabin waste costs the industry $500m (£400m) per year, according to IATA, a figure that it says is rising faster than waste volumes thanks to growing disposal costs. Bringing this down will require airlines to take a different approach to procurement, says Matt Rance. If they can be persuaded to focus on a product’s full life cost, rather than unit price, then investing in more durable headsets or blankets and ditching disposables starts to make sense, he says.
1. The waste airlines produce
A. does not only refer to food.
B. is all burnt.
C. is twice as much as it used to be 15 years ago.
2. The Spanish project launched last autumn
A. contemplates the separation of waste without any human intervention.
B. intends to separate waste on board.
C. is trying to reduce the airlines waste by limiting the sector’s growth.
3. In Britain
A. Gatwick Airport is planning to open a plant to recycle waste.
B. Heathrow Airport currently produces 70% of its power through recycled waste.
C. they are reducing road transportation of waste in some of the main airports.
4. In US
A. United Airlines cups can be used as fertilizers.
B. United Airlines donates uneaten food to homeless and women’s shelters.
C. Virgin recycles all parts of its headsets to make floors.
5. For Michael Gill,
A. dairy and honey from airlines could well be used to feed animals.
B. donating food is a sensible solution.
C. waste from airplanes should be incinerated or buried.
6. According to Magda Golebiewska, in EU
A. all waste is processed equally, no matter what its origin is.
B. airports mark waste bags with their origin.
C. the waste from inside and outside the EU is separated.
7. For Magda Golebiewska
A. airlines’ ground staff have a crucial role in waste segregation.
B. flight attendants are already doing a lot of work.
C. pilots should be responsible for waste segregation.
8. In the last paragraph, it is said that
A. not using disposable products would be a good solution.
B. the price of getting rid of waste is not going up.
C. waste volumes are being successfully controlled.
KEY:
1A 2B 3C 4A 5A 6A 7B 8A
miércoles, 22 de marzo de 2017
Talking point: Food waste
This week's talking point is food waste. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that ideas come to mind more easily the day you get together with your friends and you can work out vocabulary problems beforehand.
Do you usually write a shopping list before you go to the supermarket?
Do you ever buy more food than you really need or are you careful?
Do you look for special offers, such as ‘buy one get one free’, or ‘two for the price of one’?
Do you check the shelf life of food as you buy it?
Do you end up throwing food in the bin every week?
If so, how much money do you think you waste?
If not, how do you avoid throwing out food that’s past its sell-by date?
Look at the following suggestions for reducing household food waste. Which of these…
do you already do?
would you like to start doing?
would you never do?
1 Plan your meals for the week and then write a shopping list.
2 Don’t shop when you’re hungry.
3 Make sure your fridge is at the right temperature.
4 Use old fruit and vegetables to make smoothies or soup.
5 Use your leftovers for lunch the next day.
6 When you buy new food, bring the old food to the front of the fridge.
7 Serve small portions and give people more if they actually want it.
8 Only buy what you need- avoid ‘buy one get one free’.
9 Use the freezer- defrost food as you need it.
10 Use a compost bin.
To illustrate the topic, watch the video of Selina Juul, a key part of Denmark’s food waste revolution.
Do you usually write a shopping list before you go to the supermarket?
Do you ever buy more food than you really need or are you careful?
Do you look for special offers, such as ‘buy one get one free’, or ‘two for the price of one’?
Do you check the shelf life of food as you buy it?
Do you end up throwing food in the bin every week?
If so, how much money do you think you waste?
If not, how do you avoid throwing out food that’s past its sell-by date?
Look at the following suggestions for reducing household food waste. Which of these…
do you already do?
would you like to start doing?
would you never do?
1 Plan your meals for the week and then write a shopping list.
2 Don’t shop when you’re hungry.
3 Make sure your fridge is at the right temperature.
4 Use old fruit and vegetables to make smoothies or soup.
5 Use your leftovers for lunch the next day.
6 When you buy new food, bring the old food to the front of the fridge.
7 Serve small portions and give people more if they actually want it.
8 Only buy what you need- avoid ‘buy one get one free’.
9 Use the freezer- defrost food as you need it.
10 Use a compost bin.
To illustrate the topic, watch the video of Selina Juul, a key part of Denmark’s food waste revolution.
domingo, 5 de marzo de 2017
Extensive listening –Why bees are disappearing
Honeybees have thrived for 50 million years, each colony 40 to 50,000 individuals coordinated in amazing harmony. So why, seven years ago, did colonies start dying en masse?
Bees pollinate a third of our food supply, they don’t just make honey!, but colonies have been disappearing at alarming rates in many parts of the world due to the accumulated effects of parasitic mites, viral and bacterial diseases, and exposure to pesticides and herbicides.
Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota professor of entomology and 2010 MacArthur Fellow, tries as much as possible to think like bees in her work to protect them. They’re “highly social and complex” creatures, she says, which fuels her interest and her research.
Spivak has developed a strain of bees, the Minnesota Hygienic line, that can detect when pupae are infected and kick them out of the nest, saving the rest of the hive. Now, Spivak is studying how bees collect propolis, or tree resins, in their hives to keep out dirt and microbes. She is also analyzing how flowers’ decline due to herbicides, pesticides and crop monoculture affect bees’ numbers and diversity. Spivak has been stung by thousands of bees in the course of her work.
You can read a full transcript of the talk here.
Bees pollinate a third of our food supply, they don’t just make honey!, but colonies have been disappearing at alarming rates in many parts of the world due to the accumulated effects of parasitic mites, viral and bacterial diseases, and exposure to pesticides and herbicides.
Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota professor of entomology and 2010 MacArthur Fellow, tries as much as possible to think like bees in her work to protect them. They’re “highly social and complex” creatures, she says, which fuels her interest and her research.
Spivak has developed a strain of bees, the Minnesota Hygienic line, that can detect when pupae are infected and kick them out of the nest, saving the rest of the hive. Now, Spivak is studying how bees collect propolis, or tree resins, in their hives to keep out dirt and microbes. She is also analyzing how flowers’ decline due to herbicides, pesticides and crop monoculture affect bees’ numbers and diversity. Spivak has been stung by thousands of bees in the course of her work.
You can read a full transcript of the talk here.
viernes, 24 de febrero de 2017
Giant Antarctic iceberg set to break away
An iceberg expected to be one of the 10 largest ever recorded is ready to break away from Antarctica, scientists say. A long-running rift in the Larsen C ice shelf grew suddenly in December and now just 20km of ice is keeping the 5,000 sq km piece from floating away.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How long is the Larsen C ice shell?
2 What has surprised the team of British researchers in Antarctica?
3 How big will the new iceberg be if it breaks off?
4 How long did it take Larsen B to disintegrate when icebergs broke off in 2002?
5 What are the consequences for the environment when ice shelf loses so much ice?
Stretching for around 100 miles in length, the hundred-yard wide rift in the Larsen C ice shell has grown rapidly in recent weeks. Just 12 miles of frozen material is keeping this enormous iceberg from drifting away into the sea. Collapsing ice shelves are not uncommon in Antarctica. As these picture show, these fragmentations can dramatically affect the life, creating icebergs of all shapes and sizes.
A team of British researchers have been travelling down to Antarctica to monitor the growing crack in the in the Larsen sea ice shelf for several years, but they have been surprised by the dramatic expansion in the rift that’s taken place in just two weeks in December.
What we’ve found is that the rift that’s been in there in this ice shelf for a number of years has broken through another 18 kilometres and is now at risk of giving birth to an iceberg about a quarter of the size of Wales. And the significance of that is that it’s a very large iceberg that will go out into the open ocean, but also that the remaining ice shelf, we believe, will be less stable than before the rift was there.
When large icebergs break off the edge of an ice shelf, like the Larsen B in 2002, it can have a dramatic effect on the stability of the entire structure, and Larsen B most of the remaining shelf disintegrated in less than a month.
Experts at the British Arctic Survey are worried that any new iceberg formation could have long-term consequences.
When the ice shelf loses this ice, it may then start to collapse and if that were to occur then the glasses that feed the ice shelf could flow faster and contribute more to sea levels rise over the next few decades.
When it sheers away, the new iceberg will be one of the biggest ever recorded, about 50 times the size of Manhattan Island. But despite concerns over the impacts on global warming, researchers say they have no evidence that climate change is playing any significant role in the new icebergs formation.
Matt McGrath, BBC News.
Key:
1 around 100 miles
2 how quickly the crack is growing
3 a quarter the size of Wales
4 less than a month
5 it contributes more to sea levels rise
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How long is the Larsen C ice shell?
2 What has surprised the team of British researchers in Antarctica?
3 How big will the new iceberg be if it breaks off?
4 How long did it take Larsen B to disintegrate when icebergs broke off in 2002?
5 What are the consequences for the environment when ice shelf loses so much ice?
Stretching for around 100 miles in length, the hundred-yard wide rift in the Larsen C ice shell has grown rapidly in recent weeks. Just 12 miles of frozen material is keeping this enormous iceberg from drifting away into the sea. Collapsing ice shelves are not uncommon in Antarctica. As these picture show, these fragmentations can dramatically affect the life, creating icebergs of all shapes and sizes.
A team of British researchers have been travelling down to Antarctica to monitor the growing crack in the in the Larsen sea ice shelf for several years, but they have been surprised by the dramatic expansion in the rift that’s taken place in just two weeks in December.
What we’ve found is that the rift that’s been in there in this ice shelf for a number of years has broken through another 18 kilometres and is now at risk of giving birth to an iceberg about a quarter of the size of Wales. And the significance of that is that it’s a very large iceberg that will go out into the open ocean, but also that the remaining ice shelf, we believe, will be less stable than before the rift was there.
When large icebergs break off the edge of an ice shelf, like the Larsen B in 2002, it can have a dramatic effect on the stability of the entire structure, and Larsen B most of the remaining shelf disintegrated in less than a month.
Experts at the British Arctic Survey are worried that any new iceberg formation could have long-term consequences.
When the ice shelf loses this ice, it may then start to collapse and if that were to occur then the glasses that feed the ice shelf could flow faster and contribute more to sea levels rise over the next few decades.
When it sheers away, the new iceberg will be one of the biggest ever recorded, about 50 times the size of Manhattan Island. But despite concerns over the impacts on global warming, researchers say they have no evidence that climate change is playing any significant role in the new icebergs formation.
Matt McGrath, BBC News.
Key:
1 around 100 miles
2 how quickly the crack is growing
3 a quarter the size of Wales
4 less than a month
5 it contributes more to sea levels rise
jueves, 26 de enero de 2017
China's toxic smog
For much of the past month, a huge swathe of northern China has been shrouded in a thick layer of toxic smog. Pollution has reached such high levels that Beijing's met office this week issued a warning against venturing out into the snow because of fears it's dangerously contaminated. With pollution now thought to be the cause of more than a million premature deaths a year, our correspondent John Sudworth travelled to China's most polluted city.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How far is it from Beijing is Shijiazhuang?
2. What record has Shijiazhuang held over the past month?
3. How is the smog impacting children's health?
4. What is the Chinese government investing in?
5. What are the two main sources for all of this toxic smog?
Well, welcome to Shijiazhuang, a city a little less than 300 kilometers from Beijing, and one that over the past month has had the rather unenviable honour of being China's most polluted. In fact, by some measures, it is the most polluted city on the planet over that period.
Of course, it is just an extreme example of a problem affecting a huge swathe of northern China at the moment, with a pollution cloud hanging over this country from the Russian border in the far northeast all the way down to the central cities of Chongqing and Chengdu, a sweep of a few thousand kilometers or so.
Of course, underneath the cloud live hundreds of millions of people, and they are currently struggling with the impact of this toxic air on their lives and livelihoods.
It can be completely dark, as if you're walking in the clouds. The smog impacts my children's health. Coughing is the usual symptom.
I heard some people say they are considering leaving Shijiazhuang, moving to the south of China. Have you ever thought of doing the same?
Of course, I want to leave, but I cannot afford to. I live here. The whole city and the whole country is polluted. You have to go abroad.
Over the past 30 days, the average air quality level in this city has registered as hazardous on the official scale. Amid mounting public anger across China, the government is pledging to clean up the air and is investing heavily in renewable technology, but there are good reasons for caution and some scepticism. The two main sources for all of this toxic smog are the heavy reliance on coal, as the dominant form of power generation, and the high and still-growing levels of car ownership. And neither of those things look set to change anytime soon.
Key:
1 300 km
2 the most polluted city in China
3 coughing is the usual problem
4 renewable technology
5 coal (as the main form of power generation) and car ownership
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How far is it from Beijing is Shijiazhuang?
2. What record has Shijiazhuang held over the past month?
3. How is the smog impacting children's health?
4. What is the Chinese government investing in?
5. What are the two main sources for all of this toxic smog?
Well, welcome to Shijiazhuang, a city a little less than 300 kilometers from Beijing, and one that over the past month has had the rather unenviable honour of being China's most polluted. In fact, by some measures, it is the most polluted city on the planet over that period.
Of course, it is just an extreme example of a problem affecting a huge swathe of northern China at the moment, with a pollution cloud hanging over this country from the Russian border in the far northeast all the way down to the central cities of Chongqing and Chengdu, a sweep of a few thousand kilometers or so.
Of course, underneath the cloud live hundreds of millions of people, and they are currently struggling with the impact of this toxic air on their lives and livelihoods.
It can be completely dark, as if you're walking in the clouds. The smog impacts my children's health. Coughing is the usual symptom.
I heard some people say they are considering leaving Shijiazhuang, moving to the south of China. Have you ever thought of doing the same?
Of course, I want to leave, but I cannot afford to. I live here. The whole city and the whole country is polluted. You have to go abroad.
Over the past 30 days, the average air quality level in this city has registered as hazardous on the official scale. Amid mounting public anger across China, the government is pledging to clean up the air and is investing heavily in renewable technology, but there are good reasons for caution and some scepticism. The two main sources for all of this toxic smog are the heavy reliance on coal, as the dominant form of power generation, and the high and still-growing levels of car ownership. And neither of those things look set to change anytime soon.
Key:
1 300 km
2 the most polluted city in China
3 coughing is the usual problem
4 renewable technology
5 coal (as the main form of power generation) and car ownership
jueves, 19 de enero de 2017
Welcome to the spa run on human waste
A waste treatment plant in Hong Kong has opened its own spa, to make use of the human waste it uses to generate electricity. The unlikely combination of sludge processing and thermal pools has been created at the T. Park facility, but some are concerned about its impact on the environment.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. Where in Hong Kong is T. Park?
2. What idea has Hong Kong's government had to treat sludge?
3. How many households receive electricity from T. Park?
4. Why do some people complain about T. Park?
This may look like a normal spa but there's more to it than you'd expect. The water is nice and warm but it's heated by burning sludge, that's the waste you get from treating sewage.
This is T Park, a plant on the outskirts of Hong Kong. It treats sludge, the thick mud waste from the sewers and toilets. Sludge is smelly and it's been filling up Hong Kong's landfills. But the government says it's found a solution: turning the sludge into energy.
T Park incinerates more than a thousand tons of sludge each day. Burning the sludge makes it ninety percent smaller and easier to bury. It also generates enough electricity for the whole plant and 4000 households. Even the waste water is treated, so it can be used to water the plants. The government says T Park is key for sustainability in Hong Kong.
T Park is the first waste-to-energy facilities in the Hong Kong. It’s the first step of Hong Kong government's waste-to-energy journey. It reduces the burdens to the landfills. It provides a sustainable solution to the sewage sludge disposal in Hong-Kong.
Hundreds of people visit the plant each day for an educational tour or for a free spa session. But critics say not everyone has benefited.
There are lots of smells from the sludge when it’s being transported and incinerating the sludge causes air pollution too. This affects local residents.
The government says it follows stringent standards and that all emissions are tested before being released, and they'll be hoping visitors leave the plant feeling pampered and with a new interest in sustainability.
Helier Cheung, BBC News, Hong Kong.
Key:
1 ont eh outskirts
2 turn sludge into energy
3 4,000
4 because of the smells and the air pollution
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. Where in Hong Kong is T. Park?
2. What idea has Hong Kong's government had to treat sludge?
3. How many households receive electricity from T. Park?
4. Why do some people complain about T. Park?
This may look like a normal spa but there's more to it than you'd expect. The water is nice and warm but it's heated by burning sludge, that's the waste you get from treating sewage.
This is T Park, a plant on the outskirts of Hong Kong. It treats sludge, the thick mud waste from the sewers and toilets. Sludge is smelly and it's been filling up Hong Kong's landfills. But the government says it's found a solution: turning the sludge into energy.
T Park incinerates more than a thousand tons of sludge each day. Burning the sludge makes it ninety percent smaller and easier to bury. It also generates enough electricity for the whole plant and 4000 households. Even the waste water is treated, so it can be used to water the plants. The government says T Park is key for sustainability in Hong Kong.
T Park is the first waste-to-energy facilities in the Hong Kong. It’s the first step of Hong Kong government's waste-to-energy journey. It reduces the burdens to the landfills. It provides a sustainable solution to the sewage sludge disposal in Hong-Kong.
Hundreds of people visit the plant each day for an educational tour or for a free spa session. But critics say not everyone has benefited.
There are lots of smells from the sludge when it’s being transported and incinerating the sludge causes air pollution too. This affects local residents.
The government says it follows stringent standards and that all emissions are tested before being released, and they'll be hoping visitors leave the plant feeling pampered and with a new interest in sustainability.
Helier Cheung, BBC News, Hong Kong.
Key:
1 ont eh outskirts
2 turn sludge into energy
3 4,000
4 because of the smells and the air pollution
viernes, 6 de enero de 2017
Glass dome eco house in The Arctic Circle
A Norwegian family have built a glass dome around their off-grid house in the Arctic Circle.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How much does the glass dome cost?
2 How many individual glass panels does the dome have?
3 How do Benjamin and Ingrid get their food?
4 Where does the family live?
5 Where did Benjamin and Ingrid grow up?
6 Why do they want to live that way?
When I look back at our creation now, I get a deep sense of gratitude and joy.
We were inspired by the hundreds of natural buildings around the world. It’s in our own and everybody else’s interest to protect, support and love the planet that sustains us.
As part of their quest for sustainable living, Benjamin and Ingrid built this incredible glass dome house for £340,000 in the Arctic Circle.
We started building the dome in 2012. We built for one and a half years before we moved in.
The huge dome is made of 360 individual glass panels and stands 7 and a half meters high and 15 meters across. Designed to withstand winds of over 31mps, it can also take the weight of the Arctic snowfall.
It provides shelter from the Arctic climate and we need less energy to heat the house.
We grow some of our own food and we collect wild herbs and plants in nature. We don’t buy much stuff.
It gives us a longer and warmer growing season. We have a water treatment system where all the water we use circulates in tanks and this pumps out into the green house, where plants and sand filter and clean the water and also takes nutrients from it.
At the centre of the dome is the family’s living quarters.
We wanted a house that made, is made of natural materials, that does not pollute the air inside and has organic shapes, that is pleasant to live in.
The inside of the house is made of cob, which is a mix of sand, clay and straw. We also use timber.
Both Benjamin and Ingrid were raised on the island and they’re now looking for their four children to follow the same path.
Our three oldest children, they were very much a part of the building process and they helped us build the walls of their own rooms. And they love the house and they say that they never want to move, they want to grow old here with us. We want to live sustainably and eco-friendly because the other alternative isn’t sustainable. We worked so hard in the process of building it and it’s, it was well worth it.
Key:
1 £340,000.
2 360.
3 They buy some but grow their own food.
4 At the centre of the dome.
5 On the island.
6 They want to live sustainably and eco-friendly.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How much does the glass dome cost?
2 How many individual glass panels does the dome have?
3 How do Benjamin and Ingrid get their food?
4 Where does the family live?
5 Where did Benjamin and Ingrid grow up?
6 Why do they want to live that way?
When I look back at our creation now, I get a deep sense of gratitude and joy.
We were inspired by the hundreds of natural buildings around the world. It’s in our own and everybody else’s interest to protect, support and love the planet that sustains us.
As part of their quest for sustainable living, Benjamin and Ingrid built this incredible glass dome house for £340,000 in the Arctic Circle.
We started building the dome in 2012. We built for one and a half years before we moved in.
The huge dome is made of 360 individual glass panels and stands 7 and a half meters high and 15 meters across. Designed to withstand winds of over 31mps, it can also take the weight of the Arctic snowfall.
It provides shelter from the Arctic climate and we need less energy to heat the house.
We grow some of our own food and we collect wild herbs and plants in nature. We don’t buy much stuff.
It gives us a longer and warmer growing season. We have a water treatment system where all the water we use circulates in tanks and this pumps out into the green house, where plants and sand filter and clean the water and also takes nutrients from it.
At the centre of the dome is the family’s living quarters.
We wanted a house that made, is made of natural materials, that does not pollute the air inside and has organic shapes, that is pleasant to live in.
The inside of the house is made of cob, which is a mix of sand, clay and straw. We also use timber.
Both Benjamin and Ingrid were raised on the island and they’re now looking for their four children to follow the same path.
Our three oldest children, they were very much a part of the building process and they helped us build the walls of their own rooms. And they love the house and they say that they never want to move, they want to grow old here with us. We want to live sustainably and eco-friendly because the other alternative isn’t sustainable. We worked so hard in the process of building it and it’s, it was well worth it.
Key:
1 £340,000.
2 360.
3 They buy some but grow their own food.
4 At the centre of the dome.
5 On the island.
6 They want to live sustainably and eco-friendly.
martes, 20 de diciembre de 2016
Disappearing glaciers
Glacier National Park in Montana has a name to live up to. But it’s a name that seems to be living on borrowed time, as Conor Knighton discovered On the Trail.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 How far have Conor and Dan been walking before reaching their destination in Montana’s Glacier National Park?
2 What does Dan compare rephotography to?
3 When will the glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park have disappeared?
4 How will Dan feel if glaciers disappear?
5 How far has the glacier in Kenai Fjords retreated in 2016?
6 What are the photos of glaciers being used for these days?
Glacier National Park in Montana has a name to live up to. But it’s a name that seems to be living on borrowed time, as Conor Knighton discovered On the Trail.
Like most photographers, Dan Fagre is obsessed with getting the perfect shot. We’ll have hiked around 12 miles all together, up steep mountain passes, across icy streams, all to photograph a small slice of Montana’s Glacier National Park. Visitors take snapshots of the views, but when Fagre looks through his lens, he sees something different. He’s trying to take a picture of what isn’t there, the tons and tons of ice that have disappeared.
Oh my gosh! None of it is there!
None of that is there, so…
Fagre is an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
So in 1938 then, the glacier filled this entire basin…
Using material from the park’s archive, the USGS has been rephotographing old black and white images.
Rephotography is really interesting, it’s a little bit of a detective story. You’re trying to find the exact spot that a photographer stood decades before and shoot the exact same picture, and then compare the changes between those two time spans.
In a short amount of time, the change has been dramatic.
So 50 years ago, what’d we been looking at?
50 years ago we would have been under ice right now.
Oh, really? Right here?
Right here. We would’ve been under a lot of ice.
The sign says Glacier National Park, but some models have suggested that these Montana mountains will lose, if not all of their glaciers, by 2030. Soon there won’t be any ice left to photograph.
You know, like a lot of people, I really like the glaciers in Glacier Park, and while I will be sad to see them go personally, I think my role as a scientist is to make sure that everybody understands the pace at which they’re disappearing, and the reasons for that, so that, again, better decisions could be made societally.
The reason, scientists explain, is climate change; the planet is heating up. Park Service Director John Jarvis has said that climate change is fundamentally the greatest threat to the integrity of our national parks that we have ever experienced.
Visiting the parks this year, I’ve experienced it first hand. At Kenai Fjords in Alaska, the massive glaciers will survive longer than those in Montana, but they’re still shrinking. Walking into the park, there are signs where there was once ice,1899, 1926, 1961, all the way up to 2005, markers of where this glacier used to be.
Last year, President Obama paid a visit to Kenai Fjords to talk about climate change.
That is melting glaciers and blocks of ice, that’s raising sea levels…
In 2016, this glacier has already retreated over 250 feet. That’s a new record.
Well, the glaciers have been receding, and the surprising thing, the thing that lets us know that this is an indication of climate change, is the rate of retreat has increased drastically.
At the park Ranger Fiona North also uses photos to illustrate the before and after.
So this one, this is 1992.
Wow, it used to come down. It covered this whole green area.
From Alaska to Montana, photos that were originally taken to publicize these natural wonders are now being used to publicize how they’re disappearing. It packs a punch that a chart or a graph just can’t deliver.
I think people are extremely visual and, you know the old saying about one painting or photo being worth 1,000 words. We get a lot of information visually, and we tend to trust that even more than what we hear.
With these photos, the message is clear: The pace of change is anything but glacial.
Key:
1 twelve miles
2 a detective story
3 by 2030
4 sad
5 250 feet
6 to publicise how they are disappearing
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 How far have Conor and Dan been walking before reaching their destination in Montana’s Glacier National Park?
2 What does Dan compare rephotography to?
3 When will the glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park have disappeared?
4 How will Dan feel if glaciers disappear?
5 How far has the glacier in Kenai Fjords retreated in 2016?
6 What are the photos of glaciers being used for these days?
Glacier National Park in Montana has a name to live up to. But it’s a name that seems to be living on borrowed time, as Conor Knighton discovered On the Trail.
Like most photographers, Dan Fagre is obsessed with getting the perfect shot. We’ll have hiked around 12 miles all together, up steep mountain passes, across icy streams, all to photograph a small slice of Montana’s Glacier National Park. Visitors take snapshots of the views, but when Fagre looks through his lens, he sees something different. He’s trying to take a picture of what isn’t there, the tons and tons of ice that have disappeared.
Oh my gosh! None of it is there!
None of that is there, so…
Fagre is an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
So in 1938 then, the glacier filled this entire basin…
Using material from the park’s archive, the USGS has been rephotographing old black and white images.
Rephotography is really interesting, it’s a little bit of a detective story. You’re trying to find the exact spot that a photographer stood decades before and shoot the exact same picture, and then compare the changes between those two time spans.
In a short amount of time, the change has been dramatic.
So 50 years ago, what’d we been looking at?
50 years ago we would have been under ice right now.
Oh, really? Right here?
Right here. We would’ve been under a lot of ice.
The sign says Glacier National Park, but some models have suggested that these Montana mountains will lose, if not all of their glaciers, by 2030. Soon there won’t be any ice left to photograph.
You know, like a lot of people, I really like the glaciers in Glacier Park, and while I will be sad to see them go personally, I think my role as a scientist is to make sure that everybody understands the pace at which they’re disappearing, and the reasons for that, so that, again, better decisions could be made societally.
The reason, scientists explain, is climate change; the planet is heating up. Park Service Director John Jarvis has said that climate change is fundamentally the greatest threat to the integrity of our national parks that we have ever experienced.
Visiting the parks this year, I’ve experienced it first hand. At Kenai Fjords in Alaska, the massive glaciers will survive longer than those in Montana, but they’re still shrinking. Walking into the park, there are signs where there was once ice,1899, 1926, 1961, all the way up to 2005, markers of where this glacier used to be.
Last year, President Obama paid a visit to Kenai Fjords to talk about climate change.
That is melting glaciers and blocks of ice, that’s raising sea levels…
In 2016, this glacier has already retreated over 250 feet. That’s a new record.
Well, the glaciers have been receding, and the surprising thing, the thing that lets us know that this is an indication of climate change, is the rate of retreat has increased drastically.
At the park Ranger Fiona North also uses photos to illustrate the before and after.
So this one, this is 1992.
Wow, it used to come down. It covered this whole green area.
From Alaska to Montana, photos that were originally taken to publicize these natural wonders are now being used to publicize how they’re disappearing. It packs a punch that a chart or a graph just can’t deliver.
I think people are extremely visual and, you know the old saying about one painting or photo being worth 1,000 words. We get a lot of information visually, and we tend to trust that even more than what we hear.
With these photos, the message is clear: The pace of change is anything but glacial.
Key:
1 twelve miles
2 a detective story
3 by 2030
4 sad
5 250 feet
6 to publicise how they are disappearing
jueves, 17 de noviembre de 2016
Extinction warning for Africa's rhinos
Africa's rhino population could face extinction, animal welfare experts warn.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How many rhinos are illegally killed in South Africa daily?
2. What are the horns used for?
3. When could rhinos be extinct if the situation doesn't change?
4. What are private rhino owners setting up to deal with the problem?
5. What sex are the members of the team?
6. How does the anti-poaching team raise awareness about the importance of wildlife conservation?
7. When was rhino orphanage opened?
Another brutal year for the rhino population. The onslaught has taken a turn for the worst and authorities are struggling to contain the carnage. There is no indication that rhino poaching is under control here. At least one rhino is killed by poachers here in South Africa every day. And that has devastating effects on their population.
One private game farmer lost six rhinos in just the last three years. The animals were slaughtered for their horns, which are used in traditional Asian medicine and regarded as a status symbol. The horn is worth more than the animal, even more than an ounce of gold, and there are fears that the rhino could be extinct within ten years.
I think there is a very real chance that the only place our children will see a rhino is in a zoo. Unless something changes quite dramatically. And that, unfortunately…, you know, all the efforts that are on the table now from demand reduction to better global law enforcement to community projects, are long-term projects, these are not things that can be solved overnight. There are no easy answers, there are no easy solutions.
Private rhino owners are setting up security groups to tackle the problem. The Black Mambas anti-poaching unit is an all-female team which patrols private game reserves.
So barely an hour patrolling with the Black Mambas and we have already come across snares, which are traps that have been set up by poachers. This may be a small group for now, but it is hoped that their eyes and ears will play a powerful role in anti-rhino poaching.
What I'm here to teach you about is...
The anti-poaching team visits schools to teach children about wildlife conservation in the hope that the next generation will take conservation seriously for the sake of the environment and the economy.
The most vulnerable victims of poaching are rhino calves. Many of them are taken to a rhino orphanage which was opened three years ago. Humans play their surrogate parents. The calves which have been brought here usually witnessed their mothers being slaughtered by poachers.
They all come in very traumatised, very shaken up, they have lost their mothers, they’ve been betrayed by our species, humans, and now we have to work to gain that trust back.
Three-month-old Gavello sets out on his morning walk with the one person that he trusts. For now, he is protected, but once released back into the wild, his safety is not guaranteed.
Key:
1. one
2. for traditional medicine and as a status symbol
3. in ten years
4. security groups
5. female
6. by visiting schools
7. three years ago
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1. How many rhinos are illegally killed in South Africa daily?
2. What are the horns used for?
3. When could rhinos be extinct if the situation doesn't change?
4. What are private rhino owners setting up to deal with the problem?
5. What sex are the members of the team?
6. How does the anti-poaching team raise awareness about the importance of wildlife conservation?
7. When was rhino orphanage opened?
Another brutal year for the rhino population. The onslaught has taken a turn for the worst and authorities are struggling to contain the carnage. There is no indication that rhino poaching is under control here. At least one rhino is killed by poachers here in South Africa every day. And that has devastating effects on their population.
One private game farmer lost six rhinos in just the last three years. The animals were slaughtered for their horns, which are used in traditional Asian medicine and regarded as a status symbol. The horn is worth more than the animal, even more than an ounce of gold, and there are fears that the rhino could be extinct within ten years.
I think there is a very real chance that the only place our children will see a rhino is in a zoo. Unless something changes quite dramatically. And that, unfortunately…, you know, all the efforts that are on the table now from demand reduction to better global law enforcement to community projects, are long-term projects, these are not things that can be solved overnight. There are no easy answers, there are no easy solutions.
Private rhino owners are setting up security groups to tackle the problem. The Black Mambas anti-poaching unit is an all-female team which patrols private game reserves.
So barely an hour patrolling with the Black Mambas and we have already come across snares, which are traps that have been set up by poachers. This may be a small group for now, but it is hoped that their eyes and ears will play a powerful role in anti-rhino poaching.
What I'm here to teach you about is...
The anti-poaching team visits schools to teach children about wildlife conservation in the hope that the next generation will take conservation seriously for the sake of the environment and the economy.
The most vulnerable victims of poaching are rhino calves. Many of them are taken to a rhino orphanage which was opened three years ago. Humans play their surrogate parents. The calves which have been brought here usually witnessed their mothers being slaughtered by poachers.
They all come in very traumatised, very shaken up, they have lost their mothers, they’ve been betrayed by our species, humans, and now we have to work to gain that trust back.
Three-month-old Gavello sets out on his morning walk with the one person that he trusts. For now, he is protected, but once released back into the wild, his safety is not guaranteed.
Key:
1. one
2. for traditional medicine and as a status symbol
3. in ten years
4. security groups
5. female
6. by visiting schools
7. three years ago
jueves, 3 de noviembre de 2016
Saving the Dead Sea
The Dead Sea, the salty lake located at the lowest point on Earth, is gradually shrinking under the heat of the Middle Eastern sun.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1 Why is there a danger that the Dead Sea dries?
2 How fast is the level of the water dropping?
3 Why are sinkholes forming?
4 How far do tourists at the resort have to go these days before they reach the beach?
5 What effects do the mud baths have on tourists?
6 Why are Israel, Jordan and Syria mentioned?
7 What kind of animal is an ibex?
The Dead Sea is one of the great ecological treasures of the world but for years there has been a fear that the sea might live up to its name and die as the countries of the Middle East drain the river system for precious drinking water. Now there’s hope that is about to change. Kevin Connelly reports.
The surface of the Dead Sea. It’s the lowest point on the face of the Earth and it’s getting lower. The level of the dense mineral-rich water is dropping at a rate of more than a metre a year.
A hundred years ago, British engineers marked the level of the waters of the Dead Sea here, high up on this rock. How much have things changed? Well, look how far the level has dropped over the course of the century, and it’s still dropping every single day.
As the waters retreat, thousands of sinkholes are forming. They are created when underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse. They give the landscape a kind of lunar beauty. But they can be bad for business. The buildings of this beach resort collapsed into a sinkhole last year and now it has closed down. The effect, like a slow motion earthquake.
Even the resorts that remain are struggling. When this one opened 30 years ago on the Israeli shore, the waves reached these beach umbrellas. Now it’s a two-kilometre ride on the tourist train to the water, and every holiday season the sea retreats further, the ride gets longer and the future seems more uncertain.
It has been a bad life in the last few years because you are seeing like your homeland or your home landscape going and disappearing, shrinking, and you know that maybe you leave for your children or grandchildren something that won’t be like the place that you grew up in.
The tourists keep coming, though. Some like the buoyancy of the super salty water, it’s impossible to sink in it. Others even find something magical and maybe medicinal in the mud.
Actually, it makes you feel so good, free, stressless, like you’re living in another place with this mud.
The once mighty river Jordan was the Dead Sea's main source of water. Now it’s dying itself as Israel, Jordan and Syria tap into the rivers of the Middle East to water their farms and feed their people. This building in a bone-dry landscape was once a hydroelectric power station but the river that drove it has dried to a trickle.
Jordan and Israel still evaporate the shrinking waters too for its valuable deposits of phosphates. The salt residues produce landscapes that are almost arctic in the desert sun. A small group of Jordanian families has farmed here in this harsh landscape for generations. Now the ground is disintegrating beneath them as sinkholes appear here, too.
But where it does retreat, nature sometimes returns. Our cameras filming at the side of this camping ground, abandoned because of sinkholes only last year, caught a glimpse of this herd of ibex, a type of desert goat, moving back in.
There is a plan to save the Dead Sea by piping water across the deserts to the south from the Red Sea. It will be expensive, the governments in the region say it’s worth it, and it will happen. In the meantime, though, the sea continues to dwindle.
Kevin Connelly, BBC News, at the Dead Sea.
Key:
1 because the Middle East countries take lots of water from the rivers around it.
2 (more than) a metre per year
3 because underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse
4 two kilometres
5 they are medicinal, they make them feel good and stressless
6 because these countries take water from the rivers in the Middle East to water farms and for drinking purposes
7 a goat
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below about it.
1 Why is there a danger that the Dead Sea dries?
2 How fast is the level of the water dropping?
3 Why are sinkholes forming?
4 How far do tourists at the resort have to go these days before they reach the beach?
5 What effects do the mud baths have on tourists?
6 Why are Israel, Jordan and Syria mentioned?
7 What kind of animal is an ibex?
The Dead Sea is one of the great ecological treasures of the world but for years there has been a fear that the sea might live up to its name and die as the countries of the Middle East drain the river system for precious drinking water. Now there’s hope that is about to change. Kevin Connelly reports.
The surface of the Dead Sea. It’s the lowest point on the face of the Earth and it’s getting lower. The level of the dense mineral-rich water is dropping at a rate of more than a metre a year.
A hundred years ago, British engineers marked the level of the waters of the Dead Sea here, high up on this rock. How much have things changed? Well, look how far the level has dropped over the course of the century, and it’s still dropping every single day.
As the waters retreat, thousands of sinkholes are forming. They are created when underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse. They give the landscape a kind of lunar beauty. But they can be bad for business. The buildings of this beach resort collapsed into a sinkhole last year and now it has closed down. The effect, like a slow motion earthquake.
Even the resorts that remain are struggling. When this one opened 30 years ago on the Israeli shore, the waves reached these beach umbrellas. Now it’s a two-kilometre ride on the tourist train to the water, and every holiday season the sea retreats further, the ride gets longer and the future seems more uncertain.
It has been a bad life in the last few years because you are seeing like your homeland or your home landscape going and disappearing, shrinking, and you know that maybe you leave for your children or grandchildren something that won’t be like the place that you grew up in.
The tourists keep coming, though. Some like the buoyancy of the super salty water, it’s impossible to sink in it. Others even find something magical and maybe medicinal in the mud.
Actually, it makes you feel so good, free, stressless, like you’re living in another place with this mud.
The once mighty river Jordan was the Dead Sea's main source of water. Now it’s dying itself as Israel, Jordan and Syria tap into the rivers of the Middle East to water their farms and feed their people. This building in a bone-dry landscape was once a hydroelectric power station but the river that drove it has dried to a trickle.
Jordan and Israel still evaporate the shrinking waters too for its valuable deposits of phosphates. The salt residues produce landscapes that are almost arctic in the desert sun. A small group of Jordanian families has farmed here in this harsh landscape for generations. Now the ground is disintegrating beneath them as sinkholes appear here, too.
But where it does retreat, nature sometimes returns. Our cameras filming at the side of this camping ground, abandoned because of sinkholes only last year, caught a glimpse of this herd of ibex, a type of desert goat, moving back in.
There is a plan to save the Dead Sea by piping water across the deserts to the south from the Red Sea. It will be expensive, the governments in the region say it’s worth it, and it will happen. In the meantime, though, the sea continues to dwindle.
Kevin Connelly, BBC News, at the Dead Sea.
Key:
1 because the Middle East countries take lots of water from the rivers around it.
2 (more than) a metre per year
3 because underground pockets of salt suddenly collapse
4 two kilometres
5 they are medicinal, they make them feel good and stressless
6 because these countries take water from the rivers in the Middle East to water farms and for drinking purposes
7 a goat
viernes, 21 de octubre de 2016
Ganges: India’s dying mother
The Ganges is one of the greatest rivers on Earth, but it is dying. From the icy Himalayan peaks, where it begins, right down to the Bay of Bengal, it is being slowly poisoned with pollution from the factories and farms and from the riverside cremation of Hindu true believers.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 What is the main industry in the centre of India?
2 What polluting element do factories use?
3 What colour is the polluted water?
4 Why is the cleaning of the river more than an environmental project?
5 How many tanneries have been closed by the government?
6 How long will it take before we can see a difference in the cleanliness of the river?
You don't have to be a scientist to know the Ganges is polluted.
Really swells.
I’m in Can Po, the centre of India’s huge leather industry.
There is a tannery…
Much of the leather produced here is exported to Europe and the US.
Oh, God. It’s really powerful, very strong. What kind of waste do we have in here?
They are highly chemicalised end toxic water, waste water, coming from the tanneries. And you know tanneries use a variety of chemicals, hundreds of chemicals.
Including really dangerous chemicals like chromium they use to soften the leather, don’t they?
Yeah.
Chemicals having metals and pesticides also, as well.
So which ones are tanneries here?
The government says it is making progress reducing pollution, and to prove it, we’ve been given permission to go out with a team of pollution control officers on a surprise inspection of the leather tanneries.
Wow, this is a bit different.
Who’s stopping? Something happening down there.
Why are you stopping? Why are you stopping?
Who is in charge of this place?
Four days. It’s four days of flesh. This is where they strip the flesh from the hide. There are huge puddles of water and the water has that distinctive blue. It’s blue because there’s chrome in it. And there’s hides here, they clearly have been treated with the chrome. This just does not look so good.
Not tidy, not much tidy.
This just does not look tidy at all. Looks disgusting.
The effort to clean the river is more than just an environmental project. It’s being seen as a crucial test, as India’s ability to modernise because it means tackling corruption…
Man, it’s like walking on rubber.
… and enforcing effective regulation as well as massive investment in sewage and a fluent treatment infrastructure. It is clear there’s still a long way to go.
Meanwhile, the government says it has raised pollution standards and has already closed more than a hundred tanneries. It says its clean Ganga mission is a key priority, but warns it will take time.
We are not saying that the whole Ganga mission will be completed in five years, no, five years will ensure that there is a marked difference. But it’s a long project. Rhine and Thames were same dirty fifty or sixty years ago, but they also took nearly ten years to completely change the overall ecology of that, and we will also do achieve it.
It will take sustained effort and constant vigilance to clean this mighty river but Mr Modi has a key advantage: The fact that so many Indians want him to succeed.
Key:
1 leather
2 chemicals or metals or pesticides or chromium
3 blue
4 it is a test test of India’s ability to modernise and dealing with corruption
5 more than a hundred
6 five years
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 What is the main industry in the centre of India?
2 What polluting element do factories use?
3 What colour is the polluted water?
4 Why is the cleaning of the river more than an environmental project?
5 How many tanneries have been closed by the government?
6 How long will it take before we can see a difference in the cleanliness of the river?
You don't have to be a scientist to know the Ganges is polluted.
Really swells.
I’m in Can Po, the centre of India’s huge leather industry.
There is a tannery…
Much of the leather produced here is exported to Europe and the US.
Oh, God. It’s really powerful, very strong. What kind of waste do we have in here?
They are highly chemicalised end toxic water, waste water, coming from the tanneries. And you know tanneries use a variety of chemicals, hundreds of chemicals.
Including really dangerous chemicals like chromium they use to soften the leather, don’t they?
Yeah.
Chemicals having metals and pesticides also, as well.
So which ones are tanneries here?
The government says it is making progress reducing pollution, and to prove it, we’ve been given permission to go out with a team of pollution control officers on a surprise inspection of the leather tanneries.
Wow, this is a bit different.
Who’s stopping? Something happening down there.
Why are you stopping? Why are you stopping?
Who is in charge of this place?
Four days. It’s four days of flesh. This is where they strip the flesh from the hide. There are huge puddles of water and the water has that distinctive blue. It’s blue because there’s chrome in it. And there’s hides here, they clearly have been treated with the chrome. This just does not look so good.
Not tidy, not much tidy.
This just does not look tidy at all. Looks disgusting.
The effort to clean the river is more than just an environmental project. It’s being seen as a crucial test, as India’s ability to modernise because it means tackling corruption…
Man, it’s like walking on rubber.
… and enforcing effective regulation as well as massive investment in sewage and a fluent treatment infrastructure. It is clear there’s still a long way to go.
Meanwhile, the government says it has raised pollution standards and has already closed more than a hundred tanneries. It says its clean Ganga mission is a key priority, but warns it will take time.
We are not saying that the whole Ganga mission will be completed in five years, no, five years will ensure that there is a marked difference. But it’s a long project. Rhine and Thames were same dirty fifty or sixty years ago, but they also took nearly ten years to completely change the overall ecology of that, and we will also do achieve it.
It will take sustained effort and constant vigilance to clean this mighty river but Mr Modi has a key advantage: The fact that so many Indians want him to succeed.
Key:
1 leather
2 chemicals or metals or pesticides or chromium
3 blue
4 it is a test test of India’s ability to modernise and dealing with corruption
5 more than a hundred
6 five years
jueves, 20 de octubre de 2016
Man builds 65 ft whale-shaped boat to sail across the Atlantic
Man builds 65 ft whale-shaped boat called 'Moby' to sail across the Atlantic.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 What was Tom Mclean's job?
2 What does '3,500' refer to?
3 What is Mclean's objective with his journey?
4 What is Tom Mclean's job now?
5 How old is he?
Thankfully this isn't another beached whale on the British coastline… This is a rather unusual boat shaped like a whale and named Moby of all things after its namesake novel by Herman Melville. Former SAS soldier Tom Mclean has spent a mammoth 100,000 pounds and 2 decades building the 65 foot boat in preparation for a 3,500 mile voyage across the Atlantic. The big question is why?
Yeah, maybe why not, I would say. I’m the first man to have rowed the North Atlantic alone and I’ve sailed it and I’ve crossed it in a bottle boat. You can go in many shapes, and I thought, well, why not a whale. I want to clean up the planet, and environmental companies want to be involved with me and well, here we are, Moby.
The boat with the big environmental message will sail down from Loch Nevis in Scotland to London and then New York in stages next year. And it’s guaranteed to be a whale of a time for the retired serviceman.
I’m 73. I feel good. You could say I’m mad but I’m happy with that, I’m getting on doing things. I’m getting off my backside and doing things rather than sitting and watching the telly.
The Loch Ness may have its monster but we reckon Loch Nevis' whale is giving it stiff competition.
Key:
1 (SAS) soldier
2 3,500 mile voyage across the Atlantic he intends to make
3 to clean the planet
4 he's retired
5 73
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 What was Tom Mclean's job?
2 What does '3,500' refer to?
3 What is Mclean's objective with his journey?
4 What is Tom Mclean's job now?
5 How old is he?
Thankfully this isn't another beached whale on the British coastline… This is a rather unusual boat shaped like a whale and named Moby of all things after its namesake novel by Herman Melville. Former SAS soldier Tom Mclean has spent a mammoth 100,000 pounds and 2 decades building the 65 foot boat in preparation for a 3,500 mile voyage across the Atlantic. The big question is why?
Yeah, maybe why not, I would say. I’m the first man to have rowed the North Atlantic alone and I’ve sailed it and I’ve crossed it in a bottle boat. You can go in many shapes, and I thought, well, why not a whale. I want to clean up the planet, and environmental companies want to be involved with me and well, here we are, Moby.
The boat with the big environmental message will sail down from Loch Nevis in Scotland to London and then New York in stages next year. And it’s guaranteed to be a whale of a time for the retired serviceman.
I’m 73. I feel good. You could say I’m mad but I’m happy with that, I’m getting on doing things. I’m getting off my backside and doing things rather than sitting and watching the telly.
The Loch Ness may have its monster but we reckon Loch Nevis' whale is giving it stiff competition.
Key:
1 (SAS) soldier
2 3,500 mile voyage across the Atlantic he intends to make
3 to clean the planet
4 he's retired
5 73
viernes, 7 de octubre de 2016
Worst drought in 30 years hits South Africa
In late 2015 South Africa faced one of the worst droughts to hit the region in 30 years.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 When was the worst drought to hit South Africa before this one?
2 Which sector of the South African economy has been the worst hit by the drought?
3 Why is the government being criticized?
4 How is the drought going to affect food security?
The devastating effects of El Nino, the lack of rain accompanied by heat waves. This is the worst drought to hit South Africa since 1982. Millions are facing water shortages.
This is rather unusual, because under normal circumstances, I’ll be in waist height in water here. This reservoir has completely dried up, and it just goes to show how severe the drought is.
The country’s farmers have been the hardest hit, six of Tosogalanis’ cows starved to death, many more are missing, he fears the worst. He wanted to show us the dried-up watering hole, only to find one of his cows trapped in the mud, close to death. There was no time to waste, more men power was needed, and the BBC team had to put the camera down and assist with the rescue…
Come on, here you go.
This is heart-breaking, I am losing out more than I should be gaining, it’s only a matter of time before those who work for me become unemployed.
Without some intervention, the stark reality facing many farmers is that more livestock will keep dying. Many commercial farmers have criticized the government’s slow response in helping out.
At this stage, there is no help, because of these clouds, we are still waiting to hear what are the programmes that are going to be implemented for fighting this drought. We didn’t even plant, so it’s going to be… to affect our food security, it’s going to affect the price and the poorest of the poorest that you always talk about, they’re the one who are going to be worse off.
The prospects of rainfall look promising. But the ever-changing weather patterns brought by climate change could still affect the country’s food security.
Key:
1 1982
2 farming
3 for the slow response in helping
4 farmers haven't planted, the price is going to be affected and poor people will be worse off
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 When was the worst drought to hit South Africa before this one?
2 Which sector of the South African economy has been the worst hit by the drought?
3 Why is the government being criticized?
4 How is the drought going to affect food security?
The devastating effects of El Nino, the lack of rain accompanied by heat waves. This is the worst drought to hit South Africa since 1982. Millions are facing water shortages.
This is rather unusual, because under normal circumstances, I’ll be in waist height in water here. This reservoir has completely dried up, and it just goes to show how severe the drought is.
The country’s farmers have been the hardest hit, six of Tosogalanis’ cows starved to death, many more are missing, he fears the worst. He wanted to show us the dried-up watering hole, only to find one of his cows trapped in the mud, close to death. There was no time to waste, more men power was needed, and the BBC team had to put the camera down and assist with the rescue…
Come on, here you go.
This is heart-breaking, I am losing out more than I should be gaining, it’s only a matter of time before those who work for me become unemployed.
Without some intervention, the stark reality facing many farmers is that more livestock will keep dying. Many commercial farmers have criticized the government’s slow response in helping out.
At this stage, there is no help, because of these clouds, we are still waiting to hear what are the programmes that are going to be implemented for fighting this drought. We didn’t even plant, so it’s going to be… to affect our food security, it’s going to affect the price and the poorest of the poorest that you always talk about, they’re the one who are going to be worse off.
The prospects of rainfall look promising. But the ever-changing weather patterns brought by climate change could still affect the country’s food security.
Key:
1 1982
2 farming
3 for the slow response in helping
4 farmers haven't planted, the price is going to be affected and poor people will be worse off
sábado, 24 de septiembre de 2016
Reading test: For the first time in a century wild tiger numbers go up
In this week's reading test we are going to practise the 'insert the word' kind of task. To do so, we are going to use the Huffington Post article For the first time in a century wild tiger numbers go up.
Read the text and choose the word (A to O) which best fits in gaps 1 to 10. Four of the words are not needed. 0 has been completed as an example.
For the first time in a century wild tiger numbers go up
For wild tigers, the numbers have not been kind.
In 1900, an (0) … 100,000 tigers wandered about free on our planet. Yet within a hundred years, that number gone down by more than 95 percent — the result of uncontrolled poaching and (1) … habitat loss.
But it seems the tide may finally be (2) … for the majestic cat. On Sunday, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced that wild tiger numbers were on the (3) … for the first time in over a century.
There are now about 3,890 tigers in the wild, up from about 3,200 in 2010, said WWF, citing national tiger survey numbers.
The increase could partly be attributed to growing tiger populations in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan as well as better protection of the (4) … species globally, the organization said. The improved count could also be the result of other factors, (5) … better survey methods.
(6) … still cautious, conservationists regarded the new global count as a positive (7) … forward for the world’s tigers.
“More important (8) … the absolute numbers is the trend, and we’re seeing the trend going in the right direction,” Ginette Hemley, WWF’s senior vice president of wildlife conservation, said.
Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF, added in a statement: “We’ve watched tigers (9) … for decades and have dreamed of bending that curve in the other direction. In a sea of bad news on the environment we are (10) … significant progress on one of the greatest comeback stories in conservation.”
A - as
B - decline
C - doing
D - endangered
E -estimated 0 Example
F - increase
G - like
H - making
I - rise
J - step
K - than
L - that
M - turning
N - while
O - widespread
KEY:
1O 2M 3I 4D 5G 6N 7J 8K 9B 10H
Read the text and choose the word (A to O) which best fits in gaps 1 to 10. Four of the words are not needed. 0 has been completed as an example.
For the first time in a century wild tiger numbers go up
For wild tigers, the numbers have not been kind.
In 1900, an (0) … 100,000 tigers wandered about free on our planet. Yet within a hundred years, that number gone down by more than 95 percent — the result of uncontrolled poaching and (1) … habitat loss.
But it seems the tide may finally be (2) … for the majestic cat. On Sunday, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced that wild tiger numbers were on the (3) … for the first time in over a century.
There are now about 3,890 tigers in the wild, up from about 3,200 in 2010, said WWF, citing national tiger survey numbers.
The increase could partly be attributed to growing tiger populations in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan as well as better protection of the (4) … species globally, the organization said. The improved count could also be the result of other factors, (5) … better survey methods.
(6) … still cautious, conservationists regarded the new global count as a positive (7) … forward for the world’s tigers.
“More important (8) … the absolute numbers is the trend, and we’re seeing the trend going in the right direction,” Ginette Hemley, WWF’s senior vice president of wildlife conservation, said.
Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF, added in a statement: “We’ve watched tigers (9) … for decades and have dreamed of bending that curve in the other direction. In a sea of bad news on the environment we are (10) … significant progress on one of the greatest comeback stories in conservation.”
A - as
B - decline
C - doing
D - endangered
E -
F - increase
G - like
H - making
I - rise
J - step
K - than
L - that
M - turning
N - while
O - widespread
Photo: AlexTurton via Getty Images
KEY:
1O 2M 3I 4D 5G 6N 7J 8K 9B 10H
viernes, 2 de septiembre de 2016
BioBus – The UK’s first food and poo-powered bus
The BioBus is the first UK bus powered on gas generated from recycling food waste and treating sewage.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 How much food is wasted in British households every year?
2 How many homes benefit from the biomethane generated in the Bristol plant?
3 What breaks down food waste to produce biogas?
4 What can biomethane generate?
5 Where is the fuel stored on the Bio-Bus?
6 How much food and sewage waste is necessary for a return journey Bath to Bristol?
Ooh! Hello. Not everything we flush goes to waste. For quite a while now, energy's been produced from sewage, but there is another source of renewable energy that's right under our noses.
Every year, around 7 million tons of food waste is thrown away by households in the UK, and that contains a lot of potential energy. But what happens to our scraps once we throw them in the food waste bin?
The gas-to-grid plant at Bristol sewage works is the first and largest of its kind in the UK. It uses both food waste and sewage to produce enough biomethane to supply 8,300 homes every day. And biomethane is produced by anaerobic digestion. It's a completely natural process. It's very similar to our own digestive system.
Microorganisms break down food waste, and as they do that, they produce biogas. And biogas can be collected and purified, and it turns into biomethane. And biomethane can be used to generate electricity, to generate heat, and it can even be used to fuel vehicles.
This is the GENeco Bio-Bus, and it's powered entirely by biofuel from food and sewage waste stored up on the roof in dome-like tanks. On a full tank of fuel, this bus can travel about 200 miles.
The Bio-Bus is currently doing the Bath to Bristol Airport route. Now, one passenger's annual food and sewage waste should provide just enough energy for my return trip.
The use of the Bio-Bus and other gas-powered vehicles can significantly improve urban air quality.
The Bio-Bus offers the most sustainable, environmentally friendly way of traveling. I really hope it takes off.
Key:
1 7 million tons
2 8,300 every day
3 microorgamisms
4 electricity, heat, and fuel for vehicles
5 in a tank on the roof
6 the waste generated by a person in a year
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions.
1 How much food is wasted in British households every year?
2 How many homes benefit from the biomethane generated in the Bristol plant?
3 What breaks down food waste to produce biogas?
4 What can biomethane generate?
5 Where is the fuel stored on the Bio-Bus?
6 How much food and sewage waste is necessary for a return journey Bath to Bristol?
Ooh! Hello. Not everything we flush goes to waste. For quite a while now, energy's been produced from sewage, but there is another source of renewable energy that's right under our noses.
Every year, around 7 million tons of food waste is thrown away by households in the UK, and that contains a lot of potential energy. But what happens to our scraps once we throw them in the food waste bin?
The gas-to-grid plant at Bristol sewage works is the first and largest of its kind in the UK. It uses both food waste and sewage to produce enough biomethane to supply 8,300 homes every day. And biomethane is produced by anaerobic digestion. It's a completely natural process. It's very similar to our own digestive system.
Microorganisms break down food waste, and as they do that, they produce biogas. And biogas can be collected and purified, and it turns into biomethane. And biomethane can be used to generate electricity, to generate heat, and it can even be used to fuel vehicles.
This is the GENeco Bio-Bus, and it's powered entirely by biofuel from food and sewage waste stored up on the roof in dome-like tanks. On a full tank of fuel, this bus can travel about 200 miles.
The Bio-Bus is currently doing the Bath to Bristol Airport route. Now, one passenger's annual food and sewage waste should provide just enough energy for my return trip.
The use of the Bio-Bus and other gas-powered vehicles can significantly improve urban air quality.
The Bio-Bus offers the most sustainable, environmentally friendly way of traveling. I really hope it takes off.
Key:
1 7 million tons
2 8,300 every day
3 microorgamisms
4 electricity, heat, and fuel for vehicles
5 in a tank on the roof
6 the waste generated by a person in a year
jueves, 25 de agosto de 2016
Utility vs Homeowners Over Solar Power
In Hawaii, where 12 percent of the homes have solar panels, handling the surplus power is putting pressure on the state’s biggest utility, which is fighting to reduce what it pays for the energy.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How long has Joyce been waiting to have solar panels installed?
2 How much does Joyce’s neighbour pay for their electricity bill?
3 What kind of power does the American public want?
4 What problem does the traditional utility circuit power have?
5 How long did Michael John take to have the system installed and running in his home?
6 How much does he pay for electricity in June and July?
7 How much does the maintenance of the power system cost?
8 When will Joyce have her panels finally installed?
I have been waiting three years, three years, to have solar panels installed. My neighbour across has solar panels. The ones that already have solar panels, they just pay $18 a month. I pay 395, almost $400. They say that the grid is full and I have just to wait and so… I’m still waiting.
Hawaiians have some of the highest electric bills in the country, and so they have rushed to install photovoltaic or PV systems on their rooftops, so they can make their own power.
We’re not just talking about saving the planet here. We’re talking about saving the paying from being held hostage by the utility companies. The American public wants solar energy. I don’t care whether they’re in Oklahoma, New York, California or Hawaii. Whatever happens in Hawaii is gonna happen in the main land. It’s just a matter of waiting.
Nationwide, Hawaii is on the forefront of solar adoption, and other states are watching to see how HE Co, Hawaii’s main utility, reimagines its business.
We don’t have the luxury to look at another state and say how was it done there and instead we sort of have to figure out on our own. The traditional utility circuit power starts off at Hilla substation and flows power one way to each home that we serve.
And the challenges the grid was designed to handle the power flowing in one direction but now it’s going back and forth between our customers’ rooftops back into the rest of the grid.
The combined output of all of our rooftop solar systems up the circuit back into our substation feeding into the grid can really potentially bring the entire island’s system out.
Infrastructure upgrades to avoid that worst-case scenario are expensive and HE Co has moved slowly, some critics say too slowly.
What should have been a ninety-day project turned into five, four months to yet completely install, set up and running. And now I make more electricity than I use, usually June and July it’s free, so that was great.
But, of course, if you play the model business out to the end whereby you get full credit for every bit of electricity that you produce, then the utility company doesn’t make any money and they go out of business. And, of course, we don’t have the grid that we can have the solar energy.
Providing basic electric service, power at night, back-up power, all of that PV customers are not paying for fully and instead of being paid for by customers of ours who don’t have PV systems, and right now it’s to the tune of over $50 million.
Hawaiian Electrics wants to cut the rate it pays customers for their solar energy in half so that the solar customers will be paying their fair share of overall service costs.
Now I’m a total abdicate for this because what it does to us it allows the business model play out to the end. The utility companies, their job becomes store the energy, manage it, move it where is need it, let the public create generation facilities by benefitting everybody.
So it’s an extremely interesting time, you know, it creates a lot of burden for us, a lot of pressure. We have some customers who have been waiting for quite some time. We committed to caring 90% of them by April of this year.
I’ve waited, I’ve waited so long but when you say it’s April, and so I’m all excited. I’ll save lots of money, am I correct?
Key:
1 three years
2 $18
3 solar energy
4 the grid was designed to handle the power flowing in one direction
5 five, four months
6 nothing
7 $50m
8 in April
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How long has Joyce been waiting to have solar panels installed?
2 How much does Joyce’s neighbour pay for their electricity bill?
3 What kind of power does the American public want?
4 What problem does the traditional utility circuit power have?
5 How long did Michael John take to have the system installed and running in his home?
6 How much does he pay for electricity in June and July?
7 How much does the maintenance of the power system cost?
8 When will Joyce have her panels finally installed?
I have been waiting three years, three years, to have solar panels installed. My neighbour across has solar panels. The ones that already have solar panels, they just pay $18 a month. I pay 395, almost $400. They say that the grid is full and I have just to wait and so… I’m still waiting.
Hawaiians have some of the highest electric bills in the country, and so they have rushed to install photovoltaic or PV systems on their rooftops, so they can make their own power.
We’re not just talking about saving the planet here. We’re talking about saving the paying from being held hostage by the utility companies. The American public wants solar energy. I don’t care whether they’re in Oklahoma, New York, California or Hawaii. Whatever happens in Hawaii is gonna happen in the main land. It’s just a matter of waiting.
Nationwide, Hawaii is on the forefront of solar adoption, and other states are watching to see how HE Co, Hawaii’s main utility, reimagines its business.
We don’t have the luxury to look at another state and say how was it done there and instead we sort of have to figure out on our own. The traditional utility circuit power starts off at Hilla substation and flows power one way to each home that we serve.
And the challenges the grid was designed to handle the power flowing in one direction but now it’s going back and forth between our customers’ rooftops back into the rest of the grid.
The combined output of all of our rooftop solar systems up the circuit back into our substation feeding into the grid can really potentially bring the entire island’s system out.
Infrastructure upgrades to avoid that worst-case scenario are expensive and HE Co has moved slowly, some critics say too slowly.
What should have been a ninety-day project turned into five, four months to yet completely install, set up and running. And now I make more electricity than I use, usually June and July it’s free, so that was great.
But, of course, if you play the model business out to the end whereby you get full credit for every bit of electricity that you produce, then the utility company doesn’t make any money and they go out of business. And, of course, we don’t have the grid that we can have the solar energy.
Providing basic electric service, power at night, back-up power, all of that PV customers are not paying for fully and instead of being paid for by customers of ours who don’t have PV systems, and right now it’s to the tune of over $50 million.
Hawaiian Electrics wants to cut the rate it pays customers for their solar energy in half so that the solar customers will be paying their fair share of overall service costs.
Now I’m a total abdicate for this because what it does to us it allows the business model play out to the end. The utility companies, their job becomes store the energy, manage it, move it where is need it, let the public create generation facilities by benefitting everybody.
So it’s an extremely interesting time, you know, it creates a lot of burden for us, a lot of pressure. We have some customers who have been waiting for quite some time. We committed to caring 90% of them by April of this year.
I’ve waited, I’ve waited so long but when you say it’s April, and so I’m all excited. I’ll save lots of money, am I correct?
Key:
1 three years
2 $18
3 solar energy
4 the grid was designed to handle the power flowing in one direction
5 five, four months
6 nothing
7 $50m
8 in April
martes, 12 de julio de 2016
Recycle Electronics the Greener Way
A New York Times short video on electronics recycling, and how it helps keep hazardous waste out of waterways.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How much electronics waste does America create?
2 What does '80%' refer to?
3 What is the main obstacle to electronics recycling?
4 What is Green Citizen’s solution to the problem?
5 What are the two big groups in which Green Citizen divides items?
6 What does '30%' refer to?
7 What does an ecoATM allow you to do?
Just in America, we throw away two million tons of electronic waste every year. It is a major environmental and health disaster. Luckily, there’s a better way.
Lead can leak into the water and leak into the soil. When you are burning openly, just to get traces of gold, the toxic airs can emit into the atmosphere. All those environmental damages plus the health damage to the people who are near the water source, it’s been an afterthought. I have spent close to 20 years in the high-tech industry. Even a person like me did not know that 80 percent of the electronics was dumped illegally and still dumped illegally in a developing country.
The biggest hurdle to electronics recycling is cost. Green Citizen’s solution to high labor costs is to fix and sell reusable and often much needed parts and gadgets, like a new display for a broken laptop or even a replacement TV remote.
When items come to Green Citizen we divide them into what is more valuable or more useful as for scrap and what would be more useful and more valuable for resale.
We track all items to the brand name’s new ID. We monitor and control and manage that quality to make sure there’s no problem.
To be one of our reuse tech stations, here’s a phone with a cracked screen, we would take two products that are partially working, combine them together to make one product that is useable and reusable.
We even reuse up to 30 percent of the items for responsible reuse.
And once an item is ready to be posted, that information would be transmitted to one of our online retail sites like eBay or Amazon.
It could be an IC Board for a MacBook Pro or it could be a cleanly wiped iPhone. So we track all that items down in the hope to be able to provide that information to environmental organizations so they can say how many units of a certain brand is recycled responsibly. We also want to make that available to manufacturers so now they can decipher that information to figure out what product to make next.
All of this tracking creates data and data creates accountability. That could eventually shame or even encourage companies to build greener products overall. And as for what you can do, you can find responsible eRecyclers near you. Some good options are Best Buy, Staples, Dell, and there are even these things called ecoATM that let you turn in a cell phone and get cash on the spot.
There’s a huge amount of people demanding electronics so we just can’t keep digging the Earth to get the traces that matter. We really have to recycle everything. I’d like to say the iPhone 6 need to be become the iPhone 10. Then, you know, then you have to recycle. That’s necessary.
I would straight up buy this on eBay. Look at the wood. Old iPod dock, but still.
1 two million tons
2 the percetage of electronics illegally dumped
3 cost
4 sell reusable parts and gadgets
5 items for scrap and items for resale
6 the percentage of reusable items
7 hand in a cell phone and get cash immediately
Self-study activity:
Watch the video and answer the questions below.
1 How much electronics waste does America create?
2 What does '80%' refer to?
3 What is the main obstacle to electronics recycling?
4 What is Green Citizen’s solution to the problem?
5 What are the two big groups in which Green Citizen divides items?
6 What does '30%' refer to?
7 What does an ecoATM allow you to do?
Just in America, we throw away two million tons of electronic waste every year. It is a major environmental and health disaster. Luckily, there’s a better way.
Lead can leak into the water and leak into the soil. When you are burning openly, just to get traces of gold, the toxic airs can emit into the atmosphere. All those environmental damages plus the health damage to the people who are near the water source, it’s been an afterthought. I have spent close to 20 years in the high-tech industry. Even a person like me did not know that 80 percent of the electronics was dumped illegally and still dumped illegally in a developing country.
The biggest hurdle to electronics recycling is cost. Green Citizen’s solution to high labor costs is to fix and sell reusable and often much needed parts and gadgets, like a new display for a broken laptop or even a replacement TV remote.
When items come to Green Citizen we divide them into what is more valuable or more useful as for scrap and what would be more useful and more valuable for resale.
We track all items to the brand name’s new ID. We monitor and control and manage that quality to make sure there’s no problem.
To be one of our reuse tech stations, here’s a phone with a cracked screen, we would take two products that are partially working, combine them together to make one product that is useable and reusable.
We even reuse up to 30 percent of the items for responsible reuse.
And once an item is ready to be posted, that information would be transmitted to one of our online retail sites like eBay or Amazon.
It could be an IC Board for a MacBook Pro or it could be a cleanly wiped iPhone. So we track all that items down in the hope to be able to provide that information to environmental organizations so they can say how many units of a certain brand is recycled responsibly. We also want to make that available to manufacturers so now they can decipher that information to figure out what product to make next.
All of this tracking creates data and data creates accountability. That could eventually shame or even encourage companies to build greener products overall. And as for what you can do, you can find responsible eRecyclers near you. Some good options are Best Buy, Staples, Dell, and there are even these things called ecoATM that let you turn in a cell phone and get cash on the spot.
There’s a huge amount of people demanding electronics so we just can’t keep digging the Earth to get the traces that matter. We really have to recycle everything. I’d like to say the iPhone 6 need to be become the iPhone 10. Then, you know, then you have to recycle. That’s necessary.
I would straight up buy this on eBay. Look at the wood. Old iPod dock, but still.
1 two million tons
2 the percetage of electronics illegally dumped
3 cost
4 sell reusable parts and gadgets
5 items for scrap and items for resale
6 the percentage of reusable items
7 hand in a cell phone and get cash immediately
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