Ethics And the Environment

From mid 1980’s to mid 1990’s a series of documents and reports were published which make reference to the importance of a new ethics. Most explicitly perhaps the World Commission on Environment and Development express themselves in thier report (1987) Our Common Future: “ We have attempted to demonstrate how human survival and well-being may be dependent on our capacity to successfully transform the principles behind sustainable development into global ethics”.

You may have noticed that most arguments refer to human needs. Since human interests are in the centre of such an ethics it is called anthropocentric ethics. In fact all the ethics western civilisation grew up with is anthropocentric ethics. Respect gor fellow human beings is basic in established documents, such as the United Nations Declaration on human rights, and several others. This ethics may be expressed: as the rights of a group or an individual, as the duties of a gruop or an individual. If we consider that the rights or duties are equal among the groups or individuals we talk about equity between them. An ethics that is formulated in terms of rights, duties and equity is called an ethics of justice.

Justice between humans takes two forms. It is either justice between humans living here and now, so called intra-generational justice, or justice between us and future generations, so called inter-generational justice.

In fact tthere two large groups of environmentlists, often referred to as the conservationalists and the preservationists. The conservationists have as a goal fot their work to conserve the environment for consumption by present and future humans. The preservationists on the other hand rather see as their goal to protect the environment against the present and future exploitation by humans. The solution of the environmental problems according to them is not that we need to use natural resources more efficiently or more sustainably but rather that we have to respect nature an its integrity.

A strong biocentric ethics argues that man does not constitute a higher form of life than everything else alive. Instead humans are members of a global life community in the same sense as all other forms of life. From this follows a series of duties namely 1) not to hurt other living beings; 2) not to lomit or violate the freedom of other living beings; 3) not to misuse the trust of another being; 4) to make good for those who have been treated in a morally wrong way.

But one may adopt also weaker forms of bioethics. A special form is the so called weak biocentrism. This form holds that actions should be judged based on how they influence other living beings, but with preference for humans and other sentient beings.

Often human rights are considers higher rights than those of other species. However, there are those who hold that species as such or ecosystems as such are objects for moral considerations and need to be respected. This form of ethics is called ecocentric ethics. One way to define this ethics is “the view that in addition to all living beings, also species, ecosystems, rivers, mountains have a value of thier own and a re morrlly significant, that is may be treated in a way that is morally right or wrong, and man has moral obligations towards them”.

 

2. CHOOSE THE CORRECT PREPOSITION:

1. Human survival and well-being may be dependent (on, of, from) our capacity to successfully transform the principles behind sustainable development into global ethics.
2. There are two large groups of environmentalists often referred (in, to, after) as the conservationists and the preservationists.
3. Humans have moral obligations (to, towards, for) living beings.
4. A general acceptance of any form of ecocentrism would have a large influence (on, to, in) environmental policy.
5. Basic ethics are often concerned (to, in, with) how we deal with our fellow human beings, but then we talk about those that are close to us now.

 

 

3. SAY HOW SURE YOU ARE OF THE FOLLOWING. USE AN APPROPRIATE MODAL VERB:

1. We have such duties as: not to hurt other living beings, not to limit or violate their freedom.
2. We are not allowed to exploit other species.
3. Man has moral obligations towards other species, ecosystems, rivers and mountains.
4. We are not permitted to hunt wild animals.
5. It is necessary to treat all living beings in a morally right way.

 

 

4. MATCH THE WORDS WITH THEIR DEFINITIONS:

1. ethics;   2. conservationist;   3. preservationist; 4. intra-generational justice; 5. inter-generational justice.

a. a person who advocates conservation esp. of natural resources; b. justice between humans living here and now; c. justice between us and future generations; d. one who advocates preservation; e. moral principles that govern a person’s or group’sbehavior.

 

 

5. MARK THE STATEMENTS AS TRUE (T) OR FALSE (F). CORRECT THE FALSE STATESMENTS:

1. Since human interests are in the centre of an ethics it is called biocentric ethics.
2. An ethics that is formulated in terms of rights, duties and equity is called an ethics of justice.
3. Anthropocentrism holds that action should be judged based on how they influence other living beings, but with preference for humans and other sentient beings.
4. Ethics of equity holds that species as such or ecosystems as such are objects for moral considerations and need to be respected.
5. Biocentric ethics argues that man does not constitute a higher form of life than everything else alive.

 

6. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

 

1. What is an envirionmental value?
2. What are the most important forms of ethics regarding interrelation between humans and the environment?
3. What forms of justice between humans do you know?
4. Who or what is the source of major damage to the Earth?
5. What is the idea of sustainable development?

VARIANT 4

 

1. Read the text and translate the italised extract in written form

The Legal System And Environmental Law

 

In our societies decisions are made every day concerning environmentally hazardous activities, e.g. discharges from factories, road constructions and extracts of natural resources. In these decisions environmetla concerns are confornted with other interests. The ledislative bodies of the countries have the task to set up rules how to solve these conflicts. The rules consisting of laws, regulations and other legal instruments, constitute the environmental law of the country. Environmental law is the major way for the policymaking bodies to implement a national environmental policy and, above all, to protect its environment against pollution and other damage.

Legal instruments are also used when an international convention, e.g. the Baltic Sea Convention, is implemented on the national level.

Several principals basic to environmental legislation have been developed during the last fifteen years. The Rio Conference on the Environment and Development, UNCED in 1992 played an important role to strengthen these principles.

Most important today is the Principle of Sustainable Development. The essence of this principle is the requirement not to jeopardize the satisfaction of future generations’ needs when we satisfy the needs of today’s generation. This principle is included in the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union and other international documents which are valid in many countries in the region. It is also included in national statutes, e.g. the new Swedish Environmental Code, and in the Latvian Law on Environmental Protection.

A decisive question in practice is who should bear the costs of environmental protection. A second widely accepted principle of basic importance to environemtnal law which adresses this question is the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP). There are impacts or risks of impacts on other person’s health or private property as well as on public interests, e.g. biodiversity.

The PPP says that the polluter has to take the financial responsibility for precautionary measures. The obligation for polluters to pay compensation if a person is hurt or other property is damaged may also be seen as an effect of the PPP. Special pollution taxes are also based on this principle.

Private and public interests are therefore to some extent protected by law. But the question is: should the polluter be compensated if an activity is restricted due to its possible or proven damaging environmental impacts? The answer seems to be in general no. An exception might, however, be the Swedish Constitution, which in unclear. Many lawyers claim that a Polluter is entitled to compensataion if an ongoing polluting activity is restricted, e.g. in connection with a requirement to reduce the emmisions. However, it is important to stress that the PPP applies to pollution situations only. If, e.g. a nature reserve is established in a natural forest with endangered species, and the restrictions prohibit clear-cutting, a land owner would naormally be compensated by direct payment, tax reduction or otherwise.

A third important issue is how to consider risks of environmental impacts. Some legislation requires that precautions be taken, and may even prohibit the activity, although it is not possibl;e to say for sure that damage will in fact occur.

 

2. CHOOSE THE CORRECT PREPOSITION:

1. Environmental concerns are confronted (from, about, with) other interests.
2. The legislative bodies of the countries have the task to set (up, on, in) rules how to solve conflicts.
3. Several principles basic (on, to, at) environmental legislation have been developed during the last fifteen years.
4. The Principle of Sustainable Development is included (at, in, on) the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union.
5. A decisive question in practice is who should bear the costs (from, of, at) environmental protection.
6. There are impacts, or risks of impacts, (for, on, at) other persons’ health or private property as well as (for, on, at) public interests, e.g. biodiversity.
7. The polluter has to take the financial responsibility (for, with, in) precautionary measures.
8. The obligation (on, from, for) polluters to pay compensation if a person is hurt or other property is damaged.
9. It is important to stress that the PPP applies (at, for, to) pollution situations only.
10. An important issue is how to consider risks (with, from, of) environmental impacts.

 

3. A. MAKE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES PASSIVE:

1. The legislating bodies, primarily parliaments, can often not solve conflicts between environmental protection and other interests in the legislation as such.
2. Certain environmental features may influence a culture’s diet, dress, religion, and marriage partnership.
3. The different states use the same types of legal instruments.
4. People should use economic instruments for environmental protection.
5. Law protects private and public interests.

 

B. MAKE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES ACTIVE:

1. In our societies decisions are made every day concerning environmentally hazardous activities.
2. The legislation on control of pollution and nature conversation may be seen as the heart of environmental legislation.
3. A wider economic perspective has nowadays been accepted in some pieces of legislation and court cases.
4. Should the polluter (developer) be compensated?
5. Strict requirements can be used as an outer limit, “roof”’, for acceptable environmental impacts.

 

4. A. MATCH SYNONYMS:

1. hazardous; 2. discharge; 3. implement; 4. to jeopardize; 5. precaution;

a. foresight; b. to risk; c. utensil; d. dangerous; e. release.

B. MATCH THE WORDS WITH THEIR DEFINITIONS:

6. to purify; 7. clear-cutting; 8. to compensate;   9. valid; 10. biodiversity;

a. having legal efficacy or force; b. to recompense for loss, suffering, or injury, typically by the award of a sum of money; c. to extract something from; d. the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem; e. removal of all the trees in a stand of timber.

 

5. CHOOSE THE BEST VARIANT TO COMPLETE THE SENTENCES:

1. In our societies decisions are made every day concerning environmentally hazardous activities, e.g. discharges from factories, road constructions and (quarrying, extraction, mining) of natural resources.
2. Private and public interests are (defended, safeguarded, protected) by law.
3. Many lawyers claim that a (polluter, pollutant, pollution) is entitled to compensation if an ongoing polluting activity is restricted.
4. Environmental concerns are (faced, opposed, confronted) with other interests.
5. If a nature reserve is (set up, ascertained, established) in a natural forest with endangered species, and the restrictions prohibit clear-cutting, a land owner would normally be compensated by direct payment (in Sweden), tax reduction (e.g. Latvia) or otherwise.

B. MARK THE STATEMENTS AS TRUE (T) OR FALSE (F). CORRECT THE FALSE STATESMENTS:

1. The rules, consisting of laws, regulations and other legal instruments, constitute the environmental law of the country.
2. Legal instruments are not used when an international convention, is implemented on the national level.
3. The essence of the Principle of Sustainable Development is the requirement to jeopardize the satisfaction of future generations’ needs when we satisfy the needs of today’s generation.
4. Special pollution taxes are based on the Polluter Pays Principle.
5. A third important issue is how to consider risks of environmental impacts.

 

6. A. TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH INTO RUSSIAN:

1. Environmental law is the major way for the policymaking bodies to implement a national environmental policy and, above all, to protect its environment against pollution and other damage.
2. All economies around the Baltic Sea are nowadays based on private ownership of land, water and natural resources.
3. The economy may be seen as an interest opposite to protection; e.g. treatment of wastewater requires expensive equipment.
4. Pollution is closely connected with the use of chemicals in the industrial process, the use of energy and natural resources, waste management and avoidance of accidents.
5. While cultural cataclysms have an immediate crisis-centered impact on a culture’s development, cultural experts recognize that a culture’s ecology also has a long-term, gradual impact.

B. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. How can society regulate environmentally hazardous activity?
2. What legal instruments for environmental protection can you name?
3. What are the most hazardous environmental risks that should become a subject of special concern to all humans?
4. What legal ways are there for modern civilization to eliminate environmental risks?
5. Tell about the situation with environmental law in your country.

 

VARIANT 5

 

1. Read the text and translate the italised extract in written form

Acidification of the Soil

The critical load, the ability of the soil to resist is sooner or later used up and it becomes acidified. The following may be said to be the worst effects:

Plant nutrients are leached out. The ability of plants to take up nutrientsdiminishes when the availability of base cations in the soil, such as magnesium, calcium, and potassium, is reduced. Forest growth can be affected, and some sensitive plant species possibly eliminated. It is estimated that the content of easily available base cations in the soil of southern Sweden os declining at a rate of 1-2 % per annum.

Poisonous metals are freed. Aluminium ions, which are poisonous to plant’s root systems, are freed through the weathering of the soil at lower pH-values. As the soil becomes more acid, the mobility of many heavy metals also increases. In acidified soil, it is likely that uptake by the plantsof cadmium, zink, manganese, and nickel, to mention a few, is increased.

Phosphates become bound. Plants also suffer indirectly when the concentrations of dissolved aluminium increased. Alumimiun ions have the ability to bind phosphate, which is an important nutrient and make it less easily available. The effect of an insufficiency of phicphate i moreover heightened when the process of decomposition becomes slowed down in the soil as a result of acidification. Some other important nutrients besides phosphate, such as molybdenum, boron, and selenium, also become less easily available to plants when the soil is acidified.

Up to the early 1980’s, most soil scientists believed belived it to be unlikely that the soil would be affected by acidification. There are parts of Europe where the soil has a large content of easily weathred minerals, enabling it to accept great amounts of acid without becoming acidified. But where the soil minerals weather less easily, as in Scandinavia, the resistance to acidification is low. The amount of acidific deposition that the various types of soil can accepr without becoming acidified, vries in Europe. Continuous sampling in Sweden has shown that the pH value of the soil has decreased by 0.3 to 1.0 units in only a few decades. The drop has not only taken place in the upper layers, but also far down into the mineral soil. The store of base cations available to plants has on the average been halved in forty years.

While sulphur is responsible for most of the soil acidification caused by air pollutants, nitrogen compounds also contribute, but in a more complicated manner. To put it simply, there will be a net acidifying effect only to the extent that the nitrogen is not taken up by the plants but leached out. An obvious conclusion is that the acidifying affect of nitrogen increases if the vegetation fails to take up as much as is deposited. The resulting state known as nitrogen saturation, relatively large leakages of nitrogen have been noted from forest land.

The nitrogen that is leached out of the soil ends up in streams and lakes where it eventually leads to biological changes. Some finds its way to the sea where the eutrophication effect is still greater causing algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and lifeless depths.

 

2. PUT THE WORDS IN THE CORRECT ORDER TO MAKE A QUESTION:

1. most evident/on freshwater life/ where/have/of acidification/the effects/been?
2. the number/why/rapidly/does/diminish/of phytoplankton?
3. forest decline/seriously/was/when/air pollutants/the connection/taken/between/and?
4. and/how/toxic substances/ affect/land, water, air living beings/do?
5. fish/stock/the/for/reason/declining/what/main/is?

 

3. MAKE UP NEW WORDS USING PREFIXES de-, dis- AND EXPLAIN THEIR MEANING:

1. ability – disability;
2. acceleration –
3. acidification –
4. appearance –
5. aquation –
6. composition –
7. connection –
8. intoxication –
9. population –
10. position -

4. A. MATCH SYNONYMS:

1. to eliminate; 2. conclusion; 3. capacity; 4. to compound; 5. available;

a. to combine; b. aptitude; c. inference; d. to remove; e. obtainable.

B. MATCH THE WORDS WITH THEIR DEFINITIONS:

1. leakage;   2. nutrient;     3. concentration;   4. to deplete; 5. to leach out;

a. a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life; b. the amount of a component in a given area or volume; c. the accidental admission or escape of a fluid or gas through a hole or crack; d. to dissolve out by the action of a percolating liquid. e. to empty of a principal substance;

 

5. A. CHOOSE THE BEST VARIANT TO COMPLETE THE SENTENCES:

1. The ability of the soil (to withstand, to resist, to oppose) is sooner or later used up.

2. Alumnium ions are (vindictive, toxic, poisonous) to plants’ root system.

3. Plants (suffer, endure, undergo) when the concentration of dissolved aluminium increase.

4. There are parts of Europe where the (loam, soil, area) has a large content of easily weathered minerals.

5. Aluminium ions are (freed, liberated, exempted) through the weathering of the soil at lower pH-values.

B. MARK THE STATEMENTS AS TRUE (T) OR FALSE (F). CORRECT THE FALSE STATESMENTS:

 

6. The ability of plants to take up nutrients is reduced when the availability of base cations in the soil diminishes.

7. Aluminium ions are very useful to plants’ root systems.

8. Molybdenum, boron, selenium become more available to plants when the soil is acidified.

9. As the soil becomes more acid, the mobility of many heavy metals also increases.

10. Where the soil minerals weather less easily, the resistance to acidification is high.

 

 

6. A. TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH INTO RUSSIAN:

1. Large leakages of nitrogen have been noted from forest land in the Netherlands, Denmark, northern Germany.

2. Aluminuim ions have the ability to bind phosphate, which is an important nutrient, and make it less easily available.

3. Most scientists believed it to be hardly likely that the soil would be affected by acidification.

4. To put it simply, there will be a net acidifying effect only to the extent that the nitrogen is not taken up by the plants but leached out.

5. The resulting state, known as nitrogen saturation, can be reached at quite a low load.

B. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

6. What is acidification?

7. What is acidification caused by?

8. Does the ability of the soil in Europe to resist acidification increase? Explain your answer.

9. What is toxicology?

10. What are the causes of forest decline?

 

Вариант I семестр

1. Read the text and translate the extract in italic in written form.

WATER IS LIFE

Water is the natural resource we all know very well. One cannot live without it. We know it’s many forms - rain, snow, ice, hail, vapour, fog. Yet, water is the natural resource we least understand.

 

How does water get into the clouds? What happens when it reaches the Earth? Why is there sometimes too much and other times too little of it? And, most important, is there enough water for all the plants, and all the animals, and all the people? Water covers nearly three fourths of the Earth, most being sea water. But seawater contains salts, including those that are harmful to most land plants and animals. Still, it is from the salty seas and oceans that most of our fresh water comes - no longer salty and harmful. Water moves from clouds to land and back to the ocean in a never-ending cycle. Ocean water evaporates into atmosphere leaving salts behind, and moves across the Earth as water vapour. Water in lakes and rivers also evaporates and rises into the air.

Having cooled in the air the water vapour condenses and falls to the Earth as rain, hail or snow, depending on region, climate, season and topography. This part of the cycle is very important because man can use water stored in the atmosphere only when it falls to the land.

 

Every year about 450,000 cubic kilometres of water evaporates from the oceans and about 61,000 cubic kilometres from land sources. Water is an unchanging and ever renewing, resource, but its distribution on the surface of the globe varies greatly - there is either too little or too much water. Many problems are caused by too much water when we do not need it or too little when we want it. No natural resource on our planet has so many uses as water. We need water to support our lives, to grow our crops, to water our stock, to power our industries and for many other purposes.

 

There is plenty of water on the Earth. Man's activity is accelerating the process of water pollution, the amount of fresh water available to use is decreasing rapidly.

Measures must be taken against waste of water and pollution of water. We have to improve methods of irrigation in order to use water more efficiently.

 

In the recent decades the problem of water supply to people and economics has become extremely urgent. The depletion of such water resources as surface water and ground water is inevitable.

Water resources are continuously renewed within the hydro-logical cycle. But with the abundance of water in the technological processes in major industries non-returnable losses of fresh water may increase its shortage. Building dams, reservoirs and canals is the important factor of the transformation of the hydrological regime. An essential measure is the conservation of water by all possible means, so as to decrease its expenditure per unit of production until "dry" technologies are established. It is very important to combat the pollution of rain and snow-melt water through the use of herbicides, pesticides and other toxic chemicals. Settling basins should be built to collect the most polluted run-off water especially at the beginning of snow-storms and during snow melt.

It is advisable to use industrial wastewater for field irrigation. This measure is of importance since soil is a very favourable medium for rendering waste water harmless especially if used with small irrigation norms. Thus, waste water which is harmful when discharged into rivers and reservoirs becomes useful. Irrigation can be applied to increase soil moisture, to protect plants from frosts and dry winds, to apply fertilizers. Another measure is the conversion of industrial and heat power generation to closed-recirculating water-supply systems, which do riot require water of high quality. This method of rendering waste waters harmless must form an integral part of production technology.

 

Grammar work