Climate change

Climate change is mainly due to human activities. A significant proportion (rész, adag) of
greenhouse gases come from industrial production (ipari előállítás). These gases trap more
heat, causing global temperatures to rise.
We call global warming when the average temperature increases. This process is causing
many changes to Earth’ systems, including melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels,
changes in the amount of rain, more intense extreme weather event, such as hurricanes and
heat waves.
The consequences of climate change:
 Rising sea levels- The ice and glaciers melt and as a result, animal habitat (élöhely) is
destroyed.
Areas close to the sea will be flooded
 Changes in weather- Climate change is causing severe droughts (aszály), heat waves,
heavy rains and storms. These changes could have adverse impacts (kedvezőtlen
hatás) on agriculture (agrár-mezőgazdaság) and water resources (erőforrások).
 Changes in food chains (élelmiszerhálózat) and this could lead to extinction
(kihalás) risks in fauna (állatvilág).
 This can also lead to various economic and social crises

Addressing climate change:

 International cooperation and policy changes could solve some of the problems
 Maybe not much, but it can help the individual actions and endeavour (törekvés)
 uses renewable energy sources

What I do for the changes.

I try to minimize my use of plastic. I sewed a little bag from curtains, so I don’t put the pastry
(édesség) in plastic bag. I always go to school by bus and metro and sometimes I’m not taking
the metro but walking to school. So, I walk a lot. I usually buy my shampoo in a refillable
bottle, and I often sew something from old clothes instead of throwing them away. And I
recently bought second-hand clothes.
The Environment
Factories, power stations and motor vehicles pump large quantities of CO2 and other waste
gases into the air. This is a major cause of the greenhouse effect. A lot of petrol contains lead
(ólom), which is very poisonous and can cause brain damage in children. Many people now
prefer to use unleaded petrol.
Some poisonous gases dissolve in water in the atmosphere and then fall to the earth acid rain
(savas eső). Acid rain damages trees and buildings and can kill fish in lakes and rivers. Rivers
can also be polluted by industrial waste from factories.
pollution- szennyezés

Global warming
Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect. Normally, heat from the sun warms the
Earth. CO2 and other gases in the atmosphere trap the sun’s heat, and this is slowly making
the Earth warmer. The glass of greenhouse works by the same principal (ugyan úgy működik)
as known as greenhouse effect. It’s very important because without it, the temperature of our
planet would be 40 degrees lower, and the oceans would freeze. Scientists say the temperature
of the earth could rise by 3 °C over the next 50 years. This may cause drought (szárazság) is
some parts of the world, and floods (árvíz) in others, as ice at the North and South Poles
begins to melt and sea levels rise.
The Ozon layer
O3, a form of O with 3 atoms instead of the normal two, is highly toxic. Near ground level,
it’s a pollutant which helps form photochemical smog and acid rain. But far overhead
stratosphere, 15-20 km up in the sky, it forms the lifesaving Ozon-layer, it’s lifesaving
because it screens out the lethal UV rays of the sun which can cause skin cancer and major
cause of cataracts. The greatest danger to the ozone layer comes from CFCs. CFCs are used in
refrigerators, aerosols cans and in the manufacture of some plastic products. Some companies
now make aerosols that don’t contain CFCs, and these are often marked „ ozone friendly”.
Deforestation
Rainforests help control global warming because they absorb CO2. In recent years, large areas
have been destroyed, only about half of the mature(érett) tropical forests that once graced
(azépítették) the planet still stand. The number1 reason is the population of the world, which
is increasing – especially in the third world. We need newplaces so trees have been cut down,
new areas must be used to build new cities, towns, villages, which means that the living area
of animals and plants- their habitat – is taken over by a man. Lots of animals are hunted for
their skin, food or horn as well. The burning releases large amounts of CO2 into the
atmosphere. Many plants, any animal species that live there could become extinct
Energy resources
Energy resources can be classified in two groups: renewable and non-renewable. Non-
renewable energy resources are those which cannot be used forever – their supplies are
limited, for e.g. fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are buried under the ground: oil, coal, and natural gas.
When a fossil fuel burned from carbohydrates and the O of the air, CO2, water, heat energy
and light energy formed. All fossil fuels produce CO2, the most important greenhouse gas,
when they burn. As fossil fuels are very polluting people have started to use other forms of
resources, which can be used forever and not polluting the environment.
Energy comes in many forms – heat, light, sound, electrical and mechanical. A device that
converts one form of energy into another is called a generator. The traditional generator
converts heat energy from coal or gas into electrical energy. The new generators harness
renewable forms of energy like the energy of the waves of the sun and wind and geothermal
power. Wind power has been used for hundreds of years in the form of a windmill. The
modern version of the windmill is the aerogenerator, which converts wind energy.
Solar energy powers the world. The only problem is that it spreads so widely that it’s hard to
collect and concentrate in large amounts. The simplest way of using this kind of energy is to
heat water, in fact, 1500 homes worldwide are powered by solar cells.
The top 5 km of the earth’s crust contains 40 million times as much energy as its oil and gas
reserves, but geothermal energy is widely dispersed and is only used when concentrated by
hot water, trapped in rock. If the water is hot enough, it can generate electricity.
There are several types of water-power river water in mountainous areas that can be used to
generate hydroelectric power, and we can also create electricity from sea water flowing in and
out with the tides.
Recycling
Recycling is the processing of used objects and materials so that they can be used again.
About 60% of rubbish from homes and factories contain materials that could be recycled.
Recycling saves energy and raw materials and reduces damage to the countryside.
Glass, paper and Al cans can call be recycled very easily. Many towns have bottle banks
where people can leave empty bottles and cans for recycling. A lot of paper bags, writing
paper and greetings cards are now produced on recycled paper.
Nowadays environmental protection has become one of the main problems. Due to the
development of technical knowledge, we are used to using more and more synthetically
materials. Often, we want only to make our life easier, but we don’t think of the kickback. We
can find for example a fridge in every flat, using them leads to “holes” in the ozone layer
and the increase of the average temperature in the whole world.

We are used to comfortable life, but many articles and gadgets cause pollution and destroy our
health. In the city, the children can’t play in the parks because they are dirty. In some
countries people are not allowed to drink running water, because it is polluted by sewage
(szennyvíz), chemicals and oil spills. The air is full of toxic air pollutants, such as dust,
smoke, exhaust fumes of vehicles, carbon monoxide, etc.
However, in a technical way, we could filter these dangerous poison gases, we continue
polluting our Earth.
In agriculture, we use too much chemical fertilizers, and we don’t think about whether we eat
it or animals too.

Not only the continents but the seas and oceans hide some risks. More and more tankers
transport oil from one continent to the other one. During transportation, the tanker can spin a
leak, and its content can cover the surface of the water. Fish can’t get enough oxygen, and the
wings of birds are covered with oil, therefore they cannot fly.

People destroy the rainforests for making more paper-based articles, they only think of profit,
and they don’t deal with new plantations.

Sustainability has different meanings for different people and has only recently come into
sharp focus following concerns on ‘climate change’ and the consequences for sustainability of
humanity.

Human activity is having a significant impact on our environment. These environmental

impacts include depleting our natural resources, air and water pollution, climate change,
destruction of habitats, and loss of biodiversity. Because of these growing issues, we need to
learn how to live sustainably.

There are many things we need to change in society to become sustainable for future
generations.

I would highlight 3 important options. First, we should find alternatives to fossil fuels, like
solar panels in every single household. The second one is to cease further pollution by going
greener. We should change plastic stuff to recyclable ones and stop overconsumption. And
finally, electric or hybrid cars on the road could ease the amount of pollution as well.

A disaster is something very bad that happens to people and almost always changes their
lives completely. Disasters can destroy homes and many kinds of work. Disasters can be of
different kinds, but most are caused by forces of nature.
Natural disasters may include avalanches (where snow comes down a mountain), cold
(where animals and people freeze), diseases (sicknesses), droughts (when there is no
water), earthquakes (where the ground moves), famine (where there is not enough food),
fire (that burns things and people), flood(where rivers grow too big
and invade land), hail (hard ice falls like rain), heat that lowers the water supply, hurricanes
that break everything, landslides and mudslides (where the top of the ground moves because
of extra water), sink holes (where a cave falls in), solar flares (where the sun reaches out at
the earth and burns it),storm surge (where water piles up and then suddenly comes on
land),thunderstorms (rain with lightning and thunder), tornadoes (currents of wind that
break things), tsunami (where a wall of water comes on land), volcanoes (where lava from
inside the earth comes out slowly or shoots into the air), a waterspout (like a tornado on
water), or winter storms (where snow falls thick and you cannot see).

Earthquake is a movement of the crust. About 150, 000 earthquakes can be sensed yearly
without instruments, these movements are the macro seismic quakes. And there are 1 million,
which is only detectable with instruments, these are the micro seismic quakes. 90% of the
earthquakes relate to the margins of plates, similarly to active volcanoes. And because of this,
on a map the epicentres show these lines. The other 10% are caused by eruption of volcanoes,
and the collapse of underground cavities. The hypocentre is the underground site, from which
earthquakes waves originate. The epicentre is the area of the surface directly above the
hypocentre /focus/ o fan earthquake. We can make a difference among three types of the
earthquakes: shallow-focused /0-70 km/, mid-focused /70-300 km/, and deep-focused /300-
700 km/ earthquakes. We can measure the strength of the earthquake by seismograph. There
are two scales to express the power of an earthquake.

Glossary:
 accessible – elérhető, hozzáférhető
 area – terület
 as a result – ennek eredményeképpen
 avalanche – lavina
 average – átlag
 become extinct – kihal
 biodiversity – biológiai sokféleség
 carbon dioxide (CO₂) – szén-dioxid
 caused – okozott
 ceasing – megszűnés
 cave – barlang
 completely – teljesen
 consequences – következmények
 consideration – megfontolás
 contribute – hozzájárul
 current – áramlás, áramlat
 cultural heritage – kulturális örökség
 cut back on sth – csökkent
 depletion of the ozone layer – az ózonréteg elvékonyodása
 descendant – utód, leszármazott
 desertification – elsivatagosodás
 destroy – elpusztít, lerombol
 destruction of habitats – élőhelyek pusztulása
 disaster – katasztrófa, szerencsétlenség
 disease – betegség
 drought – szárazság
 due – valaminek köszönhetően, esedékes
 earthquake – földrengés
 ease – könnyedség/könnyíteni
 enlarge – felnagyít, megnagyobbít
 environmental – környezeti
 eyestrain – a szem túlzott megerőltetése
 famine – éhínség
 flood – árvíz
 flora and fauna – növény és állatvilág
 food source – táplálékforrás
 forces of nature – természet erői
 global warming – globális felmelegedés
 greenhouse effect – üvegházhatás
 ground – föld
 habitat – élőhely
 hail – jégeső
 hand down – továbbad, továbbörökít
 hazardous waste – veszélyes hulladék
 high-resolution display – nagy felbontású képernyő
 impact – hatás, befolyás
 imprint – lenyomat, nyom
 in abundant supply – széles, bőséges választékban
 increase – növekedés, növel
 indicate – jelez
 industry – ipar
 invade – betörni, megszállni
 keep up with sth – követ valamit, lépést tart valamivel
 landfill – hulladéklerakó
 landslide – földcsuszamlás
 lightning – villámlás
 lower – csökkenteni
 make a good/bad impression on sb – jó/rossz benyomást tesz valakire
 mainly – főként, elsősorban
 mudslide – földcsuszamlás, sárlavina
 North/South Pole – Északi-/Déli-sark
 outline – körvonalaz
 overconsumption - túlfogyasztás
 pile up – felgyülemlik
 possession – tulajdon
 pollution - szennyezés
 primarily – elsősorban
 production – termelés, gyártás
 protest against sth – tiltakozik valami ellen
 recycling – újrahasznosítás
 reduce – csökkent
 reflect – tükröz
 regulation – szabályozás
 resources – erőforrások
 sink hole – víznyelő
 solar flare – napkitörés
 storm surge – vihar-roham
 strict – szigorú
 substitute for sth – helyettesítő eszköz vmi helyett
 sustainability – fenntarthatóság
 tangible – érinthető, kézzelfogható
 thunder – mennydörgés
 thunderstorm – zivatar, vihar
 to be caused by – valami által okozva lenni
 to destroy – tönkretenni, lerombolni
 to freeze – megfagyni
 to happen to – valami történik valakivel/valamivel
 to include – magába foglalni
 to invade – betörni, megszállni
 to lower – csökkenteni
 to pile up – felgyülemlik
 toxic – mérgező
 trademark – védjegy, márkajelzés
 uninhabitable – lakhatatlan
 unprecedented – példátlan, soha nem látott
 volume – kötet
 waste disposal – hulladékelhelyezés
 water supply – vízellátás, víz utánpótlás
 waterspout – víztölcsér
 rubbish – szemét (brit angol)
 garbage – szemét (amerikai) – konyhai, „nedves” hulladék
 trash – szemét (amerikai) - papír, csomagolás és egyéb „száraz” hulladék
 litter – szemét (nem háztartási hulladék, hanem utcán eldobált hulladék, pl. palackok,
papírok)
 refuse – hulladék (hivatalos)