《经济学专业英语教程（第三版下）》Unit4环境保护.ppt

Unit 4 Text: Environmental Protection （环境保护） 1. Key words 2. Externality 3. Forms of environmental pollution 4. Causes for environmental pollution 5. Controls of environmental pollution 6. Questions 1. Key words 2. Externality A situation in which action by one consumer or producer confers benefit or inflicts damage on another consumer or producer is said to involve externalities. Environmental pollution typically involves one-way externality, in which the actions of one producer or consumer inflict uncompensated damage on other producers and consumers. 3. Forms of environmental pollution 3.1 Air pollution 3.2 Water pollution 3.3 Accumulation of solid wastes 3.4 Noise pollution 3.1 Air pollution This is the discharge of noxious gases and solid particles into the atmosphere, leading to “smog” conditions in many metropolitan areas. 3.2 Water pollution This type of pollution arises from discharge of organic and inorganic wastes into streams and lakes. 3.3 Accumulation of solid wastes The automobile junkyard is the most conspicuous example. 3.4 Noise pollution This is a level of background noise that can range from mildly unpleasant to literally deafening. 4. Causes for environmental pollution With the growth of population and production, clean air and pure water have become scarce goods, particularly in the metropolitan areas where most of the population resides. Natural processes can no longer cope unaided with the flow of waste materials, and the environment can become overloaded to a degree that produces permanent deterioration. Discharge of plant nutrients into a lake can stimulate the growth of weeds and algae to the point where the lake fills up with solid matter. Heavy discharge of organic sewage into a river can reduce the oxygen content of the water to the point where it becomes a dead stream, incapable of supporting fish or other life and incapable of selfpurification. Atmospheric pollution in our larger cities could reach the point at which life in these