📘 Part 3: Environment

This episode's vocabulary

Environmental protection (noun) – the act of preserving the natural world from damage. → Environmental protection should be a top priority for all governments.

Raise awareness (verb phrase) – to help more people understand or notice something important. → The campaign aims to raise awareness about ocean pollution.

Irreplaceable (adjective) – something that cannot be replaced once it's gone. → Rainforests are irreplaceable parts of our ecosystem.

Extraction (noun) – the process of taking something out, especially natural resources. → The extraction of oil often causes serious environmental damage.

Resources (noun) – materials or assets that are used to produce goods or energy. → Water and coal are examples of natural resources.

Efficient (adjective) – working in a way that is quick and doesn't waste anything. → We need more efficient machines to reduce energy use.

Damage (verb/noun) – to harm or spoil something/harm caused. → Burning fossil fuels can damage the atmosphere.

Pollution (noun) – harmful substances introduced into the environment. → Air pollution in large cities is a growing concern.

Extinction (noun) – the complete disappearance of a species. → The dodo is a famous example of extinction caused by humans.

Agents (noun) – people or things that cause something to happen. →Humans are often the main agents of environmental damage.

Operate (verb) – to work or function. → This solar panel operates even on cloudy days.

Recycling (noun) – the process of turning waste into reusable material. → Recycling plastic bottles helps reduce ocean pollution.

Limited resources (noun phrase) – resources that will run out eventually. → Freshwater is a limited resource in many parts of the world.

Reuse (verb) – to use something again. → I always reuse glass jars for storage instead of throwing them away.

Precious metals (noun) – rare and valuable metals like gold or silver. → Smartphones contain small amounts of precious metals.

Preserve (verb) – to protect something so that it stays in good condition. → We must preserve natural habitats for future generations.

Excavation (noun) – digging up the ground to find or extract something. → The excavation for minerals destroyed part of the forest.

Devastate (verb) – to completely destroy something. → Illegal logging has devastated large parts of the Amazon rainforest.

Attitudes (noun) – the way people think or feel about something. → Young people have more positive attitudes towards recycling than older generations.

Statistical evidence (noun phrase) – facts or data used to support a conclusion. → Statistical evidence shows a rise in recycling habits over the past decade.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Is it important to teach students about environmental protection at school?

Rory: Well, they should probably have their awareness raised about it, yes, after all, we live on one ostensibly irreplaceable planet, so it makes sense that people understand how to best take care of it.

Maria: Do you think technology can improve environmental-related problems?

Rory: Well, it might not be the ultimate solution, but it could contribute to it. Technology needs resources to function, and all of them have to come from the earth in some way, shape or form, so their extraction could still damage it further, or at least more than it is already. That being said, we might use it to develop ways that manage the extraction better, and that's definitely worthwhile. So, for example, we could create more efficient extraction machines to mine materials that just dig up materials which are there and do not damage the surrounding trees or wildlife. That would be quite useful to have.

Maria: What have people done to damage the environment?

Rory: It would be easier to talk about what they haven't done, frankly. There isn't a continent that has been untouched by pollution of some description at this point, and let's not add some animal species hunted to extinction, either.

Maria: And do you think people are damaging the environment now more than in the past?

Rory: Well, it's difficult to say for certain, but the logical answer seems to be yes, because if there are more people, then it would seem there are more agents to do the damage with, if you see what I mean. So it makes sense from this perspective. However, our technology is also more developed and refined than it was in the past. So because it operates with greater accuracy and efficiency, it's possible that the damage we are doing could be less now than it was in the past. So it all comes down to how we're measuring it, really. And I don't know enough about the topic to say for sure one way or the other.

Maria: Why is recycling important?

Rory: Well, lots of reasons, though one of the main ones is that it reduces the consumption of limited resources, like when we reuse the components from old phones to make new ones. That reduces the demand for precious metals and preserves them for future use. It also preserves the environment that those minerals are located in, so they don't have to be extracted.

Maria: How can recycling help the environment?

Rory: Well, if we stick with our example of the demand for precious metals and minerals, that stuff has to come from somewhere. And the mining of things like gold and other materials can devastate Rory: places like jungles and rainforests that have formed over the sites where they are located. As the miners have to clear them to start the excavation process. So there doesn't seem a way around this, to be honest. Even if you move the trees, you could still damage them. And that area that the trees have been removed from no longer has the benefit of the trees being there.

Maria: How have people's attitudes towards recycling changed over the years?

Rory: Well, I'm not sure how you'd measure it, but it seems like people are more willing to do so and for a greater variety of things than in the past. It used to be just about recycling paper, but now we do the same for plastic, metals and other materials, even the paper itself. It used to be only certain kinds of paper, but now you see things like cardboard being freely recycled and it's not such a big deal anymore. So it looks like people are more willing to do it because, again, the number of options has increased. There are more bins for recycling of different kinds. But that's just looking at the surface details. You'd need to look at statistical evidence of attitudes to see how people are managing the feelings in their heads.