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GENERAL ENGLISH · GENERAL ENGLISH · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

DEFORESTATION

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1 Warm-up

What do you think are the most serious environmental problems in the world nowadays?

2 The environment

Match the words on the left with their definitions on the right:

1. deforestation a. a forest in the tropical regions which receives a lot of rain

2. rainforest b. cutting down trees for wood

3. carbon dioxide (CO2 ) c. gases which cause a gradual warming of the surface of Earth

4. greenhouse gases d. keeping animals on a very large farm, especially in America

5. emitter e. something that causes gases to be released into the atmosphere

6. logging f. the destruction of forests by people

7. ranching g. the gas which forms when something is burned or when living
organisms breathe
8. conservation h. the protection of the environment

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DEFORESTATION

3 Find the information

Read the article on the following page and find out the following information:

1. The percentage of global greenhouse gases caused by deforestation.

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2. The percentage of global greenhouse gases caused by transport and industry.

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3. The number of people who would produce the same amount of CO2 by flying from the UK to New
York as one day of deforestation.

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4. The two countries which emit the largest amount of greenhouse gases.

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5. The number of tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere every year from deforestation.

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6. The percentage of life on Earth present in tropical forests.

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7. The amount of the Earth’s surface covered by tropical forests.

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8. The number of people dependent on the tropical forests for food.

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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)
DEFORESTATION
Deforestation
The hidden cause of global warming
Adapted from The Independent, Monday, 14 May 2007, by Daniel Howden
1.
The accelerating destruction of the rainforests is now
being recognised as one of the main causes of climate
change. Carbon emissions from deforestation cause
much greater damage than planes, automobiles and
even factories.
2.
The uncontrolled destruction of tropical forests is
second only to the energy sector as a source of
greenhouse gases according to a report published by
the Global Canopy Programme (GCP), an alliance of
leading rainforest scientists.
3.
Figures show that deforestation accounts for up to 25
per cent of global emissions of heat-trapping gases,
while transport and industry account for 14 per cent
each; and aviation makes up only 3 per cent of the
total.
4.
Scientists say one day’s deforestation is equivalent
to the carbon footprint of eight million people flying
to New York. Reducing those catastrophic emissions
can be achieved most quickly and most cheaply
by slowing the destruction in Brazil, Indonesia, the
Congo and elsewhere.
5.
No new technology is needed, says the GCP, just
the political will and a system of enforcement and
incentives that makes the trees worth more to
governments and individuals standing than felled.
6.
Most people think of forests only in terms of the
CO2 they absorb. The rainforests of the Amazon,
the Congo basin and Indonesia are thought of as the
lungs of the planet. But the destruction of those
forests will in the next four years alone pump more
CO2 into the atmosphere than every flight in the
history of aviation to at least 2025.
7.
Indonesia became the third-largest emitter of
greenhouse gases in the world last week. Following
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close behind is Brazil. Neither nation has heavy
industry on a comparable scale with the EU, India or
Russia and yet they emit more heat-trapping gasses
than all other countries, except the United States and
China. What both countries do have in common is
tropical forest that is being cut and burned.
8.
According to the figures from 2003, two billion
tons of CO2 enters the atmosphere every year from
deforestation. That destruction amounts to an area
the size of England, Wales and Scotland.
9.
International demand has driven intensive
agriculture, logging and ranching, which have proved
an unstoppable force for deforestation; conservation
has been no match for commerce.
10.
Forestry experts and policy makers want to put
deforestation on top of the agenda for the UN climate
summit in Bali, Indonesia, this year. Papua New
Guinea, among the world’s poorest nations, last year
declared it would have no choice but to continue
deforestation unless it was given financial incentives
to do otherwise.
11.
Richer nations already recognise the value of
uncultivated land. The EU, for example, offers ◆200
per hectare (10000m2 ) to its farmers to leave their
land unused.
12.
And yet there is no agreement on placing a value on
the vastly more valuable land in developing countries.
More than 50 per cent of the life on Earth is in
tropical forests, which cover less than 7 per cent of
the planet’s surface. Forests are also home to 1.6
billion of the world’s poorest people who rely on them
for subsistence.
13.
Putting a price on the carbon these vital forests
contain is the only way to slow their destruction.
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UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

DEFORESTATION

4 Checking understanding

Read the article again and decide whether the following statements are true or false:

1. The cutting down and burning of tropical forests is the main source of greenhouse gases.
2. New technology is needed to save the trees, according to scientists.
3. The rainforests of the Amazon, the Congo basin and Indonesia absorb the greatest amounts of
CO2 .
4. Indonesia and Brazil emit smaller amounts of greenhouse gases than EU countries and Russia.
5. Intense agriculture, logging and ranching are blamed for the cutting down of forests.
6. Papua New Guinea declared that it would continue to cut down its forests even if given cash to
leave them standing.
7. Governments have agreed on how much money to pay for leaving land unused in developing
countries.

5 Phrases in the text

Match the words in the left and right columns to form phrases from the text. Explain what the phrases
mean.

1. carbon a. agriculture

2. leading b. countries

3. heavy c. footprint

4. intensive d. incentives

5. financial e. industry

6. developing f. scientists

6 Find the words

Find the word in the text which means:

1. the industry of transporting people by planes (noun, P3)

2. determination to do something (noun, P5)
3. cut down (verb -ed, P5)
4. an important formal meeting between leaders of two or more countries (noun, P10)

5. producing enough food to keep a person alive (noun, P12)

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