domingo, 29 de enero de 2012

EARTH MATTERS - Mod 8 Unit 2

Questions for discussion in the English class



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That's English Videos as seen on TV


That's English - Earth matters 1
That's English - Earth matters 2
That's English - Earth matters 3

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Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of 'Anthropogenic Global Warming'?

* Las cuentas de los escépticos del clima quedan al descubierto

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50 Ways to Save the Planet



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Speaking:

* Monologue: Speak about your habits in favour of the environment.

* Role play:

Student A:
You belong to the local town hall and you want to build lots of new houses in your city. But you have to convince citizens that your project is good for everybody.

Student B:
You are a citizen and you would like to see lots of parks and green areas in your town. Defend your views at the town hall.

*** Writing. Write an article explaining your views about the Climate change.

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Studying How Plastic Pollution Enters Ocean Food Supply




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Do you feel like watching a film about climate disasters?
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (1984)



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A (New Year's) Resolution





Soylent Green - What is it?




Soylent Green - Find it out here







Soylent Green - Can you imagine what he is doing?








Global warming






You can prepare to talk about this week's topic with: Climate Change




Does the planet need saving? - Earth - The Power of the Planet



Is the planet able to cope with all we throw at it? Are we pumping too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? Dr Iain Stewart assesses the impact of man on our planet in the ground-breaking BBC series.

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Amazon deforestation


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AL GORE'S website

An Answer for Bill February 1, 2011 : 11:43 AM

Last week on his show Bill O’Reilly asked, “Why has southern New York turned into the tundra?” and then said he had a call into me. I appreciate the question.
As it turns out, the scientific community has been addressing this particular question for some time now and they say that increased heavy snowfalls are completely consistent with what they have been predicting as a consequence of man-made global warming:
“In fact, scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe. Snow has two simple ingredients: cold and moisture. Warmer air collects moisture like a sponge until it hits a patch of cold air. When temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of moisture creates a lot of snow.”
“A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species.”








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Text of the podcast


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Listening Comprehension: Enjoying the zoo

Listen to the conversation by pressing the "Play Audio" button and answer the questions. Press the "Final Score" button to check your quiz.


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What is happening around here? - Slideshow showing toxic waste on the roads...




08/02/2011




Vuelca un nuevo camión cargado con residuos con destino a Nerva 23/2/11


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Mediterranean Sea Level Could Rise By Over Two Feet, Global Models Predict


Science News

Mediterranean Sea Level Could Rise By Over Two Feet, Global Models Predict
ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2009) — A Spanish-British research project has come up with three future scenarios for the effects of climate change on the Mediterranean over the next 90 years, using global models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The conclusions show that ocean temperatures in this area will increase, along with sea levels.
In order to understand and correctly predict risks for the Mediterranean coast, researchers from the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA, a joint centre run by the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) and the Spanish National Research Council, CSIC) and the National Oceanography Centre of Southampton in the United Kingdom have analysed simulations based on three scenarios related to climate change and the rise in greenhouse gases. Their goal was to predict the temperature, sea level and salinity of the Mediterranean in the 21st Century.
"The most positive scenario assumes that greenhouse gas concentrations remain constant at their levels in the year 2000, and even in this case climate change still has an impact. The most negative scenario is based on diverse levels of economic development all over the world, with an ongoing increase in greenhouse gas production throughout the 21st Century," Marta Marcos, the study's lead author and a researcher at the UIB, tells SINC.
The study, which has been published recently in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, shows what could happen in the Mediterranean. The models predict that higher concentrations of gases will lead to an increase in temperatures throughout the entire sea.
In the most positive scenario, the changes are least, with temperature increases of less than 1ºC expected to be recorded in the Mediterranean by the end of the 21st Century. The other two scenarios envision an increase in greenhouse gases over coming decades, and foresee an increase in the temperature of the sea of up to 2.5º C. In addition, the results show that the temperature increase will accelerate during the 21st Century.
In the long term, sea levels could alter due to changes in temperature (warming leads to an increase in volume) as well as additional mass. "The level of the whole Mediterranean will rise by between 3cm and 61cm* on average as a result of the effects of warming," says Marcos.
There is "greater uncertainty" in terms of the mass likely to be added as a result of melting ice at the poles and from continental glaciers, and this aspect is not incorporated in the study. The most important area in terms of understanding sea level rise is the coasts, "but it is here that we know least because of the low spatial resolution of the models" the expert adds.
In search of greater clarity
The conclusions of this study are not based on observations, but rather on global climate models that include a whole range of possible future socio-economic scenarios in order to predict what is likely to happen in the Mediterranean. According to the scientists, climatic conditions are going to change greatly, and for this reason it is impossible to make a completely precise prediction of what the future really holds.
In these circumstances, Marta Marcos and Michael Tsimplis say that, aside from temperature changes, the models show that the Mediterranean will also become saltier over the coming century. However, this prediction is also very uncertain because "the variations in salinity in the Mediterranean are controlled by the exchange of water through the Straits of Gibraltar, and this has not been incorporated as an indicator, meaning the related results are not very reliable".
This is due to the fact that IPCC models have very low spatial resolution, which means they can show global processes "reasonably well", but not always regional ones. In particular, the 14km-wide Straits of Gibraltar, which are of key importance in the processes of water exchange between the Mediterranean and Atlantic, are not well reproduced in the models.
The global models are of no use in estimating the impact of sea level rise in coastal areas, because of the high level of regional variability for this factor. The solution would be to use high-resolution, regional climate models to show the Mediterranean straits with greater clarity, as well as the oceanic processes that take place within the ocean's basin and coastal areas.
This is a strategy currently being pursued by European research groups working to predict the effects of climate change at a regional level, and it is expected that the level of uncertainty in predictions will be reduced over the short term. In Spain, IMEDEA is working to produce data on ocean levels in collaboration with the Spanish Port System. Without such resolution in the models "we cannot be sure of the scale of the changes", the researcher concludes.
*61 cm is just over 2 feet Imperial measure.






Although the slides below are written in Spanish, you are shown some data to make you think about.


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Thanks to Sira


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Spain privatizes the sun (August 04, 2013)








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jueves, 12 de enero de 2012

CONSUMERISM - Mod 8 Unit 1

Questions for discussion in the English class




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That's English Videos as seen on TV

That's English - Consumerism 1
That's English - Consumerism 2
That's English - Consumerism 3

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Take a look at this site, it may make you think.


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Shopaholics

Many people find it difficult to curb their spending and buy more than they need and can afford on a regular basis. In today's programme, Kate and Rebecca try to understand why we spend money, our emotional response to it and the first step in how to control it.

This week's question: According to some sources, what percentage of the population are shopaholics? Is it:

a) 1%

b) 10%

c) 50%

Listen out for the answer at the end of the programme!


AUDIO (4,9 MB)AND SCRIPT (39 KB)

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CONSUMING NEW TECHNOLOGY PRODUCES MORE POLLUTION


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Consumerism and the youth






Listen to this song




We Want Your Soul
by Adam Freeland

Your Cash, Your House, Your Phone, Your Life, Your Cash, Your House, Your Life

We want your soul x 5



Tell us Your Habits, Your Facts, Your Fears
Give us your address, your shoe size, your years
your digits, your plans, your number, your eyes
your skedule, your desktop, your details, your life.
Show us your children, your photos, your home.
Here, take credit, take insurance, take a loan.
Get a job, get a pension, get a haircut, get a suit.
Play the lottery, play football, play the field, sports on two

We want your soul x 5
Your Cash, Your House, Your Phone, Your Life, Your Cash, Your House, Your Life

Here's boy bands here's matters, here's Britney, here's Cola
Here's pizza, here's TV, here's some rock and some roller
Watch commercials, more commercials, watch Jerry, not Oprah
Buy a better life from the comfort of your sofa
Here's popcorn, here's magazines, here's milkshake, here's blue jeans
here's padded bras, here's long cars, here's football shirts, here's baseball caps
here's live talk shows, here's video games, here's cola lite, here's Timberlake
here's fingertips, here's colegen, here's all night bars, here's plastic hips

We want your soul x 5

Your Cash, Your House, Your Phone, Your Life, Your Cash, Your House, Your Life


your cellphone your wallet your time your ideas
no barcode no party no iodine no beers
your bankcard, your license, your thoughts, your fears
no simcard, no disco, no photo, not here
your blood, your sweat, your passions, your regrets
your office, your timeoff, your fashions,your sex your pills your grass your tits, your ass your laughs your highs, we write it all

We want your soul x 5

Your Cash, Your House, Your Phone, Your Life, Your Cash, Your House, Your Life




Documentary about CONSUMERISM:

Big Ideas That Changed The World - Consumerism (1/4)
Big Ideas That Changed The World - Consumerism (2/4)
Big Ideas That Changed The World - Consumerism (3/4)
Big Ideas That Changed The World - Consumerism (4/4)