English Exercises > environment exercises

BIODIVERSITY & GMOs - vocabulary practice




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Biological diversity - or biodiversity - is the term given to the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms.Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of GENES, SPECIES, and ECOSYSTEMS of a region".
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BIO means �and DIVERSITY means
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THREE TYPES OF BIODIVERSITY:
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1)� DIVERSITY
This is important within a species or a population because it is going to give that species the greatest chance of . When you have high genetic diversity they are going to have more genes in that genetic pool available to deal with .
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2)� DIVERSITY
This refers to the different types of species you have in an .
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3)� DIVERSITY
Lots of different types of ecosystems support lots of different types of . All these ecosystems help to make sure that our planet stays nice and .
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We have lots of environmental problems that are causing lots of pressure on all the different species around our planet.
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I � INTRODUCED or� SPECIES
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O � OVER-
Here on the planet we have� resources and if we continue to take and� there is not going to be enough left to go around for the natural organisms living in nature as well as . All organisms� on one another including us. So when we protect biodiversity, we are not only protecting the plants, animals, and all the organisms, we�re also ensuring survival of our own .
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- Rapid environmental�(1) typically cause mass�(2). One estimate is that less than 1% of the species that have existed on Earth are still alive.
- The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity�(3) and an accompanying loss of (4)�diversity.
- The diversity of all living things depends on temperature, (5), altitude, soils, geography and the presence of other species.
- In 2009, humanity used 40% more resources than nature can regenerate in a year. This problem - using resources faster than they can regenerate and creating�(8) such as CO2 faster than it can be absorbed - is called ecological overshoot.
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Write�1, 2�, 3...�in the gaps:
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SPECIES �������� �EXTINCTIONS ���� WASTE ���� � TEMPERATURE ����
REDUCTION �����RESOURCES ������� CHANGES �� GENETIC
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Write 1, 2 , 3... in the gaps:

Biodiversity provides a large number of goods and services that sustain our lives:
*�Provision of (), fuel and fibre;
*�Provision of shelter and () materials;
*�Purification of air and ();
*�Detoxification and decomposition of wastes;
*�Stabilization and moderation of the Earth's������������ ();
*�Moderation of floods, (), temperature extremes and the forces of wind;
* Generation and renewal of soil ();
*�Pollination of (), including many crops;
*�Control of pests and ();
*�Maintenance of genetic resources (in crop varieties and livestock breeds);
* Support for drug discovery and the availability of��� �() resources;
*�Cultural and aesthetic benefits - opportunities for recreation and ();
* Ability to adapt to change.
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GMOs � stands for���
These are found in some� products. Although we have been manipulating food crops and domesticated animals for centuries, it�s only been since the that we�ve started to use viruses and bacteria to �our food.
Initially the idea was to increase �and increase the a ility for . But we haven�t had time to research the��of GMOs in the body. We�re just now starting to look into the possible allergic �as well as gene transfer from to humans.
We don�t know if GMOs is in the food in the US because it is still not required to label any food products containing GMOs in the US.
So if you want to ensure that your food does not contain any GMOs then buy �or move to Europe where they have been labeling GMO products since .