Universidad del Valle

Escuela de Ciencias del Lenguaje

Dpto. de Lenguas y Culturas Extranjeras
Inglés con fines generales y académicos III
Unidad 1: Mi país, mi contribución

Objective: To identify and describe the environmental problems in our context

1. Take a look at the image and discuss with a classmate: what does it represent? Have you ever
experienced a situation as the one illustrated in the image? Tell about it.

Retrieved from: www.livescience.com

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2. Listen to the report and try to complete the script.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=42&v=rIolG5Vwuic

Last Tuesday ________ the fifth consecutive day of severe weather in the central states of the
USA. According to one government agency, people ________ more than _________ tornadoes just
in five days.

The severe storms reportedly ___________ more than ________ centimeters of rain in parts of
Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma just last Tuesday. Roads in Oklahoma ________ to close because
of the flooding, and in Missouri, two people reportedly ________ in a vehicular accident last
Tuesday.

3. Now, answer the questions according to the report.

a. How was weather like during the last five days in central USA?
_____________________________________________________________________________.
b. What were the consequences of having such extreme weather conditions?
_____________________________________________________________________________.
c. What places were affected?
_____________________________________________________________________________.

4. Discuss with a classmate and share your answers with the rest of the group:
 Is there a similar situation in your country/city?
 Has weather changed in your city/town during the last days?
 How has it affected life in these places? Give one example.

5. Write the names of the environmental issues in the images below. Use the terms in the vocabulary box.
Then, think on places in Colombia that have experienced those disasters.

 Wildfires  Volcano eruptions

 Droughts  Floods
 Famine  Mudslides

__________________________ _________________________

_________________________ __________________________________
 __________________________ __________________________________

6. Read the article below and identify its topic and principal idea.

Topic: __________________________________________________________________________________________.

Main idea: ______________________________________________________________________________________.

Natural Hazard Risk

Colombia is a country with high exposure to natural hazards, including cyclones, coastal and river
flooding, earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes. It has the highest recurrence of extreme hazard events
in South America, with 84 percent of the population and 86 percent of assets exposed to two or more
hazards.

The country’s tropical climate lends to heavy and frequent rains, a condition altered by El Niño and La
Niña phenomena. The 2010–11 La Niña rainy season affected approximately 3.5 million people and caused
unprecedented economic losses and damages from flash floods, landslides, and other hazard events.
More recently in 2017 and 2018, a series of landslides and floods affected the country nationwide, leaving
hundreds dead and thousands of livelihoods disrupted.  

Although hydro-meteorological events represent most disaster-related losses, 86 percent of the

population live in medium- and high-risk seismic areas. With more than 20 active volcanoes, about 1.9
million people located in areas at-risk, of whom 240,000 at high risk.

Colombia has one of the highest urbanization rates in Latin America, with significant portions of the
population living in poorly planned urban areas, informal settlements, and densely populated coastal
areas. This, coupled with the effects of climate change, is exacerbating damages and losses caused by
flooding and landslides. By 2060, the sea level on both coastlines (Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean)
could increase by 40–60 centimeters from 1961–90 levels, putting millions of coastal inhabitants and
gross domestic product at greater risk from flooding, storm surge and other natural hazards.