THE ACUTE PROBLEMS OF ECOLOGY

Our ancestors considered the Earth's resources to be

boundless and endless. We have no right to blame our ancestors

for their ecological ignorance: they fought to live.

Even in the 19th century when the word "ecology" was born

people continued to use nature as consumers, considering Man to

be "lord and king" of nature and not the child.

In the 20th century with the rapid growth of science and

technology human achievements in conquering nature became so

great that man's economic activities began to produce an

increasingly negative effect on the biosphere.

People's striving to reach an immediate objective, their

consumer attitude to nature in disregard of natural laws break

natural balance. According to the International Union for the

Protection of Nature 76 species of animals and some hundred

species of plants have disappeared from the planet in the course

of the last 60 years. 132 mammals and 26 bird species face

extinction not so much due to hunting as due to the pollution of

the biosphere.

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The destruction of nature gradually led to the loss of the

most essential element of existence, a healthy biological

habitat. Environmental pollution increases the cases of disease,

raises the cost of medical services, reduces the life-span of a

man. By now the pollution and poisoning of the soil, water and

air have reached a critical level.

Environmental pollution has become a significant obstacle to

economic growth. The discharge of dust and gas into the

atmosphere returns to the Earth in the form of "acid rain" and

affects crop, the quality of forests, the amount of fish. To this

we can add the rise of chemicals, radioactivity, noise and other

types of pollution.

Economic, social, technological and biological processes

have become so interdependent that modern production must be seen

as a complex economic system. It is wrong to see economy and

ecology as diametrically opposed: such an approach inevitably

leads to one extreme or the other.

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GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Word list

storage хранение

tool орудие, инструмент

environment окружающая среда

manipulation манипулирование, управление, обработка

to perform выполнять

apparent явный, очевидный

to involve включать в себя, вовлекать, участвовать

to handle управлять, руководить, обращаться,

обрабатывать (данные)

spatial пространственный

means средство, способ

diverse разный, разнообразный

relationship связь

to perceive различать, понимать

malleable податливый, уступчивый

to up-date модернизировать

to disseminate распространять

to be available иметься, имеющийся, быть доступным

(пригодным)

to customize делать на заказ, заказывать

to process обрабатывать

to enable давать возможность

to refine усовершенствовать, повышать качество

facility (pl.) возможности, оборудование, приспособле-

ние, аппаратура, благоприятные условия

to implement выполнять, осуществлять (выполнение),

внедрять

to maintain содержать, обслуживать, содержать в

исправности, эксплуатировать

ultimately в конечном счете

mandate мандат, наказ, право

currency текущий момент, продолжительность во

времени, своевременность

completeness законченность, завершенность

to generate генерировать, производить, поражать,

вызывать

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to distinguish отличать, характеризовать, различать

to explore осваивать, исследовать

to accomplish завершать, доводить до конца, выполнять,

совершенствовать

goal цель

to pool объединять, соединять

Text

Geographic Information Systems are computer-based systems¹

That are used for collection, processing, editing, storage,

manipulation, visualization and analysis of objects and phenomena

where geographic information is an important characteristic to

the analysis. GISs is a powerful tool² for the effective use of

geographic information.

The history of GISs started from "computer-mapping" programs

in the early 1960s. The Harvard Graphic Laboratory was one of the

most effective research groups developing computer-based map

analysis programs.

The fundamental components of a GIS and its environment

(GIS-environment) are:

- input;

- data storage and retrieval³;

- manipulation;

- data management;

- output.

There are many manual systems that are used routinely to

perform these functions and are effective for the tasks they

perform and under the conditions in which they operate. The power

of GIS⁴ is most apparent when the quantity of data involved⁵ is

too large to be handled manually. The ability to perform complex

spatial analysis rapidly provides a quantitative as well as

qualitative advantage.

The GIS offers a practical means to manage large and diverse

spatial data base and provides effective tools to understand the

relationships among diverse phenomena. The GIS has not only made

the production and analysis of geographic information more

efficient, it is changing the way geographic information is

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perceived and used⁶. It is a technology that makes geographic

data more malleable.

GIS technology has dramatically changed the rate at which

geographic information can be produced, updated and disseminated.

Map updating tasks that required months of manual effort are now

done in hours, and spatial analysis capabilities⁷ that were

unavailable a decade ago are now commonplace⁸. Today a GIS can

make the special purpose presentation of data quick and

inexpensive. As a result, the physical map becomes a customized

"snap shot"⁹ of a continuously changing geographic data base. The

processing power of the GIS has also enabled geographic

information to be used in a qualitatively different way¹⁰.

Despite the analytical power of this technology, a GIS, like

any other system, does not and cannot exist on its own. To be

successful it must exist within a suitable organizational

framework¹¹.

There must be an organization of people, facilities and

equipment responsible for implementing and maintaining the GIS.

Ultimately, a GIS is used to produce information that is needed

by a user. The client may be a person or a group of people. To be

useful to the client, information must be of the right kind and

quality, presented in an appropriate format to the client to use

and to be available at the right time. The GIS is operated by

staff who report to a management¹². That management is given the

mandate to operate the Gis facility¹³ in such a manner as to

serve some user community within an industry, business, or

government organization.

The data used in a GIS represent something about the real

world at some point in time¹⁴. The most important aspects of data

quality are: accuracy, precision, time, currency and complete-

ness. The information in a GIS is represented in two basic forms:

as maps and as tables.

Often GIS is confused with cartographic systems that store

maps in automated form. While the main function of the

cartographic system is to generate computer-stored maps, the

function of a GIS is to create information by integrating data

layers¹⁵ to show the original data in different ways and from

different perspectives¹⁶.

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What distinguishes a GIS from other systems is the ability

to integrate georeferenced data. GISs are a powerful resource

that provide flexible methods for exploring relationships among

geographic data and assisting experts from diverse fields in poo-

ling knowledge to solve complex problems, and to assist the users

in accomplishing the goals of their respective organizations.

Notes

1. ...computer-based ... автоматизированные системы

systems

2. ...a powerful tool мощная (высокопроизводительная)

технология, мощное орудие

3. ...data storage and хранение, извлечение и поиск

retrieval (выборка) данных

4. ...the power of GIS мощности (возможности) ГИС

5. ...the quantity of представленный массив данных

data involved

6. ...information is информация расшифровывается и

perceived and used используется

7. ...spatial analysis возможности пространственного

capabilities анализа

8. ...are now commonplace всегда в базе данных (имеются под

рукой)

9. ...a customized "snap- карта на заказ; "моментальный

shot" снимок"

10. ...in a qualitatively более качественно (достоверно)

different way

11. ...within a suitable в рамках соответствующей организаци-

organizational онной интегрированной системы

framework

12. ...report to a manage- подчиняются руководящему органу

ment

13. ...the GIS facility программы ГИС (зд.)

14. ...about the real world в реальном режиме времени и прост-

at some point in time ранства

15. ...by integrating data посредством слияния (интеграции)

layers различных слоев данных

- 36 -

16. ...from different pers- с различной позицией специалистов

pectives

Exercises:

1. Find English equivalents for the following:

1. Управление базой данных.

2. ГИС - среда.

3. Система обработки данных вручную.

4. Как количественное, так и качественное преимущество.

5. Связь между различными явлениями.

6. Задачи обновления данных.

7. Возможности обработки данных.

8. Информация должна быть достоверной.

9. Руководящему органу дается право.

10. Некоторая группа пользователей.

11. На бумажном носителе (карте) или в цифровом виде (таблицах).

12. Помочь пользователю в достижении цели.

2. Give Russian equivalents for the following:

1. Effective use of geographic information.

2. "Computer-mapping" programs.

3. The most effective research group.

4. The fundamental components.

5. The quantity of data is too large to be handled manually.

6. The relationship among diverse phenomena.

7. This information is needed by the user.

8. Within an industry, business or government organization.

9. In automated form.

10. Flexible methods for exploring relationship...

11. Experts from diverse fields.

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian:

1. GISs is one of the most powerful systems for the effective

use of geographic information.

2. This research team is one of the most effective groups

developing computer-based maps analysis programs.

3. The ability to perform complex spatial analysis in a period

of time is very important nowadays.

4. The GIS makes the production and analysis of geographic data

more efficient.

 

 

- 37 -

 

5. A GIS cannot exist on its own (doesn't operate in a vacuum).

6. The information must be presented in an appropriate format to

the client to use and to be available at the right time.

7. The most important aspects of data quality are: accuracy,

precision, time, currency and completeness.

8. The main function of a GIS is to create information by

integrating data layers to show the original data in

different ways and from different perspectives.

9. GISs are a powerful resource that provide flexible methods

for exploring relationships among geographic data and

assisting experts from diverse fields, in pooling knowledge

to solve complex problems.

10.The ability to integrate georeferenced data distinguishes a

GIS from other systems.

 

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