Texto 2

Brazil to replace oil rigs with ‘underwater cities’

Traditional oil rigs will be replaced with “underwater cities” within a decade under ambitious plans being drawn up by Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned energy group.

A Petrobras oil platform at Guabanara bay in Rio de Janeiro.

Petrobras plans to turn science fiction into reality to extract oil from the vast pre-salt oil fields discovered off the south east coast of Brazil.
The plan is to construct ‘cities’ more than 2,000 metres under water, containing machines, giant pieces of equipment and robots that could inspect the systems being used to extract millions of barrels of oil. Many operations would be fully automated while others would be controlled by humans at a distance.
Petrobras already owns virtual reality laboratories where engineers can inspect 3D images of oil fields. But now they want to take a further technological leap by installing floating rig equipment on the sea bed.
The machinery under the sea would be capable of separating oil, gas, water and sand, compressing substances and generating enough energy to keep the operation functioning. 

                               TEXTO I

      Ecology and History of the Amazon Rain Forest

Biodiversity and Symbiosis of South America's Vulnerable Habitat 

No place on Earth is as full of diverse life and landscape as the Amazon Rainforest. It spreads its tall trees and rich biodiversity over 40% of the South American continent. The Amazon River shares its name with its host, and is 11 times the volume of the Mississippi river. The massive water system begins in the Andes Mountains and winds its way 4,080 miles eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, rushing through the forests with tremendous force. The annual outflow of the river is responsible for 1/5 of the entire world’s freshwater flow. Everything about this habitat is super-sized.

(http://www.suite101.com/content/lungs-of-the-earth-a55287) 

EXTRACT 1

Japan’s shipyards remain intact after quake

Japan’s major shipyards escaped the full impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeastern coast of the country with full force. An official at the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association said the devastating natural disaster “will have no impact on future export ship orders at all”. Although several small shipyards in the quake-hit areas were affected, major Japanese shipyards that build large vessels for exports are concentrated in western Japan and remain intact, the official said. Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding sustained “slight material damages” in the company’s Kasai Center and Chiba Works but did not consider such slight damages would cause serious impact on operations. “The rotational schedule of interruption of power supply due to the earthquake may affect our operation at our works and subsidiaries. However, the degree of the impact is not known now,” the company said in a statement. Japanese export ship orders rose for the 15th consecutive month in February o a year-on-year basis. Japanese shipbuilders received orders for 277 export vessels – 259 bulk carriers, 10 oil tankers and eight general cargo vessels – in the April-February period.

                        (Adapted from: www.australianmerchantnavy.com, March 2011)

EXTRACT 2

Tsnunami Debris Expected on U.S. Shores in 3 Years

The powerful tsunami triggered by the 9.0 Japanese earthquake destroyed coastal towns near Sendai, washing such things as houses and cars into the ocean. Projections of where this debris might head have been made at the international Pacific Research Center, university of Hawaii at Manoa. What their model predicts about the tsunami debris is that they first spread out eastward from the Japan Coast in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. In a year, the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument will see pieces washing up on its shores; in two years, the remaining Hawaiian islands will see some effects; in three years, the plume will reach the US West Coast, dumping debris on Californian beaches and the beaches of British Columbia, Alaska, and Baja California. The debris will then drift into the famous floating junk yard, the North Pacific Garbage Patch, where it will wander around and break into smaller and smaller pieces. In five years, Hawaii shores can expect to see another barrage of debris that is stronger and longer-lasting than the first one. Much of the debris leaving the North Pacific Garbage Patch ends up on Hawaii’s reefs and beaches. These model projections will help to guide clean-up and tracking operations.

                                                 (Adapted from: www.geog.ucsb.edu, April 2011)