Проблемы окружающей среды

INVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Many people believe that the way we live our lives today is having an extremely bad effect on the environment. It cannot be denied that the price for rapid industrial development is very high: natural resources are exausted, the ecological balance of the planet is disturbed; some species of flora and fauna disappear, rivers and lakes are polluted with harmful chemicals or waste. Big cities have a problem with air pollution. Progress can be blamed for all these environmental problems.

The poisoning of the world’s land, air and water is the desease of civilisation. If present trends continue for the next several decades, our planet will become uninhabitable.

Many scientists realize that the Earth is in danger. Millions of ordinary people also understand it.

Pollution is one of the serious environmental problems. The seas are in danger too. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead, the North sea is the following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of  extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.

The biggest polluter today is the car. In Cairo just breathing the air is life threatening – equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same is true for Mexico City and 600 cities of the former Soviet Union. The number of cars is increasing every year and causes traffic jams. Governments build new roads to improve the situation, but this means that they cut down trees and destroy more of the countryside.

One of the most alarming forms of air pollution is acid rain. Acid rain is killing forests in Canada, the USA and central and northern Europe. It is harmful to wildlife, plants, fish and insects. (In the USA 1 in 5 lakes suffer from this type of pollution.)

Another problem is the greenhouse effect. It is the gradual warming of the Earth caused by harmful gases. These gases are produced when we burn fuels, especially coal to make electricity. Because the heat can’t escape, the Earth is getting warmer. This is known as global warming. Global warming can cause the ice at the North and South Pole to melt and sea level to rise, leading to serious flooding in many parts of the world.

Destruction of the tropical forest (or deforestation.) The tropical rain forest is a natural recycler, provider and protector for our planet. They help control global warming, because they absorb carbon dioxide. In recent years, large areas have been destroyed.40 percent of the rainforests have disappeared in the last 80 years.

Depletion of the ozone layer. The protective layer of the Earth, the ozone layer which protects the Earth from the sun’s destructive ultraviolet rays, is being damaged. It increases the risk of skin cancer, weakens the immune system of people.

The destruction of habitats all over the world has become threatening. Many species of animals are extinct now and many more are endangered. For example, endangered animals are: snow leopard, jaguar, lynx, Indian tiger, African elephant, dolphins, seals, blue whale, panda, black rhino and others.

An even greater environmental threat is nuclear pollution. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are. It affected everything: people, farm animals, air, water and soil.

Fortunately, people are beginning to realise that the environmental problems are not somebody else’s. What can we do to save the Earth? 

There is only one way to save wildlife – conservation. That means: protecting endangered animals by law; opening more national parks; planting more new forests; cutting pollution. We can’t stop greenhouse effect but we can slow it down.

- We should try to use natural energy – renewable energy sources such as wind power, wave power, solar power.

- We  should also ban CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons). We can help by choosing to buy “green products” – recycled paper, organic fruit and vegetables – that have been produced without using chemicals.

What else can we do?

-Save as much water as possible.

- Join Green organisations and learn some facts about them. They are: World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Defenders of Wildlife and others.

-Try to save paper.

-Be kind to animals.

-Try to throw away less rubbish. / Reduce the amount of rubbish we throw away.

- Remember of the rule of the 3 Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle.

Everything depends on people, it’s in our hands to save the Earth and make it cleaner and safer home to live in and preserve the planet for future generations.

P.S. The 5th of June is proclaimed the World Environmental Day by the UNO and is celebrated every year.