Man and the Environment

Man and the Environment

PROBLEMS WITH ATMOSPHERE
There are two main problems with the atmosphere of our planet which are caused by emitting polluting materials into the air.
· Hole in the ozone layer – Ozone layer is important for the life on the Earth because it absorbs ultraviolet rays (UV radiation) from the Sun; UV rays are very dangerous for us. Ozone is decomposed by freons. Freons are gases or liquids which were used in cooling devices and they are emitted by old cars, fridges and other old appliances.
· The greenhouse effect – is caused by a lot of carbon dioxide in the air. The sun rays should bounce from the Earth back to the space, but because of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the air the sun rays are absorbed by the atmosphere and that causes the global warming of the Earth. It can bring melting of icebergs and rising of sea level.
 
ENERGY
We need a lot of energy for the industry; there are 3 types of power stations:
· Thermal power station – it pollutes the air and release smog
· Water power station ­­– it destroys the landscape and there are not many suitable rivers in Czech Republic for them
· Nuclear power station – it’s effective and doesn’t pollute the air, but It’s quite expensive and there is problem with nuclear waste
Nowadays the most of world’s energy comes from fossil fuels, but the sources of coal, gas and oil are limited, and there won’t be enough fossil fuels in the future.
There are 4 green solutions, which are using natural energy – wind energy, solar energy, wave energy, geothermal energy
 
RAW MATERIALS
The development of industry requires raw materials, but the deposits of materials on the Earth will be exhausted soon. That’s why we must replace some raw materials with plastic. But plastics bring another problem, because they are almost indestructible. Some kinds of plastic can be recycled.
 
RAIN FORESTS
Before 18th century the rainforests covered 14% of world’s surface, but nowadays it’s only 7%. Rainforests are important for us because they produce a lot of oxygen, and that’s why they are called Earth's lungs. Rain forests have been cut down to provide land, wood, paper, minerals and fuel. There are also millions of animals and flowers and they are destroyed too.
 
ACID RAINS
Acid rains are one of the most serious problems of Europe and North America. Factories are emitting gases and chemicals and they mix in the air and then they fall back on the Earth when it rains. Acid rains kill fishes and trees and plants and slowly destroy building and bridges.
 
ANIMALS
Animals are also part of the environment but they are often killed or treated cruelly by people. They are used for scientific research, killed for sport or for their skin or fur or they are kept in cruel condition.
 
NATURAL DISASTERS
Floods – there are floods after snow melting and after heavy rains, problem especially in valleys
Tsunami - is a series of water waves, usually caused by earthquake under the sea level; tsunamis are frequent in Asia, especially in Japan
Hurricanes – Hurricane is a tropical cyclone, which is occurring in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean; it produces strong winds and heavy rain; hurricanes have names (Katrina, Andrew, Wilma)
Earthquakes – are shakes of the ground, they are occurring mainly in America
Volcanic eruptions – there are many active volcanoes in the world, like Mt. Etna in Italy, many volcanoes in Japan, there was a volcanic eruption last year in Iceland, it caused many problems in the whole Europe
 
SOLUTIONS
All of us should contribute to the solution: we can use means of transport that are less dangerous for the environment (we can walk, go by train, tram, bicycle), we can sort out waste to enable recycling, we can save energy by using low energy light bulbs. There are also many organization protecting the nature – Greenpeace, Rainbow, Children of the Earth