Экологические проблемы

Water Pollution

Oceans cover more than 70 % of the Earth’s surface. Despite the vastness of this area we know little about it. Life began in the ocean more than 3.5 billion years ago. Today the ocean supports a wealth of simple and complex sea life from phyto-plankton to marine mammals. But people seem to misunderstand the importance of the ocean.

The oceans do not belong to a single nation, but are free, open territory to be enjoyed and shared. However, too often nations are very aggressive in taking the resources of the world ocean. There is widespread pollution of coastal waters, whales and dolphins are hunted to nearly extinction, and many fishing areas are depleted. Thor Heyerdahl, a famous scientist and explorer, crossed the Atlantic Ocean. They made a voyage of 4,000 kilometres. They saw 4,000 kilometres of polluted ocean. Over 5 million tons of oil products pollute the ocean each year. About 2 million tons of these products come from cars. First the oil products go into the atmosphere and pollute it. From the atmosphere the oil products go into the oceans. Big rivers carry into the ocean a lot of the waste from industry and agriculture. Pollution means death to the ocean. It kills fish and plants.

Another most important environmental problem is the shortage of clean water. Clean drinking water is a basic human need. But industrial pollution has made many sources of water undrinkable. Rivers, lakes and seas have become poisonous. Many ships sail in the ocean: water-fishing ships, ships carrying people, some carrying oil. If a ship loses some of the oil in the water or trash from the ships is put into the ocean, the water becomes dirty. Another problem is sewage systems. The sewage from many houses of a big city pollutes rivers and lakes and may even make them die.

Many fish are dying in the sea, others are getting contaminated. Fishermen catch contaminated fish which may be sold and people may get sick from eating them.

The worst problem is in the area around the Aral Sea. Cotton grown in the region needed much water, and the sea level has fallen by 14 yards. This destroyed fishing industry and led to damage in soils, crops and wildlife.

Lake Baikal is one of the world’s largest and most beautiful lakes. Russians call it Holy Sea. It contains a rich variety of animals and plants, including 1,300 rare species that do not exist anywhere else in the world. However, they are being destroyed by industrial wastes which some factories still pour into the lake every day.

A few years ago people thought that the supply of fresh water was limitless. Now clean water is scarce, and we begin to respect this resource. We must protect the clean water that remains for our children and grandchildren.

Extinction of animals and plants

Wildlife is something that man cannot construct. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. There are many species of animals that may disappear from the Earth within the next few years. They will die out and become extinct if man couldn’t help.

For some species it is already late. The American passenger pigeon, the blue whale, the panda, the California grizzly bears, elephants, jungle cats, Asian rhinoceros are on the brink of extinction now. Many animals have gone forever, because their habitats have been destroyed at an alarming rate: 340 miles a day. These are the rainforests which are in Central and South America, Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and Madagascar. While rainforests are disappearing, so are animals and birds which live there.

Some animals are hunted too much. Some others lose their natural nesting areas and cannot reproduce or breed. Others cannot adapt to new conditions. People cannot realize how much animals suffer. The truth is that we use animals or parts of animals for jewellery, clothes, cosmetics. A lot of expensive jewellery are made from ivory, from the horns of elephants and rhinos. Specialists think that only 2 million elephants live on the planet today. Every 10 minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect disappears. If nothing is done about it, over 1 million of species will disappear in 20 years from now.

Fortunately, there are people who are trying to do something about it. In 1961, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was founded – a small group of people who wanted to raise some money to save animals and plants. Today it is a large international organization. It has created or given support to National Parks in 5 continents. If more people give more money, perhaps the WWF will be able to protect the natural world.

Greenhouse effect and changing of the climate

The Earth has been getting hotter because we pollute the atmosphere with different harmful substances which is the result of daily use of industrial and household products, such as refrigerators, air conditioners, cleaning chemicals, food packaging, etc. These substances cause greenhouse effect and destroying of ozone layer.

As a result of greenhouse effect the Earth is getting hotter and hotter. The temperature rises gradually and in 100 years the Earth will be hotter about 4 degrees Centigrade. This will lead to melting of snow in the Arctic and the Antarctic. Because the ice has been melting, the level of the sea is slowly rising. A giant iceberg broke away from Antarctic. It was 152 km. long and 35 km. wide. Now it is 10 km. shorter, because it is melting. Scientists say that in the year 2050 some parts of Great Britain may be under the sea. The climate of the Earth is getting warmer and this, in turn, affects the balance of nature.