Global issues
There are a lot of problems people have to fight and face.
The world terrorism is perhaps the worst threat. Everybody remembers 11 September 2001
when the terrorists destroyed the twin towers of World Trade Centre in New York. Terrorists
are very dangerous because they are unpredictable. You never know where and when they
will strike. Some other social problems of the mankind are:
poverty, unemployment, homelessness, famine, racial problems, local and international wars,
drug abuse, cloning, incurable diseases, child labour, population growth (overpopulation),
arms trade, prostitution, human trafficking, money laundering and others.
There are many other global problems related to our environment. People are destroying our
planet.
The most serious environmental problems are:
Air pollution- Traffic plays an important role in air pollution. Cars, buses, planes and other
means of transport produce exhaust which pollutes the air and causes smog. Smog is a
mixture of smoke and fog, it irritates the eyes, throat and lungs and also damages plants.
Smoke from factories contributes to the pollution of the air. Factories produce a lot of carbon
dioxide, sulphur dioxide and other dangerous chemicals which get into the air. They mix with
water and make sulphuric acid ( H2SO4). These clouds are blown by the wind and later fall as
acid rain. Acid rain destroys forests, it poisons lake water and kills most organisms like fish,
insects and plants. It gets into the soil and makes it infertile. Factories directly increase water
pollution by putting their chemical waste into rivers. Oil spills destroy coastal waters.
Soil is contaminated by the use of pesticides or fertilizers. Soil is polluted also by radioactive
waste, junk yards, etc.
The hole in the ozone layer
Around the Earth there is a special layer made of a special type of oxygen called ozone.
Ozone is important because it stops ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. / It protects the Earth
from harmful ultraviolet rays. / Many aerosol sprays (CFC- chlorofluorocarbons- freons) and
factories destroy ozone and they have made a big hole in the ozone layer. Too much radiation
enters the Earth. It is dangerous because it can cause cancer.
Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide in the air has increased a lot. (It comes from burning oil, coal and wood).
This has formed a blanket around the Earth. The heat from the sun cannot escape and the
temperature is rising which results in global warming, in melting of the glaciers, in rising of
sea levels, in weather changes.
It can lead to many natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods,
tsunami, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, droughts, avalanches, epidemics, mudslides, etc.
Deforestation
People cut down the rainforests which are considered to be the lungs of the Earth.
People have cut down a lot of trees. As a result, many species of animals and plants are
disappearing. Some species are extinct, some are endangered. Not only plants but also
animals are dying out (koala, orang-utan, white rhinoceros, cheetah, mountain gorilla, etc.)
What can we do for better environment?
There are also many practical ideas how people can help the environment. For example: save
as much water and electricity as possible; use bottles more than once or take them to a bottle
bank; buy and use recycled paper; and don’t leave on electric lights, TV, hi-fi, etc, if you’re
not using them. We should use public transport instead of cars, we should walk more or ride
a bike. We should use unleaded petrol in our cars. We should recycle waste, sort rubbish, to
separate plastic bottles, glass and paper. There are recycling banks everywhere. Juice and
milk cartons can be recycled too. We should put vegetable peelings on a compost heap. They
will turn into soil again.. We should use recycled paper, to plant trees and to reforest new
areas. We should limit burning coal as fuel and use alternative sources of energy such as
solar, wind, water and nuclear energy
We shouldn´t waste water.We should save energy.
We can be friendly to the environment by picking up our rubbish, by using low-energy light
bulbs.We should buy environmentally friendly products such as detergents. We should use
biodegradable plastic bags.
The rules of the three R´s:
Reduce: Buy less and you will throw away less. Try to avoid packaging, especially plastic
bags! Always bring your own bag.
Reuse: Keep using products again and again. Imagine as well, that somebody else can be
interested in the things you throw away. Your unwanted out-of-fashion clothes or old toys
will make the children in poor countries happy.
Recycle: Separate waste, recycle special materials and save the natural resourses that are used
to make new things. Try to buy products made from recycled materials.
Concern for the environment should be a part of people’s lives. Children should be educated
to have a much better understanding of the fact that this planet, weather, climate, water, air,
soil, people, animals, birds and plants create one ecosystem. No part can exist separately. The
destruction of any of them can negatively influence the functioning of the whole system.
There are many environmental organizations all over the world. An environmental
organization helps to protect, analyze or monitor the environment against misuse. They
inform people about ecological problems, propose greener solutions and push big companies
and governments for change. They can be global, national, regional or local. Notable global
environmental organizations are e.g. the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
World Wildlife Federation (WWF), Friends of the Earth ,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) or Greenpeace. Green politics is a political ideology which places a high
importance on environmental goals.
Greenpeace is probably the best-known environmental organization. It started in 1971 in
Canada. It is a non-governmental body with offices in over 40 countries and with its
headquarters in Amsterdam in the Netherlands .Its goal is to keep the diversity of life and it
focuses its work on issues such as global warming, deforestation, overfishing, commercial
whaling and anti-nuclear issues. They use direct actions, lobbying or research. They do not
accept funding from governments or political parties, relying on 3 million individual
supporters and grants.
Earth Day ( the 22nd of April) is one of the most important environmental events celebrated
in the world. It is a day that is dedicated to Earth´s natural environment. It was founded in
the USA in 1970. There was a big demonstration of students who wanted to warn
governments about serious ecological problemes. Nowadays, it is celebrated in more than 175
countries every year. The Czech Republic joined Earth Day celebrations in 1990.
The motto is: Be a friend of the Earth, don´t polute its air and waters, and save its
wildlife.
Earth Hour is held at 8:30-9:30 p.m on the last Saturday in March. It is a worldwide
movement for the planet organized by the WWF. It encourages people to turn off the lights
for one hour to warn about climate change.
