11 КЛАСС, ТЕМА

       Ecological problems

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the sourse of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with the environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited.

But with the development of civilization man’s interference in nature began to increase.                                                                                                               

Among the most pressing problems are:

1) Global warning (глобальное потепление)

2) Greenhouse effect (парниковый эффект)

3) Littering, water and air pollution (industrial waste-промышленные отходы)

4) Destruction of natural resources

5) Deforestation

·        Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises have appeared all over the world. Their activity pollutes the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables.

·        Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with millions of tons of dust.

·        Many cities suffer from smog.

·        Vast forests are cut down and burned in fire. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

In 1986 Belorussian people faced the most horrible man made ecological disaster. About 18 per cent of the territory of Belarus was contaminated (были загрязнены). Today we have a great increase in children cancer and leukemia.

Judging from the statistics:

In Africa and Asia about 80% of all energy comes from wood. The burning the fossil fuels and wood leads to the Greenhouse Effect.

Now, some interesting facts:

1. In central London 40.000 cars every hour use the roads, causing pollution.

2. Growing coffee causes deforestation.

3. Every year around 2 million sea birds die after eating plastic bottles.

4. It costs around $150 million to clean gum off the UK streets. Chewing gum is illegal in Singapore.

Taking everything into consideration, our future looks very sad.

It’s time we asked ourselves a question:

-         “What can I do to protect  nature”?

There are four solutions to the environmental problems: FOUR Rs: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, RESPECT

Everyone can do a little to protect the environment:

a) Plant a tree in your yard.

b) Conserve energy.

c) Switch off lights when you leave a room.

d) Take a shower instead of a bath.

e) Prefer to walk, ride the bike.

f) Collect and use rainwater.

g) We should remove factories from cities.

t) Reduce , recycle our wastes.

We should realize that we are all responsible (ответственные) for our planet and we must think about future of the world we live in.