Ecological problems and environmental protection
Chapter 1
Ecology is avery popular word today. But what does it mean? Ecology is a sincewhich studies the relationship between all forms of life on ourplanet and the environment. This word came from Greek “oikos”which means home. The idea of home includes our whole planet, itspopulation, Nature, animals, birds, fish, insets and all other livingbeings and even the atmosphere around our planet.
Since ancient times Nature has servedMan giving everything he needs: air to breathe, food to eat, water todrink, wood for building and fuel for heating his home. For thousandsof years people lived in harmony with the environment and it seemedto them that the resources of nature had no end or limit. With theindustrial revolution our negative influence on Nature began toincrease. Large cities with thousands of steaming, polluting plantsand factories can be found nowadays all over the world. Theby-products of their activity pollute the air we breathe the water wedrink the fields where our crops are grown. That’s why thosewho live in cities prefer spending their days off and their holidaysfar from the noise of the city, to be closer to nature. Perhaps theylike to breathe fresh air or to swim in clear water because theecology is not so poor as in the cities.
So, pollution is one of the mostburning problems of nowadays. Now millions of chimneys, cars, buses,trucks all over the world exhaust fumes and harmful substances intothe atmosphere. These poisoned substances pollute everything: air,land, water, birds and animals. So, it is usually hard to breathe inthe large cities where there are lots plants. Everything there iscovered with soot and dirt. All these affect harmfully. Every yearthe atmosphere is polluted by about 1000 tons of industrial dust andother harmful substances. Big cities suffer from smog. Cars withtheir engine have become the main source of pollution in industrialcountries. Vast forests are being cut down for the need of industriesin Europe and USA. The loss of the forests upsets the the oxygenbalance of the new wastelands. As the result some species of animals,birds, fish and plants have disappeared and keep disappearing.
Water pollution is very serious, too.Ugly rivers of dirty water polluted with factory waste, poisoned fishare all-round us. And polluted air and poisoned water lead to the endof the civilization. So, nowadays a lot of dead lands and lifelessareas have appeared. Because our actions and dealings can turn theland to a desert.
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Chapter 2
What is the greenhouse effect, and is it affecting our climate?
Thegreenhouse effect is unquestionably real, and is essential for lifeon Earth. It is the result of heat absorption by certain gases in theatmosphere (called greenhouse gases because they trap heat) andre-radiation downward of a part of that heat. Water vapor is the mostimportant greenhouse gas, followed by carbon dioxide and other tracegases. Without a natural greenhouse effect, the temperature of theEarth would be about zero degrees F (-18°C) instead of itspresent 57°F (14°C). However, the concern is not with thefact that we have a greenhouse effect, but it is with the questionregarding whether human activities are leading to an enhancement ofthe greenhouse effect.
Are greenhouse gases increasing?
Human activity has been increasing the concentration ofgreenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mostly carbon dioxide fromcombustion of coal, oil, and gas; plus a few other trace gases).There is no scientific debate on this point. Pre-industrial levels ofcarbon dioxide (prior to the start of the Industrial Revolution) wereabout 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv), and current levels areabout 370 ppmv. According to the IPCC "business as usual"scenario of carbon dioxide increase (IS92a) in the 21st century, wewould expect to see a doubling of carbon dioxide over pre-industriallevels around the year 2065.
Is the climate warming?
Global surface temperatures have increasedabout 0.6°C (plus or minus 0.2°C) since the late-19thcentury, and about one half degree F (0.2 to 0.3°C) over the past25 years (the period with the most credible data).
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Thewarming has not been globally uniform.
Someareas (including parts of the southeastern U.S.) have cooled. Therecent warmth has been greatest over N. America and Eurasia between40 and 70°N. Warming, assisted by the record El Niсo of1997-1998, has continued right up to the present.
Lineartrends can vary greatly depending on the period over which they arecomputed. Temperature trends in the lower troposphere (between about2,500 and 18,000 ft.) from 1979 to the present, the period for whichSatellite Microwave Sounding Unit data exist, are small and may beunrepresentative of longer term trends and trends closer to thesurface. Furthermore, there are small unresolved differences betweenradiosonde and satellite observations of tropospheric temperatures,though both data sources show slight warming trends. If onecalculates trends beginning with the commencement of radiosonde datain the 1950s, there is a slight greater warming in the record due toincreases in the 1970s. There are statistical and physical reasons(e.g., short record lengths, the transient differential effects ofvolcanic activity and El Niсo, and boundary layer effects) forexpecting differences between recent trends in surface and lowertropospheric temperatures, but the exact causes for the differencesare still under investigation (see National Research Council report"Reconciling Observations of Global Temperature Change").
Anenhanced greenhouse effect is expected to cause cooling in higherparts of the atmosphere because the increased "blanketing"effect in the lower atmosphere holds in more heat. Cooling of thelower stratosphere (about 30-35,000ft.) since 1979 is shown by bothsatellite Microwave Sounding Unit and radiosonde data, but is largerin the radiosonde data.
There hasbeen a general, but not global, tendency toward reduced diurnaltemperature range (the difference between high and low dailytemperatures) over about 50% of the global land mass since the middleof the 20th century. Cloud cover has increased in many of the areaswith reduced diurnal temperature range.
Relativelycool surface and tropospheric temperatures, and a relatively warmerlower stratosphere, were observed in 1992 and 1993, following the1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The warming reappeared in 1994. Adramatic global warming, at least partly associated with the recordEl Niсo, took place in 1998. This warming episode is reflectedfrom the surface to the top of the troposphere.
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Indirectindicators of warming such as borehole temperatures, snow cover, andglacier recession data, are in substantial agreement with the moredirect indicators of recent warmth.
Arctic sea ice has decreased since1973, when satellite measurements began but Antarctic sea ice mayhave increased slightly.
Chapter 3
So, we seethat our environment offers an abundance of subject matter fordiscussion. The problems and prospects of the blue planet interestnot only scientist and futurologists, but also politicians, industry,the public – and above all, young people! There is hardly ayoung person who is not conserved with the preservation of ournatural habitat. To recognize environmental problems and master them,to reduce and avoid environmental pollution, to discover and developecologically sound technologies – there are the essentialbuilding blocks for our future.
Whether scientistor politicians, bankers or student, whether Greek, Norwegian,Hungarian or Finn … all are encouraged to make a contributiontowards protecting the environment. Dedication and the courage tochange one’s way of thinking are called for.
We are to stoppollution. So, we can grow plants and trees, to purify waste, tostart urgent campaigns in order to preserve environment For example,in 1989 in Australia, Sydney. In a year the same kind of action washeld all over Australia and it was called “Clean up Australia”the following years 110 countries hold the similar actions within theecological program of the UNO.
Nowadays there are many different pressureand interests groups in many countries, which try to find solutionsto the problems of pollution at the national and international level.So they are groups of people with a common interest in trying to drawthe public attention to environment problems, to influence thegovernment decisions.
Greenpeace is avery famous pressure group. It started functioning in 1971. Itsheadquarters are at Amsterdam, but it operates in 25 countriesworldwide. The aim of Greenpeace is to protect wildlife of toxicwastes, nuclear tests.
“Friends of the Earth” (FoE) isone of the British pressure groups with an international reputation.Its general aim is to conserve the planet’s resources andreduce pollution. FoE was established in 1971 and now it operated in44 countries worldwide. It campaigns among other things, forrecycling and renewable energy, and the destruction of wildlife andhabitat. The main campaigning issues of the FoE are:
The protection ofall animals and plants in danger of extinction.
An end to thedestruction of wildlife and habitats.
A program ofenergy conservation measures, etc.
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So, a number ofcampaigns resulted in:
The ban or otherhunting in England and Wales
And indefinitedelay in the construction of the Commercial East Breeder Reactor,etc.
But not only great groups can influence the problem ofpollution. So, different people have their own opinions on thisproblem:
The continuedpollution of the earth, if unchecked, well eventually destroys thefitness of this planet as a place for human life. (B. Commoner).
The Earth hasenough for every man’s need, but not for man’s greed.(Ganlui).
AndI agree with them because it is really so. And terrible examplesprove them.
TheBaltic Sea is a special case. Because it is such a small sea and itbecomes dirty very easily. Its waster changes slowly through theshallow straits. As many as 250 rivers run into the Baltic. There arehundreds of factories in these rivers and millions of people livealong them. Quite a lot of big cities lie on its coast. All thesecombined with the active navigation of the sea naturally affects thestate of the sea water and the shore line flora and fauna. Peoplesuffer from the waster pollution; cancer deaths increase people’sconcern.
And there is no escape from this ecological crisiswithout organizing a single body dealing with the environmentalproblems, developing and carrying out a nationwide program ofenvironmental protection and co-operating with international schemes.
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Conclusion.
Scientists now predict that by the year 2050 thepopulation will be doubled what is today. The fact remains that therate of food production fell behind population growth in many ofdeveloping countries. The annual fish catch already exceeds what theworld ‘s oceans can successfully sustain. If we go on using ournatural recourses at today’s rates, we will have used up theintire reserves of cooper, natural gas and oil by the year 2054.
Butthe problem ahead lie not so much in what we use but in what wewaste. What faces us is not so much a recourse crisis as a pollutioncrisis. The only solution is to try to change the areas ofconsumption, technology and population. Changes in technology must bebaked by slower population growth. And it can be achieved byeducation in health and women’s rights. And there is a littlehope of reducing consumption over the next half century.
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Introduction.
My paper is devoted to the theme ofthe global ecological catastrophes and the environmental protection.I am giving a review of various global problems such as “Greenhouseeffect”. The aim of my project is to show and explain howecological catastrophes navel our life and and what consequence they.
Thesources of my work are:
Scientificbooks and newspapers
Numerousinternet data
My project consists of the followingparts: Introduction, 3 chapters, conclusion, reference list.
Chapter 1 “Ecologicalsituation nowadays” – deals with global ecologicalproblems such as air, water pollution etc.
Chapter2 “Global warming” – is devoted to a problem of aglobal warming called “greenhouse effect”.
Chapter3 “Pressure groups” –contains in formation aboutdifferent pressure groups such as “Greenpeace” etc.
Conclusion.
Referencelist.
I suppose thatthe topic I choose is very actual nowadays and I hope that it willcontribute to our knowledge and will also have a practicalinplimintation in the class.
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In my project todayI’d like to review the problem of environmental protection. Thereason why I chose this subject for developing is quite evident –our planet is on the verge of global ecological catastrophe. TodayI’ll be developing several main points.
First I’ll giveyou a general idea of the ecological situation on our planet. SecondI’d like to highlight the most dangerous tendencies that canhave deadly consequences for us. Lastly I’ll try to show whatcan be done to save our planet from disaster.
What does the wordecology mean? This word came from Greek “oikos” whichmeans home. The idea of home includes our whole planet, itspopulation, nature, animals, birds, fish and all other living beingsand even the atmosphere around our planet. But look what we have donewith our home? For thousands of years people exploited the naturethoughtlessly thinking that its resources had no end or limit. Withthe industrial revolution our negative influence on nature increased.What has become with the air we breathe the water we drink and thesoil we grow crops on? It is all polluted. Statistics show that everyyear the atmosphere is polluted by about 1000 tons of industrial dustand other harmful substances. Thousands of kilometers of rainforestsare being cut down for the need of industries. Ton of exhaust wastesare thrown into the World Ocean.
The consequences aredisastrous. There is a hardly river leftfrom which we can take a fresh water. A lot of species of animals,birds, fish and plants have either disappeared completely or on theverge of extinction. So you see that environmental pollution hasincreased to enormous proportions.
And now let me move onto another point of my research. How can we explain the globalclimate warming? Haven’t you noticed that in this countrywinters have become much warmer with hardly any snow? What are thereasons for this? The first and the main reason is the greenhouseeffect. The green house effect is the result of heat absorption bycertain gases in the atmosphere (called greenhouse gases because theytrap heat) and reradiation downward of a part of that heat. Humanactivity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases inthe atmosphere (mostly carbon dioxide from combustion of coal, oil,and gas plus few other gases). If you look at this diagram you’llsee that the level of carbon dioxide before the start of industrialrevolution was 280 ppmv. The current level is 370 ppmv. and theexpected level for the year 2065 is 560 ppmv. The next table showsthe increase of global surface temperature. However the warminghasn’t been globally uniform. Some areas (including southernu.s.) have cooled. The recent warmth has been noted between NorthAmerica and Eurasia.
So what are thepotential effects of rising temperatures? In general scientistsbelieve that rising temperature will lead to increase evaporation andtherefor to more precipitation. But while some regions willexperience increased rainfall, others will become dryer. Anothereffect is the rise of the sea levels, which will result in floodinglow-lying coastal areas. This may also lead to increasing thesalinity of the rivers and to decrease of water supplies. And finallyclimate changes may cause extinction of many species of birds,animals and plants.
Onthe whole the environmental problems we have just touched upon areonly a small part of abundance of subject matters for discussion. Weare to stop pollution. So, we can grow plants and trees, to purifywaste, to start urgent campaigns in order to preserve environment Forexample, in 1989 in Australia, Sydney. In a year the same kind ofaction was held all over Australia and it was called “Clean upAustralia” the following years 110 countries hold the similaractions within the ecological program of the UNO.
Nowadays there are many different pressureand interests groups in many countries, which try to find solutionsto the problems of pollution at the national and international level.So they are groups of people with a common interest in trying to drawthe public attention to environment problems, to influence thegovernment decisions.
Greenpeace is avery famous pressure group. It started functioning in 1971. Itsheadquarters are at Amsterdam, but it operates in 25 countriesworldwide. The aim of Greenpeace is to protect wildlife of toxicwastes, nuclear tests.
“Friends of the Earth” (FoE) is one of the Britishpressure groups with an international reputation. Its general aim isto conserve the planet’s resources and reduce pollution. FoEwas established in 1971 and now it operated in 44 countriesworldwide. It campaigns among other things, for recycling andrenewable energy, and the destruction of wildlife and habitat.
I’msure there is no escape from this ecological crisis withoutorganizing a single body dealing with the environmental problems,developing and carrying out a worldwide program of environmentalprotection and co-operating with international schemes.
Diagrams-диаграммы к проекту
Ecological problems-сам реферат
Introduction-вступление к нему
presentation-кр. пересказ introduction+кр.пересказ реферата+вывод
Reference list-список литры-(если понадобится)
УСЕ!!!!!!!!
Сдано на '5'
Referencelist.
Internetdata:
MultimediaEditions
Britannica Encyclopedia
(Multimedia Edition)
British Multimedia Encyclopedia
Tableof contents.
Introduction……………………………………….Page1
MainPart:
Chapter1………………………………………….Page2
Chapter2…..…………………………………..Page3 - 4
Chapter3………………………………………Page5 - 6
Conclusion………………………………………..Page7
References……………………………………….Page8