Ecological problems and environmental protection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

Introduction	3-4
Ecological problems	4-16
Water pollution	4-6
Air pollution	6-8
Greenhouse  effect	8
Acid rains. What is Acid Rain?	8-11
Nuclear pollution	11-12
Animals need help	12-15
Rubbish	15-16
Environmental protection	16-18
The Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals	16
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)	16
Friends of the Earth” (FoE)	16-17
Greenpeace.	17-18
Ecological situation…	18-20
In  Russia	18
In Saratov region	18-20
Conclusion	20
List of literature	21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I. Introduction

«Ecology» is a very popular word today. But what does it mean? Ecology is a science which studies the relationship between all forms of life on our planet and the environment. This word came from Greek “oikos” which means home. The idea of home includes our whole planet, its population, nature, animals, birds, fish, insects and all other living beings and even the atmosphere around our planet.

Some people live in a town environment; for others their environment is the countryside. Nowadays people understand how important it is to solve the environment problems that endanger people’s lives. The most serious environmental problems are:

· Pollution in its many forms (water pollution, air pollution, nuclear pollution)

· Noise from cars, buses, planes, etc.

· Destruction of wildlife and countryside beauty

· Shortage of natural resources (metals, different kinds of fuel)

· The growth of population

Since ancient times Nature has served Man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with 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.

Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises appear all over the world today. The byproducts of their activity pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we grow grain and vegetables on. That’s why those who live in cities prefer spending their days off and their holidays far from the noise of the city, to be closer to nature. Perhaps they like to breathe fresh air or to swim in clear water because the ecology is not as poor as in the cities.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burn in fire. Their disappearance upsets the oxygen balance. As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

The pollution of air and the world's ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man's careless interaction with nature, a sign of the ecological crises.

In some way they are the result of scientific and technological progress of the 20-th century. But people also do a lot of harm to nature because they don't understand that the man is the part of environment. The relationship between man and nature has become one of the most vital problems facing civilization today.

Pollution of water and air is one of the problems millions of people are concerned today. Acid rains, unsafe of nuclear and hydraulic power stations, radioactive and other poisonous materials, disposal of wastes became the global disasters. Cars are one of the most harmful and dangerous polluters of air.

In more than a hundred towns and cities the concentration of harmful substances in the air and water is over 10 times the admissible level. Archangelsk is one of the most "dirty" towns of the country. The Northern Dvina - our main water source is fully polluted with industrial and communal wastes - the result of side-effect in the work of three giant pulp and paper mills. Water is not suitable for drinking.

. Besides we must remember about ozone holes over our heads. The ozone layer doesn't protect us from dangerous ultraviolet rays any more. They get through the atmosphere causing skin cancer and other diseases.

All these facts make us become more sensitive towards the environment. The poisoning of the world's land, air, and water is the fastest-spreading disease of civilization. It probably produces fewer headlines than wars, earthquakes and floods, but it is potentially one of history's greatest dangers to human life on earth. If present trends continue for the next several decades, our planet will become uninhabitable.

II. Ecological Problems

1. Water pollution

One of the most important pollution problems is the oceans. Many ships sail in the ocean water- fishing ships, some ships carrying people, some carrying oil. If a ship loses some of the oil in the water, or waste from the ships in put into the ocean, the water becomes dirty. Many sea birds die because of the polluted water. Some beaches are dangerous for swimming.

 

 There is no ocean or sea, which is not used as a dump. Many seas are used for dumping industrial and nuclear waste. This poisons and kills fish and sea animals. “Nuclear-poisoned” fish can be eaten by people. Many fish are dying in the sea, others are getting contaminated. Fishermen catch contaminated fish which may be sold in markets, and people may get sick from eating them. Many rivers and lakes are poisoned too. Fish and reptiles can’t live in them. There is not enough oxygen in the water. In such places all the birds leave their habitats and many plants die. If people drink this water they can die too. It happens so because factories produce a lot of waste and pour it into rivers. So they poison water.

For a long time people did not realize the danger. The first alarm came from Japan: sixty people died because they have eaten polluted fish.

The Baltic Sea is a special case. Because it is such a small sea and it becomes dirty very easily. Its water changes slowly through the shallow straits. As many as 250 rivers run into the Baltic. There are hundreds of factories in these rivers and millions of people live along them. Quite a lot of big cities lie on its coast. All these combined with the active navigation of the sea naturally affects the state of the sea water and the shore line flora and fauna. People suffer from the water pollution; cancer deaths increase people’s concern. Seven industrial countries surround the Baltic. Once we have polluted the sea, it is very difficult to clean it.

The seas are in danger. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas. Every ten minutes one kind of animal or plant dies out forever.

Seventy percent of the Earth is covered by oceans. Oceans are vital for the life on Earth. They provide homes for millions of plants and animals, provide people with food and help regulate the climate. But now they are a big dumping ground for tons of toxic waste. Most big cities pour their waste into seas and rivers.

    Virtually all types of water pollution are harmful to the health of humans and animals. Water pollution may not damage our health immediately but can be harmful after long term exposure. Different forms of pollutants affect the health of animals in different ways:

• Heavy metals from industrial processes can accumulate in nearby lakes and rivers. These are toxic to marine life such as fish and shellfish, and subsequently to the humans who eat them. Heavy metals can slow development; result in birth defects and some are carcinogenic.
• Industrial waste often contains many toxic compounds that damage the health of aquatic animals and those who eat them. Some of the toxins in industrial waste may only have a mild effect whereas other can be fatal. They can cause immune suppression, reproductive failure or acute poisoning.
• Microbial pollutants from sewage often result in infectious diseases that infect aquatic life and terrestrial life through drinking water. Microbial water pollution is a major problem in the developing world, with diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever being the primary cause of infant mortality.
• Organic matter and nutrients causes an increase in aerobic algae and depletes oxygen from the water column. This causes the suffocation of fish and other aquatic organisms.
• Sulfate particles from acid rain can cause harm the health of marine life in the rivers and lakes it contaminates, and can result in mortality.
• Suspended particles in freshwater reduces the quality of drinking water for humans and the aquatic environment for marine life. Suspended particles can often reduce the amount of sunlight penetrating the water, disrupting the growth of photosynthetic plants and micro-organisms.

2. Air pollution

     Humans probably first experienced harm from air pollution when they built fires in poorly ventilated caves. Since then we have gone on to pollute more of the earth's surface. Until recently, environmental pollution problems have been local and minor because of the Earth's own ability to absorb and purify minor quantities of pollutants.

Air becomes polluted in many ways. Cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, factories and plants send burnt gases into the air.

 

Air pollution is a very serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the air is life threatening equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same holds true for Mexico City and 600 cities of the former Soviet Union. Industrial enterprises emit tons of harmful substances. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains. Because of acid rains the Earth looses twenty million acres of tropical rainforests every year. This means the extinction of thousands of species that live there, for example tigers. Only 67 thousand tigers remain. Tigers are hunted and killed for their body parts, which are used in oriental medicines. The ozone layer is destroyed too and the dangerous rays get through the atmosphere causing skin cancer and other diseases.   More and more often people are told not to be in direct sunlight, because ultraviolet radiation from the sun can cause skin cancer. Normally the ozone layer in the atmosphere protects us from such radiation, but if there are holes in the ozone layer ultraviolet radiation can get to the earth. Many scientists think that these holes are the result of air pollution.

    Nuclear power stations can go wrong and cause nuclear pollution. Both clean air and clean water are necessary for our health. If people want to survive they must solve these problems quickly. Man is beginning to understand that his environment is not just his own town or country, but the whole earth. That’s why people all over the world think and speak so much about ecology.

       You cannot escape air pollution, not even in your own home. "In 1985 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that toxic chemicals found in the air of almost every American home are three times more likely to cause some type of cancer than outdoor air pollutants". The health problems in these buildings are called "sick building syndrome". "An estimated one-fifth to one-third of all U.S. buildings are now considered "sick". The EPA has found that the air in some office buildings is 100 times more polluted than the air outside. Poor ventilation causes about half of the indoor air pollution problems. The rest come from specific sources such as copying machines, electrical and telephone cables, mold and microbe-harboring air conditioning systems and ducts, cleaning fluids, cigarette smoke, carpet, latex caulk and paint, vinyl molding, linoleum tile, and building materials and furniture that emit air pollutants such as formaldehyde. A major indoor air pollutant is radon-222, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the radioactive decay of uranium-238. "According to studies by the EPA and the National Research Council, exposure to radon is second only to smoking as a cause of lung cancer". Radon enters through pores and cracks in concrete when indoor air pressure is less than the pressure of gasses in the soil. Indoor air will be healthier than outdoor air if you use an energy recovery ventilator to provide a consistent supply of fresh filtered air and then seal air leaks in the shell of your house.

The primary air pollutants found in most urban areas are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter (both solid and liquid). These pollutants are dispersed throughout the world's atmosphere in concentrations high enough to gradually cause serious health problems. Serious health problems can occur quickly when air pollutants are concentrated, such as when massive injections of sulfur dioxide and suspended particulate matter are emitted by a large volcanic eruption.

1. Greenhouse effect.

Also one of the most serious problems is green house effect. How can we explain the global climate warming? Haven’t you noticed that in this country winters have become much warmer with hardly any snow? What are the reasons for this? The first and the main reason is the greenhouse effect. It works like this: sunlight gives us heat. Some of the heat warms the atmosphere and some of the heat goes back into space. Nowadays the heat can't go into space. That's why winter and summer temperatures in many places have become higher. If the temperature continues growing up the snow on the mountains and ice will melt, so the most of the earth will be under water.

Without a natural greenhouse effect, the temperature of the Earth would be about zero degrees F (-18°C) instead of its present 57°F (14°C). However, the concern is not with the fact that we have a greenhouse effect, but it is with the question regarding whether human activities are leading to an enhancement of the greenhouse effect. Human activity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mostly carbon dioxide from combustion of coal, oil, and gas; plus a few other trace gases). There is no scientific debate on this point. A greenhouse effect is expected to cause cooling in higher parts of the atmosphere because the increased "blanketing" effect in the lower atmosphere holds in more heat.  
       There has been a general, but not global, tendency toward reduced diurnal temperature range (the difference between high and low daily temperatures) over about 50% of the global land mass since the middle of the 20th century.

So what are the potential effects of rising temperatures? In general scientists believe that rising temperature will lead to increase evaporation and therefore to more precipitation. But while some regions will experience increased rainfall, others will become dryer. Another effect is the rise of the sea levels, which will result in flooding low-lying coastal areas. This may also lead to increasing the salinity of the rivers and to decrease of water supplies. And finally climate changes may cause extinction of many species of birds, animals and plants.

2. Acid rains. What is Acid Rain?

"Acid rain" is a broad term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material) from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. The precursors, or chemical forerunners, of acid rain formation result from both natural sources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man-made sources, primarily emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) resulting from fossil fuel combustion. In the United States, roughly 2/3 of all SO2 and 1/4 of all NOx come from electric power generation that relies on burning fossil fuels, like coal.  Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from power plants and other sources, prevailing winds blow these compounds across state and national borders, sometimes over hundreds of miles.

Wet Deposition

Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. If the acid chemicals in the air are blown into areas where the weather is wet, the acids can fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow, fog, or mist. As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and animals. The strength of the effects depends on several factors, including how acidic the water is; the chemistry and buffering capacity of the soils involved; and the types of fish, trees, and other living things that rely on the water.

Dry Deposition

In areas where the weather is dry, the acid chemicals may become incorporated into dust or smoke and fall to the ground through dry deposition, sticking to the ground, buildings, homes, cars, and trees. Dry deposited gases and particles can be washed from these surfaces by rainstorms, leading to increased runoff. This runoff water makes the resulting mixture more acidic. About half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry deposition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effects of Acid Rain

Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations (for example, red spruce trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Prior to falling to the earth, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases and their particulate matter derivatives—sulfates and nitrates—contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health.

Reducing Acid Rain.

There are several ways to reduce acid rain—more properly called acid deposition—ranging from societal changes to individual action. It is critical that acid deposition be reduced, not only in the United States and Canada, but also throughout the world to preserve the integrity of natural habitats, as well as to reduce damage to man-made structures.

Additionally, individuals and society as a whole can participate in various efforts to help reduce acid deposition:

• Understand acid deposition’s causes and effects
• Clean up smokestacks and exhaust pipes
• Use alternative energy sources
• Restore a damaged environment
• Look to the future
• Take action as individuals
• Understand acid deposition’s causes and effects

To solve the acid rain problem, people need to understand how acid rain damages the environment. They also need to understand what changes could be made to the air pollution sources that cause the problem. The answers to these questions help leaders make better decisions about how to control air pollution and therefore, how to reduce—or even eliminate—acid rain. Because there are many solutions to the acid rain problem, leaders have a choice of which options or combination of options is best.

Take action as individuals

It may seem like there is not much that one individual can do to stop acid deposition. However, like many environmental problems, acid deposition is caused by the cumulative actions of millions of individual people. Therefore, each individual can also reduce their contribution to the problem and become part of the solution. Individuals can contribute directly by conserving energy, since energy production causes the largest portion of the acid deposition problem. For example, you can: