Ýêîëîãèÿ / 5.Ïðîáëåìû ýêîëîãè÷åñêîãî âîñïèòàíèÿ ìîëîä¸æè
Harlamov K.I.
Scientific
supervisor: Anisimova S.A.
Donetsk national university of Economics and Trade
named after M. Tugan-Baranovsky, Ukrainian
World Problems of ecology and
environmental protection
Nowadays
an ecological situation in the world was so intensifyed, that to be quiet it is
simply impossible already.
In connection with stormy
development of new
technique and innovative technologies
all of us appear in a
tight enough squeeze. If in the near time a world association will not think
again and will not undertake some measures, there will be a great number of
negative consequences. For this reason
this subject is very interesting and requires the
detailed consideration.
Until
recently the planet was a large world
in which human activities and the
nature were in balance. Acid rain, global warming, ozone reduction, widespread
desertification and species loss: we
have to face them now.
Ecology
and economy are very closely connected.
First economy influenced the state of
our environment. Now we have to face degradation of soils, water, atmosphere and forests.
Millions of trees are dying in
Germany’s Black Forest and thousands
of lakes in Sweden are so acidic that
nothing can live in them. In Scotland farmers complain that acid rains kill their fish. Forests in
Denmark, France, Northern Italy, Greece
and Norway are damaged. Thousands of lakes in Canada and the USA can no longer support fish life. The
Mediterranean Sea has one of the
dirtiest coastlines in the world. Ten million tons of oil,
industrial waste, chemicals are pumped
into the sea every year. It causes diseases
like typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and cholera. The Rhone in France, the Po in
Italy, the Ebro in Spain and the Nile
in Egypt carry pesticides and chemical
wastes. Many industries produce waste
products, which can be difficult or
dangerous to dispose of. Many countries have no storage facilities for
the spent nuclear fuel.
The search
for ways to dispose of radioactive waste goes on. In 1982 seventeen countries
took part in the United Nations
environmental programme. The World
Commission on Environment and
Development, headed by the Prime Minister
of Norway, was set up in 1983 by the
United Nations. Its aim was to examine the
environment and development
problems on the planet and to
formulate realistic proposals to solve
them. Now some chemicals are banned and
some must be controlled. In several countries there is frequent analysis of the water around the coasts. The
time has come for the governments and
their people to take responsibility for
the policies that cause the
environmental damage.
Protection
of the environment in Ukraine
is paid much attention to. The worsening of the ecological situation has been closely linked to the Chernobyl explosion. On April 26, 1986,
a fire burnt out of control and
released radioactive materials. The disaster
killed 31 persons immediately and caused the hospitalization of about 500 others. It has caused
widespread illnesses and made the land
in the area unusable. A radioactive
cloud spread from the plant over most
of Europe. Radiation even spread so far as to
appear in Asia and in North America.
Another
issue of concern in Ukraine is the
question of where to put nuclear waste.
This waste is largely the spent fuel of
reactors. It is radioactive, and some of its components remain so
forever. The waste is held at temporary sites
until a solution of the problem can be
found. At present the most promising
solution of the problem of waste
storage is recycling.
Another
environmental problem is air pollution.
One of its results is acid rain. It is caused by smoke from factories and transport. Nowadays the emission of
smoke is strictly controlled by
special governmental agencies. The
activity of various environmental
organizations helps to improve the
situation. Among the leading environmental organizations in Ukraine are the
Greenpeace and the Green Party. They are very popular with the
youth in Ukraine.
The
Ministry of Environmental Protection was founded in Ukraine. Their tasks are to
control the state of the environment
and sources of pollution, to protect
the water resources of Ukraine, to
extend the network of nature reserves
and to maintain cooperation with
international ecological organizations. Campaign for environmental protection is supported by public organizations and individuals.
Defence of
nature – business is international, it
is therefore needed to affect the problems of ecology in the USA, Great Britain
and other countries.
Environmental
protection is an international issue of great importance, and Great Britain pays much
attention to it. The National Rivers
Authority protects inland waters in
England and Wales. In Scotland the River purification authorities are
responsible for water pollution
control. Total emissions of smoke in the air
have fallen by 85 per cent since 1960. Most petrol stations in Britain
stock unleaded petrol. The Government
is committed to the control of gases
emission, which damage the ozone layer.
They also contribute to the greenhouse
effect, which leads to global warming
and a rise in sea levels. Britain
stresses the need for studying the
science of climate change.
There
are nearly 500,000 protected buildings
and 7,000 conservation areas of
architecture or historical interest in
Britain. The Government supports the work of
the voluntary sector in preserving the
national heritage. Green belts are areas where land should be left open and free from urban sprawl. The Government attaches great importance to their protection. National
parks cover 9 per cent of the total
land area of England and Wales. As we see, Great Britain takes care of its environment for themselves and next generations.
Environment
pollution problem is paid much
attention to in the USA. Different environmentalists and environmental societies, like
Wilderness Society, try to improve
the situation.
The
level of damage to the forests in the
USA is really high. The construction of new roads and the need of wood influenced the
cuttings of large areas of forest. As a result some rare species of animals,
and some plants can disappear. For example, the pacific yew, containing a cancer-fighting compound.
American
environmentalists are also disturbed by
the problem of global warming. They pay
much attention to the research in this
sphere. Global warming is the result of air
pollution by different gases. Together with the gases, destroying the ozone layer, it influences the patterns of weather. Many USA universities
investigate these problems. The
pollution of Lake Erie, one of the
Great Lakes, and the problem of acid
rains that threatened many forests,
made the media start a campaign
against industrial pollution.
All of
the states have adopted their own laws;
some banned throwaway bottles, or use of phosphates in soaps, or industrial dumping of wastes. By 1986 smoking in public had been restricted. There also exist public
societies, whose aim is to attract
public’s attention to the most
important environmental problems.
Public
attention to the problems of pollution
has now become a part of American life.
We live on the Earth. It is very big. There
is a lot of water on the Earth. It is in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. There
are a lot of forests and fields, hills
and mountains on it. Different animals
and birds live on the Earth. And
different plants grow on it. There are large and small countries, warm and cold countries. There are countries
where there are four seasons in a year
and some countries where there are only
two. People live in different countries and
they speak different languages. Our country is not small. There are a
lot of long and short rivers, beautiful
lakes, large forests and fields and
mountains in our country. People who live here speak many languages though the Ukrainian and Russian languages are the main languages. We
love our country and our Earth. So let us save and value them and
this anxiety will return hundredfold!