Author: gavr

Global Pollution Acid rain was just the start of long-distance pollution. Now we face a kind of pollution that can change the whole world at once – global pollution. The best example of this may turn out to be so powerful that it could change almost all of nature in your lifetime. It is what scientists call the greenhouse effect.

The temperature of the Earth depends on how much warmth it gets from the sun. Some of the gases and vapors in our atmosphere act like a giant blanket and trap the sun’s warmth.

Bibliography:
Kethlin S. Ed Rensi. Wecology.
Susan Stempleski.Forum.October 1993
J.J. Keller. Hasardous Materials Products Kit. 1985
Golysheva G.E. The ecological education is in English. POIPKRO. Pskov. 1996

Environmental problems

You can see the problem: The more carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere, the more warmth trapped from the sun. Some scientists are afraid that this will cause the Earth’s temperature to rise.

The Earth is in danger

The ozone layer in the atmosphere protects the Earth from the dangerous ultraviolet rays of the sun like a kind of roof. But the ozone layer is destroyed by a stuff that aerosol spray and refrigerators contain. It is called chlorofluorocarbons.

People will have to take measures because the dangerous rays get through the atmosphere, causing skin cancer and other diseases.

Much ought to be done to keep the planet suitable for leaving. We must stop using aerosol spray.

Local Pollution. Trash is probably the most basic kind of pollution. We throw out enormous amounts of garbage every day: cans and bottles, old newspapers, the plastic wrap that covered the food.

How much trash do we produce? The average family throws out 30 kilogram of trash a week. It that family saved its trash for a year, it would weigh as much as a car.

It’s hard to understand just how much trash we throw out until you see a big dump.

People have always thrown things away, but not as much as they do now.
But whatever people did throw out was usually made from wood or other natural material. That meant it would eventually break down and return to the soil, or degrade when it was exposed to air or water. Today, much of what we throw out isn’t naturally degradable.

Long-Distance Pollution In the past, the smoke from the burning coal had polluted the areas around the power plants. Then someone thought of a way to stop this local pollution. They built enormous smokestacks – some nearly as highs as the Empire State Building – at the power plants. Sure enough, the coal smoke went out the top of the giant stacks and, carried by the wind, disappeared

Well, not quite. The smoke went out the top of the giant stacks and was blown towards New England. That smoke contained sulfur dioxide and other sulfur vapors. Chemical reactions high in the atmosphere changed some of the sulfur to acid droplets. Later, when rain fell over the mountain forests, sulfuric acid fell with it making lakes and soil acidic.

About 20 years ago, people in New England began to notice that their trees and wildlife in their laces were dying. Whole hillsides of green trees turned first brown and then a dead gray. Lakes once filled with fish were becoming empty. At first no one was sure why this was happening. Then scientists began to test rainfall in the area. They found that it had turned acidic; in some places it was as sour as vinegar or lemon juice. Acid rain was killing the trees and lakes.