Introduction

The world has reached a crisis point. Our modern lifestyle is destroying the fragile environment which is already under strain. The environment crisis we are facing today makes it imperative for us to analyse the environment situation and take action that could halt environmental degradation and begin to reserve it. If nothing is done about the environmental crisis today, it may cause irreversible damage to the entire planet.

Subject of the Project

The subject of this study is the problem of environmental protection we are faced with today and its solution in Russia and the United States.

Hypothesis

Much has been done in the area of environmental protection both in Russia and the US. But the environmental situation is still discouraging in both countries. Much remains to be done.

Project Objectives

• The primary objective of my study is to give the general picture of environmental degradation in the world. To analyse and compare the environmental policies in Russia and the United States.

• Another objective is to carry out a survey in order to find out if young people are fully aware of the importance of environmental problems.

Project Structure

Section I is an overview of how human destructive activities affect the environment.

Section II looks at and compare the environmental policies in Russia and the US, outlines the impact of the state of the environment on public health and indicates concrete measures to be taken to prevent dire consequences of environment degradation.

Methods of the Investigation

To achieve the objectives of the project several methods were used:

• The deductive method of presenting information which made it possible to move from general information (Section I) to specific information (Sections II and III);

• The concentric method of presenting information which enabled us to look at various aspects of the main subject (Section I);

• The method of comparative analysis which allowed us to compare Russian and American environmental policies (Sections II and III);

• The survey which was carried out to collect environmental information from our class-mates.

Acknowledgement

This project is based on information from many sources and was carried out in consultation with Mrs Nadezhda Matveeva, our teacher of English, whose support and valuable advice are warmly acknowledged.

1. The destructive influence of human activities on the environment: causes, damage and remedies

1. The atmosphere: the ozone layer, greenhouse effect and air pollution.

1. The ozone layer and greenhouse effect. The atmosphere is the layer of gas that surrounds the earth. The composition of the atmosphere changes with the distance from the earth’s surface. The layer near the surface – the troposphere- contains the air we breathe, the stratosphere (between 15 and 80 kilometers above sea level) contains thin, cold air with less oxygen and no dust or water vapor, and the ionosphere contains very thin air and electrically charged particles which reflect electromagnetic waves. The lower part of the stratosphere contains a band of warm gas called the ozone layer (between 15 and 40 kilometers above sea level). Ozone absorbs very shortwave ultraviolet radiation – that is, the harmful, burning rays from the sun. These rays kill plants and cause burns, skin cancer, and cataracts in animals and people. The ozone layer protects us from these damaging effects. The man-made chemicals chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) break up ozone molecules. They have already caused a large hole in the ozone layer. Some environmentalists argue that governments should ban all production of CFCs immediately to prevent an irreversible environmental crisis.

Another environmental problem in the atmosphere is the greenhouse effect. Some gases transmit shortwave radiation. The sun’s energy arrives as shortwave radiation; some of this is reflected away in the clouds and upper atmosphere and some is absorbed into the ground. Certain gases in the upper troposphere – especially carbon dioxide, methane and CFCs – reflect this radiation back to earth. The glass in a greenhouse conserves heat by the same principle, so these gases are known as “greenhouse gases”. The greenhouse effect is very important; if it did not occur at all, the temperature of the planet would be 40 degrees lower and the oceans would freeze. But an increase in the greenhouse effect (caused by an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) may lead to global warming, with disastrous consequences.

Today the situation is alarming. The latest United Nations (UN) climate summit (Durban, December 9^th 2011) says that the world is failing to tackle global warming. Since the Kyoto protocol was signed (1977) emissions have increased by over a quarter and are rising faster than ever. China is the world’s biggest polluter and the US is the world’s second – biggerst polluter (see the pie chart). The UN reckons that by 2020 the world will not manage to keep warming under 2’ C.

Pie chart 1. Greenhouse-gas emissions 2007, billion tones CO₂ equivalent

2. Air pollution. Carbon dioxide accounts for 55 % of the greenhouse effect; CFCs account for 17%; methane for 15% and nitrous oxide for 5%. Carbon dioxide occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It is produced when animals and plants respire. But “natural” carbon dioxide forms only 0.03% of the atmosphere. Higher concentrations of carbon dioxide are not natural at all. Carbon dioxide is also produced when living things burn, so it is a by-product of industrial processes which use fossil fuels (coal, gas or oil), and motor vehicles which burn gasoline or diesel fuel. It is also produced when tropical rainforests are cleared by burning.

Industrial air pollution includes the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons. It also includes sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which lead to acid rain. All fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide.

The biggest cause of air pollution in the world is the car. Today, there are over 400 million cars in the world; this number doubles every 20 years. Almost all cars burn gasoline, which produces carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons (which react in sunlight to form ozone), and other toxic products such as benzene and lead. Unleaded gasoline is becoming the norm in developed countries. Catalytic convertors, which are now standard features on most new cars, reduce emission of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons by up to 90%, but they do not reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The tropical rainforests occupy a total area of about nine million square kilometers. But they are rapidly being cut down today. According to the most conservative estimate, all the rainforests in the world will be gone in less than a century unless the rate of felling slows down. A more realistic estimate is 30 years. The rainforests are the lungs of the world. The loss of vegetation in the rainforests magnifies the greenhouse effect. We are producing more and more carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. The capacity of the rainforests to absorb this environmentally toxic gas is becoming ever more crucial.

The air we breathe is no longer clean and pure. “Developments” that have made our life comfortable (such as industrialization, urbanization and the use of private cars) all pollute the earth’s atmosphere. Reducing air pollution should be a priority in all countries.