Ecological Problems

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.

Every year world industry pollutes the ahmosphere 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.

The most horrible ecological disaster befell Ukraine and its people after the Chernobyl tragedy in April 1986. About 18 percent of the territory of Belarus were also polluted with radioactive substances. A great damage has been done to the agriculture, forests and people's health. The consequences of this explosion at the atomic power-station are tragic for the Ukrainian, Bylarussian and other nations.

Environmental protection is of a universal concern. That is why serious measures to create a system of ecological security should be taken.

Some progress has been already made in this direction. As many as 159 countries - members of the UNO - have set up environmental protection agencies. Numerous conferences have been held by these agencies to discuss problems facing ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatinsk and Chernobyl. An international environmental research centre has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international organisation Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment.

But these are only the initial steps and they must be carried onward to protect nature, to save life on the planet not only for the sake of the present but also for the future generations.

Экологические проблемы

С древних времен природа служит человеку, являясь источником его жизни. Тысячи лет люди жили в гармонии с окружающей средой. И им казалось, что природные богатства неисчерпаемы. Но с развитием цивилизации человек все больше стал вмешиваться в природу.

Во всем мире появляются большие города с тысячами дымящих промышленных предприятий. Побочные продукты их деятельности загрязняют воздух, которым мы дышим, воду, которую мы пьем, землю, на которой мы выращиваем пшеницу и овощи.

Каждый год мировая промышленность вырабатывает один миллион тонн пыли и других вредных веществ. Многие города страдают от смога. Огромные леса вырубаются и сжигаются. Их исчезновение нарушает кислородный баланс. В результате некоторые редкие виды животных, птиц, рыб и растений навсегда исчезают. Высыхают многие реки и озера.

Загрязнение воздуха и мирового океана, разрушение озонового слоя является результатом небрежного обращения с природой, признаком экологического кризиса.

Самая ужасная экологическая катастрофа постигла Украину и ее народ после Чернобыльской трагедии в апреле 1986 г. Также около восемнадцати процентов территории Белоруссии было загрязнено радиоактивными веществами. Был нанесен большой урон сельскому хозяйству, лесам и здоровью людей. Последствия этого взрыва на атомной станции трагические для украинской, белорусской и других наций.

Защита окружающей среды - всеобщая забота. Вот почему необходимо принять серьезные меры для разработки системы экологической безопасности.

В этом направлении уже достигнут определенный прогресс. 159 стран - членов ООН - организовали агентства по защите окружающей среды. Этимиагентствамибыли проведены многочисленные конференции, на которых обсуждались проблемы, стоящие перед экологически неблагополучными регионами, включая Аральское море. Южный Урал, Кузбасс, Донбасс, Семипалатинск и Чернобыль. На озере Байкал был открыт международный центр исследований окружающей среды. Международная организация "Гринпис" делает многое для того, чтобы сохранить окружающую среду.

Но это всего лишь первые шаги, и надо двигаться вперед, защищая природу, сохраняя жизнь на планете, не только ради настоящего, но и для будущих поколений.

Источник:http://www.english-easy.info/topics/topics_Ecological_Problems.php#ixzz1tBSzrkvv

Animals need help. Earth is in danger - Животные нуждаются в помощи. Земля в опасности

People have lived on our planet for many years. They lived and live on different continents, in different countries. People depend on their planet, on the sun, on animals and plants around them. People must take care of Earth.

Our ecology becomes worse and worse with every new day. Many species of animals and birds are disappearing nowadays. People destruct wildlife, cut down trees to make furniture. They forget that people can’t live without trees and plants, because they fill air with oxygen. And, of course, great problems are population and animals destruction.

The main reason of pollution is rubbish. Most of our rubbish goes to big holes in the ground, called ‘dumps’. But dumps are very dangerous for our life ‘cause they are full of rats, which can carry infections away from dumps. Another way to get rid of rubbish is to burn it. But the fires make poisons, which go into the air and pollute it.

Pollution isn’t the only actual problem. Every day a big number of animals dissapeares. People kill animals for different aims: e.g. people hunt whales for their meat and oil, elephants for their tusks, crocodiles for their leather and so on. And also animals are used for medical experiments. Modern life is bad for animals, birds, fish. The air isn’t fresh and the water isn’t pure. They don’t have good meal and facilities for the life. You can find their names in the Red Book.

Of course, people can’t stay indifferent to these problems. There are a lot of special organizations, which try to save our nature. The most known are: The Royal Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (The RSPCA), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace.

The RSPCA tries to protect animals from bad use. It operates big nation campaigns aimed at lost pets, circus animals.

The WWF rescued several species of animals, mammals as well as birds. These organization also helped to create more than 250 National parks.

Greenpeace began its work 20 years ago from saving whales. And now Greenpeace is a world-famous organization, which saves plants, animals and people. These organization, want to rescue animals, to help them to survive and to save jungle rain forests, which are in danger of destruction. And they also help animals ‘cause many of them have already gone as they have nowhere to live. Their homes, the trees, have disappeared.

We must save wild animals. And we must find the right way to save land, people and animals. We must take care of nature, because we are part of it.