Environmental problems

Introduction

Ecology is a science, which studies the relationship between all forms of life on our planet and our environment. This word came from the Greek «oikos» which means «home». All living things are related to their environment. The Earth is our common home and we must take care of it.

Since ancient times Nature has provided Man with everything he needed: food to eat, water to drink, wood for building and fuel for heating and cooking. For hundreds of years Man used Nature’s sources and it seemed to people that the resources of Nature had no end.

With the industrial revolution our negative influence on Nature began to increase. Big smoky cities with thousands of people, polluting plants and factories can be found nowadays all over the world.

Unfortunately, the idea of thinking about our planet and about the consequences of our activity appeared not so long time ago as it could be. Nowadays scientists from the different parts of the world try to solve ecological problems, but it isn’t enough to do our planet clean. We must protect our home all together, without any exceptions.

This report is devoted to different ecological catastrophes and to environmental protection. It summarizes the results of my survey into such global problems like «greenhouse effect». The aim of my report is the following: to show actual environmental problems, explain how they change our life and try to find the possible ways to solve them. I suppose that this topic is very actual nowadays and I hope that this information will appeal not only to my mind.

Air pollution

Air pollution is one of the main problems all over the world. Millions of chimneys, buses, cars, plants, factories and other industrial enterprises exhaust fumes and harmful substances into the atmosphere. Poisoned air is the main reason why it is hard to breath in large cities with big amount of plants and transport (example – Nijnii Tagil in the Urals).

Human activity has been increasing the concentration of such gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor in the atmosphere. Scientists expect to see a doubling of carbon dioxide over pre-industrial levels around the year 2065.

Every year the atmosphere is polluted by about one thousand (1000) tons of industrial dust. Among industries especially toxic wastes are made by enterprises of colour metallurgy, chemical, petrochemical, black metallurgy, woodworking, pulp paper industry etc. Big cities suffer from smog.

«Leaders» of wastes of harmful substances in an atmosphere in Russia during three last years are Krasnoyarsk region, the Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kemerovo area and it is necessary to attribute this areas to a zone of the ecological catastrophe. The most contaminated regions are economic centers of Russian Federation and most populated. Now 2/3 population of Russia continues to live in conditions of dangerous air contamination.

Various chemical elements are intensively absorbed by our organism during breathing, it is harmful for our health. Air pollution is especially harmful for quality of genofond.

Scientists say that air pollution is the cause of acid rains, global warming and of greenhouse effect. I’d like to tell you some facts on this topic.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect is unquestionably real; it is the essential for life on the Earth. It is the result of heat absorption by certain gases in the atmosphere (called greenhouse gases because they trap heat) and re-radiation downward of a part of that heat. Greenhouse gases are:

• Carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), and wood and wood products are burned.

• Methane. Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil. Methane emissions also result from the decomposition of organic wastes in municipal solid waste landfills, and the raising of livestock.

• Nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is emitted during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as during combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels.

Naturally occuring greenhouse gases also include water vapor, ozone and few other gases.

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).

Human activity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. There is no scientific debate on this point. Pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide (prior to the start of the Industrial Revolution) were about 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv), current levels are about 370 ppmv and the expected level for the year 2065 is 560 ppmv. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 30%, methane concentrations have more than doubled, and nitrous oxide concentrations have risen by about 15%.

Scientists apologize that the increasing of the concentration of greenhouse gases and chemicals in the atmosphere lead to the global warming.

Global warming is a changing of the climate on the Earth that made life on the Earth possible.

What are the potential effects of rising temperatures? Why do we call global warming an environmental problem? 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. Even now a lot of species of animals, birds, fish and plants have either disappeared completely or on the verge of extinction.

Solutions to global warming - clean energy, energy efficiency and new environmentally sound technologies - already exist. The latest report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that hundreds of technologies are already available, at very low cost, to reduce climate damaging emissions and that government policies need to remove the barriers to these technologies.

Implementing these solutions will not require humans to make sacrifices or otherwise impede their quality of life. Instead, they will enable people to usher in a new era of energy, one that will bring economic growth, new jobs, technological innovation and, most importantly environmental protection.

Wind power is already a significant source of energy in many parts of the world. It can supply 10 percent of the world's electricity within two decades.

Solar power has been growing in a global capacity by 33 percent annually. Greenpeace and industry research shows that with some government support, the solar industry could supply electricity to over 2 billion people globally in the next 20 years.

By 2040 solar photovoltaics could supply nearly 25 percent of global electricity demand.

A report conducted by global financial analysts KPMG shows that solar power would become cost competitive with traditional fossil fuels if the production of photovoltaic panels was increased to 500 megawatts a year.

A renewable power plant in Asia could have the same costs and provide the same jobs as a coal-fired plant, but with significant environmental advantages.

Greenfreeze refrigeration technology, which is safe for the climate and the ozone layer, has spread around the world. It is an ideal solution for developing countries where cost and efficiency are particularly important.

Oil companies must stop exploring for more fossil fuels that the world cannot afford to burn. Governments need to subsidize renewable energy and force polluters to pay.

Acid rains

First of all I should say that the only place on earth where pure water is found is in a laboratory. Rainwater always contains small amounts of impurities. These impurities come from dust particles or are absorbed from the gases in the air. If pure water is exposed to the air it absorbs carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid and becomes slightly acidic, dropping from pH 7 i.e. neutral, to pH 5,6. Even in remote, unpopulated areas rain can reach a pH of 4,5. However, a pH of less than 4,5 in rain is almost certainly caused by air pollution.

Acid rain is caused by the release of the sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides. The main sources of sulphur dioxide are coal-fired power stations and metal working industries. The main sources of nitrous oxides emissions are vehicles and fuel combustion.

Sulphur dioxide reacts with water vapor and sunlight to form sulphuric acid. Likewise nitrous oxides form nitric acid in the air. These reactions take hours, or even days, during which polluted air may move hundreds of kilometers. Thus acid rain can fall far from the source of pollution.

When mist or fog droplets condense they will remove pollutants from the air and can become more strongly acid than acid rain. Even snow can be acid. Gases and particles, not dissolved in water, with a low pH can also be deposited directly onto soil, grass and leaves. It