Environmental issues
Témata životního prostředí

Explain what is the Greenhouse Effect:
This process is natural for the Earth. It prevents heat from escaping into the atmosphere. The problem is, that human activity makes this process too intensive. Our civilization produces greenhouse gases (freons, water vapour, methane, carbon dioxide), which are let into the atmosphere in too big amounts. The effect is made stronger and our planet warms up, which results in global warming and climate changes.
There is an ozone layer around the Earth which protects us against ultraviolet rays. The layer is getting thinner because it is damaged by freons. As a result, we are endangered by UV rays which can cause skin cancer and other diseases.

Energy

At the moment 94% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. One
possibility is nuclear energy - but after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, many
people think nuclear power isn’t safe and they are for "green" solutions:

• Wind energy
• Solar energy
• Wave energy from the sea
• Geothermal energy from hot rocks under the earth

The environment is all around us. It consists of the water, the air and the earth. However, people don't always care for the environment as they should. But environment is very important for our health. New civilization gives us many advantages but its products also pollute and damage the environment where we live in. Pollution affects air, water, land, forests, people, animals and plants.
One of the biggest problems is air pollution. The air is needful for life - not only for humans, but also for animals and plants. But it's very polluted, especially in large cities and in areas with concentrated industrial production, for example in refinery towns. Air quality is spoiled by eimissions from cars and factories and by burning coal and oil.
The problem is that when we breathe polluted air we are ill much more often. And some kinds of animals and plants are dying out.
People should try to use alternative sources of energy, such as solar, water or wind. There are more ways to reduce air pollution caused by road traffic. First of them is to support public transportation.
But there are still factories that don't pollute only the air, but also the ground and water. All organisms need to drink. We cannot survive without water. And there is less and less drinkable water on the Earth. It's polluted by waste of chemicals industries, and chemicals used in agriculture, waste of ships and acid rains.

Acid rain is another point I'd like to speak about. Gases like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are produced by power stations and cars. This gases mixes with water in clouds, and this makes the acid rain, which damages rivers and trees.
But in some parts of the world trees are not killed by pollution, but by people. Tropical rain forests are being burnt and cut down because people need more land for agriculture. But trees are very important for our life because they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and give out oxygen in return. This process is called photosynthesis.
When there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere we call it the GREENHOUSE EFFECT. It caused the global warming because heat comes down to Earth and then cannot escape to space. It is caused by pollution in the air with dangerous gases such as carbon dioxide. There is a danger of changing weather and rising sea levels as glaciers melt.
Another problem is destroying the ozone layer. The ozone layer is very important, because it protects us from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Scientists discovered that there are holes in it caused by use of some chemicals, ozone damaging gases such as freons used in aerosols, refrigerators and car air conditioning. UV causes damage to the DNA of cells and various cancers.
There are some organizations which actively work to protect the environment. The most famous is Greenpeace, which fights against pollution and the use of nuclear energy in industry and protects oceans, forests and animals.

Maybe I can wrap it up by saying a few words about HOW TO BE GREEN: But everyone of us can do something to protect the environment. There are a lot of small things that can help. For example, we should swich off lights, turn down the central heating, insulate our houses, reduce packaging of goods, re-use items instead of buying new ones, and recycle to reduce waste. We also should use unleaded petrol, public transport or bicycle, take showers instead of baths, don't waste water or electricity or grow plants and trees.
There are many other things we could do better. We must think of future generations.