Ways to protect the environment
Our planet is in trouble! There are kinds of problems affecting the environment - and - pollution, acid rain, climate change, the destruction of rainforests and other wild habitats, the decline and extinction of thousands of species of animals and so on.
Nowadays, most of us know that the threats exist and that humans have caud them. Many of us are very worried about the future of our planet and unless we can find a way of solving the problems we have made then the environment will suffer even more. It all sounds so depressing - but we certainly mustn't despair! Every one of us, whatever age we are can do something to help slow down and rever some of the damage. We cannot leave the problem-solving entirely to the experts - we all have a responsibility for our environment. We must learn to live in a sustainable learn to u our natural resources which include air, freshwater, forests, wildlife, farmland and as without damaging them. As populations expand and lifestyles change, we must keep the world in a good condition so that future generations will have the same natural resources that we have.
Here are just a few examples of the threats to our environment and some ideas to help you to do something about them.
Waste
We humans create such a lot of rubbish! Between 1992 and 2008 houhold waste incread by 16% and we now produce just under half a tonne per person each year. Most of this is taken away by dustmen and buried in enormous landfill sites or burned in incinerators - both of the actions can be dangerous for the environment. Is all our rubbish really rubbish? If you think about it, much of what we throw away could be ud again. It makes n to reu and recycle our rubbish instead of just trying to solve the problem of where to put it! Encouragingly rates of recycling have incread so that we recycle 35 % of our houhold rubbish, although we could recycle up to 80%. Much of our waste is made up of glass, metal, plastic and paper. Our natural resources such as trees, oil, coal and aluminium are ud up in enormous amounts to make the products and the resources will one day be completely ud up. We must cut down on energy u.
Ideas to Help
* Sort out your rubbish. Organic potato peelings, left over food, tea leaves etc. can be transferred straight to a compost heap in the garden and ud as a good, natural fertilir for the plants. Aluminium cans, glass bottles and newspapers etc. are often collected from our doorsteps th
e days, but other items such as plastic bottles, juice cartons and cardboard may not be, in which ca they can be taken to nearby recycling banks. Find out where they are by asking your local council or library.
* U recycled paper to help save trees. Everyone in Britain us about 6 trees worth of paper every year.
传承Chlorine bleach is usually ud to make newspapers and this pollutes rivers. It's better to u unbleached, recycled paper whenever you can.
* Take your old clothes to charity shops. Some are sold, others are returned to textile mills for recycling.
* Try to avoid buying plastic. It's hard to recycle. One way to cut down on plastic is to refu to u carrier bags offered by supermarkets and u strong, long lasting shopping bags instead, or re-u plastic bags
over and over again, until they wear out and then recycle them.
* Don't buy over-packed goods. Many things we buy have unnecessary amounts of plastic and pape
r around them.
民兵工作条例Rainforests
Rainforests are valuable habitats. About half of all the species of animals and plants in the world live in rainforests with a possible 50,000 species a year becoming extinct. Thousands of rainforest plants contain substances that can be ud in medicines and the tribal people of the forests have great knowledge of them. Rainforests are also important becau they provide us with oxygen and help to regulate the world's climate and atmosphere.
Yet despite their value, an area of rainforest the size of Britain is destroyed every year. One and a half acres are cleared every cond, an area about the size of a football pitch. They are cut down to make way for 'civilid man' to provide timber, grow crops and graze cattle. Sometimes they're burnt down to make space to grow soya, an animal feed and to grow palm oil, a bio-fuel ud as an alternative to petrol and diel, as well as being ud as an ingredient in many foods.
Ideas to Help
* Never buy products made up of tropical mahogany and teak. It is better to buy only pine, oak, ash or beech becau they can be replaced.
* Garden and flower shops sometimes ll rainforest orchids that have been imported, although endangered ones have been protected since 1973. If you buy an orchid, check that it has been grown in Britain.
* Some parrots and macaws are unfortunately still imported. If you want a parrot as a pet, make sure it has been hatched in Britain.
* Eating a beef burger may be helping to destroy the rainforest! Most burgers in Britain are made from European cattle. However, the cattle are often fed on soya beans and a lot of that comes from Brazil where large areas of forest have been destroyed to make soya fields. Before buying a burger, ask where the cattle came from and what they were fed on. Try a veggie burger for a change!
Pollution
The air, water and soil of habitats all over the world have been, and are still being polluted in many different ways. This pollution affects the health of living things. Air is damaged by car and lorry fumes, and power stations create acid rain which destroys entire forests and lakes. When fossil oil, gas and coal are burned to provide energy for lighting, cooking etc. they form polluting gas.
Oils spills pollute a water and kill marine life; chemical waste from factories and wage works, and artificial fertilirs from farmland, pollute river water, killing wildlife and spreading dia.
The careless or deliberate dumping of litter in the environment is not only unsightly but dangerous for wildlife too
Ideas to Help
* Don’t drop litter.
温柔歌词* U less energy by switching off lights when rooms are not in u, not wasting hot water, not overheating rooms and not boiling more water than necessary when making a cup of tea!
* U a bicycle or walk instead of using a car for short trips.
* If you spot pollution, such as oil on the beach, report it to the local council. If you suspect a stream is polluted, report it to the local Environmental Health Officer.寒露风
* If you u chlorine-bad bleach or detergents containing phosphates you are contributing to water pollution.
Try to buy 'environmentally-friendly' products which don't contain the.
* Organic foods are produced without the u of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, preventing the pollutants from contaminating habitats and entering the food chain.
The Ozone Layer
Fifteen to thirty miles above the Earth lies the stratosphere, a broad band of gas and one of the gas is ozone. It's only a small part of the stratosphere but very important becau it prevents too many of the sun's ultra violet rays from reaching us. Too many ultra violet rays can give us skin cancer and destroy plankton, the important microscopic life in the a. In the 1980s it was discovered that 'holes' were appearing in the ozone layer above the Antarctic and Arctic.
CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, are gas ud in the manufacture of aerosols and fridges, are believed have been responsible for destroying the ozone layer. In 1987 the Montreal Protocol was introduced and later signed up to by 120 countries who agreed to half their CFC emissions by the year 2000. We now know that apart from destroying the ozone layer, CFCs contribute significantly to the greenhou effect. Even though they have been banned, their long atmospheric lifetime of 20 to 100 years will continue to contribute to the greenhou effect until they finally are broken down by th
香港消费高吗e sun.
Ideas to Help
* If you know of anyone getting rid of an old fridge, tell them that the CFCs can be drained out and recycled - contact the local council and they will dispo of the fridge safely. New fridges do not contain CFCs.
The Greenhou Effect
呼伦贝尔特产
演讲比赛方案Certain gas in the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorocarbons, act like the glass in a greenhou, allowing sunlight through to heat the Earth's surface but trapping some of the heat as it radiates back into space. Without this the Earth would be frozen and lifeless. However, owing to Man's activities,'greenhou gas' are building up in the atmosphere, causing a greater amount of heat to be reflected back to Earth. The result is an increa in average world temperatures and is already causing more droughts, flooding and extreme weather conditions such hurricanes.
Ideas to Help
* Don't waste electricity or heat. Electricity and heating are produced by burning coal, oil and gas and this action gives off carbon dioxide.
* Car fumes produce carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide - so try to cut down on car journeys if possible. U a bike or walk - it's good exerci for you too!
* Recycle as much of your waste as you can. Methane, the most effective 'greenhou gas', is relead into the air as the rubbish in landfill sites rots.
*Cut down on how much meat you eat. Meat consumption has rin and farm animals, especially cattle produce methane. Not only that but they are frequently fed soya which is often grown on land where rainforests have been destroyed. We need the rainforests to absorb carbon dioxide and remove it from the air.
Endangered Habitats and their Wildlife
Wild habitats all over the world are fast disappearing. Forests are being cut down, rivers and as polluted, heathlands built on, hedgerows pulled up, ponds filled in - the destruction ems endless. As the habitats decrea, so do their communities of animals and plants. Habitat destruction is one of the main reasons why many species face extinction. Habitats are commonly split up
and animals can't get from one part to another, unless wildlife 'corridors' are provided. Other reasons for their demi include the hunting of animals and collection of plants. Now they are facing a new threat, that of climate change.
A report by the International Union for Conrvation of Nature’s (IUCN) shows nearly one third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction. 869 species are already described as being extinct or extinct in the wild, i.e. disappeared from the earth forever.
Ideas to Help
* In many countries souvenirs made from rare wildlife are available - never buy shells, coral or things made from elephant ivory, rhino horn or cat skin etc.
* Try to reduce your 'carbon footprint'.
* Remember that British habitats and wildlife are under threat too. The destruction of wood land, pollution of rivers and ponds, the u of pesticides and herbicides have all contributed to the reduction in the amount of wildlife in Britain. Many animals and plants are red squirr
els, otters, barn owls, golden eagles, natterjack toads, many species of butterflies and dragonflies, orchids - to name just a few. If you have a garden at home, you could transform it into a mini nature rerve for wildlife. The same could be done in your school grounds.
Here are just a few ideas to create a wildlife garden:-
1. Make a pond. Even A small pond will attract frogs and toads etc. Birds and foxes may u it for drinking.
2. Make a wildflower meadow. Wildflower plants and eds may be bought from garden suppliers and, if planted correctly, a colourful meadow will result, attracting birds, butterflies and other incts.
3. Provide logs and stones and allow a few autumn leaves to remain lying around. The provide shelter for minibeasts and perhaps small mammals such as shrews and mice. An over-neat garden will not be attractive to wildlife.
4. Feed the birds during winter and put up nest boxes for robins and blue tits etc. to u in spring.
5. If your garden is big enough, you could plant a small wood. Always grow native trees such as oak, ash or birch - the attract more incts than foreign trees.
6. Hedgehogs are uful to have in the garden as they eat slugs. Encourage them to stay by providing them with tinned cat or dog meat, water and a safe place to hibernate in winter, such as a pile of logs, stuffed with hay and leaves.
古筝好学吗成人学7. Avoid using chemical sprays in the garden - some of the can be poisonous to wildlife. It's best to let the birds eat the cabbage-munching caterpillars, the hedgehogs and toads deal with the lettuce-loving slugs and the ladybirds dine on the ro-ravaging greenfly!
