Can we save the environment?

Before I jump straight to the question on whether we can save the environment, we should think on a few factors to consider.

Who has to play a part in saving the environment?
What can we do to save it?
Where can we start off to save the environment?
When can we do it?
How can we do it?

Considering on these factors, we can come to a solution. But again, is the environment really worth saving? The environment has lived for quite a long period of time even before we were born. Ever since the dinosaur period, the environment is already here. Now, we are sharing the same environment as before. What is the only difference from before and after? Well if I could put it in a simply way to say it, I would say, before, it was healthier. Now, it’s like a piece of wasteland. Since humans started to live on Earth, we discover many new things out of curiosity.

As the proverb goes, ‘curiosity kills the cat’, in this case, curiosity kills the environment. Not knowing that each time we discover something new, the environment has to sacrifice something too. For example, where to our writing papers come from? They come from trees! See the link? We discover paper and we’re happy with it. The environment loses trees and of course she’s not happy with it. We cannot find out how the environment is feeling. We can’t tell whether it is happy or sad, that’s because the environment can’t speak. It’s up to us to tell ourselves whether the environment is suffering badly or not. We take things for granted. For example, seeing that there’s so many rare living species that can up boost human health, the poachers seek out in the wilderness to hunt for these animals, and sell them in the market for big money. As too many of them are hunted, they end up endangered.

I admit that humans are greedy people. Who isn’t money minded? Everything in the world talks about money. Everyone aims to be rich. In industrial areas, factories work extremely hard to boost profit, earning more money as usual. They do not really bother on what method they use, they just want money. They neglect the environment by doing this. Each time they work, the factories emit toxic fumes and waste to the environment. Let us refer to the case that happened in Russia – St. Petersburg. Again, we talk about humans harming the environment. Taken from ‘http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3007228.stm’, reported by BBC. Here, we have a case of untreated sewage flowing from St. Petersburg to the Neva river, then to the Baltic sea.



Taken from ‘http://www.helcom.fi/environment/assessment/en_GB/assessment’

This image shown above is the Baltic sea during the pollution. Much effort was taken to clean up the sea.

Below is another image of what happened during the pollution.



Taken from ‘http://www.healthypages.net/newsstory.asp?newsid=4851’

As shown, these fishes died during the pollution. It certainly isn’t a pleasant sight to look at it.

So now, onto the main topic. Can we really save the environment after all have happen? We all know that the answer to that question would definitely be a NO. We can’t really turn the environment back to what it was before. All we can do is, contain and minimize harmful effects to the environment. All of us should know by now. Only we can play a part to save the environment. Of course, the environment doesn’t have hands to save herself, but we do! It is true that each and even one of us cannot really do much to help, but by doing what we really can do, we can lessen the burden of the environment, prolonging her life. At the same time, we gain by having a clean and green Earth to live in.

Firstly, we humans can start off by controlling pollution.

Stop disposing toxic wastes into the waters! They would only harm the marine life. When marine lives are killed, fishermen get nothing for their harvest. As a result, we consumers get nothing to eat. Dispose these wastes properly. Go through proper treatment before throwing them out into the environment. This way, lives could be saved.

Stop intensive agriculture! Take the pig farming in Poland for reference. This farm named Smithfield Foods only knows how to earn money. They do not take the environment in regard to what they are doing. They keep all their thousands of pig in a single room and leave them there. Naturally, pigs would give out manure when they need to, like we humans, but having too many pigs and having too much manure in one single room would stink the entire vicinity. If pig manure is not taken care of properly, it could turn into a dangerous pollutant. These manure produces ammonia and hydrogen sulphide which, in high concentrations, cause headaches, eye irritations, mood alterations and fatigue. In addition, nitrates from the manure can seep through the soil and into the water systems. It can cause serious problems for marine animals and can be a risk for human health. Pig manure can contain antibiotic resistant diseases also, which is dangerous to us too.
Credits to ‘http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4035081.stm’

Next. Where can we start off to save the environment?



Taken from’ http://www.swdahsv.org/faq.html’

This is an easy question to answer. From home, we can already save the environment. Recycle what we can and dispose what we can’t. It saves the environment by recycling.

Reuse items that can be used again. Do not always wish to get new items to use. Everyone is trying to save the world.

Reduce the amount of items we throw. At the same time, reduce the amount of water and electricity we use. If its possible to save, please do.

Now onto, where can we do it?

Anywhere of course! Be it at home or outside home. With just our two pairs of hands, anything can be done, but please do not litter. Use appropriate rubbish bins for proper disposal.

How can we do it?

We can spread the word to other people, telling them to note what they waste each day.

Following all these methods, we could at least keep the environment in shape, but as time goes by, the environment would still have to leave us, and at the same time, we would leave the environment.

Synthesis

You might ask, is the Earth really worth saving? Well, here’s my answer. The Earth has to be saved. If we do not save the Earth, where are we going to live in? We can’t possibly migrate to Mars and live there without any proper living conditions. The benefit of saving the Earth is to save ourselves from living in despair. With the environment we have now, we can’t possibly say that the environment is healthy. We have to live longer for ourselves and the environment.

What are the biggest threads to the environment? I should say we are the biggest thread. Why? Be it big or small, everything we do harms the environment. For example, the pesticides that the farmers spray release chemicals into the air, causing us to breathe in polluted air.

Can the Earth be saved? Yes it can, but however, it cannot be totally saved. What we can do is just maintain what we have now and prolong our environment.

Start by controlling the amount of toxic materials being released into the environment. Use proper disposal methods. Do not wash acids down the pipes to the sea. Everyone has a part to play in this. We cannot make this a success if one person is left out. The environment is dying as the clock ticks. The government needs to be alert incase of any pollution. Fast actions should be taken to control it. Citizens should use solar panels cars to save petrol and emit less harmful gases. The industries should dispose their waste properly, as they as toxic and dangerous. Farmers should control their amount of pesticides sprayed and lesser toxic chemicals in the pesticide.

Why is the environment important and how does it affect plants and humans?

As we dump harmful materials out to the environment, we do not really know what and how does it affect the planet. As we know, the environment is the world we live in. We need to keep it healthy and in shape to provide us a better life. If our environment is not taken care of properly, our lives will be shortening by a big portion.

Where do all the harmful causes come from? Many come from industrial areas. These factories make a living by producing products to sell in the market, but on the other hand, do they really know that at the same time, they are harming the environment. Like in Europe, the releasing of toxic fumes causes acid rain. Acid rain damage building and plants, and if unlucky, humans will be affected too. Another example is the e-recycling in India. Taken from the BBC news ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3307815.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3307815.stm ), up to thirty million computers are thrown from the US and dumped in India and China. These old computers have a lot of toxic materials hidden in them, such as mercury, lead, flame retardants, and PVC-coated copper wire. When these materials are being extracted, heavy metals and chemicals are released into the environment, which is of course, an unfortunate thing of the environment. The process of extraction uses all kinds of chemicals such as acids, which gets dumped into the soil and go into the groundwater. As it happens, it also affects the economy. Acids flow into the sea, killing the marine life. As a result, fishermen do not get as much harvest as they do normally. The pollution in Baltic Sea is an example. Untreated sewage flows into the Neva river from St. Petersburg then to the Baltic Sea. The Swedish is concerned because fishing is important to their economy. It would take a long time to clean the sea before they could fish again. The greenhouse effect affects the environment ecologically. The huge amount of ice in South Pole will cause sea levels will rise and people will drown.

How healthy is the environment today? No! The environment isn’t as healthy as before. With the amount of harmful gases released into the air, we do not breathe in fresh air anymore. Adding to that, the waters contain chemicals. Living beings find it hard to get fresh environment to live in. This is specially referred to the marine life where they find it hard to live in a chemical polluted environment.

What are the biggest threats to the environment? Pollution that is! The amounts of harmful wastes are killing the Earth! Something must be done to it!

How do we save the environment? Reduce pollution. Control the amount of wastes being dumped each day. Save electricity generation by using solar panels.

TOPIC 15: Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is the ability of the atmosphere to capture and recycle energy emitted by the Earth surface. The Earth gets energy from the sun by radiation and warms the Earth surface. Greenhouse gases are gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oixide. Global warming brings about the effects of increasing in temperature, increase of sea levels and decrease in land area. By using renewable energy sources such as stopping the burning of forests and cutting down the release of greenhouse gases from industries, these effects can be slowed down,giving us a better life and saving the Earth.

Credits to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect

TOPIC 14: Bhopal Gas tragedy

http://www.hu.mtu.edu/hu_dept/tc@mtu/papers/bhopal.htm

Central India, Bhopal - Union Carbide pesticide plant produces carbaryl, and methyl isocyanate is an intermediate in carbaryl manufacture.This company manufactures pesticide and supply it to local farms to help boost production speed. An incident, named as the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, brought upon dismay to the locals. A poisonous vapor burst from the talls stack of the plant, releasing a highly toxic cloud of methyl isocyanate. This incident was caused by the addition of water into MIC, and due to slip-blind water isolation plates being excluded, the reaction generated a major increase in temperature in the tank. The MIC gave off a large volume of toxic gas, and was released to the air due to high pressure release. Many people were dead and injured in this incident.

Industrial accidents happen mainly because of the ignorance of humans. It not only can cause death, it can also cause misfortune to the country too. Such cases should not be overlooked as it poses great threat. We should also be careful when facing a threat like this.

Credits to Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_Disaster

TOPIC 13: Cadmium in fertilizers/peanuts: Oz

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/factsheets/factsheets1999/cadmiuminpeanuts.cfm
http://www.environmental-expert.com/articles/article1346/article1346.htm

Cadmium is a chemical commonly found in pesticides. This chemical is commonly found in crops and can cause kidney damage is large amounts are eaten. Even by eating large amounts of greens will not help by getting rid of any chemicals that are in the body. There has been a change in the level of cadmium being used by lowering the amount to make food safer for consumption.

Crops are now safer for consumption with the levels of Cadmium been lowered. People should just look out for their own health too.

TOPIC 12: Mercury poisoning: Siberia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2062595.stm

Siberia - Mercury from a polluted industrial site has posed serious danger to the people and the environment. As the mercury continues to leak into the soils and rivers, citizens continue to eat the intoxicated fishes. As a result, people complain of headaches, respiratory and intestinal diseases and hand tremors. In long-term, people can die from mercury poisoning. Cleaning up of the industrial site is in progress but all doesn't seem too well as they claim that there isn't enough funds to boost the process.

There has been a similar case at Minimata Bay in Japan in 1952 when effluent from a factory have reached local waterways. Many were poisoned from eating contaminated fish. Nearly 70 people died, and 100 others were unaffected.

Officials have to boost up the cleaning process for these polluted industrial sites and not delay it. If not treated fast enough, the population may be wiped out.

Kenny Quah
Ngee Ann Poly. CEE


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