Modern society has brought many useful things that are here to make our lives easier, however there is also the dark side of this benefit. Although we are just animals like others, we have been trying to rule our planet and we have to admit that we have made mistakes. Today’s world has to deal with problems such as global warming, population growth, poverty, famine, water pollution, drug abuse, and others.
Greenhouse effect is one of the best known global problems which causes global warming. Without this effect there could be no life on Earth, because the Earth is warmed up naturally by the atmosphere which traps solar radiation. Big production of certain gases (for example carbon dioxide) prevents the heat from escaping. We should not also forget that rain forest – the lungs of our planet are being destroyed. The result is a rise of temperature and its consequences such as melting of arctic ice and the flooding of areas situated near sea level.
The ozone layer protects us against UV radiation that leads to skin cancer. In 1970s scientists discovered that the atmosphere was being destroyed by freon, often used in fridges, air-conditioning systems and aerosol sprays. After this, using of freon was prohibited but the problem still remains. Fortunately, the situation is slowly becomingis common in poor countries usually in Africa. Moreover, famine is closely connected with poverty.
Despite repeated help from world leaders the famine is still there. You might have also seen the Live8(=aid) event where singers wanted to make a pressure to their governments and to support the people of Africa. Every three seconds someone dies because he/she has got nothing to eat.
Smoking is kind of legal drug. Although everyone knows that smoking is dangerous and can cause a cancer, they keep smoking because for somebody who has been smoking for whole their life and is strongly addicted to cigaretts, it is almost impossible to stop. Statistics clearly show that young people are the target of tobacco companies. In fact, 90 percent of all adult smokers said that they first started smoking as teenagers.
Fresh water might be considered as a little bit hidden issue which might become a real threat in the future. Some countries do not already have enough sources of fresh water and if the global warming continues to grow, it could be even more difficult.
Some sociologists believe that the population is growing at such rate that in the near future, the planet will no longer be able to support the huge numbers of people living on our planet. There have already been some attemps to stop population growth. For instance China has chosen to allow just one child per family. It is also proved that reduction of population growth helps women to improve their rights and opportunities.
The way of solving mentioned problems is not clear. None of these issues can be solved in days. It will take a long way to reach it. The first thing we need to do is to realize the origin of each problem and than to find its solution. The positive sign is that people seem to care more about the environment than ever before.
bender
28. prosinec 2012
15 114×
550 slov