Ecology
We live on a very beautiful planet – on the Earth. Our planet has very
rich resources: the bright blue of the sky, fresh, crystal-clear mountain
lake water, the rich green of the mountains slopes, wild flower,
picturesque views – all these sceneries of nature fill us with admiration.
That’s why those who live in cities prefer spending their days off and
their holidays far from the noise of the city, to be closer to nature.
Perhaps they like to breathe fresh air or to swim in clear water because
the ecology is not so poor as in the cities.
Ecology is the study of the ways in which organisms (plants and
animals) depend upon each other and upon their surroundings. Each organism
requires conditions in order to be able to live and breed. These conditions
are its environment by changing the ecological conditions.
So, pollution is one of the most burning problems of nowadays. Now
millions of chimneys, cars, buses, trucks all over the world exhaust fumes
and harmful substances into the atmosphere. These poisoned substances
pollute everything: air, land, water, birds and animals people. So, it is
usually hard to breathe in the large cities where there are lots plants.
Everything there is covered with soot and dirt. All these affect harmfully.
Water pollution is very serious, too. Ugly rivers of dirty water
polluted with factory waste, poisoned fish are all-round us. And polluted
air and poisoned water lead to the end of the civilization. So, nowadays a
lot of dead lands and lifeless areas have appeared. Because our actions and
dealings can turn the land to a desert.
So, we see that our environment offers an abundance of subject matter
for discussion. The problems and prospects of the blue planet interest not
only scientist and futurologists, but also politicians, industry, the
public – and above all, young people! There is hardly a young person who is
not conserved with the preservation of our natural habitat. To recognize
environmental problems and master them, to reduce and avoid environmental
pollution, to discover and develop ecologically sound technologies – there
are the essential building blocks for our future.
Whether scientist or politicians, bankers or student, whether Greek,
Norwegian, Hungarian or Finn … all are encouraged to make a contribution
towards protecting the environment. Dedication and the courage to change
one’s way of thinking are called for.
We are to stop pollution. So, we can grow plants and trees, to
purify waste, to start urgent campaigns in order to preserve environment
For example, in 1989 in Australia, Sydney. In a year the same kind of
action was held all over Australia and it was called “Clean up Australia”
the following years 110 countries hold the similar actions within the
ecological program of the UNO.
Nowadays there are many different pressure and interests groups in
British, which try to find solutions to the problems of pollution at the
national and international level. So they are groups of people with a
common interest in trying to draw the public attention to environment
problems, to influence the government decisions.
Greenpeace is a very famous pressure group. It started functioning
in 1971. Its headquarters are at Amsterdam, but it operates in 25 countries
worldwide. The aim of Greenpeace is to protect wildlife of toxic wastes,
nuclear tests.
“Friends of the Earth” (FoE) is one of the British pressure groups
with an international reputation. Its general aim is to conserve the
planet’s resources and reduce pollution. FoE was established in 1971 and
now it operated in 44 countries worldwide. It campaigns among other things,
for recycling and renewable energy, and the destruction of wildlife and
habitat. The main campaigning issues of the FoE are:
. The protection of all animals and plants in danger of extinction.
. An end to the destruction of wildlife and habitats.
. A program of energy conservation measures, etc.
So, a number of campaigns resulted in:
. The ban or other hunting in England and Wales
. And indefinite delay in the construction of the Commercial East Breeder
Reactor, etc.
But not only great groups can influence the problem of pollution. So,
different people have their own opinions on this problem:
. The continued pollution of the earth, if unchecked, well eventually
destroys the fitness of this planet as a place for human life. (B.
Commoner).
. The Earth has enough for every man’s need, but not for man’s greed.
(Ganlui).
And I agree with them because it is really so. And terrible examples
prove them.
The Baltic Sea is a special case. Because it is such a small sea and
it becomes dirty very easily. Its waster changes slowly through the shallow
straits. As many as 250 rivers run into the Baltic. There are hundreds of
factories in these rivers and millions of people live along them. Quite a
lot of big cities lie on its coast. All these combined with the active
navigation of the sea naturally affects the state of the sea water and the
shore line flora and fauna. People suffer from the waster pollution; cancer
deaths increase people’s concern.
And there is no escape from this ecological crisis without organizing
a single body dealing with the environmental problems, developing and
carrying out a nationwide program of environmental protection and co-
operating with international schemes.
Population Fears.
Scientists now predict that by the year 2050 the population will be
doubled what is today. The fact remains that the rate of food production
fell behind population growth in many of developing countries. The annual
fish catch already exceeds what the world ‘s oceans can successfully
sustain. If we go on using our natural recourses at today’s rates, we will
have used up the intire reserves of cooper, natural gas and oil by the year
2054.
But the problem ahead lie not so much in what we use but in what we
waste. What faces us is not so much a recourse crisis as a pollution
crisis. The only solution is to try to change the areas of consumption,
technology and population. Changes in technology must be baked by slower
population growth. And it can be achieved by education in health and
women’s rights. And there is a little hope of reducing consumption over the
next half century.
