Planet green

Today’s globalisational issues include Global Warming, Acid Rain, Hazardous Waste, Air Pollution, Ozone Depletion, Smog, Water Pollution, Overpopulation and Rain Forest Destruction.

How to be Ecofriendly?

• Depletion of ozone layer

The ozone layer protects the Earth from the ultraviolet rays sent down by the sun.  If the ozone layer is depleted by human action, the effects on the planet could be catastrophic.

The fact that the ozone layer was being depleted was discovered in the mid-1980s.  The main cause of this is the release of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons.

The CFC problem may be hard to solve because there are already great quantities of CFCs in the environment.  CFCs would remain in the stratosphere for another 100 years even if none were ever produced again.

By the year 2000, the US and twelve nations in Europe have agreed to ban all use and production of CFCs.  This will be highly significant, because these countries produce three quarters of the CFCs in the world.

Many other countries have signed treaties and written laws restricting the use of CFCs.  Companies are finding substitutes for CFCs, and people in general are becoming more aware of the dangers of ozone depletion.

• Shrinking of forests

The first forests existed about 400 million years ago and they have been evolving ever since.

Nearly all these forests are shrinking. Some loss occurs accidentally, through natural fire or hurricanes, for example, but these areas usually grow again. However, most of the deforestation is caused by people, either because trees are cut for fuel, timber or wood pulp and not replaced, or because the land is needed for something else.

"Now is the time to reduce pressures on tropical forests through a comprehensive framework that integrates sustainable forest management into the global strategy for mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity," said Katherine Sierra, Vice President, Sustainable Development, the World Bank.

Deforestation is driven largely by economic incentives to expand agriculture, with varying returns. In Madagascar, poor people clear forests for tiny, short-term gains. In Brazil, commercial farmers clear cerrado and forests for large profits. In both, the rate and profitability of deforestation are influenced by changes in agricultural prices.

• Global warming
• Virtually the entire world is now aware that the global climate is changing. Sea levels are rising, glaciers and ice sheets are retreating, water and air temperatures are fluctuating from historic norms, and weather systems have become more severe. The impact this may have on human civilization is a subject of much contention, but it is clear already that the ecology of the planet is under serious stress.

 Protection of water for rural and urban use
•  Protection of biodiversity, ecosystems and life forms
•  Protection of scenic beauty.

Contaminated soil  & Water.

Soil contamination (soil pollution) is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. This type of contamination typically arises from the rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals.

This occurrence of this phenomenon is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensities of chemical usage.Soil contamination (soil pollution) is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.

This type of contamination typically arises from the rupture of underground storage tanks, application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The most common chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals. This occurrence of this phenomenon is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensities of chemical usage.