Environmental Issues

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ©Institut La Llauna - Badalona

Treball de Síntesi Anglès 3r ESO April 2013

These are the reports ESO 3 students have written for the online school magazine they are creating for their Treball de SĂ­ntesi.

Some of the learners have even designed a poster to raise awareness about their environmental issue.

We invite you to read their reports and click on the posters they have created using Glogster.

Enjoy your reading!

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 1. PLANT IT! .............................................................................. 1 2. WALKING DIRT ........................................................................ 2 3. SEA POLLUTION ...................................................................... 3 4. STOP CLIMATE CHANGE!............................................................ 4 5. STOP MELTING. YES, WE CAN ..................................................... 5 6. NO MORE POLLUTION ON THE BEACHES, PLEASE ............................. 6 7. THE THAW ............................................................................. 7 8. THE ICE IS CRYING .................................................................. 8 9. ROLL-ON, AEROSOL-OFF ........................................................... 9 10. A NOISY WORLD .................................................................... 10 11. SICK WATERS ........................................................................ 11 12. SEA POLLUTION .................................................................... 12 13. BE IN THEIR SHOES ................................................................ 13

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1. Plant It!

by Alba, Claire, Laura and Leo

Last month The Tree Day took place in Badalona. It was on 17th February. Every year the world loses a lot of trees and you can help reforestation by planting a tree.

Deforestation is a big problem for the world because the trees produce oxygen and if we eliminate them, we cannot breathe. So we have decided to write this article to encourage you to plant a tree.

The Tree Day is a celebration where you can plant a tree and then you can do different activities related to the environment. You can do environmental workshops, puppet shows for the children, travel on a zip-line through the forest, etc. It takes place on the 21st March because it is when spring starts. In some places, this day is not celebrated in March and it's celebrated in February.

For example, in our city, Badalona, it is celebrated on 17th February. This

year a lot of people went to Can Ruti in Badalona.

Now, if you have read this article, you know a little bit more about The Tree Day. You can tell your family and friends and encourage them to participate in this day. You can help the environment and have fun learning new things.

If you plant a tree, you can do a little act but if a lot of people plant their trees, there will be a lot of new trees and then there will be a new forest.

Just plant it!

Click here to see our poster (and press play!)

A little girl planting a tree

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2. Walking Dirt

by ClĂ udia, Laura, Noelia and Ruth

Nowadays, when we go out, we can see that the streets are dirty and full of rubbish. People throw their empty bags of chips or their finished cans of coke on the floor and think that it is okay to do that. But there are disastrous consequences.

If we look at the streets, we will see lots of different used things like cans, empty bags, papers, bottles, pieces of plastic, dog dirt and much more. It isn't nice to see. Furthermore, there are materials that are difficult to decompose . Also the CO2 that the cars produce pollutes the environment.

However, people don't realise that it isn't good for the environment. Travelling by car is also polluting. If we have to go to a place which isn't very far from our house, it would be a good idea to go on foot. It is good for your health and you are also helping to prevent the ozone layer from being damaged. Then, there are some people (a lot of them, actually) who throw rubbish and think that the refuse collectors will clean it. But sometimes there aren't enough of them and the dirt remains on the floor. So instead of waiting until

the rubbish gets cleaned, why don't we throw our residues into their corresponding bins? We can find them in almost every street, so why don't we use them?

In order to raise awareness, we could write letters to the government suggesting them to put some bag dispensers to pick up dog's dirt or give talks to people (particularly young people because they are the future) explaining them how to keep the streets clean and start using their cars less.

Remember: Reuse, Reduce and Recycle!

Click here to see our poster.

Rubbish in a Badalona Street

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3. Sea Pollution

by Anna, Berta, Carol, Marta and Roger

Sea pollution is the pollution which affects seas and oceans. It is a global issue, so international agreements and activities are needed to make sure a sustainable development.

The environment has a certain capacity to purify sea water, but this capacity has a limit. In the XX century sea pollution has reached a really high level. This pollution level is too high to be eliminated by nature.

For that reason, technological and economical improvements and political and social changes are needed to evaluate the sea, improve it and avoid its damaging.

There are other issues that have an influence on the sea environment such as overfishing or the coast degradation as a result of massive construction. A huge part of the sea pollution comes from rivers, groundwater, the wind and nautical activities.

There are eight sea pollutants which have been introduced by humans:   

 

Toxic chemicals Crop fertilizers Organic matter that decomposes consuming the oxygen needed by sea life Bacteria and infectious agents Oil

  

Radioactive waste Solid materials that can be harmful to sea life Thermal pollution

Pollution can be microscopic, but, although we can't see it, it can still cause diseases if we swim in contaminated water.

Prevention of sea environment pollution is mainly based on contributions to various international codes which provide countries of preventive measures and safe procedures. One of these preventive measures is the Convention for the protection of marine pollution MARPOL (MARine POLlution) in 1983. This convention states some measures to eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the sea to reduce accidental spills.

All these actions aren't in our hands, but there are many things that we can do locally to reduce sea pollution. For example:  



Do not throw rubbish or waste on beaches.

Join voluntary groups to clean beaches in your town or city.

Do not throw away oils or fuels through your house drain.

We think it is really important to have our oceans and seas clean because 70% of the earth is water.

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4. Stop Climate Change!

by Júlia, Ksenia, Laia, Mario and Martí

This year we will focus on an environmental issue that affects us: climate change.

Climate Change can be understood as any variation in the Earth‟s climate. We are in the warmest century of the last 600 years because of global warming. We are the main culprit of this and the only ones who can find a solution.

Carbon dioxide emissions and water vapour emissions are the main cause of this environmental problem. Climate is changing and these changes are in large part caused by human activities.

Nowadays, the emission of these gases has increased due to new technology, and as a consequence the hole in the ozone layer is getting bigger. Unfortunately, the Arctic ice cap is melting and sea levels will increase. If this happens, a lot of animals that live there will lose their home.

We should walk or use public transport and avoid using our cars. If all of us make small changes, we will be able to reduce this serious environmental problem.

Click here to see our poster

Climate change in The Arctic

However, like all problems, climate change has a solution, too. We have to make people aware of the fact that nonrenewable energies are harmful to the environment and we should use renewable energies like solar energy or wind power.

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5. Stop Melting. Yes, we can

by Elena, Gerard, VĂ­ctor and Wendy

The melting ice of the North Pole is a really serious enviromental issue that needs to be stopped.

Every year, a lot of ice and icebergs in the North Pole melt because of global warming. It's a very serious problem because it could rise the sea level, flooding the coasts. This can have devastating effects. It can change the oceans' currents. If this occurs, the poles will change and the climate arround the world will change. Also, some types of animals might lose their homes and some types of animals will disappear, they will become extinct. The Eath's temperature will rise, the world will get warmer.

If we don't solve the problem now, we will never be able to solve it.

Click here to see our poster.

A bear on a melting iceberg

All this may happen because we emit a lot of gases into the atmosphere. It started in 1950 with the industrial revolution. We pollute the Earth with CO2 by driving cars, burning fossil fuels, and using non-renewable energy...

However, there are a lot of posible solutions, for example we could stop using so much non-renewable energy, we shouldn't use too much plastic and other derivatives as well as aerosols that pollute the atmosphere a lot.

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6. No more pollution on the beaches, please

by Juqui, Maria, Marta, Xavi and Victor

There are a lot of problems on the beaches but the most important is pollution. A lot of people throw away rubbish and pollute the beach.

All beaches all around the world are contaminated. This pollution is really worrying because it is dangerous for people and the environment. The beaches are polluted by natural phenomena (storms, hurricanes, etc.) and also people, who throw away a lot of rubbish when they go to the beach.

That pollution is more important in summer, but nowadays it happens all year. This affects the beaches because people don‟t think about the environment.

They always throw away things on the sand, and they don‟t think that those “things” affect us for years. Did you know that one cigarette end takes over 100 years to decompose?

A lot of people don‟t use the bins that are on the beach. This is a problem because when you go to the beach you can see that it is dirty.

Most people throw cigarettes, bottles, cans and a lot of other things. And people that don‟t throw anything, they find

it. There is also dirt thrown by the boats and ships like oil, chemical toilets waste, etc. With that type of problems, can we do anything?

Pollution on the beaches affects the health of people and the environment, so together we should raise awareness and make a small gesture and throw away the rubbish in the bins or just save it with us and then throw it.

With these small gestures we will enjoy a clean sand and nice views.

Click here to see our poster

Pollution on the beach

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7. The Thaw

by Albert, Berta, JĂşlia, Karanjit and Mar

In the last years we have seen one of the most worrying environmental issues in the world. Every day there is less ice in the North Pole and in the South Pole.

If everybody helps a little, we will be able to make a big difference to help the environment. We should try to pollute less and make small changes.

The ice is melting because of the warmth of the Earth that is produced by the greenhouse effect.

It's an effect that makes the Earth like a greenhouse, because people pollute too much and produce gases that let sunbeams come into the Earth but they don't let it get out.

Many people have burnt fuels because they need energy.

However, they produce toxic gases and it produces the greenhouse effect. We think that a lot of people don't know that it isn't environmentally friendly. If the ice melts, probably the sea levels will rise and it will produce floods in many cities that are near the sea.

We should do something about it.

Melting ice caps

We can raise awareness of this environmental issue or we can create posters.

We can tell people, for example, to use biofuels or use less private transport and more public transport or just go on foot.

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8. The ice is crying

by Ariadna, Carles, Ferran, Marc and Raquel

This year we focus on one of the most worrying environmental issues: Global Warming in the Arctic.

Humans are destroying the arctic with the Co2 emissions. They cause global warming and affect the ozone layer and this harms the world.

The arctic is melting because of global warming and this endangers the living creatures of the arctic and our lives. The Arctic sea level rose between 0.9 and 1.6 meters in 2100 compared to 1990 levels.

If only one million people switched off the computers at night, it could eliminate up to 45,000 tons of CO2 a year so we must try to pollute less to have a healthier and cleaner world.

Don't let the ice cry anymore!

Click here to see our poster

The polar artic has melted every day since 2000. We are burning rubbish and we use the cars too much and this pollutes a lot. The Arctic sea ice extension in January 2013 was 13.78 million square kilometres.

To change this situation we can reduce the number of CO2 trying to use a bike or walk more often to avoid pollution with the car. We can reduce the number of plastic bags we use by using recycling bags or other bags that don't pollute.

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9. Roll-on, Aerosol-off

by Daniel, Guillem, Jessica and Marta

One of the problems of the environmental pollution is the use of aerosols. People often use them so our aim is to raise awareness about this.

Aerosols can be replaced by roll-on or CFC-free aerosols.

Can you help the world?

This product is very harmful and is frequent on the hygiene of people.

One of the elements of an aerosol spray is „‟Chlorofluorcarbons‟‟. This element is very dangerous for the ozone layer.

One option to solve the problem of aerosol is use CFC-free aerosols.

This product is an aerosol but doesn't pollute the ozone layer and it‟s biodegradable. Furthermore, this product has got an acceptable cost. Another option is to use KaVo ROTA Spray 2 which is biodegradable. Finally, we can use roll-on. This is very cheap and its utility is the same as the aerosol.

You can buy roll-on products in all chemist.

We can change this situation reducing the use of the aerosols.

We only need to make a small gesture: use roll-on or CFC-free aerosol. We use a lot of aerosol every year all around the world.

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10. A noisy World

by Judit, Nil and Victor

Acoustic pollution is a big problem for humanity. People believe that it is one of the main environmental problems.

It can affect people in both physiological and psychological ways.

The main causes are: vehicles, the high volume in night clubs, planes flying lower than it‟s usual and engines. It‟s a problem which is affecting human activities such as sleeping,studying, communicating, etc. All these problems are caused because people don‟t respect the decibel limit.

We can do little actions to reduce the noise in our lives. For example, don't listen to music after 10:00 pm.

Click here to see our poster

Too close?

This kind of pollution is created by people who are not conscious of what they are doing, and this is the reason why they don‟t give it too much importance.

Planes flying higher so that people don‟t get disturbed, reducing the high volume in night clubs and forbidding the noise of the motorbikes would be some of the solutions that humans could do to reduce acoustic pollution.

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11. Sick Waters

by Alicia, Alicia, Olaia and Sara

People throw away medecines in the wrong place every day.

Citizens have to know about where to carry medecines when they don't need them anymore.

In our country, Spain, 40% of citizens don't know about where to throw medecines

This place is called SIGRE. That's the correct place to throw them.

All in all, spread the word and make the difference!

Click here to see our poster

You CAN'T throw medicines in places like the rubbish or the toilet. If you do that, they will pollute our nature and kill or make animals go sick. If you have medecines that you won't use anymore, there's a place to throw them in all the pharmacies.

Just telling people about it, we could reduce a lot of water pollution and safe a lot of animals from this human problem that we all need to care about, because it's our fault.

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12. Sea Pollution

by ClĂ udia, Marc, NatĂĄn and Sergi

Every year man throws to the oceans a large amount of waste and pollutants.

Industrial and nuclear waste, the sewage and rubbish are discharged into rivers and end up in the sea.

Ocean currents contribute to the expansion of this contamination to the oceans of the whole world.

Marine activities of man such as oil drilling, shipping (either tourist or commercial) and fishing throw a large amount of toxic substances into the ocean.

Other sources of oil pollution are naval collisions and accidents in general.

Plastics, including bags and bottles, are the most widespread waste in the world, representing more than 80% in total. Plastic waste accumulates in terrestrial and marine environments worldwide and decomposes slowly into small pieces that can be eaten by living beings.

Many animals, including marine mammals, birds, fish and turtles may confuse plastic with food. Sea turtles in particular confuse floating bags with jellyfish, one of their favorite food.

One of the clearest examples of the consequences that are causing uncontrolled dumping in the oceans on marine ecosystems is a great garbage patch, located between Los Angeles and Hawaii. Currently it is estimated that this patch is two times larger than the size of Spain and, even worse, continues to grow at a rapid pace.

We can write letters to the local government to raise awareness, make campaigns and waste collection to see the amount of pollution in the world.

Oil Spill

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13. Be in their shoes

by Albert, Ferran, Maria and Marc

Approximately 10 million animals are killed every year. The fur is used for a lot of things, but the most important use is for making clothes. If this problem becomes bigger, it can break the animal chain.

The farmers use the cheapest and cruelest methods for killing animals, including suffocation, electrocution, gas and poison. The most widely used furs are: crocodrile, snake and other exotic animals fur.

Another solution is to create special conservation areas for endangered species. Another solution is to buy synthetic furs, so that we don't have to kill animals.

Leather Boots

There are a lot of solutions to solve this problem. The first thing is to explain to people all the problems we will have in the future and how much animals suffer.

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