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More and more people live on this planet and they are increasingly living in cities.
Protecting the environment in those conditions is not easy!
Cars are responsible for more than one third of total CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
In addition, traffic within the cities brings many air pollution problems.
Increasing the use of public transport is a way to cope with this situation.
The Earth's climate is getting warmer because more and more greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.
Industrial countries are heavy fossil fuels consumers (petrol, coal, natural gas) and release large quantities of greenhouse gases. By burning fuels, we produce carbon dioxide, which is the main cause of global warming.
This is the reason why the entire climate cycle is being disturbed: there are more violent climatic events (cyclones, and others), less water available in some countries, and more frequent floods in many parts of the world.
The world population has grown four-fold since the beginning of the 20th century. Today our energy consumption is 10 times greater.
At this pace, current fossil fuel stocks will not be sufficient to satisfy all our future needs. This is why more responsible people are turning to renewable energies (solar, wind, and others).
Global warming can have very visible impacts, especially in polar zones. Some animal species will need to migrate to find the right conditions for their survival; some others will simply disappear.
In fact, human demand for natural resources has irreversible consequences on the environment, its flora and fauna.
Some human activities produce waste, which can cause serious damage to soils.
Discharge of chemical or toxic waste & intensive livestock farming and crops production generate pollution that takes nature many years to absorb.
Overpolluted soils are irreversibly damaged and so are groundwater, springs and rivers.
As human activities affect the environment, they also can put people's health at risk.
Many illnesses are caused by an unhealthy environment: breathing problems, infectious diseases, cancers, and so on.
Clean air, water and soil are vital to us. For our health, the environment needs to be protected.
Let's think!
Ask these questions to your parents, grand parents some friends and note what changes they have noticed over the last few years.
- What has changed in your city or your neighbourhood?
- Are there new constructions or new estates?
- Have there been important works?
- Are there more inhabitants? Where do they come from?
- How has public transport changed?
- What has changed in commercial activities?
- Is there more or less park and garden space?
- What is being done to protect the environment?
- What is better than before?
- What is worse than before?
- What should be improved so that people can live better?
