Section 3: Environment

1. Problems and solutions
    Rain forests:
- solution: governments in rainforest countries need to plan and work together. They should also protect certain areas and plant new forest.
    energy:
- at the moment, 94% of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels. There’s enough coal for the next 300 years, but oil is only enough for next 50 years. What happens then? Well, one answer is nuclear energy. But after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, many people think nuclear power isn’t safe.
- The green solutions: they all use natural energy already in the environment:
- Wind energy
- Solar energy
- Wave energy
- Geothermal energy (from hot rocks under the Earth)
    Acid rain:
- solutions: Industrial countries should control their levels of pollution. This is already happening in some parts of Europe.
    Widelife:
- Animals are a part of the environment, too. Millions of them are killed or treated cruelly by man every year. There are five main groups:
- Animals used for scientific research: rabbits.
- Animals killed for sport; foxes.
- Animals killed for fur, skin: crocodies.
- Animals – their environment are in danger: glorillas.
- Animals kept in cruel conditions on farm: chicken, cows.
- solution: groups like Greenpeace have already helped to stop whale hunting. Now, they want to stop fur hunting, too -> they believe in animal rights. Animals shouldn’t suffer. The cruelty must stop.
2. Why is protecting environment important?
    We need a healthy environment in order to survive so we must protect it. We need to protect the environment now to help prevent health problems, to maintain the ecosystem and to preserve the earth for our children.
    Pollution from factories and cars can cause damages to the environment. Moreover, pollution cause health problems, particularly for children and the elderly who have weaker immune system. We need to ensure that there are controls on the amount of pollution when possible so as to prevent health problems caused by breathing dirty air.
    We also need to pay attention to the ecosystem. Trees, plant life, and people all depent on each other. An unhealthy environment can have harmful effects on the ecosystem. For example, if a plant dies because of changes to the environment and that plant is food for an animal, that animal won’t have any food. If human uses that animal as a food source there could be big problems.
     If we do not respect our environment now, it will continue to get worse and our children will suffer the consequences. They wouldn’t have the same quality of air to breath or natural beauty to admire. That would be sad.
    Without clean air to breath, a healthy ecosystem and a future for our children the human race would not survive. That’s why protecting our environment is important.
3. "Action such as recycling cannot be left up to the good will of the individual. It must be forced on us by government." Discuss this statement and suggest how governments can encourage people to be more aware of environmental issues. - ideas
How can the government encourage/force us to recycle? 3
    new laws
    introduce fines 
     provide special collection services for different types of rubbish 
     promote recycling through a media campaign 
     teach children about recycling and environmental issues at school.
Why should we recycle? 1 
     too much rubbish - nowhere to put it
     using up important resources too quickly
     rubbish causes pollution, e.g. plastic which is not biodegradable.
What are the disadvantages of government legislation to encourage/force people to recycle? 4
    people wouldn''t need to think about the environment - they just follow the law 
    may be an expensive policy 
    checking and fining people who don''t recycle would be expensive to do, so the government might have to raise taxes to pay for it
Why don''t people recycle without government law? 2 
    it''s easier not to recycle - people are naturally lazy 
    people are not aware of environmental issues
Where do people recycle a lot? 5 
    Germany, for example.
How much should the government fine people who do not recycle? 3 - add to the other ideas above 
    High fines to make people do it.
Who should check if people are recycling? The police? 4 
    very difficult point - police are too busy 
    maybe local council officials
4. To what extent is the continuous use of fossil fuels acceptable given the evidence of global warming?
5. Topic15: To what extent should economic planning be influenced by the need of environmental conservation?
6. Many parts of the world are losing important natural resources, such as forests, animals, or clean water. Choose one resource that is disappearing and explain why it needs