Environmental Pollution
Environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems the world faces today. It is an issue that troubles us economically, physically and everyday of our lives. The contamination of the environment is also being linked to some of the diseases that are around currently. Yet, most people do not know about this problem. This shows that environmental pollution is becoming an increasingly worse problem that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, not only for the good of the environment but also for the people that live in it. Many factors are present for why environmental pollution has become such a large issue in the world. However, if the people of the world were to address the issue it would definitely help both the environment and it’s people. There are many activities that can be done by both the common citizen to the governments of the world, which could severally improve the world’s environmental problem. On the other hand, if the current way the world’s environmental problem is being handled continues, catastrophic consequences can follow for the future population.

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Nowadays environmental problems are too big to be managed by individual persons or individual countries. In other words, it is an international problem. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
An essential problem of the 21st century is world pollution. Currently the environment is so much contaminated that urgent measures should be taken. The single individual cannot be blamed for the world pollution, however every person should take care of his or her habitat. In addition, it is vital that environmental issues should be treated internationally.
Lately, many presentations, conferences and international summits are held regarding waste treatment, recycling, soil and water contamination. For sure joint efforts and consolidation can only help in the mutual war towards the environmental disaster, which is going on. For instance, governments should offer support to companies and organizations, involved in manufacturing, industry or agriculture in order to find environment friendly approaches. These could be special law regulations, recycling programs, helping courses in order to implement ISO certificates and many more.
However, the influence of individuals over environment should not be ignored. If we do not confess that our planet is our home, we will never be able to take adequately care of it. We have to contribute every day to the preservation of nature and environment. For example, always remember to save energy by switching off lamps, computers and everything that we do not use. Our next obligation is to separate waste and throw bulk only in the designated areas. Driving vehicles can also be environment friendly. For example, we have to avoid accelerating the engines too rapidly or using the air condition in the country, where it will be better to save energy and simply open the windows.
To sum up, environmental problems should be handled by local and international authorities also. Every single person should take care of environment and moreover we have to bring up our children to be conscious citizens of a clean and preserved planet. http://www.ielts-blog.com/ielts-writing-samples/ielts-essays-band-7/ielts-essay-topic-environmental-problems/ Climate Change and Global Warming
Global warming and climate change is looked at in this section of the global issues web site. Introduced are some of the effects of climate change. In addition, this section attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.

Climate Change and Global Warming Introduction
Last updated Saturday, December 26, 2009.
Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
This section looks at what causes climate change, what the impacts are and where scientific consensus currently is.
Global Dimming
Posted Saturday, January 15, 2005.
Research has shown that air pollutants from fossil fuel use make clouds reflect more of the sun’s rays back into space. This leads to an effect known as global dimming whereby less heat and energy reaches the earth. At first, it sounds like an ironic savior to climate change problems. However, it is believed that global dimming caused the droughts in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 80s where millions died, because the northern hemisphere oceans were not warm enough to allow rain formation. Global dimming is also hiding the true power of global warming. By cleaning up global dimming-causing pollutants without tackling greenhouse gas emissions, rapid warming has been observed, and various human health and ecological disasters have resulted, as witnessed during the European heat wave in 2003, which saw thousands of people die.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Last updated Saturday, December 25, 2004.
The world mostly agrees that something needs to be done about global warming and climate change. The first stumbling block, however, has been trying to get an agreement on a framework. In 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was created by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meterological Organization (WMO) to assess the scientific knowledge on global warming. The IPCC concluded in 1990 that there was broad international consensus that climate change was human-induced. That report led way to an international convention for climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), signed by over 150 countries at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. This section looks at this Convention and some of the main principles in it.
Reactions to Climate Change Negotiations and Action
Last updated Sunday, October 04, 2009.
The United States plus a few other countries, and many large corporations, have been against climate change treaties due to the fear of the threat to their economy and profits if they have to make substantial changes.
However, as more climate change science has emerged over the years, many businesses are accepting this and even asking their governments for more action so that there is quick clarification on the new rules of the game so they can get on with their businesses.
This section explores some of those fears to see if they are justified or not. http://www.globalissues.org/issue/178/climate-change-and-global-warming very day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air. Every time we breathe, we risk inhaling dangerous chemicals that have found their way into the air.
Air pollution includes all contaminants found in the atmosphere. These dangerous substances can be either in the form of gases or particles.
Air pollution can be found both outdoors and indoors. Pollutants can be trapped inside buildings, causing indoor pollution that lasts for a long time.
The sources of air pollution are both natural and human-based. As one might expect, humans have been producing increasing amounts of pollution as time has progressed, and they now account for the majority of pollutants released into the air.
Air pollution has been a problem throughout history. Even in Ancient Rome people complained about smoke put into the atmosphere.
The effects of air pollution are diverse and numerous. Air pollution can have serious consequences for the health of human beings, and also severely affects natural ecosystems.
Because it is located in the atmosphere, air pollution is able to travel easily. As a result, air pollution is a global problem and has been the subject of global cooperation and conflict.
Some areas now suffer more than others from air pollution. Cities with large numbers of automobiles or those that use great quantities of coal often suffer most severely from problems of air pollution. http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution.html CAUSES OF POLLUTION

Many causes of pollution including sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. In excess levels, nutrients over stimulate the growth of aquatic plants and algae. Excessive growth of these types of organisms consequently clogs our waterways, use up dissolved oxygen as they decompose, and block light to deeper waters. This, in turn, proves very harmful to aquatic organisms as it affects the respiration ability or fish and other invertebrates that reside in water. Pollution is also caused when silt and other suspended solids, such as soil, washoff plowed fields, construction and logging sites, urban areas, and eroded river banks when it rains. Under natural conditions, lakes, rivers, and other water bodies undergo Eutrophication, an aging process that slowly fills in the water body with sediment and organic matter. When these sediments enter various bodies of water, fish respirationbecomes impaired, plant productivity and water depth become reduced, and aquatic organisms and their environments become suffocated. Pollution in the form of organic material enters waterways in many different forms as sewage, as leaves and grass clippings, or as runoff from livestock feedlots and pastures. When natural bacteria and protozoan in the water break down this organic material, they begin to use up the oxygen dissolved in the water. Many types of fish and bottom-dwelling animals cannot survive when levels of dissolved oxygen drop below two to five parts per million. When this occurs, it kills aquatic organisms in large numbers which leads to disruptions in the food chain.

http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/waterpollution.htm

Chlorofluorocarbons and Ozone Depletion
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), along with other chlorine- and bromine-containing compounds, have been implicated in the accelerated depletion of ozone in the Earth's stratosphere. CFCs were developed in the early 1930s and are used in a variety of industrial, commercial, and household applications. These substances are non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive with other chemical compounds. These desirable safety characteristics, along with their stable thermodynamic properties, make them ideal for many applications--as coolants for commercial and home refrigeration units, aerosol propellants, electronic cleaning solvents, and blowing agents. Production and Use of Chlorofluorocarbons experienced nearly uninterrupted growth as demand for products requiring their use continued to rise.
Not until 1973 was chlorine found to be a catalytic agent in ozone destruction. Catalytic destruction of ozone removes the odd oxygen species [atomic oxygen (O) and ozone (O3)] while leaving chlorine unaffected. This process was known to be potentially damaging to the ozone layer, but conclusive evidence of stratospheric ozone loss was not discovered until 1984. Announcement of polar ozone depletion over Antarctica in March 1985 prompted scientific initiatives to discover the Ozone Depletion Processes, along with calls to freeze or diminish production of chlorinated fluorocarbons. A complex scenario of atmospheric dynamics, solar radiation, and chemical reactions was found to explain the anomalously low levels of ozone during the polar springtime. Recent expeditions to the Arctic regions show that similar processes can occur in the northern hemisphere, but to a somewhat lesser degree due to warmer temperatures and erratic dynamic patterns.
A primary objective for researchers in addressing this issue has been analysis of Measurements and Trends in Ozone and Chlorofluorocarbon Levels. Global monitoring of ozone levels from space by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument has shown statistically significant downward trends in ozone at all latitudes outside the tropics. Measurements at several ground-based stations have shown corresponding upward trends in CFCs in both the northern and southern hemisphere. Despite rapid phaseout of CFCs, ozone levels are expected to be lower than pre-depletion levels for several decades due to the long tropospheric lifetimes of CFCs. These compounds are carried into the stratosphere, where they can undergo hundreds of catalytic cycles involving ozone before being scavenged by other chemical species.
Replacement compounds for CFCs have also been evaluated for their Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP). Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) still contain chlorine atoms, but the presence of hydrogen makes them reactive with chemical species in the troposphere. This greatly reduces the prospects of the chlorine reaching the stratosphere, as chlorine will be removed by chemical processes in the lower atmosphere. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potential replacements for CFCs that contain no chlorine, have been evaluated for potential effects of fluorine compounds on ozone destruction. McFarland and Kaye give an overview of the CFC-ozone issue in the 1992 paper "Chlorofluorocarbons and Ozone."

http://www.ciesin.org/TG/OZ/cfcozn.html

The Three R's of the Environment
Every year, Americans throw away 50 billion food and drink cans, 27 billion glass bottles and jars, and 65 million plastic and metal jar and can covers. More than 30% of our waste is packaging materials. Where does it all go? Some 85% of our garbage is sent to a dump, or landfill, where it can take from 100 to 400 years for things like cloth and aluminum to decompose. Glass has been found in perfect condition after 4,000 years in the earth!
We are quickly running out of space. It's time to learn the three R's of the environment: reduce, reuse, recycle. Then practice what you preach: don't buy things you don't need or items that come in wasteful packaging or that cannot be recycled. Reuse and recycle whatever you can.
Reduce
Reducing the amount of waste you produce is the best way to help the environment. There are lots of ways to do this. For example:
Buy products that don't have a lot of packaging. Some products are wrapped in many layers of plastic and paperboard even though they don't need to be. You can also look for things that are packed in materials that don't require a lot of energy or resources to produce. Some products will put that information right on their labels.
Instead of buying something you're not going to use very often, see if you can borrow it from someone you know.
Cars use up energy and cause pollution. Some ways to reduce the environmental damage caused by cars include carpooling with friends, walking, taking the bus, or riding your bike instead of driving.
Start a compost bin. Some people set aside a place in their yard where they can dispose of certain food and plant materials. Over time, the materials will break down through a natural process called decomposition. The compost is good for the soil in your yard and means that less garbage will go to the landfill.
You can reduce waste by using a computer! Many newspapers and magazines are online now. Instead of buying the paper versions, you can find them on the Internet. Also remember that you should print out only what you need. Everything you print that you don't really need is a waste of paper.
Save energy by turning off lights that you are not using.
Save water by turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth.
Lots of families receive a large amount of advertisements and other junk mail that they do not want. You can stop the mailings and reduce waste by writing to the following address and requesting that they take your name off of their distribution list:

Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service P.O. Box 9008Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
Reuse
Instead of throwing things away, try to find ways to use them again! For example:
Bring cloth sacks to the store with you instead of taking home new paper or plastic bags. You can use these sacks again and again. You'll be saving some trees!
Plastic containers and reusable lunch bags are great ways to take your lunch to school without creating waste.
Coffee cans, shoe boxes, margarine containers, and other types of containers people throw away can be used to store things or can become fun arts and crafts projects. Use your imagination!
Don't throw out clothes, toys, furniture, and other things that you don't want anymore. Somebody else can probably use them. You can bring them to a center that collects donations, give them to friends, or even have a yard sale.
Use all writing paper on both sides.
Use paper grocery bags to make book covers rather than buying new ones.
Use silverware and dishes instead of disposable plastic utensils and plates.
Store food in reusable plastic containers.

Recycle
Many of the things we use every day, like paper bags, soda cans, and milk cartons, are made out of materials that can be recycled. Recycled items are put through a process that makes it possible to create new products out of the materials from the old ones.
In addition to recycling the things you buy, you can help the environment by buying products that contain recycled materials. Many brands of paper towels, garbage bags, greeting cards, and toilet paper, to name a few examples, will tell you on their labels if they are made from recycled materials.
In some towns you can leave your recyclables in bins outside your home, and a truck will come and collect them regularly. Other towns have recycling centers where you can drop off the materials you've collected. Things like paper and plastic grocery bags, and plastic and aluminum cans and bottles can often be brought to the grocery store for recycling. Whatever your system is, it's important to remember to rinse out and sort your recyclables! http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0775891.html War On Waste - Waste Management Strategy

[Landfill site]
The Waste Management Strategy for Essex
Essex households create 720,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, about half a tonne for each resident, and this figure is rising each year. Although residents are recycling more, nearly three quarters of household rubbish is still sent for disposal in landfill sites and this is where the problem lies.
When rubbish rots down in landfill sites it produces gases which cause global warming. The European Union countries have agreed to tackle this problem by making sure that each country cuts down the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites. To ensure the UK meets its target, each County Council has been set a limit on the amount it can landfill. If Essex County Council goes over this limit it will be fined. So it is important for the Environment and for the Council Tax bill that we change the way we manage our rubbish. This is a golden opportunity to start treating rubbish as a resource whose true value we capture rather than waste.
A Waste Management Strategy has been prepared which explains how the Essex Councils will work together to make these changes happen. The following is a summary of the strategy.
In Essex we are proposing to limit landfilling by;
Encouraging residents to create less rubbish and re-use or recycle more, rather than throw things away. Avoiding excess packaging when shopping will always help.
Encouraging residents to make use of kerbside recycling collections and recycling sites. Essex Councils are going to expect households to meet ambitious recycling targets. Ideally, we should all recycle and compost about half of our rubbish and we have a longer term vision to reach 60% recycling/composting.
Sending non-recycled rubbish to new bio-treatment plants, a new type of technology to the UK. In bio-treatment plants, rubbish can be treated in a variety of ways, typically it is pulped and gases are drawn off the generate heat and electricity. There are other outputs such as material for fertilisers. At the end of the process there is still some rubbish left over which will need to the sent to landfill or could be used in other processes.
Increasing the amount of food waste we compost by collecting kitchen scraps as well as garden waste and sending them to a new type of facility known as 'in-vessel' composting plants. This will help increase the amount of rubbish composted in the short to medium term, before bio-treatment plants are built.
Given the size of Essex, it is likely that we would need 3 bio-treatment plants along with other facilities like composting plants and sites where the rubbish can be "bulked" for more efficient transportation. The more plants there are, the shorter the distance that rubbish has to travel before it gets processed.
All the new rubbish facilities will be provided through long term contracts with waste companies and the contracts will be paid for by Government Grants and by the Council Tax. These costs of managing waste will rise with these new, more environmentally responsible arrangements, but not by as much as they would rise if the Essex Councils simply carried on with the existing arrangements.
The Waste Strategy will be reviewed every 5 years to keep it up to date with any changes in the law and any other changes in the way rubbish is collected and processed.
Essex Councils will put pressure on the national government to do more to reduce the packaging on things that we buy in the shops.

http://www.tendringdc.gov.uk/TendringDC/Environment/Rubbish+Waste+and+Recycling/waronwaste.htm