Wind turbines.
As you’ve seen in this book, much has already been done to help the environment. However, we still have a long way to go toward cleaning up and learning to take care of our environment. What follows are descriptions of some of the main problems that still face us, what can be done about them, and who is working on finding solutions.
The burning of fossil fuels such as gas, oil, and coal causes many problems for our environment. When these fuels are burned, they pollute the air. Much has been done to clean up the pollution caused by fossil fuels, but other forms of energy that don’t cause air pollution are available.
Fossil fuels are also nonrenewable. That means that once they’re gone, they’re gone. There won’t be any more to use. The United States has many deposits of coal, oil, and gas, but some are hard to access. This has caused us to turn to foreign countries to buy oil.
The United States has also turned to offshore drilling in order to access the oil deposits under the ocean. This has had tragic results in a number of cases, the most recent being the BP oil spill in April 2010.
Alternative sources of energy are cheaper and don’t pollute the environment. These include solar energy, wind power, and hydroelectric power.
Deforestation in Colorado.
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Solar energy is one of the most promising. Solar energy comes from the sun, which each year releases about 35,000 times the amount of energy we use. It can be used to heat homes, power factories, and run cars.
Wind energy is another good source of energy that will not harm the environment. The energy is generated by windmills and is used to make electricity. Windmills are dependent on weather and climate, so they need to be placed where wind is common. But care must be taken not to locate windmills along flyways used by millions of birds for their twice-yearly migration. Otherwise, many birds will be killed by flying into the windmills’ rotating blades.
Nuclear energy is another option available to us. However, it has its dangers. In 2011, Japan’s worst earthquake caused the nuclear plant at Fukushima to lose power. Workers couldn’t pump water to cool the atomic core, so they had to vent radioactive steam into the air to release the pressure. A number of explosions then blew out the concrete walls around the reactors. More than 200,000 people had to be evacuated because of the high radiation levels. Engineers will need to come up with strategies to make nuclear energy safer before it will become widespread.
Deforestation is the clearing of large forests of trees. Trees are important because 70 percent of the Earth’s plants and animals live in the forests. When their habitat is destroyed, many of them become endangered.
Clear-cutting forests also contributes to global warming. Trees help to hold moisture in the earth. They also absorb carbon dioxide, which helps to combat the greenhouse effect and global warming.
The best way to solve this problem would be to simply stop cutting trees. However, this probably won’t happen. Areas of trees are cleared every day to provide room for homes, shopping centers, and businesses. Also, the lumber from trees is used for building, making paper, and many other things. Managing the forests, as Gif-ford Pinchot and Aldo Leopold urged, is the best way to combat deforestation. New trees must be planted to replace the ones that have been cut. This is being done in some areas, but not nearly enough trees are being planted to replace the ones that are cut.
For years, we’ve heard the cry, “Save the rainforest!” This is another side of deforestation. Much of the rainforest is still being destroyed by logging, agriculture, and fire. It is predicted that by 2030, half the Amazon rainforest will have been destroyed or severely damaged. Global warming plays a part in rainforest destruction. Global warming causes reduced rainfall, which can destroy the wildlife living in the rainforest.
Global warming means that the Earth is gradually getting warmer. Adding greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, to the atmosphere causes global warming. These gases build up in the atmosphere and cause heat that would otherwise escape into space to be trapped near the Earth.
An area of reforestation in Maryland.
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It may not sound like it would be a bad thing for the Earth to get warmer. However, this warming can cause a lot of problems. The warmer climate is causing the ice caps at the Arctic and the Antarctic to melt. This can make the level of the ocean rise, causing erosion and flooding along the shore. Scientists predict that sea level could rise as much as two feet during this century.
The white ice caps reflect a lot of sun away from the Earth. With less white ice and more dark water, more of the sun’s heat will be absorbed. This is causing the permafrost to melt. Permafrost is frost under the ground in the Arctic that ordinarily stays frozen all year round. When it melts, it releases gases such as methane and carbon dioxide into the air, which causes more global warming.
The rate of global warming can be slowed down if people will take a few simple steps. It’s necessary to reduce carbon emissions, 20 percent of which in the United States come from cars and trucks. People can help by carpooling, using public transportation, walking or bicycling, and limiting the number of trips they make. Deforestation and changing land use also causes 15 percent of our carbon emissions.
You can make a delicious smoothie using products from the rainforest. 1
Adult supervision required
Although much has been done to lessen the pollution of our air and water, we still have more work to do. Many laws have been created that prevent dumping factory wastes into streams and rivers. Water pollution damages plants and animals that live in bodies of water. It can also harm people if they drink the water
Acid rain occurs when too much carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide react with the water in the air to produce acids. Acid rain is bad for forests, fresh water, and soil. It can kill insects and small life-forms that live in water. It can also damage buildings and monuments made of stone.
Water pollution comes from two sources. Point sources are single sources that can be identified, such as a pipe from a factory. Pollution at nonpoint sources, on the other hand, does not come from a single place. Agricultural runoff is an example of a nonpoint source. A farmer puts fertilizer on his fields and, after a while, it contaminates the water in the field. It can run off into a body of water or soak into the ground, where it becomes part of the groundwater, the water below the surface.
Oil spills occasionally occur at offshore drilling stations. Although they don’t happen often, they can be disastrous for the condition of the water when they do.
These are a few of the most important threats to our environment today, but there are many other problems as well. Caring for our environment is going to take many people working together. Will you be one of those who helps?
Al Gore.
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Al Gore has done more than any other individual to bring the threat of global warming to the attention of the American people. Gore was vice-president of the United States under Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. Their administration cleaned up three times as many toxic waste sites as the Reagan and Bush administrations combined. They also passed clean air standards, which could save 15,000 lives a year. As a senator, Gore cosponsored the Water Quality Act of 1987.
In 2000 Gore ran for president against George W. Bush and lost in a contested election. After leaving office, he worked even harder. In 2006 Gore’s book, An Inconvenient Truth, was released, along with a documentary film by the same name. Gore narrates the film, which follows a slide presentation he had given all over the world. It won an Academy Award and is the third most successful documentary ever released.
In 2007 Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to make people aware of the threat of climate change. He’s still working to inform people. In a speech in October 2011, Gore linked climate change to floods and other weather-related disasters around the world. He said, “We’re still acting as if it’s perfectly OK to use this thinshelled atmosphere as an open sewer. It’s not OK. We need to listen to the scientists. We need to use the tried and true method of using the best evidence, debating and discussing it, but not pretending that facts are not facts.”
Some of Gore’s critics accuse him of exaggerating claims about climate change. Many think his solutions will cost too much for big businesses to implement. However, most scientists back him up on his findings.
You can check rainwater to see if it contains acid.
Adult supervision required