ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
The poisoning of the world's land, air, and water is the fastest --spreading disease of civilization.
Overpopulation, pollution and energy consumption have created such planetwide problems as massive deforestation, ozone depletion, acid rains and theglobal warming that is believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect.
The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial andnuclear waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Mediterranean isalready nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on thebrink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will beable to live in the seas.
Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out for ever.
If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today willhave become extinct twenty years from now.
Air pollution is а very serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the airis life threatening - equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes а day.
The same holds true for Mexico City and 600 cities of the former Soviet
Union.
Industrial enterprises emit tons of harmful substances. These emissionshave disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason forthe greenhouse effect and acid rains.
An even greater environmental threat are nuclear power stations. We allknow how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are.
People are beginning to realize that environmental problems are notsomebody else's. They join and support various international organizationsand green parties. If governments wake up to what is happening - perhapswe'll be able to avoid the disaster that threatens the natural world andall of us with it.