ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

We are living in a time of a rapid scientific and technological' progress, which is accompanied by

an increasing consumption of the world's natural resources. 20 years ago the term "ecology" was known

to a small group of specialists. Today the problem of environmental [in,vai;}r;}n'ment;}l] protection is

widely discussed in books and mass media all over the world. Man is facing an ecologycal crisis of his

own making. For centuries he thought a little about the consequences ['k::msikw~nsiz] of the pressures

['prefgz] mankind was placing upon nature. In the name of progress forests have been denuded

[di'nju:did], lakes poisoned with pesticides ['pestisaidz], underground aquifers ['rekwi~z] pumped dry.

Such vital ['vailt] sources of life as air, water, minerals as well as fauna ['f::>:ng]and flor~·['fb:r~] are

being wasted and destroyed. It has been estimated that every year 16 mln tons of oxygen ['oksi<t~n] are

burned up, 25 mln tons of carbon dioxide ['ka:bndabksaid] are discharged into atmosphere. The

pollution [p~'lju:fn] [p~'lu:fn] of the earth has reached a dangerous ['dein<tr~s] level. The great

ecological problem of our time is destruction. of ozone ['ouzoun] cover of our planet. Ozone defends us

from the mortal ultraviolet ['u1tr~'vai~lit] rays.

But I can say that the most awful catastrophe [k~'trestr~fi] of the XX-th century was undoubtedly

[An'dautidli] the accident on the Chernobyl atomic-power [~'tomik'pau~] station. It caused radio-active

['reidiou' rektiv] contamination [k~n,tremi'neiJn] of the huge territory in Ukraine, Russia, Bielorus.

T.housands of people were moved from their native places. Many people died from the bums, leukaemia

[1ju:'ki:mi~], a great number of people became less healthy. But the most important problem is that our

future generations will undergo the serious influence of the harmful matters, such as carbon ['ka:bn],

strontium ['str::m.fi~m] and plutonium [plu:'tounjgm], because they will dissociate [di'souJieit] only.in

hundreds of years. Chernobyl has taught us that atomic power is a dangerous thing, that man must use it

For decades scientists have warned of the possible consequences of all this, but no one paid much

attention, so the Earth began to speak and suddenly the people began to listen. "- "

The government of Ukraine takes practical measures to solve this problem. Nature protection is

now the state law in Ukraine. A special ministry was organized to solve ecological problems

comprehensively on the planet scientific basic. The Ministry of Nature Protection pays constant attention

to the questions of environmental protection. Its aim is to protect the atmosphere from pollution, protect

the country's land resource, control the use of water recourses, save plants, animals and birds from

annihilation [~,nai~'leiJn].

Much attention is paid to the question of rational ['rreJ~nl] use of the country's natural recourses

and recultivation of land. Special measures are taken as well to protect rare and vanishing animal species

['spi:.fI(:)z]' A lot of natural reservations, such as Askania Nova have been established in Ukraine.

Nearly all of them have their own zoologists [zou'o l~<tists], botanists ['bot~nists] and other scientific

personnel [,p~:s~'nel].

There is a special Ecological Committee in our Government. Its task is to control the situation at

nuclear stations, at plants and factories of Ukraine, to control the pollution of air, land, lakes, rivers, the

Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. In our Parliament there is the Ukrainian Green Party whose task is to

fight against the pollution of o~ green planet. .

Success in protecting nature is possible only if all countries in the world join their forces. We hope

that we shall preserve nature's wealth and even add to this wealth in future.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 780