There are a lot of problems facing people on the planet Earth nowadays. 
The problems that demand world action are: the growth of world population, economic crises, ethnic conflicts.
But the most urgent problem concerning the people of the whole world is an ecological one.
What is ecology? Ecology is the science that studies the conditions of the habitat of man, animals and plants for the benefit of present and future generations.
“The planet Earth is our mutual home and the biosphere recognizes no divisions into blocs, alliance or systems. All share the same climate system, and no one is in a position to build his own isolated and independent line of environmental defense”, said former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.
What is the environment? The environment is everything around us. It includes all living things. It also includes everything that is not alive, such as the soil, the air and the water.
Human activities can make the environment unhealthy. The gasoline burned inside car engines produces gases that poison the air. Factories bum fuels to run machines, and these burning fuels, too, put poisons into the air. Human activities also poison water. Some factories produce liquid wastes that run into rivers. Often, these wastes contain poisons.
Sometimes, useful chemicals cause problems in the environment.
When small animals eat poisoned insects, they take in the chemicals into their cells?. When larger animals eat these small animals, the poison is passed on to the larger animals. The larger animals are eaten by still larger animals including people.
Many scientists study the environment. When there is a problem, they try to find out why. Then they look for ways to stop the problem.
Scientists have also helped find ways to reduce air and water pollution. New cars bum fuel better and produce fewer poisons. Factories, too, produce fuel poisons. There are laws against dumping poisons into rivers and lakes. People who break these laws should be punished.
Vocabulary
biosphere — биосфера
alliance — союз
gasoline — бензин
liquid — жидкий
cells — клетки
to dump — сливать, сбрасывать
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