7. World problems in the 21st century

CRIME AND CRIMINALITY Nowadays, criminality is very high and still increases. It can be caused by many reasons. Main reason is money. Crime is criminal action which is prohibited by the law. As a light crime we can consider stealing and hard crime is murder. Crime is usually connected with drugs and prostitution. If someone is guilty he is sent to prison.

DRUGS Drugs are one of the most serious problems of today’s world. People try drugs because they have problems or mean their life boring. Drugs are divided into these categories: soft drugs ( marijuana, hash, mushrooms ); hard drugs ( ecstasy, cocaine, opium, and heroin ); legal drugs ( alcohol, tobacco and medicines ). All three types can cause addiction, illness or even death. Some symptoms are red eyes, affect thinking, slow movements, rapid heartbeat, droopy eyelids and small pupils. Some results of using are panic, anxiety and toxic psychosis.

- ENVIROMENTAL PROBLEMS -

Civilisation has brought people many advantages but its products also pollute and damage the environment in which we live. Pollution affects air, water, land, forests, people, animals and plants.

AIR POLLUTION It’s the biggest problem in large cities and in areas with concentrated industrial production. Emissions include smoke, dust and smells from car. Smoke contains sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide which are produce by coal-fired power stations and industrial plants burning fossil fuels. These substances mix with water from clouds in the atmosphere and form “acid rains” which fall into trees and kill life in them. Trees are important for our lives because they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen. In some parts of the world the great rain forests are destroyed for firewood and building materials.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT The Earth is warmed up by the atmosphere which traps solar radiation. But carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons, methane and water vapour stop the heat from escaping. The result is a rise in the Earth’s temperature, the melting of arctic ice and the flooding of land. 30 km over the surface is the ozone layer, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin cancer. The ozone layer is damaged by chlorofluorocarbons and a large hole has formed over Antarctica. To slow greenhouse effect down we must plant more trees because trees absorb carbon dioxide and we must use alternative sources of energy.

WATER POLLUTION Water pollution results from harmful industrial processes and households, from fertilizers used in agriculture, from waste sites and from ships ( from tankers which cause ocean pollution ). Nitrate can pollute inland waters by leaching from farmland. If we want to have cleaner waterways, we should control discharges to water from industrial processes. We should also find technologies for saving water. Soil can be contaminated as a result of industrial waste and landfills. The volume of landfill could be compressed into bales.

WASTE

LAND FILLING - to select a place for it is quite important. We have to consider ground water, soil tide and other important waterways. A modern land fill is usually a hole in which each day’s deposit of garbage is covered with layer of soil. It must have monitory system ( gases groundwater contamination, water must be treated ).