What are the ways we can take to decrease this problem?

Science provides many practical solutions to minimizing the present level at which pollutants are introduced into the environment and for remediating (cleaning up) past problems. All of these solutions come with some cost (both societal and monetary). In our everyday lives, a great deal can be done to minimize pollution if we take care to recycle materials whose production creates pollution and if we act responsibly with household chemicals and their disposal. Additionally, there are choices we make each day that also can affect the quantity of pollutants our actions will introduce into the environment. Heavily packaged foods, for instance, contain boxes, cartons, bottles etc. made with polluting dyes, many of which are released from groundwater at municipal land fills. Whether we choose to drive to the corner store rather than walk or ride a bicycle will determine how much we personally contribute to acid and hydrocarbon emissions to the atmosphere (and ultimately to global fresh water supplies).

In the end, there are many choices on the personal and societal level that we must make (consciously or not) that affect the amount of pollution our town or country will be forced to live with. Our standard of living and very way of life is based upon practices, which are inherently "dirtier" than those of our distant ancestors, although they too polluted their environment to some extent. Without taking a step backward in terms of our standards of living, the answer seems to lie in a combination of many small changes in our daily practices and paying more for goods and services, so that manufacturers of various materials and drivers of automobiles (for instance) will have cleaner devices with which to conduct their activities.

Deforestation

The tropical rainforests in Amazonia, Southern Asia and West and Central Africa is the world’s greatest resource – the most powerful and bio-actively diverse natural phenomenon on the Earth. Yet still it is being destroyed just like other rainforests around the world. It is hard to believe that every day over 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned on our planet. That means that over 150 acres are lost every minute.

Once I have heard a horrible idea. One of my classmates told me: «I have never seen the rainforest you are talking about, so why should I protect it? I don’t find it interesting!» I don’t agree with this point of view.

There are some reasons why does the tropical rainforest so important for people from all over the world:

· The tropical rainforest is natural recycle, provider and protector for our planet.

· The tropical rainforest supports the ecosystem in the world.

· The tropical rainforest provides us with oxygen we breathe.

· The tropical rainforest is the richest biological incubator on the Earth. It supports millions of plant, animal and insect species – a virtual library of chemical invention. Maybe the new drugs are still awaiting discovery – drugs for AIDS, cancer, diabetes and arthritis. Many secrets and untold treasures await discovery with the medicinal plants used by shamans, healers and indigenous people of the Rainforest Tribes. So alluring are the mysteries of indigenous medical knowledge that over one hundred pharmaceutical companies and even the US government are currently funding projects studying indigenous plant knowledge and the specific plants used by native shamans and healers.

The problem and the solution to rainforest destruction are both economic. The destruction is caused by slash-and-burn agriculture, cattle ranching, building of dams and highways, and mining. So, if landowners, governments and people living in the rainforest were given a viable economic reason not to destroy the rainforest, it could and would be saved. Thankfully, this viable economic alternative exists.

Many organizations have demonstrated that if the medicinal plants, fruits, nuts, oils and other resources like rubber, chocolate and chicly were harvested sustainably, rainforest land has much more economic value than if timber were harvested or if it were burned down for cattle or farming operations.

Nuclear energy

Nuclear energy is often called the energy of the future because of a great amount of advantages, but millions of people are afraid of radiation. On the one hand using nuclear power gives us more variety in fuel sources. On the other hand is the remembrance about Chernobyl tragedy. Different countries use nuclear energy even now, but people from all over the world suppose that using nuclear energy is a big mistake.

There are some advantages of using nuclear:

· Nuclear is the cleanest and least damaging to our environment. Since the energy released from splitting the uranium atom is so much greater than the energy released from combustion, the amount of land, materials, and fuel used, and wastes produced, are very much smaller.

· Using nuclear power gives us more variety in fuel sources. It helps us avoid being dependent on other countries for only one or two types of fuels.

· Nuclear isn’t limited by location and natural conditions (for example, the need for regular winds or sunshine).

· Nuclear generation of electricity provides savings over coal generation because of lower fuel and transportation costs for nuclear.

· Nuclear energy is the cheapest kind of energy.

All mentioned above are «pluses» of nuclear energy. And now let’s talk about minuses, about radiation.