ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

©Institut La Llauna - Badalona

Treball de

Síntesi

Anglès

3r ESO

April 2013

These are the reports

ESO 3 students have

written for the online

school magazine they are

creating for their Treball

de Síntesi.

Some of the learners have

even designed a poster to

raise awareness about

their environmental issue.

We invite you to read

their reports and click on

the posters they have

created using Glogster.

Enjoy your reading!

1 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

1. PLANT IT! .............................................................................. 1

2. WALKING DIRT ........................................................................ 2

3. SEA POLLUTION ...................................................................... 3

4. STOP CLIMATE CHANGE! ............................................................ 4

5. STOP MELTING. YES, WE CAN ..................................................... 5

6. NO MORE POLLUTION ON THE BEACHES, PLEASE ............................. 6

7. THE THAW ............................................................................. 7

8. THE ICE IS CRYING .................................................................. 8

9. ROLL-ON, AEROSOL-OFF ........................................................... 9

10. A NOISY WORLD .................................................................... 10

11. SICK WATERS ........................................................................ 11

12. SEA POLLUTION .................................................................... 12

13. BE IN THEIR SHOES ................................................................ 13

1 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

1. Plant It!

by Alba, Claire, Laura and Leo

Last month The Tree Day took

place in Badalona. It was on 17th

February. Every year the world

loses a lot of trees and you can

help reforestation by planting a

tree.

Deforestation is a big problem for

the world because the trees

produce oxygen and if we eliminate

them, we cannot breathe. So we

have decided to write this article

to encourage you to plant a tree.

The Tree Day is a celebration

where you can plant a tree and

then you can do different activities

related to the environment. You

can do environmental workshops,

puppet shows for the children,

travel on a zip-line through the

forest, etc. It takes place on the

21st March because it is when spring

starts. In some places, this day is

not celebrated in March and it's

celebrated in February. For

example, in our city, Badalona, it is

celebrated on 17th February. This

year a lot of people went to Can

Ruti in Badalona.

Now, if you have read this article,

you know a little bit more about

The Tree Day. You can tell your

family and friends and encourage

them to participate in this day. You

can help the environment and have

fun learning new things.

If you plant a tree, you can do a

little act but if a lot of people plant

their trees, there will be a lot of

new trees and then there will be a

new forest.

Just plant it!

Click here to see our poster (and

press play!)

A little girl planting a tree

2 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

2. Walking Dirt

by Clàudia, Laura, Noelia and Ruth

Nowadays, when we go out, we

can see that the streets are dirty

and full of rubbish. People throw

their empty bags of chips or

their finished cans of coke on

the floor and think that it is

okay to do that. But there are

disastrous consequences.

If we look at the streets, we will

see lots of different used things

like cans, empty bags, papers,

bottles, pieces of plastic, dog dirt

and much more. It isn't nice to

see. Furthermore, there are

materials that are difficult to

decompose . Also the CO2 that

the cars produce pollutes the

environment.

However, people don't realise

that it isn't good for the

environment. Travelling by car is

also polluting. If we have to go to

a place which isn't very far from

our house, it would be a good

idea to go on foot. It is good for

your health and you are also

helping to prevent the ozone

layer from being damaged. Then,

there are some people (a lot of

them, actually) who throw

rubbish and think that the refuse

collectors will clean it. But

sometimes there aren't enough of

them and the dirt remains on the

floor. So instead of waiting until

the rubbish gets cleaned, why

don't we throw our residues into

their corresponding bins? We can

find them in almost every street,

so why don't we use them?

In order to raise awareness, we

could write letters to the

government suggesting them to

put some bag dispensers to pick

up dog's dirt or give talks to

people (particularly young people

because they are the future)

explaining them how to keep the

streets clean and start using their

cars less.

Remember: Reuse, Reduce and

Recycle!

Click here to see our poster.

Rubbish in a Badalona Street

3 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

3. Sea Pollution

by Anna, Berta, Carol, Marta and Roger

Sea pollution is the pollution

which affects seas and oceans. It

is a global issue, so international

agreements and activities are

needed to make sure a

sustainable development.

The environment has a certain

capacity to purify sea water, but

this capacity has a limit. In the XX

century sea pollution has reached a

really high level. This pollution

level is too high to be eliminated by

nature. For that reason,

technological and economical

improvements and political and

social changes are needed to

evaluate the sea, improve it and

avoid its damaging.

There are other issues that have an

influence on the sea environment

such as overfishing or the coast

degradation as a result of massive

construction. A huge part of the sea

pollution comes from rivers,

groundwater, the wind and nautical

activities.

There are eight sea pollutants

which have been introduced by

humans:

Toxic chemicals

Crop fertilizers

Organic matter that

decomposes consuming the

oxygen needed by sea life

Bacteria and infectious

agents

Oil

Radioactive waste

Solid materials that can be

harmful to sea life

Thermal pollution

Pollution can be microscopic, but,

although we can't see it, it can still

cause diseases if we swim in

contaminated water.

Prevention of sea environment

pollution is mainly based on

contributions to various

international codes which provide

countries of preventive measures

and safe procedures. One of these

preventive measures is the

Convention for the protection of

marine pollution MARPOL (MARine

POLlution) in 1983. This convention

states some measures to eliminate

the discharge of pollutants into the

sea to reduce accidental spills.

All these actions aren't in our

hands, but there are many things

that we can do locally to reduce

sea pollution. For example:

Do not throw rubbish or

waste on beaches.

Join voluntary groups to

clean beaches in your town

or city.

Do not throw away oils or

fuels through your house

drain.

We think it is really important to

have our oceans and seas clean

because 70% of the earth is water.

4 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

4. Stop Climate Change!

by Júlia, Ksenia, Laia, Mario and Martí

This year we will focus on an

environmental issue that affects

us: climate change.

Climate Change can be understood

as any variation in the Earth‟s

climate. We are in the warmest

century of the last 600 years

because of global warming. We are

the main culprit of this and the

only ones who can find a solution.

Carbon dioxide emissions and water

vapour emissions are the main

cause of this environmental

problem. Climate is changing and

these changes are in large part

caused by human activities.

Nowadays, the emission of these

gases has increased due to new

technology, and as a consequence

the hole in the ozone layer is

getting bigger. Unfortunately, the

Arctic ice cap is melting and sea

levels will increase. If this happens,

a lot of animals that live there will

lose their home.

However, like all problems,

climate change has a solution,

too. We have to make people

aware of the fact that non-

renewable energies are harmful

to the environment and we

should use renewable energies

like solar energy or wind power.

We should walk or use public

transport and avoid using our

cars. If all of us make small

changes, we will be able to

reduce this serious environmental

problem.

Click here to see our poster

Climate change in The Arctic

5 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

5. Stop Melting. Yes, we can

by Elena, Gerard, Víctor and Wendy

The melting ice of the North Pole

is a really serious enviromental

issue that needs to be stopped.

Every year, a lot of ice and icebergs

in the North Pole melt because of

global warming. It's a very serious

problem because it could rise the

sea level, flooding the coasts. This

can have devastating effects. It

can change the oceans' currents. If

this occurs, the poles will change

and the climate arround the world

will change. Also, some types of

animals might lose their homes and

some types of animals will

disappear, they will become

extinct. The Eath's temperature

will rise, the world will get

warmer.

All this may happen because we

emit a lot of gases into the

atmosphere. It started in 1950 with

the industrial revolution. We

pollute the Earth with CO2 by

driving cars, burning fossil fuels,

and using non-renewable energy...

However, there are a lot of posible

solutions, for example we could

stop using so much non-renewable

energy, we shouldn't use too much

plastic and other derivatives as well

as aerosols that pollute the

atmosphere a lot.

If we don't solve the problem now,

we will never be able to solve it.

Click here to see our poster.

A bear on a melting iceberg

6 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

6. No more pollution on the

beaches, please

by Juqui, Maria, Marta, Xavi and Victor

There are a lot of problems on

the beaches but the most

important is pollution. A lot of

people throw away rubbish and

pollute the beach.

All beaches all around the world

are contaminated. This pollution

is really worrying because it is

dangerous for people and the

environment. The beaches are

polluted by natural phenomena

(storms, hurricanes, etc.) and

also people, who throw away a

lot of rubbish when they go to

the beach.

That pollution is more important

in summer, but nowadays it

happens all year. This affects the

beaches because people don‟t

think about the environment.

They always throw away things

on the sand, and they don‟t think

that those “things” affect us for

years. Did you know that one

cigarette end takes over 100

years to decompose?

A lot of people don‟t use the bins

that are on the beach. This is a

problem because when you go to

the beach you can see that it is

dirty. Most people throw

cigarettes, bottles, cans and a lot

of other things. And people that

don‟t throw anything, they find

it. There is also dirt thrown by

the boats and ships like oil,

chemical toilets waste, etc. With

that type of problems, can we do

anything?

Pollution on the beaches affects

the health of people and the

environment, so together we

should raise awareness and make

a small gesture and throw away

the rubbish in the bins or just

save it with us and then throw it.

With these small gestures we will

enjoy a clean sand and nice

views.

Click here to see our poster

Pollution on the beach

7 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

7. The Thaw

by Albert, Berta, Júlia, Karanjit and Mar

In the last years we have seen one

of the most worrying

environmental issues in the

world. Every day there is less ice

in the North Pole and in the South

Pole.

The ice is melting because of the

warmth of the Earth that is

produced by the greenhouse effect.

It's an effect that makes the Earth

like a greenhouse, because people

pollute too much and produce gases

that let sunbeams come into the

Earth but they don't let it get out.

Many people have burnt fuels

because they need energy.

However, they produce toxic gases

and it produces the greenhouse

effect. We think that a lot of

people don't know that it isn't

environmentally friendly. If the ice

melts, probably the sea levels will

rise and it will produce floods in

many cities that are near the sea.

We should do something about it.

We can raise awareness of this

environmental issue or we can

create posters.

We can tell people, for example, to

use biofuels or use less private

transport and more public transport

or just go on foot.

If everybody helps a little, we will

be able to make a big difference to

help the environment. We should

try to pollute less and make small

changes.

Melting ice caps

8 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

8. The ice is crying

by Ariadna, Carles, Ferran, Marc and

Raquel

This year we focus on one of the

most worrying environmental

issues: Global Warming in the

Arctic.

Humans are destroying the arctic

with the Co2 emissions. They cause

global warming and affect the

ozone layer and this harms the

world. The arctic is melting

because of global warming and this

endangers the living creatures of

the arctic and our lives. The Arctic

sea level rose between 0.9 and 1.6

meters in 2100 compared to 1990

levels.

The polar artic has melted every

day since 2000. We are burning

rubbish and we use the cars too

much and this pollutes a lot. The

Arctic sea ice extension in January

2013 was 13.78 million square

kilometres.

To change this situation we can

reduce the number of CO2 trying to

use a bike or walk more often to

avoid pollution with the car. We

can reduce the number of plastic

bags we use by using recycling bags

or other bags that don't pollute.

If only one million people switched

off the computers at night, it could

eliminate up to 45,000 tons of CO2

a year so we must try to pollute

less to have a healthier and cleaner

world.

Don't let the ice cry anymore!

Click here to see our poster

9 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

9. Roll-on, Aerosol-off

by Daniel, Guillem, Jessica and Marta

One of the problems of the

environmental pollution is the use

of aerosols. People often use

them so our aim is to raise

awareness about this.

This product is very harmful and is

frequent on the hygiene of people.

One of the elements of an aerosol

spray is „‟Chlorofluorcarbons‟‟. This

element is very dangerous for the

ozone layer.

One option to solve the problem of

aerosol is use CFC-free aerosols.

This product is an aerosol but

doesn't pollute the ozone layer and

it‟s biodegradable. Furthermore,

this product has got an acceptable

cost. Another option is to use KaVo

ROTA Spray 2 which is

biodegradable. Finally, we can use

roll-on. This is very cheap and its

utility is the same as the aerosol.

You can buy roll-on products in all

chemist.

We can change this situation

reducing the use of the aerosols.

We only need to make a small

gesture: use roll-on or CFC-free

aerosol. We use a lot of aerosol

every year all around the world.

Aerosols can be replaced by roll-on

or CFC-free aerosols.

Can you help the world?

10 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

10. A noisy World

by Judit, Nil and Victor

Acoustic pollution is a big

problem for humanity. People

believe that it is one of the

main environmental problems.

It can affect people in both

physiological and psychological

ways.

The main causes are: vehicles, the

high volume in night clubs, planes

flying lower than it‟s usual and

engines. It‟s a problem which is

affecting human activities such as

sleeping,studying, communicating,

etc. All these problems are caused

because people don‟t respect the

decibel limit.

This kind of pollution is created

by people who are not conscious

of what they are doing, and this

is the reason why they don‟t give

it too much importance.

Planes flying higher so that

people don‟t get disturbed,

reducing the high volume in night

clubs and forbidding the noise of

the motorbikes would be some of

the solutions that humans could

do to reduce acoustic pollution.

We can do little actions to

reduce the noise in our lives. For

example, don't listen to music

after 10:00 pm.

Click here to see our poster

Too close?

11 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

11. Sick Waters

by Alicia, Alicia, Olaia and Sara

People throw away medecines

in the wrong place every day.

Citizens have to know about

where to carry medecines when

they don't need them anymore.

In our country, Spain, 40% of

citizens don't know about

where to throw medecines

You CAN'T throw medicines in

places like the rubbish or the

toilet. If you do that, they will

pollute our nature and kill or

make animals go sick. If you have

medecines that you won't use

anymore, there's a place to throw

them in all the pharmacies.

Just telling people about it, we

could reduce a lot of water

pollution and safe a lot of

animals from this human problem

that we all need to care about,

because it's our fault.

This place is called SIGRE. That's

the correct place to throw them.

All in all, spread the word and

make the difference!

Click here to see our poster

12 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

12. Sea Pollution

by Clàudia, Marc, Natán and Sergi

Every year man throws to the

oceans a large amount of waste

and pollutants.

Industrial and nuclear waste, the

sewage and rubbish are discharged

into rivers and end up in the sea.

Ocean currents contribute to the

expansion of this contamination to

the oceans of the whole world.

Marine activities of man such as oil

drilling, shipping (either tourist or

commercial) and fishing throw a

large amount of toxic substances

into the ocean.

Other sources of oil pollution are

naval collisions and accidents in

general.

Plastics, including bags and bottles,

are the most widespread waste in

the world, representing more than

80% in total. Plastic waste

accumulates in terrestrial and

marine environments worldwide

and decomposes slowly into small

pieces that can be eaten by living

beings.

Many animals, including marine

mammals, birds, fish and turtles

may confuse plastic with food. Sea

turtles in particular confuse

floating bags with jellyfish, one of

their favorite food.

One of the clearest examples of the

consequences that are causing

uncontrolled dumping in the oceans

on marine ecosystems is a great

garbage patch, located between

Los Angeles and Hawaii. Currently

it is estimated that this patch is

two times larger than the size of

Spain and, even worse, continues

to grow at a rapid pace.

We can write letters to the local

government to raise awareness,

make campaigns and waste

collection to see the amount of

pollution in the world.

Oil Spill

13 | E n v i r o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

13. Be in their shoes

by Albert, Ferran, Maria and Marc

Approximately 10 million animals

are killed every year. The fur is

used for a lot of things, but the

most important use is for making

clothes. If this problem becomes

bigger, it can break the animal

chain.

The farmers use the cheapest and

cruelest methods for killing

animals, including suffocation,

electrocution, gas and poison. The

most widely used furs are:

crocodrile, snake and other exotic

animals fur.

There are a lot of solutions to solve

this problem. The first thing is to

explain to people all the problems

we will have in the future and how

much animals suffer.

Another solution is to create special

conservation areas for endangered

species. Another solution is to buy

synthetic furs, so that we don't

have to kill animals.

Leather Boots