Saving Our Environme: Pollution

Pollution is the process whereby various harmful substances are added to the environment (land, water, air etc.) by human and natural activities.

The various types of pollution that exist are:

* air pollution
* water pollution
* land pollution
* noise pollution

Natural activities that cause pollution are, for example, volcanic eruptions, sandstorms and natural forest fires. These events cause a large amount of substances such as ash and dust, which are harmful to our health, to be added to the environment.

Although some natural events may contribute to pollution, human activities have a more harmful impact to the environment.

Saving Our Environment: Learn

Ecology - Sea Life

The Ocean provides a favourable environment for life and the development of plant and animal organisms. All organisms living in the Ocean are divided into three large groups: The vegetation (plants) such as seaweed and photosynthesising bacteria, using solar energy, transform biogenic nutrients using a process of photosynthesis. The second group, animals, consume plants and other animals. The third group feeds on the remains of plants ad other animals and also serve as food for many organisms. Next to areas with abundant sea life, such as zones of upwelling, there may exist areas that have almost no living matter. These are similar to deserts on land. On the globe there exist 63 classes of animals and 33 classes of plants, a basic part of which live in the World Ocean (76% of the animals and about 50% of the plants). See More...

Ecology

The desertification of China

Beijing's Desert Storm

The desert is sweeping into China's valleys, choking rivers and consuming precious farm land. Beijing has responded with massive tree-planting campaigns, but the Great Green Walls may not be able to buffer the sand, which could cover the capital in a few years.

The desertification of China

Tigers in Crisis

The tiger, one of the most magnificent animals in the world, is also one of the most endangered. A cat of beauty, strength, and majesty, the tiger is master of all and subject to none -- except humans. Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct within the last 60 years; and there are less than 50 South China tigers left on this planet - few, and possibly none, survive in the wild.

Tigers increasingly compete with expanding human population and industry for land and food, and many are killed by poachers who sell their skins and body parts as ingredients for traditional Chinese medicines. If these trends continue,the wild tiger may soon be extinct. A few of the remaining subspecies may survive only in zoos; others will live only in stories, pictures and myths, never again to roam the earth.

Tigers in Crisis: "The tiger, one of the most magnificent animals in the world, is also one of the most endangered. A cat of beauty, strength, and majesty, the tiger is master of all and "

Giant Pandas are Being Protected in the Wild - You Can Help Save Endangered Pandas

The lovable and charismatic panda is one of the most popular animals in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most endangered.

Found only in China, one of the world's most populous countries, the giant panda clings to survival, facing habitat fragmentation and poaching as its greatest threats. It is estimated that as few as 1,600 pandas remain in the wild today. WWF works to help giant pandas in the wild through a variety of programs, including scientific assessments, habitat conservation and outreach to local governments and people within the panda's home range.

Giant Pandas are Being Protected in the Wild by WWF - You Can Help Save Endangered Pandas

See, the real Sandstorm in Iraq

Claim: Photographs show a sandstorm in Iraq.

Status: True.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2005]

Do you remember the movie, the Mummy, no special effects here! This is REAL!

Sand Storm, 26 April 2005. Al Asad, IRAQ

It's a wall of sand traveling at 60 mph.

RUN FOREST RUN

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Photo Gallery (Sandstorm)

ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS to Polar Bears

Human acts-related factor that has an impact on polar bears populations, however there are other, more wide-spread, problems that need even more international cooperation in order to find solutions.

Since the formation of the International Union for Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission’s Polar Bear Specialist Group in 1965 scientists and managers from all five nations with polar bear populations have gathered to exchange information. This has fostered good cooperative relations and helped identify global trends in the health and status of polar bear populations that might otherwise be missed.

Such internationally shared information include disturbing data that shows how human-caused factors such as global warming and pollution, are already taking their toll on the health of polar bears. Studies of both European and North American polar bear populations are revealing that body weights are decreasing in some areas, with corresponding decreases in reproduction and cub survival, and that birth defects have increased.

Defenders of Wildlife - OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS to Polar Bears