Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management

REPORT
- Ecology and environmental protection -

Student: Blan N. Alexandru Ionel Year: I Specialization: Economic engineering industries

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Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management

CONTENT

1. What is ecology?....................................................................................... 3 2. The fashion for ecology - is ecology fashion or necessity?...................... 3 3. Ecological catastrophes. 4 4. Ecological tidbits... 4 5. What is environmental protection.. 5 6. Types of environmental pollution.. 5 7. The effects of the environmental pollution.... 6 8. Diseases caused by environmental pollution. 6

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Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management

Ecology and environmental protection

1. What is ecology? Ecology focuses on the structure and mechanisms of the environment functioning. It studies the relationships of living organisms and relationships between these organisms and the environment they live in. Ecology was distinguished as science in the 19th century. The term originates from Greek words: oikos - which means house or the place of living and logos - science. Literally the word means the science of the place where organisms live, namely environment. Ernst Haeckel, a zoologist, was the first person who used this term in 1969; however, even earlier human and science were interested in the connections between life and the place which organisms live in - and the first scientific premises appeared at the beginning of the 18th century when Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek wrote in his works about the communion of the environment and the organisms which live there. Nowadays the term "ecology" and all its derivatives are broadly and commonly used, from their original meaning, i.e. studies of relations in the nature, and environmental preservation to agricultural, social and artistic activity. This one word describes all kinds of human activities which originate from ecology or refer to ecology. 2. The fashion for ecology - is ecology fashion or necessity? Ecology, or environmental preservation, has become necessity. Human long-lasting wasteful activity, carefree attitude towards using natural recourses and uncontrolled development of industry caused serious damage to natural environment which the threat to life on our planet and thus cannot be continued. Therefore, on one hand ecology is necessity, on the other hand it is also fashion. Ecology and fashion for ecology are, first of all, the result of the fact that we can hear about this threat everywhere. We have become more responsible inhabitants of the Earth, we are more and more aware of the fact that everything we do influences the environment and this awareness makes us adjust to new conditions (the conditions of threat to the environment) and we try to minimize the existing danger - it is nothing other than a basic instinct of every living organism - the survival instinct. This fashion, as every type of fashion, sometimes becomes caricatural and people, for economic reasons, overuse the "ecological" terms, for example in order to increase the sale of various products. However, no matter what we are driven by, all environment-friendly activities, as far as they are in accordance with the interest of the environment we live in, may have only positive effects. The methods ecologists use At the beginning it has to be said that ecologists differ from each other. There are numerous ecological organizations in the world. Apart from government agencies which deal with environmental protection, there are many non-governmental organizations which propagate ecological slogans. Their aims are, at least in theory, coincident. They differ from each other in the methods they use: from lobbing and education activity to intervention campaigns and radical actions (verging on the illegal).

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Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management Greenpeace and WWF (formerly World Wildlife Found) are one of the most famous international ecological organizations. Greenpeace often carries out radical international and local activities. Being financed by donors (except for political parties, governments and corporations), it is often criticized for pseudo-ecological and propaganda attitude towards the question of ecology. On the other hand, WWF acts more constructively, it raises respectable funds and devotes them to environmental protection, ecological education and research. In the 1980s WWF, known then as World Wildlife Found, contributed to creating Global Strategy for Environmental Preservation under the auspices of Secretary-General of ONZ. This document laid foundation of the global look at the question of environmental protection and efficient use of natural resources. 3. Ecological catastrophes Ecological catastrophes are the cause for drastic changes in the environment. Many species are endangered; sometimes it is even impossible for them to survive. Catastrophes are largely the result of human insouciance towards the exploitation of the nature; they are also often the result of sheer stupidity or greed. There have been many accidents with tragic consequences. According to the information conveyed by the Chinese Environmental Protection Office, smaller or larger ecological catastrophes occur in China every other day. To give the picture of the problem several examples of such accidents: In 1957 in a Soviet city Kistym a nuclear waste container exploded. As a result of the explosion, twenty-three thousand square kilometers of area were contaminated. During the next three years 30 towns became depopulated. During the next thirty years more than 8 thousand people died of radiation sicknesses; In 1984 in India poisonous fumes of isocyanates escaped from a factory, the cloud of fumes turned out to be fatal to six thousand people; In 1991, at Saddam Hussein's order, eight hundred sixteen thousand tons of petroleum were pumped out into the Persian Gulf; what is more, the Iraqi set fire to 650 oil wells in the gulf as the result of which clouds of smoke arose at a height of 2 kilometres. The smoke reached the areas 80 kilometres away from the shore. Soot, which was the result of petroleum burning, settled even in the Himalayas. The wells were extinguished for 8 month; In 1997 as a result of forest burning in Brazil, fire spread through the area of 1600 kilometres. 4. Ecological tidbits A plastic bottle will take 500 years to decompose, it takes 5 years for chewing gum and 2 years for a cigarette to decompose Trees in a broad-leaved forest with an area of 1 hectare are able to produce about 700 kilograms of oxygen which meets daily demand for oxygen of more than 2,500 people During one day even 36 liters of water may run from a leaking faucet In order to produce one tone of paper, 17 trees have to be cut down According to British scientists' calculation, if the PET bottles which are thrown away per annum were put one on top of the other, the tower that would be made would be 28 million kilometers high, which is 73 times more than the distance between the Earth and the Moon If one litre of engine oil spills into a river or another water body, even 1 million liters of water may be polluted.

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Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management

5. What is environmental protection By the notion of environmental protection we understand all activities whose aim is to exploit, maintain and, if possible, replenish sensible resources and riches of natural environment. The conception of environmental protection appeared in the 19th century when the processes of industrialization sped up (the development of industry, the growth of cities, the increased exploitation of natural resources) which entailed new threats, such as pollution. At that time people became conscious of human destructive influences and the necessity of protecting their resources. In the 20th century the development of industry progressed. This intensive expansion, which often took the form of overexploitation, caused other dangers and, accordingly, the development of activities whose aim was to protect the environment. Nowadays these problems are more often than not, regulated by law. The main activities concerning environmental preservation, some more global than others, include the introduction of restrictions on the emission of harmful chemical compounds, a prohibition on using particularly destructive substances, protection of valuable ecosystems (national and landscape parks) and specific riches (natural features of historic importance). Environmental protection also involves less spectacular actions, such as promoting cleanliness, waste segregation, saving natural resources by more sensible use of, for example, waterand energy. 6. Types of environmental pollution Human activity is characterized by a huge diversity and practically in every field pollution may be generated. Pollution can be divided in terms of environment or the area of contamination: air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution and landscape pollution. We distinguish various types of pollution: dust, gases, sewage, waste, radioactive contamination and also noise and light. Anthropogenic air pollution is mainly the result of the emission of harmful dust, gases and aerosols into the atmosphere. These harmful substances come from industrial, foodprocessing and transport activity. Water pollution is the effect of water contamination by sewage and waste. Additional factors which pollute are: water transport (direct influence) and using pesticides and chemical fertilizers in agriculture; these agents penetrate through soil into ground water and then into cycle. What is more, the cycle of water in the nature is disturbed due to forest destruction, improper farming and the development of cities. Soil is usually polluted by extensive and irresponsible waste disposal, using fertilizers and plant protection agents. It is also polluted indirectly by air, rainfall and ground water pollution. Landscape pollution includes, first of all, omnipresent rubbish, waste stockpiles, dumps, slag heaps and damage caused by the exploitation of fossil deposits, everything that lowers the aesthetic qualities of the environment and frequently results in the destruction of nearby ecosystems. Although light and noise pollution does not cause damage to the particular environment (air, land or water) and it might seem to be exaggeration of the problem, it becomes more and more serious threat to big cities and their surroundings. Artificial light has a negative influence on animals' and people's vital functions. The negative influence of the excess of light affects especially organisms which are active at night. Birds suffer as well city lights made them disorientated during migrations. People are advised against sleeping in

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Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management places which are lit by street lamps since it causes sleep disorders and in extreme cases it may lead to insomnia and exhaustion of organism. 7. The effects of the environmental pollution Environmental pollution has a destructive influence on a global scale - the problem concerns our whole planet and also local places - the existing threats are different in various countries. On a macro scale people and by-products of their activity in the form of harmful substances polluting the air, soil and water, led to the increase in the greenhouse effect and consequently to global climate warming, the ozone holeand acidified precipitation. And thus: The greenhouse effect caused by the emission of gases which increase temperatures on the Earth (carbon dioxide, ozone, CFCs) and forest thinning (lower intake of carbon dioxide, lower production of oxygen) result in climate change, ice melting, disturbance of vital functions of fauna and flora and even extinction of some species. Climate changes cause a wide range of atmospheric phenomena (hurricanes, rain, floods, hailstorm) on an unusual scale and make climate unpredictable. The ozone hole is the result of the emission of CFCs into the atmosphere, it exposes us to the harmful effects of solar ultraviolet radiation; fortunately people partly handled this problem by prohibiting the production and emission of harmful substances, due to which the level of ozone in the upper layers of the atmosphere will be probably restored. Acid rain, caused by the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxides, has a destructive influence on soil and water and, accordingly, an indirect effect on living organisms. 8. Diseases caused by environmental pollution Harmful effect of environmental pollution manifests itself in lowered immunity to all kinds of diseases which means that human organism becomes more liable to pathogenic influence of various factors. This influence can be direct or indirect. All harmful chemical compounds we take in with the air or water have direct, toxic impact on people. Animals and plants which are also influenced by pollution in the process of nourishment become the source of harmful substances which we assimilate indirectly while eating. As far as specific diseases caused by pollution are concerned, they are, above all, all kinds of diseases associated with the progress of civilizations. Their development, variety and incident rate depend closely on industrialization and changes in the quality and style of life resulting from the progress of our civilization. These diseases include cancer, allergies, asthma, sight and hearing diseases (caused by the excess of light, noise, ultraviolet radiation), neurosis, diseases of blood circulation system, skin diseases. All kinds of emitted pollution has impact on our health and it is impossible to discuss it briefly; nevertheless, their influence is indisputable, especially as in industrialized areas incidence rate of diseases associated with the progress of civilization has increased which is contrary to the areas with less developed industry or with no industry at all; in these areas contagious diseases are more frequent. Even a special field of medicine was distinguished - environmental medicine. Its aim is to deal with diagnosis, treatment and, above all, prevention of health problems caused by environmental pollution.

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Ecological University of Bucharest, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Management

Bibliography

1. ourEcology.org 2. en.wikipedia.org 3. Richard Acklam, Araminta Crace Going for Gold Upper Intermediate Coursebook, Longman, 2010

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