Ingles

The earth is our home, but much of it is dirty or dying. Why? The green world dossier reports on the health of the natural world
Our planet is 4,600 million years old- but imagine for a moment that it`s only 46
Life began in the oceans 4 years ago
Dinosaurs appeared ( and disappeared) last year
Modern man arrived 4 hours ago
One hour ago he learned how to farm
One minute ago machinesand industry began
In the last 60 seconds man has…
Polluted the air, sea and land
Used most of earth`s oil, gas and coal
Completely killed more than 500 kinds of animals, birds and plants
Made and used atomic bombs grown in numbers from 1 billion (in 1830) to nearly 6 billion today
It´s disaster and it´s still happening. But not all the news is bad. In the last 20 years there has been aGreen revolution. Today many scientist and word leaders realize that the earth is in danger
It´s really very simple. Either we stop killing the earth or we will kill ourselves. We need a cleaner, healthier planet. Millions of ordinary people - both young and old – understand this too. Some of them belong to green organisations in countries all over the world.
But what exactly are groups like thesetrying to do? Can they succeed? And what about people who don´t belong green organisations. How can they help the environment?
Before answering these questions, let’s look at the problem more closely. Here’s a quick guide to the rest of the green world dossier.
It has five sections and they are…
Wildlife
By the year 2030, 25% of all animals, birds, fish and insects may be extinct.
Why isthis happening ? well, there are three main reasons. The first is pollution. Millions of animals die every year because man has polluted their natural home or habitat
The second is hunting. Man hunts and kills millions of animals every year. The third reason is the environment itself. It´s becoming smaller. Every year man cuts down more trees, builds more roads, and uses more land for farming.This leaves fewer jungles, fields and forests for wildlife.

Pollution
Car and factories are very dirty. They can also be very dangerous for people, wildlife and the environment.
Two serious pollution problems are…
Acid Rain – This happens when gases and chemicals mix with water in the air. The mixture travels for hundreds of miles and finally falls back to earth.
Because acid rain containsa lot of chemicals, it kills fish and trees.
The greenhouse effect- Gases and chemicals, are the reason for this problem too. Some of them stay in the air like a blanket around the world. Because of this blanket, the earth´s climate is changing and getting hotter.

Health
People don´t just pollute the atmosphere. They pollute themselves, too- for example with cigarettes junk food alcoholillegal drugs (like heroin and cocaine). The question is – how can human beings become healthier? The Green World dossier has two reports. One on food and the other on medicine.

Energy
94% of the world´s energy comes from oil, gas and coal. But these fossil fuels won´t last for ever. There´s only enough oil and gas for the next 50 years. Coal will last longer- perhaps another 300 years. Thenwhat?
Well-there are two possible answers.
1 Nuclear power 20 years ago this seemed to be the answer. But today, after Chernobyl, many people think it´s too dangerous.
2 Natural Energy – This means energy from the sun, sea, wind and under the ground. It´s clean and natural, but there´s a problem. It´s also very expensive.

Land
40% of the world´s rainforests have disappeared in the last 80years. Today in south America 50 hectares disappear every minute. This is happening because people need (a) wood paper (b) minerals and medicines (C) more room for farms and houses.

But land isn´t just disappearing in south America. It´s an international crisis In Africa, for example, the Sahara desert is growing bigger every year. Here the problem is erosion. That´s what happens when farmers...