Ecological issues

Ecological issues

Cheked by:Kakimova Zh.K.

Written by: Mukasheva Damira, Mukanova Meruert

What does it mean?

Radiation pollution

Environmental issues are harmful effects of human activity on the biophysical environment.

For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and it seemed to them that natural riches were unlimited. But with the development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1000 million tons of dust and other harmful substances.

As a result some rare species of animals, birds, fish and plants disappear forever, a number of rivers and lakes dry up.

Kazakhstan has serious environmental issues such as radiation from nuclear testing sites, the shrinking of the Aral sea, and desertification of former agricultural land. These issues are due in large part to Kazakhstan's years under the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union performed about 500 nuclear bomb tests on a site called Semipalatink-21, that was 160 kilometres away from the Kazakh city of Semipalatinsk which is now Semey. The testing began in1949 and continued for forty more years, ending in 1989. The site was officially closed August 29, 1991. The Soviets built structures and placed animals in the sites to test the strength and affect of the bombs. Two hundred thousand villagers were also subject to the cruelty of the Soviets. The people of Semipalatink were forced to stand outside their homes each time a bomb was tested in order to study the effects of radiation on humans.

How is effects to people ?

The nuclear testing may have ended but it has had long lasting results on the environment and people of Kazakhstan. Many people have developed or inherited cancer caused by radiation and an increased number of children are being born with birth defects.

Air Pollution

Aral sea

Air pollution occurs when harmful substances are introduced into Earth's atmosphere. It may cause diseases or allergies in humans; it may also cause harm to other living organisms.The air pollution level of cities and industrial centers, despite the reduction of production, remains rather high.

Another most urgent problem is the preservation of Aral Sea. Since 1960, the area of Aral Sea has been essentially reducing. Use of water for agricultural crops irrigation has led to reduction by more than 90 % of natural water inflow from Tien-Shan mountains. The sea area has decreased by 2,6 million hectares, the sea has lost 6% of its volume, the water level has decreased by

12 – 24 meters, the concentration of salts has doubled. Daily 200 tons of salt and sand are scattered by wind on distances of up to 300 km. Nowadays, the processes of desertification, salinization of soil, plant and animal life exhaustion, climate change still remain and sickness rate of the population is increasing. The environmental situation of the Aral region has led to impossibility of traditional directions of economic development and has caused a number of social problems.

About one third of industrial enterprises have no sanitary protective zones of standard sizes. A considerable part of the population of industrial centers live in the zone of a direct impact of harmful industrial factors – emissions of polluting substances into the air, noise, vibration, electrical magnet fields, and other physical factors.

List of references:

• http://www.kafu-academic-journal.info/journal/3/62/
• https://www.slideshare.net/zariwa_89/air-pollution-in-kazakhstan
• http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/kazahst/soe2/soee/nav/air/condit.htm
• http://articlekz.com/article/9769

What can be done to protect nature?

The ecology is a science studying interaction of organisms among themselves and an environment.

I believe that environment disasters can be avoided if people broaden ecological education and every person understands that the beauty of nature is extremely fragile and people must obey the unwritten laws of nature. Governments must be prepared to take action against pollution.

Air pollution could be reduced if plants and factories were made to fit effective filters on chimneys and car exhausts. Green zones around big cities must be protected and extended. Natural resources should be used economically because their stocks are not unlimited.

We have to protect our health,

by helping the environment!