首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Pollution: A Life and Death Issue One of the main themes of Planet under Pressure is the way many of the Earth’s environmenta
Pollution: A Life and Death Issue One of the main themes of Planet under Pressure is the way many of the Earth’s environmenta
admin
2010-09-25
68
问题
Pollution: A Life and Death Issue
One of the main themes of Planet under Pressure is the way many of the Earth’s environmental crises reinforce one another. Pollution is an obvious example-we do not have the option of growing food, or finding enough water, on a squeaky- clean planet, but on one increasingly tarnished and trashed by the way we have used it so far.
Cutting waste and clearing up pollution cost money. Yet time and again it is the quest for wealth that generates much of the mess in the first place. Living in a way that is less damaging to the Earth is not easy, but it is vital, because pollution is pervasive and often life-threatening.
Air: the World Health Organization (WHO) says three million people are killed worldwide by outdoor air pollution annually from vehicles and industrial emissions, and 1.6 million indoors through using solid fuel. Most are in poor countries.
Water: diseases carried in water are responsible for 80% of illnesses and deaths in developing countries, killing a child every eight seconds. Each year 2.1 million people die from diarrhoeal(痢疾的) diseases associated with poor water.
Soil: contaminated land is a problem in industrialized countries, where former factories and power stations can leave waste like heavy metals in the soil. It can also occur in developing countries, sometimes used for dumping pesticides. Agriculture can pollute land with pesticides, nitrate-rich fertilizers and slurry from livestock. And when the contamination reaches rivers it damages life there, and can even create dead zones off the coast, as in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chronic Problem
Chemicals are a frequent pollutant. When we think of chemical contamination it is often images of events like Bhopal that come to mind. But the problem is widespread. One study says 7-20% of cancers are attributable to poor air and pollution in homes and workplaces. The WHO, concerned about chemicals that persist and build up in the body, especially in the young, says we may "be conducting a large-scale experiment with children’s health".
Some man-made chemicals, endocrine(内分泌) disruptors like phthalates(酞酸盐) and nonylphenol-a breakdown product of spermicides (杀精子剂), cosmetics and detergents-are blamed for causing changes in the genitals, of some animals. Affected species include polar bears-so not even the Arctic is immune. And the chemicals climb the food chain, from fish to mammals, and to us.
About 70,000 chemicals are on the market, with around 1,500 new ones appearing annually. At least 30,000 are thought never to have been comprehensively tested for their possible risks to people.
At first glance, the plastic buckets stacked in the comer of the environmental NGO office look like any others. But the containers are an unlikely weapon in one poor community’s fight against oil companies which they say are responsible for widespread ill-health caused by years of pollution. The vessels are used by a network of local volunteers, known as the Bucket Brigade, to gather air samples in neighborhoods bordering oil refineries, as part of a campaign to monitor and document air pollution which they believe is coming from the plants.
In South Africa, as m many developing and newly industrialized countries, legislation on air pollution has failed to keep pace with mushrooming industries. So local residents, like many in poor communities around the globe, have faced the problem of investigating their claim that industries on their doorsteps are making them sick.
Trade-off
But the snag is that modern society demands many of them, and some are essential for survival. So while we invoke the precautionary principle, which always recommends erring on the side of caution, we have to recognize there will be trade-offs to be made.
The pesticide DDT does great damage to wildlife and can affect the human nervous system, but can also be effective against malaria(疟疾). Where does the priority lie?
The industrialized world has not yet cleaned up the mess it created, but it is reaping the benefits of the pollution it has caused. It can hardly tell the developing countries that they have no right to follow suit.
Another complication in tackling pollution is that it does not respect political frontiers. There is a U.N. convention on trans-boundary air pollution, but that cannot cover every problem that can arise between neighbors, or between states which do not share a border. Perhaps the best example is climate change-the countries of the world share one atmosphere, and what one does can affect everyone.
For One and All
One of the principles that are supposed to apply here is simple-the polluter pays. Sometimes it is obvious who is to blame and who must pay the price, but it is not always straightforward to work out just who is the polluter, or whether the rest of us would be happy to pay the price of stopping the pollution.
One way of cleaning up after ourselves would be to throw less away, designing products to be recycled or even just to last longer.
Previous generations worked on the assumption that discarding our waste was a proper way to get rid of it, so we used to dump nuclear materials and other potential hazards at sea, confident they would be dispersed in the depths.
We now think that is too risky because, as one author wrote, "there’s no such place as ’away’, and there’s no such person as the ’other’ ."
Irritating Air
Despite recent improvements, however, the health problems are still there. A 2002 medical study, carried out by Durban’s Nelson Mandela School of Medicine and a U.S. university, found that an abnormally high 52% of students and teachers at a primary school bordering the Engen plant suffered from asthma (哮喘). It found that increases in air pollution tended to aggravate asthma symptoms in children.
The petrol producers do not dispute the findings but argue that researchers were unable to establish a causal link between air pollution and the high prevalence of asthma among the school population.
For the community, the next step is to take legal action. But, according to internationally recognized environmentalist Bobby Peek, targeting the companies would be difficult as it would be near-impossible to prove that illnesses suffered were caused by pollution coming from a particular plant.
Mr. Peek, who grew up beneath Engen’s stacks, says the activists are now considering taking action against the authorities. "We are now looking at suing the government on constitutional grounds, for failing to ensure our right to protection from a harmful environment as stipulated in the constitution," he said.
Legislative Change
A new batch (批) of environmental laws, the National Air Quality Management Act, has just been passed by the South African parliament to replace outdated 1965 legislation with tighter controls and tougher sanctions.
Martinus van Schalkwyk, the minister of environmental affairs and tourism, visited the south Durban basin earlier this year and said there were measures in place to improve the situation. "I share the anger and frustration of this community. It is long overdue," he told the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
The local authorities have also established a "Multi-Point Plan" for the area. They say it is a powerful model for tackling pollution and points to a 40% reduction in sulphur dioxide emissions in recent years.
There is a U. N. convention that can cover ______.
选项
A、problem between neighbors
B、problem between states which do not share a border
C、problems on air pollution
D、trans-boundary air pollution
答案
C
解析
细节题。根据题干信息词a U. N. convention定位到第二个小标题末段第二句话There is a U. N. convention on trans-boundary air pollution,but that cannot cover every problem that can arise between neighbors,or between states which do not share a border,即:联合国在跨边界的空气污染上有协定,但是不包括邻国之间出现的每个问题,
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/zjz7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
CharlieBellbecamechiefexecutiveofMcDonald’sinApril.Withinamonthdoctorstoldhimthathehadcolorectalcancer.After
A、Therewaslesschanceofbeingdetectedthere.B、TherewasnodemandinAmerica.C、BritainwasSpring’sbirthplace.D、Peopleg
TherighttopursuehappinessispromisedtoAmericansbytheUSConstitution,butnooneseemsquitesurewhichwayhappinessr
A、Toarousestudents’motivationforstudy.B、Tobeconsultedonacademicmatters.C、Tohelpstudentswiththeirpersonalmatter
A、India.B、NewYork.C、St.Louis.D、Chicago.C地点辨别题文中谈到Russell于1864年出生于圣路易斯。
A、Inapark.B、Inamuseum.C、Inazoo.D、Inthepetstore.D细节判断题根据对话可以得知双方正在谈论的是动物。而且根据对话中的关键词thepricetag可以判断对话发生的地点不是在动物园
A、Professorandstudent.B、Doctorandpatient.C、Waiterandcustomer.D、Clerkandcustomer.A人物关系判断题根据关键词professor、essay、handi
A、Peopleshouldbeheavilyfinedforparkingoffenses.B、]henearertothecitycenteryouparkyourcar,thehigherfirecharge
Teachersbelievethatstudents’responsibilitywithlearningisnecessary.【S1】______.Ifalongreadingassignmentisgiv
A、Thehightemperaturesrequiredforitsuse.B、Thelackoftrainedenvironmentalengineers.C、Theoppositionofautomobilemanu
随机试题
《季氏将伐颛臾》选自《孟子.先进篇》。()
生物转化过程最重要的生理意义是
外商投资企业和外国企业购买国产设备投资抵免企业所得税的优惠政策为()。
在工作设计中,通过对机器和技术的设计来降低职位对于体力的要求,这种工作设计方法的理论依据是()。
根据票据法律制度的规定,票据持有人具有下列情形,可以享有票据权利的是()。
资料1:1948年8月19日,当时的国民政府颁布《财政经济紧急处分令》,发行金圆券。实施该项金融改革的目的之一是解决财政困难。因为当时的财政已经到了山穷水尽的地步。金圆券改革的主要内容:以金圆券代替法币,法币必须在当年11月20口前兑换为金圆券,金圆券
Youmaythinkthereisonlysandinthedesertoftheworld,【C1】________itisnottrue.Inthedesert,asweknow,thereisal
中国人民银行专门行使中央银行职能开始于()。
结合材料,回答问题:材料1在普通形势之下,国民革命的胜利,自然是资产阶级的胜利……国民革命成功后,在普通形势之下,自然是资产阶级握得政权。所以中国农民运动,必须国民革命完全成功,然后国内产业勃兴,然后普遍的农业资本化,然后农业的无产阶级发达集中
PRIMERECRUITMENTEmploymentrecordExampleSurname:LamertonEmail:【L1】___________________@worldnet.comNationality:【L2】____
最新回复
(
0
)