• Food: Man depends on the environment for both plant and animal food
• Shelter: Man uses the earth's resources to shelter himself from rain, sun, wind and snow
• Livelihood: Fishermen, farmers, miners etc, depend directly on the environment for their livelihoods
• Inspiration and recreation: People need the environment for inspiration and recreation
• Water and air: Our survival and that of other living things is impossible without water and air
• Because if we don't, the environment will have some very nasty surprises for us

The reasons the environment is in danger are:

• People's greed for money. They want to make money quickly and with no effort and they exploit the environment in a harmful way. The consequences of their actions are disastrous for the Earth and the people. For example, some business men don't care if the rubbish of their factories which is thrown into the sea kills the fish and the plants. They just want to find a cheap way to get rid of them
• People's indifference. Most people nowadays don't care if the environments is in danger- as long as they are OK .They can't be bothered to pick up a piece of paper someone else has dropped and they think environment problems are not theirs. If we don't team up nothing will be done
• People's laziness and carelessness. Many people are too lazy to turn off the lights after leaving their room, or they just forget about it. They may also forget to close the tap of the sink or to close the refrigerator after they are done with it. They also "forget" their garbage in the forest after a picnic. If you are not careful and you throw lit cigarettes away while walking in a forest you can start a fire that will destroy hundreds of trees and animals
• The fact that the population of the Earth has risen. That means that we need more food and more energy and we have to cut down more and more trees, hunt more animals, build larger cities- this is an endless chain of consequences. Many people mean many cars and many factories which produce the goods we need. But this also means traffic and factory pollution.
• The fact that the needs of modern people have increased a lot. Whereas in the past not every home had a TV, nowadays it has become part of everybody's life. We feel we can't live without our small gadgets and we overuse them. That's bad for the environment
• Wrong use of technology. For example, the atomic bombs are bad uses of technology. It's not technology's fault, it's ours
• People's or machines' errors and mistakes. For example, the explosion in Tsernobill was an accident- something went wrong with one of the reactors
• People's Ignorance. Some people don't know for example that aerosol sprays harm the environment. These are the ones who need to get informed

b) The Problems and their Consequences

Air Pollution: The air is polluted and that happens because of the factories' poisonous gas and because of the too many cars. When the air which we need badly because of the oxygen it contains, is polluted and contains more carbon dioxide (CO 2) than it should, the consequences will be:

• Breath problems which can cause serious illnesses
• Acid Rain. This kind of rain contains sulfur dioxide which destroys the plants and crops and indirectly, harms the animals and the people who eat them. It also pollutes the ground and the water inside it and that means that the water we drink may also be polluted
• Greenhouse Effect. Carbon Dioxide has formed a blanket around the Earth. The heat from the cannot escape and so the temperature is rising. The consequences of the fact that the temperature is rising are firstly that the ice in the poles is slowly melting and that will lead to a rise of the level of the sea and secondly that the climate is changing

The ozone layer: There is a gas that surrounds Earth, called ozone (O 3). Ozone filters sun's rays and prevents ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth's surface. However, several aerosol sprays and the gas from the factories have made a big hole in the ozone layer, so more and more ultraviolet radiation manages to enter Earth. Ultraviolet radiation is extremely dangerous, it can cause cancer

Sea Pollution: Some people think that the sea is a huge rubbish bin where you can throw everything you don't need. Those people are the businessmen I mentioned above but also plain people, like us. The first ones throw their trash into the sea because they want to get rid of it cheaply and the second ones throw their litter into it, because they are too lazy to find a rubbish bin. Whatever the purpose is however the results are always the same: lots of fish die or get poisoned and that is harmful to us, because we may get sick if we eat poisoned fish and may be in trouble when no fish are left in the seas. Also, many ships ,either accidentally or on purpose, throw oil into the sea, which forms oil slicks which are extremely dangerous for the seabirds and sea life in general

Water Pollution: The same thing happens here. But this time the consequences are significantly worse. The water in the lakes and the rivers that gets polluted by people who think they've found a cheap place to throw their garbage in is the water that is drunk by us and by the animals. If a river is polluted ,the sea it flows into will also get polluted

Energy Crisis: Some of the goods the Earth offers us are not inexhaustible. The most important to us is the oil which we use to make fuel for cars, ships, planes, produce plastic e.t.c. But in a few years time this precious liquid will expire. Why? Because we have wasted tons of it and continue to waste it

Deforestation: The forests are destroyed by fires and by bulldozers that cut them down to make room for new houses. Also, many trees are turned into paper we waste

The forests are set on fire by careless people who drop lit cigarettes or leave glass bottles on the ground-even bottles can start a fire so we have to be very careful- or by arsonists who do that because they are lunatic or because they want to build houses illegally in the forest. The consequences are:

• The forest is a whole ecosystem where animals and plants live together. When their home is destroyed ,most of them get killed. If all the animals get killed what are we going to eat?
• The trees in the forest produce clean oxygen for us. Their roots can also prevent a landslide or a flood
• Some forests have rare kinds of plants and animals which help to create new medicine and have other uses as well. When their home is destroyed and when the animals are hunted illegally some of them become extinct or get added to the list of animals in danger

a) Measures that should be taken by the government

Air Pollution: The government can't of course close down all factories or ban all cars. What they can do ,however, is force the businessmen to use special filters to reduce the amount of poisonous gas that is released into the atmosphere and fine the ones who don't. They could also try to find a kind of new fuel for the cars, less infectious and less dirty. It would be a good idea if cars used electricity to move. By making the bus tickets cheaper, the public will be encouraged to use buses and trams and other public means of transport rather than cars

The ozone layer: The government should advise the big companies that produce aerosol sprays and other harmful to the ozone products to change the ingredients of their products in a way that they won't longer be dangerous for the environment and give them a reward if they do so.

Sea Pollution: First of all the government should check where all factories throw their rubbish and fine the businessmen who throw it into the sea. By doing that, they will be discouraged from getting rid from their trash in such a way. A good idea is to fine people who throw small things into the sea- such as bottles, paper, packaging they don't need. It may sound strict, but it is the only way ,because otherwise the people won't listen. Ships that throw oil into the sea should be treated in a worse way. Not only should their owners be fined, but they should also be made to go to court and even to prison.

Water Pollution: The same things I suggested above for the sea pollution should be put into practice here as well. Additionally, because things are much more controllable in rivers and lakes rather than in the sea, there should be formed a "green team" that will take care of the water and make sure it's always clean in every region, and of course the members of this team should get paid.

Energy Crisis: There is not much the government can do here. Everyone of us must be careful and not waste energy. But I will expand that later on. I suggest the government hires some scientists to find a new way to produce energy- this is being done in many countries. It would be better if we could use the wind and the sun to produce energy- because this resources are really inexhaustible.

Deforestation: There have been some measures taken- the arsonists are sent to prison for many years if they are caught of course and the fire fighters are quite efficient. But there is a lot more that can -and should- be done or at least done correctly, because many of the things I suggest below are done in some countries but with no success.

• The government should plant many new trees. The tree-planting expeditions should be well-organized and should be made up of many people, not just two or three
• The animals in danger should be protected in special areas
• They shouldn't build any factories near a forest- they will pollute it in no time
• Two magic words: Recycle Paper. By recycling paper we save up energy and trees. It is the government's responsibility to provide us with recycle bins but it is our responsibility to use them

b)What we should do

So, the government is responsible for everything? No! If we don't do something ourselves, nothing will be changed.

There are three simple words which begin with "R" and one that begins with "S" and they are the only ones we need

Why throw things into the rubbish bin when you can recycle most of it? If you recycle paper- by putting it into the appropriate bin you'll save up many trees. For example ,recycling the Sunday New York Times newspaper will save 75.000 trees every week. If you recycle aluminum, you will be able to reuse it -it will finish some time, it is one of the goods of the Earth that one day they will get exhausted. By recycling glass you mainly help to save energy

Our life is full of useless things, things we could live comfortably without, things we don't really need. Such things are plastic bags and packaging Also, some of the things we throw away are neither biodegradable nor recyclable, such as plastic. Metals and chemicals are non-biodegradable as well. These are the things we should do:

• Reduce the amount of unnecessary things we buy and use. We should use non-biodegradable materials as well. It is a good idea to use our own paper bag when we go shopping ,instead of taking or picking up plastic bags that the next day we'll throw away. Additionally, we shouldn't accept the packaging that accompanies the things we eat in fast foods, the products we buy in supermarkets e.t.c, because we don't really need it.

• We should also reduce the amount of garbage we make, because the less our waste is, the more money and time we save and the greener our planet will become . Changing our habits is the key -we must think about of ways we can reduce our amount of rubbish when we shop, work and play. For example, why buy a fish tin and not an actual fish from the fisherman which is much better for your health and doesn't have any package? And why not buy a refillable pen instead of a disposable one? Why buy paper cups and plates for your children's party? There are several unbreakable and long-lasting alternatives. There are tons of ways to reduce our daily waste, we just have to sit and think about it.

That's a very simple thing to do. We should use the things we recycle. Also, we should donate our old clothes to poor children( but not the dirty and torn ones) or give them to our younger sisters and brothers. It is a shame that many people consider it as a sign of poverty.

As I've mentioned a couple of times before, some natural resources are not renewable, such as oil, metal and coal. Other resources, such as trees take a long time to grow or aren't always available, such as water. We should count on the government to find alternative ways to produce energy. But we must do something ourselves: save energy. Here are a few things you can do to avoid wasting energy.

• Turn off the lights if you don't need them. The fact that you have the money to afford to leave the lights on all night doesn't mean it is OK to do it
• Switch off the TV, the radio and the other devices that use electricity when you are done with them
• Close the refrigerator after you've picked up what you wanted
• Don't let the water running when you are washing the plates or your teeth. Also, don't forget to close the tap before leaving your house, because if you do so, you won't only waste water, but you may as well flood your house(!)
• Cover all saucepans when cooking. By doing that, you are saving energy and heat