Plastic is considered one of the greatest material produced that has helped companies and individuals alike. But how has plastic played a role in harming our environment? Watch the video below to find out more about the journey of a plastic bottle.
Discuss:
1. Explain where plastic bottles end up once we throw them away. What is leachate? 2. What is the Great Pacific garbage Patch? What danger does this pose? 3. Are you aware of where your garbage goes when you dispose of them? 4. Does your city have good programs related to recycling and disposing of trash properly?
“With plastic, man is faced with another brainchild run amok. At times it seems that technology cannot exist without it. Plastic may seem indispensable; it is also virtually undisposable. When man is through with it, he is hard put to get rid of it. The plastic that holds a six-pack of beer cans together might last anywhere from 450 to 1,000 years.” (Oceans – Precious Resource or Global Sewer?)
Watch the short video below then express your thoughts about trash polluting our oceans.
Discuss:
1. How would you describe the video? 2. What do you think will happen to our oceans in the future? 3. Is it possible to completely stop the use of plastic? 4. Does your city have its own initiative to lessen the use of plastic? Help the environment?
Air pollution ranks number four in the leading cause of death. It has directly affected many young children and has caused unemployment in men and women.
1. How can air pollution be slowed down? 2. What are alternative sources of energy that can be used in order to slow down air pollution? 3. In your own little way, how can you fight against pollution? 4. Does your country have very aggressive projects or initiatives related to the care of the environment?
In 2011, Japan suffered a devastating disaster that left many homeless. After some years, residents of Fukushima are still picking up the pieces, hoping that normality will be restored.
Read the article below and express your thoughts about it.
1. What do you know about what happened in Fukushima and to its nuclear power plant? 2. What is your general opinion about nuclear energy? 3. Does your country rely on nuclear energy? How about alternative forms of energy? 4. Do you think it is possible to fully rely on natural forms of energy?
1. What can you say about the Car-Free Day? 2. What do you think about the traffic situation in your city? 3. What do you think are other alternatives to private transport?
Time and again, we’ve seen or heard some incidents wherein heavy tourism takes a toll on a once unspoiled place. A famous small island in Thailand named Koh Tachai has recently been closed to end what could be irreversible consequences of high number of tourists to its ecosystem.
Find out more about this news by reading the article below.
Idyllic Thai island Koh Tachai closed indefinitely due to damage from tourism
Bangkok, ThailandCNN —
Thai authorities have closed a popular island in the Andaman Sea to visitors, blaming high tourist numbers for damaging its ecosystem.
Known for its idyllic white beaches and excellent diving, Koh Tachai is the northernmost of the Similan Islands archipelago, a national park in southern Thailand.
Tunya Nethithammakul, director general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, told CNN Tuesday that the island had been closed to visitors “indefinitely,” due to the severe deterioration of its ecosystem.
Asia’s most underrated attractions
The problems included litter and food waste, gasoline from tour boats leaching into the water and damage to coral, he said, adding that overwhelming numbers of tourists were to blame.
“This is such a small island, I would say it could accommodate just a few hundred tourists a day,” he said.
“But it turned out that at certain points there were almost 2,000 tourists visiting the island (daily).”
Snaphappy St. Barts tourist grazed by plane
Situated about 137 kilometers (85 miles) northwest of the tourist hub of Phuket, Koh Tachai has no hotels, and the majority of visitors stay only for the day, eating lunch on the island.
Some tourism operators have offered overnight trips where guests stay in tents.
The island is marketed by local tour operators as the “Maldives of Thailand.”
Nethithammakul said that many of the islands in Similan National Park would have been closed soon anyway due to the monsoon season, along with other national parks in coastal areas.
Long-tail boats of southern Thailand
Discuss:
1. What was the main reason for closing this island for tourism? 2. Is it a good idea to close it indefinitely? 3. What do you think are the good and bad things about tourism? 4. Have you been to a place similar to Koh Tachai – breathtaking but somehow being exploited by humans?
One of the most beautiful organisms ever found are corals. These are even one of the most productive resources in the world. They are food producers and they support life on the planet. However, they are now in danger.
Watch the short video below then answer some questions.
1. What is coral bleaching and what causes it? 2. How important are corals to marine life? 3. Are there any organizations in your country dedicated to help preserve aquatic life? 4. Have you experienced seeing coral in their natural habitat?
More and more people are becoming aware of climate change, simply because it’s more evident. Do you think we still have time to save this Earth?
Winters are becoming warmer each year. Summers are hotter and drier. Scientists say that extreme weather will become normal in the future. Water shortages will be common too, and will affect more than one billion people around the world. And according to new information, global warming may destroy some of the Earth’s natural wonders.
World governments and environmental organizations are starting to talk more honestly about climate change. Evidence increasingly shows how much damage we have done to the environment. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in Brussels recently said that humankind’s activities are definitely the top reason for our hotter planet.
So what will the impact be? With warmer oceans, coral reefs everywhere will begin to die. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s natural wonders, will disappear. In the Amazonian rain forest, many of the trees will die, and much of the area will become dry savannah. In Chile and Argentina, melting glaciers will create a drier climate. As a result, there will be more forest fires in the region.
Some of the damage cannot be repaired. Action now, though, could limit or prevent some of the problems.
Discuss: (from article)
1. Are you concerned about the environment? 2. What could every person on Earth do right now to help save the environment? 3. How has the environment changed since you were a child? 4. What do you think the Earth will be like in the future? 5. Have you ever seen any of the natural wonders?
1. How do you understand urban farming and what are its advantages? 2. Is urban farming something that is happening in your country? 3. Have you started growing your own vegetables? Have you tried it?
