OKay, maybe even the title will bore you but there are a number of things I have to say about this topic.
I’m sure every single Earthling is aware of the danger our Earth is in. Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Acid Rain, Depletion of the Ozone Layer etc. Our earth is physically (and sometimes mentally) ill.
WHY? WHY? IS OUR EARTH ILL?
Why? Ask youself why. There is a simple answer, and is not surprisingly the answer to many of our other environmental problems: PEOPLE. Smoke emissions from factories and vehicles, open burning, forests burning, we are killing ourselves by torturing Mother Earth! And what did Mother Earth do to receive such inhuman torment? Well, she gave us home, food and many other supplies we need in order to survive on this sickly planet. Ask yourself, does she deserve our torture?
GREENHOUSE EFFECT?
HAve you seen a greenhouse? Where plants are kept? In a greenhouse, the heat from the sun enters the house and heads back up towards the glass. However, the glass allows only some of this heat to escape, and reflects the other portion. The remaining heat then stays in the greenhouse. In the case of our Earth, there is no glass but there is an atmosphere surrounding our Earth which acts as some kind of glass that retains and releases heat. With the growth of manufacturing sectors and inefficient disposal of its chemical refuse, more cabon dioxide is released into our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide retains heat. So, with more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, more heat is kept on the surface of our Earth and a warming trend begins. If this situation worsens, the polar ice caps of the two poles could melt, causing major floods in many cities around the world. Namely China and the Philippines.
OZONE DIET
Okay, imagine its a really, really sweltering hot day and you’re sweating from head to toe. You arrive at your doorstep, thrust your school bag to a side, grab a 100 Plus from the refrigerator, and the next thing, you switch on your air-conditioner. You feel so cool and comfortable that you don’t know you’re slicing the ozone layer open. Air conds, aerosol cans and refrigerators release a type of chemical called ChluoroFluoroCarbon (CFCs) that is harmful towards the ozone layer. With more CFCs in the ozone, it gets thinner and thinner everyday. If this situation continues, the ultraviolet rays from the Sun are able to access into our Earth because, apparently, the ozone is two weak to protect our Earth from these dangerous rays. Ultraviolet rays causes skin cancer and is ultimately hazardous towards our health. Research shows that the thinning of the ozone is already happening in the two Poles and USA. Any more thinning and we might start to wither away and die.
ACID RAIN. ACID MIXED WITH RAIN?
Something like that. Pollutants from factories and vehicles (namely sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) are released into the air and is mixed with the moisture in the clouds. So, when it rains, so does the pollution. As you know, acid eats away at materials it comes into contact with, be it the road, trees, buildings, the Great Wall of China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, George Bush, Osama bin Laden, your hair, your nose or your lips. When acid rain falls on such things, it eats away at them too. The most alarming thing is the damage the acid rain does to our forests. When it rains, the raindrops fall onto the ground, making it too acidic for a tree to grow. It eventually withers away and die. The tree dies, and since the rain affects the whole forest, the forest dies too. This scene is becoming too common in our world.
SAVE OUR EARTH!!!!
What we can do, what we normal citizens can do is these 3 simple things: REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE. Reduce your usage of electricity, reduce emissions of smoke and carbon dioxide and reduce deforestation. Reuse reuseable products and recycle recycable products. Even better, use recycled products. Take the effort to walk a short distance instead of va-va-vrooming in your car just because your car provides air-conditioning. This not only saves the environment, you are also exercising without really realising it. Use fans instead of air-conds. Plant more trees, especially if you have cut one down. And, to the government, STOP ILLEGAL TREE-CUTTING!!
Malaysia is currently one of the countries with the MOST environmental problems. Haze is spreading here and the government is still dreaming about the Mercedes in Terengganu. Or maybe whether Lee Chong Wei is able to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Or planning Malaysia’s 51st Merdeka. I’m not disagreeing with these actions, but an appropriate action should also be taken on the environment.
There’s no point in writing this when no action can be taken, but I’m just trying to do my part to help save our Earth. I hope SOMEBODY DOES read this article.
michelle teoh 
