FIX IT FAST OR FRY SLOWLY

 

The environment is an issue that many young people today refuse to deal with because they assume that it does not affect them. Unfortunately, our environment is facing many disastrous problems and in order for them to be healed, everybody needs to be concerned and take part in fixing them.

The most dominant problem that I feel is affecting our world today is poverty and overpopulation. It is not directly linked to the environment, but it plays a huge part in the deterioration of our earth. There are so many countries in the world today with mass amounts of poverty. In our own city of Toronto we have people sleeping on the streets and begging for money to feed themselves that day. Countries living in poverty do not have a lot to spend on education. Lack of education means lack of knowledge and knowledge is the key to fixing our environment.

How can this be fixed? Many things are already being done to increase education. Many developed countries are helping third world countries through sponsorships and through funding. Poverty-stricken countries need to work together with the developed countries. Governments should be involved in making education a prime concern and should support attempts to improve conditions.

On an individual basis, people should support organizations that want to help fund education programs. Even though it may not seem like our concern, poverty affects everybody. In particular, I feel that Canadian youth should take part in school programs and fundraise for poverty-stricken countries. They could send old books, school supplies, etc. It is going to take a lot of fixing, but it definitely needs to be done because poverty is the root cause of many of our environmental problems.

The second largest environmental problem facing our world today, I believe, is deforestation. Many forests, the rain forests in Brazil , in particular, are in severe trouble due to the amount of trees being cut down daily. Forests are an essential part of our lives. Many people do not realize this point. Forests are the homes of thousands of species of wildlife, which we depend on for food and which are an essential part of "the food chain!" Not to go back to the basics of grade one, but, everybody realizes that trees give us oxygen and if thousands of trees and plants are getting killed daily, our oxygen supply is deteriorating along with them. Along with this, forests, the Brazilian rain forest especially, is said to hold the key to millions of cures for diseases and sicknesses. If the trees and soil and flowers and plants continue to be destroyed, all of these medical supplies are being killed along with them.

In order to "fix" this problem, forests need to be preserved instead of destroyed. To make these changes happen, there must be worldwide knowledge of the problems. The governments need to establish some kind of law for preservation, that would be strictly enforced. There should be a fine for unnecessary destruction and for people who are cutting down trees illegally. It is essentially the governments who would be able to enforce these kinds of laws.

On an individual note, people should become more aware of the problems and insist that their governments do more to protect the forests and wildlife. As Canadian youth, you could increase knowledge in your schools, become more aware or even buy a part of the rain forest! This is definitely a major problem which must be faced and which needs to be taken a lot more seriously.

Although many people rarely think about Canada when they think about countries with a lot of environmental concerns, we do have our share of problems that need to be dealt with. One of the most prominent is the depletion of the ozone layer. This is a large problem in Canada because we use products that hurt the ozone layer daily. From the use of products containing CFC's to our automobiles that give off damaging gases and chemicals, we are slowly destroying the very thing that protects us from the ultraviolet rays. These ultraviolet rays damage crops and most importantly cause skin cancer. I definitely believe that this is the most serious environmental problem Canada is facing.

In order to solve this problem, we have to stop using products containing CFC's completely. The government needs to be involved and needs to put a ban on any products containing CFC's. Individually, people can stop using CFC products, as well, they can car pool and use public transportation to omit the amount of poisonous gases going into the atmosphere. Canadian youth can become aware and be willing to take the necessary measures (cutting back on certain purchases) to improve the conditions of our atmosphere.

Overall, there are many problems that are affecting our environment and they need to be dealt with. It is not something that is going to happen overnight but it is something that everybody has to be aware of in order to realize that these things affect all of us. To be able to find "cures" for these problems, people must have the knowledge and the willingness to work together to save our planet.