Environmental Issues of Europe SS 6 G 8

Environmental Issues of Europe SS 6 G 8 Explain environmental issues of Europe. a. Explain the causes and effects of acid rain in Germany. b. Explain the causes and effects of air pollution in the United Kingdom. c. Explain the causes and effects of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

CAUSES: During the Industrial Revolution, smog pollution in urban areas became a huge problem, due to the factories and homes burning coal or other fossil fuels.

CAUSES: Automobile emissions (car exhaust) is now the leading cause of air pollution in the UK.

• Smog (the Great Smog of 1952) • Acid rain • People develop asthma and pneumonia • Burns lungs, nose, and eyes

• Blackens buildings and threatens wildlife • Keeps senior citizens and kids indoors

• Government created smokeless zones in London where only smokeless fuels can be used. • Factories have reduced the use of coal and increased use of natural gas and electricity---because it burns cleaner. • Laws have been passed that sets limits of factory emissions.

• Government passed “Clean Air Acts” in 1956 and 1968 to help reduce air pollutants. Since then, air pollutants have decreased. • Laws have also been passed to build vehicles that produce less harmful exhaust. • Government asks citizens to voluntarily drive less and car pool. • Government regularly monitors air quality.

In Germany

What is acid rain?

CAUSES: • Smoke from factories and power plants. • Wind carries the pollution in and out of Germany. • Exhaust from Car and bus emissions. (Germans own more cars than people in other European countries!)

EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN: Acid rain has killed at least ½ of the Black Forest in Southwestern Germany.

Effects of Acid Rain

• Scientists say that acid rain damages the waxy outer coating that protects the leaves. • When this happens, it allows the acid to seep into the tree. • This prevents the plant from taking in carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis, and the plant will eventually die.

EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN: • Pollutes rivers like the Danube & Rhine and kills the wildlife living in the rivers. • The sulfur & nitrogen found in acid rain is eating away the surfaces of city buildings and statues.

Effects of Acid Rain

• Germany’s government is requiring coal burning factories to be replaced with water powered factories. • Factories are required to build taller smoke stacks which scrub the smoke before it enters the air.

• New laws reduce automobile emissions. • Germany is now a world leader in developing new types of energy- wind turbines and solar power energy. • Laws have been passed to decrease the use of fossil fuels by 20% over the next few years.

Nuclear Disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine

CAUSE OF THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER: A reactor exploded at a nuclear power station in Ukraine (formerly the Soviet Union) on April 26, 1986. l When the explosion occurred the 1, 000 ton sealing cap was blown off of the reactor. l

This was Reactor 4 after the explosion.

Engineers were experimenting to determine whether or not the cooling pump system could still function under low power if auxiliary electricity were to ever fail. Chernobyl’s safety systems were off during the experiment.

The Soviet government evacuated the town of Pripyat, where all the nuclear power plant workers and their families lived. However, the people were already exposed to radiation.

Effects of the Chernobyl Explosion: l l l The explosion caused radioactive material to be released into the air, poisoning the land. Cancer cases increased. (Over 1 million people were exposed to unsafe levels of radiation in Northern Europe. ) 28 emergency workers died. Nearby pine forests turned brown and died. Many animals died or suffered thyroid damage.

Fall-out Fallout: resettling of irradiated particles released into the atmosphere after a nuclear explosion The fallout from Chernobyl had the greatest impact on Ukraine and Belarus, although contamination reached as far north as Norway and Sweden and as far west as the U. K.

l Firefighters & workers at the plant received radiation exposure of 0. 7 to 13 sv. l Radiation is measured in sieverts (sv). Exposure greater than 0. 5 is considered high.

l l l Liquidators --- soldiers from all over the Soviet Union who were sent to help clean up at Chernobyl. There were over 200, 000 of them. 47 liquidators died from radiation exposure between 1986 -2005. It is estimated that a total of over 20, 000 of them will die from radiation exposure.

What is Radiation? l l l Radiation is energy that is radiated or transmitted (given off) in the form of rays or waves. Remember how atoms have a nucleus with protons and neutrons? Atoms that have an unstable nucleus are said to be radioactive. The atoms want to be stable, so they get rid of extra energy. The extra energy they get rid of is called radiation.

This little Ukrainian girl has cancer. Her mother blames the illness on the radiation in their city of Kiev (located 60 miles from the Chernobyl plant).

A researcher reports on the animals: l A major effect on the livestock was mutation. Below is an excerpt of a correspondent for Moscow News: " At the animal farm of the Petrovsky collective farm, I was shown a suckling pig whose head looked like that of a frog: instead of eyes there were large tissue outgrowths with no cornea or pupil. 'They usually die soon after birth but this one has survived. ’”

Vehicle Graveyard l All vehicles used on site, may no longer be used or leave the site.

Did you know? l 100 more times radiation was released at Chernobyl than by the atomic bombs dropped over Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II.

Did you know? l The Ukraine did not house the reactor in the correct type building. l This factory was being used for weapons production. NOT for energy.

What about now? l l Crops grown today (20+ years after the accident) are still contaminated with radiation. There are many different opinions about how long the contamination will last (300 to 900 years). Since 1986, reactor 4 has been buried in concrete. It is still NOT safe. There have been plans to build a new cover the existing one to prevent further radiation leaks.

SOLUTION: l Ukraine became a nuclearfree country in 2000.

Chernobyl Video Links Greenpeace Video http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=3 u_8 fr. R 0 Ip. E l Good Summary http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=JYk. Vatv. FLsg l Why stay? https: //www. ted. com/talks/holly_morris_why_stay_in_c hernobyl_because_it_s_home? language=en l