Global+Problems+-+Environment

**NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION** 

=What is Nuclear Proliferation?= =A term used to describe the spread of //nuclear weapons//, //fissile material//, & //weapons-a pplicable// to nuclear technology & information to nations which are not recongized as "nuclear weapon states" by the Nuclear Nonpfoliferation Treaty(NPT).  =  = = 

 WHAT IS THE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY? A treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. media type="youtube" key="0dwa5cnKIgg" width="425" height="350"
 * VIDEO ON NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION.**

FACTS:
 * Proliferation has been opposed by many nations with and without nuclear weapons.
 * Governments fear that more countries with nuclear weapons may increase the possibilty of nuclear warfare.

DEFORESTATION media type="youtube" key="OEcKeK4i4Ag" width="425" height="350"

DEFORESTATION -deforestation is the logging and burning of trees in a forested area. REASONS FOR DEFORESTATION: <span style="font-size: 140%; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia, serif;">The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to the **habit, biodiversity loss**, & **airdity.**
 * <span style="font-size: 150%; color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Trees can be sold as a commondity
 * <span style="font-size: 150%; color: #9b24b2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humans use land as a pasture
 * <span style="font-size: 150%; color: #0061ff; font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Humans use it as plantations
 * <span style="font-size: 150%; color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">Human settlement


 * __ Environmental impacts associated with deforestation: __**


 * CLIMATE CHANGE: **

-- <span style="font-size: 140%; color: #000880; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">Trees store carbon by absorbing carbon dioxide and holding it in woody branches and roots. <span style="display: block; font-size: 130%; color: #0061ff; font-family: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace; text-align: left;">- When trees are burned, or cut and left to decay, their stored carbon is released into the atmosphere. <span style="font-size: 130%; color: #6c00ff; font-family: 'Lucida Console', Monaco, monospace;"> - Tropical deforestation contributes 20 percent of global carbon emissions. LANDSLIDES AND FLOODING: -- Clear-cutting old growth timber increases the likelihood of landslides by speeding erosion. -- Vegetation soaks up rainfall so the risk of floods is raised when dense forests are cleared. ** SOIL NUTRIENT DEPLETION AND DESERTIFICATION: **

-- Deforestation-exacerbate wind and water erosion of soil depletes it of vital mineral nutrients making soil less fertile and less able to sustain agricultural production, and speeds desertification.
 * OXYGEN PRODUCTION: **

-- Sucking in carbon dioxide and sending out oxygen through photosynthesis, the world's largest tropical rainforest in Brazil's Amazon contributes an estimated 20 percent of global oxygen production. ** BIODIVERSITY/HABITAT ** -- Around two thirds of the world's estimated five to 30 million animal and plant species live in forests.

-- An estimated 60 million people inhabit forests and depend on them for their livelihoods, according to Global Forest Watch. -- Species threatened by forest loss include the great apes (orangutan, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos,) tiger, Asian rhino, and elephant.

media type="youtube" key="S-fP1zqvfcE" width="425" height="350" //<span style="display: block; color: #000000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: center;">-How pollution Efects people (captainn planet was hurt by pollution) -Captain Planet Symbolizes the world. //

<span style="display: block; font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: center;">__ POLLUTION IN MEXICO __ <span style="display: block; font-size: 160%; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> media type="youtube" key="xJZSVnNsm0E" width="425" height="350" __ POLLUTION IN JAPAN __ media type="youtube" key="vWaQzyM6ORg" width="425" height="350"
 * In 1992, the United Nations described Mexico City’s air as the most polluted on the planet. Six years later, that air earned Mexico the reputation of “the most dangerous city in the world for children".
 * Many factors have contributed to this situation: industrial growth, a population boom (from three million in 1950 to some 20 million today), and the proliferation of vehicles. More than 3.5 million vehicles — 30% of them more than 20 years old — now ply the city streets.
 * The most serious pollutants are PM10 and ozone.
 * PM10 comes from various sources, including road construction and dust, diesel trucks and buses, forest fires, and the open-air burning of refuse.
 * Both pollutants can irritate eyes, cause or aggravate respiratory and cardiovascular ailments, and lead to premature death.
 * As Japan changed from an agricultural society to an urbanized industrial power, much of its natural beauty was destroyed and defaced by overcrowding and industrial development.
 * By 1990 Japan had some of the world's strictest environmental protection regulations.
 * Cadmium poisoning from industrial waste in Toyama Prefecture was discovered to be the cause of the extremely painful //itai//-//itai// disease (//itai//-//itai// means ouch-ouch), which causes severe pain in the back and joints, contributes to brittle bones that fracture easily, and brings about degeneration of the kidneys. [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Obvious_water_pollution.jpeg width="267" height="263"]]
 * In the 1960s, hundreds of inhabitants of Minamata City in Kumamoto Prefecture contracted "Minamata disease," a degeneration of the central nervous system caused by eating mercury-poisoned seafood from Minamata Bay.
 * In Yokkaichi, a port in Mie Prefecture, air pollution caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions led to a rapid increase in the number of people suffering from asthma and bronchitis.
 * In urban areas, photochemical smog from automotive and industrial exhaust fumes also contributed to the rise in respiratory problems. In the early 1970s, chronic arsenic poisoning attributed to dust from local arsenic mines was experienced in Shimane and Miyazaki prefectures.
 * Polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) poisoning, caused by polluted cooking oil and food, particularly seafood, was also problematic.
 * Grass-roots pressure groups were formed in the 1960s and 1970s as a response to increasing environmental problems. These groups were independent of formal political parties and focused on single, usually local, environmental issues.
 * [[image:http://keetsa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/summersmog.jpg]]
 * Automobile traffic is a major cause of urban air pollution. The Japanese government has several environmental protection laws in effect relating to automobiles, including the Law Concerning Special Measures for Total Emission Reduction of Nitrogen Oxides from Automobiles (Automobile NOx Law), and the Air Pollution Control Law, aimed at solving congestion and pollution. The Air Pollution Control Law provides for stations in several parts of the country to monitor for nitrogen dioxide, suspended particulate matter (SPM), sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide (CO) and photochemical oxidants (Ox).
 * [[image:JapanTrip001.jpg width="523" height="315"]]