ADVANCED ENGLISH II
TASK
4 - COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITY 3
PARTICIPANTS:
JEFFERSON
DAVID MELO GUERRERO
CODE:
1’057.892.569
M.
JIMENA LINARES M
CODE:
1’049.608.123
CESAR
AUGUSTO MOLINA
CODE:
18’516.333
NELFY
CAROLINA VEGA
CODE: 1’049.633.087
COURSE CODE: 551014_5
TUTOR: MILLY ANDREA MUÑOZ
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OPEN AND DISTANCE
(UNAD)
PROGRAM OF DEGREE IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
CEAD – TUNJA
04/2018
04/2018
04/2018
POLLUTION, AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM"
By: Jefferson David Melo G.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM
In November 2017, the
director of IDEAM, Omar Franco, announced that the most polluted places in the
country are Bogotá, the Metropolitan Area of Medellin and the municipality of
Ráquira in Boyacá; I have no doubt that authorities have worked hand in hand to
counteract this problem in said jurisdiction of the Ricaurte province.
The municipality in which I
live is Ráquira-Boyacá, from my point of view the main problem of my town is
the atmospheric pollution generated by furnaces that work with coal and
firewood and mining activity. It goes without saying that Ráquira is based on
its craftsmanship since 75% of the Ráquireña economy belongs to these, whose
activity is an indigenous legacy that has prevailed and emerged thanks to the
efforts of its inhabitants, who have made them famous not only at a national level,
but also international.
I dare say that our Municipality
is rich in clays, which in certain occasions are mixed with other raw materials
for the elaboration of the objects of decoration, gardening and domestic use. I
would say that this makes that Ráquira is visited by great number of tourists
constituting this one in another economic source. For the cooking of these
crafts, nowadays wood, coal and electric ovens are used. To be honest, these
furnaces of coal and firewood are the big pollution problem of this
municipality since these furnaces produce large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2)
and carbon monoxide (CO), which greatly affects the environment causing the
global warming, landscape devastation, water pollution and the formation of
smog, also the health of its inhabitants my impression is that the Raquireños
is really affected more than anything in their respiratory system, others
maintain that there is a significant deterioration in the quality of life.
Coal mining in Ráquira is a sustainable means for the families of this population. I really think the great problem of this activity is that these mines release pollutants that are discharged into the environment and that result in harmful effects such as acid rain, the greenhouse effect, two of the major environmental problems. I would like to draw attention to the institutions in charge of public health, so that they can make decisions that help resolve this problem soon. Unfortunately it seems that not enough is being done to find a solution to this problem, there is no doubt that the greatest threat to world, is the global warming.
Coal mining in Ráquira is a sustainable means for the families of this population. I really think the great problem of this activity is that these mines release pollutants that are discharged into the environment and that result in harmful effects such as acid rain, the greenhouse effect, two of the major environmental problems. I would like to draw attention to the institutions in charge of public health, so that they can make decisions that help resolve this problem soon. Unfortunately it seems that not enough is being done to find a solution to this problem, there is no doubt that the greatest threat to world, is the global warming.
By: M. Jimena
Linares
AIR’S CONDITION, MIRACLE
CHANGES IN BOGOTÁ
On March 23rd of 2018, the
district environment secretary’s office and the district health secretary have
announced the yellow alert state in Bogotá, they argued that the contaminating
residues are not able to scatter, focusing in specific areas of the city and
being dangerous for people; but then, and as a miracle, seven days later, they
made a new publication, announcing that the yellow alert was over, because of
the strong rains and the wind direction change, thus, I personally, questioned
myself this, is the earth planet trying even yet to defend itself from the
continuous human attacks? it seems to me, that it stills fighting to survive,
as far as I’m concerned, most of the Bogota’s citizens do not realize the
importance of taking care of earth planet or the consequences of the
environmental damage they cause.
Even though these two
secretaries gave some advices to reduce the air conditions damage, I consider
as necessary that people must cooperatively work to sow plants or trees,
reinforce recycling campaigns, and change the consumer habits, it would be
easier to handle if for instance, students of 9th or 10th grade of schools that
have to accomplish with a specific number of literacy hours help to do these
jobs; another option is really applying the environmental penalty by two
options, money or by doing this labor, with the collected money of those
penalties, government may employ people to do it, then we generate job and make
our own contribution to reduce the earth planet’s damage; as Chai Jing (1976)
said “Environmental protection and economic development are not in conflict;
environmental protection is not a burden but a source for innovation, it can
increase competition, create jobs, and lifts economy”.
Undoubtedly, not only Bogotá but the whole Colombian cities or towns need to adopt new customs, we need to realize the importance of changing and the impact our actions have, each one of us must be a guardian of our natural resources, earth planet has demonstrated that it keeps fighting to survive, it needs our help to do it, Richard Rogers (1933) stated “the only one way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment is to get everybody involved”.
Undoubtedly, not only Bogotá but the whole Colombian cities or towns need to adopt new customs, we need to realize the importance of changing and the impact our actions have, each one of us must be a guardian of our natural resources, earth planet has demonstrated that it keeps fighting to survive, it needs our help to do it, Richard Rogers (1933) stated “the only one way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment is to get everybody involved”.
In any case, to be honest
with you, every single year since I remember, there are apocalypses theories
about the ending of the world, I’m afraid of all of them, and I think all of us
must be afraid of. If you do your own analysis, all these theories start with
the ending of natural sources and the earth revenge through volcano eruptions,
tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.; either way, if you ask me if I already did changes
in my life to contribute to the earth's reparation, I must tell you yes! and I
hope you to do it also, we are the generation in charge of that.
By: Carolina Vega
INDISCRIMINATE USE OF PESTICIDES
AGAINST POLLINATION.
A flowering abundant in a
coffee crop besides being a beautiful landscape, is for the coffee farmer a
good indication that there will be a good production month ahead, and probably
his income will be increased. But this increase in profits may also be the
increase in the death of thousands of bees that are attracted by the soft smell
of the flower with the great flowering of the coffee tree, but which also keeps
pesticide residues that in some crops indiscriminately, the coffee grower has
used to control the main enemy of coffee, the bit.
"Chlorpyrifus",
the main active ingredient of some pesticides sold to fight the small insect of
the drill, has been found in a high percentage in samples of thousands of dead
bees, as well as "dimethoate", used in blooms of citrus.
(www.levanteemv / comunitat-valenciana / 2016/02/21).
The indiscriminate and
misguided use of pesticides is leading to numerous beehives being destroyed and
with them the pollination is disappearing, a task that bees do with much curia.
It must be remembered that 70 percent of the viability of a crop depends on
insect pollination (www.agroinformacion.com - Feb 23, 2018). And is that bees
are the fundamental basis of the ecosystem, because without them there could be
a chain of resources that allow the survival of living beings.
But not only manual
applications in crops cause problems to hives, massive fumigations against
viruses that affect human health such as Zika, are also attacking the life and
function of bees, which if not kill them, leaves them in a state that they
cannot do their honey production work well.
Aerial fumigations are
affecting the business of beekeepers, which occurs in the Atlantic Coast and
Huila, where 80 and 60 hives were lost respectively. Says a beekeeper ... we
know that farmers need to fumigate their crops, but if they let us know at
least 8 days before, we could look at how to cover the hives during the
fumigation, so that the bees do not die. (The Chronicle of Quindío).
This lack of awareness, perhaps
due to poor information and / or training in the application of pesticides, is
causing environmental chaos in the environment of bees, since we must first
resort to complying with the principles of good practices integrated in the
pest management, which promotes the priority use of nonchemical methods by
organic methods.
"If bees disappear now,
in four years humanity will be extinct", a premonition attributed to
Albert Einstein and although at the time it seemed somewhat exaggerated, as
things go with uncontrolled fumigations, it is very likely that this will be
fulfilled. Entities such as the ICA, the Sena and the National Federation of
Coffee Growers, among others, must take charge in this serious environmental
problem that is the disappearance of pollination by the death of thousands of
bees, generating standards in the rational use of pesticides, besides
initiating a national campaign of instruction in the handling of equipment and
techniques for an adequate application of pesticides.
By: Cesar Augusto Molina
WATER SOURCES OF NEIVA
The authorities of Neiva is
making ecological tours of ravines and other water sources that surround the
city, taking into account the strong threat of pollution, climate change and
the level of growth of the communities in their areas of influence, led to the
determination of the Ministry of the Environment that several of them present a
worrying state. As Gustavo Galvis Hernández (2017) says: "the outlook in
Colombia is regrettable in terms of decontamination of its water sources. Only
30% of the landfills generated in our cities have some type of treatment that
is to say that the remaining 70% goes directly to these sources, with the
respective consequences on the environment”.
I reckon that the lack of citizen culture and the ineffectiveness of institutional actions are worsening the outlook, this added to another latent danger, Since agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers and hazardous chemicals that are used daily can enter the water sources and, in this way, constitute a health hazard of both people like for animals and plants, this situation is taking the Neiva ecosystems to a point of no return, for which I personally think that it should be addressed more effectively.
In the city of Neiva they
want to reduce the negative impact with the ecological routes accompanied by
the Police, environmental promoters and environmental engineers, in order to
diagnose these water sources and ensure their preservation and care. To tell
you the truth to prevent pollution in rivers is something that should have
begun a long time ago, because it is shameful the state of many of the rivers
in the city, especially the most useful and necessary. However It seems to me
that something helps to solve the problem, But if you ask me I would believe
that citizen awareness is the most important thing to improve in pollution
issues and in general in many other issues.
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