Environmental Issues of Europe

SS6G9 The student will discuss environmental issues

in Europe. a. Explain the major concerns of Europeans

regarding the issues such as acid rain in Germany, air pollution in the United Kingdom, and the nuclear disaster in

Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Student will be able to:

• Explain the impact of acid rain, air pollution and the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster on the economies and population of Europe.

Environmental Issue____________________________________________________

Causes EffectsEvent

(Important Facts)

Solutions?

Acid Rain: Caused by these…

Acid Rain: Results in this…

Acid Rain in Germany

• What causes acid rain?

• Acid rain occurs when factories’ smoke or vehicles’ exhaust containing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides go up into the atmosphere

• It comes back down to earth in the form of harmful precipitation (rain, snow, etc.)

Event: Acid Rain in Germany• Causes:

car emissions (gases and particles which are put into the air by various sources)

factories emissions

other air pollution

• Effects:

kills animals

pollutes water, kills forests and other plants

destroys buildings and monuments

Germans afraid of this…

Black Forest in Germany

…becoming this…

Acid Rain Damage to fish stocks and forests have great

economic impact to local economy and international trade.

Damage to buildings resulting in money having to be spent to renovate.Closure of many factories resulting in loss wages.

What can be done?European Union members have agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, or reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses

• Find alternative energy sources• Conserve resources

All of these “fixes” cost money!!

Germany• Until 1980’s, people did not believe that acid rain was

a problem

• When people saw that forests were dying, they started to worry (Germans love their forests)– Almost half of trees in forest were damaged

• Pollution in Germany was actually causing acid rain in other countries

• Then Germans and others in Europe began pushing for emissions laws (how much pollution can be let out in the air)

• Now Europe has very strong laws about this: very little pollution allowed

• Germans are using hydroelectricity to reduce acid rain.

Hydroelectricity: Human/Environmental Interaction: Depending on our environment.

Environmental Issue___________________________________________________

Causes EffectsEvent

(Important Facts)

Solutions?

Event: Air Pollution in the U.K.

How are acid rain and air pollution related?

• Related to acid rain

• Air pollution rises into the air and returns as acid rain in the form of precipitation

• Air pollution is carried from the U.K. to other countries by air currents

• The UK has very bad air pollution

• Air pollution includes smoke, dust, and smog (mixture of smoke and fog)

Event: Air Pollution in the United Kingdom

Causes:

coal-burning in homes (Great Smog of 1952) sending ash into the air, mixed with fog; creating smog

vehicle emissions

local factories

Effects:

hurts plants through acid rain

hurts atmosphere

hurts humans (burns the lungs, nose and eyes forcing senior citizens and children to stay indoors)

Air Pollution

Respiratory disease= greater healthcare costs.Contribution to acid rain in the U.K .and other

European countries.Damage to fish stocks and forests have great

economic impact to local economy and international trade.

Damage to buildings resulting in money having to be spent to renovate.

Closure of many factories resulting in loss wages.Money has to be spent on improving public

transportation to reduce number of vehicles on road therefore reducing emissions.

Solutions

• Air quality monitoring station

– European Union is pressuring them to improve this

• One major goal of the EU is to improve the environment and protect the earth

• Newer cars produce less exhaust and people drive less.

•Government monitors air quality

Air Quality Monitoring Station

Environmental Issue_____________________________________________________

Causes EffectsEvent

(Important Facts)

Solutions?

Event: Important Information: Chernobyl (Ukraine)

• April 26, 1986 Nuclear accident

– Estimates: up to 5,000 will die due to cancer from radiation

– 336,000 had to be resettled

– Most areas now considered safe

Chernobyl after the disaster…

Whole cities had to be abandoned due to radiation…

Before

After

Evacuation

Effects: Red Forest

The Pripyat Fun Fair was scheduled to begin May 1st. The ferries wheel remains one of the most irradiated parts of Pripyat since the disaster, making it still dangerous today.

400m away from the reactor:

0.623 rt/m2

Average radiation level of aNon-contaminated area:

0.010 rt/m2

Event: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine

• Cause:

communist government was not careful

defective reactor design that was operated with poorly trained workers

• Effect: Nuclear accident at Chernobyl Land evacuation and contamination (Europe farmers, )

Health issues- high rates of cancer, birth defects, death

Nuclear Fallout- radioactive particles stirred up by or resulting from a nuclear explosion and descending through the atmosphere

Chernobyl Nuclear DisasterApril 26, 1986

• spread to surrounding countries by air currents.

• still effects people and land TODAY!

• worst in history

Event: Important Information: Chernobyl (Ukraine)

Chernobyl Disaster, cont.• Most deaths were attributed to nuclear fallout which

was more than 400 times more than the amount of nuclear fallout caused by the bomb over Hiroshima.

• Evacuation and resettlement of over 360,000 people.

• Thousands of people exposed to radiation at risk to cancer

• Firefighters did not know that the fire they were fighting contained deadly amounts of radiation poison.

• Most of these men died within 3 months after the accident.

Event: Important Information: Chernobyl (Ukraine)

• Buried the reactor

• 25 years later:

Solutions: Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in Ukraine

General Map of Chernobyl Fallout Throughout Europe

Chernobyl

• people don’t really know how much damage was done even today!

• agriculture in other parts of Europe suffered

• affected land useless in the Ukraine.

• payments to victims

• loss of jobs due to closed reactors

• high medical costs.

Summary: Use Thinking MapsCompose 1 paragraph per environmental issue

(3 Paragraphs)

1.Where does it occur in Europe?2.What are the causes?3.What are the effects? 4.What is being done to solve the problem?5.How well or poorly did the country solve the

problem?