Environment

1.      Hello and welcome to our second section of podcasts called Environment which is divided into three episodes. My Name is Julio Davila, and I am gonna talk to you about Deforestation and water pollution.

 

Each year the temperatures on our planet are going up due to the deforestation throughout our forests. Some families are getting bigger and they need to build more houses, and that is why they need to use a lot of wood. Additionally, the use of precious wood is a new business’s way, where the virgin forests is a great option to explore, and a lot of big companies which work with furniture production increase the deforestation onto those areas destroying them entirely, and not doing anything to recover them; besides, many governments around the world are not implementing measures or laws to protect their forests and the illegal cutting of precious wood keep ascending. Similarly, some governments have implemented some laws working together with organizations that protect the environment, but those laws are not severe enough and people do not respect them. 

Therefore, we should give more importance to deforestation and promote campaigns that help to plant more trees in our forests,  especially in those areas that live some animal’s families such as squirrels, also remember that forests are more than just a collection of trees and other plants, they are an essential part for the lives of the species and ecosystems on our planet. Furthermore, water pollution is another issue that many communities are dealing with. In many countries around the world, the access to water is limited, undoubtedly, water is one of the most important elements in the world, however, human beings have underestimated the water as a vital liquid to survive, increasing the contamination of it; Which has brought many negative consequences to the same humans and environment. Water pollution happens when toxic substances enter into water bodies such as lakes, rivers, and so on, this degrades the quality of water, we already know that if we don't take care of water, many sicknesses and bacteria are going to affect our organisms.

 Currently, there is huge pollution in water, toxic liquids in the water are causing the death of thousands of fish and a lot of ecosystems that live in the water, besides, it affects indirectly to animals that their feeding base are fish and once that they consume polluted fish they get sick and in some cases, they might die. We must keep in mind that in certain areas of Africa the access to tap water is almost impossible, for that reason, we should value even more this essential liquid in our lives. 

Thanks for listening, we hope this message gets to you.

 

1.      Welcome to our next episode of environment, my name is Katherine Toruño and I’m gonna talk to you about the misuse of trash and how to protect the environment

 

Another of the biggest issues that affect the environment is the misuse of trash, many people do not even know how to handle the trash yet, that is to say, most of them throw the rubbish whenever they want to, for example, some people while they are traveling, they throw waste of food away by the bus’s window or on the street, occasioning, negative results in the environment, such as unpleasant smells, and illnesses. Water pollution is also produced by mismanagement of the rubbish affecting the wildlife. In many cities we have seen that when it is raining hard and the current of waters are increasing in the drainage ditches a lot of people run to throw sacks full of trash into the drainage ditches, waiting that the water gets rid of all the trash that they accumulate, being irresponsible with the handle of trash, keeping in mind that the trash that is carried by the water will certainly end up either in rivers or the ocean sometimes even in lakes, later on, that trash will cause negative effects in the different ecosystems’ communities that live into the water and more islands of trash in our oceans. 

Even though many organizations are working to get rid of those islands of trash it is becoming almost impossible to remove them because most people still have the same bad habits with the misuse of trash. As we know there’s always a truck in each municipality which take all the rubbish away keeping a cleaner location. As far as we are concerned, not all kinds of rubbish can be destroyed, for that reason the selection of it, it is very important. Some individuals believe that “a little garbage will not damage the planet or will not destroy the environment”, and at the end of the day, we get tons of garbage in our cities, rivers, and oceans, as a result of the same people mindset. Therefore, it is in our hands to start leaving behind us those bad habits and become an example for others when it comes to managing trash.

 

Lastly, from a critical viewpoint, with little steps, we can see big changes in our environment. Here we have some things that would help the environment: to seed trees, recycle, make good management of the trash, keep clean the streets, control deforestation. Additionally, we can use social media to create spaces of awareness about what implies having a safe, clean and comfortable environment. Being kind with our nature, community area is a way to be kind with ourselves, and with the coming generations, because if we keep acting as we are doing it, the heritage for the youngest ones could be a huge lack of natural resources and essential elements for life such as water. 

Thanks for listening.

 

Welcome to our last episode this is Arelys Dávila and today’s topic is acoustic pollution.

The noise is always around us, either natural sounds produced by animals mainly or human activity, such as vehicle traffic. However, when the noise is out of control, it can have a great negative impact on humans’ and animals’ lives. Acoustic pollution is mainly caused by human activities, that is why many people and animals are experiencing a rising noise in the last few years; besides, unpleasant noise affects our mental health.

 

 As a result of acoustic pollution, stress and anxiety are having a negative effect in our lives, in the same way, to get upset or irritable are other consequences of acoustic pollution for those people who are not accustomed to hearing loud noises. Additionally, unwanted noise at school or home can make it challenging for children to learn, they may experience more difficulty with concentration, communication, and speech development.

 

In addition, acoustic pollution (noise pollution) Affects the environment. According to the World Health Organization ‘‘It is one of the most dangerous environmental threats to health”, some types of pollution are traffic noise, airlines, construction sites, nightlife, and loud noise by music. It is necessary to take into account that some noises cannot be avoided, for that reason, some people prefer quiet places for living far away from the suburbs. Acoustic pollution can affect mental health, in some cases, the noise can provoke, headache, stress, lack of focus, and disturbing. Not all individuals are accustomed to this kind of issue. If the noise is used with measurement, it does not bring negative results to our mental wellness, however, not all the noise can be reduced, so, the majority of the population that lives in the city has learned to deal with it. As far as I mentioned, acoustic pollution is not only causing negative effects related to nature is also social disturbing. Besides, if some type of acoustic noise can be controlled by ourselves, it would help positively to our environment and mental health.

Thank you for listening, and we hope you had enjoyed this lesson.