How do insects help the environment?


Believe it or not, frogs and insects help people learn about how healthy the earth is. Scientists called naturalists keep track of how many animals there are in the world. In some places, where once they saw thousands of some kinds of animals, now there are hundreds - or only dozens. A change in the number of animals tells scientists that there may also be a change in the environment, the earth, and its resources.



For example, students volunteer to help collect insects from rivers and streams. Then scientists study the insects and record their findings. Too many or too few of one kind of insect could show a change in the environment, possibly an increase or decrease in pollution.



When winter forests in North America turn cold, monarch butterflies fly to warm forests in Mexico. At one time, people in Mexico noticed fewer monarch butterflies in their forests. They weren’t visiting because people had cut down the trees and sold them to businesses. The monarchs had lost their winter homes. However, the people in Mexico saved their forests, and the monarchs, by planting new trees.






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What are people doing to save Earth?


There are many ways that people help the earth. Some of them restore or preserve resources. Others reduce pollution and reuse resources.



Children in Sweden helped save a rain forest that is halfway around the world from their homes. They wrote letters and talked to people to get them involved, and raised money to help save a rain forest in Costa Rica, Central America. They even got children from other countries interested in helping, too. Today, the rain forest is called El Bosque Eterno de los Ninos, or The Children’s Eternal Forest, and serves as a natural wildlife habitat for lots of endangered plants and animals.



Another place many plants and animals live is in the ocean, but it isn’t always a safe, clean home. A major source of ocean pollution is oil. When oil is accidentally spilled into the ocean, governments, businesses, and people join together to help to clean it up.



Governments are passing laws to force industries to control their pollution or pay large fines. For example, factories can only dump a certain amount of their wastes into the air or into lakes and rivers.



Many people plant trees. The new trees help replace old ones that were cut down to make paper, furniture, or other products. Planting trees also helps preserve soil. Without trees and other plants, fertile soil is easily blown and washed away.



In Kalundborg, Denmark, one company uses another company’s waste for energy. A coal-powered plant produces steam and heat to make electricity. In the past, the used steam was released into the air. But now it is channeled to other industries. These industries use the steam for heat as well as other processes.



Every day, while generating electric energy, power plants produce mineral called gypsum as a waste product. Instead of throwing it away, some plants send the gypsum to another company that uses it to make plasterboard.



In many places, especially in some countries in Europe, people often share car journeys, or drive together. This helps to reduce pollution.



People who work to be sure that the earth can provide for all living things are called conservationists. Conservation is the protection and clever use of natural resources. Everyone can be a conservationist every day.





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How can we save Earth?


For thousands of years, people have used the earth’s land, water, and air. Also, people have also polluted the earth with their waste, harmful chemicals, and other poisons.



Now people all over the world are working to protect the earth. They are working to preserve land, stop pollution, save natural resources, and protect endangered wildlife. There are many ways to help the earth. You can help, too.



The Three R’s



How many things did you use today that were made from trees or plastic? How many of those things did you throw away? How many things did you use that required electricity?



Many things that people use are made from trees or plastic. For example, lots of paper and wooden products are made from trees. Many plastics are made from petroleum, coal, and natural gas. And the more we throw away plastic and paper, the more rubbish dumps are needed.



Many things that people use are powered by the earth’s natural resources, too. As we use electricity to run refrigerators and other products, minerals are needed to create that electricity.



Many people are worried that the earth’s resources are being used up and polluted. With these three R’s - reduce, reuse, and recycle - you can help preserve the earth’s resources.



Reduce




  • Use fewer paper and plastic products. Use cloth towels instead of paper towels.

  • Turn off the lights, radio, and TV when you’re not using them.

  • Instead of running water until it’s cold, use ice cubes. Or keep a jug of cold water in the refrigerator.

  • To save hot water, take showers instead of baths.

  • If you have a dishwasher, don’t use it until you have a full load.

  • Ride a bike, or take the bus or train to save on petrol and oil.



Reuse




  • Wash out plastic milk bottles, plastic bags, and aluminium foil, and reuse them.

  • Repair and reuse toys and other products.

  • Save used paper and plastic to make gifts.

  • Use both sides of writing paper.

  • Sell or donate goods so someone else can reuse them.



Recycle




  • Recycle aluminium cans, glass and plastic containers, newspapers, rubber items, and paper. Recycled materials are used to make new products.

  • Use recycled paper to write, paint, and draw.




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Is Earth heating up continually?


Earth is slowly getting warmer. Most scientists believe that people are helping to cause this change. But how can people cause Earth to warm?



Have you ever seen a greenhouse? The glass walls let in light so plants can grow. Because the walls also hold in heat, a greenhouse becomes very warm.



Earth and its atmosphere act like a greenhouse. Light from the sun passes through the atmosphere and warms Earth. Much of this heat escapes back into space. But such gases in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide act like greenhouse walls. These so-called “greenhouse gases” trap heat in the atmosphere. This is called the greenhouse effect.



Our cars and factories burn fuels that release greenhouse gases. These gases are building up in the in atmosphere. Most scientists believe that the buildup of gases is causing Earth to warm. They fear that our planet will become much warmer in the next 100 years. This problem is called global warming.



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Why it is important to use land "wisely"?


Using the land wisely



Every year, there are more people on the earth using more of the earth’s resources. If people aren’t careful, the resources will be wasted, damaged, or used up.



To make space for the development of houses, roads, pavements, and car parks, people cut down trees and other plants. But careful builders leave areas in their developments where they plant trees to replace the ones they’ve cut down. This allows animals to keep their homes or find new ones.



Also, many governments protect some prairies, wetlands, forests, and other land from development.



Factories and other buildings can send waste chemicals into the air and water. So some countries have laws requiring builders to be careful so that new buildings don’t pollute the air and water.



Workers remove valuable resources from the land. If too much is taken, the supply will be used up. However, in many places, businesses save minerals by using better ways of mining and recycling mineral products. They also substitute more plentiful minerals for scarce ones.



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What are Natural Resources?


The Earth’s natural resources



What if there weren’t an ocean or any lakes, ponds, or rivers? What if there were no plants to eat? What if there were no irons to build things with?



Natural resources include all the things that support life. Sunlight, water, soil, and minerals are all natural resources. There are plenty of some resources, and not so many of others.



Sunlight, for example, cannot be used up. Neither can water. The earth has lots of these natural resources. But some places on the earth have more water, more sunlight, or cleaner water than other places.



Some natural resources can be used more than once. These are called recyclable resources. For example, aluminium can be used to make containers, and the containers can be recycled - used to make something else.



Other natural resources can be used and replaced. Animals can reproduce, so they are replaced with new animals. As trees are used, new trees can be planted.



But some natural resources are replaced so slowly we could run out. For example, people are quickly using up the earth’s supplies of coal, oil, and iron. It would take millions of years for the earth to make more of these resources.



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How are we dependent on Earth?


Using the Earth



People everywhere - including you and your family - are using the earth and its resources daily. Look around and see.



There is no question that Earth has been a giving planet. Everything humans have needed to survive, and thrive, was provided by the natural world around us: food, water, medicine, materials for shelter, and even natural cycles such as climate and nutrients. Scientists have come to term such gifts ‘ecosystem services’, however the recognition of such services goes back thousands of years, and perhaps even farther if one accepts the caves paintings at Lascaux as evidence. Yet we have so disconnected ourselves from the natural world that it is easy—and often convenient—to forget that nature remains as giving as ever, even as it vanishes bit-by-bit. The rise of technology and industry may have distanced us superficially from nature, but it has not changed our reliance on the natural world: most of what we use and consume on a daily basis remains the product of multitudes of interactions within nature, and many of those interactions are imperiled. Beyond such physical goods, the natural world provides less tangible, but just as important, gifts in terms of beauty, art, and spirituality.



Earth Day seems as good a day as any to remind ourselves what nature gives us free-of-charge. 



We all need water to survive. People use the earth’s water to drink and to wash. They use it to grow crops. They fish its oceans, lakes, and rivers.



People use the land. They farm the land to grow food. They clear land to build homes and roads. They mine the land for such minerals as coal, iron, and gold.



People enjoy the earth. They grow gardens and make parks. They go swimming and sailing.



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Why do we need to protect Earth?


The earth is full of natural resources - water, air, and land. The earth is also full of life - plants, animals, and people.



We all depend on the water, air, land, plants, and animals to live. So, it is important for people to protect the earth and everything on it.



Our Earth is the only planet with the continuity of life so it becomes more and more important to generate a sense of urgency of saving our mother earth from all sorts of planet harming activities. Our mother earth needs to be saved as our survival depends completely on this planet. It is our responsibility to raise awareness about saving our mother earth.



Earth provides every resource for sustaining living things and inanimate things. Our planet harming activities are resulting in causing an irreversible damage to the environment which results in degrading the condition of this planet. By taking care of this planet, we can improve our well-being as healthy environment will help in improving the quality of our life. It is our collective responsibility to raise public responsibility regarding the well-being of our mother earth.



Saving our earth and its environment becomes highly important as it provide us food and water to sustain life. Our well-being solely depends on this planet it gives food and water to all living things to it is our responsibility to take care of it.



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What are Twisters?


A thick, dark cloud forms in the sky. Warm air from near the earth rises rapidly towards the cloud. At the bottom of the cloud, the air starts spinning. This wind spins and twists and drops down into the shape of a long tube, or funnel. This wind is called a tornado, or twister.



The funnel may touch the earth’s surface. When a tornado touches ground, it can be dangerous. It can pick up heavy machinery and toss it far. The winds of a tornado rip roofs from houses and uproot large trees.



Tornadoes can happen in many parts of the world. But most tornadoes happen over the central U.S.A. People have recorded whirlwinds about 480 kilometres per hour there.



A tornado is a whirling wind that reaches down from the clouds and touches the ground. But dust devils and sand pillars are whirling winds that go from the ground up into the sky. They are much smaller than a tornado.



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