Global Problems

Global problems are complex, interconnected issues that affect people and the planet, such as climate change, poverty, inequality, conflict, and disease and require collective action to solve.

Global problems include:

  1. Environmental problems
  2. Violence
  3. Natural disasters
  4. Immigration
  5. Illiteracy
  6. Homelessness
  7. Famine
  8. Crime
  9. Terrorism
  10. Growing the population
  11. Epidemics
  12. Addictions
  13. Diseases
  14. Discrimination
  15. Poverty
  16. Unemployment
  17. Globalization
  18. Wars

People around the world often deal with many big issues, such as:

ILLITERACY – a lack of ability to read and write
EPIDEMICS/PANDEMICS – fatal diseases spread throughout the world
FAMINE AND POVERTY – people have nothing to eat

IMMIGRATION – is the  act of  someone coming to  live  in a different  country .

People immigrate for many reasons, such as:

  • Economic or political reasons,
  • natural disasters that often cause famine or poverty,
  • the desire to change surroundings and live better.

CIVIL WARS – a war between people of the same country
TERRORISM – a violent action for political purposes
ADDICTIONS (drug / alcohol / gambling addiction) – a strong desire to take or do something harmful

ECOLOGICAL ISSUES

  • pollution of air, water and soil
  • global warming
  • acid rain
  • the destruction of the ozone layer
  • the disappearance of many species of animals and plants

HOMELESSNESS – the state of being without a home
NATURAL DISASTERS – occure when something terrible happens, and people often die

WHY DO THESE PROBLEMS START?

  • Intolerance, a desire for power, greed and selfishness, pride and prejudice, unresolved problems from the past, a desire for expansion

NATURAL DISASTERS

HURRICANES AND TORNADOES
Hurricanes and tornadoes are very strong and dangerous winds.

VOLCANOES
A volcanoe is a mountain with a large, circular hole at the top through which hot liquid lava and rocks pour. There are many active volcanos in the world, such as Mount Etna. 

AVALANCHE
An avalanche is a large amount of snow falling quickly down in a mountain.

TSUNAMI
A tsunami is a terrible wave that comes after an undersea earthquake.

DROUGHTS
Droughts mean no rain for a long time and often cause famine.

FREQUENT FLOODS
Frequent floods result from too much rain in a short period, causing damage to houses and land. Hundreds of people die from being underwater, drowning.

EARTHQUAKE
An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth. Many buildings are often destroyed, and many people get hurt.

IMMIGRATION
The process through which individuals become permanent residents or citizens of another country. People immigrate for many reasons, such as: economic or political reasons, family reunification, natural disasters, or the desire to change one’s surroundings.

Immigration can bring many advantages to the country, but there must be mutual respect, kindness, and tolerance between the migrants and the natives.

TERRORISM
It is a violent action for religious or political reasons. People who do this are terrorists. A common terrorist crime is planting bombs, putting bombs in public places often to kill innocent people.

Terrorists also hijack planes and buses. The people on the board become prisoners, also called hostages.

One of the worst terrorist attacks happened in the USA in New York on 11th September 2001 when members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked 2 planes and crashed into 2 famous buildings called Twins. Several thousand of innocent people died in the ruins of these buildings. There have been a lot of terrorist attacks all around the world since then.

HOMELESSNESS
A homeless person is a person without a home, work, and money. They often live on the streets, sleep on the bench in parks, under bridges, or deserted houses and buildings.

They usually beg in the streets and try to find some food in a litter bin.

Reasons why a person becomes homeless: losing a job, domestic violence, divorce and family breakdown, drugs or alcohol problems, untreated mental illness

POVERTY

  • is a worldwide problem
  • leads to starvation and malnutrition
  • increases crime
  • poor people are on the margins of society
  • mendicancy on the street

CIVILIZATION DISEASES AND EPIDEMICS
The last world threat is the COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic.

It was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Because it is a new virus, scientists are learning more each day. Although most people who overcame COVID-19 had mild symptoms, it can also cause severe illness and even death.

The virus spreads mainly when an infected person is in close contact with another person.

Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable:

  • fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, loss of smell and taste  

Preventive measures include:

  • physical or social distance, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, keeping unwashed hands away from the face, the use of face masks in public

ECOLOGICAL ISSUES

  • the pollution of air, water and soil with chemicals
  • global warming that causes weather changes and after that natural disasters
  • deforestation – the destruction of forests for building materials or firewood
  • consumer society that produces too much waste
  • the greenhouse effect occurs when heat from Earth cannot escape from the atmosphere, and the temperature on Earth goes up
  • the destruction of the ozone layer

Why is Ozone Layer important? 

Ozone protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun. Without the Ozone layer in the atmosphere, life on Earth would be very difficult. Plants cannot live and grow in heavy ultraviolet radiation, nor can the planktons that serve as food for most of the ocean life.

HOW CAN WE PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT IN EVERYDAY LIFE?

1. Save energy, water, and petrol

  • Switch off the lights, TV, PC, radio if you don’t use them.
  • Don’t leave the fridge door open for a long time.
  • Do the washing only if the washing machine is full or do hand washing.
  • Take a shower instead of having a bath because it uses much less water.
  • Don’t leave the tap on when you brush your teeth. Turn it off and save water.
  • Use public transport instead of cars, walk, or use a bicycle if possible.
  • Use alternative / renewable sources of energy – solar, wind, and water energy.

2. Re-use

  • Use items that can be recycled.
  • Buy rechargeable batteries.
  • Return glass bottles to the shop.

3. Recycle

Sort domestic rubbish and take it to the special containers.

  • Put glass in the green bin,
  • plastic items in the yellow bin,
  • paper in the blue bin,
  • metal object in the red bin,
  • and organic rubbish in the brown bin.

4. Protect animals and plants

  • Plant flowers and trees.
  • Protect endangered animals.
  • Make compost from food leftovers, and use it in your garden.
  • Don’t smoke – not only do you pollute the air when you smoke, but you also support tobacco companies that destroy forests to produce soft cigarette paper and packs. It takes cutting down one tree to make 300 000 cigarettes.

5. Buy products wisely

  • Bring your own bag to the shop; don’t use the disposable plastic bags.
  • Don’t buy unnecessary electronic gadgets because they require an incredible amount of energy (e.g., an electronic toothbrush, new tablets, new-fashioned mobile phones).
  • Buy fresh food instead of canned.
  • Make a shopping list when you go shopping.
  • Don’t go to the shop hungry; otherwise, you will buy much more useless food.

Vocabulary

  1. global [ˈgləʊbəl] celosvetový 
  2. extinct [ɪkˈstɪŋkt] – vyhynutý, vymretý 
  3. extinction [ɪkˈstɪŋkʃən] – vyhynutie, zánik 
  4. environment [ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt] – (životné) prostredie 
  5. litter [ˈlɪtə] smeti, odpadky  
  6. to preserve[prɪˈzɜːv[] –  zachovať, (u)chrániť 
  7. to preserve our planet [prɪˈzɜːv  ˈplænɪt] – chrániť našu planétu 
  8. species [ˈspiːʃiːz]druh (y)  
  9. to recycle [riːˈsaɪkəl] – recyklovať, opätovne použiť 
  10. deforestation [diːˌfɒrɪˈsteɪʃən] – vyrubovanie lesov, odlesňovanie 
  11. to pollute [pəˈluːt] – znečistiť 
  12. pollution [pəˈluːʃən] – znečistenie, znečisťovanie 
  13. polluted [pəˈluːtɪd] – znečistený 
  14. to endanger [ɪnˈdeɪndʒə] – ohroziť, vystaviť nebezpečenstvu 
  15. endangered [ɪnˈdeɪndʒəd] – ohrozený (druh) 
  16. to increase in [ɪnˈkriːs] – zvýšiť(sa),  zväčšiť (sa) 
  17. rural [ˈrʊərəl] – vidiecky, dedinský 
  18. countryside [ˈkʌntrɪˌsaɪd] – príroda, vidiek 
  19. mild [maɪld] – mierny (klíma) 
  20. deep [diːp] – hlboký 
  21. depth [depθ] – hĺbka 
  22. to prevent from [prɪˈvent] – predchádzať (niečomu), zabrániť 
  23. to worry about [ˈwʌrɪ] – robiť si starosti, znepokojovať sa 
  24. to be serious about [ˈsɪərɪəs] –  myslieť to vážne 
  25. to be aware of [əˈweə] – uvedomovať si , byť si vedomý 
  26. to escape from [ɪˈskeɪp] – uniknúť, ujsť 
Rhino
  1. a solar cell [ˈsəʊlə sel] – solárny panel 
  2. soil [sɔɪl] – pôda 
  3. to sort out [sɔːt aʊt] – triediť  
  4. to sort out domestic rubbishwaste  [dəˈmestɪk ˈrʌbɪʃ] – triediť domáci odpad 
  5. waste[weɪst] – odpad 
  6. measures [ˈmeʒəs] – opatrenia, kroky 
  7. green house effect [ˈgriːnˌhaʊs ɪˈfekt] –  skleníkový efekt 
  8. ozone layer [ˈəʊzəʊnˈleɪə] – ozónová vrstva 
  9. acid rain [ˈæsɪd reɪn] – kyslý dážď 
  10. carbon dioxide  [ˈkɑːbən daɪˈɒksaɪd] – oxid uhličitý 
  11. CFC – freón
  12. a flood [flʌd] – povodeň 
  13. drought [draʊt] – sucho, obdobie sucha 
  14. earthquake [ˈɜːθˌkweɪk] – zemetrasenie 
  15. exhaust fumes [ɪgˈzɔːst fjuːms] – výfukové plyny 
  16. anatural disaster [ˈnætʃrəl dɪˈzɑːstə] – prírodná katastrofa 
  17. disastrous [dɪˈzɑːstrəs] – katastrofálny 
  18. to threaten [ˈθretən] – ohrozovať, ohroziť 
  19. harm [hɑːm] – škoda 
  20. harmful [ˈhɑːmfʊl] – škodlivý 
  21. poverty [ˈpɒvətɪ] – chudoba, bieda 
  22. famine [ˈfæmɪn] – hlad, hladomor 
  23. pesticidespestɪˌsaɪds] – prostriedky na ničenie hmyzu 
  24. to starve [stɑːv] – trpieť hladom, hladovať 
  25. starvation [stɑːˈveɪʃən] – (vy)hladovanie 
  26. to recommend [ˌrekəˈmend] – odporučiť 
  27. recommendation [ˌrekəmenˈdeɪʃən] – odporúčanie 
  28. to solve [sɒlv [səˈdʒest] – riešiť, vyriešiť 
  29. a solution [səˈluːʃən ] – riešenie 
Pollution
  1. to suggest [səˈdʒest ] – navrhnúť 
  2. a suggestion [səˈdʒestʃən] – návrh 
  3. to run out of – dôjsť, minúť sa 
  4. to watch out [wɒtʃ aʊt] – byť opatrný 
  5. avalanche [ˈævəˌlɑːntʃ] – lavína 
  6. to plant a bomb – nastražiť/umiestniť bombu 
  7. to hijack [ˈhaɪˌdʒæk] – uniesť lietadlo 
  8. a hostage hɒstɪdʒ] – rukojemník 
  9. innocentɪnəsənt] – nevinný  
  10. to permit [pəˈmɪt] – povoliť 
  11. a permission [pəˈmɪʃən] – povolenie 
  12. to overcome [ˌəʊvəˈkʌm] – prekonať , zdolať 
  13. fatigue [fəˈtiːg] – únava, vyčerpanosť 
  14. loss of smell and taste [lɒs ɒv smel ænd teɪst] – strata čuchu a chuti 
  15. to cough [kɒf] – kašľať 
  16. to sneeze [sniːz] – kýchať 
  17. fever [ˈfiːvə] – horúčka 
  18. breathing difficulties briːðɪŋ dɪfɪkəltɪis ] – dýchacie problémy 
  19. fatal [ˈfeɪtəl] – smrteľný, so smrteľnými následkami 
  20. to cause [kɔːz] – príčina, zapríčiniť, spôsobovať  
  21. religious [rɪˈlɪdʒəs] – náboženský  
  22. prejudice [ˈpredʒʊdɪs] – predsudky, zaujatosť 
  23. greedy [griːdy] – chamtivý, nenásytný 
  24. to handle [ˈhændəl] – zvládnuť, vedieť si rady  
  25. illiteracy [ɪˈlɪtərəsɪ] – negramotnosť 
global problems
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