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Environment and life

Analysis Materials 19 October 2010 12:12 (UTC +04:00)

Amongst the global problems of today, one of the most pressing
is the problem of human survival in a polluted environment. It is generally accepted in mankind that the basic means of survival is to ensure safety.

Over recent period, due to the rapid development of scientific and technical
progress and intensive use of natural resources,
the degree of depletion and pollution increases, and the problem of human survival become very urgent. Today the threat to survival is mainly due to the depletion and degradation of the environment as a consequence of active human activity.

2010 announced in Azerbaijan "The Year of Environment" ends. During the year, enough work has been done as part of this project, as within the execution of the decree by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic on approval of the Plan of complex interventions to improve the environmental situation in Azerbaijan in 2006-2010. Many activities needed to improve environmental situation in the republic have been conducted.

Today, Azerbaijan has joined all international conventions acceptable for the country to protect the environment. State has approved a Plan of complex measures to improve the environmental situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2006-2010 and adopted a number of programs.
The campaign to gardening Baku and Absheron peninsula continues in Azerbaijan. Within two years, there are plans to plant 3 million trees of various kinds. For this purpose, the land will be brought to the appropriate state and enriched with mineral and organic fertilizers. Trees will be irrigated in an open and drip methods, for which a special irrigation system will be created.
All these works continue and the execution of the tasks is controlled by the relevant government authorities. However, the pollution problem still remains unsolved. The reason is that the major source of negative environmental impact in the country is oil, which is also the main wealth of Azerbaijan.
In Azerbaijan, oil has been sold for nearly 150 years. But, unfortunately, the environment has been neglected for many years. Just after regaining independence, the protection of ecology of Azerbaijan freed from the shadows. But, of course, it is impossible to get rid of the waste, accumulated over 150 years, within 2-3 years.
According to the NYC Partnership Consulting, today Azerbaijan's capital is the most polluted city in the world. Petroleum industry and many oil wells that surround the city have a negative impact on the environment of the city.

The number of people subject to the negative environmental impact here has already exceeded 275,000. The main pollutants are: organic chemicals, petroleum products, heavy metals, including mercury. In the last major Soviet industrial center, which housed more than 40 factories producing rubber, chlorine, pesticides, today Sumgait which is located close to Azerbaijan's capital city is a place of accumulation of piles of mercury-containing waste and untreated sewage. In the city, the people with birth defects are widespread and the level of cancer is 50 percent higher than in other places of Azerbaijan.

More than ten million people in different countries are at a risk of getting cancer, respiratory diseases and premature death. This happens because these people live in the ten most polluted places on the planet. These data were received from a study conducted by a non-profit organization. The purpose of this study was to identify and solve specific environmental problems worldwide.

As a result of environmental monitoring in Azerbaijan, it was found that 70 percent of air pollution in Baku accounted for automobile exhausts. As of January 1, in Azerbaijan there were 925,000 vehicles, each of which emits about 20 kg of emissions per 100 liters of gasoline.

In addition, the presence of chlorine in the water used in the capital exceeds the norm by 2.4-3.2 times. The volume of dissolved oxygen in the water totals about 65-70 percent of the norm, indicating the biological contamination of drinking water. Excess of standards in the water and other chemical elements has been established. A decrease in dissolved oxygen contributes to the destruction of vitality. It was noted that for the normalization of the situation, it needs to create conditions for the use of scientific potential, the spread of environmental awareness, ensure the implementation of regulations and laws on environmental protection.
At the same time, the fundamental to improving the environmental situation in the country over the next 5 years should be cleaning the Baku bay. This is a very sensitive issue, and now a lot of processes continue to resolve it. A large-scale project has been devised to clean up the Caspian waters. It primarily includes changing the sewerage system of Baku. Although, now more than 700 sewage and oil drains flow into the Baku bay. However, the main cause of pollution of the Caspian Sea is the oil. A lot of work together with all the Caspian countries should be done in this regard.
Further it needs to complete the transfer of factories outside the city, create green areas and clean up 30,000 m2 contaminated areas in the Absheron peninsula.
Now the process of environmental remediation takes more speed and if the rate of work remains at the previous high level, then the major environmental problems of Azerbaijan can be resolved after 7-8 years.
Today, the people jeopardize not only their health, but also the health of future generations as they live in the zone of ecological disaster. It is possible to even say that those people who live in towns with serious pollution like those who live in anticipation of the death penalty. Even today, with the development level of medicine, there are some towns where life expectancy approaches medieval standards, in such cities the birth defects and vices are the norm rather than the exception. In other places, the level of asthma with children reaches ninety percent.

So, children need to be connected to environmental issues already at elementary schools, since restoring the ecology of the earth is a long process. One of the major challenges of modern education is the establishment of ecological way of thinking, with the slogan "Nature is our home".

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