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We live in the world where there are many different species of plants and animals. Nature is the world around us. People are the only animal species that consciously manipulates the environment. But we tend to be poor leaders in the hierarchy of animal life. We often we waste; we destroy, and are too self-centered and shortsighted. The soil, oceans, atmosphere and weather would still interact with solar power to allow some life to exist. Earth cannot be a barren place like the moon. Humans can, then, reduce our planetary paradise into sort of a hell, but cannot, we may believe, destroy the planet itself.

If I think about global issues, the first thing that comes to mind is the deterioration of the environmental situation. This is a complex problem, which includes pollution of the land, water and air, as well as deforestation, extinction of species of flora and fauna. One of the most important problems is also the process of global warming and climate change. However, they are all caused by people and their activities, and they are difficult to eliminate. There are many environmental problems caused by nature: droughts, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and others.

There are less obvious, but no less catastrophic effects of a plastic disaster. Microplastics are tiny granules that industry produces. When discharged into water, microplastic mixes with silt and sand at the bottom, so that fish and smaller organisms easily swallow it. Due to the ingress of particles of plastic into the body, much more animals die than we can imagine. UNESCO estimates that it is a million birds and 100 thousand turtles and mammals every year. Tiny planktonic organisms and huge whales are vulnerably to this problem. Microplastic, which is eaten by fish, moves along the food chains, and, in the end, it is on our plates. An even less discussed side of the problem is toxic substances, which are added to plastic to give it different properties. Water flushes chemicals from plastic and carries them all over the planet.

We can fight with the problem of plastic debris by limiting production. For example, in the European Union from 2021 it will be forbidden to produce plastic disposable tableware and straws for drinks. About 60 countries have partially or completely banned disposable bags, and in many countries household waste is sent for recycling and reused. Germany, Japan, South Korea, Slovenia and Austria have already succeeded in this sphere.

But plastic recycling is expensive and not always effective. First of all, collected waste requires preliminary labor-intensive manual sorting. After this, the plastic has to be cleaned and crushed into small particles. At the same time, modern technologies do not allow to preserve plastic’s properties: during processing, it turns yellow, loses its presentation and is no longer suitable for the production of food packaging, that is, it cannot be fully used again. Different types of plastic require different processing, and most people are not ready to think about where to throw packages from milk, where — packages from sweets, and where — used wet wipes. And least of all, they want to wash the containers before sending them to a dumpster. In many countries, the sorting of waste and its removal from food residues is the problem of waste processing plants, but at the same time, the cost of waste disposal for people increases significantly.

Another, but no less important, is a group of health problems. It includes AIDS and other infectious diseases, such as cancer. In my opinion, one of the most common is the problem of obesity. It is caused by lifestyle changes, especially lack of physical activity and the rapid growth of fast food popularity. Statistics show that more and more children in the world are suffering from this disease. It is connected with another global problem — the Internet, which greatly affects our way of life, making us less active, purposeless, and anti-social.

Global warming has become an undisputed fact about our current livelihoods; our planet is warming up and we are definitely part of the problem. However, this isn’t the only environmental problem that we should be concerned about. All across the world, people are facing a wealth of new and challenging environmental problems every day. Some of them are small and only affect a few ecosystems, but others are drastically changing the landscape of what we already know.

Our planet is poised at the brink of a severe environmental crisis. Climate change, ozone layer depletion, waste disposal, — are only a few of the current problems that make us vulnerable to disasters and tragedies, now and in the future. Unless we address the various issues prudently and seriously we are surely doomed for disaster.

I believe that most of the modern problems can be solved by changing human nature, our habits and way of thinking. All mankind must unite to win this eternal struggle.