FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET

"We are, without a doubt, the last generation capable of stopping the destruction of the living world before the irreversible happens." That is what scientists declared at the opening of the International Scientific Conference on Biodiversity in 2005 in Paris, at the UNESCO building. The disappearance of half of all species of the living world is a reality threatening us on the horizon of 2100.

The most striking evidence of the crisis is climate warming, linked to the increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the emergence of the greenhouse effect, which depletes the ozone layer that protects our planet from the sun's ultraviolet rays. Experts list the consequences of planetary warming: climate instability leads to more frequent major natural disasters such as storms, tornadoes and cyclones, and to changes in the ocean currents that regulate temperature. And floods follow. Tropical forests are in danger. They cover 7 percent of the earth's surface, yet more than half of the planet's plant and animal species grow and live here. Every year 17 million hectares of forest disappear. If this rate continues, in 50 years our descendants will see savanna instead of forest.

The polar glaciers of the Earth are also suffering from atmospheric warming. In the Arctic, for instance, the level of glacial masses has dropped noticeably over the last 30 years.

It is well known that the marine environment is endangered today as a result of excessive industrial exploitation of fish resources, pollution, and the urbanization of coastlines and of the breeding zones of various species inhabiting the waters. The source of life, fresh water, makes up only 2.5 percent of all the planet's water reserves. And that is why half of humanity consumes water unfit for drinking.

The International Environmental Project Olympiads held in Azerbaijan have once again drawn the attention of the world community to problems related to the ecological state of nature. Last year the olympiad's participants were schoolchildren from 17 countries, and this year students from as many as 30 countries demonstrated their concern for the planet's ecology in their competition projects at the Palace of Handball. The jury consisted of 13 professors from various countries. They selected 73 works that can be successfully put into practice, and the winners were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals.

Especially worth noting is the project of the Masallı lyceum "Dafina" (supervisor Shamsaddin Agayev, carried out by students Arif Huseynov and Rauf Kamilzade) and of Imishli School No. 2 (supervisor Inja Hasanova, carried out by Konul Mammadova and Sabuhi Rahimli).

It should be noted that our state's concern for preventing ecological crisis phenomena, not only in our native Azerbaijan but also in other countries of the world, deserves special attention.

("Bakinsky Rabochiy" No. 69, April 17)