Ocean pollution

 Ocean pollution is a very serious subject. The major responsibility for this problem is Man's selfishness. Ever since human beings have wanted to fulfil their individual needs like having different clothing or technological devices. Consumerism makes this problem bigger every day. To fulfil individual needs we have produced a lot of unnecessary items, polluting the atmosphere and consequently the ocean, which is one of the largest habitats with one of the biggest biodiversities. 

Lots of factories do not respect environmental policies and dump waste into rivers, which will reach the ocean. With this kind of behaviour, sea life is being destroyed and since we depend on sea resources, we will also be affected.

Not a long time ago I read an article about an event which took place in India. A factory was fined because they dumped toxic waste into a river. A journalist interviewed the man responsible for the factory and tried to know why they hadn't invested in filters or other devices to treat waste. The answer he got was that paying the fine was cheaper than invest in equipment to prevent waste dumping.

This made me feel unhappy because I don't understand why they don't care about the future of the environment. The only thing they care about is profit and money.

Some possible solutions could be rising taxes and fines, giving prizes to eco-friendly factories and changing environmental policies effectively.

To conclude, and since ocean pollution may have catastrophic consequences in the future of the planet, we need to find a leader that implements solutions for these problems. In fact, there were important changes in the last few years, but due to overpopulation and the rise of consumerism, the measures which have been taken until now have proven to be insufficient and ineffective, especially legal sanctions.

Sérgio Horzov

11º E, nº 24

2021

SARS-COV-2

 When the Coronavirus appeared for the first time in China, no one would ever imagine that this virus would spread so fast all over the world. Quickly,  this disease that seemed so far away from our lives, stole a huge part of it. The government was pressed to take measures in order to avoid more victims. For these reasons, during March 2020, lots of people were stuck in their homes across the world. 

During this time lots of things happened, but the one that impressed me the most was the ability of nature to rebuild itself. It was phenomenal! Suddenly, all the pollution left the skies, as well as animals decided to visit our isolated cities. For an instance, I thought that it could be possible to save our planet, after all, it wasn't everything lost.

However, I remembered that the human being is stupid and selfish, and will get his first chance to use our planet resources for his own benefit, even knowing that it will lead to self-destruction.

To sum up, these pandemic days have shown us that the only way to help our planet is to stop these unsustainable routines and reimagine a new life with alternative sources of energy. This virus is the result of an abusive attitude towards nature and its integrity, which needs to end. It is time to fight for our planet, it is time for a huge change, it is time to build a global future!

Rodrigo Branco

11º E

2021