One of the greatest challengesfacing the world today is howto protect the environmentwhile still maintaining familiarlifestyles.

It isn’t easy to do. Populationissues, pollution, and resourceconsumption make it difficultto protect the earth.

One issue facing the earth todayis global warming. Many scientistsbelieve climate change isoccurring and the earth is gettinghotter.

It started with the IndustrialRevolution and the burning offossil fuels like coal and overtime, oil.

Deforestation or the cuttingdown of forests has onlyexacerbated or worsenedthe problem.

Emissions that trap heat areknown as greenhouse gases.

Of course, trees consume

carbon emissions. Therefore,

fewer trees, more heat-

trappingcarbon in the atmosphere.

Logging, fires, and the clearingof land for agriculture increasesdeforestation.

Global warming and deforestationare not the only environmentalproblems in the world today.

Desertification is anotherproblem in the world today.

Desertification is the expansionof desert land.

Deforestation, overgrazing, andover cultivation of land are causes of desertification.

And perhaps the greatestthreat to the planet isoverpopulation or too manypeople for the available resources.

But change is always possible.People can take action andmake a difference.

By reducing consumption,reusing resources, andrecycling, people can protect the earth and itsresources.