The Problems of the Present World

1) Drugs, Smoking

Millions of teenagers know that smoking is bad for them but they still do it. Why? Some say it relaxes them when they are nervous. Others like the taste. Many say it's a habit and they can’t stop it. For tobacco companies, cigarettes mean profit, for doctors they mean diseases. Cigarette smoking kills 2.5 million people every year. Many of them die of lung cancer. Some aren’t even smokers.(Second hand smoke can also be deadly) The world is having a drug crisis. There are more young addicts today than ever before. There are 3 main kinds of drugs - hard, soft and legal. They can all cause addiction illness or even death. Hard drugs include heroin and cocaine, soft include marijuana  and solvents and legal drugs include tobacco, alcohol and certain tablets. Drugs are the second biggest business in the world. Only the arms business is bigger. Thousands of drug addicts die every year. Some die from the drugs themselves. Others die from AIDS because they share dirty needles.

2) Acid rain

One of Europe and North America's most serious pollution problems is acid rain. What happens? First, factories send gases and chemicals into the air. There they mix and are carried for hundreds of kilometres by the wind. Finally they fall back to earth when it rains. This acid rain kills fish and trees. It slowly destroys buildings and bridges, too. Industrial countries should control their levels of pollution.

3) Wildlife endangerment

Animals are part of the environment, too. Millions of them are killed or treated cruelly by man every day. Animals are used for scientific research. Animals are killed for sport or for their fur or skin. Animals are in danger because the environment is in danger. They are often kept in cruel conditions on farms. Animals shouldn’t suffer.