by
Sandro Pintus
The forests of Europe are in serious danger
The latest report from the U.N.
The forests of this ancient continent are sick. The general situation
of our woods in the past few years has in fact become so bad that even the
United Nations has recently pointed out what serious danger they are in.
A U.N. report states that the continual deterioration of the European forests
is now a really serious problem, especially in central and eastern Europe.
One of the European conifer forests
destroyed by pollution |
According to the latest national and international observations,
more than a quarter of the 600.000 trees in 32 European countries, in
other words, 26,4% of all the trees examined, show clear signs of deterioration.
In practical terms, the sick trees have lost 25% of their leaves. This
means that there is a serious increase in the deterioration of the forests
that has risen by 3,8% in only 12 months. This phenomenon is far too much
not to arouse alarm and is unfortunately steadily growing. In actual fact,
many of the aspects connected with the state of the environment on this
continent are extremely worrying. The information contained in "The
Environment in Europe", a book published by the European Union, examines
environmental conditions in European countries and includes the various
analyses carried out to study the state of the water, the air, the wild
flora and fauna and the urban territory; the results are particularly
alarming, not only for countries in Europe, but also those in their near
vicinity.
Field of poppies in southern Europe
(photo Blue PlanetŠ1996) |
This situation is also getting worse thanks to the huge quantities
of CO2 (carbon dioxide) that are emitted in cities and areas of heavy
traffic. Faced with problems like these, action should be taken immediately
to check such a serious emergency before it is too late In spite of all
this, however, there is nothing to stop us from trying to make our cities
better places to live in. One of the simplest solutions would be to create
more parks and gardens, or even, quite simply, to place as many plants
as possible in window boxes and terraces. This would certainly make our
cities pleasanter places to live in, as well as being closer to the nature
that we do, at times, tend to forget.
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