Time / weather

Time/weather

natural catastrophes and
their consequences
hole in the ozone layer
dangers of global warming

Nowadays is very rich in natural disasters, such as earthquakes /földrengések/, wildfires /futótüzek/, hurricanes
and tsunamis. To the best of my knowledge two thousand and eleven (2011) was the costliest year on record /fel
van jegyezve/ in terms of /vminek a szempontjából./ property /ingatlan/ damage /kár/ referring to /hivatkozva
vmire/ natural disasters across the globe /világszerte/. Just in the first two months of that year there were several
reports about billions of fish and birds found dead everywhere. There also were a lot of strong earthquakes with
more than 5.0 magnitude.
To talk a bit more about these thing with the viewpoint of a businessman, the insurance companies were not in
such bad positions for long years. The more catastrophes there are, the more damage people have on their
property /tulajdon, ingatlan/, and the more damages the insurance companies have to pay. This all can be
explained by the global warming, of course, which is a huge problem.
To start this topic from the beginning, I should explain what is global warming, why it develops and is
harmful /káros/ for the environment. Basically /alapjában véve/, it was caused by the different gases the humans
produce /termel/ with their factories, cars burning and even with household appliances /háztartási eszköz/, like
the refrigerator /hűtőszekrény/, or even only with a simple deodorant /dezodor/.
Gases, like Freon start to devastate /elpusztít/ the ozone layer part by part, and this is what should not happen.
The ozone layer /ózonréteg/ is like an enormous /hatalmas/ bubble around the Earth, and it is what keeps most of
the gases, like the oxygen inside. Also, this layer stops the dangerous ultra violet rays /sugárzás/ which can burn
the skin, or cause skin cancer. Without the ozone layer we would not be able to breathe, to go out of the house or
even to find a green spot /hely, folt/ somewhere around, because it prevents the planet from /megakadályoz/
drought /szárazság/.
But not everyone cares about it, as the whole layer keeps growing thinner and thinner, which causes serious
problems, as I mentioned before.
There is another important problem in connection with the ozone layer case, which we should talk about, too.
This one is the global warming.
Basically it is when we produce several kinds of gases, like carbon-dioxide, during a day, and some of these
gases reflect /visszaverődik/ from the ozone layer and get stuck /bennragad/ inside of it. Also, it keeps the heat
/hő/ inside, too. This way the average /átlag/ temperature raises /megemel/ everywhere. The consequences are
the melting polar ice caps /az olvadó sarki jégsapkák/ and glaciers /gleccserek/, the rising sea and ocean levels,
extinction /kihalás/ of animals and more and more species /fajok/ becoming endangered /veszélyeztetett/. Global
warming is a very dangerous thing that we should be aware of /tudatában van vminek/, or instead /inkább/ we
will be able to swim in our back garden.
Now we can’t always see its marks /jeleit/, but if we notice /észrevesz/ them, like the snowless, warm winter in
Hungary, we start worrying. This is the time when we should really talk about these problems and try to slower
the process /folyamat/, because in my opinion it is already too late to stop it. The only thing we can do is to
reduce the rising /emelkedő/ amount /mennyiség/ harmful gases in the air, use public transport instead of cars,
use the renewable /megújuló, alternatív/ energy resources /erőforrás/, try to recycle /újrahasznosít/ instead of
/ahelyett/ burning and burying /elás/ everything in our back garden, and we can even reduce the deforestation
/erdőirtás/. By cutting out all the rainforests, we don’t just take away the habitat /természetes környezet/ from
various species /fajok/ of animals and plants, but we reduce the natural cleaning of the air. If we just cut the trees
out and don’t plant anything instead of in, in a few decades /néhány évtizeden belül/ there won’t be enough clean
air in the earth’s atmosphere. Also, the forest fires are dangerous and important, too, because they might damage
people’s property, too.
All in all, we really should think future of us and our …, because seeing the plants blooming /virágzás/ in the
middle of winter may be a heartwarming /szívmelengető/ feeling, but it’s hundred precent not natural.