Environment Protection Must Be Global

That the problem of pollution and ecology has become the most important one for mankind is evident to all. The more civilization is developing, the greater the ecological problems are becoming. Air and water pollution by industry is now reaching tremendous proportions. In our era it is changing from a national to an interna­tional problem, especially in territories where rivers cross several countries. The seas and oceans are also becoming seriously polluted. A similar situation is developing in the atmosphere. It is known that many cities throughout the world suffer from air pollution.

However, our scientific knowledge and technological advance­ment make it possible to eliminate it if people use good will¹ and make considerable investments for that purpose. The develop­ment of natural resources on a global scale is already possible from a scientific and technical standpoint². Large-scale experimental work in this area is successfully being carried out.

At present scientists in industrially developed countries are working on the theory of interaction of all the atmospheric and oceanic global processes that determine the climate and weather of the world. Increasing growth of population, industrialization and the use of resources are slowly but surely changing the global climate and water balance. This can be described as a great experi­ment, one that may bring about changes in the environment more serious than ever before.

The essential feature in the environment protection is that many problems can be solved only on the level of world community³. Therefore, the planning of protection against pollu­tion by human society as a whole⁴ is imperative today and in the near future. It is necessary to develop an international program to study data on land, forest, atmospheric and oceanic resources, both renewable and non-renewable. It is the joint efforts of many scien­tists and special public organizations that can deal with the prob­lem and take necessary measures to protect the environment.

It is still a big job and much remains to be done⁵. However, sci­entists are confident that planned actions of all countries can elimi­nate pollution and achieve successes in purifying air, water and soil and in safeguarding natural resources. At the same time one must realize that social and political circumstances may stand in the way of further progress in this field.