Production and ecology
Ecology is the science of people’s relationship with the surrounding environment; it also studies the economical use, protection and restoration of natural resources. Needs are unlimited but resources are limited, so when production expands, problems appear: air pollution, polluted water bodies, soil salinisation, destruction of the ozone layer and noise. Most of them result from human economic activity, because although production technology advanced, poisonous gases, wastewater and waste were not controlled enough. In economics such harm is an example of an external effect: it is not the firm itself but the people around it who suffer from pollution, so protecting the environment rests mainly with the state. The state adopts laws, requires cleaning devices on factory chimneys, bans discharging wastewater into rivers and sets fines for polluters; public organisations also play an important role. In Uzbekistan the biggest ecological problem has been the drying of the Aral Sea: as the water decreased, the seabed turned into a salty desert, and salt and dust carried by the wind harmed people’s health, agriculture and the economy. Today protective forests are being planted in the area, and the use of solar and wind energy and the recycling of waste are expanding; this work is done by the ministry in charge of ecology and other bodies.
“Ecological map of the neighbourhood”. Groups mark ecological problems in their neighbourhood (rubbish, dusty roads, water shortage, noise) and propose a cause and solution for each. Things students can do themselves (planting trees, sorting waste) are listed separately; remember not to go to dangerous places and to work with adults.