A Perfect World

A Perfect World Until recently, people in heavily industrialized areas of the world considered the smoke pouring from their factory chimneys as a sign of prosperity. They saw in it the solution to their problems, and security for the future. The problem of pollution first reared its head in the 1960’s. At that time the Germans tried to deal with it by building colossal chimney stacks which, it was hoped, would serve to protect the environment. It turned out, however, that this measure only succeeded in spreading pollution farther afield. Now the destructive properties of the smoke which used to be considered a sign of prosperity are becoming fully apparent. This smoke contains a high quantity of sulphur dioxide, which is transformed into sulphuric acid in the atmosphere. This sulphuric acid then mixes with the rainfall, and falls to the ground in the form of acid rain. Acid rain is causing immense damage to man’s environment. A report recently published by the National Academy of Sciences in America states that in eastern Canada and the north-eastern part of the United States, some lakes and streams have been stripped of aquatic life. Scientists are also concerned that the acids may free metals in the lake and stream sediments, posing a potential threat to drinking water supplies. The damage is heaviest where industrialization is heaviest. In Germany, for instance, 300,000 acres of trees in Bavaria alone are reported to be suffering from the effects of acid rain. At the last count, in 1982, 10 per cent of the German forest was said to be dead or dying. Vast measures are being proposed to meet this threat, but all of them are either scientifically impractical or economically unfeasible. What hopes man associated with industrial civilization but how savagely those hopes have been dashed. He thought that industrial civilization would provide the perfect world he longs for, but it has only provided him with more afflictions. Man has been given everything he requires in this world: he feels hungry and has been given food to satisfy his hunger; he feels thirsty and has been given water to quench his thirst; and he has been given sleep to replenish