Ecological problems

Since ancient times nature has served man, being the source of his life. For thousands of years people lived in harmony with environment and natural resources seemed to be unlimited. But with the development of civilization man's interference in nature began to increase. Large cities with thousands of smoky industrial enterprises have appeared all over the world today.

Every year world industry pollutes the atmosphere with about 1,000 million tons of dust and harmful substances. Many cities suffer from smog. Vast forests are cut and burnt in fire. The pollution of air and the world's ocean, destruction of the ozone layer is the result of man's careless interaction with nature, a sign of ecological crises. People all over the world are worried about the environmental and ecological problems. Ecology is the science that studies the conditions of the habitat of man, animals and plants for the benefit of present and future generations. The environment is everything around us. It includes all living things, everything that is not alive (the soil, the air and the water).

The environment protection should be our universal concern. Numerous conferences have been held to discuss questions of ecologically poor regions including the Aral Sea, the South Urals, Kuzbass, Donbass, Semipalatsinsk and Chernobyl. An international environmental research center has been set up on Lake Baikal. The international organization Greenpeace is also doing much to preserve the environment.

Many scientists study the environment.

Britain

New legislation in Britain usually starts in the House of Lords. In each house a bill is considered in three stages, called readings. The first reading is purely formajj to introduce the bill. The second reading is usuertrj ? the occasion for debate. After the second reading the bill is examihedj ia detail by a committee. The bill is then returned to one of the houses for the report stage, when it can be attended/ ilf passed after its third reading, it goes to the other house. Amendments made to a bill by the House of Lords must be considered by the Commons. If the House of Commons does not agree, the bill is altered and sent back to the Lords. In the event of "persistent disagreement between the two houses, Commons prevails. Finally, the bill goes to the reigning monarch for the royal assent Nowadays the royal assent is merely a formality. In theory the queen could still refuse her consent, but the last monarch to use this power was Queen Anne, who vetoed the unpopular Scottish Militia Bill in 1707.

United States. The US Congress, the lawmaking arm of the federal government, consists of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Any congressman in either house, or the president, may initiate new legislation.

The proposed legislation, or bill, is first introduced in the House of Representatives, then referred to one of the standing committees, which organizes hearings on it and may approve, amend or shelve the draft. If the committee passes the bill, it is considered by the House of Representatives as a whole. If passed there, it goes to the Senate for a similar sequence of committee hearings and general debate.

In cases of disagreement, the House of Representatives and the Senate confer together. Once passed by the Senate as a whole, the bill has to be examined by two more standing committees - the Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration - and is then signed by the speaker of the House and by the president of the Senate.

Finally, it must be signed by the president, who has the right to veto it. If the president vetoes a bill, it can still become a law - but only if it is passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress.