Environmental Awareness Exhibition.

Environmental education is of fairly recent origin, having been introduced in western schools and univer-sities in the mid-1960s. But as the magnitude and the extent of man’s assault on the environment continue to present a trail of destruction and depredations around the globe the subject-matter has assumed great significance and since the very survival of mankind is involved it will continue to attract interest, discussion and research in the future. The latest outrage against environment that occurred in our own backyard (Samut Prakan) recently was the discovery of an abandoned radio-therapy machine including a cylinder holding cobalt 60 which was being broken down for sale as scrap metal and which caused serious illness of more than a dozen people. A few examples of other disruptive activities that cause environmental damage and degradation are given below.

Radioactive Fallout. Some countries exploded nuclear bombs in the 1950s and 1960s and the radioactive materials generated by these tests were found to be so dangerous and so quick to affect the air, food and ecosystem of the world that atmospheric nuclear testing was banned.

Chemical Hazards. The chlorinated hydocarbons including DDT had widespread impact on the world’s en-vironment. These chemicals followed the same basic pathways as the atomic fallout -air, water and the food chain and while some disasters have already occurred the implications of further contamination are ominous.

We know that DDT destroys microorganisms in the ocean. These microorganisms, through the process of photosynthesis, produce more than half of the world’s oxygen supply and a sudden drop in their population could disrupt the oxygen cycle and create irreversible damage throughout the ecosystem.

Electricity Generation. Almost every aspect of power generation produces some environmental hazards such as underground fires from deep mining of coal, sulfuric acid in surface waters, severe land erosion and destruction from strip mining and oil spills that seriously disrupt the ecology and recreational uses of coastal waters. In the case of uranium, piles of radio-active debris are sometimes blown into the atmosphere and washed into rivers spreading low-level radio-activity. The power industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing polluters in the world.

Conclusion. So you see it is no exaggeration to say that environmental hazards affect the very foundations of human society and it is indeed a question of survival for the future generations who will inhabit the planet earth after us. Besides the potential dangers briefly outlined above there are a host of other issues such as how to maintain or fight against : Balance of Nature, Ecological Succession, Eutrophication, Greenhouse Effect, Phosphate Pollution, Thermal Pollu-tion, Oil Slicks, Cyanide Spills etc. which we have to study to be able to live in peace with nature while pursu-ing development at sustainable levels.

We hope this exhibition will enhance your awareness of the need to maintain the environmental equilibrium and foster your determination to work in positive ways to achieve this objective.