【正文】 1989, million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound from the tanker Exxon Valdez when its hull hit a reef and tore open. The spill, which cost billions of dollars to clean up and killed millions of birds, fish, and other wildlife, was caused by human error and could have been avoided. Energy and the Earth Energy is the power that we use for transportation, for heat and light in our homes and other places, and for the manufacture of all kinds of products. It has many other uses, too. The development of science and civilization has been closely linked to the availability of energy in useful forms. Energy is closely related to the condition of the environment for several reasons. One is that most of the energy we use es from fossil fuels, including coal, petroleum, and natural gas, which are found in the earth. These natural resources are not renewable— that is, once they are used up, they are gone forever. The process of gathering fossil fuels and other natural resources can be devastating to the sensitive wildlands (such as the tropical rainforests, the Arctic tundra, and coastal marshes) from which they e. Another way that energy is linked to the environment is that its production and its use can cause environmental damage. Fossil fuels are put through a burning process called bustion in order to produce energy. Combustion causes the release of various pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, which pose health risks and may contribute to acid rain and global warming. The environmental impact of fossil fuels has led many people to turn to other sources of energy when possible. There are a growing number of ways in which renewable energy from the sun, the wind, and water, can be used for daytoday needs, and these alternatives are being increasingly cheaper and easier to use. Some people have bought solar panels that can be connected to their homes to convert sunlight into electricity. Some have abandoned their gaspowered cars in favor of ones that are solarpowered. Many people heat their homes with woodburning stoves instead of gas or electricity. Another kind of energy is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is created at power plants through a scientific process that involves splitting atoms. When an atom39。 and the influence of mass media. Issues within the criminal justice system itself add to the social problems of crime, violence, and drugs. Problems of Families and Family Violence Families today face changes and issues that affect marriage and the family as a social institution. Some of these issues include family instability, divorce and child custody, spouse and child abuse, gender issues, gay and lesbian families, and issues surrounding reproduction, including reproductive technology, adoption, and abortion. In addition, problems in family life affect individual and group behavior in ways that contribute to other social problems. For example, economic conditions that force both parents to work full time outside the home without affordable child care can lead to child neglect and a host of subsequent social problems. Problems of Health, Illness, and Health Care Delivery The bioethics of transplants, geic screening, gene therapies, reproductive technologies, physicianassisted suicide, and euthanasia are among the many issues of health and medicine today. Decreasing access to care and rising costs of care are major problems. In the . health care increasingly is provided on a forprofit basis only by the health maintenance anizations, hospitals, pharmaceutical panies, and insurance panies on which health care access, delivery, and quality depend. Problems of Education In the . today, problems of education relate to funding, teacher quality and the status of the teaching profession, student academic performance and standardized testing, racial imbalances and equal educational opportunity, and the curriculum in relation to labor force needs and global petition. New problems, such as teacher shortages, overcrowded and unsafe schools, and unequal access to educational technology join other perennial issues in education such as gender bias and the bilingual education debate. The educational system as a social institution and individuals’ educational experiences and levels of attainment are key factors in addressing other social problems. Environmental Quality as a Social Problem Environmental problems arise both directly and indirectly from people’s social institutions, social behavior, and cultural values. Conditions of population growth, affluence and poverty, technological and industrial development, domestic and international economic activities, and patterns of consumption all affect the useand abuseof land, energy resources, and natural resources such as plants and animals, as well as the quality of soil, water, and air. Top problems of environmental quality today include deforestation, global warming, biodiversity loss, and hazardous waste. The solutions to these and environmental problems involve social change. Problems of Population, Immigration, and Urbanization Population problems are defined by the numbers and distributions of people within a physical area and by the movements of people within and between areas. For example, overpopulation of an area can contribute to food shortages, and migrations between areas can lead to intergroup conflicts. Demographers relate population statistics to sociological variables such as age, gender race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, and sociologists use this information to study the effects of population problems and policies. In the . problems include, for example, the decline of cities, segregated neighborhoods, homelessness, and illegal immigration. Problems of Social Change: Media and Technolo