Balanced development of humanity- the path to solving modern environmental problems. Balanced Development, International Conservation Commission environment and development is characterized by the UN as a path of social, economic and political progress that will meet the needs of present and future generations. In other words, humanity must learn to “live within our means”, use natural resources without undermining them, invest money, figuratively speaking, in “insurance” - finance programs aimed at preventing the catastrophic consequences of our own activities. These important programs include: curbing population growth; development of new industrial technologies to avoid pollution, search for new, “clean” energy sources; increasing food production without increasing acreage.
Birth control. Four main factors determine population size and its rate of change:
the difference between birth and death rates, migration, fertility and the number of inhabitants in each age group. Bye birth rate higher mortality rate, the population will increase at a rate depending on the positive difference between these values. Average annual value changes in the population of a particular region, city or country as a whole is determined by the ratio (newborns + immigrants) - (dead + emigrants). The population of the Earth or of a particular country can level out or stabilize only after the total fertility rate - the average number of children born to a woman during her reproductive period will be equal to or below the average level simple reproduction equal to 2.1 children per woman. Once the replacement level is reached, it takes some time for population growth to stabilize. The length of this period depends primarily on the number of women who are of reproductive age (15-44 years), and on the number of girls under 15 years of age who are soon entering their reproductive period.
The length of time it takes for global or national population growth to stabilize after the average fertility rate reaches or falls below replacement level also depends on age structure of the population - percentage of women and men in each age category. How more women in reproductive (15-44 years) and pre-reproductive (up to 15 years) age, the longer the period it will take for residents to achieve zero population growth (NPG). Major changes in the age structure of a population resulting from high or low fertility have demographic, social and economic consequences that last a generation or more.
The current rate of population growth cannot be sustained for long. Experts say that by the end of the 20th century the total number of people exceeded the permissible limit by several times. Naturally, this is determined not by a person’s biological needs for food, etc., but by the quality of life worthy of the end of the 20th century, and the specific pressure on the environment that arises when striving to ensure this quality of existence. There is an opinion that by the second half of the 21st century. The world's population will stabilize at 10 billion people. This forecast is based on the assumption that fertility in developing countries will decline. The need for birth control is recognized almost throughout the world. Most developing countries have government-run birth control programs. The problem is that the birth rate is declining in parallel with the increase in the level of well-being, and with the current rapid rate of population growth, well-being can only be increased at very high rates of economic development. The load on the environment in this situation may exceed the permissible level. Reducing the birth rate is the only acceptable way to break out of this vicious circle.
Sustainable development in the global system “Society-Nature”. The UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, adopted for all countries of our planet for the 21st century. the concept of sustainable development as a guide to action.
Sustainable development is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the fundamental parameters of the biosphere and without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Fig. 20.3).
Rice. 20.3. Spiral of Sustainable Development
In the global system “society - nature”, sustainable development means maintaining dynamic balance in socio-ecosystems at different levels. The components of socioecosystems are society (social systems) and the natural environment (eco- and geosystems).
With the limited resource capabilities of our planet, for the continuous development of socioecosystems, it is necessary to support the development of the natural environment on the part of society.
Sustainable management of natural resources. The Earth's resources are limited at the turn of the 21st century. one of the most pressing problems of human civilization. In this regard, one of the most important conditions of our time can be considered the solution of problems of rational management of natural resources. Their implementation requires not only extensive and deep knowledge of the patterns and mechanisms of the functioning of ecological systems, but also the purposeful formation of the moral foundation of society, people’s awareness of unity with nature, the need to restructure the system of social production and consumption.
For conscious and qualified management of the economy and environmental management it is necessary:
Determine management goals;
Develop a program their achievements;
Create mechanisms for implementing the assigned tasks.
Strategy for the development of industry, energy and pollution control. The main strategic direction of industrial development is the transition to new substances and technologies that reduce pollution emissions. The general rule is that it is easier to prevent pollution than to eliminate its consequences. In industry, wastewater treatment systems, recycled water supply, gas collection units are used for this; special filters are installed on car exhaust pipes. The transition to new, cleaner energy sources also helps reduce environmental pollution. Thus, burning natural gas at a state district power plant or thermal power plant instead of coal can dramatically reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.
For all countries of the world the largest, practically inexhaustible eternal and renewable energy sources are the sun, wind, flowing waters, biomass and the internal heat of the Earth or geothermal energy (Fig. 20.4).
Rice. 20.4. Renewable energy resources (according to B. Nebel, 1993)
Technologies of use solar energy are developing rapidly. Photoelectric generators are already widely used, and the cost of the kilowatt-hour of energy they produce in the mid-80s was reduced by 50 times compared to 1973. A further reduction of the same order is expected by the end of the 20th century. thanks to the use of more efficient semiconductors and other technological innovations. Thermoelectric generators produce cheaper energy, and their use opens up the prospect of generating large amounts of energy in arid regions and exporting it to temperate countries. Solar water heaters are installed in 90% of all homes in Cyprus, in Israel 65% of domestic hot water comes from simple active solar systems. About 12% of homes in Japan and 37% in Australia also use such systems.
Concentrating solar energy to produce high-temperature heat and electricity can be accomplished in systems where huge computer-controlled mirrors focus sunlight onto a central heat collector, usually located at the top of a tall tower. This concentrated solar energy produces the relatively high temperatures needed for industrial processes or to produce high-pressure steam to spin turbines and generate electricity.
Direct conversion of solar energy into electricity can be done using photovoltaic cells, commonly called solar panels. In the mid-90s. XX century solar panels supplied electricity to about 15 thousand homes in different countries of the world.
In some regions with special conditions, wind energy is an unlimited source of energy. Wind energy systems typically have relatively high efficiency, do not emit carbon dioxide or other air pollutants, and do not require cooling water during operation. In Denmark and other countries of the European North, wind turbines provide at least 12% of electricity. Wind power plants do not require water, which makes them especially relevant in arid and semi-arid regions.
Since the 17th century The kinetic energy of falling and flowing water from rivers and streams is used to generate electricity in small and large hydroelectric power plants. Electricity generated by the force of falling water is a latent form of solar energy that powers the hydrological cycle. In the 90s XX century Hydropower accounted for 21% of the world's electricity and 6% of all energy. Countries and areas located in mountains and high plateaus have the greatest hydro energy potential.
In hydropower engineering, damless hydroelectric power plants are becoming widespread, which do not cause damage to land and water resources.
The energy of tides along the coasts of seas and oceans can be used to generate electricity by creating a dam that cuts off the bay from the seas. If the difference between high water and low water is large enough, the kinetic energy of these daily tidal currents, driven by the moon's tidal forces, can be used to spin turbines housed in the dam to generate electricity. Using tidal energy to generate electricity has a number of benefits. The tide as a source of energy is practically free, and the efficiency is quite high. There are no emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, air pollution and soil disturbances are negligible.
There are about 15 places on Earth where the amplitude of the tides reaches such a magnitude that it allows the construction of dams to generate electricity.
Ocean water accumulates huge amounts of solar heat. The practical use of the large temperature difference between the cold deep and warm surface waters of tropical oceans to generate electricity is worthy of attention. The temperature difference between the surface and a depth of 600 m where the warm Gulf Stream passes can reach 22°C. The operating principle of OTEC (ocean thermal energy) boils down to the alternate use of layers of water with different temperatures to boil and condense the working fluid. In between, its steam rotates the turbine at high pressure.
Solar ponds are a relatively cheap way to capture and store solar energy. The artificial pond is partially filled with brine (very salty water), with fresh water on top. The sun's rays pass through fresh water without interference, but are absorbed by the brine, turning into heat. The hot salt solution can be circulated through pipes to heat rooms or used to generate electricity. It heats liquids with a low boiling point, which, when evaporated, drive low-pressure turbogenerators. Since the solar pond is a highly efficient thermal storage device, it can be used to generate energy continuously.
Promising is the use of heat from the earth's interior or geothermal energy. In the depths of the Earth, as a result of the decay of natural radioactive substances, energy is constantly released. The interior of the planet is molten rock, which from time to time breaks out in the form of volcanic eruptions. This enormous heat rises to the surface of the Earth in the form of water and steam with temperatures up to 300°C. The resources of rocks heated by endogenous heat are 20 times greater than the reserves of fossil fuels. Geothermal energy is practically inexhaustible and eternal; it can be used to generate electricity and heat homes, institutions and industrial enterprises.
Due to dwindling oil and natural gas reserves, hydrogen (H2) is often referred to as the “fuel of the future.” Hydrogen is a highly flammable gas that can be used in everyday life instead of natural gas by slightly changing the distribution networks and burners. Hydrogen can also serve as fuel for cars with a slight modification of the carburetor. Hydrogen can be burned in reactions with oxygen in a power plant, in a specially designed car engine, or in fuel cells that convert chemical energy into direct current. Fuel cells running on a mixture of hydrogen and air have an efficiency of 60-80%. From an environmental point of view, using hydrogen as a fuel is much cleaner and safer for the environment, since the only combustion byproduct here is water: 2H + O 2 -> 2H 2 O + Kinetic energy. The problem with using hydrogen as a fuel is that it is practically not found in free form on Earth. All of it has already oxidized to water. However, it can be produced chemically from natural resources such as coal and natural gas by using heat, electricity and possibly solar energy to decompose fresh and sea water, etc.
The energy use of biomass - organic plant matter produced by solar energy during the process of photosynthesis - is becoming increasingly important. Some of these plant substances can be burned as solid fuel (wood and wood waste, agricultural waste and urban waste, etc.) or converted into a more convenient gas (a mixture of 60% methane and 40% carbon dioxide) or liquid (methyl or ethyl alcohol) biofuel. In the late 80s - early 90s. XX century Biomass, mainly in the form of firewood and manure, used for heating homes and cooking, accounted for about 15% of the world's energy production.
In general, it should be noted that humanity cannot and should not depend on one non-renewable source of energy resources, such as oil, coal, natural gas or nuclear fuel. On the contrary, the world and Russia should count more on increasing energy efficiency and the integrated use of perpetual and renewable energy sources.
Rational use of mineral resources. Due to imperfect technology for the extraction and processing of mineral resources, destruction of biocenoses, environmental pollution, disruption of climate and biogeochemical cycles are observed. Sustainable approaches to extracting and processing natural mineral resources include:
Maximum complete and comprehensive extraction of all useful components from the deposit;
Reclamation (restoration) of land after the use of deposits;
Economical and waste-free use of raw materials in production;
Deep cleaning and technological use of production waste;
Recycling of materials after products are no longer in use;
The use of technologies that allow the concentration and extraction of dispersed minerals;
Use of natural and artificial substitutes for deficient mineral compounds;
Development and widespread implementation of closed production cycles;
The use of energy-saving technologies, etc. Some of the modern industries and technologies meet many of these requirements, but at the same time, they have often not yet become the norm in the production sector and environmental management on a global scale. For example, industrial waste is an unused substance, the creation of which took some labor. Hence, it is more profitable to use waste as a feedstock for other purposes than to simply decompose it (Fig. 20.5).
Rice. 20.5. Interrelation of productions
Full use of waste is possible by creating closed technological processes, combining small enterprises into large production complexes, where the waste of some can serve as raw materials for others. In this case, the efficiency of using natural resources is significantly increased, but chemical pollution of the natural environment is also reduced to a minimum.
The creation of new technologies must be combined with competent environmental assessment of all, especially large-scale projects in industry, construction, transport, agriculture and other types of human activity. Conducted by special independent bodies, such an examination will avoid many miscalculations and unpredictable consequences of the implementation of these projects for the biosphere.
Agricultural development strategy. At the end of the 20th century, world agricultural output grew faster than population. However, this growth is accompanied, as is known, by significant costs: deforestation to expand acreage, soil salinization and erosion, environmental pollution with fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
In the further development of agriculture, the strategic direction is to increase crop yields, making it possible to provide the growing population with food without increasing the acreage. Increased crop yields can be achieved through increased irrigation. Great importance, especially with a lack water resources, should be given to drip irrigation, in which water is rationally used by directly supplying it to the root system of plants. Another way is to develop and cultivate new varieties of crops. The cultivation of new varieties, for example, grain crops that are more productive and resistant to diseases, gave rise in the last decades of the 20th century. the main increase in agricultural production. This success of plant breeders was called the “green revolution.”
Productivity increases when alternating cultivated crops (crop rotation) in relation to zonal conditions, and often when moving from monoculture to mixed crops, for example, joint cultivation of grain crops with legumes, especially for feed purposes.
To obtain maximum yield and long-term maintenance of soil fertility, the technology of fertilizing is also complex and requires a certain ecological culture. The optimal ratio between mineral and organic fertilizers, their rates, timing, methods and place of application, the use of irrigation and loosening of the soil, taking into account weather conditions - this is an incomplete list of factors that affect the effectiveness of fertilizer use.
Increasing the rate, incorrect timing or methods of application, for example, nitrogen fertilizers, lead to their accumulation in the soil, and in plants, accordingly, nitrates, which are harmful in excess quantities to humans. Superficial and excessive application of fertilizers leads to their partial washout into rivers and lakes, water poisoning, and the death of animals and plants. Numerous examples of irrational handling of fertilizers indicate the need for careful and serious implementation of all work in this branch of agriculture.
Probably in the 21st century. Agriculture modern type will remain. In its development, current trends allow us to hope that the growing population of the Earth will be provided with food.
Conservation of natural communities. The basis for human well-being in the future is the preservation of natural diversity. Stability in the functioning of the biosphere is ensured by the diversity of natural communities.
Animals in communities are characterized by a certain productivity produced per unit of time by new biomass. When used, a person removes part of the biomass in the form of a harvest, which represents one or another share of bioproducts. A decrease in production may occur due to the presence of intraspecific or interspecific competition, exposure to unfavorable environmental conditions and other factors. The difference between it and the harvest can be significantly reduced and even become negative. In the latter case, the withdrawal will exceed the natural increase in the biomass of a particular animal species or population.
Reasonable use biological resources consists of:
In maintaining population productivity at the highest possible level;
Harvesting a crop whose size is as close as possible to the population of products produced.
This regulation presupposes deep knowledge of the ecology of the exploited species, population, development and compliance with norms and rules of use.
In material production, humans currently use a small percentage of species. Undoubtedly, the beneficial properties of more species can be exploited in the future, provided that they are preserved by then. The conservation of natural communities is important not only for material well-being, but also for the full existence of a person.
It is now clear that to preserve species diversity it is necessary: complete protection of landscapes as ecosystem complexes; partial protection of natural objects with the possible complete preservation of the integrity or appearance of the landscape; creation and maintenance of an optimal anthropogenic landscape (Fig. 20.6).
The first two forms of landscape protection are associated with protected areas - nature reserves and national parks.
Reserves - the highest form of protection of natural landscapes. Areas of land and water spaces that are withdrawn in accordance with the established procedure from any economic use and are properly protected. In nature reserves, all natural bodies inherent in its territory or water area and the relationships between them are subject to protection. The natural territorial complex as a whole, the landscape with all its components, are protected.
Rice. 20.6. Scheme of relationships between the goals of creating specially protected areas (according to N.F. Reimers, 1990):
R. - resource conservation areas; 3. - reserve-standard protected areas; Rts. - part of the environment-forming and resource-protecting territories allocated for recreational purposes (supplemented by urban recreation and recreation areas in cultural landscapes); P.-I. - part of environment-forming and resource-protecting territories allocated for educational and information purposes; S. - environment-forming protected natural and natural-anthropogenic territories; About. - object-protective protected natural and natural-anthropogenic territories; G. - areas for special conservation of the gene pool (collections of cultivated plant varieties), including those combining the purposes of education and propaganda (ecological and botanical gardens, etc.)
The main purpose of nature reserves is to serve as standards of nature, to be a place for understanding the course of natural processes not disturbed by humans, characteristic of the landscapes of a certain geographical region. In the 90s XX century in Russia there were 75 nature reserves, including 16 biosphere reserves, with a total area of 19,970.9 thousand hectares. The international Russian-Finnish reserve “Friendship-2” was opened, work was carried out to create new international reserves in the border areas: Russian-Norwegian, Russian-Mongolian, Russian-Chinese-Mongolian.
National parks - These are areas of territory (water area) allocated for nature conservation for aesthetic, health, scientific, cultural and educational purposes. In most countries of the world, national parks are the main form of landscape conservation. National natural parks in Russia began to be created in the 80s, and in the mid-90s. in the 20th century there were about 20 of them, with a total area of more than 4 million hectares. Most of their territories are represented by forests and water bodies.
Wildlife sanctuaries. In Russia, in addition to “absolute” protection of the territory (landscape), an incomplete protection regime in nature reserves is widespread. Sanctuaries are areas of territory or water area in which certain species of animals, plants or part of a natural complex are protected for a number of years or constantly during certain seasons or year-round. The economic use of other natural resources is permitted in a form that does not cause damage to the protected object or complex.
The reserves are varied in their purposes. They are created to restore or increase the number of game animals (game reserves), create a favorable environment for birds during nesting, molting, migration and wintering (ornithological), protect fish spawning sites, feeding grounds for juveniles or places of their winter aggregations, and preserve especially valuable forest groves, individual areas of the landscape with great aesthetic, cultural or historical meaning(landscape reserves).
The total number of reserves in the 90s. XX century in Russia there were 1519, of which 71 were federal, 1448 were local. They occupied 3% of the country's territory.
Natural monuments - these are individual irreplaceable natural objects that have scientific, historical, cultural and aesthetic significance, for example caves, geysers, paleontological objects, individual ancient trees, etc.
In Russia there are 29 natural monuments of federal significance, which occupy an area of 15.5 thousand hectares and are located mostly on European territory. The number of natural monuments of local importance amounts to several thousand.
In the Kurgan region in the 90s. XX century 91 natural objects had the status of a state natural monument, of which 41
Botanical. Let's name a few: in Belozersky district
- Pine forest, with centuries-old trees in the Tebyanyaksky forestry; in Zverinogolovsky district - Abuginsky Bor, fragment fescue-forb steppe near the village. Ukrainian, Scots pine 200 years old at the Pine Grove sanatorium; in Kataysky district - Troitsky Bor near the town of Kataysk, Whitewing swamp at the village Ushakovskoe, planting of pedunculate oak, Cheremukhovy navolok tract; in the Ketovsky district - a section of birch forest with forest glades along the left bank of the river. Utyak on the protection of medicinal plants at the village Mitino, Prosvetsky Arboretum near the village Old Prosvet; in the Petukhovsky district - pine forests with an admixture of linden on the peninsulas of the lake. Medvezhye in Petukhovsky and Novoiliinsky forest districts; V Tselinny region - floodplain meadow with a population of checkered hazel grouse near the village of Podurovka; in the Shadrinsky district - a pine forest near the village. Mylnikovo, Nosilovskaya dacha; in the Shatrovsky district - boron lingonberry at the village Mostovka, area of forest with Siberian spruce of natural origin near the village of Bedinka, Butler's Garden, near the village of Dvortsy, plantings Siberian pine in the Orlovskoye tract; in the Shumikha district - a pine grove on island of the lake Bearish, leftovers personal garden near the village. Bird; in the Shchuchansky district - plot old growth pine forest Soviet forestry; Pine forest in the floodplain of the river Garlic; in the Yurgamysh region - lakeside pine forests near lake Tishkovo, mixed forests Krasnoborye village.
In Kargapolsky, Kurtamyshsky, Lebyazhyevsky, Makushinsky, Mokrousovsky, Shadrinsky and Shumikha districts it is included in protected objects (monuments). dark bark birch.
Resort and health-improving areas. On the territory of Russia, resort and medical and recreational areas are distributed unevenly (Table 20.1). In 1992, for example, trade unions alone owned 455 health resorts with 213,100 beds, where 2.6 million people rested and restored their health.
Table 20.1
Resort and health-improving areas
|
Economic region |
Number of resorts |
Treatment profile |
|
North Caucasian |
||
|
East Siberian |
||
|
Ural |
||
|
Northwestern |
||
|
West Siberian |
||
|
Povolzhsky |
||
|
Central |
||
|
Far Eastern |
||
|
Volgo-Vyatsky |
||
|
Northern |
||
|
Central Black Earth |
Note: B - balneological, K - climatological, G - mud therapy.
In protected zones of natural objects - reserves and national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, natural parks and sanitary resort zones, public recreation areas, protected landscapes and individual natural objects, current standards must be met (Table 20.2).
Table 20.2
Standards for protection zones of natural objects
|
Objects |
Distance from saved objects, km |
||||
|
to the zone of industrial enterprises of various classes of sanitary hazard |
to transport routes |
to the building boundaries |
|||
|
Reserves and national parks |
|||||
|
Wildlife sanctuaries, natural parks and sanitary resort areas |
|||||
|
Public recreation areas |
|||||
|
Protected landscapes and individual natural sites |
|||||
Note. The first number shows the minimum distance of industrial enterprises from protected objects (location on the windward side downstream of rivers), the second number shows the required width of the zone in case of unfavorable location of enterprises (upstream of rivers, on the leeward side, etc.).
Protection of anthropogenic landscapes. Man, as a result of his economic activities, has transformed vast territories. He created completely new landscapes: fields, gardens, parks, reservoirs, canals, railways, highways, towns, cities. To some extent, all or almost all landscapes of the Earth have been influenced by humans, but in this case we are talking about qualitatively new landscapes, largely created by man, landscapes that people constantly use in their activities.
Of course, the anthropogenic landscape should be the most rational, and in relation to agrocenoses, the most productive. At the same time, it must have optimal environmental conditions for human health and meet aesthetic requirements.
Cities and human settlements are the most pronounced anthropogenic landscape, growing rapidly every year, requiring special care in relation to environmental protection, and primarily water and atmospheric air, as discussed earlier.
Landscaping of cities and towns is of great importance in sanitary, hygienic and aesthetic terms. When designing new areas of cities, towns and parks, landscaping should be included as a mandatory section.
Trees in cities help clean the air from dust and aerosols, increase its humidity, reduce temperatures in the hot season, release phytoncides that kill bacteria, and absorb city noise.
For health and aesthetic purposes important have plantings of trees and shrubs along railways, highways and other transport routes.
For agrocenoses, it is extremely important to create not only optimal forest cover standards in the form of planting trees and shrubs along beams, roadsides, pond banks and other inconvenient lands, but also special forest strips (Fig. 20.7), forest parks, gardens, etc.
Such plantings create favorable conditions for the main form of land use.
The banks of all water bodies, including small rivers, are subject to special protection, where it is necessary to protect existing tree and shrub vegetation, restore the former and plant new ones. Strict compliance with laws prohibiting industrial and residential construction directly on the banks of water bodies is necessary.
Coastal zones of sea and lake coasts are of exceptional health value. The use of sand and pebbles of the coasts as building material entails not only the disappearance of the beach as a place of treatment and recreation, but also the destruction of the coast. For this reason, it is prohibited to remove, for example, pebble and sand materials from the beaches of the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory. All forms of natural reserves, protective forests and anthropogenic landscapes must be planned into a single system so that it ensures the ecological balance of the biosphere.
Rice. 20.7. Placement of shelterbelts
In general, when solving environmental problems the following types of activities should be envisaged:
Local (local) and global environmental monitoring, i.e. change and control of the state of the most important environmental characteristics, concentrations of harmful substances in the atmosphere, water, soil;
Restoration and protection of forests from fires, pests and diseases;
Further expansion and increase in protected areas, reference ecosystems, unique natural complexes;
Protection and breeding of rare species of plants and animals;
International cooperation in environmental protection;
Broad education and environmental education of the population.
| Previous |
Ecological problem is a change in the natural environment as a result of human activity, leading to disruption of the structure and functioning nature . This is a man-made problem. In other words, it arises due to negative impact man to nature.
Environmental problems can be local (affecting a specific area), regional (a specific region) and global (impacting the entire biosphere of the planet).
Can you give an example of a local environmental problem in your region?
Regional problems cover large regions and their impact affects a large part of the population. For example, pollution of the Volga is a regional problem for the entire Volga region.
The drainage of the Polesie swamps caused negative changes in Belarus and Ukraine. Changes in the water level of the Aral Sea are a problem for the entire Central Asian region.
Global environmental problems include problems that pose a threat to all of humanity.
Which of the global environmental problems, from your point of view, are of greatest concern? Why?
Let's take a quick look at how environmental issues have changed throughout human history.
Actually, in a sense, the entire history of human development is a history of increasing impact on the biosphere. In fact, humanity in its progressive development has moved from one environmental crisis to another. But crises in ancient times were local in nature, and environmental changes were, as a rule, reversible, or did not threaten people with total death.
Primitive man, engaged in gathering and hunting, unwittingly disrupted the ecological balance in the biosphere everywhere and spontaneously caused harm to nature. It is believed that the first anthropogenic crisis (10-50 thousand years ago) was associated with the development of hunting and overhunting of wild animals, when the mammoth, cave lion and bear, on which the hunting efforts of the Cro-Magnons were directed, disappeared from the face of the earth. Particularly harmful was the use of primitive people fire - they burned the forests. This led to a decrease in river and groundwater levels. Overgrazing of livestock on pastures may have resulted ecologically in the creation of the Sahara Desert.
Then, about 2 thousand years ago, there followed a crisis associated with the use of irrigated agriculture. He led to the development large quantities clayey and saline deserts. But let’s take into account that in those days the population of the Earth was small, and, as a rule, people had the opportunity to move to other places that were more suitable for life (which is impossible to do now).
During the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the impact on the biosphere increased. This is due to the development of new lands, which was accompanied by the extermination of many species of animals (remember, for example, the fate of the American bison) and the transformation of vast territories into fields and pastures. However, human impact on the biosphere acquired a global scale after the industrial revolution of the 17th-18th centuries. At this time, the scale of human activity increased significantly, as a result of which the geochemical processes occurring in the biosphere began to transform (1). In parallel with the progress of scientific and technological progress, the number of people has increased sharply (from 500 million in 1650, the conditional beginning of the industrial revolution - to the current 7 billion), and, accordingly, the need for food and industrial goods, and for more and more fuel, has increased , metal, cars. This led to a rapid increase in the load on environmental systems, and the level of this load in the middle of the 20th century. - beginning of the 21st century reached a critical value.
How do you understand in this context the contradictory results of technological progress for people?
Humanity has entered an era of global environmental crisis. Its main components:
- depletion of energy and other resources of the planet's interior
- Greenhouse effect,
- ozone layer depletion,
- soil degradation,
- radiation hazard,
- transboundary transfer of pollution, etc.
The movement of humanity towards an environmental catastrophe of a planetary nature is confirmed by numerous facts. People are continuously accumulating the number of compounds that cannot be utilized by nature, developing dangerous technologies, storing and transporting many pesticides and explosives, polluting the atmosphere, hydrosphere and soil. In addition, the energy potential is constantly increasing, the greenhouse effect is being stimulated, etc.
There is a threat of loss of stability of the biosphere (disruption of the eternal course of events) and its transition to a new state, excluding the very possibility of human existence. It is often said that one of the reasons for the environmental crisis our planet is in is a crisis in people’s consciousness. What do you think of it?
But humanity is still able to solve environmental problems!
What conditions are necessary for this?
- Unity of good will of all inhabitants of the planet in the problem of survival.
- Establishing peace on Earth, ending wars.
- Stopping the destructive action modern production on the biosphere (resource consumption, environmental pollution, destruction of natural ecosystems and biodiversity).
Development of global models of nature restoration and scientifically based environmental management.
Some of the points listed above seem impossible, or not? What do you think?
Undoubtedly, human awareness of the dangers of environmental problems is associated with serious difficulties. One of them is caused by non-obviousness for modern man its natural basis, psychological alienation from nature. Hence the disdainful attitude towards compliance with environmentally appropriate activities, and, to put it simply, the lack of an elementary culture of attitude towards nature on various scales.
To solve environmental problems, it is necessary to develop new thinking among all people, to overcome stereotypes of technocratic thinking, ideas about the inexhaustibility of natural resources and a lack of understanding of our absolute dependence on nature. An unconditional condition for the further existence of humanity is compliance with the environmental imperative as the basis for environmentally friendly behavior in all areas. It is necessary to overcome alienation from nature, to realize and implement personal responsibility for how we relate to nature (for saving land, water, energy, for protecting nature). Video 5.
There is a phrase “think globally, act locally.” How do you understand this?
There are many successful publications and programs devoted to environmental problems and the possibilities of solving them. In the last decade, quite a lot of environmentally oriented films have been produced, and regular environmental film festivals have begun to be held. One of the most outstanding films is the environmental education film HOME, which was first presented on June 5, 2009 on World Environment Day by the outstanding photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and the famous director and producer Luc Besson. This film tells about the history of life on planet Earth, the beauty of nature, and environmental problems caused by the destructive impact of human activity on the environment, which threatens the death of our common home.
It must be said that the premiere of HOME was an unprecedented event in cinema: for the first time, the film was shown simultaneously in the largest cities of dozens of countries, including Moscow, Paris, London, Tokyo, New York, in an open screening format, and free of charge. TV viewers saw an hour and a half film on large screens installed on open areas, in cinemas, on 60 TV channels (not counting cable networks), on the Internet. HOME was shown in 53 countries. However, in some countries, such as China and Saudi Arabia, the director was denied permission to conduct aerial filming. In India, half of the footage was simply confiscated, and in Argentina, Arthus-Bertrand and his assistants had to spend a week in prison. In many countries, the film about the beauty of the Earth and its environmental problems, the demonstration of which, according to the director, “borders on a political appeal,” was banned from showing.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand (French: Yann Arthus-Bertrand, born March 13, 1946 in Paris) - French photographer, photojournalist, Knight of the Legion of Honor and winner of many other awards
With a story about the film by J. Arthus-Bertrand, we end the conversation about environmental problems. Watch this movie. Better than words, it will help you think about what awaits the Earth and humanity in the near future; understand that everything in the world is interconnected, that our task now is common and that of each of us - to try, as far as possible, to restore the ecological balance of the planet that we have disrupted, without which the existence of life on Earth is impossible.
In Video 6 den excerpt from the film Home. You can watch the whole film - http://www.cinemaplayer.ru/29761-_dom_istoriya_puteshestviya___Home.html.
Forests enrich the atmosphere with oxygen, which is so necessary for life, and absorb carbon dioxide released by animals and humans in the process of breathing, as well as by industrial enterprises in the process of work. They play a major role in the water cycle. Trees take water from the soil, filter it to remove impurities, and release it into the atmosphere, increasing the humidity of the climate. Forests influence the water cycle. Trees raise groundwater, enriching soils and keeping them from desertification and erosion - it’s not for nothing that rivers immediately become shallow when deforestation occurs.
According to reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, deforestation continues at a rapid rate around the world.
Every year, 13 million hectares of forest are lost, while only 6 hectares grow. It means that
Every second, a forest the size of a football field disappears from the face of the planet.
A significant problem is that the organization receives these data directly from the governments of countries, and governments prefer not to indicate in their reports losses associated, for example, with illegal logging.
Ozone layer depletion Approximately twenty kilometers above the planet extends ozone layer
- ultraviolet shield of the Earth.
Fluorinated and chlorinated hydrocarbons and halogen compounds released into the atmosphere destroy the structure of the layer. It is depleted and this leads to the formation of ozone holes. The destructive ultraviolet rays penetrating through them are dangerous for all life on Earth. They have a particularly negative effect on human health, his immune and gene systems, causing skin cancer and cataracts. Ultraviolet rays are dangerous for plankton - the basis of the food chain, higher vegetation, and animals.
Today, under the influence of the Montreal Protocol, alternatives have been found for almost all technologies that use ozone-depleting substances, and the production, trade and use of these substances is rapidly declining.
As you know, everything in nature is interconnected. The destruction of the ozone layer and, as a consequence, the deviation of any seemingly insignificant environmental parameter can lead to unpredictable and irreversible consequences for all living things.
According to experts, 10-15 thousand species of organisms disappear every year. This means that over the next 50 years the planet will lose, according to various estimates, from a quarter to half of its biological diversity. The depletion of the species composition of flora and fauna significantly reduces the stability of ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole, which also poses a serious danger to humanity. The process of biodiversity reduction is characterized by an avalanche-like acceleration. The less biodiversity the planet has, the worse the conditions for survival on it.
As of 2000, 415 species of animals are listed in the Red Book of Russia. This list of animals has increased one and a half times in recent years and does not stop growing.
Humanity, as a species with a huge population and habitat, does not leave suitable habitat for other species. Intensive expansion of the area of specially protected natural areas is necessary to preserve endangered species, as well as strict regulation of the extermination of commercially valuable species.
Water pollution
Pollution of the water environment has occurred throughout human history: from time immemorial, people have used any river as a sewer. The greatest danger to the hydrosphere arose in the 20th century with the emergence of large multimillion-dollar cities and the development of industry. Over the past decades, most of the world's rivers and lakes have been turned into sewage ditches and sewage lagoons. Despite hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in treatment facilities, which are able to prevent the transformation of a river or lake into a fetid slurry, they are not able to return the water to its former natural purity: the growing volumes of industrial wastewater and solid waste dissolving in water are stronger than the most powerful treatment units.
The danger of water pollution is that a person largely consists of water and, in order to remain a person, he must consume water, which in most cities on the planet can hardly be called suitable for drinking. About half the population of developing countries does not have access to sources of clean water, is forced to drink contaminated with pathogenic microbes, and is therefore doomed to premature death from epidemic diseases.
Overpopulation
Humanity today perceives its huge numbers as the norm, believing that people, with all their numbers and all their life activity, do not harm the planet’s ecosystem, and also that people can continue to increase their numbers, and that this supposedly does not in any way affect the ecology, animals and flora, as well as the life of humanity itself. But in fact, already today, already now, humanity has crossed all the boundaries and boundaries that the planet could tolerate. The earth cannot support such a huge number of people. According to scientists, 500 thousand is the maximum permissible number of people for our Planet. Today, this limit figure has been exceeded 12 times, and according to scientists’ forecasts, by 2100 it may almost double. At the same time, the modern human population of the Earth for the most part does not even think about the global harm caused by further growth in the number of people.
But an increase in the number of people also means an increase in the use of natural resources, an increase in areas for agricultural and industrial needs, an increase in the amount of harmful emissions, an increase in the amount of household waste and areas for their storage, an increase in the intensity of human expansion into nature and an increase in the intensity of the destruction of natural biodiversity.
Humanity today simply must restrain its growth rate, rethink its role in the ecological system of the Planet, and begin building human civilization on the basis of a harmless and meaningful existence, and not on the basis of animal instincts of reproduction and absorption.
Oil contaminated
Oil is a natural oily flammable liquid common in the Earth's sedimentary layer; the most important mineral resource. A complex mixture of alkanes, some cycloalkanes and arenes, as well as oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen compounds. Nowadays, oil, as an energy resource, is one of the main factors in economic development. But oil production, its transportation and processing are invariably accompanied by its losses, emissions and discharges of harmful substances, the consequence of which is environmental pollution. In terms of scale and toxicity, oil pollution represents a global danger. Oil and petroleum products cause poisoning, death of organisms and soil degradation. Natural self-purification of natural objects from oil pollution is a long process, especially in low temperature conditions. Enterprises of the fuel and energy complex are the largest source of environmental pollutants in industry. They account for about 48% of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, 27% of polluted wastewater discharges, over 30% of solid waste and up to 70% of the total volume of greenhouse gases.
Land degradation
Soil is the guardian of fertility and life on Earth. It takes 100 years for a layer 1 cm thick to form. But it can be lost in just one season of thoughtless human exploitation of the earth. According to geologists, before people began to engage in agricultural activities, rivers annually carried 9 billion tons of soil into the ocean. With human assistance, this figure has increased to 25 billion tons per year. The phenomenon of soil erosion is becoming increasingly dangerous, because... there are fewer and fewer fertile soils on the planet and it is vitally important to preserve at least what is available this moment, to prevent the disappearance of this only layer of the earth's lithosphere on which plants can grow.
Under natural conditions, there are several reasons for soil erosion (weathering and washing out of the top fertile layer), which are further aggravated by humans. Millions of hectares of soil are being lost
More than 50 billion tons of waste from energy, industrial, agricultural production and the municipal sector are released into nature annually, including more than 150 million tons from industrial enterprises. About 100 thousand artificial chemicals are released into the environment, of which 15 thousand require special attention.
All this waste is a source of environmental pollution instead of being a source for the production of secondary products.
Global problems of civilization cannot be resolved by the efforts of a single state. There is no doubt that a unified regulatory mechanism is needed at the global level, not based on narrow national interests, but defining the rights and responsibilities of all countries and peoples, forming a new world order.
In order to solve global problems, the activities of various international organizations and first of all - the UN. Major programs of the UN and UNESCO should be aimed at creating the most acceptable conditions for living on planet Earth.
Ways to solve environmental problems are different at different levels of the world economy.
At the national level:
1. Control of population growth.
2. Improvement of environmental legislation.
3. Improvement of technology.
4. Limitation of environmentally “dirty” industries.
5. Support for scientific developments of an environmental nature.
6. Environmental education.
8. Increased investment in the environment.
9. Restriction on the export of raw materials to other countries.
10. Development of an economic and legal mechanism for environmental management and environmental protection.
11. Creation of specialized institutions to solve environmental problems.
12. Encouraging civic environmental action.
At the global level:
1. Creation of international organizations for environmental protection.
2. Implementation of joint economic projects and scientific developments to protect the environment.
3. Introduction of global economic standards and restrictions.
4. Use of alternative energy sources.
5. Providing assistance to developing countries (financial, technological) in the field of environmental education.
6. Adaptation of environmental management relations to the market economic system.
Economy and ecology interact. However, it should be noted that there are two fundamentally different approaches to the problem of their interaction.
From the point of view of economists, an enterprise (firm) is an element of a market economy system. The desire for profit is realized through satisfying people's needs. The optimal use of natural resources and environmental protection is determined by the criterion of the economic effect of the costs for these purposes.
Ecologists believe that an enterprise (firm) is an element of an ecosystem. Ecosystem is a complex of components of the hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere and technosphere, connected by the exchange of energy, matter, and information. It cannot be considered as component noosphere - the habitat of humanity in a global sense. The enterprise should, according to ecologists, “fit” into the criteria for the optimal functioning of the entire ecosystem.
The natural environment is a condition, element and object of social reproduction. Natural factors require constant restoration in quantitative and qualitative aspects. Hence the need arises to create a fundamentally new economic mechanism for environmental management and environmental protection. The process of greening social production is underway (see Fig. 78).
Fig.78. Scheme of the process of greening social production.
The key problem for the survival of civilization is energy problem. Currently, developed countries are pursuing a policy of limiting energy consumption. Here, the level of energy consumption per capita is 80 times higher than in developing countries. Technically, a similar level of energy production and consumption can be achieved for all countries of the world. But we must not forget that the planet’s ecosystem will not withstand a multiple increase in energy consumption due to the development of traditional types of energy. From here it is clear that humanity, along with traditional ones, is obliged to use new sources of energy (see Fig. 79).
Of course, energy saving mode must be observed. For this purpose, the following measures are recommended: improving thermal insulation; introduction of energy-saving equipment; full use of the sun's radiant energy; introduction of modern technologies.
To ensure the reproductive regime of existence and development of civilization, the possibility of widespread use of the resources of the world's oceans and space opens up.
 |
Rice. 79. Types of energy sources.
The world ocean - the Earth's hydrosphere - occupies 71% of its surface. The use of natural resources and waters of the World Ocean includes: fishing, harvesting sea animals, catching invertebrate animals, collecting algae, marine mining, waste disposal.
Space exploration also opens up new prospects for the development of civilization. The results of research and experiments in near space can be used in medicine, biology, geology, communications, industrial production, energy, weather forecasting, materials science, agriculture, climate studies, environmental monitoring, and exploration of the World Ocean.
Solving global problems creates an urgent need to unite the efforts of all humanity to cooperate in the following areas:
· disarmament and military conversion, prevention of military threats;
· mastering information technologies and forming a unified information space;
· establishment of unified rules and norms for global environmental management;
· cooperation in eliminating environmental disaster zones;
· the provision of assistance by developed countries to developing countries in overcoming poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy.
The main areas of cooperation in solving global problems predetermine the forms of cooperation themselves:
1. Implementation of joint projects and programs.
2. Technology transfer.
3. Allocation of loans.
4. Participation in the development, extraction and distribution of natural resources.
5. Reform of the pricing system for natural resources in the world.
6. Providing developing countries with access to the world market.
7. Promoting the industrialization of underdeveloped countries.
8. Planetary and regional agreements under the auspices of the UN and other international organizations.
Globalist scientists have come to understand the relevance of common world problems and the need for their joint solution in recent decades.
The Club of Rome, an informal organization that brings together scientists from different countries, has conducted a study of the main factors and trends in the development of environmental systems on the planet. The results of the study are presented in the book “The Limits to Growth,” which contains recommendations for many scientific developments.
The concept of the transition of the world and regions to sustainable development was adopted at the World Congress on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 with the participation of heads of state and government of 180 countries. The transition to sustainable development involves the gradual restoration of natural economic ecosystems to a level that guarantees environmental stability.
Basic concepts and terms:
Global problems
Problems associated with the environmental crisis
Problems of a social and economic nature
Cultural and moral problems
Ecological problems
Types of environmental problems
Local and global problems
Water systems
Aral crisis
Air pollution
Acid rain
"Ozone Holes"
Demographic situation
Food problem
The problem of war and peace
Conversion of the military industry
Space exploration
Ways to solve environmental problems at the national level
Ways to solve environmental problems at the global level
Economics and ecology
Greening of public production
Energy problem
Energy sources
Traditional energy sources
Alternative non-traditional energy sources
Using the resources of the oceans and space
Areas of cooperation in solving global problems
Forms of cooperation
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INTRODUCTION
The anthropogenic period is revolutionary in the history of the Earth.
Humanity manifests itself as the greatest geological force in terms of the scale of its activities on our planet. And if we remember the short duration of man’s existence in comparison with the life of the planet, then the significance of his activities will appear even clearer.
The scientific and technological revolution, the rapid development of productive forces and the simultaneous development of an aggressive consumer society in the twentieth century led to a radical change in the nature of the interaction between nature and society. The amount of permissible impact on the biosphere as a whole has now been exceeded several times. Modern civilization and the biosphere are no longer able to cope with the harmful waste generated as a result of human activity, and are gradually beginning to degrade. The growth of human power leads to an increase in the consequences of his activities that are negative for nature and ultimately dangerous for human existence, the significance of which is only now beginning to be realized.
A characteristic feature of our time is the intensification and globalization of human impact on the natural environment, which is accompanied by previously unprecedented scales of negative consequences of this impact. And if earlier humanity experienced local and regional environmental crises, which could lead to the death of any civilization, but did not impede the further progress of the human race as a whole, then the current environmental situation is fraught with global ecological collapse.
Humanity is too slow to understand the scale of the danger created by a careless attitude towards the environment. Meanwhile, solving such formidable global problems as environmental ones requires urgent joint efforts of international organizations, states, regions and the public. The purpose of my work is to consider the most pressing global environmental problems of our time, the main causes of their occurrence, the consequences to which they led and ways to solve these problems.
1. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
1.1 Depletion of the Earth's ozone layer
The environmental problem of the ozone layer is no less scientifically complex. As is known, life on Earth appeared only after the protective ozone layer of the planet was formed, covering it from harsh ultraviolet radiation. In recent decades, intensive destruction of this layer has been noticed.
The problem of the ozone layer arose in 1982, when a probe launched from a British station in Antarctica discovered a sharp decrease in ozone levels at an altitude of 25 - 30 kilometers. Since then, an ozone “hole” of varying shapes and sizes has been continuously recorded over Antarctica. According to the latest data for 1992, it is equal to 23 million square meters. km, that is, an area equal to the entire North America. Later, the same “hole” was discovered over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, over Spitsbergen, and then in different places in Eurasia.
Most scientists believe that the cause of the formation of so-called ozone holes in the atmosphere is freons, or chlorofluorocarbons. Application of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture; chlorination of drinking water, widespread use of freons in refrigeration units, for extinguishing fires, as solvents and in aerosols have led to the fact that millions of tons of chlorofluoromethanes enter the lower layer of the atmosphere in the form of a colorless neutral gas. Spreading upward, chlorofluoromethanes under the influence of ultraviolet radiation decompose into a number of compounds, of which chlorine oxide most intensively destroys ozone. It was also found that a lot of ozone is destroyed by the rocket engines of modern aircraft flying at high altitudes, as well as during the launches of spacecraft and satellites.
Depletion of the ozone layer poses an existential threat to all life on Earth. The destruction of the planet's ozone layer and the penetration of increased doses of ultraviolet radiation can significantly affect the radiation balance of the Earth-atmosphere system and lead to unpredictable consequences for the Earth's climate, including an increase in the greenhouse effect; leads to the destruction of the existing biogenesis of the ocean due to the death of plankton in the equatorial zone, inhibition of plant growth, a sharp increase in eye and cancer diseases, as well as diseases associated with the weakening of the immune system of humans and animals; increasing the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere, corrosion of metals, etc.
The international community, concerned about this trend, has already introduced restrictions on CFC emissions through the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985).
1.2 Acid rain
One of the most pressing global problems of our time is the problem of increasing acidity of atmospheric precipitation and soil cover. Every year, about 200 million solid particles (dust, soot, etc.), 200 million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 700 million. t. carbon monoxide, 150 million. tons of nitrogen oxides, which in total amounts to more than 1 billion tons of harmful substances. Acid rain (or, more correctly), acid precipitation, since the fallout of harmful substances can occur both in the form of rain and in the form of snow, hail, causes environmental, economic and aesthetic damage. As a result of acid precipitation, the balance in ecosystems is disrupted.
Acid rain occurs as a result of human economic activity, accompanied by emissions of colossal amounts of oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon. These oxides, entering the atmosphere, are transported over long distances, interact with water and turn into solutions of a mixture of sulfuric, sulfuric, nitrous, nitric and carbonic acids, which fall in the form of “acid rain” on land, interacting with plants, soils, and waters.
Areas of acidic soils do not experience droughts, but their natural fertility is reduced and unstable; they are quickly depleted and their yields are low; metal structures rust; buildings, structures, architectural monuments, etc. are destroyed. Sulfur dioxide is adsorbed on the leaves, penetrates inside and takes part in oxidative processes. This entails genetic and species changes in plants. One of the reasons for the death of forests in many regions of the world is acid rain.
Acid rain not only causes acidification of surface waters and upper soil horizons. Acidity with downward flows of water spreads across the entire soil profile and causes significant acidification of groundwater.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the volume of systematic measurements of air polluting compounds.
1.3 Earth's climate change
Until the middle of the 20th century. climate fluctuations depended relatively little on man and his economic activities. Over the past decades, this situation has changed quite dramatically. The influence of anthropogenic activities on the global climate is associated with the action of several factors, of which highest value have:
An increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as some other gases entering the atmosphere during economic activities;
Increase in the mass of atmospheric aerosols;
An increase in the amount of thermal energy generated in the process of economic activity and entering the atmosphere.
An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and other gases near the earth's surface leads to the formation of a "gas curtain" that does not allow excess infrared radiation from the earth's surface to pass back into space. As a result, a significant part of the energy remains in the ground layer, forming the so-called “greenhouse effect”. The gradual increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is already having a noticeable impact on the Earth's climate, changing it towards warming. Over the last 100 years average temperature on Earth increased by 0.6°C. Scientists’ calculations show that with the development of the greenhouse effect, it can increase by 0.5°C every 10 years. An increase in temperature on Earth can cause irreversible processes:
An increase in the level of the World Ocean, due to the melting of glaciers and polar ice, which, in turn, results in the flooding of territories, displacement of the boundaries of swamps and low-lying areas, an increase in the salinity of water at river mouths, and the loss of human habitation;
Violation of geological structures of permafrost;
Changes in the hydrological regime, quantity and quality of water resources;
Impact on ecological systems, agriculture and forestry (shift of climatic zones to the north).
As the warming trend intensifies weather are becoming more variable and climate-related disasters more destructive. At the end of the twentieth century, humanity came to understand the need to solve one of the most complex and extremely dangerous environmental problems associated with climate change, and in the mid-1970s active work began in this direction. At the World Climate Conference in Geneva (1979), the foundations of the World Climate Program were laid. In accordance with the resolution of the UN General Assembly on the protection of the global climate, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) was adopted. The goal of the convention is to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that will not have a dangerous impact on the global climate system. At the III Conference of the countries that signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Kyoto, the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (1997) was adopted, which recorded certain quantitative obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries and countries with economies in transition . The Kyoto Protocol can be seen as the beginning of a movement in the direction of what needs to be done to slow down the process of global warming, and, in the long term, to reduce the risk of global climate change.
1.4 Freshwater depletion
Between 1900 and 1995, global freshwater consumption increased 6-fold, more than double the rate of population growth. Currently almost? The world's population lacks clean water. If current trends in freshwater consumption continue, by 2025 every two out of three inhabitants of the Earth will live in conditions of water scarcity.
The main source of fresh water for humanity is generally actively renewable surface water, which amounts to about 39,000 km? in year. Back in the 1970s, these huge annually renewable fresh water resources provided one inhabitant of the globe with an average volume of about 11 thousand m? year; in the 1980s, the provision of water resources per capita decreased to 8.7 thousand m? /year, and by the end of the twentieth century - up to 6.5 thousand m?/year. Taking into account the forecast for the growth of the Earth's population by 2050 (up to 9 billion), water availability will drop to 4.3 thousand m?/year. However, it is necessary to take into account that the average data provided are of a generalized nature. The uneven distribution of population and water resources around the globe leads to the fact that in some countries the annual supply of fresh water to the population decreases to 2000-1000 m?/year (countries of South Africa) or increases to 100 thousand m?/year (New Zealand) .
Does groundwater meet the needs? population of the Earth. Of particular concern to humanity is their irrational use and methods of exploitation. Groundwater extraction in many regions of the globe is carried out in volumes that significantly exceed nature’s ability to renew it. It is widespread in the Arabian Peninsula, India, China, Mexico, CIS countries and the USA. There is a drop in groundwater levels of 1-3 m per year.
Protecting the quality of water resources poses a challenge. The use of water for economic purposes is one of the links in the water cycle. But the anthropogenic link of the cycle differs significantly from the natural one in that only part of the water used by humans returns to the atmosphere through the process of evaporation. Another part of it, especially when supplying water to cities and industrial enterprises, is discharged back into rivers and reservoirs in the form of wastewater contaminated with industrial waste. This process continues for thousands of years. With the growth of the urban population, the development of industry, and the use of mineral fertilizers and harmful chemicals in agriculture, the pollution of surface fresh waters began to acquire a global scale. The most serious problem is that more than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and half the world's population lacks access to adequate sanitation and hygiene services. In many developing countries, rivers flowing through major cities are sewers, posing a public health hazard.
The World Ocean is the largest ecological system of planet Earth and consists of the waters of four oceans (Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic) with all interconnected adjacent seas. Sea water makes up 95% of the volume of the entire hydrosphere. Being an important link in the water cycle, it provides nutrition to glaciers, rivers and lakes, and thereby the life of plants and animals. The ocean plays a huge role in creating necessary conditions life on the planet, its phytoplankton provides 50-70% of the total oxygen consumed by living beings.
The scientific and technological revolution brought radical changes in the use of the resources of the World Ocean. At the same time, many negative processes are associated with scientific and technological revolution, and among them is the pollution of the waters of the World Ocean. Ocean pollution with oil, chemicals, organic residues, burial sites of radioactive production, etc. is catastrophically increasing. According to estimates, the World Ocean absorbs the main part of pollutants. The international community is actively searching for ways to effectively protect the marine environment. Currently, there are more than 100 conventions, agreements, treaties and other legal acts. International agreements regulate various aspects that determine the prevention of pollution of the World Ocean, including:
Prohibition or limitation under certain conditions of discharges of pollutants generated during normal operation (1954);
Prevention of intentional pollution of the marine environment with operational waste from ships, as well as partly from fixed and floating platforms (1973);
Prohibition or restriction of dumping of waste and other materials (1972);
Prevention of pollution or reduction of its consequences as a result of accidents and disasters (1969, 1978).
In the formation of a new international legal regime of the World Ocean leading place occupied by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), which includes a set of problems of protection and use of the World Ocean in modern conditions scientific and technological revolution. The Convention declared the international seabed area and its resources to be the common heritage of mankind.
1.5 Destruction of the Earth's soil cover
The problem of land resources has now become one of the most pressing global problems, not only because of the limited land fund, but also because the natural ability of the soil cover to produce biological products decreases annually both relatively (per capita of the progressively increasing world population) and absolutely (due to increased soil loss and degradation as a result of human activities).
Over the course of its history, humanity has irrevocably lost more fertile land than is arable throughout the world, turning once productive arable land into deserts, wastelands, swamps, bushland, badlands, and ravines.
One of the main reasons for the deterioration of the quality of land resources is soil erosion - the destruction of the upper most fertile horizons and underlying soil-forming rock by surface water and wind. Under the influence of human economic activity, accelerated erosion occurs, which often leads to the complete destruction of the soil. As a result of soil erosion around the globe in the 20th century, several tens of millions of hectares of arable land were lost from agricultural use, and several hundred million hectares are in need of anti-erosion measures.
In many regions of the Earth, aridization is increasing - a decrease in the humidity of vast areas. 1/5 of the land is under threat from the spread of deserts. According to UN estimates, over the second half of the 20th century, the area of the Sahara expanded by 650 thousand km?, its edge moves annually by 1.5-10 km, and the Libyan Desert - up to 13 km per year. The development of irrigated agriculture in an arid climate with a long dry season causes secondary soil salinization. About 50% of the world's irrigated land area is affected by salinity. For the first time, the idea of the need for concerted and coordinated actions by all countries of the world in the field of combating desertification was put forward at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (1992). It was proposed to develop a special UN Convention to Combat Desertification, aimed at uniting the efforts of states and the general population to prevent land destruction and mitigate the consequences of droughts (adopted in 1994). The Convention aims to combat all forms of land degradation in different geoclimatic zones, including Europe.
Any actions leading to a violation of the physical, physicochemical, chemical, biological and biochemical properties of the soil cause its pollution. On a large scale, soil pollution occurs: when open-pit mining minerals, inorganic waste and industrial waste due to agricultural activities, transport and municipal enterprises. The most dangerous is radioactive contamination of land.
Pollution of land, groundwater and surface water, and atmospheric air is increasingly associated with the accumulation of waste that is generated in the process of production, economic activity, and in everyday life. The amount of waste in the world increases every year and, according to some estimates, has reached 30 billion tons (all types of waste). An analysis of trends in the development of the world economy shows that the mass of waste doubles every 10-12 years. To dispose of waste, more and more land is being withdrawn from economic circulation. The formation and accumulation of production and consumption waste leads to disruption of the ecological balance of the natural environment and poses a real threat to human health.
The following can be recognized as priority areas in the field of waste management:
Reducing the volume of waste generation through the introduction of resource-saving and low-waste technologies;
Increasing the level of their processing, providing for the development and implementation of new technologies, the creation of complexes for the recycling, neutralization and burial of toxic industrial waste, the introduction of industrial methods for processing household waste;
Environmentally friendly placement, which includes organizing controlled waste disposal at landfills, improving control over existing landfills and constructing new ones.
1.6 Conservation of biological diversity
During the period of scientific and technological revolution main force It is man who transforms the flora and fauna. Human activity in recent decades has led to the fact that the rate of extinction of many animal species, primarily mammals and birds, has become much more intense and significantly exceeds the estimated average rate of species loss in previous millennia. Direct threats to biodiversity are usually based on socio-economic factors. Thus, population growth leads to an increase in the need for food, a corresponding expansion of agricultural land, intensification of land use, use of land for development, a general increase in consumption and increased degradation of natural resources.
According to the latest surveys compiled by UN experts, about a quarter of a million plant species, i.e., one in eight, are at risk of extinction. The survival of approximately 25% of all mammal species and 11% of bird species is also problematic. The depletion of fishing grounds in the World Ocean continues: over the past half century, fish catches have increased almost fivefold, while 70% of ocean fisheries are subject to extreme or exorbitant exploitation.
The problem of preserving biological diversity is largely interconnected with the degradation of forest resources. Forests contain over 50% of the world's biodiversity, provide landscape diversity, form and protect soils, help retain and purify water, produce oxygen, and reduce the threat of global warming. Population growth and the development of the world economy have led to growing global demand for forest products. As a result, over the past 300 years, 66-68% of the planet's forest area has been destroyed. Harvesting of a limited number of wood species leads to changes in the species composition of large forests and is one of the reasons for the overall loss of biological diversity. In the period 1990-2000. In developing countries, tens of millions of hectares of forest land have been lost to over-logging, conversion to agricultural land, disease and fire. The situation is especially dangerous in tropical forests. At the current rate of deforestation in the 21st century, in some regions (Malaysia, Indonesia), forests may disappear completely.
Awareness of the unpredictable value of biological diversity, its importance for maintaining the natural evolution and sustainable functioning of the biosphere has led humanity to understand the threat posed by the reduction of biological diversity resulting from certain types of human activities. Sharing the concerns of the world community, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992), among other important documents, adopted the Convention on Biological Diversity. The main provisions of the convention are aimed at the rational use of natural biological resources and the implementation of effective measures for their conservation.
2. WAYS TO SOLUTION ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Each of the considered global problems has its own options for a partial or more complete solution. There is a certain set of general approaches to solving environmental problems.
Measures to improve environmental quality:
1. Technological:
Development of new technologies,
Treatment facilities,
Fuel replacement,
Electrification of production, everyday life, transport.
2. Architectural and planning measures:
Zoning of the territory of a settlement,
Greening of populated areas,
Organization of sanitary protection zones.
3.Economic.
4. Legal:
Creation of legislative acts to maintain environmental quality.
In addition, over the last century, humanity has developed a number of original ways to combat environmental problems. These methods include the emergence and activities of various kinds of “green” movements and organizations. In addition to “Green Peacea”, which is distinguished by the scope of its activities, there are similar organizations that directly carry out environmental actions. There is also another type of environmental organization: structures that stimulate and sponsor environmental activities (Wildlife Fund).
In addition to various types of associations in the field of solving environmental problems, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives: environmental legislation in Russia and other countries of the world, various international agreements or the “Red Books” system.
Among the most important ways solving environmental problems, most researchers also highlight the introduction of environmentally friendly, low- and non-waste technologies, the construction of treatment facilities, the rational location of production and the use of natural resources.
ozone atmosphere acidity soil
CONCLUSION
In this work, I tried to consider the main environmental problems and ways to solve them. Based on the analysis of the environmental situation, we can conclude that we should rather not talk about the final and absolute decision global environmental problems, but about the prospects for shifting private problems, the solution of which will help reduce the scale of global ones.
Nature conservation is the task of our century, a problem that has become social. Time and again we hear about the dangers threatening the environment, but many of us still consider them an unpleasant but inevitable product of civilization and believe that we will still have time to cope with all the difficulties that have arisen. However, human impact on the environment has reached alarming proportions. To fundamentally improve the situation, purposeful and thoughtful actions of all humanity will be needed. Responsible and effective environmental policies will only be possible if we accumulate reliable data on current state environment, reasonable knowledge about the interaction of important environmental factors, if he develops new methods for reducing and preventing harm caused to nature by humans.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST
1. Akimova, T.A. Ecology: Nature-man-technology: a textbook for universities T.A. Akimova, A.P. Kuzmin, V.V. Haskin. - M.: Unity, 2001. - 343 p.
2. Bobylev, S.N. UN Millennium Development Goals and ensuring environmental sustainability of Russia S.N. Bobylev // Ecology and law. - 2006. - No. 1
3. Brodsky, A.K. Short course general ecology: tutorial A.K. Brodsky. - 3rd ed. - St. Petersburg: DEAN, 1999. - 223s.
4. Nature conservation: textbook N.D. Gladkov et al. - M.: Enlightenment, 1975. - 239s.
5. Gorelov, A.A. Ecology: textbook by A.A. Gorelov. - M.: Center, 1998 -238 p.
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