Protection of nature and the environment.

The environment is not just what is around a person, it is on it that people's health depends, as well as the ability to live on this planet for future generations. If it is irresponsible to approach its preservation, then it is quite likely that the destruction of the entire human race will occur. Therefore, everyone should be aware of the state of nature, as well as what contribution he can make to its protection or restoration.

What depends on the environment?

All life on Earth depends on how good the environment is. At the same time, it is impossible to take into account any particular area, since all systems have a certain relationship with each other:

• atmosphere;
• oceans;
• sushi;
• ice sheets;
• biosphere;
• water streams.

And every system is threatened in one way or another. But after a certain area is exposed to too much negative impact, various natural disasters can occur. Those, in turn, without fail threaten the lives of people. Therefore, everything depends on the environment, from a favorable human life to the preservation of natural resources for future generations.

Supervision of all systems is carried out by responsible persons. However, as has been pointed out, every person will suffer if any area reaches a critical point leading to a natural disaster. For this reason, everyone must ensure that nature remains in its original state, or, if it has already been violated, every effort is required to restore it.

Nature and environment

Virtually every person has an impact on the environment, regardless of their occupation. Some of them do really useful things, with the help of which vast wealth can be conveyed to future generations - clean air and water, untouched nature, and so on. However, most people have a negative impact, which gradually destroys everything that the planet gives humanity.

Fortunately, many countries in our time are well aware of the importance of the environment, their responsibility for its safety. And it is precisely for this reason that it is possible to save individual natural wealth, resources, without which the environment will perish, and soon after it, all of humanity.

Both countries in general and individual organizations in particular need to pay their attention not only to virgin areas of nature, but also to those that really need human help. These are marine ecosystems, the atmosphere, because people's health directly depends on them. Therefore, the conservation of nature and the environment surrounding mankind is based not only on responsibility for a specific area, but also for their totality, interconnection. If we take chemical waste as an example, then they should be considered not only as elements that spoil human health, but also as those that harm nature.

Human-environment interaction

It is known that not only environmental resources, their safety, but also human health depend on the release of chemical waste into the atmosphere or marine ecosystems. In this regard, by 2020 it is planned to completely eliminate such pollution, not even reduce it to a minimum. For this reason, nowadays all those enterprises that deal with chemicals must submit detailed reports on how the waste is disposed of.

If there is an increased concentration of substances that are harmful to humans in the atmosphere, it is necessary to quickly reduce their level. But this requires the participation of all people, and not just those organizations that have a certain responsibility for protecting the environment. There is a generally accepted and undeniable opinion that it is extremely important for a person to spend time outdoors. This benefits him, helps to correct or maintain health at a good level. However, if he inhales chemical waste, then this will not only not contribute to the task, but also harm. Consequently, the more responsible each individual behaves in relation to the environment, the more likely it is to preserve and maintain it for many years.

marine ecosystems

Many countries and states are surrounded by large bodies of water. In addition, the water cycle cannot be ignored. Therefore, any city, even if it is located in the center of the mainland, is directly related to marine ecosystems. Consequently, the life of all people on the planet is connected with the oceans, therefore the preservation and protection of the water space is far from the last task.

The Department of the Environment simply cannot do without the work of protecting marine ecosystems. Its mission is to minimize pollution of the oceans. Unfortunately, modern human activity cannot eliminate this factor, but it is necessary to strive to reduce it.

The sources that pollute the hydrosphere are as follows:

1. Communal economy.
2. Transport.
3. Industry.
4. Non-manufacturing area.

The maximum negative effect is exerted by industrial emissions into rivers or seas of various wastes.

Air pollution

The atmosphere is a system that has several ways of self-defense. However, the negative impact on the environment in our time is so great that it does not have enough strength for defense activities, as a result of which it gradually wears out.

There are several main sources that pollute the atmosphere:

1. Chemical industry.
2. Transport.
3. Power industry.
4. Metallurgy.

Among them, aerosol pollution is particularly frightening, which means that particles are emitted into the atmosphere in a liquid or solid state, but they are not part of its permanent composition.

However, oxides of carbon or sulfur are more dangerous. It is they who lead to the greenhouse effect, which results in an increase in temperature on the continents and so on. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully monitor the composition of the air, since additional impurities will sooner or later affect humanity.

Ways to protect the environment

The higher the negative impact on nature, the more organizations should be created that will not only be responsible for protecting it, but also disseminate information that helps all the inhabitants of the planet understand how dangerous pollution is. Consequently, with the growth of harm, protective measures are also intensified.

International includes several methods of conservation of nature and its resources:

1. Creation of purification facilities. They can exert their influence only on marine resources or the atmosphere, or they can serve in a complex.
2. Development of new cleaning technologies. This is usually done by companies that work with chemicals to facilitate disposal or increase the positive impact in a particular system.
3. Proper placement of dirty industries. Security companies and organizations still cannot answer the question of where exactly the respective enterprises should be located, but it is being actively resolved.

In a word, if a solution to the problem of the ecological state of the planet is sought, then it is necessary for all representatives of the world community to do this. Nothing can be done alone.

Payment for pollution

Since today there are no countries where human activity is not associated with some enterprises, environmental fees are charged. This process takes place in accordance with the law adopted in 2002.

A common mistake companies engaged in dirty production is that after paying for the conservation of nature, they continue the process of negative impact on it. In fact, this can lead to criminal liability. The payment of the fee does not at all exempt from liability, and each enterprise is obliged to strive to reduce the harm, or even eliminate it altogether.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that the environment is the totality of all those elements that are around people. It was she who provided the opportunity for evolution, for the emergence of the human race. Therefore, the main goal of our time is its protection, purification and preservation. If this does not happen, then in just a few centuries the planet will turn into a place unsuitable for human life and activity.

Protection of Nature- this is a rational, reasonable use of natural resources, which helps to preserve the pristine diversity of nature and improve the living conditions of the population. For nature protection Earth the world community is taking concrete action.

Effective measures to protect endangered species and natural biocenoses are to increase the number of reserves, expand their territories, create nurseries for the artificial cultivation of endangered species and reintroduce (that is, return) them into nature.

A powerful human impact on ecological systems can lead to sad results that can provoke a whole chain of environmental changes.

The influence of anthropogenic factors on organisms

Most of the organic matter does not decompose immediately, but is stored in the form of wood, soil and water sediments. After being preserved for many millennia, these organic substances turn into fossil fuels (coal, peat and oil).

Every year on Earth, photosynthetic organisms synthesize about 100 billion tons of organic substances. Over the geological period (1 billion years), the predominance of the synthesis of organic substances over the process of their decomposition led to a decrease in the content of CO 2 and an increase in O 2 in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, since the second half of the XX century. the intensive development of industry and agriculture began to cause a steady increase in the content of CO 2 in the atmosphere. This phenomenon can cause climate change on the planet.

Conservation of natural resources

In the matter of nature protection, the transition to the use of industrial and agricultural technologies, which make it possible to economically use natural resources, is of great importance. For this you need:

• the most complete use of fossil natural resources;
• recycling of production wastes, use of non-waste technologies;
• obtaining energy from environmentally friendly sources by using the energy of the Sun, wind, ocean kinetic energy, underground energy.

Especially effective is the introduction of waste-free technologies operating in closed cycles, when waste is not emitted into the atmosphere or into water basins, but is reused.

Biodiversity conservation

The protection of existing species of living organisms is also of great importance in biological, ecological and cultural terms. Every living species is a product of centuries of evolution and has its own gene pool. None of the existing species can be considered absolutely beneficial or harmful. Those species that were considered harmful may eventually turn out to be useful. That is why the protection of the gene pool of existing species is of particular importance. Our task is to preserve all living organisms that have come down to us after a long evolutionary process.

Plant and animal species, the number of which has already declined or is endangered, are listed in the Red Book and are protected by law. In order to protect nature, nature reserves, micro-reserves, natural monuments, plantations of medicinal plants, reservations, national parks are created and other environmental measures are taken. material from the site

"Man and the Biosphere"

In order to protect nature in 1971, the international program "Man and the Biosphere" (in English "Man and Biosfera" - abbreviated as MAB) was adopted. According to this program, the state of the environment and human impact on the biosphere are studied. The main objectives of the program "Man and the Biosphere" are to predict the consequences of modern human economic activity, to develop methods for the rational use of the riches of the biosphere and measures for its protection.

In countries participating in the MAB program, large biosphere reserves are being created, where changes that occur in ecosystems without human influence are studied (Fig. 80).

Modern ideas about the protection of nature and the human environment are based on the ideas of V. I. Vernadsky about the protection of the biosphere. In the modern interpretation, we are talking, first of all, about preventing changes in the amounts of radiant energy reaching the Earth, about maintaining sufficient stability of chemical cycles occurring in the biosphere.

The protection of nature and the human habitat in our time has become a public interest. It can be said that the relationship of society with the environment is one of the most global problems of mankind.

The concepts of "nature protection" and "human habitat protection" are complex and extensive. Nature protection is a complex of state, public and scientific measures aimed at rational use of natural resources, restoration and multiplication of the natural resources of the Earth. The protection of the human environment is the protection of everything that directly surrounds a person, which makes up the ecological systems of which he is a member, as well as the prevention of factors in the environment that are detrimental to his health. These concepts are largely similar to each other, because their strategic meaning is to find ways to regulate the relationship between human society and nature (living and inanimate). However, these concepts also have significant differences.

Protecting nature does not mean keeping it intact, because man will continue to exploit natural resources, and as

population growth even more.

We are talking about protection, which should ensure the establishment of a balance between use and restoration, as well as the continuous maintenance of the power of the biosphere. Therefore, the main tasks of all nature conservation measures are not to disturb the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the circulation of substances and the transformation of energy, that is, not to change the historically established bioproductivity of the biosphere.

On the contrary, systematic development of measures aimed at the intensification of biological cycles in natural and artificial ecosystems, i.e., at a sharp increase in the productivity of the Earth, should be carried out. In particular, it is necessary to create a truly scientific basis for increasing the density of the green cover of the Earth with a large proportion of species that are characterized by a high efficiency of photosynthesis. On the other hand, it is important to conserve rare and endangered animal species.

Finally, it is impossible to fill the environment with radiation and chemical pollutants that are harmful to animals and plants. So, the general line in the protection of nature is the protection and reproduction of the living world.

Speaking about the protection of the human habitat, it is important to remember that, being an integral component of the biosphere, a person in the course of historical development adapted to his environment, not biologically, but socially with the help of technical and cultural means. Therefore, as a living being, a person is open to the effects of environmental pollutants on him. Maintaining environmental hygiene means maintaining an ecological balance between a person and his environment in order to ensure the well-being of a person, his health. Therefore, in our time, questions have arisen not only of determining the damage already caused to the human gene pool, but also of determining ways to protect the hereditary material of a person from factors generated by his activity in the biosphere.

The solution of these issues in different countries goes in several directions, the main of which is to create sensitive test systems for assessing the mutagenic activity of environmental pollutants and in search of approaches to effectively monitor the genetic processes occurring in human populations (development of the foundations of genetic monitoring of populations) . The meaning and necessity of these works lies in the integral analysis of the dynamics of the genetic load, i.e., in the study and evaluation of the frequency of mutations of genes and chromosomes induced by pollutants in relation to mutations historically accumulated in the process of evolution, evolutionarily established systems of balanced genetic polymorphism.

Currently, several approaches are used to register changes in the genetic structure of human populations.

One of these approaches is related to taking into account population characteristics. As an indicator for assessing the genetic burden, medical and statistical indicators are used (frequency of spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, birth weight, survival probability, sex ratio, incidence of congenital and acquired diseases, indicators of growth and development of children).

Another approach is related to taking into account "watchdog" phenotypes, i.e., with the definition of phenotypes that arise due to certain mutations inherited dominantly. An example of such a phenotype is a dislocation of the hip joint. In the selected population, the dynamics of the frequency of interest phenotypes among newborns is monitored, for example, the dynamics of the frequency of hip dislocation.

Another approach is associated with the use of electrophoresis of blood serum proteins and erythrocytes to detect mutant proteins based on their mobility in an electric field, since the change in the charge of a protein molecule can be caused by the replacement or insertion of one or more nitrogenous bases in a gene. Finally, the approach associated with the cytogenetic study of spontaneously aborted embryos, stillborns, live births and children with congenital defects is used.

There is no doubt that some of the damage already done to the biosphere cannot be repaired. Therefore, humanity is faced with the task of creating conditions for balanced development. The most important task is to create technologies that would completely eliminate or limit the release of pollutants into the environment.

We are talking about such technologies both in industry and agriculture.

Many countries have national programs for the protection of nature and the environment. These programs are based on taking into account the specifics of local conditions. However, no matter what measures are taken in individual countries, they cannot provide a solution to the whole range of issues related to pollution of the atmosphere, open seas, and the World Ocean.

Since the biosphere is politically indivisible, and the pollution of the human environment entails global consequences, international cooperation in the field of nature protection and the human environment is of great importance.

In addition to addressing issues at government levels, the activities of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the World Wide Fund for Nature, as well as the UN specialized agencies are of great importance.

June 5 is World Environment Day. In 1986, WHO adopted the Global Strategy for Health for All by the Year 2000. In accordance with this strategy, a sine qua non for achieving the goals

is the preservation and strengthening of peace on Earth. Nowadays we are talking

about the preservation of life on earth.

The principles of environmental protection include:

1) observance of the human right to a favorable environment;

2) ensuring favorable conditions for human life;

3) a scientifically based combination of environmental, economic and social interests of a person, society and the state in order to ensure sustainable development and a favorable environment;

4) protection, reproduction and rational use of natural resources as necessary conditions for ensuring a favorable environment and environmental safety;

5) the responsibility of state authorities of the Russian Federation, state authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation, local governments for ensuring a favorable environment and environmental safety in the respective territories;

6) payment for nature use and compensation for damage to the environment;

7) independence of control in the field of environmental protection;

8) presumption of environmental danger of the planned economic and other activities;

9) the obligation to assess the impact on the environment when making decisions on the implementation of economic and other activities;

10) the obligation to conduct a state environmental review of projects and other documentation justifying economic and other activities that may have a negative impact on the environment, create a threat to the life, health and property of citizens;

11) taking into account the natural and socio-economic characteristics of the territories in the planning and implementation of economic and other activities;

12) priority of preservation of natural ecological systems, natural landscapes and natural complexes;

13) the admissibility of the impact of economic and other activities on the natural environment based on the requirements in the field of environmental protection;

14) ensuring the reduction of the negative impact of economic and other activities on the environment in accordance with the standards in the field of environmental protection, which can be achieved through the use of the best existing technologies, taking into account economic and social factors;

15) obligatory participation in environmental protection activities of state authorities of the Russian Federation, state authorities of subjects of the Federation, local governments, public and other non-profit associations, legal entities and individuals;

16) conservation of biological diversity;

17) ensuring an integrated and individual approach to the establishment of requirements in the field of environmental protection for business entities and other activities that carry out such activities or plan to carry out such activities;

18) prohibition of economic and other activities, the consequences of which are unpredictable for the environment, as well as the implementation of projects that may lead to the degradation of natural ecological systems, change and (or) destruction of the genetic fund of plants, animals and other organisms, depletion of natural resources and other negative changes in the environment;

19) observance of the right of everyone to receive reliable information about the state of the environment, as well as the participation of citizens in decision-making regarding their rights to a favorable environment, in accordance with the law;

20) liability for violation of legislation in the field of environmental protection;

21) organization and development of the system of environmental education and upbringing, formation of environmental culture;

22) participation of citizens, public and other non-profit associations in solving problems of environmental protection;

23) international cooperation of the Russian Federation in the field of environmental protection.

Let us consider the objects of the environment that are subject to protection with the help of law.

The objects of legal protection of the environment are understood as its components that are in an ecological relationship, the relations for the use and protection of which are regulated by law, since they are of economic, environmental, aesthetic interest.

Objects of legal protection of the environment can be classified into three groups.

The first group of objects of legal protection consists of the main individual natural objects, of which there are six: land; its subsoil, water, forests, wildlife, atmospheric air.

The second group includes natural ecological systems, natural landscapes and natural complexes that are not subject to anthropogenic impact and are of global importance, subject to protection as a matter of priority.

The third group consists of objects of special protection. All attainable natural objects - components of the environment are subject to protection, but the territories and parts of nature specially allocated in the legislation deserve special protection:

Sites included in the World Cultural Heritage List and the World Natural Heritage List;

Reserves, national, natural and dendrological parks, sanctuaries, botanical gardens, monuments of nature, plants and animals, other organisms, their habitats, especially those listed in the Red Book;

Continental shelf and exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation.

Main aspects of nature protection, principles and rules of nature protection

1. Principles of nature conservation

1. Principles of nature conservation.

Nature protection is a set of state and public activities aimed at preserving the atmosphere, flora and fauna, soils, waters and earth's interior.

In the history of the formation of the environmental concept, several successive stages can be distinguished: species and reserved nature protection - resource protection - nature protection - rational use of natural resources - protection of the human habitat - protection of the natural environment. Accordingly, the very concept of environmental protection activities expanded and deepened.

In recent years, the term "protection of the natural environment" has been increasingly used. The term “protection of the biosphere” is very close in content and volume to this concept. Biosphere protection is a system of measures carried out at the national and international levels and aimed at eliminating undesirable anthropogenic and natural influences on functionally interconnected blocks of the biosphere (atmosphere, hydrosphere, soil cover, lithosphere and the sphere of organic life), at maintaining its evolutionarily developed organization and ensuring normal functioning.

Nature protection is closely connected with nature management - one of the sections of applied ecology. Nature management is a social production activity aimed at meeting the material and cultural needs of society through the use of various types of natural resources and natural conditions.

Nature management can be rational and irrational. Irrational use does not ensure the preservation of the natural resource potential, leads to the impoverishment and deterioration of the quality of the natural environment, is accompanied by pollution and depletion of natural systems, disruption of the ecological balance and destruction of ecosystems.

Rational nature management means a comprehensive scientifically based use of natural resources, which achieves the maximum possible conservation of natural resource potential, with minimal disruption of the ability of ecosystems to self-regulate and self-recovery.

According to Y. Odum, rational nature management has a dual goal:

· To ensure such a state of the environment in which it could satisfy, along with material needs, the demands of aesthetics and recreation;

· To ensure the possibility of continuous harvesting of useful plants, production of animals and various materials by establishing a balanced cycle of use and renewal;

At the current, modern stage of development of the problem of environmental protection, a new concept is born - environmental safety, which is understood as the state of protection of important environmental interests of a person and, above all, his rights to a favorable natural environment. The scientific basis for all measures to ensure the environmental safety of the population and rational nature management is theoretical ecology, the most important principles of which are focused on maintaining the homeostasis of ecosystems.

Environmentally sound rational nature management should consist in the maximum possible increase in the limits of existence and functioning and the achievement of high productivity of all links in the trophic chains of natural ecosystems.

Irrational nature management ultimately leads to an ecological crisis, and environmentally balanced nature management creates the prerequisites for overcoming it.

The way out of the global ecological crisis is the most important scientific and practical problem of our time. Thousands of scientists, politicians, practitioners in all countries of the world are working on its solution. The task is to develop a set of reliable anti-crisis measures that will actively counteract further degradation of the natural environment and achieve sustainable development of society. Attempts to solve this problem by any means alone, for example, technological ones (treatment facilities, non-waste technologies), are potentially incorrect and will not lead to the necessary results, because compared to the repeated use of a product, waste incineration is an inefficient way to deal with waste. First of all, this is a destructive process, during which both raw materials and energy are consumed. This pollutes both the atmosphere and water. Incinerators emit nitrogen oxides, acid precipitation-producing sulfur, hydrogen oxide, dioxin and furan, which are believed to have carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. There are tons of toxic ash left, which is also dangerous for groundwater.

Overcoming the ecological crisis is possible only if the harmonious development of nature and man, the removal of antagonism between them.

The most general principle or rule of environmental protection should be considered: the global initial natural resource potential is continuously depleted in the course of historical development, which requires scientific and technological improvement from mankind aimed at a wider and fuller use of this potential. From this law follows another fundamental principle for the protection of nature and the environment: environmentally-economical, i.e. the more prudent the approach to natural resources and habitat, the less energy and other costs are required. Reproduction of the natural resource potential and efforts to implement it should be comparable with the economic results of the exploitation of nature. Another important environmental rule is that all components of the natural environment - atmospheric air, water, soil - must be preserved not separately, but as a whole, as unified natural ecosystems of the biosphere. Only with such an ecological approach is it possible to ensure the preservation of landscapes, subsoil, the gene pool of plants and animals.

According to the law of the Russian Federation on environmental protection, the main principles of environmental protection are as follows:

Priority of protection of human life and health;

Science-based combination of environmental and economic interests;

Rational and sustainable use of natural resources;

Payment for nature use;

Compliance with the requirements of environmental legislation, the inevitability of liability for its violation;

Publicity in the work of environmental organizations and their close connection with public associations and the population in solving environmental problems;

International cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

2. Alternative nature management (industry, agriculture, energy)

The main directions of engineering protection of the natural environment from pollution and other types of anthropogenic impacts are the introduction of resource-saving, waste-free and low-waste technology, biotechnology, recycling and detoxification of waste, and most importantly, the greening of all production, which would ensure the inclusion of all types of interaction with the environment in natural cycles circulation of matter. Of great importance for reducing the level of environmental pollution, saving raw materials and energy is the reuse of material resources, i.e. recycling. Thus, the production of aluminum from scrap metal requires only 5% of the energy costs of smelting from bauxite, and the remelting of 1 ton of secondary raw materials saves 4 tons of bauxite and 700 kg of coke, while simultaneously reducing emissions of fluoride compounds into the atmosphere by 35 kg.

The initial stage of complex measures for the creation of low-waste technologies is the introduction of circulating, up to completely closed, water use systems. Recycled water supply is a system that provides for the repeated use of waste water with a minimum discharge (up to 3%) into water bodies. A closed water cycle is a system of industrial water supply and sanitation, in which wastewater is not discharged into water bodies in the same production cycle.

In the field of agriculture, the transition from mineral to organic fertilizers is being considered. The example of Australia shows the possibility of "biodynamic agriculture", in which mineral fertilizers and pesticides are replaced with colloidal solutions and composts with a high content of colloid, which, among other things, allows to reduce irrigation by 4 times. Another method of alternative nature management is reclamation. This is a set of works carried out with the aim of restoring disturbed territories and bringing land plots to a safe state. Biological reclamation is carried out after the technical one to create a vegetation cover on the prepared areas. With its help, they create conditions for the habitat of animals, plants, create hay and pasture lands.

The world energy system should not be dominated by the use of energy resources that cause global environmental problems, this is, first of all, the use of oil, coal, natural gas. Some countries, such as Brazil and Norway, already meet more than half of their energy needs from renewable sources, the potential of which is unlimited, such as solar energy, wind energy. So in remote, inaccessible areas, solar panels represent a real alternative to traditional electrification, as they are a more reliable and cheaper source of energy. Experts are confident that wind turbines will soon be improved and become effective not only in areas with strong winds. It is assumed that by 2030 wind energy will provide more than 10% of world production. The use of biomass (agricultural waste), firewood and garbage in the energy sector has great prospects, since in many countries thermal power plants operating on wood and garbage are already being built, and in developing countries biomass accounts for 50% of the energy received. Another example of efficient use of electricity can be household 18-watt fluorescent lamps, which give the same illumination as conventional 75-watt incandescent lamps.

3. Preservation of water and air quality

Increasing human influence on the environment leads to the fact that almost any adverse impact takes on a global character. The most acute problems usually include the global consequences of atmospheric pollution (climate warming, a decrease in the ozone layer, acid precipitation) and pollution of the hydrosphere (problems of the world's oceans, a decrease in fresh water reserves).

To protect the air basin from negative anthropogenic impact, the following measures are used:

· Ecologization of technological processes;

· Purification of gas emissions from harmful impurities;

· Dissipation of gaseous emissions in the atmosphere;

· Arrangement of sanitary and protective norms, architectural and planning solutions.

Given the exceptional relevance of the protection of atmospheric air from pollution by automobile gases, the priority is to create environmentally friendly modes of transport. As a substitute for gasoline, environmentally friendly gas fuel is considered - methanol, low-toxic ammonia and ideal fuel - hydrogen. Work continues on the creation of a car powered by solar cells.

Since the current level of development of the greening of technological processes is insufficient to completely prevent emissions of toxic substances into the atmosphere, various methods of cleaning exhaust gases are used. Various types of devices are used to treat emissions, depending on the degree of dust content in the air, the size of the particulate matter and the level of purification required.

Dry dust collectors (cyclones, dust settling chambers) are designed for coarse cleaning. Wet dust collectors (scrubbers, turbulent, scrubbers) provide 99% removal of particles larger than 2 microns. Filters (fabric and granular) are capable of retaining fine particles up to 0.05 microns in size. Electrostatic precipitators are the most effective cleaning method, as they clean from 99.0 to 99.5%%, but have the main drawback - they require a lot of electricity.

To reduce dangerous concentrations of impurities to the level of the corresponding MPC, such a measure as the dispersion of gaseous impurities in the atmosphere is used. Dispersion of dust and gas emissions is carried out with the help of high chimneys. The higher the pipe, the greater its scattering effect. This measure is far from the best solution to the problem associated with air pollution, since the higher the gases are released from the surface of the earth, the further they spread from their source. What was once a smoky haze over Pittsburgh became an acid snowfall in Labrador. Impurity over London in the form of smog destroys the foliage in the forests of Scandinavia. Therefore, the dispersion of harmful impurities in the atmosphere is a temporary, forced event.

The protection of atmospheric air from harmful emissions from enterprises is largely associated with the arrangement of sanitary protection zones and architectural and planning solutions. The sanitary protection zone is a strip separating sources of industrial pollution from residential and public buildings to protect the population from the influence of harmful production factors. The width of the zones is set depending on the degree of harmfulness and the amount of substances released into the atmosphere and is assumed to be from 50 to 1000 m. For example, a cement plant - 1000 m, and a plant for the production of reeds - 50 m. The sanitary protection zone should be landscaped with gas-resistant rocks, for example, white locust, Canadian poplar, prickly spruce, mulberry, Norway maple, leafy elm.

The effectiveness of landscaping is evidenced by the following data: the needles of 1 hectare of a spruce forest capture 32 tons of dust, the foliage of a beech forest - 68 tons.

Architectural and planning measures include the correct mutual placement of emission sources and populated areas, taking into account the direction of the winds, the choice of a flat, elevated place for the construction of an industrial enterprise, well blown by the winds, the construction of roads bypassing populated areas.

In addition to the measures discussed above, the protection of the ozone layer is also envisaged. The Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of the Environment" has a separate article devoted to this problem.

The development and implementation of measures to reduce emissions of sulfur compounds, nitrogen oxides and other hazardous air pollutants is also underway.

The most important and most difficult task is to protect surface waters from pollution. To this end, the following measures are envisaged:

· Development of low-waste and waterless technologies; introduction of water recycling systems;

· Sewage treatment;

· Injection of sewage into deep aquifers;

· Purification and disinfection of surface waters.

The main source of surface water pollution is sewage, so wastewater treatment is an urgent and environmentally important task.

The most effective way to protect surface waters from pollution by sewage is the development and implementation of a waste-free production technology, the initial stage of which is the creation of a recycling water supply. When organizing a recycling water supply system, it includes a number of treatment facilities and installations. Due to the diversity of the composition of wastewater, there are various methods for their treatment: mechanical, physico-chemical, chemical, biological, etc.

During mechanical treatment, up to 90% of insoluble mechanical impurities (sand, clay) are removed from industrial effluents by straining, settling and filtering, and 60% from domestic wastewater.

The main chemical methods include neutralization and oxidation. In the first case, special reagents (lime, soda ash, ammonia) are introduced into wastewater to neutralize acids and alkalis, in the second case, various oxidizing agents.

For physical and chemical treatment, the following are used:

Coagulation - the introduction of coagulants (ammonium, iron, copper, sludge waste) into wastewater to form flocculent sediments, which are then easily removed;

Sorption - the ability of some substances (activated carbon, zeolites, silica gel, peat) to absorb pollution;

Flotation is the passage of air through wastewater. Gas bubbles capture oil and oils as they move upwards and form an easily removable foamy layer on the surface.

The biological method is widely used for cleaning domestic wastewater from pulp and paper, oil refineries, and food enterprises. It is based on the ability of artificially introduced microorganisms to use organic and inorganic compounds contained in wastewater (hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, sulfites, nitrites) for their development. Cleaning is carried out by natural methods (irrigation fields, filtration fields, etc.) and artificial methods (biofilters, circulating oxidizing channels). The resulting sediment is removed to sludge beds for drying, and then used as fertilizer. Water after settling is chlorinated and reused in circulating water supply or discharged into surface waters.

One of the promising methods of surface water treatment is the injection of wastewater into deep aquifers. This method is suitable for particularly toxic wastewater, which is not amenable to conventional methods.

4. The problem of waste disposal

In our era of wholesale production and the use of artificial, rather than natural, natural materials, waste disposal for the ecology of our planet is not just a sick issue, but a paramount one. The problem of waste disposal is one of the essential aspects of any process, be it construction, production or even creativity. And the larger the process itself, the larger the waste processing takes. Production waste disposal is a specific type of activity that requires special knowledge, compliance with technologies, norms and rules, as well as the availability of special machinery and equipment. The removal and disposal of industrial waste from various types of production is carried out separately, in compliance with the characteristics inherent in each type of waste.

The largest amount of industrial waste is formed by the coal industry, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises, thermal power plants, and the building materials industry.

The emerging environmental crisis situations are caused by the impact of hazardous waste, which in its composition contains substances with dangerous properties (toxicity, infectiousness, fire hazard, etc.). In Russia, 10% of the mass of all solid waste is classified as hazardous waste. These are metal and galvanic sludge, fiberglass waste, asbestos waste, tar and tar residues. This type of waste is usually taken to landfills or taken to unauthorized dumps, as only 20% of the waste is neutralized and recycled. The greatest threat to humans is radioactive waste. These are wastes containing radioactive isotopes, dioskins, pesticides, and benzapyrene. The world's nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel processing plants are steadily accumulating huge amounts of radioactive waste. Liquid waste from nuclear power plants is stored in special containers, while solid waste is stored in special storage facilities. Such "hoarding" has a limit, so the elimination of radioactive waste requires an immediate scientific approach.

Dioxins are synthetic organic substances, dioxin-like substances are the most toxic of man-made substances. They have mutagenic, carcinogenic and embryotoxic effects; suppress the immune system (dioxin AIDS) and, if received by a person through food or in the form of aerosols, causes "wasting syndrome" - gradual exhaustion and death without clearly expressed pathological symptoms. The biological effect of dioxins is manifested in extremely small doses. However, landfills are burning, water is being chlorinated, and people will continue to do this, believing that this does not concern them, and if they are lucky today, they will be lucky tomorrow. Despite human passivity on the issue of ecology, science does not stand still and, through the joint efforts of the Institute of Thermal Physics, the Berdsk Scientific and Technical Organization "Tekhenergoprom" and the Novosibirsk Design and Survey Institute "VNIPIET", waste incineration plants were developed - KRST (complex of district thermal stations). The station's capabilities are the elimination of "fresh" and "stale" waste, a modern gas purification system and the use of solid waste (ash, slag) in the production of building materials. This project looks like a very interesting solution to the problem of waste from regional centers. But, unfortunately, not too much fuel savings does not impress officials, who apparently believe that it is still much less expensive to produce landfills than to invest a lot of money in order to eliminate these landfills. From an ecological point of view, we live in one day. And we are not very concerned about how our children will live on the planet.

Bibliography

1. Korobkin V.I. Peredelsky L.V. Ecology. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2005.

2. Petrov K.M. General ecology: interaction of society and nature. - St. Petersburg: Chemistry, 1998.

4. Faleev V.I. Ecology: textbook. - Novosibirsk: SibUPK, 2001.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION- a system of state measures aimed at rational use of natural resources, conservation and improvement of the environment in the interests of current and future generations of people. O. o. with. thus includes a set of measures, some of which are aimed at optimizing the processes of nature management, and some - at preventing and eliminating undesirable effects from the environment on humans, i.e. measures of a sanitary-hygienic, sanitary-technical nature, backed by state law.

In a broad sense, nature management is understood as a direct (or indirect) human impact on the environment. At the same time, we are talking about the use of not only material natural resources (energy, mineral, water, land, forestry, etc.), but also natural resources necessary to ensure rational (namely, rational, and not any needs generated by the development of the so-called consumer society) needs of people, including their healthy physical and spiritual life.

The goals and objectives of nature management are formulated in Article 18 of the Constitution of the USSR (1977) as follows: “In the interests of present and future generations, the necessary measures are being taken in the USSR for the protection and scientifically based, rational use of the land and its subsoil, water resources, flora and fauna, for maintaining clean air and water, ensuring the reproduction of natural resources and improving the human environment”.

Actions of sanitary and sanitary and technical character include a dignity. protection of the air basin (especially populated areas) in connection with the intensive development of industry and transport; protection from the action of pesticides and other chemicals. funds in connection with their widespread use in agriculture; combating the influence of radioactive substances, which are increasingly used in the national economy - industry, medicine, biology; development of maximum permissible concentrations of toxic substances and protection from the effects of these substances on the human body, etc.

Scientific and technological progress, penetrating the industrial and agricultural branches of the national economy, is impossible without an impact on nature, without spending its resources. Increasing the capacity of industrial production is always associated with a large use of raw materials, a significant expenditure of water for industrial needs and an increase in emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere. Therefore, one should not underestimate the danger of the negative consequences of increased human impact on nature. Having in mind the chaotic use of natural resources, which takes place in the capitalist world, F. Engels wrote: “Let's not, however, be too deceived by our victories over nature. For each such victory, she takes revenge on us. Each of these victories, however, first of all has the consequences that we expected, but secondly and thirdly, completely different, unforeseen consequences, which very often destroy the significance of the first ”(Marx K., Engels F. Soch., vol. 20, pp. 495-496). Under the conditions of a socialist society, the state regulates by law the use of natural resources and establishes rules for the protection of nature. Therefore, the problem of reasonable, rational use of nature and its conservation in the interests of present and future generations is quite feasible. Under the conditions of a socialist society, the rational use, conservation and reproduction of natural resources and respect for nature are an integral part of the construction of a communist society, in which the optimal quality of the environment is an element of people's material well-being. This equally applies to both the external natural environment and the environment that surrounds a person in terms of production, his life and recreation.

The problem of environmental pollution caused by the direct impact of human activity arose especially acutely in the second half of the 20th century. Environmental pollution in the USA, England, Japan, France and other cap. countries with a high concentration of industry has reached a critical size, dangerous to the life and health of the population. Unregulated and uncontrolled use of natural resources leads to the disappearance of green areas, intense pollution of the atmosphere, water sources, accumulation in soil and vegetation, as well as in animal organisms that consume this vegetation, substances, the entry of which into the human body through food has become dangerous for him. life.

Of particular danger are the products of combustion of coal and oil products, suspended particles of dust and metals, exhaust gases from cars, etc. The total amount of various kinds of harmful substances entering the environment per year worldwide exceeded 30 billion tons. Hundreds of millions of tons of carbon monoxide are emitted into the Earth's atmosphere, approx. 150 million tons of sulfur oxides, more than 50 million tons of nitrogen oxides. Hundreds of millions of tons of ash are released into the environment every year; Millions of cubic meters of untreated wastewater containing a large number of various toxic substances enter open water bodies. Potent pesticides, metal salts, numerous, stable substances that did not previously exist in nature accumulate in the water of these reservoirs. Pollution of water bodies leads to a reduction in natural fresh water reserves, disrupts the vital activity of aquatic plants, planktonic organisms, fish, etc.

Soil pollution by industrial, domestic and agricultural waste is taking place at an alarming rate. Around many industrial productions artificial biogeochemical provinces (see) with the increased maintenance in the soil of salts of lead, cadmium, mercury and other chemical elements were formed. Numerous observations have shown that these highly toxic substances, dangerous to human life, can accumulate in plants, insects, birds, fish, and various livestock products. When assessing the degree of danger of environmental pollutants according to the system of the so-called. stress indices (i.e. indicators of the most dangerous pollutants) pesticides took the first place in the 70s (see). The widespread use of these substances in the national economy has led to the fact that they have become a permanent component of the natural environment - they accumulate in ecological systems, migrate on a global scale. These substances cause profound changes in ecological systems, contribute to the emergence of pesticide-resistant forms of pests, and the death of beneficial organisms.

Sovr, industry creates fundamentally new materials that did not exist in nature and are largely alien in their physical. and chem. properties of living organisms. The human body is not evolutionarily ready for the action of many of them. Their impact on humans has led to the emergence of previously unknown diseases - genetic, toxicological, allergic, endocrine, etc.; at the same time, one should take into account the possibility of the appearance of certain forms of pathology through the ranks of generations. Honey. studies have shown that polluted atmospheric air has become one of the leading factors in the etiology and pathogenesis of respiratory diseases, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pulmonary emphysema, and malignant neoplasms of the respiratory system. So, for example, according to Japanese researchers for 1975-1976, the increased content of nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulfur dioxide, hydrocarbons and suspended particles in the air of Tokyo led to massive diseases of the respiratory system of urban residents.

One of the consequences of scientific and technological progress is the appearance in the environment in threatening quantities of mutagenic factors of physical. and chem. nature. From the physical factors in the first place should be noted different types of ionizing radiation of high penetrating power. It has been established that the mutagenic effect of ionizing radiation is universal and has no threshold, i.e., any doses of it can cause genetic damage. Genetic studies carried out in the 1960s and 1970s showed that even insignificant doses of radiation can lead to a twofold increase in the number of patients with hereditary diseases.

Many chem. compounds, and a number of them exceed the intensity of mutagenic action of ionizing radiation. In the 60s. even the term "supermutagens" appeared, to-the Crimea began to denote substances, the mutagenicity of which is tens and hundreds of times higher than the mutagenicity of ionizing radiation (see Mutagens).

Many pesticides have cytogenetic activity, mutagenic and carcinogenic activity of many nitrogen oxides, nitrosamines and other nitro compounds have been revealed. The mutagenic effect of alkylating compounds formed from industrial wastes and open technological processes, etc. Once in the environment, mutagenic substances interact with each other, resulting in high concentrations of unstudied dangerous carcinogenic complexes in the atmospheric air and water sources.

The development of canning technology and the widespread use of canned food products have put consumers in direct contact with chemicals. mutagens - formalin, propylene glycol, various nitro compounds, etc. Together, the modern canning industry in many countries has become due to insufficient state dignity. supervision of the source of entry into the human body of chemical. mutagens.

An increasingly serious problem has become the "contamination" of the environment with such physical agents harmful to human health. factors such as vibration (see), noise (see), electromagnetic fields of various ranges (see. Electromagnetic field), etc., which is associated with the wide distribution of various vehicles, electrical household products, an increase in the number and power of radio and television stations, radar installations, etc. It was established that by the end of the 70s. the noise level in all large cities increased by 12-45 dB, and the subjective loudness - by 2 times. Noise interferes with rest, leads to insomnia. It is the cause of diseases of the nervous system, hypertension, etc. Noise contributes to the weakening of attention, memory, speed of reactions, reduces labor productivity, and is one of the immediate causes of injuries. It has been calculated, for example, that in France noise is the cause of 11% of accidents at work, 15% of lost working time. After soundproofing the workrooms of the offices of an American insurance company, the errors of calculators were reduced by 52%, and typists - by 29%.

Till the end of 60th years of researches of ecologists and hygienists concerned hl. arr. dignity problems. protection of objects of the natural environment on a national scale, the study of the phenomena and consequences of local pollution of the natural environment. In the 70s. the attention of scientists and the public was switched to the study of the already global consequences of environmental pollution. The fight against the onset of the ecological crisis has become a necessity for all countries and peoples, has become one of the factors of international politics and international cooperation.

Some bourgeois scientists, when discussing the current situation, come to the conclusion that the modern society has crossed the threshold of nature's natural self-defense and that it is no longer possible to save it by human efforts. The scientific and technological revolution is increasingly presented by bourgeois theoreticians as a force hostile to human society. Representatives of this trend predict the inevitability of the death of all human civilization, all life on earth. Others believe that the scientific and technological revolution will itself solve the ecological crisis, regardless of the nature of the social order. Still others, identifying real crisis situations in the modern capitalist world, limit themselves to abstract calls to overcome such situations through a "revolution in the human mind." Science, technology and man are considered by bourgeois theoreticians in isolation from the social organization of people's life, in isolation from society. They tear off science and the scientific and technological revolution, their functions and orientation from social conditions, which are different depending on the existing social system.

The modern ecological crisis is determined by the social conditions of the capitalist system. The practice of socialist society shows that the destructive impact of the scientific and technological revolution on nature is not a fatal inevitability.

Environmental protection in the USSR.

The environment is inextricably linked with man, who is an active object of nature. In this regard, I. M. Sechenov wrote: “An organism without an external environment that supports its existence is impossible, therefore, the scientific definition of an organism also includes the environment that affects it.”

In the field of environmental protection, the CPSU and the Soviet government proceed from the recognition of the vital importance of this problem for all mankind. In the exceptionally difficult conditions of the formation of the economy, the party and personally V. I. Lenin attached great importance to the protection of the natural environment and related issues of preserving and strengthening the health of workers. In the first years of Soviet power alone, V. I. Lenin signed more than 100 documents aimed at O. o. with. and rational use of natural resources. In 1918 V.N. Lenin stressed that the cause of nature conservation must be put in line with the tasks of socialist construction.

The first legislative act of the Soviet government, signed by V. I. Lenin, was the decree on land, according to which all land and its subsoil were declared state property. This act legally stopped the predatory use of land. On May 27, 1918, V. I. Lenin and Ya. M. Sverdlov signed the law “On Forests”, which obligated local authorities to take care of the renewal and systematic use of forests. In February 1919, the Supreme Council of National Economy adopted a special resolution "On the Central Committee for Water Protection - Tsentrvodoohrany", in which a broad program of measures was outlined to protect water bodies from pollution by sewage from industrial and municipal enterprises. In the same year, signed by V. I. Lenin, the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars "On the bowels of the earth" were issued, and in 1921 "On the protection of fish and animal grounds in the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea." Careful attitude to natural resources, reflected in decrees and resolutions, has become the principle of socialist nature management and environmental protection.

In recent years alone, a number of resolutions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR have been adopted: “On strengthening the protection of nature and improving the use of natural resources” (1972), “On measures to prevent pollution of the Volga and Ural river basins by untreated sewage” (1972), “ On measures to prevent pollution of the Black and Azov Seas" (1976), "On measures to further ensure the protection and rational use of the natural resources of the Baikal basin" (1977), "On additional measures to strengthen nature protection and improve the use of natural resources" ( 1978).

The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics on Healthcare, which also reflects environmental issues, Fundamentals of the Water Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics, Fundamentals of the Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics on Subsoil, "Fundamentals of Forest Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics", as well as the Law of the USSR "On the Protection of Atmospheric Air". In addition, in relation to individual regions of the country, in recent years the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a number of resolutions aimed at strengthening measures for the protection of nature and the rational use of the country's natural resources.

For the first time in the history of mankind questions O. about. with. were included in the fundamental law of the country - the Constitution of the USSR (1977). It regulates the principles of rational, scientifically based use of natural resources, defines the tasks of preserving and improving the environment, protecting public health. A necessary condition for protecting a person from adverse environmental factors was the development of criteria, the excess of which is associated with the risk of harm to human health.

The Soviet state became the first state in the world to establish scientifically substantiated maximum permissible concentrations (MACs) of various harmful substances in the atmospheric air of industrial premises, in the water of reservoirs, in food, etc. The first MACs relating to sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen chloride , were approved by the People's Commissar of Labor of the RSFSR in 1922. By the fifties, MPCs in the air for sulfur dioxide, chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, lead and its compounds, metallic mercury, dust ( non-toxic) and soot.

The maximum allowable concentrations developed by scientific research institutes and approved by M3 of the USSR were included in a special section in the building codes SN 245-71 "Sanitary standards for the design of industrial enterprises", and the MPC of harmful substances in the air of the working area were the basis of GOST 12.1.005.76 "Air of the working area » system of labor safety standards. In the USSR gigabytes are approved. standards for chem. substances that can pollute water bodies (about 800), atmospheric air (over 400), industrial premises air (over 1000), soil (over 20), food products (over 200).

The enormous tasks of the development of the national economy make it necessary to strengthen measures to protect the environment, primarily to protect water bodies from pollution, as well as to reduce the harmful effects of pollution on human health. This will be addressed by the further expansion of the construction of treatment facilities, the development and implementation of technological schemes for non-waste production and the widespread use of circulating water supply. Only in 1975, in order to protect fresh water from pollution, 1580 complexes of treatment facilities were put into operation; Much work in this direction is being carried out in the major cities of the Volga basin. A significant place in the protection and improvement of the environment (protection of the water and air basins, noise reduction and improvement of the microclimate) is given to urban planning activities (see Urban planning). First of all, this is the removal outside the city limits or the re-profiling of enterprises, emissions from which cannot be significantly reduced, the creation of scientifically based sanitary protection zones (see) around industrial enterprises.

In order to protect the population from noise, large highways are being built to bypass residential areas, narrow streets are being replaced by highways isolated from residential buildings by green spaces; the flow of trucks is regulated, the time of transportation of goods to the trade network of densely populated areas is regulated. Legislative acts of the Soviet government on the protection of nature and the rational use of natural resources are reflected in state capital investments for these purposes.

So, for the implementation of a set of environmental measures for the period 1981 -1985. it is planned to allocate more than 10 billion rubles of state capital investments throughout the country.

Of great importance for solving problems in O. o. with. in the USSR is the development of general schemes for the location of branches of the national economy, projects for regional planning and large industrial complexes both for the coming years and for a long period of development. These plans provide for the rational use of the territory and natural resources, as well as the improvement of working, living and recreational conditions for people. They contain science-based measures for the placement of settlements, industrial and agricultural enterprises, engineering structures, public recreation areas and protected areas.

In accordance with the resolutions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On strengthening the protection of nature and improving the use of natural resources" (1972) and "On additional measures to strengthen the protection of nature and improve the use of natural resources" (1978) in the practice of state planning of economic activities for . about. with. new provisions have been introduced. Various types of work and ever-increasing appropriations for O. o. with. Measures for the protection of nature and the rational use of natural resources in the state plans for the development of the national economy are singled out as an independent section. State reporting on the implementation of mines and departments of relevant measures has been established. All projects for the construction of new and reconstruction of existing enterprises must undergo state expertise, taking into account the impact on the environment.

The USSR State Committee for Science and Technology, together with the USSR Academy of Sciences and other departments, is developing a scientific and technical forecast of possible changes in the biosphere as a result of the development of sectors of the national economy in the future for 20-30 years.

An extensive system of state bodies and public organizations for nature protection has been created in our country (see Sanitary and epidemiological service, Sanitary supervision). State authorities approve plans for the development of the national economy, specially hear and resolve issues related to the improvement of the use of natural resources, analysis of the state and further improvement of environmental protection. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR has permanent commissions for the protection of nature attached to the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. The reports and proposals of these commissions, when appropriate, are discussed at sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR or, on its instructions, by the Council of Ministers of the USSR, ministries and departments of the USSR. Commissions for the protection of nature under the Soviets of People's Deputies also exist at the level of union and autonomous republics, territories and regions, districts, and settlements.

The Council of Ministers of the USSR directs, leads, coordinates, and controls the activities of the ministries and departments of the USSR and directs the activities of the councils of ministers of the union republics in the Oblast. with., develops comprehensive measures to improve environmental protection both in the country as a whole and in individual large districts, and adopts appropriate decisions. The Councils of Ministers of the Union and Autonomous Republics carry out their activities in the same direction.

A number of ministries and departments are entrusted with the functions of state environmental control over the activities of all enterprises and organizations, regardless of their departmental subordination. So, M3 of the USSR carries out a state dignity. supervision over the implementation of established rules and regulations in the field of communal improvement, water supply, food, life and recreation of the population, placement of industrial facilities, provision of water protection measures, etc.; The Ministry of Agriculture of the USSR exercises state control over the observance of land legislation and the procedure for using the land, over the proper conduct of the hunting economy, the preservation and enrichment of useful flora and fauna, as well as over conservation; The Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Resources of the USSR exercises state control over the rational use of water, the implementation of measures to protect water bodies, the operation of treatment facilities and the discharge of sewage into water bodies.

The State Committee of the USSR on hydrometeorology and control of the natural environment together with establishments of the state dignity. supervision of the Ministry of Melioration and Water Resources of the USSR provide control over the level of environmental pollution. For this purpose, the National Service for Observation and Control of the Level of Environmental Pollution was organized. A number of other ministries and departments are vested with the functions of state control over the use and protection of natural resources in accordance with their specialization. Each such ministry has corresponding state inspections. Laws on nature protection have been adopted in all Union republics. Separate union republics created state republican committees for nature protection under the councils of ministers. Such committees have been set up in the Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Georgian, Azerbaijan, Lithuanian and Moldavian SSRs.

For the scientific substantiation of the responsible decisions made and the development of a technical policy in the field of nature protection, the Interdepartmental Scientific and Technical Council on Complex Problems of Environmental Protection and the Rational Use of Natural Resources was organized under the USSR State Committee for Science and Technology. It is entrusted with the coordination and preparation of proposals for solving major state tasks in this area, as well as performing a number of important advisory functions.

The Scientific Council on Problems of the Biosphere operates under the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, designed to unite the efforts and direct the work of many scientific institutions that develop the scientific foundations for the rational use and protection of natural resources and methods for the economic and environmental assessment of their use. In recent years, the development of principles for the ecological and economic assessment of the most important types of natural resources has been strengthened. A large complex of works is being carried out to study the World Ocean and atmosphere. In the long term, research into the World Ocean should lead to a better use of its vast biological, mineral, energy and other resources and help improve the means of protecting the ocean from pollution.

Much attention in our country is paid to the organization of state reserves, to-rye are, in essence, zones of conservation and study of the genetic fund of the biosphere. The activities of state reserves are carried out in accordance with the principles of preserving representative standards of nature and the gene pool. State reserves and sanctuaries, along with forestry, fishing, and hunting enterprises, do a great job of restoring stocks of valuable plants and animals, including those that are on the verge of extinction.

The problem of nature conservation already today raises many complex questions that require workers in the field of environmental protection. with. special knowledge. Therefore, along with the creation of a technical base, prof. training of specialists on various issues of O. o. with. Taking this into account, the USSR Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education developed measures to improve educational and research work in the field of O. o. with. In the curricula of a number of higher educational institutions of the USSR, since 1973, the section "Nature Protection" has been introduced in order to give future specialists basic information about the problem of nature protection and ways to solve it in practice. Many technical universities have begun training engineers, technologists, architects, and other specialists in O. o. with. Of great importance is the promotion of knowledge about nature, the education of a sense of respect for it among the population with the help of the press, radio, and television.

Public organizations are doing a lot of work - voluntary societies for nature protection, Moscow and other societies of nature testers, geographical societies, the Knowledge Society, etc. Folk high fur boots and f-you for nature protection are organized . An important role in the upbringing of a careful attitude to nature and its riches is given to the school, youth circles.

A powerful impetus to the solution of O.'s questions about. with. were the historic decisions of the XXVI Congress of the CPSU. The “Guidelines for the economic and social development of the USSR for 1981-1985 and for the period up to 1990” adopted at the congress provide for a broad and comprehensive program of measures to manage environmental quality (Section IX “Nature Protection”). The tasks of strengthening the protection of nature, the earth and its subsoil, atmospheric air, water bodies, and flora and fauna are listed among the priorities, and when considering urgent issues of the development of science, the relevance of increasing the effectiveness of measures in the field of environmental protection is noted. with.

In setting the main task of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan - to ensure the further improvement of the well-being of the people - special attention is paid to improving public health, as well as protecting and improving the environment in the interests of preserving and strengthening the health of the population. An exceptionally important role is assigned to preventive work aimed at preventing diseases. With this in mind, a comprehensive program of theoretical and practical research on the problem of "Scientific Foundations of Environmental Hygiene", begun in the tenth five-year plan, was developed. This program plans to accelerate, expand and deepen the study of the general patterns of adaptation processes, the mechanisms of interaction of the human body with a complex of favorable and harmful environmental factors of anthropogenic and natural origin, as well as socio-economic factors in order to substantiate a system of nationwide measures aimed at optimizing living conditions , labor and recreation of the Soviet people.

International cooperation in the field of environmental protection. Taking effective measures to protect and improve the environment in the country, the Communist Party and the Soviet government have attached and continue to attach great importance to the expansion of all-round international cooperation in this field. Soviet

The Union proceeds from the fact that the most rational approach to successfully solving the problem of the environment, which is global and complex, can only be the unification of the efforts of all states. From the first days of its existence, the Soviet state has been active in this direction. Back in 1922, a bilateral agreement was concluded between the RSFSR and Finland on the use of water and the regulation of fishing in border water systems. A similar convention was signed in 1927 with Turkey. In the same year, the USSR signed an agreement with Iran on the joint exploitation of fisheries on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Agreements on the protection of waters and fisheries were signed by the Soviet Union with neighboring countries, and with some countries, in addition, agreements were concluded on the joint fight against forest fires and the implementation of quarantine measures.

Development of the international cooperation in the field of O. about. with. and rational use of natural resources is an integral part of the Peace Program adopted at the 24th Congress of the CPSU. Speaking at the congress with a report, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU comrade. J.I. I. Brezhnev spoke on this issue: “Our country is ready to participate, together with other interested states, in solving such problems as the preservation of the natural environment, the development of energy and other natural resources, the development of transport and communications, the prevention and elimination of the most dangerous and widespread diseases, research and the exploration of space and the oceans.

In implementing the Peace Program, the Soviet Union entered into agreements on cooperation in the field of O. o. with. with the USA, France, Sweden, Canada, Germany, England, Italy, Iran and other countries.

Even earlier, in August 1963, in Moscow, representatives of the governments of the USSR, the United States and Britain signed the "Treaty on the Prohibition of Testing Nuclear Weapons in the Atmosphere, Outer Space and Under Water." This treaty was joined by St. 100 states.

In 1966, an agreement on scientific, technical and economic cooperation was concluded between the USSR and France. The subject of long-term (10-year) cooperation included the development of methods for calculating and forecasting pollution levels and the search for means of protecting atmospheric air, methods for studying surface and groundwater resources, methods and equipment for wastewater treatment, and other problems.

In 1972, in Moscow, an agreement was signed between the USSR and the USA on cooperation in the field of O. o. with. Within the framework of this agreement, it was envisaged to study the impact of pollution on the human environment, develop the foundations for regulating the impact of human activity on nature and measures to prevent air, soil and water pollution.

The USSR and other socialist states acted as initiators of broad collective measures in solving the problem of the environment. The draft General Declaration on the Foundations of European Security and the Principles of Relations between States in Europe, proposed by the Soviet Union at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, specifically spoke of the need for all states of the continent to develop bilateral and multilateral ties in the field of environmental protection. A section devoted to the development of such ties was included in the project proposed by the participants of the meeting by the delegations of the GDR and Hungary. The proposals of the USSR, the GDR and Hungary were unanimously supported by the participants of the All-European Conference and were fully reflected in the Final Act of this historic forum, signed in Helsinki on August 1, 1975 by the leaders of 33 European states, as well as the USA and Canada. This document proclaims: “... the protection and improvement of the environment, as well as the protection of nature and the rational use of its resources for the benefit of present and future generations, is one of the tasks of great importance for the well-being of peoples and the economic development of all countries, and that many environmental problems, in particular in Europe, can only be effectively addressed through close international cooperation.”

The member states of the All-European Conference clearly defined the specific goals of cooperation on this problem, outlined the most important areas, possible progressive forms and methods of this cooperation. They agreed, in particular, to cooperate in such areas as the fight against air pollution; protection of waters from pollution and use of fresh waters; marine environment protection; soil protection and land use; protection of nature and reserves; improving the state of the environment in populated areas; fundamental research, observations, forecast and assessment of changes in the environment; legal and administrative measures for O. o. with.

The successful completion of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe gave a powerful impetus to the development of international cooperation on the problems of protecting and improving the environment. These problems are planned to be solved both on a bilateral and multilateral basis, including on a regional and subregional basis. At the same time it is supposed to use completely the available and potential possibilities of the existing international organizations which are engaged in questions O. about. s., in particular, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, and the UN Environment Program, in which the Soviet Union actively participates and makes a constructive contribution to the development and implementation of their programs.

In accordance with the recommendation of the UN Conference on Environmental Problems, which went down in history under the name of the Stockholm Conference (1972), and by decision of the XXVII session of the UN General Assembly in 1972, the international "UN Environment Program" (UNEP) was created. This program included 7 priority areas of activity: 1. The problem of developing human settlements, maintaining human health and well-being (environmental problems caused by increased urbanization, air pollution control, and the problem of solid and liquid waste disposal); 2. Problems of soil and water protection, as well as combating the spread of deserts (studying the issues of rational use of water resources and prevention of their pollution, improving wastewater treatment technology, introducing advanced water use technologies); 3. Problems of education, professional training, information transfer (holding international symposiums and seminars on the training of specialists in the field of environmental protection, the creation of an international reference service on the problem of the environment); 4. Trade, economic and technological aspects of the problem of the environment (study and search for the most effective ways to combat environmental pollution, as well as the development of methods for the most rational exploitation of natural resources); 5. Protection of the World Ocean from pollution (the main direction at first is the fight against pollution of the World Ocean with oil and oil products); 6. Protection of flora and fauna, conservation and maintenance of the genetic resources of the globe (issues of protection of endangered plants and animals, as well as issues of changes in natural ecological systems as a result of human impact on them); 7. The problem of energy and energy resources (initially, only an assessment of the available information on this problem with an emphasis on the economic side).

The USSR is actively cooperating in the field of environmental protection with socialist, as well as with capitalist countries and a number of international organizations - the UN, UNEP, WHO, UNESCO, etc. Scientific and technical cooperation between the USSR and the CMEA member countries on the complex problem "Development of measures for the protection of nature". The main areas of cooperation are: harmonization of methodological approaches to solving such issues as the protection of public health, the protection of ecological systems and the landscape, the protection of atmospheric air, the improvement of methods for the disposal and neutralization of waste, the socio-economic, organizational, legal, and pedagogical aspects of education. with. for the purpose of planned distribution of tasks between individual partner countries. More than 30 institutions of the socialist countries take part in this cooperation on problems of environmental health alone.

Active international cooperation on medical aspects of O.'s problems of the lake. with. carried out by the WHO. In accordance with the resolutions of the World Health Assembly, since 1973 an extensive program has been carried out to assess the impact of environmental factors on human health called the WHO Environmental Health Criteria Program. Groups of experts from various countries, including the USSR, work within the framework of the Program, to-rye analyze the data available in the world on the toxicity and danger of various environmental pollutants and develop recommendations regarding the permissible levels of their impact on human health.

In May 1978, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR ratified the convention on the prohibition of the military or any other hostile use of means of influencing the natural environment. This convention was signed in 1977 in Geneva by representatives of 33 UN member states. The most important feature of the new convention is that it affects such activities and such processes (meteorological and geographical), to-rye have never previously been the scope or subject of international agreements. The Convention expressed the most important task of our time - to preserve in all its beauty and diversity our earth - the planet of people, so that it would serve people in the future.

When the convention was ratified, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Comrade. J.I. I. Brezhnev said: “The Soviet Union is doing everything possible to protect nature, its flora and fauna, mineral resources ... But we are not alone on the planet, and the preservation of nature requires the efforts of all people inhabiting the globe” (“Pravda”, 1978, May 17).

Bibliography: Ananichev K. V. Problems of the environment, energy and natural resources, M., 1975; Anuchin V. A. Fundamentals of nature management, Theoretical aspect, M., 1978; Bochkov N. P. Genetic monitoring of human populations in connection with environmental pollution, Tsitol Genet., vol. I, N 3, p. 195, 1977, bibliography; Influence of the environment on human health, M., WHO, 1974; Genetic Consequences of Environmental Pollution, ed. N. P. Dubinina and others, c. 2, p. 14, M., 1977; Environmental Hygiene in the USSR, ed. G. I. Sidorenko, M., 1981; Hygienic aspects of environmental protection, ed. E. I. Korenevskaya, v. 6-7, M., 1978-1979; Dubinin N. P. and Pashin Yu. V. Mutagenesis and environment, M., 1978, bibliogr.; Carcinogenic substances in the human environment, ed. J.I. M. Shabad and A. P. Ilnitsky, Budapest, 1979; Criteria for necessary and sufficient test systems for the identification of mutagenic and carcinogenic factors in the environment, ed. N. P. Dubinina and others, p. 4, M., 1978; Criteria for the sanitary and hygienic state of the environment, I. Mercury, per. from English, Geneva, WHO, 1979; M e l e sh to and N M. T., Zaitsev A. P. and Marinov X. Economy and environment, M., 1979; Nikitin D. P. and Novikov Yu. V. Environment and man, M., 1980; Pokrovsky V. A. Hygiene, M., 1979; Guidelines for air quality control in cities, ed. M. J. Sewess and S. R. Craxford, trans. from English, M., 1980; Collection of normative acts on nature protection, ed. Edited by V. M. Blinova. Moscow, 1978. T and-b about r B. Environmental protection, per. from venger., M., 1980; Shabad JI. M. About circulation of carcinogens in the environment, M., 1973; Ekholm E. Environment and human health, trans. s" English, M., 1980; Environmental health criteria, 4, Oxides of nitrogen, Geneva, WHO, 1977; Environmental pollution and carcinogenic risks, ed. by C. Rosenfeld a. W. Davis, P., 1976; Handbook of muta-genecity test procedures, ed., by B. J. Kil-bey, Amsterdam, 1977.

P. H. Burgasov.