I am glad to welcome you, dear readers!

Today I want to touch on a topic that concerns me personally and, unfortunately, does not concern the majority of people. I am talking about the global problems of mankind and the planet Earth as a whole, which have been caused by man through his activities.

However, let's leave that for now. Friends, I sincerely congratulate you on Victory Day! It was for you and me, for our future and the future of our children, that our ancestors fought and brought us this victory in the Great Patriotic War! And it is on our hands that the responsibility lies to make this future bright and promising for all of us!

I wish us all peace and prosperity, may no ambitions and greed of other people force us, ordinary people, to go to war against anyone. Anyone who can read between the lines will understand me. May God grant us the development and realization of our goals!

Well, it was a celebratory retreat. I confess that I was inspired by the victory parade that is shown on TV

Well, I have set you up for a positive atmosphere, and now I want to talk with you about things that are less pleasant, but no less important for all of us and humanity as a whole.

As you know, man is a highly developed biological species. His high intelligence due to evolution allowed him to adapt to any environmental conditions and protect himself from almost any threat from the outside world, thanks to which his population expanded throughout our planet.

However, as a person develops (and this development occurs exponentially), we observe the degradation of other types of organisms, as well as the gradual dying of the planet as a whole.

Unfortunately, very often a person forgets that in pursuit of the extraction of current goods, he destroys the environment in which he is, that then he (or, more precisely, his descendants) will get sideways. Let's look at what problems are most relevant at the moment, what kind of human activity creates these problems, and what consequences it can bring.

1. Air pollution.

One of the most pressing global environmental problems of mankind. It is not difficult to guess that heavy industry enterprises create the lion's share of this problem. Any factory or plant that needs to burn a large amount of fuel for activities emits the remains of this fuel into the atmosphere. After that, they are assisted by vehicles that also burn gasoline. And all this "cocktail" from the exhaust we breathe with you.

Why is it harmful and what can it lead to? Oh, there are many points, but here are the main ones:

a) banal lung pollution - all these residues of burned fuel are heavy substances that settle in the lungs, which can lead to serious diseases of the latter; I would like to note that the person himself often helps these substances, “sprinkling” soot from tobacco smoke into the lungs;

b) the occurrence of cancerous tumors - even now it is difficult to determine the causes of cancer in humans, but many doctors argue that the lion's share of cancer lies in the radiation that is in the air; I think it's easy to guess where it comes from;

c) mutations are the worst, in my opinion, what the impact of dirty air on the human body can lead to, because in this case the human DNA changes, which can lead to undesirable deviations in the body of not only the person himself, but also all his descendants; Agree, no one wants to doom their children to an inferior life already starting from their very birth.

There is much more to be said about the effects of polluted air on the human body. If I missed something important - add it in the comments. We go further.

I think many people have heard about this phenomenon. For others, I will elaborate. It is known that before the beginning of the industrial revolution, the share of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 0.026%. At the moment, it is about 0.04% and continues to grow exponentially. This is again due to the combustion of fuel in large quantities, the main product of which is carbon dioxide.

In nature, green plants - trees, shrubs and others - are engaged in the processing of carbon dioxide back into oxygen, but we all know very well how people treat them now.

As a result, an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to the greenhouse effect - an increase in temperature throughout the planet. And although changes of 1-2 degrees are not critical for us, people, nevertheless, at the polar latitudes, such changes cause the melting of ice in large quantities, which raises the level of the world ocean, and the coasts of the continents are simply flooded irrevocably, with all the fertile lands and the rest the goodness of people.

I confess that I have not returned to the topic of the greenhouse effect for a long time, so if you have something to add or correct me, feel free to write in the comments.

1. El Niño effect.

The last serious global environmental problem of mankind that I want to touch upon. I could write and write a lot about it, but I'll just leave here a small forty-minute documentary, from which I actually learned about this phenomenon myself. Take your time and watch it, it's worth it.

Well, have you looked? How do you like the movie? What do you think of El Niño? Nothing dangerous or can we repeat the fate of past civilizations? Rather, write your thoughts in the comments, I just can’t wait to listen to you and discuss it all with you!

Here, friends, are the main and, in my opinion, the most serious global environmental problems of mankind. In addition to data, there are still very, very many threats and problems for people and the planet, so I leave this topic entirely for addition and discussion in the comments.

Once again, Happy Victory Day! May success and good luck accompany you, although we ourselves create our own luck, don't we?

Sincerely, .

“One thing annoys me: before we destroy ourselves, we will destroy the planet”
Ursula Le Guin

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region

GOU SPO Moscow Regional College for the Humanities

REPORTBY GEOGRAPHY

TOPIC: "Ecological problems of mankind"

1st year students

Ermakova Xenia

Serpukhov 2012

Introduction

The problems of ecology in the modern world are becoming more and more urgent every year. Catastrophes that happen in the world, through physical, chemical, biological components, irreparably affect the planet's ecosystem. However, mankind does not yet understand the true danger that lurks in all ongoing processes in the world. The latest production, the development of modern industrial technologies, the unrestrained extraction of natural resources unwittingly make people living on planet Earth hostages of environmental problems.

The global environmental problems that exist in the world are well known - this is the pollution of the world's oceans, the destruction of tens, thousands of species of animals and plants, deforestation, violation of the ozone layer, pollution of the atmosphere by exhaust gases and waste products from factories and factories. Do you involuntarily think about what we will breathe, what we will drink and eat after a while? It is clear that humanity cannot exist without natural resources, but their ruthless consumption should be limited. We must try to be economical, because natural resources are limited. Natural resources may dry up in the future and many factories, factories and industrial complexes will be forced to switch to new types of fuel. The global energy balance should be aimed at the use of new types of energy that are absolutely harmless to the environment. All efforts should be directed to the search for efficient and safe types of nuclear energy, including space energy. pollution ocean ozone waste

Currently, world ecologists characterize the natural situation that has developed on the planet as close to critical. Mankind does not need to treat nature only as an object of consumption. Nature cries out to be treated with care, attention, appreciated its beauty, indispensability and necessity. To date, it is a well-known fact that the temperature on the planet has increased by about 0.8 degrees Celsius. According to environmental scientists, this is primarily due to the greenhouse effect resulting from human activities in the field of industrial technology. Changes in the atmosphere are already taking place and there are suggestions that in a few millennia all these problems can lead to a redistribution of precipitation, and these are, as a rule, natural disasters - all kinds of droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, etc. Environmental problems can only be solved together , taking into account the combined efforts of all countries.

Saving nature is an international issue that does not require delay. Recently, the work of the international ecological communities on the development of programs, conventions, agreements on environmental protection has intensified. All of them bring the solution of environmental problems to a new, more perfect level. However, the attitude towards nature should be brought up from early childhood. The upbringing and education of a child, the formation of ecological consciousness and the understanding that nature must be treated with great trepidation, not harm it, be in harmony with all living organisms that inhabit our planet is an important aspect of the entire world community.

Air pollution

Pollution is understood as the process of bringing into the air or the formation in it of physical agents, chemicals or organisms that adversely affect the living environment or damage material values. In a certain sense, the removal of certain gas components (in particular, oxygen) from the air by large technological facilities can also be considered pollution. And it's not just that gases, dust, sulfur, lead and other substances that enter the atmosphere are dangerous for the human body - they adversely affect the cycles of many components on earth. Pollutants and poisonous substances are transported over long distances, fall with precipitation into the soil, surface and underground waters, into the oceans, poison the environment, and adversely affect the production of plant mass.

Air pollution also affects the planet's climate. There are three points of view on this. 1. The global warming observed in the current century is due to an increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, and by the middle of the next century, a catastrophic climate warming will occur, accompanied by a strong increase in the height of the World Ocean. 2. Atmospheric pollution reduces the level of solar radiation, increases the number of condensation nuclei in clouds, as a result, the Earth's surface cools, which in turn can cause new glaciation in the northern and southern latitudes (there are few supporters of this point of view). 3. According to supporters of the third point of view, both of these processes will balance and the Earth's climate will not change significantly.

The main sources of air pollution are enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, manufacturing industry and transport. More than 80% of all atmospheric emissions are emissions of carbon oxides, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen, hydrocarbons, and solids. Of the gaseous pollutants, carbon oxides, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, which are formed mainly during the combustion of fuel, are emitted in the largest quantities. Sulfur oxides are also emitted into the atmosphere in large quantities: sulfur dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, etc. The most numerous class of substances polluting the air of large cities are hydrocarbons. Free chlorine, its compounds, etc. are also among the constant ingredients of gas pollution of the atmosphere.

In addition to gaseous pollutants, tens of millions of tons of particulate matter enter the atmosphere. These are dust, soot, soot, which in the form of small particles freely penetrate the respiratory tract and settle in the bronchi and lungs. However, this is not all - "along the way" they are enriched with sulfates, lead, arsenic, selenium, cadmium, zinc and other elements and substances, many of which are carcinogenic. From this point of view, asbestos dust is especially dangerous for human health. Cadmium, arsenic, mercury and vanadium also belong to the first hazard class. (The results of a comparative analysis performed by American scientists are curious. The content of lead in the bones of the skeleton of a native of Peru, who lived 1600 years ago, is 1000 times less than in the bones of modern US citizens.)

Such a specific phenomenon as acid rain is also associated with atmospheric pollution.

Pollution of the oceans

One of the most important objects of environmental protection is the oceans. The peculiarity of which is that the current in the seas quickly carries pollutants to a great distance from the place of their release. That is why the problems of protecting the cleanliness of the oceans and seas are of a strongly pronounced international character.

Without exception, all serious incidents of ocean pollution are closely related to oil. In connection with the widespread practice of cleaning the holds of tankers, about 10 million barrels of oil are deliberately dumped into the ocean every year. At one time, such violations often went unpunished; today, satellites make it possible to collect the necessary evidence and bring the guilty people to justice.

All oceans suffer from pollution, but the pollution of coastal waters is much higher than in the open ocean, due to the greater number of sources of pollution: from coastal industrial installations to the increased speed of ships, the environment suffers and there is a danger to human health.

Wastewater contains a lot of harmful organisms that multiply in mollusks and can cause a large number of significant diseases in humans. The indicator of infection is the most common bacterium Escherichia coli.

There are other microorganisms that are no less dangerous to human health, which also affect crustaceans. Among other things, toxic properties that accumulate in marine organisms (have an enhanced effect). All industrial pollutants are poisonous to humans and animals. Like many other water pollutants, such as those used in chemicals, they can be persistent chlorine compounds.

These chemicals are removed from the soil with a solvent and end up in the seas, where they begin to penetrate into living organisms. Fish with chemicals can be eaten by both humans and fish. In the future, seals eat the fish, and in due time they become food for polar bears or some whales. Whenever chemicals are transferred from one stage of the food chain to another, their concentration increases. An unsuspecting polar bear can eat about a dozen seals, eating with them the toxins that are contained in 10,000 infected fish.

There is speculation that pollutants are also to blame for the growth of plague-susceptible marine mammals. Apparently, metal contaminants in the ocean, in turn, also became the basis for enlarged livers in fish and skin ulcers in humans.

Toxic substances that eventually enter the ocean may not be harmful to all living organisms: some lower life forms even thrive thanks to such conditions.

There are a number of worms that live in relatively polluted bodies of water and are often assigned ecological indicators of relative pollution. The study of the power of using the lower class of marine worms to check the sanitary condition of the oceans continues to this day.

deforestation

The death or destruction of a natural forest is mainly the result of human activities associated with deforestation. Wood is used as fuel, raw material for pulp and paper mills, building material, etc.

In addition, the forest is cut down when clearing areas for pastures, when conducting slash-and-burn farming, as well as in mining areas.

Not all deforestation is human-caused, sometimes it is a combination of natural processes such as fire and floods. Every year, fires destroy significant forest areas, and although fire can be a natural life cycle of the forest, after which forests can gradually recover, this does not happen, due to the fact that people bring livestock to the burnt areas, develop agriculture, as a result of young the forest cannot grow again.

Forests still cover about 30% of the Earth's surface, but every year about 13 million hectares of forest are cut down, the areas freed from forests are used for agriculture and the construction of growing cities. Of the cut areas, 6 million hectares are virgin forests, i.e. no man has ever set foot in these forests.

Rainforests in places like Indonesia, the Congo and the Amazon are especially vulnerable and at risk. At this rate of deforestation, tropical rainforests will be gone in less than 100 years. West Africa has lost about 90% of its coastal rainforests, similar rates in South Asia. In South America, 40% of tropical forests have disappeared, new areas have been developed for pastures. Madagascar has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests. Several countries have declared catastrophic deforestation of their territories, such as Brazil.

Scientists have calculated that 80% of all species of flora and fauna live in tropical forests. Deforestation destroys ecosystems and leads to the disappearance of many species of animals and plants, some plants are irreplaceable species from which medicines are obtained.

In 2008, the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany, found that deforestation and damage to ecological systems could cut the standard of living for poor people in half.

Disappearance of animals and plants

There are fewer and fewer plants and animals on our planet: some species are disappearing, the number of others is declining ... This worried people back in the 19th century, but only in 1948 was the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) formed. The Commission on rare and endangered species created under him began collecting data on endangered plants and animals. In 1963, the first list of rare and endangered species of wild animals and plants of the world appeared, called the Red Data Book.

ALARM LIST

All species of animals and plants listed in the Red Book need special protection. But their current state, number and area of ​​habitats are different. There are species quite numerous, but living in a very limited area. As a rule, these are species inhabiting one or several small islands. For example, the Komodo monitor lizard, which lives on the islands of Eastern Indonesia. Such species are very vulnerable: human impact or natural disasters can lead to their extinction in just a few years. This is what happened to the white-backed albatross.

The decrease in the number of a particular species occurs for various reasons. In one case, this is mass hunting, fishing or egg collection. In the other, deforestation, plowing up the steppe, or building hydroelectric stations, that is, the destruction of not the animal itself, but its habitat. Some animals and plants are endangered only due to natural causes, usually climate change (for example, the relict gull). Therefore, in order to preserve some species, it is enough to prohibit hunting (or gathering - for plants). For others, it is necessary to create special protected areas with a complete ban on any economic activity (see the article "Reserved lands") or even the organization of special nurseries for captive breeding of animals that are on the verge of extinction. Therefore, in the Red Books, all species are divided into different categories, depending on their current state and trends.

Category I includes species that are endangered and whose salvation is impossible without special measures. Category II includes species whose numbers are still relatively large, but are declining catastrophically, which in the near future may put them on the verge of extinction. Category III consists of rare species that are currently not threatened by anything, but they are found in such small numbers or in such limited areas that they can disappear with an unfavorable change in habitat. Category IV includes poorly studied species, whose abundance and condition are alarming, but the lack of information does not allow them to be assigned to any of the previous categories. And finally, category V includes restored species, whose condition, thanks to the measures taken, no longer causes concern, but which are not yet subject to commercial use.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature is a public organization, and its decisions, unfortunately, are not binding. Therefore, the IUCN initiated the conclusion of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. The convention was signed in 1973 in Washington, and now more than 100 countries have joined it. This intergovernmental agreement made it possible to tightly control the international trade in rare species. Partially, even those species that live in countries that have not acceded to the Convention turned out to be protected, since the main sales markets - Western Europe, the USA, Japan and other developed countries - turned out to be closed.

The list of species listed in the Red Books is constantly growing. This happens not only due to a decrease in the number of well-studied species, but also in connection with the emergence of new data on the flora and fauna of the Earth. The latest edition of the International Red Book (1996) lists almost 34 thousand plant species (12.5% ​​of the world flora) and more than 5.5 thousand animal species (about 3 thousand vertebrates and 2.5 thousand invertebrates).

After the first edition of the International Red Book, similar national lists were compiled in many countries. They were given the status of a state document - a law. The criteria for compiling national or regional Red Books are the same as for the international one, but the state of the species is assessed in a limited area. Therefore, the national Red Book often includes species that are rare in a given country, but common in neighboring ones. For example, the crake, whose numbers have declined sharply in Western Europe, but remained high in Russia. But the Mediterranean tortoise had to be listed in the Russian Red Book. This animal was caught almost completely, especially in the Black Sea region. The national Red Books also include species that live mainly outside the borders of a given country. For example, in Russia, the Japanese snake is found only on the island of Kunashir, while in Japan it is a common species.

In the USSR, the Red Book was established in 1974 and first published in 1978; in 1984 the second edition was published. And the first Red Book of Russia (at that time the RSFSR) appeared in 1982. In the late 90s. A new list of rare and endangered animals has been prepared. Now it has 155 species of invertebrates, 4 - round-stomes, 39 - fish, 8 - amphibians

21 - reptiles, 123 - birds and 65 species of mammals. A number of regions, territories and republics of the Russian Federation have their own Red Data Books.

Soil pollution

Soil is a natural formation that has a whole set of specific properties. The structure of the soil, its composition and fertile layer are formed as a result of complex biological processes over many centuries. Its main characteristic is fertility, the level of which determines whether the soil is capable of ensuring the full growth and development of plants growing on it. There is such a thing as natural soil fertility, which means the level of nutrient content, looseness of the structure and the presence of living organisms in all soil layers. Also, the fertile layer is formed as a result of the accumulation of solar energy, which enters it due to plant photosynthesis. Increasing soil fertility remains to be quite a topical issue. The level of soil fertility is invariably affected by humans and often this impact is detrimental. Today, soil pollution is global in nature and can lead to irreparable consequences. The destruction of the fertile layer inexorably leads to a violation of the natural balance, metabolism in nature. Based on this, we can say that soil pollution can result in the destruction of other ecosystems.

Mass soil pollution with pesticides. From time immemorial, man has sought to obtain the maximum amount of the crop and used a variety of tricks for this. However, if in ancient times the methods of influencing the soil were reduced to the tricks of processing and the application of some organic fertilizers, today the methods of influencing the soil have reached a completely different level. Soil pollution problems arise from the uncontrolled use of pesticides and herbicides. For the cultivation of various kinds of crops, a wide variety of pesticides are widely used, which lead to the accumulation of toxic substances in the soil layers. This cannot but affect human health, since the crop harvested from plants grown on poisoned land also contains particles of these poisons. Based on the increase in the incidence of people, and there is an assessment of soil pollution - biodiagnostics. Pesticides protect plants from various kinds of diseases and allow them to be preserved until harvest. Pesticides directly enter the soil with treated seeds and further processing of various crops. Soil pollution with pesticides is the most widespread. They can stay in the soil for many years, even if it is clay soil, without losing their destructive properties. In such soil, new microorganisms will not appear for a very long time. Modern trends are such that people stop using pesticides so harmful to the soil and the human body and prefer to influence the increase in yields by other methods.

Other ways of soil pollution. Not only pesticides can increase soil pollution levels. To date, soil cultivation is carried out with various technical devices, which leads to inexorable contamination of the soil with elements of heavy metals, such as lead, mercury. These substances can get into the soil together with production wastes and during the decomposition of products of the pulp and paper industry. Small particles of lead also enter the soil from car exhaust. That is why it is not recommended to cultivate the land and set up garden plots near highways. The characteristics of the sources of soil pollution show that the main enemy of the soil is the technological process, the products of which mercilessly destroy it. However, not always the destruction of the fertile soil layer is related to a person. For example, soil erosion is a natural phenomenon. At the same time, erosion regularly leads to the washing out of humus, the leaching of nutrients and the disruption of soil structure. Protection against soil pollution in this case should consist in the creation of dams and the correct placement of various crops that will prevent the soil from being washed away. The soil restores the fertile layer by self-regulation, but this process can take hundreds of years, and regular soil pollution reduces its results to zero. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to restore and purify the soil. Only in this case the fertile layer will not be lost.

Conclusion

Achieving an ideal state of absolute harmony with nature is basically impossible. Just as impossible is a final victory over nature, although in the process of struggle a person discovers the ability to overcome the difficulties that arise. The interaction of man with nature never ends, and when it seems that man is about to gain a decisive advantage, nature increases resistance. However, it is not infinite, and its overcoming in the form of suppression of nature is fraught with the death of man himself.

The current success of man in the fight against the natural environment has been achieved by increasing the risk, which should be considered in two ways - the risk of possible adverse environmental events due to the fact that science cannot give an absolute forecast of the consequences of human impact on the natural environment, and the risk of random disasters associated with the fact that technical systems and the person himself do not have absolute reliability. Here, one of Commoner's propositions, which he calls the "law" of ecology, turns out to be true: "nothing is given for free."

Based on the analysis of the ecological situation, we can conclude that we should rather not talk about the final and absolute solution of the environmental problem, but about the prospects for shifting particular problems in order to optimize the relationship between man and the natural environment in the existing historical conditions. This circumstance is due to the fact that the fundamental laws of nature impose restrictions on the implementation of the goals of mankind.

List of sources

Printed editions:

1. Ananichev K. V. Problems of the environment, energy and natural resources. International aspect. M.: "Progress", 1974.

2. Vorontsov A.I., Kharitonova N.Z. Protection of Nature. - M: Higher School, 1977. - 408 p.

3. Kamshilov M. M. Evolution of the biosphere.-M.: Nauka, 1979.-256 p.

4. Patin S.A. Impact of pollution on biological resources and productivity of the world's oceans. M.: Food industry, 1979. - 304 p.

5. Chernova N.M., Bylova A.M. Ecology. - M.: Enlightenment, 1981.- 254 p.

traveltimeonline.com

Hosted on Allbest.ru

...

Similar Documents

Classification and essence of global problems. Lack of food and resources. Environmental problems: climate warming, ozone holes, deforestation and deforestation, desertification, clean water. Disarmament, conversion. Negative effects of globalization.

term paper, added 06/03/2008


Globalistics, the problem of war and Globalistics. The problem of war and peace. Ecological problems. Chemical pollution of the biosphere. Aerosol pollution of the atmosphere. Energy resource problem. Problems of the world ocean. What is the World Ocean. Mi pollution problems

abstract, added 03.11.2003


Brief description of the mineral resources of the oceans of the planet. Causes of environmental problems. Efforts of the world community to prevent harmful effects on the waters of the oceans. Ebb and flow energy. Glaciers of the Antarctic and the Arctic.

term paper, added 03/31/2014


Zone of variable humid, including monsoon forests: geographical location, natural conditions, flora and fauna. Savannah and woodland zone. The zone of humid equatorial forests, the problem of deforestation. Changing the savannas under the influence of grazing.

term paper, added 12/29/2012


The main features of the topography of the bottom of the oceans. Resources of the World Ocean. Continental shelf, slope, continental foot. Liquid ore. Storerooms of the ocean floor. Deep-sea ore sediments of hydrothermal origin. Subsoil of the seabed.

term paper, added 12/16/2015


Altitudinal zonality in the distribution of terrestrial organisms. Peculiarities of vegetation cover and animal population of mountains. Life in the conditions of the islands of the oceans. Methods for delivering plants and animals to the islands. Factors affecting the existence of animals.

abstract, added 03/26/2013


General characteristics, resources and trends in the development of the World Ocean. Analysis of reserves, prices and economic significance of the largest oil and gas fields in the world, prospects for their use. Types of water pollution in the oceans and ways to deal with them.

term paper, added 07/22/2010


Elements that make up the atmosphere: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Consideration of the protective functions of the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Characteristics of cirrus separate, thin and filamentous clouds. Description of stratus and cumulus air masses.

presentation, added 02.10.2011


Geographical position of the city of Armavir. Population. Reservoirs. General ecological situation in the Krasnodar Territory. Environmental problems of the city of Armavir and their solution. Problems of atmospheric pollution by flue gases and its solution. Garbage dump is a threat to the environment.

abstract, added 11/15/2008


Liquid, gaseous, dissolved and solid mineral resources. The largest oil and gas basins on the shelf of the Atlantic Ocean. Energy potential of ocean currents. Phytoplankton and zooplankton. Development of the resources of the World Ocean.

Global problems are generated by the contradictions of social development, the sharply increased scale of the impact of human activity on the world around us and are also associated with the uneven socio-economic and scientific and technological development of countries and regions. The solution of global problems requires the development of international cooperation.

The most important global environmental problems facing modern man are as follows: environmental pollution, greenhouse effect, depletion of the "ozone layer", photochemical smog, acid rain, soil degradation, deforestation, desertification, waste problems, reduction of the biosphere's gene pool, etc.

The greenhouse effect is the heating of the inner layers of the Earth's atmosphere, due to the transparency of the atmosphere for the main part of the Sun's radiation (in the optical range) and the absorption by the atmosphere of the main (infrared) part of the thermal radiation of the planet's surface heated by the Sun.

In the Earth's atmosphere, radiation is absorbed by molecules of H2O, CO2, O3, etc. The greenhouse effect increases the average temperature of the planet, softens the differences between day and night temperatures.

As a result of anthropogenic influences (fuel combustion and industrial emissions), the content of carbon dioxide, methane, dust, fluorochlorine compounds (and other gases that absorb in the infrared range) in the Earth's atmosphere is gradually increasing. A mixture of dust and gases acts like a plastic film over a greenhouse: it transmits sunlight well to the soil surface, but retains the heat dissipated above the soil - as a result, a warm microclimate is created under the film.

It is possible that an increase in the greenhouse effect as a result of this process can lead to global changes in the Earth's climate, the melting of glaciers and an increase in the level of the World Ocean.

Acid rain is precipitation (including snow) acidified (pH below 5.6) due to the high content of industrial emissions in the air, mainly SO2, NO2, HCl, etc. As a result of acid rain entering the surface acidification develops in the soil layer and water bodies, which leads to degradation of ecosystems, the death of certain species of fish and other aquatic organisms, affects soil fertility, reduces forest growth and desiccates. Acid rains are especially typical for the countries of Western and Northern Europe, for the USA, Canada, industrial regions of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, etc.

Depletion of energy resources. The most important factor limiting the development of human industrial activity is the energy limit. The modern world energy consumption of mankind is about 10 TW. The basis of energy today is fossil fuels: coal, oil, gas and uranium-235.

The growth of world energy consumption over time is exponential (as well as the growth of the world's population). The time interval between the development of the first 10% and the development of the last 10% of the stock of a non-renewable resource is called the useful period of using a raw material source. Calculations have shown that, for example, the useful period for gas will be 20-25 years, for oil - 30-40 years, for coal - up to 100 years. Thus, the basis of its energy strategy, humanity has put clearly not the option that could provide a fairly long-term stable development of mankind. If we assume that the population of the planet in a certain period of time stabilizes at around 15 billion people and at the same time its energy budget will be only 2 times higher than the modern energy budget of the United States (20 kW per person), then it turns out that all the reserves explored today oil will be used within 3 months, and coal reserves - 15 years.

Currently, an alternative and, perhaps, the only way out of this situation is the development of inexhaustible (and, moreover, environmentally friendly) energy sources, the potential of which is very significant.

The biosphere is polluted with various chemically inert organic substances, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals (mercury, lead, etc.), radioactive substances, etc.

The World Ocean is polluted with oil and oil products, the plankton of which provides 70% of the oxygen entering the atmosphere.

The scale of pollution is so great that the natural ability of the biosphere to neutralize harmful substances and self-purify is close to the limit.

Ecological crisis(environmental emergency) - environmental trouble, characterized by sustainable negative changes in the environment and posing a threat to human health. This is a tense state of relations between humanity and nature, due to the discrepancy between the size of human production and economic activity and the resource and environmental capabilities of the biosphere. The ecological crisis is characterized not so much by the increased impact of man on nature as by a sharp increase in the influence of nature changed by people on social development.

Ecological catastrophy(environmental disaster) - ecological trouble, characterized by deep irreversible changes in the environment and a significant deterioration in the health of the population. This is a natural anomaly, often arising from the direct or indirect impact of human activity on natural processes and leading to severe economic consequences or mass death of the population of a certain region.

Among the most important problems affecting the existence of mankind as a whole is the rapid growth and change in the structure of the Earth's population, as well as the question of the consequences and the possibility of preventing thermonuclear war. It cannot be said that both these questions did not interest philosophers before. They always paid attention to at least the second of them, because wars have been known since the time when mankind acquired its certainty and embarked on the path of social, economic and cultural development. Both of these issues have reached their utmost acuteness in the last four decades, when the so-called population explosion began, and the largest countries of the world began to create atomic and missile weapons.

What is the essence of the demographic problem, what place does it occupy in the context of other global problems? Back in the 18th century The English economist T. Malthus in his book An Essay on the Law of Population... (1798) outlined a difficult situation, which today is called the demographic problem. Malthus saw it in the fact that the population is growing exponentially, that is, it is increasing at an incredible rate, while the increase in the food necessary to feed it is carried out in arithmetic progression.

One of the global problems is the problem of preventing a world thermonuclear war. Computer modeling has shown that if only a part of the lethal potential of atomic and hydrogen weapons is used in a nuclear conflict, then a "nuclear winter" or "nuclear night" will come on Earth. From the combined effect of radiation, explosions and fires, a huge amount of dust particles will enter the air, which will drastically reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface and reduce the air temperature to such a level that it will become impossible for humans and most plant and animal species to exist on Earth. The number of countries that have or can become possessors of nuclear weapons is steadily growing, and at the same time the danger of thermonuclear war is growing.

An important global problem that also arose in the era of scientific and technological revolution is environmental.

In our time, the problem of man's relationship to nature attracts close attention. There are important reasons for this. The unprecedented growth of scientific and technological potential has raised man's ability to transform his natural environment to a qualitatively new level and has opened up extraordinary prospects for him. At the same time, more and more alarming symptoms of the danger threatening the existence of the planet Earth and the entire human race are manifested in the interaction of man with his natural environment. This refers to the negative aspects of modern scientific and technological revolution (progressive pollution of the natural environment by products of technogenic origin, the threat of depletion of natural resources, climate change, etc.), as well as the problems that humanity faced in the past (lack of food, etc.), but are now noticeably aggravated, especially in developing countries due to the population explosion and other circumstances.

A wide range of issues related to the interaction of modern society with the natural environment are united under the general name of the environmental problem. The word "ecology" has become very fashionable in recent years. And the scope of its application has expanded significantly since the moment when E. Haeckel more than a hundred years ago proposed it to designate a specific scientific direction that studies the relationship of animals and plants with their environment. The word "ecology" is now found in the slogans under which there are demonstrations in Western countries (the so-called "green" movement); is mentioned in official state documents, in articles by scientists, lawyers, journalists and representatives of other professions. In the broadest sense of the word, an ecological view of the world involves, in determining the values ​​and priorities of human activity, taking into account the consequences of the impact that this activity has on the natural environment, as well as the impact of the natural environment on humans.

Environmental problems of the earth- these are critical environmental situations that are relevant for the entire planet, and their solution is possible only with the participation of all mankind.

It should be immediately noted that any environmental problems of the earth are closely related to other global world problems, they affect each other and the occurrence of one leads to the emergence or exacerbation of others.

1. Climate change

First of all, we are talking about global warming. It has been worrying ecologists and ordinary people around the world for several decades.

The consequences of this problem are completely bleak: rising sea levels, a decrease in agricultural production, a shortage of fresh water (primarily for lands that are located north and south of the equator). One of the main causes of climate change is greenhouse gases.

Ecologists have proposed the following solutions to this problem:

– reduction of carbon dioxide emissions

– switch to carbon-free fuels

– developing a more economical fuel strategy

2. Overpopulation of the planet

During the second half of the 20th century, the world's population grew from 3 to 6 billion. And according to existing forecasts, by 2040 this figure will reach the milestone of 9 billion people. This will lead to shortages of food, water and energy. The number of diseases will also increase.

3. Depletion of the ozone layer

This environmental problem leads to an increase in the influx of ultraviolet radiation to the Earth's surface. To date, the ozone layer over countries with a temperate climate has already decreased by 10%, which causes irreparable harm to human health, can cause skin cancer, vision problems. The depletion of the ozone layer can also harm agriculture, as many crops are damaged by excessive ultraviolet radiation.

4. Reduction of biodiversity

Due to intensive human activities, many animals and plants have disappeared from the face of the earth. And this trend continues. The main reasons for the reduction of biological diversity are considered to be loss of habitat, overexploitation of biological resources, environmental pollution, and the impact of biological species brought from other territories.

5. Pandemics

Recently, almost every year, new dangerous diseases have appeared, caused by previously unknown viruses and bacteria. What caused the centers of epidemics around the world.

6. Crisis of fresh water resources

About a third of people on earth suffer from lack of fresh water. At the moment, practically nothing is being done to conserve existing water sources. According to the UN, most cities around the world do not properly treat their wastewater. Because of this, nearby rivers and lakes are prone to pollution.

7. Widespread use of chemical and toxic substances, heavy metals

Over the past two centuries, mankind has been actively using chemical, toxic substances, heavy metals in industry, which causes great harm to the environment. An ecosystem polluted with toxic chemicals is very difficult to clean up, and in real life it is rarely done. Meanwhile, reducing the production of harmful compounds and minimizing their release is an important part of preserving the environment.

8. Deforestation

Deforestation around the world is proceeding at alarming rates. The first place in this environmental problem is occupied by Russia: in the period from 2000 to 2013, 36.5 million hectares of forest were cut down. This problem irreparably harms the vital habitat of many plants and animals and leads to the loss of biodiversity and the deterioration of important ecosystems, as well as an increase in the greenhouse effect due to a decrease in photosynthesis.

Sad material on Disney characters -.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Ecological problem is a change in the natural environment as a result of human activity, leading to a violation of the structure and functioning nature . This is an anthropogenic problem. In other words, it arises as a result of the negative impact of man on nature.

Environmental problems can be local (a certain area is affected), regional (a specific region) and global (the impact is on the entire biosphere of the planet).

Can you give an example of a local environmental problem in your region?

Regional problems cover the territories of large regions, and their influence affects a significant part of the population. For example, pollution of the Volga is a regional problem for the entire Volga region.

The drainage of the swamps of Polesye caused negative changes in Belarus and Ukraine. The change in the water level of the Aral Sea is a problem for the entire Central Asian region.

Global environmental problems are problems that pose a threat to all of humanity.

Which of the global environmental problems, in your opinion, cause the most concern? Why?

Let's take a quick look at how environmental issues have changed over the course of human history.

In fact, 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 went from one ecological crisis to another. But crises in ancient times were local in nature, and environmental changes were, as a rule, reversible, or not threatening people with total death.

Primitive man, engaged in gathering and hunting, involuntarily disturbed the ecological balance in the biosphere everywhere, spontaneously harmed nature. It is believed that the first anthropogenic crisis (10-50 thousand years ago) was associated with the development of hunting and overfishing of wild animals, when the mammoth, cave lion and bear disappeared from the face of the earth, on which the hunting efforts of the Cro-Magnons were directed. Especially a lot of harm was caused by the use of fire by primitive people - they burned forests. This led to a decrease in the level of rivers and groundwater. Overgrazing of pastures may have had the ecological result of the creation of the Sahara desert.

Then, about 2 thousand years ago, followed by a crisis associated with the use of irrigated agriculture. It led to the development of a large number of clay and saline deserts. But keep in mind that in those days the population of the Earth was not numerous, 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 Age of Discovery, the impact on the biosphere increased. This is due to the development of new lands, which was accompanied by the extermination of many animal species (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 that 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 sharply increased (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, for an increasing amount of fuel has increased. , metal, machines. This led to a rapid increase in the load on ecological systems, and the level of this load in the middle of the 20th century. - the beginning of the XXI century. reached a critical value.

How do you understand in this context the inconsistency of the results of technological progress for people?

Mankind has entered the era of the global ecological crisis. Its main components:

• depletion of energy and other resources of the bowels of the planet
• the greenhouse effect,
• depletion of the ozone layer
• soil degradation,
• radiation Hazard,
• transboundary transfer of pollution, etc.

Mankind's movement towards an environmental catastrophe of a planetary nature is confirmed by numerous facts. People continuously accumulate the number of compounds that are not utilized by nature, develop dangerous technologies, store and transport many pesticides and explosives, pollute 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 (violation of the eternal course of events) and its transition to a new state that excludes the very possibility of human existence. It is often said that one of the causes of the ecological crisis that our planet is in is the crisis of human consciousness. What do you think of it?

But for the time being humanity is able to solve environmental problems!

What conditions are necessary for this?

• The unity of good will of all the inhabitants of the planet in the problem of survival.
• Establishing peace on Earth, ending wars.
• Termination of the destructive effect of modern production on the biosphere (resource consumption, environmental pollution, destruction of natural ecosystems and biodiversity).

Development of global models of nature restoration and science-based nature management.

Some of the points listed above seem impossible, or not? What do you think?

Undoubtedly, human awareness of the danger of environmental problems is associated with serious difficulties. One of them is caused by non-obviousness for modern man of his natural basis, psychological alienation from nature. Hence the disdainful attitude to the observance of environmentally sound 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 for all people to develop new thinking, to overcome the stereotypes of technocratic thinking, ideas about the inexhaustibility of natural resources and misunderstanding of our absolute dependence on nature. An unconditional condition for the further existence of mankind is the observance of 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 treat nature (for saving land, water, energy, for protecting nature). Video 5.

There is a saying “think globally, act locally”. How do you understand it?

There are many successful publications and programs devoted to environmental problems and the possibilities of their solution. In the last decade, quite a lot of environmentally oriented films have been shot, and regular environmental film festivals have begun to be held. One of the most outstanding films is the environmental education film HOME (Home. A Travel Story), which was first presented on June 5, 2009 on World Environment Day by eminent photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and famed director and producer Luc Bessonne. This film tells about the life history of planet Earth, the beauty of nature, environmental problems caused by the destructive impact of human activity on the environment, threatening the death of our common home.

It must be said that the premiere of HOME was an unprecedented event in the 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 the format of an open screening, and free of charge. Viewers saw the one and a half hour film on large screens installed in open areas, in cinema halls, on 60 TV channels (excluding cable networks), on the Internet. HOME was shown in 53 countries. At the same time, in some countries, such as China and Saudi Arabia, the director was denied aerial photography. In India, half of the footage was simply confiscated, and in Argentina, Arthus-Bertrand and his assistants had to spend a week in jail. In many countries, a 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 (fr. Yann Arthus-Bertrand, born March 13, 1946 in Paris) is a French photographer, photojournalist, Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and winner of many other awards

With a story about the film by J. Arthus-Bertrand, we finish our conversation about environmental problems. Watch this movie. It will help you think better than words about what awaits the Earth and humanity in the near future; to understand that everything in the world is interconnected, that our task now is a common one for each of us - to try, as far as possible, to restore the ecological balance of the planet that we have disturbed, without which life on Earth cannot exist.

the video 6 hi den excerpt from the movie Home. The entire film can be viewed http://www.cinemaplayer.ru/29761-_dom_istoriya_puteshestviya___Home.html .