Various environmental issues. Ecological resources

Environmental problems today occupy the same important place in the world as political, social and economic ones. Many people have already understood that active anthropogenic activity has caused irreparable damage to nature, and before it’s too late, you need to stop or at least change your actions, reduce Negative influence and decide environmental problems of the world.

Global environmental problems are not a myth, fiction or delusion. You can't close your eyes to them. Moreover, every person can start fighting against the destruction of nature, and the more people join this cause, the more benefit it will be for our planet.

The most pressing environmental problems of our time

There are so many environmental problems in the world that they cannot be included in one big list. Some of them are global and some are local. However, let's try to name the most acute environmental problems that we have today:

the problem of pollution of the biosphere - air, water, land;
destruction of many species of flora and fauna;
depletion of non-renewable minerals;
global warming;
destruction of the ozone layer and the formation of holes in it;
desertification;
deforestation.

Many environmental problems boil down to the fact that by polluting a small area, a person invades the whole ecosystem, and absolutely destroys it. So cutting down trees, shrubs and grasses will not be able to grow in the forests, which means that birds and animals will not have anything to eat, half of them will die out, and the rest will migrate. Then soil erosion will occur, and water bodies will dry up, which will further lead to desertification of the territory. In the future, environmental refugees will appear - people who, having lost all the resources for existence, will be forced to leave their home and begin to look for new habitats.

Solving environmental problems

Conferences and various meetings, events and competitions dedicated to environmental issues are held annually. Global environmental issues now they are of interest not only to scientists and caring people, but also to representatives of the highest levels of government in many countries. They form various programs that are implemented. So many countries began to apply eco-technologies:

fuel is produced from waste;
many items are reused;
secondary raw materials are made from used materials;
the latest developments are introduced at enterprises;
the biosphere is cleared of the products of industrial enterprises.

Not the last place is played by educational programs and competitions that attract the attention of the general public.

Today it is very important to convey to people that the health of our planet depends on each of us. Anyone can save water and electricity, sort garbage and hand over waste paper, use less chemicals and disposable products, and find new uses for old things. These simple steps will bring tangible benefits. Let from the height of one human life - this is a trifle, but if you put together such actions of millions and even billions of people, then this will be the solution to the environmental problems of the world.

Environmental problems and their solutions

Introduction

According to scientists, humanity currently lives at the expense of future generations, who are destined for much worse living conditions, which will inevitably affect their health and social well-being. To avoid this, people need to learn to exist only on the "interest" from the fixed capital - nature, without spending the capital itself.

Since the 20th century, this capital has been squandered at a steadily increasing rate, and by now the nature of the Earth has changed so much that global environmental problems have been discussed at the international level for several decades. In the ecosystem used, even the latest technologies for rational nature management do not allow preserving biodiversity. For this purpose, specially protected natural territories (SPNA) are needed, in which economic activity is completely prohibited or limited. The area of protected areas in Russia is 20 or more times smaller than in developed countries. And in order to preserve the flora and fauna of our country in its current state, it is necessary to increase the territory occupied by protected areas, at least 10-15 times.

The purpose of the work is to consider environmental problems and ways to solve them.

Modern problems of nature conservation

The initial reasons that appeared at the end of the 20th century. global environmental problems were the population explosion and the simultaneous scientific and technological revolution.

The world population was equal to 2.5 billion people in 1950, doubled in 1984 and will reach 6.1 billion in 2000. Geographically, the growth of the world's population is uneven. In Russia, since 1993, the population has been declining, but growing in China, the countries of southern Asia, throughout Africa and Latin America. Accordingly, over half a century, the spaces taken from nature by sown areas, residential and public buildings, railways and roads, airports and marinas, vegetable gardens and landfills have increased by 2.5-3 times.

At the same time, the scientific and technological revolution gave mankind the possession of atomic energy, which, in addition to being good, led to radioactive contamination of vast territories. High-speed jet aircraft appeared, destroying the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The number of vehicles polluting the atmosphere of cities with exhaust gases has increased tenfold. In agriculture, in addition to fertilizers, various poisons began to be widely used - pesticides, the washout of which polluted the surface layer of water throughout the oceans.

All this has led to many major environmental problems. Global environmental problems are the objective result of the interaction between our civilization and the environment in the era of industrial development. The beginning of this era is considered to be 1860. Around this time, as a result of the rapid development of Euro-American capitalism, the then industry reached a new level. Global environmental problems are divided into several groups that are closely related to each other:

demographic problem (negative consequences of population growth in the 20th century);

energy problem (energy shortage gives rise to the search for new sources of energy and pollution associated with their extraction and use);

nutritional problem (the need to achieve a full-fledged level of nutrition for every person raises questions in the field of Agriculture and use of fertilizers);

the problem of preserving natural resources (raw and mineral resources have been depleted since the Bronze Age, the conservation of the human gene pool and biodiversity is important, fresh water and atmospheric oxygen are limited);

the problem of protecting the environment and humans from the action harmful substances(there are sad facts of mass casting of whales on the coast, mercury, oil, etc. disasters and poisoning caused by them).

In the last quarter of the XX century. a sharp warming of the global climate began, which in the boreal regions is reflected in a decrease in the number of frosty winters. The average temperature of the surface layer of air over the past 25 years has increased by 0.7°C. The temperature of the subglacial water in the region of the North Pole increased by almost two degrees, as a result of which the ice began to melt from below.

It is possible that this warming is partly natural. However, the rate of warming forces us to recognize the role of the anthropogenic factor in this phenomenon. Now mankind annually burns 4.5 billion tons of coal, 3.2 billion tons of oil and oil products, as well as natural gas, peat, oil shale and firewood. All this turns into carbon dioxide, the content of which in the atmosphere increased from 0.031% in 1956 to 0.035% in 1996 (9. P. 99). and continues to grow. In addition, emissions of another greenhouse gas, methane, into the atmosphere have increased sharply.

Now most climatologists of the world recognize the role of the anthropogenic factor in climate warming. Over the past 10-15 years, there have been many studies and meetings that have shown that the rise in the level of the World Ocean is really happening, at a rate of 0.6 mm per year, or 6 cm per century. At the same time, vertical uplifts or subsidences of coastlines reach 20 mm per year.

At present, the main environmental problems that have arisen under the influence of anthropogenic activities are: violation of the ozone layer, deforestation and desertification of territories, pollution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, acid rain, and a decrease in biodiversity. In this regard, the most extensive research and in-depth analysis of changes in the field of global ecology are needed, which could help in making cardinal decisions at the highest level in order to reduce damage to natural conditions and provide a favorable habitat.

2. Current state and protection of the atmosphere, water resources, soil, vegetation

Atmospheric protection is regulated primarily by the Convention on Transboundary Air Pollution (1979), the Montreal (1987) and Vienna (1985) agreements on the ozone layer, as well as protocols on the control of emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides.

A special place among the international conventions and agreements on the protection of the air basin was held by the Moscow Treaty of 1963 on the prohibition of testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, outer space and under water, concluded between the USSR, the USA and England, other agreements of the 70-90s. on the limitation, reduction and prohibition of nuclear, bacteriological, chemical weapons in various environments and regions. In 1996, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was solemnly signed at the UN.

Modern international cooperation in the field of environmental protection is carried out at three levels:

1. Expanding the exchange of experience. The better nature is protected on the territory of each country, the less effort and resources will be required at the international level.

2. Development and implementation of measures for the protection of elements of the natural environment in limited zones or geographical areas with the participation of two or more countries (bilateral, sub-regional or regional cooperation).

3. Increasing efforts of all countries of the world in solving the problems of environmental protection. At this level, the development and implementation of universal environmental protection measures take place.

The current stage of the international environmental movement ends with the formalization of mechanisms and procedures for implementing the decisions of the World Forum in Rio de Janeiro. In the 21st century humanity enters with a clear understanding of the vital importance of environmental problems and with reasonable confidence in their solution for the benefit of all peoples of the world and the nature of the Earth. Society can live and develop only within the biosphere and at the expense of its resources, therefore it is vitally interested in its preservation. Mankind must consciously limit its impact on nature in order to preserve the possibility of further co-evolution.

3. Rational use and protection of animals

The Law of the Russian Federation on the Protection and Use of Wildlife defines the following activities: fishing, hunting for birds and animals, use of waste products and useful properties animals, the use of the animal world for scientific, cultural, educational, educational, aesthetic purposes. All of them are covered by licensing. Licenses for their use are issued by the authorities for the protection and use of wildlife, in particular, for wild animals - the bodies of the Okhotnadzor, for fishing - the bodies of the Rybnadzor.

Licenses are also issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources in the event of the sale of animals or projects of their life activity outside the state, and for the export of medicinal raw materials also by the Ministry of Health of Russia.

The license is essential not only as a means of protecting the natural environment, but also as one of the ways to regulate nature management.

4. Ecological crisis. Ecological disasters. Environmental monitoring

The ecological crisis of the biosphere, which scientists are talking about, is not a crisis of nature, but of human society. Among the main problems that caused its occurrence are the volume of anthropogenic impact on nature in the 20th century, which brought the biosphere closer to the limit of sustainability; contradictions between the essence of man and nature, his alienation from nature; continued development of the “civilization of consumption” - the growth of optional needs of people and society, the satisfaction of which leads to an increase in the excessive technogenic load on environment.

Efforts to protect the environment in all countries are undertaken, however, locally within the generally accepted paradigm of “mismanagement”. It is considered possible to remedy the situation by investing additional funds in improving technology. The "green" movement advocates bans on the nuclear, chemical, oil, microbiological and other industries. Scientists and practitioners of ecology, for the most part, are not engaged in “knowledge of the economy of nature”, but in the development of particular issues - technologies for reducing emissions and discharges from enterprises, the preparation of norms, rules and laws. There is no agreement among scientists in the analysis of the causes and consequences of the "greenhouse effect", "ozone holes", in determining the permissible limits for the withdrawal of natural resources and population growth on the planet. The internationally recognized panacea for the global greenhouse effect is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, which will require multibillion-dollar costs, but, as will be shown below, will not solve the problem, and senseless spending will only exacerbate the crisis.

Greenhouse effect and "ozone holes"

The greenhouse effect, as some scientists believe, is a modern physical and chemical process of disturbing the thermal balance of the planet with an accelerating rise in temperature on it. It is generally accepted that this effect is caused by the accumulation of "greenhouse gases" in the Earth's atmosphere, which are formed mainly in the process of fossil fuel combustion. Infrared (thermal) radiation from the Earth's surface does not go into outer space, but is absorbed by the molecules of these gases, and its energy remains in the Earth's atmosphere.

Over the past hundred years, the average temperature of the Earth's surface has increased by 0.8 ° C. In the Alps and the Caucasus, glaciers have halved in volume, on Mount Kilimanjaro - by 73%, and the level of the World Ocean has risen by at least 10 cm. According to the World Meteorological Service , already by 2050 the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere increases to 0.05%, and the increase in the average temperature on the planet will be 2-3.5 ° C. The results of such a process are not accurately predicted. An increase in the level of the World Ocean by 15-95 cm is expected with flooding of densely populated areas of river deltas in Western Europe and South-East Asia, shifting climatic zones, changing the direction of winds, ocean currents (including the Gulf Stream) and precipitation.

Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation

federal state budgetary educational institution higher professional education

"Siberian State Industrial University"

abstract

The purpose of the work is to consider environmental problems and ways to solve them.

Modern problems of nature conservation

The initial reasons that appeared at the end of the 20th century. global environmental problems were the population explosion and the simultaneous scientific and technological revolution.

The world population was equal to 2.5 billion people in 1950, doubled in 1984 and will reach 6.1 billion in 2000. Geographically, the growth of the world's population is uneven. In Russia, since 1993, the population has been declining, but growing in China, the countries of southern Asia, throughout Africa and Latin America. Accordingly, over half a century, the spaces taken from nature by sown areas, residential and public buildings, iron and highways, airports and marinas, gardens and landfills.

All this has led to many major environmental problems. Global environmental problems are the objective result of the interaction between our civilization and the environment in the era of industrial development. The beginning of this era is considered to be 1860, around this time, as a result of the rapid development of Euro-American capitalism, the industry of that time entered the new level. Global environmental problems are divided into several groups that are closely related to each other:

· demographic problem(negative consequences of population growth in the 20th century);

· energy problem (energy shortage gives rise to the search for new sources of energy and pollution associated with their extraction and use);

food problem (the need to achieve a full-fledged level of nutrition for every person raises questions in the field of agriculture and the use of fertilizers);

the problem of preserving natural resources (raw materials and mineral resources have been depleted since the Bronze Age, it is important to preserve the gene pool of mankind and biological diversity, fresh water and atmospheric oxygen are limited);

· the problem of protecting the environment and humans from the action of harmful substances (there are sad facts of mass casting of whales on the coast, mercury, oil, etc. disasters and poisoning caused by them).

At present, the main environmental problems that have arisen under the influence of anthropogenic activities are: violation of the ozone layer, deforestation and desertification of territories, pollution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, acid rain, and a decrease in biological diversity. In this regard, the most extensive research and in-depth analysis of changes in the field of global ecology are needed, which could help in making cardinal decisions at the highest level in order to reduce damage to natural conditions and provide a favorable habitat.

The current state and protection of the atmosphere, water resources, soil, vegetation

Modern international cooperation in the field of environmental protection is carried out at three levels:

1. Expanding the exchange of experience. The better nature is protected on the territory of each country, the less effort and resources will be required at the international level.

Rational use and protection of animals

The Law of the Russian Federation on the Protection and Use of Wildlife defines the following types of activities: fishing, hunting for birds and animals, the use of waste products and useful properties of animals, the use of wildlife for scientific, cultural, educational, educational, aesthetic purposes. All of them are covered by licensing. Licenses for their use are issued by the authorities for the protection and use of the animal world, in particular, for wild animals - the hunting supervision authorities, for fishing - the Rybnadzor authorities.

Licenses are also issued by the Ministry of Nature Protection in the event of the sale of animals or projects of their life activity outside the state, and for the export of medicinal raw materials also by the Ministry of Health of Russia.

The license is essential not only as a means of protecting the natural environment, but also as one of the ways to regulate nature management.

Ecological crisis. Ecological disasters. Environmental monitoring.

The ecological crisis of the biosphere, which scientists are talking about, is not a crisis of nature, but of human society. Among the main problems that caused its occurrence are the volume of anthropogenic impact on nature in the 20th century, which brought the biosphere closer to the limit of sustainability; contradictions between the essence of man and nature, his alienation from nature; continued development of the "civilization of consumption" - the growth of optional needs of people and society, the satisfaction of which leads to an increase in excessive man-made pressure on the environment.

Efforts to protect the environment in all countries are undertaken, however, locally within the generally accepted paradigm of "mismanagement". It is considered possible to correct the situation by investing additional funds in the improvement of technologies. The "green" movement advocates bans on the nuclear, chemical, oil, microbiological and other industries. Scientists and practitioners of ecology, for the most part, are not engaged in "knowledge of the economy of nature", but in the development of particular issues - technologies for reducing emissions and discharges from enterprises, the preparation of norms, rules and laws. There is no agreement among scientists in the analysis of the causes and consequences of the "greenhouse effect", "ozone holes", in determining the permissible limits for the withdrawal of natural resources and population growth on the planet. The internationally recognized panacea for the global greenhouse effect is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, which will require multibillion-dollar costs, but, as will be shown below, will not solve the problem, and senseless spending will only exacerbate the crisis.

Greenhouse effect and "ozone holes"

The greenhouse effect, as some scientists believe, is a modern physical and chemical process of disturbing the thermal balance of the planet with an accelerating temperature rise on it. It is generally accepted that this effect is caused by the accumulation of "greenhouse gases" in the Earth's atmosphere, which are formed mainly in the process of fossil fuel combustion. Infrared (thermal) radiation from the Earth's surface does not go into outer space, but is absorbed by the molecules of these gases, and its energy remains in the Earth's atmosphere.

Over the past hundred years, the average temperature of the Earth's surface has increased by 0.8 ° C. In the Alps and the Caucasus, glaciers have halved in volume, on Mount Kilimanjaro - by 73%, and the level of the World Ocean has risen by at least 10 cm. According to the World Meteorological Service , already by 2050 the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere increases to 0.05%, and the increase in the average temperature on the planet will be 2-3.5 ° C. The results of such a process are not accurately predicted. An increase in the level of the World Ocean by 15-95 cm is expected with flooding of densely populated areas of river deltas in Western Europe and Southeast Asia, a shift in climatic zones, a change in the direction of winds, ocean currents (including the Gulf Stream) and precipitation.

A reduction in the area of glaciers in the mountains will reduce the average value of the Earth's albedo (the coefficient of reflection of the sun's rays from the surface), the thawing of permafrost on the swampy plains of Eastern Siberia will release methane accumulated there into the atmosphere, an increase in ocean temperature will lead to the release of dissolved carbon dioxide and an increase in humidity on the planet. All these factors will accelerate and increase the greenhouse effect.

The stability of the biosphere is ensured only if the rate of carbon uptake by the biota is proportional to the rate of its growth in the environment. This balance has been broken. The situation is exacerbated by a decrease in the area of photosynthesis due to the destruction of forests (for example, in the Amazon River valley) and a decrease in the mass of phytoplankton in the World Ocean. With an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the process of biomass growth should accelerate, but scientists noted that at the beginning of the last century, the land biota stopped absorbing excess carbon from the atmosphere and, moreover, began to emit it itself. The sign of stationary systems is violated - the Le Chatelier-Brown principle: "When an external influence brings the system out of a state of stable equilibrium, this equilibrium shifts in the direction of weakening the effect of external influence."

Another global effect is the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer. The ozone layer is air at altitudes of 7-18 km with a high concentration of ozone O3, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the sun that is harmful to living things. When it is depleted, the UVR flux on the Earth's surface increases, which will lead to damage to the eyes and suppression immune system people, reducing crop yields.

The main reason for the decrease in ozone concentration is considered to be emissions of chlorine- and fluorine-containing compounds into the atmosphere: freon from refrigeration equipment, cosmetic sprayers (another hypothesis is a change magnetic field Earth, caused by human activity). The really observed result is "ozone holes" over Antarctica (the maximum decrease in ozone concentration is 3 times), over the Arctic, Eastern Siberia and Kazakhstan.

Recently, as the technical power of mankind has increased, the process of evolution has been transferred to the field of minerals, the composition of soil, water and air has changed. The evolution of species passes into the evolution of the biosphere. For example, powerful earthquakes have become more frequent. During the first half of the 20th century, 15 earthquakes with a power of more than 7 points were noted (740 thousand people died), and in the second half - 23 (more than a million people died). In the last decades, man-made earthquakes have been noted in non-seismic regions (Tatarstan, Stavropol Territory). The number of powerful hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, catastrophic river floods (Rhine, Lena) is increasing.

The intensification of human activity leads to the disruption of the ecosystems of the biosphere. Of the 150 million km2 of land area under direct human control (agro-industrial complexes, cities, landfills, roads, mining, etc.) is 28%. This leads to a reduction in the area of forests (at the beginning of the era of agriculture, the forest area was 75% of the land, and now - 26%), desertification (average rate - 2600 ha / h), dehydration of rivers and seas.

The soil is poisoned by "acid rain", it is polluted with heavy elements and emissions of other harmful substances. Soil erosion, loss of humus, salinization are increasing. Every year, 20 million hectares of land lose their productivity as a result of erosion and sand encroachment.

The World Ocean is the most important regulator of processes in the biosphere and the source of bioresources suffers from oil pollution. Their film disrupts photosynthesis, leads to the death of eggs, fish, birds and other animals. Every year, due to leaks from ships, accidents and rivers, 12-15 million tons of oil enter the World Ocean, which leads to a total area pollution of 150 million km2 out of a total area of 361 million km2.

In 2000 AD, 270 species of large mammals and birds disappeared, and a third of them last century(Pyrenean ibex, Berber lion, Japanese wolf, marsupial wolf, etc.). But each type of living thing is connected with other species, therefore, with the disappearance of a species, there is always a restructuring in the entire system. According to scientists, by the end of this century in different countries Europe and America will disappear 50-82% of the land species of the inhabitants of the Earth.

Causes of the ecological crisis

In the literature, the growth of the Earth's population and its scientific and technical power are considered as the causes of the crisis. This gives rise to the illusion that "prudent housekeeping" environmental education, birth control or the World Government will be able to prevent the crisis from developing. To dispel this misconception, let us consider the causes of the ecological crisis, dividing them into three groups: scientific and technical, biological and psychological, and socio-political.

The main reasons for the degradation of the biosphere are the excessive removal of the living and mineral resources of the planet and its poisoning with man-made waste of human activity.

The biosphere can remain stable when about 1% of its net primary production is withdrawn. As calculations by V.B. Gorshkov, the production of biomass in the entire biosphere in terms of energy equivalent corresponds to a power of 74 TW (74 * 1012 W), and a person takes more than 16 TW, that is, 20%, into his anthropogenic channel for the use of bioproducts. The extraction of bioproducts from the natural circulation of substances destroys systemic links in food chains and impoverishes the species composition of natural biocenoses.

Thus, one of the causes and components of the ecological crisis is the approximately twenty-fold excess of human consumption of biosphere products over the level acceptable for stable biosystems.

An ecological catastrophe is understood as a natural anomaly, often arising from direct or indirect human impact, or an accident of a technical device, leading to adverse catastrophic changes in the natural environment, mass death living organisms and economic damage.

Recently, in connection with the development of the theory of sustainable development, the term social and environmental catastrophe is increasingly used, which is understood as an event that threatens the viability of the population in a particular territory, produced by various sources of risk.

According to modern scientific concepts, the following processes lead to a socio-ecological catastrophe:

1. depletion of natural resources ("collapse" of industrial and agricultural production);

2. genetic degeneration of the population due to direct or indirect (through mutations of pathogenic microorganisms) impact of chemical pollution;

3. exceeding the ecological capacity of regional ecosystems.

Thus, the concept of "environmental catastrophe" can include:

Destructive and irreversible changes in natural ecosystems;

Various adverse consequences of such changes for society;

Significant violations of the territorial complexes of the population and economy with their natural and ethno-cultural basis.

Territorial complexes of the population and economy may, in this case, have different sizes- from a single locality to a state and a group of states.

The system of criteria for assessing environmental distress can be divided into four groups, taking into account the following characteristics:

Negative changes in the natural environment;

Public health response to environmental changes;

Deterioration of conditions for economic and other human activities.

When determining the ecological status of a particular territory, these criteria are used taking into account regional natural, economic, historical, ethnic and other features, as well as geographical location territory (to take into account the influence of neighboring territories on the state of its natural environment).

For environmental disasters of man-made origin, the following classification is used:

Catastrophes associated with environmental pollution;

Catastrophes associated with mechanical disturbances of the natural environment;

Catastrophes associated with the loss of the gene pool and biodiversity.

There are a number of environmental disasters generated by purely natural phenomena. According to their genesis, they belong to solar-cosmic, climatic and hydrological, geological-geomorphological, biogeochemical and biological. The most typical of them include hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, squalls, earthquakes, mudflows, landslides, collapses, floods, etc. It should be noted that often man-made environmental disasters occur as a result of natural disasters. For example, it may be the destruction of a nuclear power plant due to an earthquake, followed by radioactive contamination of the natural environment.

Before the eyes of just one generation, the sea disappears. The Aral, the mother of many peoples, is disappearing, and only a person can save it.

Under environmental monitoring should be understood as organized monitoring of the natural environment, which, firstly, provides a constant assessment of the environmental conditions of the human habitat and biological objects (plants, animals, microorganisms, etc.), as well as an assessment of the state and functional value of ecosystems, in- second, conditions are created for determining corrective actions in cases where targets for environmental conditions are not being achieved.

In accordance with the above definitions and the functions assigned to the system, monitoring includes several basic procedures:

Selection (definition) of the object of observation;

Examination of the selected object of observation;

Drawing up an information model for the object of observation;

Measurement planning;

Assessment of the state of the object of observation and identification of its information model;

Forecasting changes in the state of the object of observation;

Presentation of information in a user-friendly form and bringing it to the consumer.

Conclusion

To make long-term decisions, it is necessary to pay attention to the principles that determine sustainable development, namely:

Stabilization of the population;

Transition to a more energy and resource-saving lifestyle;

Development of environmentally friendly energy sources;

Creation of low-waste industrial technologies;

Waste recycling;

Creation of a balanced agricultural production that does not deplete soil and water resources and does not pollute land and food;

Preservation of biological diversity on the planet.

Another important step in correcting the current environmental situation is finding a new source of energy. After all, this will help solve the main problem - air pollution. Chemical fuels are the only economically viable source of energy today. However, not the most environmentally friendly, moreover, mineral fuel will sooner or later be exhausted so much that it will not be enough for humanity with their needs (unless, of course, by that time humanity has disappeared due to its actions on Earth). Therefore, it is necessary to look for a new source of energy, and this source should not only be environmentally friendly, but also profitable from an economic point of view. Of course, there are already alternative sources energy: electric car, engine on water, on alcohol and many others. But they are not promising, because either they are not economically profitable, or they have low efficiency. In any case, progress is constantly moving forward, so it is necessary to both improve the old and invent the new.

Bibliography

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Modernity can be considered environmental pollution, because anthropogenic activity affects absolutely all earthly spheres. These include the hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere. Unfortunately, it is the person who is the main culprit of this situation, and every day he himself becomes its main victim. Terrifying statistics show that about 60% of people in the world die from air pollution, water resources, soil cover.

The point is that this problem is not state borders, but concerns all of humanity as a whole, so the solutions must take place at the global level. For effective fight the so-called "green" organizations have been created, which for many years have been successfully promoting their activities, these include the "World Fund wildlife”, “Green Peace”, and others public organizations whose main activity is aimed at the conservation of nature.

Ways to solve environmental problems should start with the implementation of which will allow the rational use of natural resources. For example, in the municipal sector, the introduction of technology for waste disposal, which is the main source of pollution in all natural areas, is successfully implemented. Every day the number of waste is growing rapidly, so the problem of waste disposal is becoming more and more urgent for mankind.

Moreover, waste recycling can become economically beneficial, in addition to the fact that their disposal will have an environmental effect. According to experts, more than 60% of waste can be a potential raw material, which can be successfully sold and recycled.

Every year, the number of industrial enterprises on our planet is increasing, which cannot but affect the environmental situation. This growth of enterprises leads to an increase in emissions of pollutants and other harmful substances into the environment.

At the same time, the use of such facilities cannot lead to complete purification, however, it significantly reduces the number of harmful substances that enter the atmosphere.

A huge number of Western enterprises use non-waste and low-waste products in their industrial activities. production processes, and also use recycling water supply, which allows to reduce the discharge into water bodies Wastewater. They see this as a kind of solution to environmental problems, and they are right, because such intervention will significantly reduce the negative impact on the nature of human activity.

It must be said that the rational placement of petrochemical, chemical, nuclear and metallurgical industries is also in a positive way affects the environment.

Solving environmental problems is one of the main tasks of all mankind as a whole, it is important to increase the level of responsibility of people, their upbringing culture so that we are more careful about what Mother Nature has given us.

Rational use of any resources will significantly reduce the negative human impact on the environment.

No less important is the reduction in the number of shooting animals, because they are an important link in the chain of development of nature. Chasing for profit and material wealth, we forget that we are destroying our future, taking away our children's right to a healthy future.

Greening the planet is considered one of the ways to improve our condition, improve the condition of the air and enable many plants to develop in our difficult world.

We have listed far from all methods for solving environmental problems, however, we have touched on the most important and relevant areas that require positive human intervention.

Global environmental problems and ways to solve them.

Today, the ecological situation in the world can be described as close to critical.

Among the global environmental problems are the following:

thousands of species of plants and animals have been destroyed and continue to be destroyed; the forest cover has been largely destroyed;
the available stock of minerals is rapidly declining;
the world ocean is not only depleted as a result of the destruction of living organisms, but also ceases to be a regulator of natural processes;
the atmosphere in many places is polluted to the maximum permissible extent, and clean air becomes scarce;
the ozone layer, which protects against destructive cosmic radiation for all living things, is partially broken;
surface pollution and disfigurement of natural landscapes: on Earth it is impossible to detect a single square meter surface, wherever there are artificially created elements.

The perniciousness of man's consumer attitude to nature only as an object of obtaining certain wealth and benefits has become quite obvious. For humanity, it becomes vital to change the very philosophy of attitude towards nature.

What measures are needed to solve global environmental problems!

First of all, one should move from the consumer-technocratic approach to nature to the search for harmony with it. This, in particular, requires a number of targeted measures to green production: environmentally friendly technologies, mandatory environmental impact assessment of new projects, and the creation of non-waste closed-cycle technologies.

Now there is talk about climate change. Whether this is a consequence of human activity or not, how will it affect a person? There is currently no clear answer to this question.

There is also the issue of environmental threats, attempts to assess the economic and non-economic value of natural resources. Take, for example, a forest. It is clear how much wood, berries, furs cost separately. But it is also clear that the forest is not limited to these resources, it also purifies the air, stores carbon, and so on.

The question is how to evaluate it? This is a huge problem all over the world. In our modern market world, what has no value is not included in the system of civilization, in any protection programs.

Is it possible to single out the main problem of geoecology, one on which answers to particular questions depend?

It can be formulated as follows: is civilization an integral part of the biosphere system or an independent system - a biosphere user?

In the first case, there are mechanisms that regulate the development of civilization, directed from the biosphere to civilization, that is, civilization is included in the system of biospheric processes, in the second case, there are no such mechanisms and civilization "sits" on the biosphere like an octopus.

The survival strategies of mankind depend on the answer to this question. It is clear that a person is a consumer of resources (he himself is not a resource, except perhaps for mosquitoes). There are a lot of consumers (called in ecology first-order consumers, second-order consumers), but they will never be able to “eat” their ecosystem, because there are mechanisms for regulating their numbers. This is illustrated in the following figure:

The top graph shows fluctuations in the number of lynx and hare according to the purchase of skins of these animals by the Hudson's Bay Company. This is a classic pattern of fluctuations in the number of animals in the presence of mechanisms for their regulation. The lynx will never be able to eat all the hares, as there is a regulation mechanism. In a more simplified scheme (upper right), the fluctuations level out and the abundance fluctuates around the average value.

The system behaves in a completely different way if there are no regulatory connections (lower graph). Is there some culture medium, the victim is “sown” there, after which a predator is launched into the test tube, which eats the victim and then dies of hunger itself.

Which of these schemes corresponds to the relationship between civilization and the biosphere?

There are two approaches to resolving this issue.

The first approach, which, unfortunately, until the last time most scientists adhered to, represents a person as a biosphere user. This approach is presented in the classic works of the spouses Daniela and Dennis Meadows and J. Randers, made under the auspices of the Club of Rome (an organization created by 100 largest industrialists, they give orders to scientists who write books on ordered topics). These are the works "Limits to Growth" (1972) and "Beyond Growth" (1992). In the diagram from this book, a person is represented by a system standing on a stream, transferring energy high level and resources to waste.

Man is presented here as a system standing on a stream, turning high-level energy (solar energy, oil) and resources (wood, minerals) into low-level energy, in a word, resources into waste.

The meaning of the work is that the sources of resources and sinks have their limits. Humanity has come close to these limits, and due to exponential growth, these limits will soon be crossed. Going beyond these limits threatens with catastrophe, destruction of the biosphere, and with it the destruction of humanity as a whole. Just as it was presented with the in vitro predator and prey model.

What are the restrictions on the use of resources? Of the 3.2 billion hectares of maximum possible green resources (that is, if we clear all forests), we use 1.5. We have already used almost half of the available water resources, a third of forest resources, and so on. According to these calculations, 10% of the drains are already filled.

On the basis of such reasoning, the MIR-3 model was made, which describes the standard scenario for the development of mankind. Above is a diagram of a typical future scenario (the model is developed up to 2100) if nothing is done in the near future. It can be seen that after the depletion of resources, the population will fall many times over.

If we put double values of the limits into this model, that is, if we have 2 times more resources than we think now, and if we have super-powerful, waste-free processing technologies, the picture will not fundamentally change, only shift by 20-30 years.

The diagram of the optimistic scenario is shown above. If in 1995 a population stabilization program was adopted (1 family - 2 children), non-waste and resource-saving technologies were introduced, and the limits were doubled. All this leads to the fact that in 2005 the situation will stabilize. But since nothing has been done, the Meadows developed a model when measures are taken in 2015. Then the situation worsens somewhat, and then stabilizes. And the later the measures are taken, the more the "optimistic" scenario approaches the standard one.

What is offeredin socio-economic terms:

Stopping population growth as soon as possible (by 2015: 1 family - 2 children, control efficiency -100%).
Stabilization of industrial production at the level of $350 per person per year (that's roughly South Korea, or twice the size of Brazil in 1990).
Implementation of “waste-free” and resource-saving technologies (reduction of resource use and pollution to the level of 1975).

Regarding resource use:

The rate of consumption of renewable resources should not exceed the rate of their regeneration.
The rate of consumption of non-renewable resources should not exceed the rate of their replacement with renewable ones. (very difficult to do in a practical sense, i.e. increase oil production in such a way as to invest in afforestation so that the amount of energy in new forests is the same as in used oil)
The rate of emissions of pollutants should not exceed the rate of their natural "processing" (purification).

The requirements are very strict. But they are soft compared to other theory.

The second theory, called the "theory of the golden billion" belongs to the physicist V.G. Gorshkov, developed in 1990-1995. She talks about the following:

The biosphere is a system that works according to the principle of Le Chatelier (compensation of external influences by internal mechanisms).
The action of these stability mechanisms is provided by “unperturbed biota”, i.e. undisturbed natural ecosystems.
The destruction of natural ecosystems leads to the loss of stability of the biosphere, its destruction and the subsequent death of civilization
Modern civilization has already exceeded the limits of the disturbance of the biota, which has led to a violation of the Le Chatelier principle (the biosphere losing control - this is evidenced by climate change, disruption / opening of cycles, environmental pollution, etc.).

The stability of the land, in his opinion, was violated in the middle of the 18th century, until the beginning of the 20th century, the stability of the biosphere was maintained at the expense of the ocean, after which it was disrupted globally. The principle underlying the work is completely different, if the Meadows considered resources, then here the thermodynamic model of the biosphere is considered.

Limits of biota disturbance: the area of disturbed ecosystems should not exceed 20% of the land area, and now 60% has already been disturbed, the share of anthropogenic consumption of biosphere products should not exceed 1%, and now it is 10%. That is, here too there are limits, but completely different.

In socio-economic terms, it is proposed to reduce the population by 10 times over several decades to 0.5 - 1 billion people.

With regard to resource use, it is proposed:

The actual rejection of the use of non-renewable resources: reducing their exploitation by hundreds of times.
Cessation of growth in energy consumption (primarily HPPs and NPPs).
Reducing deforestation by at least 10 times.
Termination of expansion to yet undeveloped lands and reduction of those already used by 3 times.

How to do this is unknown, including to the author of the theory, it is clear that demographic methods will not be able to do this (if only by measures of physical influence)

What do these two classic works have in common? Very stringent requirements for population and resource use. Moreover, if these requirements are not met in the coming decades, we are in danger of a catastrophe.

This approach is very bleak. Let's say this model is correct. But we are really not ready not only to reduce the population, but even to stop its growth (as China's experience shows). Switching only to renewable resources is also impossible, this is a different civilization. Let's say we agree to take action, and it turns out that the models are wrong.

That is, in any case, whether we accept these requirements or not, according to these models, our civilization will either perish or change radically.

The second approach says that civilization is part of the biosphere. The foundation was laid by the works of Vernadsky, Thiers de Chardin and others. Their theory of the noosphere suggests that a certain center will appear that can control the biosphere with the help of the mind. This approach is shown in the following diagram.

Consider from these positions the relationship of man with resources and with nature. Let's start with resource types, shall we?

There are renewable and non-renewable resources. We can distinguish 4 types:

1. natural renewable resources (air, water, plant and animal biomass):

they are restored after use to their original state through natural mechanisms
the performance of natural recovery mechanisms has its limit (the river can process a certain amount of waste per year, and if more, then pollution will begin)
a person can investfunds to intensify the renewal

2. anthropogenic renewable resources (metals, sulfur, salts, phosphates, Construction Materials etc.):

restoration is carried out only by the society itself at the expense of its available funds
in principle, they can be restored after use to their original state, but there are no natural mechanisms for this

3. non-renewable resources ( hydrocarbon energy resources - oil, gas, coal, non-hydrocarbon - uranium, as well as diamonds, etc.). In principle, they cannot be restored after use to their original state.

4. conditionally inexhaustible resources (solar and gravitational energy):

come from outside the biosphere
due to them, natural mechanisms of resource recovery function

The ratio between these groups is shown in the figure. It can be seen that the majority of renewable resources, they can be involved in the cycles of "resource - waste - resource" through natural and anthropogenic mechanisms.