The concept of "global problems" has become widespread since the late 60s. global are those problems that are of a universal nature. They affect the interests of every nation and every person individually, their solution is possible only by joint efforts; the fate of all mankind depends on the direction in which their decision will be implemented (or not implemented). Finally, these problems embody the inseparability of the social and natural aspects of life.

8.3.1 Climate change. The sharp warming of the climate that began in the second half of the 20th century is a reliable fact. The average temperature of the surface air layer increased by 0.7 0 С compared to 1956…1957, when the First International Geophysical Year was held. There is no warming at the equator, but the closer to the poles, the more noticeable it is. Beyond the Arctic Circle, it reaches 2 0 C. At the North Pole, the under-ice water has warmed by 1 0 C, and the ice cover has begun to melt from below.

What is the reason for this phenomenon? Some scientists believe that this is the result of burning a huge mass of organic fuel and releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas, that is, it makes it difficult to transfer heat from the Earth's surface.

So what is the greenhouse effect? Billions of tons of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere every hour as a result of burning coal and oil, natural gas and firewood, millions of tons of methane rise into the atmosphere from gas developments, from the rice fields of Asia, water vapor and fluorochlorocarbons are emitted there. All of these are greenhouse gases. Just as a glass roof and walls in a greenhouse allow solar radiation to pass through, but do not allow heat to escape, so carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” are practically transparent to sunlight, but retain long-wave thermal radiation from the Earth, preventing it from escaping into space.

The forecast for the future (2030…2050) assumes a possible increase in temperature by 1.5…4.5 0 С. Such conclusions were made by the International Conference of Climatologists in Austria in 1988.

A warming climate raises a number of related issues. What are the prospects for its further development? How will warming affect the increase in evaporation from the surface of the oceans and how will this affect the amount of precipitation? How will this precipitation be distributed over the area?

All these questions can be answered accurately. However, for this, various scientific studies must be carried out.

8.3.2 Depletion of the ozone layer. The ecological problem of the ozone layer is no less complex in scientific terms. As you know, life on Earth appeared only after the protective ozone layer of the planet was formed, covering it from cruel ultraviolet radiation. For many centuries, nothing foreshadowed trouble. However, in recent decades, intensive destruction of this layer has been noticed.

The problem of the ozone layer arose in 1982, when a probe launched from a British station in Antarctica detected a sharp decrease in the ozone content at an altitude of 25–30 km. Since then, an ozone "hole" of varying shapes and sizes has been recorded over Antarctica all the time. According to the latest data for 1992, it is equal to 23 million km 2, that is, an area equal to the whole of North America. Later, the same "hole" was discovered over the Canadian Arctic archipelago, over Svalbard, and then in different places in Eurasia, in particular over Voronezh.

The depletion of the ozone layer is a much more dangerous reality for all life on Earth than the fall of some super-large meteorite, because ozone does not allow dangerous radiation to reach the Earth's surface. In the event of a decrease in ozone, humanity is threatened, at a minimum, with an outbreak of skin cancer and eye diseases. In general, an increase in the dose of ultraviolet rays can weaken the human immune system, and at the same time reduce the yield of fields, reduce the already narrow base of the Earth's food supply.

The depletion of the ozone layer has excited not only scientists, but also the governments of many countries. The search for reasons began. At first, suspicion fell on chlorine and fluorocarbons used in refrigeration, the so-called freons. They are really easily oxidized by ozone, thereby destroying it. Large sums were allocated to search for their substitutes. However, refrigeration units are mainly used in countries with warm and hot climates, and for some reason ozone holes are most pronounced in the polar regions. This caused confusion. Then it was found that a lot of ozone is destroyed by the rocket engines of modern aircraft flying at high altitudes, as well as during the launch of spacecraft and satellites.

Detailed scientific studies are needed to finally resolve the issue of the causes of ozone depletion. Another cycle of research is needed to develop the most rational ways to artificially restore the previous ozone content in the stratosphere. Work in this direction has already begun.

8.3.3 Death and deforestation. One of the causes of forest death in many regions of the world is acid rain, the main culprit of which is power plants. Emissions of sulfur oxides and their transport over long distances lead to such rains falling far from the sources of emissions. In Austria, eastern Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, more than 60% of the sulfur that falls on their territory comes from external sources, and in Norway even 75%. Other examples of long-range transport of acids are acid rain on remote Atlantic islands such as Bermuda and acid snow in the Arctic.

Over the past 30 years, the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forests, which is equal to the US area east of the Mississippi. Especially great environmental threat is the depletion of tropical forests - the "lungs of the planet" and the main source of the planet's biological diversity. Approximately 200 thousand km 2 are cut down or burned there annually, which means that 100 thousand (!) Species of plants and animals disappear. This process is especially fast in the regions richest in tropical forests - the Amazon and Indonesia.

8.3.4 Desertification. Under the influence of living organisms, water and air, the most important ecosystem, thin and fragile, is gradually formed on the surface layers of the lithosphere - the soil, which is called the "skin of the Earth". It is the keeper of fertility and life. A handful of good soil contains millions of microorganisms that support fertility. It takes a century to form a layer of soil with a thickness (thickness) of 1 cm. It can be lost in one field season. According to geologists, before people began to engage in agricultural activities, graze livestock and plow land, rivers annually carried about 9 billion tons of soil into the oceans. Now this amount is estimated at about 25 billion tons.

Soil erosion - a purely local phenomenon - has now become universal. In the US, for example, about 44% of cultivated land is subject to erosion. In Russia, unique rich black soils with a humus content (organic matter that determines soil fertility) of 14 ... 16%, which were called the citadel of Russian agriculture, disappeared.

A particularly difficult situation arises when not only the soil layer is demolished, but also the parent rock on which it develops. Then the threshold of irreversible destruction sets in, an anthropogenic (that is, man-made) desert arises.

Natural deserts and semi-deserts occupy more than 1/3 of the earth's surface. About 15% of the world's population lives on these lands. Deserts are natural formations that play a certain role in the overall ecological balance of the planet's landscapes. As a result of human activity, by the last quarter of the 20th century, more than 9 million km 2 of deserts appeared, and in total they already covered 43% of the total land area.

In the 1990s, desertification began to threaten 3.6 million hectares of arid lands. This represents 70% of the potentially productive drylands, or total land area, and this figure does not include the area of ​​natural deserts. About 1/6 of the world's population suffers from this process.

According to UN experts, the current loss of productive land will lead to the fact that by the end of the century the world may lose almost 1/3 of its arable land. Such a loss, at a time of unprecedented population growth and increased food demand, could be truly disastrous.

8.3.5 Pollution of the oceans. Humans have been polluting water since time immemorial. Probably, one of the first major polluters of water bodies was the legendary Greek hero Hercules, who, with the help of a river diverted into a new channel, cleared the Augean stables.

So, clean water is also becoming scarce, and water scarcity can affect faster than the consequences of the “greenhouse effect”: 1.2 billion people live without clean drinking water, 2.3 billion without treatment facilities to use polluted water. The cost of water for irrigation is growing, now it is 3300 km 3 per year; 6 times more than the flow of one of the most abundant rivers in the world - the Mississippi. The widespread use of groundwater leads to a decrease in their level. In Beijing, for example, in recent years it has fallen by 4 meters.

Such an ordinary substance as water rarely attracts our attention, although we encounter it every day, rather even hourly: during the morning toilet, at breakfast, when we drink tea or coffee, when leaving the house in rain or snow, while preparing dinner and washing dishes, while washing ... In general, very, very often. Think for a moment about water, imagine that it suddenly disappeared, well, for example, there was an accident in the water supply network. Perhaps this has happened to you before? With all the obviousness in such a situation, it becomes clear that "without water, neither there nor here."

Global environmental issues

Introduction

Currently, humanity is faced with the most acute global environmental problems. The solution of these problems requires urgent joint efforts of international organizations, states, regions, and the public.

Throughout its existence, and especially in the 20th and early 21st centuries, mankind has destroyed about 70 percent of all natural ecological systems on the planet that are capable of processing human waste, and continues to destroy them to this day. The amount of permissible impact on the biosphere as a whole has now been exceeded by several times. Moreover, a person throws into the environment thousands of tons of substances that have never been contained in it and which are often not amenable or poorly amenable to natural processing. And this has led to the fact that biological microorganisms, which act as a regulator of the environment, are no longer able to perform their functions.

According to experts, in 30-50 years an irreversible process will begin, which at the beginning of the 22nd century can lead to a global environmental catastrophe. A particularly alarming situation has developed in Europe.

There are almost no intact biosystems left in European countries. The exception is the territory of Norway, Finland and, of course, the European part of Russia.

On the territory of Russia there are 9 million square meters. km of untouched, and therefore, working ecological systems. A significant part of this territory is tundra, which is biologically unproductive. But the Russian forest-tundra, taiga, peat bogs are ecosystems, without which it is impossible to imagine a normally functioning biosphere of the entire globe.

In Russia, the difficult environmental situation is exacerbated by the protracted general crisis. The state leadership is doing little to correct it. The legal instrument for environmental protection is slowly developing - environmental law. True, several environmental laws were adopted in the 1990s, the main of which was the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of the Environment", which has been in force since March 1992. However, law enforcement practice has revealed serious gaps, both in the law itself and in the mechanism for its implementation.

The problem of overpopulation

The number of earthlings is growing rapidly. But each person consumes a large number of various natural resources. Moreover, this growth is primarily in the underdeveloped or underdeveloped countries. In developed countries, the level of well-being is very high, and the amount of resources consumed by each inhabitant is huge. If we imagine that the entire population of the Earth (the main part of which today lives in poverty, or even starves) will have a standard of living as in Western Europe or the USA, our planet simply cannot stand it. But to believe that the majority of earthlings will always vegetate in poverty, ignorance and squalor is inhumane and unfair. The rapid economic development of China, India, Mexico and a number of other populous countries refutes this assumption.

Consequently, there is only one way out - limiting the birth rate with a simultaneous decrease in mortality and an increase in the quality of life.

However, birth control runs into many obstacles. Among them are reactionary social relations, the enormous role of religion, which encourages large families, primitive communal forms of management in which families with many children benefit, etc. The backward countries face a tight knot of complex problems. However, very often in backward countries those who put their own or interests above state interests rule, use the ignorance of the masses for their own selfish purposes (including wars, repressions, etc.), the growth of armaments, etc.

The problems of ecology, overpopulation and backwardness are directly related to the threat of possible food shortages in the near future. Already today, in some countries, due to rapid population growth and insufficient development of agriculture and industry, there is a problem of shortage of food and essential goods. However, the possibilities for increasing agricultural productivity are not unlimited. After all, an increase in the use of mineral fertilizers, pesticides, etc. leads to a deterioration in the environmental situation and an increasing concentration of substances harmful to humans in food. On the other hand, the development of cities and technology takes a lot of fertile land out of circulation. Especially harmful is the lack of good drinking water.

Problems of energy resources

This problem is closely related to the environmental problem. Ecological well-being also depends to the greatest extent on the reasonable development of the Earth's energy, because half of all gases that cause the "greenhouse effect" are created in the energy sector.

The fuel and energy balance of the planet consists mainly of "pollutants" - oil (40.3%), coal (31.2%), gas (23.7%). In total, they account for the vast majority of the use of energy resources - 95.2%. "Clean" types - hydropower and nuclear energy - give a total of less than 5%, and the "softest" (non-polluting) - wind, solar, geothermal - account for fractions of a percent
It is clear that the global task is to increase the share of "clean" and especially "soft" types of energy.

In addition to the gigantic area that is necessary for the development of solar and wind energy, one must also take into account the fact that their ecological "cleanliness" is taken without taking into account metal, glass and other materials necessary to create such "clean" installations, and even in huge quantities.

Conditionally "clean" is also hydropower, which can be seen at least from the indicators of the table - large losses of flooded area in floodplains, which are usually valuable agricultural lands. Hydroelectric power plants now provide 17% of all electricity in developed countries and 31% in developing countries, where the world's largest hydroelectric power plants have been built in recent years.

However, in addition to large expropriated areas, the development of hydropower was hampered by the fact that the specific capital investment here is 2-3 times higher than in the construction of nuclear power plants. In addition, the period of construction of hydroelectric power stations is much longer than thermal stations. For all these reasons, hydropower cannot provide a quick reduction in pressure on the environment.

Apparently, under these conditions, only nuclear energy can be a way out, able to sharply and in a fairly short time to weaken the "greenhouse effect".
The replacement of coal, oil and gas by nuclear power has already resulted in some reductions in emissions of CO 2 and other "greenhouse gases". If those 16% of the world's electricity production that NPPs now provide were produced by coal-fired thermal power plants, even those equipped with the most modern gas cleaners, then an additional 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide, 1 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 2 million tons of sulfur oxides and 150 thousand tons of heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury) would enter the atmosphere.

First, let's consider the possibility of increasing the share of "soft" types of energy.
In the coming years, "soft" types of energy will not be able to significantly change the fuel and energy balance of the Earth. It will take some time until their economic indicators become close to "traditional" types of energy. In addition, their ecological capacity is measured not only by the reduction of CO 2 emissions, there are other factors, in particular, the territory alienated for their development.

Global pollution of the planet

Air pollution

Man has been polluting the atmosphere for thousands of years, but the consequences of the use of fire, which he used throughout this period, were insignificant. I had to put up with the fact that the smoke interfered with breathing and that soot lay in a black cover on the ceiling and walls of the dwelling. The resulting heat was more important for a person than clean air and unsmoked cave walls. This initial air pollution was not a problem, for people then lived in small groups, occupying an immeasurably vast untouched natural environment. And even a significant concentration of people in a relatively small area, as was the case in classical antiquity, was not yet accompanied by serious consequences. This was the case until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Only in the last hundred years has the development of industry "gifted" us with such production processes, the consequences of which at first man could not yet imagine. Million-strong cities arose, the growth of which cannot be stopped. All this is the result of great inventions and conquests of man.

Basically, there are three main sources of air pollution: industry, domestic boilers, transport. The share of each of these sources in total air pollution varies greatly from place to place. It is now generally accepted that industrial production pollutes the air the most. Sources of pollution - thermal power plants, which, together with smoke, emit sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide into the air; metallurgical enterprises, especially non-ferrous metallurgy, which emit nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, fluorine, ammonia, phosphorus compounds, particles and compounds of mercury and arsenic into the air; chemical and cement plants. Harmful gases enter the air as a result of fuel combustion for industrial needs, home heating, transport, combustion and processing of household and industrial waste. Atmospheric pollutants are divided into primary, entering directly into the atmosphere, and secondary, resulting from the transformation of the latter. So, sulfur dioxide entering the atmosphere is oxidized to sulfuric anhydride, which interacts with water vapor and forms droplets of sulfuric acid. When sulfuric anhydride reacts with ammonia, ammonium sulfate crystals are formed. Similarly, as a result of chemical, photochemical, physico-chemical reactions between pollutants and atmospheric components, other secondary signs are formed. The main source of pyrogenic pollution on the planet are thermal power plants, metallurgical and chemical enterprises, boiler plants, which consume more than 70% of the annually produced solid and liquid fuels.

The main harmful impurities of pyrogenic origin are the following:
carbon monoxide, sulfurous anhydride, sulfuric anhydride, hydrogen sulfide and carbon disulfide, chlorine compounds, fluorine compounds, nitrogen oxides.

The atmosphere is also exposed to aerosol pollution. Aerosols are solid or liquid particles suspended in the air. The solid components of aerosols in some cases are especially dangerous for organisms, and cause specific diseases in humans. In the atmosphere, aerosol pollution is in the form of smoke, fog, haze or haze. A significant part of aerosols is formed in the atmosphere when solid and liquid particles interact with each other or with water vapor. About 1 cubic meter enters the Earth's atmosphere every year. km of dust particles of artificial origin. A large number of dust particles are also formed during the production activities of people. Under certain weather conditions, especially large accumulations of harmful gaseous and aerosol impurities can form in the surface air layer. This usually happens when there is an inversion in the air layer directly above the sources of gas and dust emission - the location of a layer of colder air under warm air, which prevents the movement of air masses and delays the transfer of impurities upward. As a result, harmful emissions are concentrated under the inversion layer, their content near the ground increases sharply, which becomes one of the reasons for the formation of a photochemical fog previously unknown in nature.

Photochemical fog is a multicomponent mixture of gases and aerosol particles of primary and secondary origin. The composition of the main components of smog includes ozone, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, numerous organic peroxide compounds, collectively called photooxidants. Photochemical smog occurs as a result of photochemical reactions under certain conditions: the presence of a high concentration of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other pollutants in the atmosphere, intense solar radiation and calm or very weak air exchange in the surface layer with a powerful and increased inversion for at least a day. Sustained calm weather, usually accompanied by inversions, is necessary to create a high concentration of reactants. Such conditions are created more often in June-September and less often in winter. In prolonged clear weather, solar radiation causes the breakdown of nitrogen dioxide molecules with the formation of nitric oxide and atomic oxygen. Atomic oxygen with molecular oxygen give ozone. The nitric oxide reacts with the olefins in the exhaust gases, which break down the double bond to form molecular fragments and excess ozone. As a result of the ongoing dissociation, new masses of nitrogen dioxide are split and give additional amounts of ozone. A cyclic reaction occurs, as a result of which ozone gradually accumulates in the atmosphere. This process stops at night. In turn, ozone reacts with olefins. Various peroxides are concentrated in the atmosphere, which in total form oxidants characteristic of photochemical fog. The latter are the source of the so-called free radicals, which are distinguished by a special reactivity. Such smog is not uncommon over London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and other cities in Europe and America. According to their physiological effects on the human body, they are extremely dangerous for the respiratory and circulatory systems and often cause premature death of urban residents with poor health.

Soil pollution

The soil cover of the Earth is the most important component of the Earth's biosphere. It is the soil shell that determines many processes occurring in the biosphere. The most important significance of soils is the accumulation of organic matter, various chemical elements, and energy. The soil cover functions as a biological absorber, destroyer and neutralizer of various contaminants. If this link of the biosphere is destroyed, then the existing functioning of the biosphere will be irreversibly disrupted. That is why it is extremely important to study the global biochemical significance of the soil cover, its current state and changes under the influence of anthropogenic activity. One of the types of anthropogenic impact is pesticide pollution.

The discovery of pesticides - chemical means of protecting plants and animals from various pests and diseases - is one of the most important achievements of modern science. Today in the world, 300 kg of chemicals are applied to 1 hectare of land. However, as a result of long-term use of pesticides in agricultural medicine (vector control), there is almost universally a decline in effectiveness due to the development of resistant pest strains and the spread of "new" pests whose natural enemies and competitors have been destroyed by pesticides. At the same time, the effect of pesticides began to manifest itself on a global scale. Of the huge number of insects, only 0.3% or 5 thousand species are harmful. Pesticide resistance has been found in 250 species. This is exacerbated by the phenomenon of cross-resistance, which consists in the fact that increased resistance to the action of one drug is accompanied by resistance to compounds of other classes. From a general biological point of view, resistance can be considered as a change in populations as a result of the transition from a sensitive strain to a resistant strain of the same species due to selection caused by pesticides. This phenomenon is associated with genetic, physiological and biochemical rearrangements of organisms. Excessive use of pesticides adversely affects soil quality. In this regard, the fate of pesticides in soils and the possibility of neutralizing them by chemical and biological methods are being intensively studied. It is very important to create and use only drugs with a short lifespan, measured in weeks or months. Some progress has already been made in this area and drugs with a high rate of destruction are being introduced, but the problem as a whole has not yet been resolved.

One of the most acute global problems of today and the foreseeable future is the problem of increasing acidity of precipitation and soil cover. Areas of acidic soils do not know droughts, but their natural fertility is lowered and unstable; they are rapidly depleted and yields are low. Acid rain causes not only acidification of surface waters and upper soil horizons. Acidity with downward water flows extends to the entire soil profile and causes significant acidification of groundwater.

Water pollution

Any body of water or water source is associated with its external environment. It is influenced by the conditions for the formation of surface or underground water runoff, various natural phenomena, industry, industrial and municipal construction, transport, economic and domestic human activities. The consequence of these influences is the introduction of new, unusual substances into the aquatic environment - pollutants that degrade water quality. Pollution entering the aquatic environment is classified in different ways, depending on the approaches, criteria and tasks. So, usually allocate chemical, physical and biological pollution. Chemical pollution is a change in the natural chemical properties of water due to an increase in the content of harmful impurities in it, both inorganic (mineral salts, acids, alkalis, clay particles) and organic nature (oil and oil products, organic residues, surfactants, pesticides).

The main inorganic (mineral) pollutants of fresh and marine waters are a variety of chemical compounds that are toxic to the inhabitants of the aquatic environment. These are compounds of arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, copper, fluorine. Most of them end up in water as a result of human activities. Heavy metals are absorbed by phytoplankton and then transferred through the food chain to more highly organized organisms.

Among the soluble substances introduced into the ocean from land, not only mineral and biogenic elements, but also organic residues are of great importance for the inhabitants of the aquatic environment. The removal of organic matter into the ocean is estimated at 300 - 380 million tons/year. Wastewater containing suspensions of organic origin or dissolved organic matter adversely affects the condition of water bodies. When settling, the suspensions flood the bottom and delay the development or completely stop the vital activity of these microorganisms involved in the process of water self-purification. When these sediments rot, harmful compounds and toxic substances, such as hydrogen sulfide, can be formed, which lead to pollution of all the water in the river. The presence of suspensions also makes it difficult for light to penetrate deep into the water and slows down the processes of photosynthesis. One of the main sanitary requirements for water quality is the content of the required amount of oxygen in it. Harmful effect is exerted by all contaminants that in one way or another contribute to the reduction of oxygen content in water. Surfactants - fats, oils, lubricants - form a film on the surface of the water, which prevents gas exchange between water and the atmosphere, which reduces the degree of saturation of water with oxygen. A significant amount of organic matter, most of which is not characteristic of natural waters, is discharged into rivers along with industrial and domestic wastewater. Increasing pollution of water bodies and drains is observed in all industrial countries.

Due to the rapid pace of urbanization and the somewhat slow construction of sewage treatment plants or their unsatisfactory operation, water basins and soil are polluted with household waste. Pollution is especially noticeable in slow-flowing or stagnant water bodies (reservoirs, lakes). Decomposing in the aquatic environment, organic waste can become a medium for pathogenic organisms. Water contaminated with organic waste becomes almost unsuitable for drinking and other needs. Household waste is dangerous not only because it is a source of some human diseases (typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera), but also because it requires a lot of oxygen for its decomposition. If domestic wastewater enters the reservoir in very large quantities, then the content of soluble oxygen may drop below the level necessary for the life of marine and freshwater organisms.

radioactive contamination

Radioactive contamination poses a particular danger to humans and their environment. This is due to the fact that ionizing radiation has an intense and constant detrimental effect on living organisms, and the sources of this radiation are widespread in the environment. Radioactivity - spontaneous decay of atomic nuclei, leading to a change in their atomic number or mass number and accompanied by alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Alpha radiation is a stream of heavy particles, consisting of protons and neutrons. It is delayed by a sheet of paper and is not able to penetrate human skin. However, it becomes extremely dangerous if it enters the body. Beta radiation has a higher penetrating power and passes through human tissue by 1 - 2 cm. Gamma radiation can only be delayed by a thick lead or concrete slab.

The levels of terrestrial radiation are not the same in different areas and depend on the concentration of radionuclides near the surface. Anomalous radiation fields of natural origin are formed when certain types of granites and other igneous formations with an increased emanation coefficient are enriched with uranium, thorium, at deposits of radioactive elements in various rocks, with the modern introduction of uranium, radium, radon into underground and surface waters, geological environment. High radioactivity is often characterized by coals, phosphorites, oil shale, some clays and sands, including beach ones. Zones of increased radioactivity are unevenly distributed on the territory of Russia. They are known both in the European part and in the Trans-Urals, in the Polar Urals, in Western Siberia, the Baikal region, in the Far East, Kamchatka, and the Northeast. In most geochemically specialized rock complexes for radioactive elements, a significant part of uranium is in a mobile state, is easily extracted and enters surface and underground waters, then into the food chain. It is the natural sources of ionizing radiation in the zones of anomalous radioactivity that make the main contribution (up to 70%) to the total exposure dose to the population, equal to 420 mrem/year. At the same time, these sources can create high levels of radiation that affect human life for a long time and cause various diseases, including genetic changes in the body. If sanitary and hygienic inspection is carried out at uranium mines and appropriate measures are taken to protect the health of employees, then the impact of natural radiation due to radionuclides in rocks and natural waters has been studied extremely poorly. In the uranium province of Athabasca (Canada), the Wallastone biogeochemical anomaly with an area of ​​about 3,000 km 2 was revealed, expressed by high concentrations of uranium in the needles of black Canadian spruce and associated with the flow of its aerosols along active deep faults. On the territory of Russia, such anomalies are known in Transbaikalia.

Among natural radionuclides, radon and its daughter decay products (radium, etc.) have the greatest radiation-genetic significance. Their contribution to the total radiation dose per capita is more than 50%. The radon problem is currently considered a priority in developed countries and is given increased attention by the ICRP and the UN ICDA. The danger of radon lies in its wide distribution, high penetrating ability and migration mobility, decay with the formation of radium and other highly radioactive products. Radon is colorless, odorless and is considered an "invisible enemy", a threat to millions of people in Western Europe and North America.

In Russia, the radon problem began to pay attention only in recent years. The territory of our country in relation to radon is poorly studied. The information obtained in previous decades allows us to assert that radon is also widespread in the Russian Federation both in the surface layer of the atmosphere, subsoil air, and in groundwater, including sources of drinking water supply.

According to the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene, the highest concentration of radon and its daughter decay products in the air of residential premises, recorded in our country, corresponds to an exposure dose to the human lungs of 3-4 thousand rem per year, which exceeds the MPC by 2-3 orders of magnitude. It is assumed that due to the poor knowledge of the radon problem in Russia, it is possible to detect high concentrations of radon in residential and industrial premises in a number of regions.

These primarily include the radon "spot" that captures Lakes Onega and Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland, a wide zone traced from the Middle Urals in a western direction, the southern part of the Western Urals, the Polar Urals, the Yenisei Ridge, the Western Baikal Region, the Amur Region, the northern part of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Chukotka Peninsula.

The radon problem is especially relevant for megacities and large cities, where there are data on the entry of radon into groundwater and the geological environment along active deep faults (St. Petersburg, Moscow).

Every inhabitant of the Earth in the last 50 years has been exposed to radioactive fallout caused by nuclear explosions in the atmosphere in connection with nuclear weapons testing. The maximum number of these tests took place in 1954 - 1958. and in 1961 - 1962.

At the same time, a significant part of the radionuclides was released into the atmosphere, quickly carried in it over long distances, and slowly descended to the Earth's surface over many months.

During the processes of fission of atomic nuclei, more than 20 radionuclides are formed with half-lives from fractions of a second to several billion years.

The second anthropogenic source of ionizing radiation of the population is the products of the operation of nuclear power facilities.

Although the release of radionuclides into the environment during normal operation of nuclear power plants is insignificant, the Chernobyl accident in 1986 showed the extremely high potential danger of nuclear energy.

The global effect of radioactive contamination of Chernobyl is due to the fact that during the accident, radionuclides were released into the stratosphere and for several days were recorded in Western Europe, then in Japan, the USA and other countries.

During the first uncontrolled explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, highly radioactive "hot particles" that are very dangerous when they enter the human body, which are finely dispersed fragments of graphite rods and other structures of a nuclear reactor, entered the environment.

The resulting radioactive cloud covered a vast territory. The total area of ​​contamination as a result of the Chernobyl accident with cesium-137 with a density of 1 -5 Ci/km 2 in Russia alone in 1995 amounted to about 50,000 km 2 .

Of the products of NPP activity, tritium is of particular danger, accumulating in the station's circulating water and then entering the cooling pond and hydrographic network, drainless reservoirs, groundwater, and the surface atmosphere.

At present, the radiation situation in Russia is determined by the global radioactive background, the presence of contaminated territories due to the Chernobyl (1986) and Kyshtym (1957) accidents, the operation of uranium deposits, the nuclear fuel cycle, ship nuclear power plants, regional radioactive waste storage facilities, as well as anomalous zones of ionizing radiation associated with terrestrial (natural) sources of radionuclides.

Death and deforestation

One of the causes of forest death in many regions of the world is acid rain, the main culprit of which is power plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions and long-range transport cause these rains to fall far from emission sources. In Austria, eastern Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, more than 60% of the sulfur deposited on their territory comes from external sources, and in Norway even 75%. Other examples of long-range transport of acids are acid rain on remote Atlantic islands such as Bermuda and acid snow in the Arctic.

Over the past 20 years (1970 - 1990), the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forests, which is equal to the area of ​​the United States east of the Mississippi. Especially great environmental threat is the depletion of tropical forests - the "lungs of the planet" and the main source of the planet's biological diversity. Approximately 200 thousand square kilometers are cut down or burned there every year, which means that 100 thousand (!) Species of plants and animals disappear. This process is especially fast in the regions richest in tropical forests - the Amazon and Indonesia.

The British ecologist N. Meyers concluded that ten small areas in the tropics contain at least 27% of the total species composition of this class of plant formations, later this list was expanded to 15 "hot spots" of tropical forests that must be preserved at all costs.

In developed countries, acid rain caused damage to a significant part of the forest: in Czechoslovakia - 71%, in Greece and Great Britain - 64%, in Germany - 52%.

The current situation with forests is very different across the continents. If in Europe and Asia the forested areas for 1974 - 1989 increased slightly, then in Australia they decreased by 2.6% in one year. Even greater forest degradation is taking place in individual countries: in Côte d'Ivoire, forest areas decreased by 5.4% over the year, in Thailand - by 4.3%, in Paraguay - by 3.4%.

desertification

Under the influence of living organisms, water and air, the most important ecosystem, thin and fragile, is gradually formed on the surface layers of the lithosphere - the soil, which is called the "skin of the Earth". It is the keeper of fertility and life. A handful of good soil contains millions of microorganisms that support fertility. It takes a century to form a layer of soil with a thickness (thickness) of 1 centimeter. It can be lost in one field season. Geologists estimate that before people began to engage in agricultural activities, graze livestock and plow land, rivers annually carried about 9 billion tons of soil into the oceans. Now this amount is estimated at about 25 billion tons.

Soil erosion - a purely local phenomenon - has now become universal. In the US, for example, about 44% of cultivated land is subject to erosion. Unique rich chernozems with 14–16% humus content (organic matter that determines soil fertility) disappeared in Russia, which were called the citadel of Russian agriculture. In Russia, the areas of the most fertile lands with a humus content of 12% have decreased by almost 5 times.

A particularly difficult situation arises when not only the soil layer is demolished, but also the parent rock on which it develops. Then the threshold of irreversible destruction sets in, an anthropogenic (that is, man-made) desert arises.
One of the most formidable, global and fleeting processes of our time is the expansion of desertification, the fall and, in the most extreme cases, the complete destruction of the biological potential of the Earth, which leads to conditions similar to those of a natural desert.

Natural deserts and semi-deserts occupy more than 1/3 of the earth's surface. About 15% of the world's population lives on these lands. Deserts are natural formations that play a certain role in the overall ecological balance of the planet's landscapes.

As a result of human activity, by the last quarter of the 20th century, more than 9 million square kilometers of deserts appeared, and in total they already covered 43% of the total land area.

In the 1990s, desertification began to threaten 3.6 million hectares of drylands. This represents 70% of the potentially productive drylands, or ¼ of the total land area, and this figure does not include the area of ​​natural deserts. About 1/6 of the world's population suffers from this process.
According to UN experts, the current loss of productive land will lead to the fact that by the end of the century the world may lose almost 1/3 of its arable land. Such a loss, at a time of unprecedented population growth and increased food demand, could be truly disastrous.

Causes of land degradation in different regions of the world:

	deforestation	Overexploitation	Overgrazing	Agricultural activity	Industrialization
The whole world
North America
South America
Central America

Global warming

The sharp warming of the climate that began in the second half of the century is a reliable fact. We feel it in milder than before winters. The average temperature of the surface layer of air, compared with 1956-1957, when the First International Geophysical Year was held, increased by 0.7°C. There is no warming at the equator, but the closer to the poles, the more noticeable it is. Beyond the Arctic Circle it reaches 2°C. At the North Pole, under-ice water warmed by 1°C and the ice cover began to melt from below.

What is the reason for this phenomenon? Some scientists believe that this is the result of the burning of a huge mass of organic fuel and the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas, that is, it makes it difficult to transfer heat from the Earth's surface.

So what is the greenhouse effect? Billions of tons of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere every hour as a result of burning coal and oil, natural gas and firewood, millions of tons of methane rise into the atmosphere from gas extraction, from the rice fields of Asia, water vapor, fluorochlorocarbons are emitted there. All of these are "greenhouse gases". As in a greenhouse, a glass roof and walls let in solar radiation, but do not allow heat to escape, so carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" are practically transparent to the sun's rays, but retain long-wave thermal radiation from the Earth, preventing it from escaping into space.

The outstanding Russian scientist V.I. Vernadsky said that the impact of mankind is already comparable to geological processes.

The "energy boom" of the outgoing century increased the concentration of CO 2 in the atmosphere by 25% and methane by 100%. During this time, the Earth experienced a real warming. Most scientists consider this a consequence of the "greenhouse effect".

Other scientists, referring to climate change in historical time, consider the anthropogenic factor of climate warming negligible and attribute this phenomenon to increased solar activity.

The forecast for the future (2030 - 2050) assumes a possible increase in temperature by 1.5 - 4.5°C. These conclusions were reached by the International Conference of Climatologists in Austria in 1988.

In connection with climate warming, a number of related issues arise. What are the prospects for its further development? How will warming affect the increase in evaporation from the surface of the oceans and how will this affect the amount of precipitation? How will this precipitation be distributed over the area? And a number of more specific questions related to the territory of Russia: in connection with the warming and general humidification of the climate, can we expect mitigation of droughts in the Lower Volga region and in the North Caucasus (should we expect an increase in the flow of the Volga and a further rise in the level of the Caspian Sea; will the retreat of permafrost begin in Yakutia and the Magadan region; will navigation along the northern coast of Siberia become easier?

All these questions can be answered accurately. However, for this, various scientific studies must be carried out.

Bibliography

Monin A.S., Shishkov Yu.A. Global environmental problems. Moscow: Knowledge, 1991. Problems 6 Human and environment: History of interaction 6 Global environmental Problems modernity 9 Global environmental Problems ...

1. Global environmental Problems (3)

   Abstract >> Ecology

   Generations to meet their needs. giving birth global environmental Problems, exhausting non-renewable resources, polluting the environment ...

2. Global environmental Problems (5)

   Abstract >> Ecology

   Plan Modern global environmental Problems and ways to solve them Global environmental Problems and ways to solve them ... first of all - ecological. Global environmental Problems and ways to solve them. Today ecological situation in the world...

Political, economic and social problems that concern the interests of all countries and peoples, of all mankind, are called global. Global problems arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when, as a result of colonial conquests, all the inhabited territories of the world were divided between the leading countries and involved in the world economy. At this time, the first global political crisis was born, which resulted in the First World War.

All global problems can be divided into political, economic, demographic, social and environmental. The most dangerous political problems for humanity are: a) war and peace and arms races on a global scale; b) economic and political confrontation between East and West, North and South; c) resolution of regional religious and military-political conflicts in Europe, Asia and Africa. Ecological problems took second place: the destruction of natural resources, environmental pollution, and the impoverishment of the gene pool of the biosphere.

Demographic problems in different regions of the world are very diverse. For third world countries, a characteristic "demographic explosion", and in developed countries there is an aging and depopulation of the population. Numerous social problems (health care, education, science and culture, social security) require a large amount of funds and training of qualified specialists to solve them. Humanity has achieved the greatest success in recent decades in solving global economic problems - raw materials and energy. However, in many regions of the world, these problems, as well as another one - the food problem - are very acute. Such intersectoral problems as the development of the oceans and outer space are becoming increasingly important.

With the beginning of the XXI century. Steady and well-known trends are shaping the future of civilization, namely: population growth, rising temperatures, falling water tables, shrinking crop areas per capita, deforestation, loss of plant and animal species, energy crisis, and others. The anticipated population growth over the next half century may have more impact on the development of the economy than any other trend, deepening almost all other environmental and social problems.

In general, a problem is a theoretical or practical issue that requires research and solution, and a problem situation is a set of circumstances that require research. It becomes ecological when it is based on the use of an ecological approach, which involves the study of the environment due to the living conditions of living organisms, including humans. In this case, the environment is considered as a set of factors of existence of the population. And an environmental problem is an unsolved problem, not a process. It cannot be negative or positive as a situation, environment, state.

So, the ecological problem is understood as an unexplored or poorly developed aspect of the interaction between man and the environment, which requires further research and solution. At the same time, it is necessary to consider two social functions of the natural environment - the life support of mankind as part of wildlife and the provision of production with the necessary natural resources. Environmental problems are contradictions that arise in the system of material, energy, informational relations of society with the natural environment, their impact on a person and the conditions of his life.

Another concept is "environmental crisis". By definition, N.F. Reimers (1990), an ecological crisis is a tense state of relations between humanity and nature, characterized by a discrepancy between the development of productive forces and production relations in human society and the resource and ecological capabilities of the biosphere. The ecological crisis is characterized not only and not so much by the intensified action of man on nature, but also by a sharp increase in the influence of nature changed by people on social development. The current ecological crisis is global in nature and covers the entire biosphere. It is a consequence of the totality of the economic activity of our civilization and is manifested in a change in the characteristics of the natural environment on a planetary scale.

The population of the planet since the beginning of the XX century. increased by more than three times, and the area occupied by vegetation - a source of oxygen production - decreased by a third during this time. Erosion annually destroys 26 billion hectares of fertile soils in the world. Over the past 100 years, the carbon content in the atmosphere has increased 10 times. And this is not surprising, because over the past 30 years, 50% of the tropical forests of Asia and Latin America, which absorbed carbon, have been destroyed. Due to air pollution, more than half of the trees in Germany and other Western European countries have been damaged. As a result of human activity, a real threat of the greenhouse climate effect has appeared.

Due to the rapid growth of the world's population, many other problems arise. The demographic problem is especially acute in developing countries, and hundreds of millions of people are still doomed to hunger and poverty; 40% of the population is illiterate; about 800 million people are permanently malnourished; the annual income of half of the population does not exceed $120 per person. Developing countries still remain the global center of tense situations and military conflicts.

Despite this, it is possible to define global problems as global, concerning the interests of all nations and states, all classes, social groups, political parties, public organizations and each person in particular. Like any social phenomenon, global problems require systematization and classification. It is proposed to divide them into two large groups. The first group combines the problems operating in the "man - nature" system, the second - problems in the "man - man" system. The first group includes:

Problems of the Earth's population and its life support (food, energy, raw materials, as well as demographic problems);

Problems of environmental protection (they are called ecological)

The problem of space exploration and the World Ocean;

The problem of preventing natural disasters and dealing with their consequences.

The second group includes:

The problem of eliminating backwardness (economic, cultural, etc.) of developing countries;

Ensuring the security of development and enhancement of spiritual culture;

The problem of improving education, informatics;

The problem of combating crime, drug addiction and other negative social phenomena, in particular international terrorism;

The problem of the fight against dangerous diseases, especially those that are associated with social problems (AIDS, etc.);

One of the most acute is the problem of maintaining peace throughout the world.

There is another division of global problems - by nature. First, these are predominantly socio-political problems (prevention of nuclear war, cessation of the arms race; peaceful resolution of regional, interstate and interethnic armed conflicts, strengthening of the common security system). Secondly, these are socio-economic problems (overcoming economic and related cultural backwardness and poverty, finding ways to solve the energy, raw material and food crisis; optimizing the demographic situation, especially in developing countries; developing the near-Earth space and the World Ocean for peaceful purposes).

The third group includes social and environmental problems caused by environmental pollution, the need for rational use of the natural resource potential of the planet. And finally, the fourth group covers human problems (ensuring social, economic, individual rights and freedoms, fighting hunger, epidemic diseases, cultural backwardness; overcoming human alienation from nature, society, the state, other people and the results of one's own life).

Each section of problems makes it possible to trace the relationships both within each of the groups and between groups, because each problem is intertwined and interacts with another. So, any efforts aimed at protecting the environment lose their meaning if humanity is in a state of thermonuclear war; the solution of the environmental problem largely depends on the solution of the problems of poverty and underdevelopment, because the continuous destruction of many species of animals and plants will continue until the debt of developing countries decreases. The modern movement of global problems to the center of political life contributes to the development of constructive programs for solving at the international level.

With the development of civilization and scientific and technological progress, the rapid growth of the population on Earth, the volume of production and its waste, the problems of relations between nature and society are becoming more acute. Hunger, poisoned rivers and seas, stifling harmful air in large industrial centers, lost forests, hundreds of missing species of animals and plants, the threat of climatic anomalies, erosion and almost complete depletion of soils in agricultural areas have become a terrible reality. The primary source and root cause of the rapid development of the global environmental crisis is, according to international experts, a population explosion, which is inevitably accompanied by an increase in the rate and volume of reduction of natural resources, the accumulation of a huge amount of production and household waste, environmental pollution, global climate change, diseases, hunger, and, in the end, extinction.

With the development of energy, chemistry, metallurgy and mechanical engineering of the world, the accumulation of waste from synthetic washing powders, petroleum products, heavy metals, nitrates, radionuclides, pesticides and other harmful substances began to threaten; The consequences of this are complications in obtaining the necessary substances, energy and information from the natural environment; pollution of the environment by production waste; violation of information links in nature, depletion of biological diversity; deterioration in the health of the population, the state of the economy, and social stability.

The problem of exhaustion and depletion of natural resources. There are natural resources in the world, which cannot be controlled and stored by the efforts of individual states alone. They are either located in the international space (high seas, space), or mixed between different countries and continents. These are the atmospheric air, the resources of the World Ocean and fresh water, the natural resources of Antarctica, animals, migrate. It is possible to use and protect them only under the condition of international cooperation.

There is a real danger of exhaustion or depletion of the Earth's known and available resources: iron ore, copper, nickel, manganese, chromium, aluminum, not to mention oil and gas. The solution to this problem requires the integrated use of raw materials, the introduction of resource-saving technologies, and the regeneration of secondary resources. Since development is inherently linked to the exploitation of natural resources, economic and technical decisions must take into account environmental aspects. Particularly acute in this case is the problem of rational development of energy.

global energy problem. In the modern structure of the energy balance of the world energy industry, traditional energy carriers - oil and gas, coal, and uranium - predominate. The main types of fuel on the planet are extremely uneven. Therefore, it is quite obvious that the main problems of this economic system are the need to restructure the world energy sector, change its structure, introduce energy-saving technologies, and use alternative energy sources. In addition, the development of the energy sector must certainly slow down the pace of development, since thermal pollution is already noticeable today - an increase in temperature.

The problem of rational use of land resources and food production. The development of the agricultural sector is associated with an increase in the anthropogenic impact on the natural environment and is stimulated by the aggravation of the demographic situation on the planet. In certain regions, for example, in eastern and central Africa, southern and southeastern Asia; in South America - in the mountainous regions of the Andes and Amazonia, a tense situation has developed with the provision of food to the population, the cause of which is inequality in the socio-economic development of countries and, in some places, natural disasters.

But the problem of providing the world with food is not that the world lacks agricultural products (the planet produces enough grain, meat, sugar, vegetables, etc. per capita), but that the location of their production does not coincide with the geography of food demand. North America and Western Europe have a surplus of agricultural products. At the same time, in developing countries, agricultural productivity is still too low. So, the way to solve the problem is to look for opportunities to increase agricultural productivity, especially in developing countries.

An important problem is the use of the resources of the World Ocean - biological, mineral, energy. The ocean is also the "lungs" of the planet, which provides the bulk of the regeneration of oxygen (forests play such a role on land) and is a kind of temperature regulator on the globe. Economic activity in the World Ocean intensified especially in the second half of the 20th century. Increased production of mineral resources (oil, gas, deposits of manganese nodules, magnesium, etc.), which is accompanied by increased pollution of the oceans. The catch of fish and other seafood is approaching the maximum allowable indicators. Such areas of the World Ocean as the Caribbean, the North and Baltic, the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Persian Gulf, and waters off the southern coast of the Japanese Islands are heavily polluted.

Unfortunately, this list of global environmental problems of mankind can be continued for a long time. A special place among them is occupied by the energy problem, which has been associated with the concept of "energy crisis" for several decades.

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.

08/16/2017 article

TEXT ECOCOSM

The expression "global environmental problems" is familiar to everyone, but we do not always realize how serious the semantic load it carries.

Global means worldwide, total, embracing the entire planet. That is, the problems in question are directly related to each of us, and it is difficult to imagine their consequences.

Planetary climate change

Such a problem of mankind as global warming is closely connected with the strengthening of the greenhouse effect - these two concepts are practically inseparable. The optical properties of the atmosphere are in many ways similar to the properties of glass: by letting in sunlight, it allows the surface of the Earth to heat up, but its opacity to infrared radiation serves as an obstacle to the escape of rays emitted by the heated surface into space. The accumulated heat leads to an increase in the temperature in the lower layers of the atmosphere, called global warming. The consequences are very sad - unable to withstand the high temperature, the Arctic ice begins to melt, raising the water level in the ocean. In addition to the melting of ice, warming entails a number of other changes that are detrimental to our planet:

• more frequent floods;
• an increase in populations of harmful insects - carriers of deadly diseases - and their spread to countries with a previously cool climate;
• hurricanes - the consequences of an increase in the temperature of ocean waters;
• drying up of rivers and lakes, reduction of drinking water reserves in lands with an arid climate;
• intensification of volcanic activity associated with the melting of mountain glaciers and the subsequent erosion of rocks;
• an increase in the amount of plankton in the ocean, leading to an increase in the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere;
• reduction in the diversity of biological species on Earth: according to scientists, the number of plant and animal species as a result of droughts threatens to decrease by about 30%;
• numerous forest fires caused by global warming.

There are several causes of global warming, and not all of them are anthropogenic. For example, in the case of volcanic activity, we are dealing with a vicious circle: a volcanic eruption leads to the release of carbon dioxide and a violation of the protective ozone layer, which in turn causes new eruptions. There is a theory according to which it was precisely this circular dependence that led the planet to alternating glacial and interglacial periods, each of which lasts approximately a hundred thousand years.

The second most popular theory related to the climate future of the planet is the theory of "global cooling" Ecocosm

The very fact of an increase in average temperatures over the past 100 years is not denied by anyone, but the reasons for these changes and forecasts may be different. The theory of global warming also has its weaknesses. This is also a short period of time on the basis of which conclusions are drawn about climate change. After all, the history of our planet has about 4.5 billion years, during which time the climate of the planet has changed a huge number of times without human intervention. It also completely ignores other greenhouse gases such as methane or even water vapor. And the most important statement of the theory of global warming - carbon dioxide of anthropogenic origin causes an increase in temperature on the entire planet, can be questioned. After all, an increase in global temperatures caused by a non-anthropogenic factor can lead to an increase in biomass in the ocean, which, in the process of photosynthesis, begins to produce more carbon dioxide.

In modern science, there is another view of global warming. The second most popular theory related to the planet's climate future is the cyclical or "global cooling" theory. She says that there is nothing extraordinary in the current processes of climate change. These are just climatic cycles. And we really need to wait not for warming, but for a new ice age.

This theory is confirmed by the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences based on an analysis of the Earth's climate over the past 250 thousand years. The data obtained during the drilling of ice over Lake Vostok in Antarctica indicate that the Earth's climate is changing regularly, cyclically. The main reasons for these cycles are cosmic (changes in the angle of the earth's axis, changes in the plane of the ecliptic, etc.) And now we are living in the interglacial period, which has been going on for about 10,000 years. But it's too early to rejoice, because it must certainly be replaced by a new ice age. During the last one, which ended only 8000-10000 BP, the ice sheet over Moscow was several hundred meters. This theory suggests that a new glacier should be expected in a few thousand years.

But we should not relax, whichever of these theories of climate change turns out to be correct, in the near future we can see an increase in average temperature caused by anthropogenic activities. Even if the theory of cyclicity turns out to be correct, i.e., in a few thousand years we will face global cooling, the greenhouse effect caused by industrial carbon dioxide emissions will have an impact on the climate in the next 100 years. And until temperatures begin to drop dramatically as a result of cyclicality, we will experience all the negative consequences of global warming that scientists scare us with. Therefore, the idea of ​​a distant global cooling cannot compensate for the catastrophic phenomena that we are already beginning to observe.

The relationship of this problem with a number of others indicates its serious scale.

Destruction of the ozone layer

The height of the ozone layer in different latitudes can vary from 15 - 20 km (in polar regions) to 25 - 30 (in tropical regions). This part of the stratosphere contains the largest amount of ozone, a gas formed by the interaction of solar ultraviolet radiation and oxygen atoms. The layer serves as a kind of filter that blocks ultraviolet radiation that causes skin cancer. Is it necessary to say how important the integrity of the precious layer is for the Earth and its inhabitants?

However, the evidence of experts regarding the state of the ozone layer is disappointing: in certain areas there is a significant decrease in the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere, leading to the formation of ozone holes. One of the largest holes was discovered in 1985 over Antarctica. Even earlier, in the early 80s, the same site, although smaller in area, was seen in the Arctic region.

Causes and consequences of the appearance of ozone holes

Until recently, it was believed that the ozone layer is significantly affected during the flights of aircraft and spacecraft. However, to date, in the course of numerous studies, it has been proven that the work of transport has only a minor impact on the state of the ozone layer in comparison with other causes:

• natural processes that do not depend on human activity (for example, a lack of ultraviolet radiation in winter);
• human activity leading to the reaction of ozone molecules with substances that destroy them (bromine, chlorine, etc.), which, however, does not currently have sufficient practical evidence

Ozone can have not only the form of a blue gas, but also be in a liquid or solid state - respectively, acquiring a shade of indigo or blue-black.

If the entire ozone layer of the Earth took the form of a solid, its thickness would be no more than 2-3 mm Ecocosm

It is easy to imagine how fragile and vulnerable this shell that protects the planet from sizzling ultraviolet radiation.

Reducing the thickness of the ozone layer can cause irreparable harm to all life on Earth. Ultraviolet rays can not only cause skin cancer in humans, but also cause the death of marine plankton - an important link in the food chain of any marine ecosystem, the violation of which is ultimately fraught with starvation for the human race. The impoverishment of food sources for many peoples can turn into bloody wars for fertile territories, as has happened more than once throughout the history of mankind.

Depletion of fresh water sources and their pollution

Despite the fact that more than 70% of the Earth's surface is covered with water, only 2.5% of it is fresh, and only 30% of the Earth's population is fully provided with water suitable for consumption. At the same time, surface water, the main renewable source, is gradually depleted over time.

Bad water and the diseases it carries kill 25 million people every year Ecocosm

If in the 70s of the XX century the available annual amount of water per person was 11 thousand cubic meters, then by the end of the century this number had decreased to 6.5 thousand. However, these are average figures. There are nations on earth whose water supply is 1-2 thousand cubic meters of water per year per capita (South Africa), while in other regions this amount is equal to 100 thousand cubic meters.

Why is this happening?

Along with an acute shortage of fresh water, existing resources are far from always suitable for using them without jeopardizing the health of Ecocosm

The primary reason that the water in the rivers turned into a poisonous slurry is, of course, human activity. Of the three sources of pollution - industrial, agricultural and household - the first occupies a leading position in terms of harmful emissions into rivers and lakes. Water polluted by industrial enterprises is very difficult to treat.

Fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture tend to accumulate in the soil, inevitably polluting surface water. A significant contribution to the increase in the concentration of harmful substances in water is made by wastewater from urban areas, garbage and exhaust gases.

Soil pollution and depletion, desertification

The irrational use of natural resources, in particular soil, often leads to their depletion. Overgrazing, over-plowing and fertilization, and deforestation are short and sure paths to soil degradation and desertification. Forest fires also cause great harm, most often the result of the irresponsible behavior of lovers of romance. In the dry summer period, it is not even necessary to leave the fire unattended for a fire to break out - just one spark, picked up by the wind, is enough to get into the thick of dry needles on an old pine.

The scorched territories for a long time turn into bare wastelands, unsuitable for the small number of animals that were lucky enough to survive in the flames of the fire. Subject to erosion by strong winds and heavy rains, these lands become lifeless and useless.

Clay, silt and sand are the three main constituents of soil. Deprived of vegetation, the surface of the earth ceases to be protected and reliably fortified by roots. Rains quickly wash away the silt, leaving instead only sand and clay, which have minimal relation to soil fertility - and the desertification mechanism is launched.

Incorrect human agricultural activities, as well as industrial enterprises that pollute the soil with wastewater containing compounds hazardous to health, cause no less harm to land resources.

Atmospheric pollution

Emissions of chemical compounds into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of industrial enterprises contribute to the concentration of uncharacteristic substances in it - sulfur, nitrogen and other chemical elements. As a result, qualitative changes occur not only in the air itself: a decrease in the pH value in precipitation, which occurs due to the presence of these substances in the atmosphere, leads to the formation of acid rain.

Acid precipitation can cause great harm not only to living organisms, but also to objects made of durable materials - cars, buildings and world heritage sites often become their victims. Rains with a low pH level contribute to the ingress of toxic compounds into underground sources, poisoning the water.

Household waste

Domestic waste, simply called garbage, is a danger to humanity no less than all other environmental problems. The volumes of old packaging and used plastic bottles are so large that, if you do not get rid of them, in the next couple of years, humanity will drown in a continuous stream of its own garbage.

Most landfills make room for new waste by burning the old. At the same time, plastic emits toxic smoke into the atmosphere, which returns to the earth as part of acid rain. Burials of plastic are no less harmful: decomposing over millennia, this material will slowly but surely poison the soil with toxic emissions.

In addition to plastic containers, humanity "thanks" nature for its gifts and such things as mountains of discarded plastic bags, batteries, broken glass and rubber items.

Reduction of the gene pool of the biosphere

It would be strange to assume that all of the above problems will in no way affect the abundance and diversity of living organisms on Earth. The strong interconnection between ecosystems contributes to serious disturbances within each of them, provided that at least one link falls out of the food chain.

The average lifespan of each species is 1.5 - 2 million years - after its extinction, new ones appear. Ecocosm

The average lifespan of each species is 1.5 - 2 million years - after its disappearance, new ones appear. So it was before modern civilization made its own adjustments to this process. Today, the species diversity of the planet is reduced by 150-200 species every year, which leads to an inevitable ecological catastrophe.

The reduction in the habitat area of ​​many animals contributes to the impoverishment of species diversity to a special extent. Only the areas of tropical forests have decreased by 50% over the past 200 years - growing cities are gradually crowding out their inhabitants from the planet, depriving them of shelter and food sources.

What we can do?

It's time for each of us to ask this question, since nature's resources are not unlimited.

An ordinary person cannot stop the work of an industrial enterprise that pours wastewater into the river. We cannot refuse to use transport. However, everyone can train themselves to do a few simple and useful things that do not require much time, but give tangible results.

Waste sorting

This step is not at all a call to dig in the trash can, sorting through the waste. It is enough just to fold plastic bottles and paper separately from the rest of the garbage, so that later they can be lowered into containers specially designed for this. Glass, on the other hand, would be most reasonable to hand over to a glass container collection point - it will be used as a recyclable material.

Proper disposal of household items

Many things, such as thermometers, batteries, energy-saving lamps or computer monitors, should not be thrown away with the rest of the garbage, as they are sources of toxic substances that poison the soil when they enter it. Such things should be handed over to special collection points, where they are disposed of, observing all safety rules.

For everyone who does not yet know where the nearest collection point for obsolete thermometers or batteries is located, enthusiasts have created special maps on which all points in every city in Russia or any other country are marked. Only a small thing is left for you - to find the right point and hand over dangerous trash to specialists, saving the life of more than one living creature.

Refusal of plastic bags and containers

Giving up plastic bags is not only healthy, but also very stylish. In recent years, the popularity of plastic bags has significantly decreased in European countries, giving way to original bags made from environmentally friendly materials. Such a thing will help protect not only nature, but also the owner’s budget - if it gets dirty, you don’t need to throw it away to buy a new one: linen bags can be washed many times.

Humanity has a power on this planet that can cause great damage to it. Ecocosm People or climate change: why Australia's megafauna died out