What is the environmental problem. Environmental problems of the world. Reducing biological diversity

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Global problems are generated by the contradictions of social development, a sharply increased scope of the impact of human activity to the world around and is also associated with the unevenness of the socio-economic and scientific and technical development of countries and regions. Solving global problems requires deploying international cooperation.

The most important global environmental problems facing the modern man, the following: environmental pollution, greenhouse effect, the depletion of the "ozone layer", photochemical smoking, acid rain, soil degradation, deforesting, desertification, waste problems, reduction of the gene pooofera, etc.

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

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

As a result of anthropogenic effects (fuel combustion and industrial emissions), carbon dioxide content, methane, dust, fluorochlorogenic connections (and other gases absorbing in the infrared range) in the atmosphere of land gradually increases. The mixture of dust and gases acts as a polyethylene film over a greenhouse: the solar light is well passed to the soil surface, but it delays the heat dissipated over the soil - as a result, a warm microclimate is created under the film.

It is possible that the strengthening of the greenhouse effect as a result of this process can lead to global changes in the climate of the Earth, the melting of glaciers and the rise in the world's ocean.

Acid rains are atmospheric precipitates (including snow), acidified (pH below 5.6) due to increased content in the air of industrial emissions, mainly SO2, NO2, HCl, et al. As a result of acid rain in surface The layer of soil and reservoirs is developing acidification, which leads to degradation of ecosystems, the death of certain species of fish, etc. aquatic organisms, affects soil fertility, reducing the growth of forests and their drying. Acid rains are especially characteristic of Western and Northern Europe, for the USA, Canada, industrial regions of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, etc.

Exhausting the stock of energy resources. The most important factor limiting the development of human industrial activities is the energy limit. The modern world power consumption of humanity is about 10 TVs the basis of the energy today is the fossil fuel: coal, oil, gas and uranium-235.

The growth of world energy consumption in time has an exponential nature (as well as the increase in the population of the Earth). The time interval between the development of the first 10% and the development of the last 10% reserve of the non-repaired resource is called a useful period of using the raw source. Conducted calculations showed that, for example, for gas, a utility period will last 20 - 25 years, for oil -30 - 40 years, for coal - up to 100 years. Thus, the basis of its energy strategy, humanity was clearly not the option that could provide a sufficiently long-lasting stable development of humanity. If we assume that the population of the planet in a certain period of time is stabilized at a mark of 15 billion people and at the same time its energy budget will only be 2 times higher than the modern energy budget of the United States (20 kW per person), it turns out that all reserves explored today Oil will be used for 3 months, and coal reserves - 15 years.

Currently, an alternative and, perhaps, the only way out of the current situation seems to be the development of inexhaustible (and besides environmentally friendly) energy sources, the potential of which is very significant.

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

Polluted with oil and oil products of the world ocean, the plankton of which provides 70% of the oxygen incoming to the atmosphere.

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

Ecological crisis(Emergency environmental situation) - Environmental disadvantage, characterized by sustainable negative environmental changes and pose a threat to people's health. This is a tense state of relationships between humanity and nature, due to the inconsistency of the size of the production and economic activity of a person with the resource-environmental possibilities of the biosphere. The environmental crisis is characterized not so much to the enhancement of human impact on nature, as a sharp increase in the influence of environmentally changed by people of nature on social development.

Ecological catastrophy(Environmental disaster) - Environmental disadvantage, characterized by deep irreversible changes in the environment and significant deterioration in public health. This is a natural anomaly, which often arises based on the direct or indirect impact of human activity on natural processes and leading to the acute feast economic consequences or the mass death of the population of a certain region.

The most important problems affecting the existence of humanity as a whole include the rapid increase and change in the structure of the population of the Earth, as well as the question of the consequences and the possibility of preventing thermonuclear war. It cannot be said that both of these questions were not interested in philosophers before. At least the second of them, they always paid attention, for wars are known since humanity has gained its certainty and entered the path of social, economic and cultural development. The limit sharpness of both of these questions reached in the past four decades, when the so-called demographic explosion began, and the largest countries of the world began to create atomic and missile weapons.

What is the essence of a demographic problem, what place does it take in the context of other global problems? Back in the XVIII century. English Economist T. Malthus in the book "Experience on the Law of Population ..." (1798) outlined the difficult situation, which today received the name of the demographic problem. Maltus saw her in the fact that the population grows in geometric progression, i.e. it increases with incredible speed, while the increase in the food required for its feeding is carried out on arithmetic progression.

One of the global problems is the problem of preventing the world thermonuclear war. Computer simulation has shown that if only a portion of the deadly potential of atomic and hydrogen weapons appeared in the nuclear conflict arising from the nuclear conflict, then "nuclear winter", or "nuclear night" comes on Earth. From the cumulative action of radiation, explosions and fires in the air, a huge amount of dust particles will fall into the air, which dramatically reduce the ingress of sun rays on the ground surface and reduce the air temperature to such a level, which will be impossible to exist on the Earth of man and most of plant and animal species. The number of countries with or those who can become owners of nuclear weapons is growing steadily, and at the same time the danger of thermonuclear war is growing.

An important global problem, which also arose in the NTR era, is environmental.

Nowadays, the problem of human attitude towards nature attracts close attention to him. There are important reasons for that. An unprecedented increase in scientific and technical potential raised the possibility of a person to transform the environmental environment to a qualitatively new level and discovered extraordinary prospects before him. At the same time, in the interaction of a person with a natural environment of its habitat, more and more disturbing symptoms of danger, threatening the existence of the planet Earth and the whole human race. There are in mind the negative aspects of modern HTR (progressive pollution of the natural environment with products of man-made origin, the threat of exhaustion of natural resources, climate change, etc.), as well as problems that in the past stood in front of humanity (food shortage, etc.), but Now it was noticeably aggravated, especially in developing countries due to the demographic explosion and other circumstances.

A wide range of issues related to the interaction of modern society with a natural environment is combined under the general name of the environmental problem. The word "ecology" in recent years has become very fashionable. And its scope has expanded significantly from the moment when E. Geckel has proposed it over a hundred years ago to refer to a particular scientific direction that studies the relationship between animals and plants with their habitat. The word "ecology" is now found in slogans under which demonstrations in Western countries are taking place (the so-called "green" movement); Mentioned in official state documents, in articles of scientists, lawyers, journalists and representatives of other professions. In the broadest sense of the word, an environmental view of the world involves in determining the values \u200b\u200band priorities of human activity. Accounting for the effects of influence, which this activity has a natural environment, as well as the influence of the natural environment per person.

Environmental problems can be called a number of factors meaning the degradation of the environment of us. Often they are caused by direct human activity. As the industry has developed, there are problems directly related to the equilibrium impaired, which was previously established in an environmental environment, which are difficult to compensate.

Mira are diverse. To date, the situation in the world is such that we are in close to the collapse. Among the ecology can be noted such as:

The destruction of thousands of animal and plants, an increase in the number of disappearing species;

Reducing the reserve of minerals and other vital resources;

Extermination of the forest massif;

Pollution and drainage of the World Ocean;

Violation of the ozone layer, which protects us from radiation from space;

Pollution of the atmosphere, lack of clean air in some areas;

Pollution of natural landscape.

Today, there is practically no surface left on which the elements are not artificially created by man. Unsuburning and indulgence of human influence as a consumer in nature. The error is that the world around us is not only the source of wealth and various resources. A person is lost philosophical attitude towards nature as a mother of all alive.

The problems of modernity consist in the fact that we do not educate the concern for her. A person as a creature in itself is selfish, creates conditions for his own comfort, breaking and licking nature. We do not think about what they harm themselves. It is for this reason that today it is necessary to pay attention not to so much with the solution of environmental problems, how much to educate a person as part of nature.

Environmental problems are initially divided by the level of their scale to regional, local and global. An example of a local problem can be called a factory that does not clean the drains before making a reset to the river, and thus pollutes water and destroys living organisms living in this water. Speaking of regional issues, as an example, you can cite the well-known situation in Chernobyl. The tragedy touched on thousands of people's lives, as well as animals and other biological organisms that previously lived in this territory. And finally, global problems are those critical situations that are reflected in the population of the entire planet and can be fatally dangerous for millions of us.

The ecological problems of the world today require an immediate decision. First of all, as mentioned above, it is worth paying attention to coming to harmony with nature, people will cease to treat it exclusively consumer. Next, it is necessary to take a number of measures for general environmentalization. To do this, we will need to develop new environmentalizing technologies at work and in everyday life, the environmental expertise of all new projects is needed, a closed cycle is required.

Returning to the human factor, it is worth mentioning that it does not hurt and the ability to save, limit yourself. Reasonable spending of resources such as energy, water, gas, etc. can save the planet from their shortage. It is worth knowing and remember that at that time, while you in the crane flows net, some countries suffer from drought, and the population of these countries dies from a lack of fluid.

The environmental problems of the world can and need to be solved. Remember that the safety of nature and the healthy future of the planet depends exclusively from ourselves! Of course, well-being is impossible without the use of resources, but it is worth thinking about the fact that oil and gas can end in several decades. The ecological problems of the world affect everyone and everyone, do not stay indifferent!

08/16/2017 Article

TEXT Ecocosm.

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

Global means worldwide, total, covering the entire planet. That is, the problems that we are talking about are directly related to each of us, and their consequences are difficult to submit.

Climate change planet

With the enhancement of the greenhouse effect, such a problem of humanity as global warming is closely connected - these two concepts are practically inseparable. The optical properties of the atmosphere are largely similar to glass properties: passing the sunlight, it allows you to heat the surface of the earth, but its opacity for infrared radiation serves an obstacle to the exit of rays emitted by a heated surface. The accumulated heat leads to an increase in temperature in the lower layers of the atmosphere, called global warming. The consequences are very sad - not withstanding high temperatures, the Arctic ice begin to melting, increasing the water level in the ocean. In addition to the melting of ice, warming entails a number of other changes that are destroyed for our planet:

flooding;
an increase in populations of harmful insects - carriers of deadly diseases - and their distribution to countries with a previously cool climate;
hurricanes - consequences of increasing the temperature of ocean waters;
drying rivers and lakes, reducing drinking water reserves in lands with a dry climate;
activation of volcanic activities associated with the melting of mountain glaciers and the subsequent erosion of rocks;
an increase in the amount of plankton in the ocean, which leads to an increase in the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere;
reducing the diversity of biological species on Earth: according to scientists forecasts, the number of plant and animal species as a result of the drought threatens to decrease by about 30%;
numerous forest fires caused by global warming.

There are several reasons for global warming, and not all of them are anthropogenic. For example, in the case of volcanic activity, we are dealing with a closed circle: the eruption of the volcano leads to the emission of carbon dioxide and disruption of the protective ozone layer, which in turn becomes the cause of new eruptions. There is a theory according to which this circular dependence led to the planet to alternate the glacial and intergaren periods, the duration of each of which is approximately hundreds of thousands of years.

The second most popular theory of the climatic future of the planet is the theory of "global cooling" Ecocosm.

The fact of increasing average temperatures in the last 100 years is not denied by anyone, but the reasons for these changes and forecasts may be different. The theory of global warming has weaknesses. This and a small period of time on the basis of which conclusions are made to change climate. After all, the history of our planet has about 4.5 billion years, during this time the climate of the planet changed a huge number of times and without human participation. Other greenhouse gases are also not taken into account, such as methane or even water vapor. Yes, 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, the growth of global temperatures caused by a non-anthropogenic factor may 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, a look at global warming. The second most popular the theory associated with the climatic future of the planet is the theory of cyclicity or "global cooling". She says that there is no extraordinary in the current climate change processes. These are just climatic cycles. And you really need to wait for warming, but a new ice age.

This theory is confirmed by the Institute of the Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the basis of the analysis of the climate of the Earth for the last 250 thousand years. The data obtained when drilling ice above the Lake East in Antarctica, they suggest that the climate of the Earth changes naturally, cyclically. The main reasons for these cycles are-Kosmic (change in the angle of inclination of the earth's axis, the change in the plane of the ecliptic, etc.) and now we live in the period of interledineic, which lasts about 10,000 years. But to rejoice early, for a new ice age should be replaced by a change. During the latter, which ended only 8000-10000 L.N., Ice shield over Moscow was several hundred meters. This theory says that the new glacier is to wait in several thousand years.

But it is not worth relaxing, whatever of these climate theories did not turn out to be correct, in the near future we can observe an increase in average temperature caused by anthropogenic activities. Even if the theory of cyclicity is faithful, Ie, a few thousand years, we will have a global cooling, the greenhouse effect caused by industrial carbon dioxide emissions in the next 100 years will have an impact on the climate. And so far, the temperatures will not be strongly understood as a result of cyclicity, we will experience all those negative consequences of global warming that scientists scare us. Therefore, the thought of distant global cooling cannot compensate for the catastrophic phenomena that we are already starting to watch.

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

The 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). This part of the stratosphere containing the greatest amount of ozone gas formed in the interaction of solar ultraviolet radiation and oxygen atoms. The layer serves as a peculiar filter, delaying ultraviolet radiation, causing skin cancer. Do I need to talk how important is the integrity of the precious layer for the earth and its residents?

However, certificates of specialists regarding the state of the ozone layer are disappointing: at 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 revealed in 1985 over Antarctic. Even earlier, in the early 80s the same site, although smaller in the area, was noticed in the Arctic area.

Causes and consequences of the appearance of ozone holes

Until recently, it was believed that the ozone layer suffers significantly during flights of aircraft and spacecraft. However, today, during numerous studies, it has been proved that the work of transport has only a minor effect on the state of the ozone layer in comparison with other reasons:

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

Ozone can have not only the shape of a blue gas, but to stay also in a liquid or solid state - accordingly, the circumscribed shade of indigo or iscin-black color.

If the entire ozone layer of the Earth found the form of a solid substance, its thickness would not be more than 2-3 mm Ecocosm

It is easy to imagine how non-vulnerable this shell that protects the planet from the cockpit ultraviolet is vulnerable.

A decrease in the thickness of the ozone layer can cause irreparable harm to everything alive on Earth. Ultraviolet rays can not only cause skin cancer in humans, but also to cause the death of the marine plankton - an important link of the food chain of any marine ecosystem, whose violation is fraught with the ultimate hunger for the human race. The rational of food sources for many peoples may result in bloody wars for fertile territories, as happened more than once throughout the history of mankind.

Exhausting sources of fresh water and their pollution

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

From low-quality water and illness carrying by it, 25 million people Ecocosm dies every year

If in the 70s of the XX century an affordable annual amount of water per person was 11 thousand cubic meters, then by the end of the century - this number was decreased to 6.5 thousand. However, these are averaged numbers. On Earth there are peoples, whose availability 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 reasonable in order to use them without a threat to ECOCOSM health.

The primary reason for the fact that water in the rivers has become a poisonous alive, is, of course, human activity. Of the three sources of pollution - industrial, agricultural and household - the first occupies a leading place in terms of harmful emissions in the river and lake. Water contaminated by industrial enterprises is very poorly cleaned.

The fertilizer and pesticides used in agriculture have the property of accumulating in the soil, inevitably polluting surface water. A considerable contribution to the increase in the water concentration of harmful substances makes the wastewater of urban areas, garbage and exhaust gases.

Pollution and soil depletion, desertification

The irrational use of natural resources, in particular, soil, often leads to their exhaustion. Cattle re-dip, excessive breaking of land and fertilizer, cutting down the forest - these are short and reliable ways to soil degradation and desertification. Forest fires are also harmful, most often caused by the result of irresponsible behavior of romance lovers. In a summer arid period, it is not even necessary to leave the fire without supervision, so that the fire happened is to be sufficiently one spark, a closed wind, get into the thick of dry needles on the old pine.

The scorched territories are long to turn into bare empty, unsuitable for the housing of the small number of animals, which were lucky to survive in a fire flame. Exposed erosions under the action of strong winds and shower, these lands become lifeless and useless.

Clay, Il and Sand - three main components of the soil. Lained vegetation, the surface of the earth ceases to be protected and reliably fortified roots. It rains quickly wash the il, leaving only sand and clay instead of it, having a minimum attitude to soil fertility - and the desertification mechanism is running.

No less harm to land resources is also caused by incorrect agricultural activities of a person, as well as industrial enterprises that pollute the soil by wastewater containing dangerous compounds.

Pollution of the atmospheric layer

Emissions of chemical compounds in the atmosphere As the result of industrial enterprises contributes to the concentration of non-characteristic substances in it - sulfur, nitrogen and other chemical elements. As a result, high-quality changes occur not only air itself: the decrease in the hydrogen indicator in precipitation occurring due to the presence of these substances in the atmosphere leads to the formation of acid rains.

Acid precipitation is able to cause much harm not only to live organisms, but also subjects made from durable materials - by their victims often become cars, buildings and monuments of the World Heritage. The rains with a reduced level of pH contribute to the ingress of toxic compounds into underground sources, poisoning water.

Household waste

Household waste, called simply garbage, are a danger to humanity not less than all other environmental problems. The volumes of old packages and plastic bottles used are so great that, if you do not get rid of them, in the next couple of years, humanity will thin in a solid flow of his own debris.

Most landfills frees the place for the new garbage by burning the old one. At the same time, plastic highlights a poisonous smoke into the atmosphere, returning to the Earth already in the composition of acid rain. The burial of plastic carry no less harm: decomposing for millennia, this material will be slow, but correctly poison the soil to toxic discharge.

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

Reducing the GenoFond Biosphere

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

The average existence of each type is 1.5 - 2 million years - after its disappearance, new Ecocosm.

The average existence of each type is 1.5 - 2 million years - after its disappearance, new ones appear. So it was before modern civilization did not make their own adjustments to this process. Today, the species manifold of the planet every year is reduced by 150-200 species, which leads to an inevitable ecological catastrophe.

The decomposition of the species manifold is particularly contributed to the reduction of the habitat of many animals. Only the territories of the tropical forests over the past 200 years decreased by 50% - growing cities gradually displacing their inhabitants from the planet, depriving beds and power sources.

What we can do?

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

An ordinary person cannot stop the work of an industrial enterprise that threatens the wastewater into the river. We cannot refuse to use transport. However, everyone under the power to teach himself to do some simple and useful things that do not require much time, but give a tangible result.

Sorting garbage

This step is not at all a call to dig in the garbage bucket, turning over waste. It is enough to simply fold plastic bottles and paper separately from the rest of the garbage, so that after omitting them in specially designed containers. The glass is the most reasonable to pass to the point of reception of the glass containers - it will be used as a recycle.

Proper disposal of household items

Many things, such as thermometers, batteries, energy-saving lamps or computer monitors, cannot be disposed of along with the rest of the garbage, as they are sources of toxic substances that poison the soil when it gets into it. Such things should be taken to special reception points where they are disposed of, observing all safety rules.

For everyone who has not yet knows where the nearest point of the reception of the sieves of the sieves or batteries, the enthusiasts have been created by special cards, which marked all points in each city of Russia or any other country. You can only have little to find the right point and pass the dangerous trash to experts, retaining the life of a non-one living being.

Refusal of plastic bags and containers

Refusal of plastic bags is not only useful, but also a very stylish solution. In recent years, the popularity of plastic bags gave way to the original bags from eco-friendly materials has significantly reduced the popularity of plastic bags. Such a thing will help protect not only nature, but also the budget of the owner - if she drank, it does not need to be thrown away to buy a new one: the linen bags can be erased repeatedly.

Humanity has the authority on this planet who can cause tremendous damage to it. Ecocosm. People or climate change: why extinct Megafaun Australia

The purpose of science ecology is to study the relationship between plants and animals with their physical and biological habitat. The task of ecology today is not only the study of various living organisms and the environment in which they live, but also careful conservation of the ecosystem With her natural circulation.

The deterioration of the overall environmental situation in the modern world is a big risk not only for fauna and flora, but also for people. Examples of environmental problems are numerous. Pond pollution is the biggest danger to the life and health of the entire population of the planet. Water is contaminated with drains: pathogenic organisms, chemical and toxic substances. Dirty drains cause infectious diseases and other diseases. How are these and other problems solve?

In contact with

The relevance of the environmental problem

The farther, the problems of ecology in the huge modern world are becoming increasingly open. Their relevance is obvious, so the ecology has become public termdespite its initial scientific character. The term "ecology" was first used in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Herrich Heckel, has a root in the Greek Word "House" and implies the study of savings in nature.

To understand the state of the ecology, you need to establish the difference between physical and biological environment. The term "physical environment" means:

shine;
heat;
atmosphere;
water;
wind;
oxygen;
the soil;
carbon.

The biological environment consists of plants and animals.

The role of ecology in the modern world

Modern ecology is associated with Charles Darwin and his theory of Evolution and natural selection, where Darwin pointed to a solid connection between animals and natural habitats.

But this connection is weakening, because people think more more, how to satisfy their needs. Top believes consumer attitude to natural resources. The plans of people usually do not include concern for plants and animals.

What is the role of ecology now? The lack of concern about our planet is the main reason why so much disappearing animal species.

Pollution can be seen in all corners of the world. But still the number of supporters of protection of ecology in the modern world is growing, and we can also join and make our small contribution to the common cause.

The environmental situation has a quantitative, emotional or qualitative assessment. If the environmental situation requires improvements or preventionThis is an environmental problem. Each person can make his small contribution to the elimination of an environmental problem in its settlement, if sort garbage before disposal. It all starts with small. We have one planet, and we cannot change it.

Important!Ecology is a complex and comprehensive discipline, very demanding on other areas of science: hydrology, climatology, oceanography, chemistry, geology.

Environmental problems of modernity can be briefly submitted as the following list:

Insufficient water supply.
Wastewater.
Radioactive waste.
Loss of green arrays.
The growth of the territory of cities.
Soil pollution poisons and chemicals.
Air pollution by waste production.
Transport exhaust gases.
Noise of railway transport.

All these problems are found in countries where there is a conflict between short-term economic plan and environmental protection.

Environmental problems of the local level

Habitat pollution come local, regional and global, depending on the scale of pollution. Local environmental problems include several types:

Loss of biological diversity

The ecosystem took millions of years to improve natural processes. Polling plants in a natural way is of great importance for the survival of the ecosystem.

With cutting forests now are threatened Separate species animal and vegetable world. An example of the problem is the destruction in the oceans of coral reefs that support abundant marine life.

Human activity leads to the disappearance of individual types of animals, plants and their habitats, which leads to loss of biological diversity.

Recycling

Excessive resource consumption by people creates a global crisis - waste disposal.

In the course of human activity, an excessive amount of garbage is obtained, which falls into underground and open reservoirs.
Disposal of military-industrial waste (nuclear waste) is related to a huge threat to public health.
Plastics and electronic waste also threaten the health of people.

Recycling them remains life problem For the environment.

Air pollution and reservoirs

A huge concentration of industrial industries, road transport has environmental problems in cities with high population density. Publized reservoirs with industrial and domestic runoff. Consumption of polluted water serves as a source infectious diseases. To date, ferrous metallurgy, chemical industrial enterprises and other facilities have a negative impact on air conditionwhich we breathe. Grow up oncological diseasesTherefore, special attention should be paid to the problems of ecology in enterprises of this kind.

Overpopulation

The inhabitants of the planet faces lack of natural resources: Fuel, food, water. The population growth in less developed countries exacerbates the situation. The overpopulation of continents impairs environmental problems.

Extermination of forests

The woods oxygen is produced and are natural carbon dioxide absorbers, and also help adjust the temperature and rainfall. At this time, the forest covers 30% of the lands. Yearly the number of trees is reduced As a result of the growing demand of the population. Forest cutting means the destruction of fauna and loss of whole ecosystems.

These are local environmental problems. But there are those that cover huge territories. These are regional environmental problems.

Ecology problems on the scale of regions

The main problem of the regions remains polluted atmospheric air. Regional environmental problems are pollution submitted within large areas, but not covering the entire planet.

Emissions come in and natural waters. If the process is long, the atmosphere is damaged, which causes regional environmental pollution.

Local environmental problems go to regional with the expansion of the border of cities, the formation of huge megacities.

Universal problems

Global environmental problems have large scale of negative consequences.

World Warming

Greenhouse evaporations are the result of human activitywhich affects global warming. The land loses snow cover, and the Arctic Flora and Fauna are located on the verge of extinction. The increase in the temperature of the world ocean and the surface of the Earth causes melting of polar ice formations and raising the level of the seas. Occur unnatural forms of precipitation (Excessive snow, rain), in connection with this, floods and flooding of the mainland land are rapidly.

Change of ozone layer

Life originated on Earth after the occurrence of the ozone layer. Ozone shell around the Earth is depleted in volume (in comparison with 1980), formed ozone holes. They are over Antarctic and Voronezh. Cause changes - active launches of rockets, airplanes and satellites.

Important! The change in the ozone layer is a threat to people as well as for animals. The ozone layer protects us from ultraviolet rays. Without the ozone layer, all people will be susceptible to a row of skin diseases, including skin cancer.

A large number of exhaust gases is highlighted by vehicles and various industries. Zagaznost entering beyond level of permissible norm. When gases: dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, interact with water, the corresponding acid is obtained. If this happens in, we have acid rain.

Acid rain

The second cause of acid rain - work of power plants. This problem leads to contamination of water bodies and soils with cobalt and aluminum compounds, nitric and sulfuric acid.

If you go on the current path, may come worstification of the environmental situation, then people will be afraid to go outside to rain so as not to damage the skin.

Acid rains promote the death of farm crops and forests. Because of them, whole ecosystems are disturbed.

For example, in the UK, Czechoslovakia and Greece more than 65% of forests are destroyed with such rains. To deal with this, humanity looks out trees.

Climate change on the planet

Warming occurs as a result of fuel combustion of CHP fuel and emissions of harmful gas industry. Climate change is provided harmful effect on nature. Together with the melting of polar ice, seasonal changes, new diseases, frequent natural disasters, Changes in common weather conditions.

Solving environmental problems in poor countries

In poor countries, there is a deterioration in the environmental situation. People on the verge of survival. The position of destruction should be changed on the preservation of peace and harmony with nature. However, the situation will not change if developed countries will be engaged in solving only their own global problems, ignoring a terrible state in poor countries. The tasks of protecting the ecology should not worry people in the last place.

How to solve environmental problems in the modern world

Catastrophic state of ecology - Questions are regulated slowly. People still need ecological consciousness. We are all responsible for saving our planet. It is necessary to correct the errors until it became too late. Some small steps have already been made, but much more than these steps are required. at the global level.

Important!Modern technologies should use peaceful coexistence between the environment and industry, in which the main emphasis is on the use of energy resources with the smallest negative impact on the environment.

The state of ecology will improve today, if the main energy resources will be wind, water and sun. The environmental crisis requires the appropriate legislative supportwhich should prohibit modern technologies with a negative impact on the environment. It is necessary to resolve only those technologies that save the environment.

The influence of mankind on the eco-system of the planet

Environmental Pollution and Protection

Output

We have already witnessed a variety of environmental disasters on the planet. Passive observation is not enough. Who knows, perhaps this is our only chance to save the Earth. So what are we waiting for?

To go on the right way to solve environmental problems, you need understand the essence of natural crises In general, and individual manifestations, draw conclusions from the mistakes made. Otherwise the crisis will turn into irreversible ecological catastrophe With the full destruction of the biosphere. Environmental problems in the list of urgent tasks are in the first place.

Global environmental problems

Introduction

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

Throughout its existence, and especially in the XX and early XXI centuries, humanity destroyed about 70 percent of all natural ecological systems on the planet, which are able to recycle waste human life, and continues their destruction to this day. The volume of permissible impact on the biosphere is generally exceeded now several times. Moreover, a person throws thousands of tons into the environment, which have never been kept in it and which often do not succumb to or weakly recyclable. And it was pardoned to the fact that biological microorganisms that act as a regulator of the environment are no longer capable of performing their functions.

According to experts, in 30-50 years old, an irreversible process will begin, which at the beginning of the XXII century can lead to a global ecological catastrophe. Particularly alarming situation in Europe.

In European countries, there are almost no untouched biosystems. The exception is the territory of Norway, Finland and, of course, the European part of Russia.

There are 9 million square meters in Russia. km of untouched, and therefore working environmental systems. A significant part of this territory is Tundra, which is biologically low product. But the Russian Forestandra, Taiga, peat swamps are ecosystems, without which it is impossible to present the normally acting biosphere of the entire globe.

In Russia, a severe environmental situation is aggravated by the protracted general crisis state. State leadership is not enough for fixing it. Slowly develops legal instruments for environmental protection - environmental law. In the 90s, however, several environmental laws were adopted, the main of which became the law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection", invented since March 1992. However, law enforcement practice revealed serious gaps, as in the law itself and in the mechanism of its implementation.

Problem overpopulation

The number of earthlings grow rapidly. But each person consumes a large number of different natural resources. Moreover, this growth is, first of all, on weakly or not well-developed countries. In the developed countries, the level of well-being is very high, and the number of resources consumed by each resident is huge. If you imagine that the entire population of the Earth (the bulk of which today lives poorly, and even starving) will have a standard of living as in Western Europe or the United States, our planet will simply not stand it. But it is supposed to believe that most earthlings will always be labeled in poverty, ignorance and murderer ingenious and unfair. The rapid economic development of China, India, Mexico and a number of other multiple countries refutes such an assumption.

Consequently, the yield is one - the birth limitation with a simultaneous decrease in mortality and improving the quality of life.

However, the birth restriction is encountered on many obstacles. Among them, reactionary public relations, a huge role of religion that encourages multi-way, primitive community forms of management, in which large families benefit and so on. The backward countries have a tight node of the most complex problems. However, they rightly and nearby in backward countries, those who are their own or interests puts above the state, ignorance of masses uses for its mercenary purposes (including wars, repression and other things), growth of weapons, etc.

Problems of ecology, overpopulation and backwardness are directly connected with the threat of possible food shortages in the near future. Already today in incomotive countries due to the rapid growth of the population and inadequate development of agriculture and industry, there is a problem of lack of food and goods of the first need. However, the possibilities of increasing the productivity of agriculture are not limitless. After all, an increase in the use of mineral fertilizers, keriformicates, etc. leads to a deterioration in the environmental situation and an increasing concentration of substances harmful to humans. On the other hand, the development of cities and technology takes a lot of fertile lands from turnover. The lack of good drinking water is especially harmful.

Problems of energy resources

This problem is closely related to the environmental problem. From the reasonable development of the Earth's energy, the environmental well-being, for the half of all gases, which cause the "greenhouse effect", is created in the energy sector.

The fuel and energy balance of the planet develops mainly from "pollutants" - oil (40.3%), coal (31.2%), gas (23.7%). In the amount of them there is an overwhelming part of the use of energy resources - 95.2%. "Clean" species - hydropower and atomic energy - give in the amount of less than 5%, and the most "soft" (not contaminating the atmosphere) - wind, solar, geothermal - percentage shares
It is clear that the global task is to increase the share of "pure" and especially "soft" types of energy.

In addition to the giant area, which is necessary for the development of solar and wind energy, it is necessary to take into account the fact that their environmental "purity" is taken without taking into account the metal, glass and other materials necessary to create such "clean" installations, and even in a huge amount.

Conditionally "clean" is and hydropower, which can be seen at least from the table indicators - large losses of flooding area in the floodplains of rivers, which are usually valuable agricultural lands. The hydrostation is now given 17% of all electricity in developed countries and 31% - in developing, where in recent years the largest HPPs have been built.

However, in addition to large alienated areas, the development of hydropower was inhibited by the fact that the specific investment here is 2-3 times higher than when building nuclear power plants. In addition, the construction period of HPP is much longer than thermal stations. For all these reasons, hydropower cannot provide a rapid decline in the pressure on the environment.

Apparently, in these conditions, only atomic energy can be an output, it is capable of loosening "greenhouse effect" in a rather short time.
The replacement of coal, oil and gas atomic energy has already gave some reduction in emissions from 2 and other greenhouse gases. If those 16% of the world electricity production, which now give NPP, produced coal TPPs, even equipped with the most modern gas cleaners, then an additional 1.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide gas, 1 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 2 million tons of sulfur oxides and 150 thousand tons of heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury).

First 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. Some time will pass until their economic indicators become close to "traditional" types of energy. In addition, their environmental capacity is measured not only by reducing CO 2 emissions, there are other factors, in particular the territory alienated to their development.

Global pollution of the planet

Air pollution

A person pollutes the atmosphere of thousands of years, but the consequences of the use of fire, which he used all this period was insignificant. We had to put up with the fact that the smoke interfered with breath and that soot lay down with black cover on the ceiling and the walls of the dwelling. The resulting heat was more important for a person than clean air and uncorganized walls of the cave. This initial air pollution did not imagine the problem, for people were inhabited by small groups, occupying a unmeasuredly extensive untouched natural environment. And even a significant concentration of people on a relatively small area, as it was in classical antiquity, was not accompanied by more serious consequences. So it was up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Only over the past hundred years, the development of the industry "bestowed" us with such industrial processes, the consequences of which at first a person could not imagine. Millionaires originated, whose height cannot be stopped. All this is the result of the great inventions and the conquests of a person.

Basically, there are three main sources of pollution of the atmosphere: industry, household boiler houses, transport. The share of each of these sources in the overall air pollution differs greatly depending on the place. It is now generally recognized that the most strongly pollutes the air industrial production. Sources of pollution - thermal power plants, which, together with smoke, emit sulfuous and carbon dioxide into the air; Metallurgical enterprises, especially non-ferrous metallurgy, which are emitted in air nitrogen oxyl, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, fluorine, ammonia, phosphorus compounds, particles and mercury compounds and arsenic; Chemical and cement plants. Harmful gases fall into the air as a result of fuel combustion for the needs of industry, housing heating, transport, burning and processing of household and industrial waste. Atmospheric pollutants are divided into primary coming directly into the atmosphere, and secondary, which are the result of the transformation of the latter. Thus, the sulfuric gas entering the atmosphere is oxidized to a sulfur anhydride, which interacts with water vapor and forms sulfuric acid droplets. In the interaction of sulfur anhydride with ammonia, ammonium sulfate crystals are formed. Similarly, as a result of chemical, photochemical, physicochemical reactions between polluting substances and atmospheric components, other secondary signs are formed. The main source of pyrogen pollution on the planet is thermal power plants, metallurgical and chemical enterprises, boiler installations that consume more than 70% annually produced solid and liquid fuel.

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

Also, the atmosphere is exposed to aerosol pollution. Aerosols are solid or liquid particles that are suspended in the air. The solid components of aerosols in some cases are especially dangerous for organisms, and people cause specific diseases. In the atmosphere, aerosol pollution is in the form of smoke, fog, mall or haze. A significant part of aerosols is formed in the atmosphere in the interaction of solid and liquid particles between themselves or with water vapor. About 1 cube arrives annually into the atmosphere of the Earth. km of dust-like particles of artificial origin. A large amount of dust particles is also formed during the production activities of people. Under some weather conditions, particularly large accumulations of harmful gaseous and aerosol impurities can be formed in the surface layer of air. This usually occurs in cases where there is an inversion in the air layer directly over the sources of a gas pepper emission - the location of the coolest air layer under warm, which prevents the movement of air masses and delays the transfer of impurities upwards. As a result, harmful emissions focus under the inversion layer, the content of them in the Earth increases sharply, which becomes one of the reasons for the formation of a photochemical fog that is previously unknown in the nature.

A photochemical fog is a multicomponent mixture of gases and aerosol particles of primary and secondary origin. The main components of the smog include ozone, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, numerous organic compounds of peroxidant nature, called photoconditions. Photochemical could arise as a result of photochemical reactions under certain conditions: presence in the atmosphere of high concentration of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other pollutants, intensive solar radiation and ulution or very weak air exchange in the surface layer with powerful and for no less than a day of increased inversion. Sustainable windless weather, usually accompanied by inversions, is necessary to create a high concentration of reacting substances. Such conditions are created more often in June-September and less often in winter. With prolonged clear weather, solar radiation causes the splitting of nitrogen dioxide molecules to form nitrogen oxide and atomic oxygen. Atomic oxygen with molecular oxygen gives ozone. Nitrogen oxide reacts with olefins of exhaust gases, which at the same time split off dual bonds and form fragments of molecules and excess ozone. As a result of continuing dissociation, new masses of nitrogen dioxide are split and provide additional amounts of ozone. A cyclic reaction occurs, as a result, ozone gradually accumulates in the atmosphere. This process is stopped at night. In turn, ozone enters the reaction with olefins. In the atmosphere, various peroxides are concentrated, which in the amount and form the oxidants characteristic of the photochemical fog. The latter are the source of the so-called free radicals, which are characterized by a special reaction defense. Such smudges are a bad phenomenon over London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and other cities of Europe and America. According to its physiological influence on the human body, they are extremely dangerous for the respiratory and circulatory system and are often the cause of premature death of urban residents with weakened 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 defines many processes occurring in the biosphere. The most important value of the soil is to accumulate organic matter, various chemical elements, as well as energy. Soil cover performs the functions of a biological absorber, a destroyer and a neutralizer of various contaminants. If this link of the biosphere will be destroyed, the current functioning of the biosphere is irreversibly violated. That is why it is extremely important to study the global biochemical value of soil cover, its current state and changes under the influence of anthropogenic activity. One kind 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, 300 kg of chemical agents are applied in the world on 1 hectare of land. However, as a result of the long-term use of pesticides in agriculture, medicine (the struggle with diseases) is almost everywhere, a decrease in efficiency due to the development of resistant paths of pests and the spread of "new" harmful organisms, natural enemies and competitors of which were destroyed by pesticides. At the same time, the action 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. In 250 species discovered resistance to pesticides. This is aggravated by the phenomenon of cross-resistance, which is that increased resistance to the action of one drug is accompanied by stability to other classes. C Obochubiological Positions Resistance can be considered as a change in populations as a result of transition from a sensitive strain to a sustainable strain of the same species due to the selection caused by pesticides. This phenomenon is associated with genetic, physiological and biochemical rearrangements of organisms. The unlimited use of pesticides negatively affects the quality of the soil. In this regard, the fate of pesticides in the soils and the possibility of them to deter chemical and biological methods is strongerly studied. It is very important to create and apply only drugs with a small lifetime measured by weeks or months. In this case, certain successes have already been achieved and drugs are being introduced at high destruction, but the problem as a whole has not yet been solved.

One of the most acute global problems of modernity and the foreseeable future is the problem of increasing acidity of precipitation and soil cover. The areas of acidic soils do not know the droughts, but their natural fertility is lowered and unstable; They quickly deplete and crops on them are low. Acid rains cause not only acidification of surface waters and upper soil horizons. The acidity with descending water flows is propagated by the entire soil profile and causes a significant acidification of groundwater.

Water pollution

Any reservoir or water source is associated with its surrounding external environment. The conditions for the formation of a surface or underground water flow, a variety of natural phenomena, industry, industrial and communal construction, transportation, economic and household activity of man are influenced. The consequence of these influences is the introduction of new substances, pollutants, worsening the quality of water into the aqueous medium. Pollutions entering the aqueous medium are classified differently, depending on the approaches, criteria and tasks. So, they usually allocate chemical, physical and biological pollution. Chemical pollution is a change in the natural chemical properties of water by increasing the content of harmful impurities in it as inorganic (mineral salts, acids, alkali, clay particles) and organic nature (oil and petroleum products, organic residues, surfactants, pesticides).

The main inorganic (mineral) pollutants of fresh and sea waters are a variety of chemical compounds toxic to the inhabitants of the aquatic environment. These are arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, copper, fluorine. Most of them fall into water as a result of human activity. Heavy metals are absorbed by phytoplankton, and then transmitted along the food chain to higher-organisms.

Among the soluble substances introduced into the ocean, not only mineral, biogenic elements, but also organic residues have great importance for the inhabitants of the aqueous medium. Takeaway to the ocean of organic matter is estimated at 300 - 380 million tons / year. Waste waters containing suspensions of organic origin or dissolved organic matter have adversely affect the condition of water bodies. Hosted, suspensions flooded the bottom and delay the development or completely stop the livelihood of these microorganisms involved in the process of self-cleaning of water. With rotation of precipitation data, harmful compounds and poisoning substances can be formed, such as hydrogen sulfide, which will lead to pollution of all water in the river. The presence of suspensions also make it difficult to penetrate light into the water and slows 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 effects have all the contaminants, which one way or another contribute to the decrease in the oxygen content in water. Surface active substances - 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 substances, most of which are not peculiar to natural waters, is reset in the river along with industrial and domestic runoff. The growing pollution of water bodies and drains is observed in all industrial countries.

Due to the rapid pace of urbanization and several delayed construction of treatment facilities or their unsatisfactory operation, water pools and soil are contaminated with household waste. Especially significantly contaminated in reservoirs with slow motion or non-flowing (reservoirs, lakes). Enchanting in an aquatic environment, organic waste can become a medium for pathogenic organisms. Water contaminated with organic waste becomes almost unsuitable for drinking and other need. Household waste is dangerous not only by the fact that they are the source of some human diseases (typhoid typhoid, dysentery, cholera), but also by what requires a lot of oxygen for their decomposition. If domestic wastewater come in a pond in very large quantities, the content of soluble oxygen may decrease below the level necessary for the life of marine and freshwater organisms.

Radio contamination

Radioactive contamination is a special danger to a person and their habitat. This is due to the fact that ionizing radiation has an intensive and constant dishuthe effect on living organisms, and the sources of this radiation are widespread in the environment. Radioactivity is a spontaneous decomposition 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 flow of heavy particles consisting of protons and neutrons. It is delayed with a sheet of paper and is not able to penetrate the human skin. However, it becomes extremely dangerous if he gets inside the body. Beta radiation has a higher penetrating ability and passes into a man's fabric by 1 - 2 cm. Gamma radiation can be delayed only by a thick lead or concrete slab.

The levels of earthly radiation of unequal in different areas and depend on the concentration of radionuclides near the surface. Anomalous radiation fields of natural origin are formed during the enrichment of uranium, thorium of certain types of granites, other magmatic formations with an increased emanination coefficient, on the fields of radioactive elements in various breeds, with modern uranium introduction, radium, radon in underground and surface water, geological environment. High radioactivity is often characterized by coal, phosphorites, combustible shale, some clays and sands, including beach. The zones of increased radioactivity are divided in the territory of Russia unevenly. They are known both in the European part and in the Urals, in the Polar Urals, in Western Siberia, Baikalia, in the Far East, Kamchatka, northeast. In most geochemically specialized radioactive elements of rock complexes, a significant part of the uranium is in a moving state, is easily removed and falls into surface, groundwater, then in the food chain. It is natural sources of ionizing radiation in zones of abnormal radioactivity that make a major contribution (up to 70%) into the total dose of the exposure of the population equal to 420 MBER / year. At the same time, these sources can create high levels of radiation that affect long time on human activity and causing various diseases up to genetic changes in the body. If sanitary and hygienic examination is underway on uranium mines and appropriate measures are being taken to protect employees, the impact of natural radiation due to radionuclides in rocks and natural waters is studied extremely weakly. In the uranium province of Atabask (Canada), the Wallastone biogeochemical anomaly was revealed with an area of \u200b\u200babout 3,000 km 2, expressed by the high concentrations of uranium in the needles of the Black Canadian fir and associated with the admission of his aerosols on active deep faults. In Russia, such anomalies are known in Transbaikalia.

Among the natural radionuclides, radon and its subsidiaries (radium, etc.) have the greatest radiation-genetic importance. Their contribution to the total dose of irradiation per capita is more than 50%. Radon problem is currently considered priority in developed countries and it is paid to higher attention from the ICRC and the ICDC at the UN. Radon's danger lies in its widespread, high penetrating ability and migration mobility, decay to form radium and other highly voiced products. Radon has no color, odor and is considered an "invisible enemy", threat to millions of inhabitants of Western Europe, North America.

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

According to the St. Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene, the greatest concentration of radon and its subsidiaries in the air of the residential premises, recorded in our country, corresponds to the dose of impact on light man 3 - 4 thousand BER per year, which exceeds the MPC by 2 - 3 orders. It is assumed that due to the weak study of the radon problem in Russia, it is possible to identify high concentrations of radon in residential and industrial premises of a number of regions.

These are primarily among the Radon "stain", exciting Onega and Lake Lakes and the Gulf of Finland, a wide zone traced from the Middle Urals in the Western direction, the southern part of Western Survival, Polar Urals, Yenisei Kryazh, West Baikalia, Amur Region, Northern Khabarovsk edges, Chukotsky Peninsula.

A radon problem for megalopolises and large cities is particularly relevant, in which there are data on the arrival of radon to groundwater and the geological environment for active deep fault (St. Petersburg, Moscow).

Each resident in the last 50 years has been irradiated from radioactive precipitation caused by nuclear explosions in the atmosphere due to nuclear weapons testing. The maximum number of these tests took place in 1954-1958 and in 1961 - 1962.

An essential part of radionuclides was thrown into the atmosphere, it was quickly overwhelmed over long distances and for many months slowly descended to the surface of the Earth.

In the processes of division of atomic nuclei, more than 20 radionuclides are formed from the half-life periods from a second of a second to several billion years.

The second anthropogenic source of ionizing irradiation of the population is the products of the functioning of nuclear energy objects.

Although at normal operation of NPP emissions of radionuclides into the environment is insignificant, the 1986 Chernobyl accident showed an extremely high potential danger of atomic energy.

The global effect of Chernobyl radioactive contamination is due to the fact that when the radionuclide accidents have been thrown into the stratosphere and have already been recorded in Western Europe for several days, then in Japan, the United States and other countries.

With the first uncontrolled explosion at the Chernobyl NPP in the environment, very dangerous "hot particles" are very dangerous when entering the human body, which are finely dismissible fragments of graphite rods and other constructs of the atomic reactor.

The resulting radioactive cloud covered a huge territory. The total area of \u200b\u200bpollution as a result of the CESIE-137 Cheremobyl accident density of 1 -5k / km 2 only in Russia in 1995 amounted to about 50,000 km 2.

Of the products of the NPP activities, it is a special danger of tritium, accumulating in the current water of the station and then entering the water-cooler and hydrographic network, heartless reservoirs, groundwater, an overground atmosphere.

Currently, the radiation situation in Russia is determined by the global radioactive background, the presence of contaminated territories due to Chernobyl (1986) and Kyshtym (1957) accidents, the operation of uranium fields, the nuclear fuel cycle, ship nuclear power plants, regional repositories of radioactive waste, as well as anomalous zones of ionizing radiation related to earth (natural) sources of radionuclides.

Death and cutting of forests

One of the reasons for the death of forests in many regions of the world is acidic rains, the main perpetrators of which are power plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions and transferring them over long distances lead to the fallout of such rains far from emission sources. In Austria, in the east of Canada, in the Netherlands and Sweden, more than 60% of sulfur falling on their territory fall on external sources, and in Norway even 75%. Other examples of transfers of acids over long distances are acid rain falling on such remote islands in the Atlantic Ocean, like Bermuda, and acid snow in the Arctic.

Over the past 20 years (1970 - 1990), the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forest arrays, which is equal to the area of \u200b\u200bthe United States east of Mississippi. A particularly important ecological threat represents the depletion of tropical forests - "light planets" and the main source of biological diversity of the planet. About 200 thousand square kilometers are burned annually, and it means 100 thousand (!) Plant species and animals disappears. Particularly rapidly this process is in the richest rainforest regions - Amazonia and Indonesia.

British ecologist N. Meyers came to the conclusion that ten small areas in the tropics contain at least 27% of the entire species composition of this class of plant formations, later this list was expanded to 15 "hot spots" of tropical forests that should be saved in order so it became.

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

The modern situation with forests is very different in continents. If in Europe and Asia, forest-oiled areas for 1974 - 1989 increased somewhat, then in Australia in one year they decreased by 2.6%. An even greater degradation of forests is in individual countries: in the Côte d 'Ivoire for the year, forest areas decreased by 5.4%, in Thailand - by 4.3%, in Paraguay by 3.4%.

Desertification

Under the influence of living organisms, water and air on the surface layers of the lithosphere, the most important ecosystem, subtle and fragile, - the soil called the "skin of the Earth" is gradually formed. This is a keeper of fertility and life. The handful of good soil contains millions of microorganisms that support fertility. To formed a soil layer with a capacity (thickness) in 1 centimeter, a century is required. It may be lost in one field season. According to geologists estimates, before people began to engage in agricultural activities, the mouth of cattle and break the lands, the rivers demolished about 9 billion tons of soil annually into the world ocean. Now this amount is estimated at about 25 billion tons.

Soil erosion is a purely local phenomenon - now gained universal. In the US, for example, about 44% of the treated lands are subject to erosion. In Russia, unique rich black soils were disappeared with the content of humus (organic substance determining the soil fertility) in 14 -16%, which called the Citadel of Russian farming. In Russia, the area of \u200b\u200bthe most fertile lands with the content of Gumus 12% decreased by almost 5 times.

Especially severe situation occurs when not only the soil layer is demolished, but also the mother breed, on which it develops. Then the threshold of irreversible destruction comes, anthropogenic (that is, created by man) the desert.
One of the most terrible, global and fleeting processes of modernity is the expansion of desertification, fall and, in the most extreme cases, the complete destruction of the biological potential of the Earth, which leads to conditions similar to the conditions of the 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 role in the overall environmental balance of planet landscapes.

As a result of human activity by the last quarter of the twentieth century, more than 9 million square kilometers of desert appeared, and all of them have already embraced 43% of the total Sushi Square.

In the 90s, desertification began to threaten 3.6 million hectares of arid lands. This is 70% of potentially productive dry lands, or ¼ of the total area of \u200b\u200bthe sushi surface, and this data does not include the area of \u200b\u200bnatural deserts. About 1/6 of the world's population suffers from this process.
According to UN experts, modern losses of productive lands will lead to the fact that by the end of the century the world can lose almost 1/3 of its arable land. Such a loss in the period of unprecedented population growth and the increase in food need can be truly disastrous.

Causes of land degradation in various regions of the world:

	Deforestation	Super supervision	Realcate cattle	C / x Activity	Industrialization
The whole world




North America
South America
Central America

Global warming

Stayed in the second half of the century, the sharp warming of the climate is a reliable fact. We feel it softer than before, winters. The average temperature of the surface layer of air compared with 1956-1957, when the first international geophysical year was carried out, 0.7 ° C was increased. There is no warming at the excatort, but the closer to the poles, the more greed. It reaches 2 ° C for the polar circle. In the northern floor-shaped water heated at 1 ° C and ice cover began to lifted below.

What is the reason for this phenomenon? Some scientists believe that it is the results of the enormous mass of organic fuel and the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is greenhouse, that is, the reconciliation of heat from the surface of the Earth.

So what is the greenhouse effect? Billions of tons of carbon dioxide are purchased into the atmosphere as a result of burning coal and oil, natural gas and firewood, millions of tons of methane rise into the atmosphere of gas references, with rice fields of Asia, are ejected to water vapor, fluorochlororates. All this is "greenhouse gases". As in the greenhouse, the glass bar and the walls flow solar radiation, but they do not allow heat, so carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" are practically transparent to the solar rays, but they delay the long-wave thermal radiation of the Earth, to go into space.

Outstanding Russian scientist V.I. Vernadsky said that the influence is already comparable to geological processes.

The "energy boom" of the outgoing century increased the concentration of CO 2 vatmapper by 25% and methane by 100%. During this time, there is an occasional warming. Most scientists consider it a consequence of "greenhouse effects".

Other scientists, referring to climate change in historical time, consider the anthropogenic climate warming factor to be insignificant and bind the annoying with the amplification of solar activity.

Forecast for the future (2030 - 2050) involves a possible increase in temperature by 1.5 - 4.5 ° C. Such conclusions came the international confusion of climatologists in Austria in 1988.

In connection with the warming of climate, there are a number of related issues. What are the prospects for its further development? How will warming impact fumes from the surface of the world ocean and how will this affect the accuracy of precipitation? How will these sediments be distributed? And a number of specific questions relating to the territory of Russia: in connection with the switting and general humidification of the climate, is it possible to expect mitigating the droughts of the Lower Volga region, and in the North Caucasus (should it be waiting for an increase in the runway and further lifting the level of the Caspian Sea; ; Will it be easier for the seaflings of Siberia alongside the shores?

All these questions can be given an accurate answer. However, various scientific research was carried out for this.

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