Message on the topic of global environmental problems. Environmental problems of the planet

11.03.2022

Ecological problem is one of the global problems of our time. It is closely related to issues of resource scarcity. environmental safety and ecological crisis. One of the ways to solve the environmental problem is the path of "sustainable development", proposed as the main alternative to the development of human civilization.

Global environmental issues

Scientific and technological progress has posed a number of new, very complex problems for humanity, which it has not encountered before at all, or the problems were not so large-scale. Among them, a special place is occupied by the relationship between man and the environment. In the 20th century, nature was under pressure due to a 4-fold increase in population and an 18-fold increase in world production. Scientists say that from about the 1960s and 70s. changes in the environment under the influence of man have become global, i.e. affecting all countries of the world without exception, so they began to be called global. Among them, the most relevant are:

Earth's climate change;
air pollution;
destruction of the ozone layer;
depletion of fresh water and pollution of the oceans;
land pollution, destruction of soil cover;
depletion of biological diversity, etc.

Environmental changes in the 1970s-90s and forecast for

2030 are reflected in table. 1. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the meeting of heads of state and government of UN member states (September 2000) presented the report "We the peoples: the role of the United Nations in the 21st century". The report looks at the priority policy areas facing humanity in the new millennium and emphasizes that "the challenge of securing an environmentally sustainable future for future generations will be one of the most challenging."

Table 1. Environmental changes and expected trends up to 2030

Characteristic	Trend 1970-1990	Scenario 2030
Shrinkage of natural ecosystems	Reducing at a rate of 0.5-1.0% per year on land; by the early 1990s. about 40% of them survived	Continued trend, approaching near-total elimination on land
Consumption of primary biological products	Consumption growth: 40% land-based, 25% global (1985 est.)	Consumption growth: 80-85% onshore, 50-60% global
Change in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere	Growth in greenhouse gas concentrations from tenths of a percent to a few percent annually	Growth in concentration, acceleration of growth in the concentration of CO, and CH 4 due to accelerated destruction of biota
Depletion of the ozone layer, the growth of the ozone hole over Antarctica	Depletion of 1-2% per year of the ozone layer, an increase in the area of ozone holes	Continued trend even if CFC emissions are phased out by the year 2000
Reduction in forest area, especially tropical	Reduction at a rate from 117 (1980) to 180 ± 20 thousand km 2 (1989) per year; reforestation refers to deforestation as 1:10	Continuing the trend, reducing the area of forests in the tropics from 18 (1990) to 9-11 million km 2, reducing the area of forests in the temperate zone
desertification	Expansion of the area of deserts (60 thousand km 2 per year), growth of technogenic desertification. toxic deserts	The trend will continue, growth rates are possible due to a decrease in moisture turnover on land and the accumulation of pollutants in soils
land degradation	Increased erosion (24 billion tons annually), reduced fertility, accumulation of pollutants, acidification, salinization	Continued trend, increased erosion and pollution, reduced agricultural land per capita
Ocean level rise	Ocean level rise by 1-2 mm per year	Maintaining the trend, it is possible to accelerate the rise in the level up to 7 mm per year
Natural disasters, man-made accidents	Growth in number by 5-7%, increase in damage by 5-10%, increase in the number of victims by 6-12% per year	Maintaining and strengthening trends
Extinction of species	Rapid extinction of species	Increasing trend towards the destruction of the biosphere
Qualitative depletion of land waters	Growth in the volume of wastewater, point and area sources of pollution, the number of pollutants and their concentration	Maintaining and increasing trends
Accumulation of pollutants in media and organisms, migration in trophic chains	Growth in the mass and number of pollutants accumulated in media and organisms, growth in the radioactivity of the environment, “chemical bombs”	Persistence of trends and their possible strengthening
Deterioration of the quality of life, the growth of diseases associated with environmental pollution (including genetic ones), the emergence of new diseases	Increasing poverty, food shortages, high infant mortality, high morbidity, lack of clean drinking water in developing countries; an increase in genetic diseases, a high accident rate, an increase in drug consumption, an increase in allergic diseases in developed countries; AIDS pandemic in the world, lowering of the immune status	Continuing trends, growing food shortages, growing diseases associated with environmental disturbances (including genetic ones), expanding the territory of infectious diseases, the emergence of new diseases

Environmental issue

Environment (natural environment, natural environment) called that part of nature with which human society directly interacts in its life and economic activity.

Although the second half of the 20th century This is a time of unprecedented rates of economic growth, however, to an ever greater extent, it will be carried out without proper consideration of the possibilities of the natural environment, permissible economic burdens on it. As a result, the degradation of the natural environment occurs.

Irrational nature management

Deforestation and depletion of land resources can be cited as an example of environmental degradation as a result of unsustainable nature management. The process of deforestation is expressed in the reduction of the area under natural vegetation, and primarily forest. According to some estimates, during the emergence of agriculture and animal husbandry, 62 million km 2 of land were covered with forests, and taking into account shrubs and copses - 75 million km 2, or 56% of its entire surface. As a result of the deforestation that has been going on for 10 thousand years, their area has decreased to 40 million km 2, and the average forest cover to 30%. Today, deforestation continues at an ever faster pace: about 100 thousand hectares are destroyed annually. km 2. Forest areas are disappearing as the plowing of land and pastures expands, and timber harvesting grows. A particularly threatening situation has developed in the tropical forest zone, primarily in countries such as Brazil and the Philippines. Indonesia, Thailand.

As a result of soil degradation processes, about 7 million hectares of fertile lands are annually withdrawn from the world agricultural turnover. The main reasons for this process are growing urbanization, water and wind erosion, as well as chemical (contamination with heavy metals, chemical compounds) and physical (destruction of the soil cover during mining, construction and other works) degradation. The process of soil degradation is especially intense in drylands, which occupy about 6 million km 2 and are most characteristic of Asia and Africa. The main areas of desertification are also located within the arid lands, where, due to the high growth rates of the rural population, overgrazing, deforestation and irrational irrigated agriculture lead to anthropogenic desertification (60 thousand km 2 annually).

Pollution of the natural environment with waste

Another reason for the degradation of the natural environment is its pollution with waste from industrial and non-industrial human activities. These wastes are divided into solid, liquid and gaseous.

The following calculations are indicative. Currently, on average, about 20 tons of raw materials are mined and grown annually per inhabitant of the Earth. At the same time, 50 km 3 of fossil rocks (more than 1000 billion tons) are extracted from the subsoil alone, which, using an energy capacity of 2500 W and 800 tons of water, are converted into 2 tons of the final product, of which 50% is immediately thrown away, the rest goes to the deposited waste.

The structure of solid waste is dominated by industrial and mining waste. In general and per capita, they are especially high in Russia and the USA. Japan. The per capita indicator of municipal solid waste is dominated by the United States, where 800 kg of garbage per inhabitant per year (400 kg per inhabitant of Moscow).

Liquid waste pollutes primarily the hydrosphere, with sewage and oil being the main pollutants here. The total volume of wastewater at the beginning of the XXI century. amounted to about 1860 km 3. To dilute a unit volume of polluted wastewater to a level acceptable for use, an average of 10 to 100 and even 200 units of pure water is required. Asia, North America and Europe account for about 90% of the world's wastewater discharges.

As a result, the degradation of the aquatic environment today has taken on a global character. Approximately 1.3 billion people use only polluted water in their homes, and 2.5 billion experience a chronic lack of fresh water, which causes many epidemic diseases. Due to the pollution of rivers and seas, fishing opportunities are reduced.

Of great concern is the pollution of the atmosphere with dusty and gaseous wastes, the emissions of which are directly related to the combustion of mineral fuels and biomass, as well as mining, construction and other earthworks (2/3 of all emissions occur in the developed countries of the West, including the United States - 120 million tons). Examples of major pollutants are typically particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Every year, about 60 million tons of particulate matter are emitted into the Earth's atmosphere, which contribute to the formation of smog and reduce the transparency of the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide (100 million tons) and nitrogen oxides (about 70 million tons) are the main sources of acid rain. A large-scale and dangerous aspect of the ecological crisis is the impact on the lower layers of the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane. Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere mainly as a result of the combustion of mineral fuels (2/3 of all inputs). The sources of methane emissions into the atmosphere are biomass combustion, some types of agricultural production, gas leakage from oil and gas wells. The international community has decided to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20% by 2005 and by 50% by the middle of the 21st century. In the developed countries of the world, relevant laws and regulations have been adopted for this (for example, a special tax on carbon dioxide emissions).

The impoverishment of the gene pool

One aspect of the environmental problem is the reduction of biological diversity. The biological diversity of the Earth is estimated at 10-20 million species, including 10-12% of the total on the territory of the former USSR. The damage in this area is already quite tangible. This is due to the destruction of the habitat of plants and animals, the overexploitation of agricultural resources, environmental pollution. According to American scientists, over the past 200 years, about 900 thousand species of plants and animals have disappeared on Earth. In the second half of the XX century. the process of reducing the gene pool has accelerated sharply, and if the current trends continue over the last quarter of a century, the extinction of 1/5 of all species that now inhabit our planet is possible.

Ecological situation in Russia at the beginning of the XXI century.

The ecological situation in our country is determined by two factors: a decrease in environmental protection costs, on the one hand, and a smaller scale of economic activity than before, on the other.

For example, in 2000, almost 21,000 enterprises with emissions into the atmosphere operated in Russia. These emissions (including cars) amounted to more than 85 million tons, of which almost 16 million were without any treatment. For comparison, in the USSR, emissions from stationary sources and road transport in the mid-1980s amounted to. 95 million tons, in Russia in the early 90s - about 60 million tons. The largest air pollutants in modern conditions are the Siberian and Ural federal districts. They accounted for about 54% of total emissions from stationary sources.

According to the State Water Cadastre, in 2000 the total water intake from natural objects will be 86 km 3 (of which more than 67 km 3 was used for household and drinking, industrial needs, irrigation and agricultural water supply). The total volume of discharges of polluted wastewater into surface waters exceeded 20 km3, of which 25% falls on the Central Federal District. In the USSR, this figure was 160 km 3, in Russia in the 90s. — 70 km 3 (40% of them untreated or insufficiently treated).

In 2000, more than 130 million tons of toxic waste were generated in Russia as a whole. Only 38% of the waste was fully used and neutralized. The largest number of them was formed in the Siberian Federal District (31% of the entire RF). If we talk about solid waste in general, then in the USSR about 15 billion tons of them were generated annually, in Russia in the early 90s. — 7 billion tons.

Thus, although in Russia in the 90s. due to the economic crisis, there was a sharp decrease in emissions of all types of waste, the subsequent economic growth leads to an increase in the volume of waste polluting the environment.

One of the global problems of mankind is the constantly deteriorating state of its environment, the cause of which is itself. The interaction between man and nature, which is becoming more active, has led to ecosystem disturbances, many of which are irreversible. Thus, the ecological problem of mankind lies in the fact that further rash use of natural resources will lead to a catastrophe on a planetary scale.

Destruction of plants and animals

The technical civilization of modernity has generated a lot of environmental problems that need to be considered separately.

Not all even the global environmental problems of mankind can lead to such catastrophic consequences as this one. The world gene pool is depleted and destroyed, and species diversity is being violated faster and faster. Now about 20 million species of flora and fauna live on Earth, but they also become victims of an unfavorable environment.

American environmentalists made a report on their research, according to which over the past two centuries our planet has lost 900 thousand species, which means that on average about 12 species die out every day!

Fig.1. Extinction of species.

Deforestation

The rate of planting of green spaces cannot overtake the rate of their destruction, the scale of which becomes so catastrophic that in the next hundred years people will literally have nothing to breathe. Moreover, the main enemy of the “lungs of the planet” is not even lumberjacks, but acid rain. Sulfur dioxide emitted by power plants travels long distances, falls as precipitation and kills trees. Any essay on this topic will show sad statistics - every year 10 million hectares of forests disappear on the planet, and the numbers are becoming more and more frightening.

Figure 2. Deforestation.

Reducing the stock of minerals

The uncontrolled and ever-increasing consumption of ore reserves and other gifts of the planet led to a natural result - the environment was disturbed, and humanity was on the verge of a crisis. Minerals have been accumulating in the depths for a long time, but modern society is pumping and digging them out incredibly quickly: for example, of the total amount of oil that has been extracted, half is the result of the last 15 years of human activity. If you continue in the same spirit, it will last for several decades.

Pollution and destruction of the oceans

Without water, people will die out just as without air, but garbage is still a global problem for mankind. Garbage litters not only land, but also water expanses. Chemical waste is dumped into the ocean, causing the death of animals, fish and plankton, the surface of huge areas is covered with an oil film, and non-degradable synthetic waste turns into garbage islands. In short, this is not just environmental pollution, but a real disaster.

Rice. 3. Pollution of the oceans

What have we learned?

That the main environmental problems are related to the World Ocean, resources, plants, animals and forests. But it is important not only what environmental problems are facing humanity, but also what consequences this can lead to. Violation of the natural biocenosis and depletion of reserves that have been accumulating for millions of years are guaranteed to lead to the extinction of mankind.

Topic quiz

Report Evaluation

Average rating: 4.3. Total ratings received: 787.

From elementary grades, we are taught that man and nature are one, that one cannot be separated from the other. We learn the development of our planet, the features of its structure and structure. These areas affect our well-being: the atmosphere, soil, water of the Earth are, perhaps, the most important components of normal human life. But why, then, every year, environmental pollution goes further and reaches an ever greater scale? Let's look at the main environmental problems.

Environmental pollution, which also refers to the natural environment and the biosphere, is an increased content of physical, chemical or biological reagents in it that are not typical for this environment, brought in from outside, the presence of which leads to negative consequences.

Scientists have been sounding the alarm about an imminent environmental catastrophe for several decades in a row. Conducted studies in various fields lead to the conclusion that we are already facing global changes in climate and the external environment under the influence of human activity. Pollution of the oceans due to leaks of oil and oil products, as well as debris, has reached enormous proportions, which affects the decline in populations of many animal species and the ecosystem as a whole. The growing number of cars every year leads to a large emission into the atmosphere, which, in turn, leads to the drying of the earth, heavy rainfall on the continents, and a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the air. Some countries are already forced to bring water and even buy canned air, as the production has spoiled the environment in the country. Many people have already realized the danger and are very sensitive to negative changes in nature and major environmental problems, but we still perceive the possibility of a catastrophe as something unrealizable and far away. Is this really so or the threat is close and something needs to be done immediately - let's figure it out.

Types and main sources of environmental pollution

The main types of pollution classify the sources of environmental pollution themselves:

biological;
chemical
physical;
mechanical.

In the first case, environmental pollutants are the activities of living organisms or anthropogenic factors. In the second case, the natural chemical composition of the contaminated sphere is changed by adding other chemicals to it. In the third case, the physical characteristics of the environment change. These types of pollution include thermal, radiation, noise and other types of radiation. The latter type of pollution is also associated with human activities and waste emissions into the biosphere.

All types of pollution can be present both separately by themselves, and flow from one to another or exist together. Consider how they affect individual areas of the biosphere.

People who have come a long way in the desert will surely be able to name the price of every drop of water. Although most likely these drops will be priceless, because a person's life depends on them. In ordinary life, we, alas, do not attach such great importance to water, since we have a lot of it, and it is available at any time. But in the long run, this is not entirely true. In percentage terms, only 3% of the total world fresh water supply remained unpolluted. Understanding the importance of water for people does not prevent a person from polluting an important source of life with oil and oil products, heavy metals, radioactive substances, inorganic pollution, sewage and synthetic fertilizers.

Polluted water contains a large number of xenobiotics - substances that are alien to the human or animal body. If such water enters the food chain, it can lead to serious food poisoning and even death of all participants in the chain. Of course, they are also contained in the products of volcanic activity, which pollute water even without human help, but the activity of the metallurgical industry and chemical plants is of predominant importance.

With the advent of nuclear research, quite significant harm has been done to nature in all areas, including water. Charged particles that get into it cause great harm to living organisms and contribute to the development of oncological diseases. Effluent from factories, ships with nuclear reactors, and simply rain or snow in a nuclear testing area can contaminate the water with decomposition products.

Sewerage, which carries a lot of garbage: detergents, food debris, small household waste, and more, in turn, contributes to the reproduction of other pathogenic organisms, which, when they enter the human body, give a number of diseases, such as typhoid fever, dysentery and others.

Perhaps it does not make sense to explain how the soil is an important part of human life. Most of the food that people eat comes from the soil: from cereals to rare types of fruits and vegetables. For this to continue, it is necessary to maintain the state of the soil at the proper level for a normal water cycle. But anthropogenic pollution has already led to the fact that 27% of the planet's land is subject to erosion.

Soil pollution is the ingress of toxic chemicals and debris into it in high quantities, preventing the normal circulation of soil systems. The main sources of soil pollution:

residential buildings;
industrial enterprises;
transport;
Agriculture;
nuclear power.

In the first case, soil pollution occurs due to ordinary garbage that is thrown out in the wrong places. But the main reason should be called landfills. Burning waste leads to clogging of large areas, and combustion products spoil the soil irrevocably, littering the entire environment.

Industrial enterprises emit many toxic substances, heavy metals and chemical compounds that affect not only the soil, but also the life of living organisms. It is this source of pollution that leads to man-made pollution of the soil.

Transport emissions of hydrocarbons, methane and lead, getting into the soil, affect food chains - they enter the human body through food.
Excessive plowing, pesticides, pesticides and fertilizers, which contain enough mercury and heavy metals, lead to significant soil erosion and desertification. Abundant irrigation also cannot be called a positive factor, since it leads to soil salinization.

Today, up to 98% of radioactive waste from nuclear power plants is buried in the ground, mainly products of uranium fission, which leads to degradation and depletion of land resources.

The atmosphere in the form of a gaseous shell of the Earth is of great value, since it protects the planet from cosmic radiation, affects the relief, determines the climate of the Earth and its thermal background. It cannot be said that the composition of the atmosphere was homogeneous and only with the advent of man began to change. But it was after the beginning of the vigorous activity of people that the heterogeneous composition was "enriched" with dangerous impurities.

The main pollutants in this case are chemical plants, the fuel and energy complex, agriculture and cars. They lead to the appearance of copper, mercury, and other metals in the air. Of course, in industrial areas, air pollution is felt most of all.

Thermal power plants bring light and heat to our homes, however, in parallel, they emit a huge amount of carbon dioxide and soot into the atmosphere.
Acid rain is caused by waste from chemical plants, such as sulfur oxide or nitrogen oxide. These oxides can react with other elements of the biosphere, which contributes to the appearance of more destructive compounds.

Modern cars are quite good in design and technical characteristics, but the problem with the atmosphere has not yet been solved. Ash and fuel processing products not only spoil the atmosphere of cities, but also settle on the soil and make it unusable.

In many industrial and industrial areas, use has become an integral part of life precisely because of the pollution of the environment by factories and transport. Therefore, if you are concerned about the state of air in your apartment, with the help of a breather you can create a healthy microclimate at home, which, unfortunately, does not cancel the glider problems of environmental pollution, but at least allows you to protect yourself and loved ones.

We live in a time of technological progress, which in many ways makes life easier thanks to new and useful inventions. But these achievements of mankind have a reverse side of the coin - the consequences of this progress directly affect the ecological situation of the environment throughout the world.

Many plants, factories and other production facilities constantly emit harmful substances into the atmosphere, pollute water bodies with their waste, as well as the earth when they dispose of their waste into the ground. And this is reflected not only locally at the place of waste disposal, but throughout our planet.

What environmental problems exist in the modern world?

Air pollution

One of the main problems is air pollution and, accordingly, air pollution. It was atmospheric air that was the first to feel the consequences of technological progress. Just imagine that tens of thousands of tons of harmful and toxic substances are emitted into the atmosphere every hour every day. Many industries and industries deal an irreparable and simply stunning blow to the environment, for example, oil, metallurgy, food and other industries. As a result, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, which is why the planet is constantly heating up. Despite the fact that temperature differences are insignificant, on a more global scale, this can seriously affect hydrological regimes, or rather, their changes. In addition to all this, atmospheric pollution is reflected in weather conditions, which have already changed with the advent of technological progress.

Acid rain is now very widespread, which appears due to the ingress of sulfur oxides into the air. These rains adversely affect many things and damage trees, plants, the lithosphere and the top layer of the earth.

There are not enough resources, both financial and physical, to eliminate environmental problems, so at the moment they are only at the development stage.

Water pollution

This problem is particularly widespread in African countries and some Asian countries. There is a huge shortage of drinking water, as all available water bodies are terribly polluted. This water can not even be used for washing clothes, not to mention its use as drinking water. This is again due to the release of waste into the wastewater of many industrial enterprises.

earth pollution

For waste disposal, many enterprises use the method of their disposal in the ground. Undoubtedly, this negatively affects the soil, not only in the burial zone, but also in the surrounding areas. Subsequently, vegetables and fruits of poor quality are grown in this soil, which can cause many fatal diseases.

Ways to solve environmental problems

Efficient recycling of garbage and other hazardous waste.
Use of environmentally friendly fuel that does not pollute the atmosphere.
Severe sanctions and fines at the state level for air, water and land pollution.
Educational work and social advertising among the population.

All these steps seem very simple and easy to apply in practice, but often everything is not so simple. Many countries and non-profit organizations are fighting violators, but they are sorely lacking financial support and human resources to carry out their projects.

The scientific and technological revolution and the use of minerals of the earth has led to the fact that the ecological situation on our planet is deteriorating literally before our eyes. The level of pollution of the subsoil, hydrosphere and air layer of the earth is approaching a critical level. Humanity is on the verge of a global man-made disaster. Fortunately, more and more state and public organizations understand the depth and danger of the problem.

Work to improve the current situation is gaining momentum. Already now, modern technologies offer many ways to solve environmental problems, from the creation of ecological fuels, ecological transport to the search for new environmentally friendly energy sources and the reasonable use of the Earth's resources.

Ways to solve the problem

An integrated approach to environmental issues is needed. It should include long-term and planned activities aimed at all spheres of society.

To radically improve the environmental situation, both on earth as a whole and in a single country, it is necessary to implement measures of the following nature:

Legal. These include the creation of environmental laws. International agreements are also important.
Economic. Elimination of the consequences of technogenic impact on nature requires serious financial investments.
Technological. In this area, there is a place where inventors and innovators disagree. The use of new technologies in the mining, metallurgical and transport industries will minimize environmental pollution. The main task is to create environmentally friendly energy sources.
Organizational. They consist in the uniform distribution of transport along the streams to prevent its long accumulation in one place.
Architectural. It is advisable to plant trees and shrubs in large and small settlements, to divide their territory into zones with the help of plantations. Of no small importance is the planting of plantings around enterprises and along roads.

Special importance should be attached to the protection of flora and fauna. Their representatives simply do not have time to adapt to changes in the environment.

Current conservation measures

Awareness of the dramatic situation in ecology forced mankind to take urgent and effective measures to correct it.

The most popular activities are:

Reducing household and industrial waste. This is especially true for plastic utensils. It is gradually being replaced by paper. Research is underway to eliminate bacteria that feed on plastic.
Cleaning of drains. Billions of cubic meters of water are consumed annually to provide various branches of human activity. Modern treatment facilities allow to clean it to a natural state.
Transition to clean energy sources. This means phasing out nuclear energy, engines and furnaces running on coal and oil products. The use of natural gas, wind, solar and hydroelectric power ensures a clean atmosphere. The use of biofuels can significantly reduce the concentration of harmful substances in exhaust gases.
Protection and restoration of lands and forests. New forests are being planted in the clearing areas. Measures are being taken to drain the land and protect it from erosion.

Constant agitation in favor of ecology changes people's views on this problem, inclining them to respect the environment.

Prospects for solving environmental problems in the future

In the future, the main efforts will be aimed at eliminating the consequences of man-made human activities and reducing harmful emissions.

For this, there are such prospects:

Construction of special plants for the complete disposal of all types of waste. This will allow not to occupy new territories for landfills. The energy obtained from combustion can be used for the needs of cities.
Construction of thermal power plants operating on the "solar wind" (Helium 3). This substance is on the moon. Despite the high cost of its production, the energy obtained from the "solar wind" is thousands of times greater than the heat transfer from nuclear fuel.
Transfer of all transport to power plants running on gas, electricity, batteries and hydrogen. This decision will contribute to the reduction of emissions into the atmosphere.
Cold nuclear fusion. This option for generating energy from water is already under development.

Despite the serious damage caused to nature, humanity has every chance to return it to its original form.