The main environmental problems and ways to solve them. Proposed ways in the modern world to solve global and regional environmental problems
Global environmental problems and ways to solve them
Introduction …………………………………………………………………….3
Chapter 1. Main environmental problems ……………………………5
1.1. Atmospheric pollution ………………………………………..... 5
1.2.Global climate change ……………………………………...14
1.3. Ways to solve global problems ………………………………....17
1.4. The impact of environmental problems on the economy ………...………….18
Chapter 2. Ecological problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan …………………………………...21
2.1. Desertification of soils ……………………………………………….....21
2.2. Radioactive contamination of the Republic of Kazakhstan ………………………...…………….25
Conclusion ………………………………………...………………………....27
Bibliography ……..………………………………………………...31
Mankind is too slow to understand the extent of the danger that a frivolous attitude towards the environment creates. Meanwhile, the solution (if it is still possible) of such formidable global problems as environmental ones requires urgent energetic joint efforts of international organizations, states, regions, and the public.
During its existence, and especially in the 20th century, humanity managed to destroy about 70 percent of all natural ecological (biological) systems on the planet that are capable of processing human waste, and continues their "successful" destruction. The amount of permissible impact on the biosphere as a whole has now been exceeded by several times. Moreover, a person releases into the environment thousands of tons of substances that have never been contained in it and which are often not amenable or poorly recyclable. All this leads to the fact that biological microorganisms that act as a regulator of the environment are no longer able to perform this function.
According to experts, in 30 - 50 years an irreversible process will begin, which at the turn of the 21st - 22nd centuries will lead to a global environmental catastrophe.
The consequences of environmental problems are costly for a generation of society - the environmental crisis turns into a deterioration in health, rivers, and a decrease in life expectancy. Especially in areas of ecological disaster. Environmental problems occupy one of the first places in the public mind, and concern for the state of the environment is growing. Environmental problems are not only disasters, cataclysms and cataclysms, but also morally intolerable events, because they threaten the health and well-being of people.
The state of the natural environment surrounding man is one of the most pressing global problems of our time. The problems of ecology, the world state of the environment have been studied by many. Among them are Albert Gore, V.I. Vernadsky, E. Haeckel, Bjorn Lomborg and others.
The purpose of the course work is to consider the most important environmental problems and study programs for their solution.
The task of the course is to disclose all the most pressing environmental problems, their causes, consequences, impact on the environment and human health, and ways to solve them.
Coursework consists of 31 pages, contains two chapters. The first chapter consists of 4 sub-chapters, the second - of 2 sub-chapters.
Chapter 1 Major Environmental Issues
1.1. Air pollution
First, a few words must be said about the very concept of "ecology".
Ecology was born as a purely biological science of the relationship "organism - environment". However, with the intensification of anthropogenic and technogenic pressure on the environment, the insufficiency of this approach became obvious. Indeed, at present there are no phenomena, processes and territories unaffected by this powerful pressure. And there is no science that could withdraw from the search for a way out of the ecological crisis. The range of sciences involved in environmental issues has expanded enormously. Now, along with biology, these are economic and geographical sciences, medical and sociological research, atmospheric physics and mathematics, and many other sciences.
The environmental problems of our time in terms of their scale can be conditionally divided into local, regional and global ones and require for their solution different means of solution and scientific developments of different nature.
An example of a local environmental problem is a plant that dumps its industrial waste into the river without treatment, which is harmful to human health. This is a violation of the law. The nature protection authorities or even the public should fine such a plant through the courts and, under threat of closure, force it to build a treatment plant. It does not require special science.
An example of regional environmental problems is the drying up Aral Sea with a sharp deterioration in the environmental situation throughout its periphery (Appendix 1), or the high radioactivity of soils in areas adjacent to Chernobyl.
To solve such problems, scientific research is already needed. In the first case - accurate hydrological studies to develop recommendations for increasing the flow into the Aral Sea, in the second - to determine the impact on the health of the population of prolonged exposure to low doses of radiation and the development of soil decontamination methods.
Today, the biggest and most dangerous problem is the depletion and destruction of the natural environment, the violation of the ecological balance within it as a result of the growing and poorly controlled human activities. Exceptional harm is caused by industrial and transport disasters, which lead to the mass death of living organisms, infection and pollution of the world's oceans, atmosphere, and soil. But the continuous emissions of harmful substances into the environment have an even greater negative impact.
Firstly, a strong impact on people's health, all the more destructive because humanity is increasingly crowded in cities, where the concentration of harmful substances in the air, soil, atmosphere, directly in the premises, as well as in other influences (electricity, radio waves, etc.) ) very high.
Secondly, many species of animals and plants are disappearing, and new dangerous microorganisms are emerging.
Thirdly, the landscape is deteriorating, fertile lands are turning into piles, rivers into sewers, the water regime and climate are changing in places. But the biggest danger is global climate change (warming), possible, for example, due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This can lead to the melting of glaciers. As a result, huge and densely populated areas in different regions of the world will be under water.
Atmospheric air is the most important life-supporting natural environment and is a mixture of gases and aerosols of the surface layer of the atmosphere, formed during the evolution of the Earth, human activities and located outside residential, industrial and other premises.
The results of environmental studies unequivocally indicate that pollution of the surface atmosphere is the most powerful, constantly acting factor influencing humans, the food chain and the environment. Atmospheric air has an unlimited capacity and plays the role of the most mobile, chemically aggressive and all-penetrating agent of interaction near the surface of the components of the biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
In recent years, data have been obtained on the essential role of the ozone layer of the atmosphere for the preservation of the biosphere, which absorbs the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun, which is harmful to living organisms and forms a thermal barrier at altitudes of about 40 km, which prevents the cooling of the earth's surface.
The atmosphere has an intense impact not only on humans and biota, but also on the hydrosphere, soil and vegetation cover, geological environment, buildings, structures and other man-made objects. Therefore, the protection of atmospheric air and the ozone layer is the highest priority environmental problem and it is given close attention in all developed countries.
The polluted ground atmosphere causes cancer of the lungs, throat and skin, central nervous system disorders, allergic and respiratory diseases, birth defects and many other diseases, the list of which is determined by the pollutants present in the air and their combined effects on the human body. The results of special studies have shown that there is a close positive relationship between the health of the population and the quality of atmospheric air.
The main agents of atmospheric influence on the hydrosphere are precipitation in the form of rain and snow, and to a lesser extent smog and fog. The surface and ground waters of the land are mainly atmospherically nourished and, as a result, their chemical composition depends mainly on the state of the atmosphere.
The negative impact of the polluted atmosphere on the soil and vegetation cover is associated both with the precipitation of acidic precipitation, which leaches calcium, humus and trace elements from the soil, and with the disruption of photosynthesis processes, leading to a slowdown in the growth and death of plants. The high sensitivity of trees (especially birch, oak) to air pollution has been identified for a long time. The combined action of both factors leads to a noticeable decrease in soil fertility and the disappearance of forests. Acid atmospheric precipitation is now considered as a powerful factor not only in the weathering of rocks and the deterioration of the quality of bearing soils, but also in the chemical destruction of man-made objects, including cultural monuments and land lines. Many economically developed countries are currently implementing programs to address the problem of acid precipitation. As part of the National Acid Rainfall Evaluation Program, established in 1980, many US federal agencies began funding research on the atmospheric processes that cause acid rain to assess the impact of the latter on ecosystems and develop appropriate conservation measures. It turned out that acid rain has a multifaceted impact on the environment and is the result of self-purification (washing) of the atmosphere. The main acidic agents are dilute sulfuric and nitric acids formed during the oxidation reactions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides with the participation of hydrogen peroxide.
Natural sources of pollution include: volcanic eruptions, dust storms, forest fires, space dust, sea salt particles, products of plant, animal and microbiological origin. The level of such pollution is considered as background, which changes little with time.
The main natural process of pollution of the surface atmosphere is the volcanic and fluid activity of the Earth. Large volcanic eruptions lead to global and long-term pollution of the atmosphere, as evidenced by the chronicles and modern observational data (the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991). This is due to the fact that huge amounts of gases are instantly emitted into the high layers of the atmosphere, which are picked up at high altitude by air currents moving at high speed and quickly spread throughout the globe.
The duration of the polluted state of the atmosphere after large volcanic eruptions reaches several years.
Anthropogenic sources of pollution are caused by human activities. These should include:
1. Burning fossil fuels, which is accompanied by the release of 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. As a result, over 100 years (1860 - 1960) the content of CO2 increased by 18% (from 0.027 to 0.032%). Over the past three decades, the rate of these emissions has increased significantly. At such rates, by the year 2000 the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be at least 0.05%.
2. The operation of thermal power plants, when acid rain is formed during the combustion of high-sulfur coals as a result of the release of sulfur dioxide and fuel oil.
3. Exhausts of modern turbojet aircraft with nitrogen oxides and gaseous fluorocarbons from aerosols, which can damage the ozone layer of the atmosphere (ozonosphere).
4. Production activity.
5. Pollution with suspended particles (when crushing, packing and loading, from boiler houses, power plants, mine shafts, quarries when burning garbage).
6. Emissions by enterprises of various gases.
7. Combustion of fuel in flare furnaces, resulting in the formation of the most massive pollutant - carbon monoxide.
8. Fuel combustion in boilers and vehicle engines, accompanied by the formation of nitrogen oxides, which cause smog.
9. Ventilation emissions (mine shafts).
10. Ventilation emissions with excessive concentrations of ozone from rooms with high energy installations (accelerators, ultraviolet sources and nuclear reactors). In large quantities, ozone is a highly toxic gas.
During fuel combustion processes, the most intense pollution of the surface layer of the atmosphere occurs in megacities and large cities, industrial centers due to the wide distribution of vehicles, thermal power plants, boilers and other power plants operating on coal, fuel oil, diesel fuel, natural gas and gasoline. The contribution of motor transport to the total air pollution here reaches 40-50%. A powerful and extremely dangerous factor in atmospheric pollution are catastrophes at nuclear power plants (Chernobyl accident) and nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere. This is due both to the rapid spread of radionuclides over long distances and to the long-term nature of the contamination of the territory.
The high danger of chemical and biochemical industries lies in the potential for accidental releases of extremely toxic substances into the atmosphere, as well as microbes and viruses that can cause epidemics among the population and animals.
Currently, many tens of thousands of pollutants of anthropogenic origin are found in the surface atmosphere. Due to the continued growth of industrial and agricultural production, new chemical compounds, including highly toxic ones, are emerging. The main anthropogenic air pollutants, in addition to large-tonnage oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, dust and soot, are complex organic, organochlorine and nitro compounds, man-made radionuclides, viruses and microbes. The most dangerous are dioxin, benzo(a)pyrene, phenols, formaldehyde, carbon disulfide, widely distributed in the air basin of Kazakhstan. Solid suspended particles are mainly represented by soot, calcite, quartz, hydromica, kaolinite, feldspar, less often sulfates, chlorides. Oxides, sulfates and sulfites, sulfides of heavy metals, as well as alloys and metals in native form were found in snow dust by specially developed methods.
In Western Europe, priority is given to 28 especially dangerous chemical elements, compounds and their groups. The group of organic substances includes acrylic, nitrile, benzene, formaldehyde, styrene, toluene, vinyl chloride, and inorganic substances - heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, V), gases
(carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, radon, ozone), asbestos.
Lead and cadmium are predominantly toxic. Carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, styrene, tetrachloroethane, toluene have an intense unpleasant odor. The impact halo of sulfur and nitrogen oxides extends over long distances. The above 28 air pollutants are included in the international registry of potentially toxic chemicals.
The main indoor air pollutants are dust and tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, radon and heavy metals, insecticides, deodorants, synthetic detergents, drug aerosols, microbes and bacteria. Japanese researchers have shown that bronchial asthma may be associated with the presence of domestic ticks in the air of dwellings.
The atmosphere is characterized by extremely high dynamism, due to both the rapid movement of air masses in the lateral and vertical directions, and high speeds, a variety of physical and chemical reactions occurring in it. The atmosphere is now viewed as a huge "chemical cauldron" that is influenced by numerous and variable anthropogenic and natural factors. Gases and aerosols released into the atmosphere are highly reactive. Dust and soot generated during fuel combustion, forest fires absorb heavy metals and radionuclides and, when deposited on the surface, can pollute vast areas and enter the human body through the respiratory system.
The “lifetime” of gases and aerosols in the atmosphere varies over a very wide range (from 1–3 minutes to several months) and depends mainly on their chemical stability of size (for aerosols) and the presence of reactive components (ozone, hydrogen peroxide, etc.). .).
Estimating and even more so forecasting the state of the surface atmosphere is a very complex problem. At present, her condition is assessed mainly according to the normative approach. Values for toxic chemicals and other air quality guidelines are given in many handbooks and guidelines. In such guidelines for Europe, in addition to the toxicity of pollutants (carcinogenic, mutagenic, allergenic and other effects), their prevalence and ability to accumulate in the human body and the food chain are taken into account. The shortcomings of the normative approach are the unreliability of the accepted values of the indicators due to the poor development of their empirical observational base, the lack of consideration for the combined impact of pollutants and abrupt changes in the state of the surface layer of the atmosphere in time and space. There are few stationary posts for monitoring the air basin, and they do not allow an adequate assessment of its condition in large industrial and urban centers. Needles, lichens, and mosses can be used as indicators of the chemical composition of the surface atmosphere. At the initial stage of revealing the centers of radioactive contamination associated with the Chernobyl accident, pine needles were studied, which have the ability to accumulate radionuclides in the air. Reddening of the needles of coniferous trees during periods of smog in cities is widely known.
The most sensitive and reliable indicator of the state of the surface atmosphere is the snow cover, which deposits pollutants over a relatively long period of time and makes it possible to determine the location of sources of dust and gas emissions using a set of indicators. Snowfall contains pollutants that are not captured by direct measurements or calculated data on dust and gas emissions.
One of the promising areas for assessing the state of the surface atmosphere of large industrial and urban areas is multichannel remote sensing. The advantage of this method lies in the ability to characterize large areas quickly, repeatedly and in the same way. To date, methods have been developed for estimating the content of aerosols in the atmosphere. The development of scientific and technological progress allows us to hope for the development of such methods in relation to other pollutants.
The forecast of the state of the surface atmosphere is carried out on the basis of complex data. These primarily include the results of monitoring observations, the patterns of migration and transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere, the features of anthropogenic and natural processes of pollution of the air basin of the study area, the influence of meteorological parameters, relief and other factors on the distribution of pollutants in the environment. For this purpose, heuristic models of changes in the surface atmosphere in time and space are developed for a specific region. The greatest success in solving this complex problem has been achieved for the areas where nuclear power plants are located. The end result of applying such models is a quantitative assessment of the risk of air pollution and an assessment of its acceptability from a socio-economic point of view.
The main atmospheric pollutants include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen dioxide, as well as small gas components that can affect the temperature regime of the troposphere: nitrogen dioxide, halocarbons (freons), methane and tropospheric ozone.
The main contribution to the high level of air pollution is made by enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemistry and petrochemistry, construction industry, energy, pulp and paper industry, and in some cities, boiler houses.
Sources of pollution - thermal power plants, which, together with smoke, emit sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide into the air, metallurgical enterprises, especially non-ferrous metallurgy, which emit nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, fluorine, ammonia, phosphorus compounds, particles and compounds of mercury and arsenic into the air; chemical and cement plants. Harmful gases enter the air as a result of the combustion of fuel for industrial needs, home heating, transport, combustion and processing of household and industrial waste.
Atmospheric pollutants are divided into primary, entering directly into the atmosphere, and secondary, resulting from the transformation of the latter. So, sulfur dioxide entering the atmosphere is oxidized to sulfuric anhydride, which interacts with water vapor and forms droplets of sulfuric acid. When sulfuric anhydride reacts with ammonia, ammonium sulfate crystals are formed. Similarly, as a result of chemical, photochemical, physico-chemical reactions between pollutants and atmospheric components, other secondary signs are formed. The main source of pyrogenic pollution on the planet are thermal power plants, metallurgical and chemical enterprises, boiler plants that consume more than 170% of the annually produced solid and liquid fuels.
The main harmful impurities of pyrogenic origin are the following:
a) Carbon monoxide. It is obtained by incomplete combustion of carbonaceous substances. It enters the air as a result of burning solid waste, with exhaust gases and emissions from industrial enterprises. At least 250 million tons of this gas enters the atmosphere every year. Carbon monoxide is a compound that actively reacts with the constituent parts of the atmosphere and contributes to an increase in the temperature on the planet and the creation of a greenhouse effect.
b) Sulfur dioxide. It is emitted during the combustion of sulfur-containing fuel or the processing of sulfurous ores (up to 70 million tons per year). Part of the sulfur compounds is released during the combustion of organic residues in mining dumps. In the United States alone, the total amount of sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere amounted to 85 percent of the global emissions.
c) Sulfuric anhydride. It is formed during the oxidation of sulfur dioxide.
The end product of the reaction is an aerosol or solution of sulfuric acid in rainwater, which acidifies the soil and exacerbates human respiratory diseases. The precipitation of sulfuric acid aerosol from smoke flares of chemical enterprises is observed at low cloudiness and high air humidity. Pyrometallurgical enterprises of non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy, as well as thermal power plants annually emit tens of millions of tons of sulfuric anhydride into the atmosphere.
d) Hydrogen sulfide and carbon disulfide. They enter the atmosphere separately or together with other sulfur compounds. The main sources of emissions are enterprises for the manufacture of artificial fiber, sugar, coke, oil refineries, and oil fields. In the atmosphere, when interacting with other pollutants, they undergo slow oxidation to sulfuric anhydride.
e) Nitrogen oxides. The main sources of emissions are enterprises producing; nitrogen fertilizers, nitric acid and nitrates, aniline dyes, nitro compounds, viscose silk, celluloid. The amount of nitrogen oxides entering the atmosphere is 20 million tons per year.
f) Fluorine compounds. Sources of pollution are enterprises producing aluminum, enamels, glass, and ceramics. steel, phosphate fertilizers. Fluorine-containing substances enter the atmosphere in the form of gaseous compounds - hydrogen fluoride or dust of sodium and calcium fluoride.
The compounds are characterized by a toxic effect. Fluorine derivatives are strong insecticides.
g) Chlorine compounds. They enter the atmosphere from chemical enterprises producing hydrochloric acid, chlorine-containing pesticides, organic dyes, hydrolytic alcohol, bleach, soda. In the atmosphere, they are found as an admixture of chlorine molecules and hydrochloric acid vapors. The toxicity of chlorine is determined by the type of compounds and their concentration.
In the metallurgical industry, during the smelting of pig iron and its processing into steel, various heavy metals and toxic gases are released into the atmosphere. So, per 1 tonne of saturated cast iron, in addition to 2.7 kg of sulfur dioxide and 4.5 kg of dust particles, which determine the amount of compounds of arsenic, phosphorus, antimony, lead, mercury vapor and rare metals, tar substances and hydrogen cyanide, are released.
The most common atmospheric pollutants enter the atmosphere mainly in two forms: either in the form of suspended particles or in the form of gases. Let's consider each of them separately.
Carbon dioxide. As a result of fuel combustion, as well as the production of cement, a huge amount of this gas enters the atmosphere. This gas itself is not poisonous.
Carbon monoxide. Combustion of fuel, which creates most of the gaseous and aerosol pollution of the atmosphere, serves as a source of another carbon compound - carbon monoxide. It is poisonous, and its danger is aggravated by the fact that it has neither color nor smell, and poisoning with it can occur completely unnoticed.
Currently, as a result of human activity, about 300 million tons of carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere.
Hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities are a small fraction of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, but their pollution is very important. Their entry into the atmosphere can occur at any stage of production, processing, storage, transportation and use of substances and materials containing hydrocarbons. More than half of the hydrocarbons produced by humans enter the air as a result of the incomplete combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel during the operation of cars and other means of transport.
Sulphur dioxide. Atmospheric pollution with sulfur compounds has important environmental consequences. The main sources of sulfur dioxide are volcanic activity, as well as the processes of oxidation of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds.
Sulfur sources of sulfur dioxide have long surpassed volcanoes in intensity and are now equal to the total intensity of all natural sources.
Aerosol particles enter the atmosphere from natural sources.
Aerosol formation processes are very diverse. This is, first of all, crushing, grinding and spraying, solids. In nature, this origin has mineral dust raised from the surface of deserts during dust storms. The source of atmospheric aerosols is of global importance, since deserts occupy about a third of the land surface, and there is also a tendency for their increased share due to unreasonable human activities. Mineral dust from the surface of deserts is carried by the wind for many thousands of kilometers.
Volcanic ash that enters the atmosphere during eruptions occurs relatively rarely and irregularly, as a result of which this aerosol source is significantly inferior in mass to dust storms, its significance is very large, since this aerosol is thrown into the upper layers of the atmosphere - into the stratosphere. Remains there, for several years, it reflects or absorbs part of the solar energy, which in its absence could reach the Earth's surface.
The source of aerosols is also the technological processes of people's economic activities.
A powerful source of mineral dust is the building materials industry. The extraction and crushing of rocks in quarries, their transportation, the production of cement, the construction itself - all this pollutes the atmosphere with mineral particles. A powerful source of solid aerosols is the mining industry, especially in the extraction of coal and ore in open pits.
Aerosols enter the atmosphere when spraying solutions. The natural source of such aerosols is the ocean, which supplies chloride and sulfate aerosols, formed as a result of the evaporation of sea spray. Another powerful mechanism for the formation of aerosols is the condensation of substances during combustion or incomplete combustion due to lack of oxygen or low combustion temperature. Aerosols are removed from the atmosphere in three ways: dry deposition under gravity (the main route for large particles), deposition on obstacles, and sedimentation. Aerosol pollution affects weather and climate. Chemical inactive aerosols accumulate in the lungs and lead to damage. Ordinary quartz sand and other silicates - micas, clays, asbestos, etc. accumulates in the lungs and penetrates into the blood, leads to diseases of the cardiovascular system and liver disease.
1.2. global climate change
The colossal power of nature: flood, elements, storms, rising sea levels. Climate change is changing the image of our planet. Weather quirks are no longer unusual, they are becoming the norm. The ice on our planet is melting and that changes everything. The seas will rise, cities may be flooded and millions of people may die. No coastal region is immune from the dire consequences.
Global warming, we hear this expression all the time, but there is a frightening reality behind the familiar words. Our planet is heating up and this is having a disastrous effect on the earth's ice caps. The temperature rises, the ice begins to melt, the sea begins to rise. Worldwide, ocean levels are rising twice as fast as they did 150 years ago. In 2005, 315 cubic kilometers of ice from Greenland and Antarctica melted into the sea, for comparison, the city of Moscow uses 6 cubic kilometers of water per year - this is global melting. In 2001, scientists predicted that sea levels would rise by 0.9 meters by the end of the century. This rise in water levels is enough to affect more than 100 million people worldwide, but already now many experts fear that their predictions may be wrong. Even conservative estimates predict that over the next 60 years, rising sea levels will destroy a quarter of all homes located within 150 meters of the coast. Recent research paints a more troubling picture. By the end of the century, sea levels could rise as much as 6 meters and all of this could happen to all of us due to melting.
To understand what happens when the ice melts, scientists need to study the processes that cause melting. Today's advanced technologies are able to unravel the ancient history of our planet by studying the changes that have taken place in the past and they hope to predict our future.
Global warming can be caused by various factors, however, many scientists attribute this to the greenhouse effect.
Long-term observations show that as a result of economic activity, the gas composition and dust content of the lower layers of the atmosphere change. Millions of tons of soil particles rise into the air from plowed lands during dust storms. During the development of minerals, in the production of cement, during the application of fertilizers and the friction of car tires on the road, during the combustion of fuel and the release of industrial waste, a large amount of suspended particles of various gases enters the atmosphere. Determinations of the composition of the air show that there is now 25% more carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere than 200 years ago. This, of course, is the result of human activities, as well as deforestation, the green leaves of which absorb carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect is associated with an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which manifests itself in the heating of the inner layers of the Earth's atmosphere. This is because the atmosphere transmits most of the solar radiation. Some of the rays are absorbed and heat the earth's surface, and the atmosphere is heated from it.
Another part of the rays is reflected from the surface of the planet and this radiation is absorbed by carbon dioxide molecules, which contributes to an increase in the average temperature of the planet. The action of the greenhouse effect is similar to the action of glass in a greenhouse or hotbed (from this the name "greenhouse effect" arose).
Consider what happens to the bodies in the glass greenhouse. High-energy radiation enters the greenhouse through the glass. It is absorbed by the bodies inside the greenhouse. They then themselves emit lower energy radiation, which is absorbed by the glass. The glass sends some of that energy back, providing the objects inside with additional heat. In the same way, the earth's surface receives additional heat as "greenhouse" gases absorb and then emit radiation of lower energy. Gases that cause the greenhouse effect by their increased concentration are called greenhouse gases. This is mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor, but there are other gases that absorb energy from the Earth. For example, chlorofluorine containing hydrocarbon gases, such as freons or freons. The concentration of these gases in the atmosphere is also increasing.
Consequences of global warming:
1. If the temperature on Earth continues to rise, it will have a major impact on the global climate.
2. More precipitation will fall in the tropics as the extra heat will increase the amount of water vapor in the air.
3. In arid regions, the rains will become even rarer and they will turn into deserts, as a result of which people and animals will have to leave them.
4. The temperature of the seas will also rise, which will lead to the flooding of low-lying areas of the coast and to an increase in the number of severe storms.
5. An increase in temperature on Earth can cause a rise in sea levels because:
a) water becomes less dense as it heats up and expands, the expansion of sea water will lead to a general rise in sea level.
b) an increase in temperature can melt some of the multi-year ice covering some areas of land, such as Antarctica or high mountain ranges. The resulting water will eventually drain into the seas, raising their levels. It should be noted, however, that the melting of ice floating in the seas will not cause sea levels to rise. The Arctic ice sheet is a huge layer of floating ice. Like Antarctica, the Arctic is also surrounded by many icebergs. Climatologists have calculated that if the Greenland and Antarctic glaciers melt, the level of the World Ocean will rise by 70-80 m.
6. Residential land will shrink.
7. The water-salt balance of the oceans will be disturbed.
8. Trajectories of cyclones and anticyclones will change.
9. If the temperature on Earth rises, many animals will not be able to adapt to climate change. Many plants will die from lack of moisture and animals will have to move to other places in search of food and water. If the increase in temperature leads to the death of many plants, then many species of animals will die out after them.
Measures to prevent global warming.
The main measure to prevent global warming can be formulated as follows: find a new type of fuel or change the technology for using current fuels. This means that you need:
1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
2. In boiler houses, plants and factories, install facilities for cleaning emissions into the atmosphere.
3. Abandon traditional fuels in favor of more environmentally friendly ones.
4. Reduce the volume of deforestation and ensure their reproduction.
5. Create laws to prevent global warming.
6. Identify the causes of global warming, observe them and eliminate their consequences.
It is impossible to completely eliminate the greenhouse effect. It is believed that if it were not for the greenhouse effect, the average temperature on the earth's surface would be -15 degrees Celsius.
1.3. Ways to solve global problems
Speaking about the possible options for the development of the ecological situation on the planet, the most grateful and, of course, the most meaningful, it seems to talk about some of the current areas of environmental protection. Otherwise, one would have to speak exclusively about the horrors of the depletion of natural resources, etc.
Although each of the global problems discussed here has its own options for partial or more complete solutions, there is a certain set of common approaches to solving environmental problems. In addition, over the past century, mankind has developed a number of original ways to deal with their own, nature-destroying shortcomings.
Among such methods (or possible ways of solving the problem) can be attributed the emergence and activities of various kinds of "green" movements and organizations. In addition to the Green Peace, which is distinguished not only by the scope of its activities, but also, at times, by a noticeable extremism of actions, as well as similar organizations that directly conduct environmental actions, there is another type of environmental organizations - structures that stimulate and sponsor environmental activities - such as the Fund wildlife, for example. All environmental organizations exist in one of the forms: public, private state or mixed type organizations.
In addition to various kinds of associations that defend the rights of civilization that are gradually destroying nature, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives in the field of solving environmental problems. For example, the environmental legislation of the countries of the world, various international agreements or the system of "Red Books".
The international "Red Book" - a list of rare and endangered species of animals and plants - currently includes 5 volumes of materials. In addition, there are national and even regional "Red Books".
Among the most important ways to solve environmental problems, most researchers also highlight the introduction of environmentally friendly, low-waste and waste-free technologies, the construction of treatment facilities, the rational distribution of production and the use of natural resources.
Although, undoubtedly - and this proves the entire course of human history - the most important direction in solving the environmental problems facing civilization is the increase in the ecological culture of man, serious environmental education and upbringing, everything that eradicates the main environmental conflict - the conflict between the savage consumer and the rational inhabitant fragile world that exists in the human mind.
1.4. Impact of environmental issues on the economy
Policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should not be a brake on the economy.
Dealing with climate change and the economic damage it is likely to cause poses a dilemma for policy makers. The benefits of policies are uncertain and likely to accrue to future generations, while the costs of policies are likely to be needed more quickly and be significant. At the same time, the costs of inaction are irreversible and possibly catastrophic, and are likely to hurt poorer countries more than developed ones. Moreover, even if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that accumulate in the atmosphere and cause climate warming are immediately stopped, temperatures will continue to rise for several decades due to the emissions already accumulated.
For these reasons, economic policymakers are increasingly recognizing that policy action is needed both to mitigate the impact of global warming by slowing and ultimately reducing harmful emissions, and to adapt to the effects of emissions that have already occurred or will occur in coming decades. They also agree that mitigation policies in particular can have quick and far-reaching results. In order to shed light on how mitigation measures are likely to affect countries' economies, a study was conducted comparing policy alternatives - emissions taxes, emissions trading and hybrid schemes that combine elements of the two options. The results of the analysis are encouraging, showing that climate change can be tackled without undermining macroeconomic stability and growth and without imposing an undue burden on countries that are least able to bear the costs of appropriate policies. In other words, if policies are well planned, their economic costs should be affordable.
The baseline scenarios carry a significant risk that the global climate will change dramatically by the end of this century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) predicts that, in the absence of policies to control emissions, global temperatures will rise by an average of 2.8° Celsius by 2100. The probability of a larger increase in temperature is not negligible. Nicholas Stern (2008) indicates that if baseline pollutant concentrations stabilize at at least 750 parts per million hydrocarbon equivalent by the end of the century, as assumed in the latest IPCC scenarios, there is at least a 50% chance that that global temperatures would rise by more than 5° Celsius, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the planet. Any assessment of the economic impact of climate change is subject to great uncertainty. In his study, Stern (United Kingdom) estimates that the decline in GDP per capita by 2200 under his climate baseline (with relatively high emissions, including market and non-market impacts and catastrophic risk) ranges from 3 to 35 percent (90-35 percent). percent confidence interval) with a central estimate of 15 percent.
Uncertainty about climate change damages comes from a variety of sources. First, scientific knowledge about the physical and environmental processes that underlie climate change continues to evolve.
For example, it is not clear how quickly greenhouse gases will accumulate in the atmosphere, how sensitive climate and biological systems will be to increases in concentrations of these gases, and where there will be “last frontiers” after which catastrophic climate consequences will occur, such as the melting of the western ice sheet in Antarctica.
or permafrost, a change in the nature of the monsoons, or a reversal of the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean.
Secondly, it is difficult to assess how well people will be able to adapt to new climatic conditions. Thirdly, it is difficult to give a current valuation of the damage that future generations will suffer.
In addition, low estimates of global damage mask a large variation between countries.
Climate change will be felt earlier and much more acutely by less developed countries, at least relative to the size of their economies. Such countries are more dependent on climate-sensitive industries (such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism), have less healthy populations that are more vulnerable to environmental change, provide fewer public services, which are also often of lower quality. The regions likely to be hit the hardest are Africa, South and Southeast Asia and Latin America. India and Europe are at catastrophic risk, such as a change in monsoon patterns and a reversal of the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, China, North America, developed Asia, and countries with economies in transition are less vulnerable and may even benefit from a small amount of warming (for example, from higher crop yields).
Chapter 2. Ecological problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan
2.1. Desertification of soils
In most regions of our republic, the ecological situation is not only unfavorable, but also catastrophic.
The main sources that pollute the environment and cause degradation of natural systems are industry, agriculture, road transport and other anthropogenic factors. Of all the constituent components of the biosphere and the environment, the atmosphere is the most sensitive, not only gaseous, but also liquid and solid substances enter the pollutant.
Man has been polluting the atmosphere for thousands of years, but the consequences of using fire, which he used throughout this period, were insignificant.
What is an atmosphere? The air around us is a mixture of gases or, in other words, the atmosphere that envelops our globe.
The intake of various pollutants into the atmosphere from stationary industrial sources is currently more than 4 million tons per year.
A significant amount of highly toxic gaseous and solid substances is released into the atmosphere over Kazakhstan. If we compare the amount of emissions from various stationary sources, then approximately 50 percent is emitted by heat and power sources, and 33 percent - by mining and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises. The largest amount of emissions of various pollutants occurs in East Kazakhstan - 2231.4 thousand tons / year, which is 43 percent of the total emissions throughout Kazakhstan. Central Kazakhstan is in second place in terms of emissions - 1868 thousand tons / year or 36 percent. The atmosphere is least polluted in Northern Kazakhstan 363.2 thousand tons/year (7 percent) and South Kazakhstan 415.1 thousand tons/year, which is 8 percent. The most mobile, with an extensive radius of action, are oxides of nitrogen and sulfur. They carry over to significant considerations and have a strong impact on mortality, especially of agricultural crops.
Desertification is one of the most important problems of our time. Currently, the area of degraded lands in Kazakhstan is 179.9 million hectares, or more than 66% of its territory.
Thus, in Kazakhstan there is an urgent need to take preventive measures to prevent further land degradation and to take measures to restore and further rational use of the country's natural resources, including land and water.
Decreased fertility of arable lands, degradation of pastures and reduction of haylands, chemical and radioactive contamination of soils and water bodies have greatly worsened the state of natural lands and led to a decrease in agricultural production, deterioration of living conditions and health of the population. Thus, Kazakhstan is faced with the acute issue of taking preventive measures to prevent further land degradation and taking measures to restore and further rational use of the country's natural resources, including land and water. At present, when the land has been transferred to private land users, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of the population about the processes of desertification in Kazakhstan, about the impact of these processes on the economic and social situation of the rural population, about the goals and objectives of the Convention.
To solve these problems, the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1996 signed, and on June 7, 1997 ratified the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and thereby assumed the obligation to steadily implement the main provisions of the Convention.
In 1996, work began in Kazakhstan on the preparation of a national program of action. In December 1997, a group of scientists with the participation of all interested ministries and departments, broad public participation and financial support from UNEP and UNDP completed the draft “National Action Program to Combat Desertification in Kazakhstan” (NAPCD). In 1999, the development of the National Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Desertification (NSAPCD) began.
With the support of the UN Development Program / UNSO, the Republic of Kazakhstan developed the project “Pastures”, management of pasture ecosystems. The purpose of the development of this project is to organize actions together with local administrations to preserve biodiversity, combat desertification and poverty in remote villages on the coast of the Kazakhstani part of the Aral Sea to support pasture animal husbandry. This project involves the provision of effective assistance to local communities in the restoration, improvement and sustainable use of pasture lands, restoration and rational use of water for the development of animal husbandry, and the local population gaining self-sufficiency.
The strategic directions for combating desertification are being developed as an integral part of the country's broader national sustainable development policy outlined in the Kazakhstan 2030 Strategy.
During the implementation of the Convention, the following priority areas for combating desertification were identified:
Desertification monitoring. A basic territorial-zonal monitoring network is being formed in the republic. Currently, it is represented by 36 stationary and 16 semi-stationary ecological sites. To create a basic monitoring network covering the entire territory of the republic, it is necessary to significantly increase their number, develop and implement a set of desertification indicators. Within the framework of the Regional Action Plan for Asia, Kazakhstan submitted its proposals and entered as a member of the Thematic Program Network “Organization of a Regional Desertification Monitoring and Assessment Network in Asia”. Kazakhstan participates in the work carried out by the UNCCD Secretariat on indicators and impact indicators. The importance of this work for assessing the implementation of the BWC in the affected countries should be noted.
The ecological zoning is based on the ecosystem principle and the establishment of the potential of ecosystems for self-restoration - the ecological capacity of the region.
Measures for the rational use of natural resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan include the main areas of combating desertification:
On arable land: conducting intensive grain farming on more fertile lands; restoration of fertility of arable lands; transformation of a part of low productive arable land into fodder lands; introduction of a soil-protective system of agriculture, etc.
For pastures: inventory of pastures; watering and surface improvement of pastures; development and implementation of a system of fenced pastures, etc.
On afforestation and protection of the forest fund: carrying out reforestation work on the lands of the state forest fund; organization of monitoring of desert, tugai and mountain forests, etc.
For water resources: introduction of water-saving irrigation technologies; replacement of moisture-loving crops with drought-resistant, less moisture-loving ones.
The Convention Secretariat decided to develop a Regional Action Program to Combat Desertification in Asia on the basis of regional thematic networks. As part of the strengthening of regional cooperation, Kazakhstan joined as a participating country in the already established thematic program networks:
1. Monitoring and evaluation of desertification (responsible country - China);
2. Agroforestry and soil conservation.
Currently, Kazakhstan takes an active part in the development of regional cooperation. Active work is underway to include Kazakhstan in the international network to combat desertification. The main actions are aimed at strengthening the role of Kazakhstan at the regional level, raising awareness of the local population about the goals and objectives of the UNCCD through seminars, meetings, and speeches in the media. Great importance is attached to the participation of non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Convention at the local level.
Particular attention is paid to the issue of finding possible donors to attract investment and implement project proposals.
The fight against desertification in Kazakhstan, concern for the conservation of natural resources is a national task that can be successfully solved only with the direct and active participation of all administrative, legislative, executive bodies, public associations and the entire population as a whole.
2.2. Radioactive contamination in the Republic of Kazakhstan
A serious real threat to the environmental security of Kazakhstan is radioactive contamination, the sources of which are divided into four main groups:
1. waste from non-operating enterprises, uranium mining and processing industries (dumps of uranium mines, self-flowing wells, tailings, dismantled equipment of technological lines); territories contaminated as a result of nuclear weapons testing; waste from the oil industry and oil equipment;
2. waste generated as a result of the operation of nuclear reactors and radioisotope products (spent sources of ionizing radiation). Kazakhstan has six large uranium-bearing geological provinces, many small deposits and ore occurrences of uranium, which cause an increased level of natural radioactivity, waste accumulated at uranium mining enterprises and at the sites of nuclear explosions. On 30% of the territory of Kazakhstan, there is a potential for increased release of natural radioactive gas - radon, which poses a real threat to human health. It is dangerous to use water contaminated with radionuclides for drinking and household needs. More than 50,000 spent sources of ionizing radiation are located at enterprises in Kazakhstan, and more than 700 uncontrolled sources, of which 16 are deadly for humans, were discovered and eliminated during a radiation survey. A comprehensive solution to the problem should include the creation of a specialized organization for the processing and disposal of radioactive waste. The result of these activities will be to reduce exposure of the population and radioactive contamination of the environment.
The barbaric, predatory attitude of the central departments to the natural resources of Kazakhstan led in the 70s-90s. to the ecological crisis in the republic, which has become catastrophic in some regions.
One of the most difficult environmental problems is radiation pollution of the territory of Kazakhstan. Nuclear tests, conducted since 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site, have led to the contamination of a vast territory in Central and Eastern Kazakhstan. There were five more test sites in the republic where nuclear tests were carried out, in the immediate vicinity of its borders there is a Chinese test site Lop-Nor. The radiation background in Kazakhstan is also increasing as a result of the formation of ozone holes during the launch of spacecraft from the Baikonur cosmodrome. A huge problem for Kazakhstan is radioactive waste. Thus, the Ulba plant has accumulated about 100 thousand tons of waste contaminated with uranium and thorium, and the waste storage facility is located within the city limits of Ust-Kamenogorsk. There are only three burial sites for nuclear waste in the republic, and all of them are located in the aquifer. The extraction of uranium ore was carried out without land reclamation, only in 1990-1991. 97 thousand tons of radioactive rocks were taken to the Moiynkum district of the Zhambyl region, in total, up to 3 million tons of contaminated waste accumulated here.
It was the seriousness of the problem of radiation pollution that led to the fact that one of the first laws of sovereign Kazakhstan was the Decree of August 30, 1991 on a ban on tests at the Semipalatinsk test site.
Another of the most serious environmental problems in Kazakhstan has been the depletion of water resources. The expansion of fresh water consumption, primarily for irrigated agriculture, has led to clogging and depletion of natural water sources. The shallowing of the Aral Sea was especially catastrophic due to the irrational use of the waters of the Amur Darya and Syr Darya. If in the 60s the sea contained 1066 km3 of water, then in the late 80s its volume was only 450 km3, the salinity of the water increased from 11-12 g/l to 26-27 g/l, which led to the death of many marine species. animals and fish. The sea level dropped by 13 meters, the exposed seabed turned into a salt desert. Annual dust storms carry salt over vast areas of Eurasia. On the adjacent lands, the level of saline groundwater rose to 1.5-2 meters, which led to a drop in the fertility of irrigated lands in the Aral Sea region. The decrease in the sea surface led to a change in the direction of the winds and the climatic characteristics of the region.
A similar situation has developed on Lake Balkhash, the level of which has decreased by 2.8-3 meters over 10-15 years. At the same time, the level of the Caspian Sea continues to rise, caused by an ill-considered decision to drain the Kara-Bogazgol Bay. Huge tracts of coastal areas, rangelands and promising oil fields have already been flooded.
The Zyryanovsk lead and Leninogorsk polymetallic plants became the cause of pollution of the Irtysh, into which in 1989 alone 895 tons of suspended matter, 2,139 tons of organic substances, and 263 tons of oil products were dumped. An alarming ecological situation has developed in the valley of the Ili and Ural rivers.
The republic's land resources are in a critical state, fertile arable lands are being depleted, and pastures are becoming deserted. More than 69.7 million hectares of land are subject to erosion, and every year thousands of hectares are withdrawn from agricultural use. Air pollution remains a serious problem, especially in large industrial centers.
Conclusion
Environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources and disruption of ecological links in ecosystems have become global problems. And if humanity continues to follow the current path of development, then its death, according to the leading ecologists of the world, is inevitable in two or three generations.
As the negative consequences of the violation of the ecological balance began to acquire a universal character, it became necessary to create an environmental movement. Private entrepreneurs have also become involved in the creation of such opportunities, trying to reconcile the requirements for the protection of nature with the protection of the right to profit and the possibility of its implementation. They seek to implement these requirements in two ways: by orienting production towards the creation of means of production and by carrying out work to protect the natural environment and by limiting economic growth.
In recent years, monopolists have increasingly talked about production in order to protect the environment. The monopolies are vying for dominance over the environmental movement, as environmental protection is a new area, spending on which entails raising prices or direct public contributions, i.e. from the budget or through drastic relaxations (benefits). In fact, the very mechanism of market relations in capitalist production allows enterprises to even use their contribution to environmental protection to obtain ever-increasing profits.
Finally, enterprises that pollute the natural environment are obliged to make a great contribution to its protection, trying to raise the price of their goods. But this is not easy to implement, since all other enterprises that pollute the natural environment (manufacturers of cement, metal, etc.) also want to sell their products at a higher price to end producers. Taking into account environmental requirements in the final will have the following result: there is a tendency for prices to rise faster than wages to workers (rent), the purchasing power of the people decreases, and things will develop in such a way that environmental protection costs will fall on the amount of money that people have to buy goods. But since this quantity of money will then decrease, there will be a tendency for the output of goods to stagnate or decrease. The tendency of regression or crisis is obvious. Such a slowdown in industrial growth and a stagnation of output in some other system could have a positive aspect (less cars, noise, more air, shorter working hours, etc.). but with intensively developed production, all this can have a negative effect: goods whose production is associated with environmental pollution will become luxury, inaccessible to the masses, and will be available only to privileged members of society,
inequality will deepen - the poor will become even poorer, and the rich - even richer. Thus, entrepreneurs whose mode of production has led to an ecological imbalance, by protecting the natural environment, create the opportunity for themselves to further appropriate profits by participating in solving environmental problems.
To solve modern environmental problems, it is necessary to change the industrial civilization and create a new basis for society, where the leading motive for production will be the satisfaction of essential human needs, the even and humane distribution of natural and labor-created wealth. (An incorrect distribution of, for example, food in modern distribution is evidenced by the following fact: in the United States, as much protein is consumed for feeding pets as it is consumed for feeding the population in India.). The creation of a new civilization can hardly take place without a qualitative change in the bearer of social force.
To maintain ecological balance, "reconciliation of society with nature", it is not enough to eliminate private property and introduce public property into the means of production. It is necessary that technological development be considered as part of cultural development in a broad sense, the purpose of which is to create conditions for the realization of man as the highest value, and not to replace this with the creation of material values. With such an attitude towards technical development, it becomes clear that technology will develop processes for the rational use of raw materials and energy in the environment for any production, and there will be no undesirable and threatening consequences. To achieve this goal, it would be logical to direct science towards the development of alternative production processes that would satisfy the requirement for the rational use of raw materials and energy and the isolation of the process within the boundaries of the workshop with a simple, equal cost or less compared to dirty technologies. This attitude towards technological development also requires a new concept of social needs. It should be different from the concept of a consumer society, have a humanistic orientation, cover the needs, the satisfaction of which enriches the creative abilities of a person and helps him express himself, which is the most valuable for society. A radical renewal of the system of needs will give more scope for the development of true human values; instead of a quantitative increase in goods, a condition will arise for establishing a long-term dynamic correspondence between man and nature, between man and his living environment.
To establish a long-term dynamic relationship between society and nature, man and his environment, for the correct development of nature in the process of activity, there are objective prerequisites for the development of productive forces, especially those arising in the conditions of scientific and technological revolution. But in order for the productive forces to be used for the development of nature in an appropriate way, it is necessary to develop socio-economic relations in which the purpose of production will not be larger and cheaper than in production that does not take into account the negative consequences for the environment. And such socio-economic relations cannot exist without a person who finds and rationally distributes resources, protects the natural environment as much as possible from pollution and further degradation, takes maximum care of the progress and health of people; without a person who simultaneously improves himself ... The basis for such social action, along with the rest, is created by the awareness by an increasing number of people of the irrationality of a system in which the pursuit of wealth along the extreme line of excess is paid for by the rejection of more essential things, for example, a humane pace of life, creative labor , non-impersonal public relations.
Mankind understands more and more that often wasted resources are paid too dearly by those resources that are becoming less and less - clean water, clean air, etc.
Today, the protection of the human environment from degradation is consistent with the requirement to improve the quality of life and the quality of the environment. This interrelation of requirements (and social actions) - the protection of the human environment and the improvement of its quality is a prerequisite for improving the quality of life, which is reflected in the theoretical understanding of the relationship between man and nature and in the clashes of ideas that accompany this understanding.
Appendix
Annex 1. Aral Sea. (www.ecosystem.ru)
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INTRODUCTION
The anthropogenic period is revolutionary in the history of the Earth.
Mankind manifests itself as the greatest geological force in terms of the scale of its activities on our planet. And if we recall the short time of human existence in comparison with the life of the planet, then the significance of his activity will appear even clearer.
The scientific and technological revolution, the rapid development of productive forces and the simultaneous development of an aggressive consumer society in the twentieth century led to a fundamental change in the nature of the interaction between nature and society. The amount of permissible impact on the biosphere as a whole has now been exceeded by several times. Modern civilization and the biosphere are no longer able to cope with hazardous waste generated as a result of human activity, and are gradually degrading. The growth of human power leads to an increase in the negative consequences for nature and, ultimately, dangerous for the existence of man, the consequences of his activity, the significance of which is only now beginning to be realized.
A characteristic feature of our time is the intensification and globalization of human impact on the natural environment, which is accompanied by an unprecedented scale of negative consequences of this impact. And if earlier mankind experienced local and regional ecological crises that could lead to the death of any civilization, but did not prevent the further progress of the human race as a whole, then the current ecological situation is fraught with a global ecological collapse.
Mankind is too slow to understand the extent of the danger that a frivolous attitude towards the environment creates. Meanwhile, the solution of such formidable global problems as environmental ones requires urgent joint efforts of international organizations, states, regions and the public. The purpose of my work is to consider the most acute global environmental problems of our time, the main causes of their occurrence, the consequences they led to and ways to solve these problems.
1. GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
1.1 Depletion of the Earth's ozone layer
The ecological problem of the ozone layer is no less complex in scientific terms. As you know, life on Earth appeared only after the protective ozone layer of the planet was formed, covering it from cruel ultraviolet radiation. In recent decades, intensive destruction of this layer has been noticed.
The problem of the ozone layer arose in 1982, when a probe launched from a British station in Antarctica detected a sharp decrease in ozone at an altitude of 25 to 30 kilometers. Since then, an ozone "hole" of varying shapes and sizes has been recorded over Antarctica all the time. According to the latest data for 1992, it is equal to 23 million square meters. km, that is, an area equal to the whole of North America. Later, the same "hole" was discovered over the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, over Svalbard, and then in different places in Eurasia.
Most scientists consider freons, or chlorofluorocarbons, to be the cause of the formation of the so-called ozone holes in the atmosphere. Applications of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture; chlorination of drinking water, the widespread use of freons in refrigeration plants, for extinguishing fires, as solvents and in aerosols, has led to the fact that millions of tons of chlorofluoromethanes enter the lower atmosphere in the form of a colorless neutral gas. Spreading upwards, chlorofluoromethanes decompose under the action of ultraviolet radiation into a number of compounds, of which chlorine oxide destroys ozone most intensively. It has also been found that a lot of ozone is destroyed by the rocket engines of modern aircraft flying at high altitudes, as well as during launches of spacecraft and satellites.
The depletion of the ozone layer is a real threat to the existence of all life on Earth. The destruction of the planet's ozone layer and the penetration of increased doses of ultraviolet radiation can significantly affect the radiation balance of the Earth-atmosphere system and lead to unpredictable consequences for the Earth's climate, including an increase in the greenhouse effect; leads to the destruction of the established biogenesis of the ocean due to the death of plankton in the equatorial zone, inhibition of plant growth, a sharp increase in eye and cancer diseases, as well as diseases associated with a weakening of the immune system of humans and animals; increasing the oxidizing power of the atmosphere, corrosion of metals, etc.
The international community, concerned about this trend, has already introduced restrictions on freon emissions by the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985).
1.2 Acid rain
One of the most acute global problems of our time is the problem of the increasing acidity of precipitation and soil cover. Every year, about 200 million solid particles (dust, soot, etc.), 200 million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2), 700 million tons of sulfur dioxide are released into the Earth's atmosphere. tons of carbon monoxide, 150 mln. tons of nitrogen oxides, which in total is more than 1 billion tons of harmful substances. Acid rain (or, more correctly), acid precipitation, since the fallout of harmful substances can occur both in the form of rain and in the form of snow, hail, causes environmental, economic and aesthetic damage. As a result of acid precipitation, the balance in ecosystems is disturbed.
Acid rain occurs as a result of human activities, accompanied by emissions of colossal amounts of oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon. These oxides, entering the atmosphere, are transported over long distances, interact with water and turn into solutions of a mixture of sulfurous, sulfuric, nitrous, nitric and carbonic acids, which fall in the form of "acid rain" on land, interacting with plants, soils, waters.
Areas of acidic soils do not know droughts, but their natural fertility is reduced and unstable; they are quickly depleted and their yields are low; metal structures rust; buildings, structures, architectural monuments, etc. are destroyed. Sulfur dioxide is adsorbed on the leaves, penetrates inside and takes part in oxidative processes. This entails genetic and species changes in plants. One of the causes of forest death in many regions of the world is acid rain.
Acid rain causes not only acidification of surface waters and upper soil horizons. Acidity with downward water flows extends to the entire soil profile and causes significant acidification of groundwater.
To solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the volume of systematic measurements of compounds polluting the atmosphere.
1.3 Earth's climate change
Until the middle of the XX century. climate fluctuations depended relatively little on man and his economic activity. Over the past decades, this situation has changed quite dramatically. The influence of anthropogenic activity on the global climate is associated with the action of several factors, of which the most important are:
An increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide, as well as some other gases released into the atmosphere in the course of economic activity;
Increase in the mass of atmospheric aerosols;
An increase in the amount of thermal energy generated in the process of economic activity entering the atmosphere.
An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and other gases at the earth's surface leads to the formation of a "gas curtain" that does not transmit excess infrared radiation from the Earth's surface back into space. As a result, a significant part of the energy remains in the surface layer, forming the so-called "greenhouse effect". The gradual increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is already having a noticeable effect on the Earth's climate, changing it towards warming. Over the past 100 years, the average temperature on Earth has risen by 0.6°C. Scientists' calculations show that with the development of the greenhouse effect, it can increase by 0.5 ° C every 10 years. An increase in temperature on Earth can cause irreversible processes:
Rise in the level of the World Ocean due to the melting of glaciers and polar ice, which, in turn, results in flooding of territories, displacement of the boundaries of swamps and lowland areas, increased salinity of water in river mouths, loss of human habitation;
Disturbance of geological structures of permafrost;
Changes in the hydrological regime, quantity and quality of water resources;
Impact on ecological systems, agriculture and forestry (shift of climatic zones to the north).
As the warming trend intensifies, weather patterns become more volatile and climate disasters more destructive. At the end of the 20th century, mankind came to understand the need to solve one of the most complex and extremely dangerous environmental problems associated with climate change, and in the mid-1970s, active work began in this direction. At the World Climate Conference in Geneva (1979), the foundations of the World Climate Program were laid. In accordance with the resolution of the UN General Assembly on the protection of the global climate, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) was adopted. The purpose of the convention is to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level that will not have a dangerous impact on the global climate system. At the III Conference of the countries that signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Kyoto, the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (1997) was adopted, which fixed certain quantitative obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for industrialized countries and countries with economies in transition . The Kyoto Protocol can be seen as the beginning of a move towards what needs to be done to slow down the process of global warming, and in the long term - to reduce the risk of global climate change.
1.4 Depletion of fresh water
During the period from 1900 to 1995, the consumption of fresh water in the world increased 6 times, which is more than 2 times the population growth rate. Almost now? The world's population lacks clean water. If current trends in fresh water consumption continue, then by 2025, two out of three inhabitants of the Earth will live in conditions of water scarcity.
The main source of providing humanity with fresh water is, in general, actively renewable surface water, which is about 39,000 km? in year. Back in the 1970s, these huge annually renewable fresh water resources provided one inhabitant of the globe with an average volume of about 11 thousand m? Year, in the 1980s, the per capita supply of water resources decreased to 8.7 thousand m? / year, and by the end of the twentieth century - up to 6.5 thousand m? / year. Taking into account the forecast of the growth of the Earth's population by 2050 (up to 9 billion), the water supply will drop to 4.3 thousand m?/year. However, it should be taken into account that the given average data are of a generalized nature. The uneven distribution of the population and water resources around the globe leads to the fact that in some countries the annual provision of the population with fresh water decreases to 2000-1000 m? / year (South African countries) or rises to 100 thousand m? / year (New Zealand) .
Does groundwater meet the needs? the population of the earth. Of particular concern to mankind is their irrational use and methods of exploitation. The extraction of groundwater in many regions of the globe is carried out in such volumes that significantly exceed the ability of nature to renew them. It is widespread in the Arabian Peninsula, in India, China, Mexico, the CIS countries and the USA. There is a drop in the level of groundwater by 1-3 m per year.
The challenge is to protect the quality of water resources. The use of water for economic purposes is one of the links in the water cycle. But the anthropogenic link of the cycle differs significantly from the natural one in that only part of the water used by man returns to the atmosphere in the process of evaporation. Another part of it, especially in the water supply of cities and industrial enterprises, is discharged back into rivers and reservoirs in the form of wastewater contaminated with industrial waste. This process has been going on for thousands of years. With the growth of the urban population, the development of industry, the use of mineral fertilizers and harmful chemicals in agriculture, pollution of surface fresh waters has become global. The most serious problem is that more than 1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water, and half of the world's population does not have access to adequate sanitation and hygiene services. In many developing countries, the rivers that flow through large cities are sewers, and this poses a risk to public health.
The World Ocean - the largest ecological system of the planet Earth, represents the water areas of four oceans (Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Arctic) with all interconnected adjacent seas. Sea water makes up 95% of the volume of the entire hydrosphere. Being an important link in the water cycle, it provides food for glaciers, rivers and lakes, and thus - the life of plants and animals. The marine ocean plays a huge role in creating the necessary conditions for life on the planet, its phytoplankton provides 50-70% of the total oxygen consumed by living beings.
The scientific and technological revolution brought radical changes in the use of the resources of the World Ocean. At the same time, many negative processes are also associated with the scientific and technological revolution, and among them is the pollution of the waters of the World Ocean. The pollution of the ocean with oil, chemicals, organic residues, burial sites of radioactive industries, etc. is catastrophically increasing. According to estimates, the World Ocean absorbs the main part of the pollutants. The international community is actively seeking ways to effectively protect the marine environment. Currently, there are more than 100 conventions, agreements, treaties and other legal acts. International agreements regulate various aspects that determine the prevention of pollution of the World Ocean, among them:
Prohibition or restriction under certain conditions of discharges of pollutants formed during normal operation (1954);
Prevention of intentional pollution of the marine environment by operational waste from ships, and partly from fixed and floating platforms (1973);
Prohibition or restriction of dumping of wastes and other materials (1972);
Prevention of pollution or reduction of its consequences as a result of accidents and catastrophes (1969, 1978).
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) occupies a leading place in the formation of a new international legal regime of the World Ocean, which includes a set of problems for the protection and use of the World Ocean in the modern conditions of the scientific and technological revolution. The Convention declared the international seabed area and its resources to be the common heritage of mankind.
1.5 Destruction of the Earth's soil cover
The problem of land resources has now become one of the most acute global problems, not only because of the limited land fund, but also because the natural ability of the soil cover to produce biological products annually decreases both relatively (per capita of a progressively growing world population) and absolutely. (due to increased losses and degradation of soil as a result of human activities).
Mankind in its history has irretrievably lost more fertile land than is being plowed up all over the world, turning once productive arable land into deserts, wastelands, swamps, bush thickets, badlands, ravines.
One of the main reasons for the deterioration of the quality of land resources is soil erosion - the destruction of the upper most fertile horizons and the underlying soil-forming rock by surface water and wind. Under the influence of human economic activity, accelerated erosion occurs, which often leads to the complete destruction of the soil. As a result of soil erosion on the globe in the 20th century, several tens of millions of hectares of arable land dropped out of agricultural circulation, and several hundred million hectares are in need of anti-erosion measures.
In many regions of the Earth, aridization is increasing - a decrease in moisture content in vast areas. Under the threat of the spread of deserts is 1/5 of the land. According to UN estimates, in the second half of the 20th century, the area of the Sahara has grown by 650 thousand square kilometers, its edge is moving 1.5-10 km annually, and the Libyan desert - up to 13 km per year. The development of irrigated agriculture in an arid climate with a long dry season causes secondary soil salinization. Salinization affects about 50% of the world's irrigated land. For the first time, the idea of the need for concerted and coordinated actions by all countries of the world in the field of combating desertification was put forward at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (1992). It was proposed to develop a special UN Convention to Combat Desertification, aimed at uniting the efforts of states and the general population to prevent land destruction and mitigate the effects of droughts (adopted in 1994). The Convention aims to combat all forms of land degradation in different geoclimatic zones, including Europe.
Any actions that lead to a violation of the physical, physico-chemical, chemical, biological and biochemical properties of the soil cause its pollution. On a large scale, soil pollution occurs: during open-pit mining, inorganic waste and industrial waste, as a result of agricultural activities, transport and public utilities. The most dangerous is radioactive contamination of land.
Pollution of land, ground and surface waters, atmospheric air is increasingly associated with the accumulation of waste that is generated in the process of production, economic activity, and everyday life. The amount of waste annually in the world is increasing and, according to some estimates, has reached 30 billion tons (all types of waste). An analysis of the trends in the development of the world economy shows that the amount of waste is doubling every 10-12 years. More and more lands are withdrawn from the economic circulation to dispose of waste. The formation and accumulation of production and consumption waste leads to a violation of the ecological balance of the natural environment and poses a real threat to human health.
The priority areas in the field of waste management can be recognized as the following:
Reducing the volume of waste generation through the introduction of resource-saving and low-waste technologies;
Increasing the level of their processing, providing for the development and implementation of new technologies, the creation of complexes for the disposal, neutralization and disposal of toxic industrial waste, the introduction of industrial methods for processing household waste;
Environmentally safe disposal, providing for the organization of controlled waste disposal at landfills, improving control over existing landfills and building new ones.
1.6 Biodiversity conservation
In the period of the scientific and technological revolution, man is the main force that transforms the flora and fauna. Human activity in recent decades has led to the fact that the rate of extinction of many species of the animal world, primarily mammals and birds, has become much more intense and significantly exceeds the calculated average rate of species loss in previous millennia. Direct threats to biodiversity are usually based on socio-economic factors. Thus, population growth leads to an increase in the need for food, a corresponding expansion of agricultural land, intensification of land use, the use of land for buildings, a general increase in consumption and an increase in the degradation of natural resources.
According to the latest surveys compiled by UN experts, about a quarter of a million plant species, that is, one in eight, are under threat of extinction. The survival of approximately 25% of all mammal species and 11% of bird species is also problematic. The depletion of fisheries in the world's oceans continues: over the past half century, fish catches have increased by almost five times, while 70% of ocean fisheries are exploited to the limit or beyond.
The problem of biodiversity conservation is largely interconnected with the degradation of forest resources. Forests contain over 50% of the world's biodiversity, provide landscape diversity, form and protect soils, help retain and purify water, produce oxygen, and reduce the threat of global warming. Population growth and the development of the world economy have led to a growing global demand for forest products. As a result, over the past 300 years, 66-68% of the planet's forest area has been destroyed. Logging of a limited number of species leads to changes in the species composition of large forest areas and is one of the causes of the overall loss of biological diversity. In the period 1990-2000. in developing countries, tens of millions of hectares of forest land have been lost as a result of over-logging, conversion to farmland, disease and fire. A particularly threatening situation has developed in tropical forests. With the current rate of deforestation in the 21st century, in some regions (Malaysia, Indonesia), forests may disappear completely.
Awareness of the unpredictable value of biological diversity, its importance for the maintenance of natural evolution and the sustainable functioning of the biosphere has led mankind to understand the threat posed by the decline in biological diversity that occurs as a result of certain types of human activity. Sharing the concern of the world community, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992), among other important documents, adopted the Convention on Biological Diversity. The main provisions of the convention are aimed at the rational use of natural biological resources and the implementation of effective measures for their conservation.
2. WAYS FOR SOLVING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Each of the considered global problems has its own options for a partial or more complete solution. There is a certain set of general approaches to solving environmental problems.
Measures to improve the quality of the environment:
1. Technological:
Development of new technologies,
treatment facilities,
fuel change,
Electrification of production, life, transport.
2. Architectural and planning activities:
Zoning of the territory of the settlement,
Landscaping of populated areas,
Organization of sanitary protection zones.
3.Economic.
4. Legal:
Creation of legislative acts to maintain the quality of the environment.
In addition, over the past century, mankind has developed a number of original ways to deal with environmental problems. Among these methods can be attributed the emergence and activities of various kinds of "green" movements and organizations. In addition to "Green Peacea", which is distinguished by the scope of its activities, there are similar organizations that directly carry out environmental actions. There is also another type of environmental organization: structures that stimulate and sponsor environmental activities (Wildlife Fund).
In addition to various kinds of associations in the field of solving environmental problems, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives: environmental legislation in Russia and other countries of the world, various international agreements or the system of "Red Books".
Among the most important ways to solve environmental problems, most researchers also highlight the introduction of environmentally friendly, low-waste and waste-free technologies, the construction of treatment facilities, the rational distribution of production and the use of natural resources.
ozone atmosphere acidity soil
CONCLUSION
In this work, I tried to consider the main environmental problems and ways to solve them. Based on the analysis of the environmental situation, we can conclude that we should rather not talk about the final and absolute solution of global environmental problems, but about the prospects for a shift in particular problems, the solution of which will help reduce the scale of global ones.
The protection of nature is the task of our century, a problem that has become a social one. Again and again we hear about the danger threatening the environment, but still many of us consider them an unpleasant, but inevitable product of civilization and believe that we will still have time to cope with all the difficulties that have come to light. However, human impact on the environment has taken on alarming proportions. In order to fundamentally improve the situation, purposeful and thoughtful actions of all mankind will be needed. A responsible and efficient policy towards the environment will be possible only if we accumulate reliable data on the current state of the environment, substantiated knowledge about the interaction of important environmental factors, if we develop new methods to reduce and prevent harm caused to nature by man.
REFERENCES
1. Akimova, T.A. Ecology: Nature-Man-Technology: Textbook for Universities T.A. Akimova, A.P. Kuzmin, V.V. Haskin. - M.: Unity, 2001. - 343 p.
2. Bobylev, S.N. UN Millennium Development Goals and Ensuring Russia's Environmental Sustainability S.N. Bobylev // Ecology and Law. - 2006. - No. 1
3. Brodsky, A.K. A short course in general ecology: a textbook by A.K. Brodsky. - 3rd ed. - St. Petersburg: DEAN, 1999. - 223s.
4. Nature Protection: textbook N.D. Gladkov and others. - M.: Enlightenment, 1975. - 239s.
5. Gorelov, A.A. Ecology: textbook A.A. Gorelov. - M.: Center, 1998 -238s.
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SOLVING ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS: THREE MAIN WAYS.
But humanity not only litters its "nest". It has developed ways to protect the environment and has already begun to implement them.
The first way is to create various kinds of treatment facilities, the use of low-sulphur fuel, the destruction and processing of waste, the construction of chimneys 200-300 m or more high, land reclamation, etc. However, even the most modern facilities do not provide complete purification. And ultra-high chimneys, reducing the concentration of harmful substances in a given place, contribute to the spread of dust pollution and acid rain over much larger areas: a 250 m high chimney increases the dispersion radius to 75 km.
The second way is to develop and apply a fundamentally new environmental ("clean") production technology, in the transition to low-waste and waste-free production processes. Thus, the transition from direct-flow (river-enterprise-river) water supply to circulation, and even more so to "dry" technology, can first ensure a partial, and then a complete cessation of wastewater discharge into rivers and reservoirs.
This path is the main one, because it not only reduces, but prevents environmental pollution. But it requires huge expenditures, unsustainable for many countries.
The third way is in a deeply thought out, most rational distribution of the so-called "dirty" industries that have a negative impact on the environment. Among the "dirty" industries, first of all, are the chemical and petrochemical, metallurgical, pulp and paper industries, thermal power engineering, and the production of building materials. When locating such enterprises, geographical expertise is especially necessary.
Another way is to reuse raw materials. In developed countries, the reserves of secondary raw materials are equal to the explored geological ones. The centers for the procurement of recyclable materials are the old industrial regions of Foreign Europe, the USA, Japan, and the European part of Russia.
Table 14. The share of waste paper in the production of paper and cardboard in the late 80s, in%.Tasks and tests on the topic "Solving environmental problems: three main ways."
- India - Eurasia 7th grade
Lessons: 4 Assignments: 9 Tests: 1
- The Age of Discovery - Development of geographical knowledge about the Earth Grade 5
Lessons: 8 Assignments: 10 Tests: 2
Leading ideas: the geographical environment is a necessary condition for the life of society, the development and distribution of the population and the economy, while the influence of the resource factor on the level of economic development of the country has recently been decreasing, but the importance of the rational use of natural resources and the environmental factor is increasing.
Basic concepts: geographic (environment) environment, ore and non-metallic minerals, ore belts, pools of minerals; structure of the world land fund, southern and northern forest belts, forest cover; hydropower potential; shelf, alternative energy sources; resource availability, natural resource potential (NRP), territorial combination of natural resources (RTSR), areas of new development, secondary resources; environmental pollution, environmental policy.
Skills and abilities: be able to characterize the natural resources of the country (region) according to the plan; use various methods of economic evaluation of natural resources; characterize the natural prerequisites for the development of industry and agriculture of the country (region) according to the plan; give a brief description of the location of the main types of natural resources, single out the countries "leaders" and "outsiders" in terms of availability of one or another type of natural resources; give examples of countries that do not have rich natural resources, but have reached a high level of economic development and vice versa; give examples of rational and irrational use of resources.
Environmental problems today occupy the same important place in the world as political, social and economic ones. Many people have already understood that active anthropogenic activity has caused irreparable damage to nature, and before it’s too late, you need to stop or at least change your actions, reduce the negative impact and decide environmental problems of the world.
Global environmental problems are not a myth, fiction or delusion. You can't close your eyes to them. Moreover, every person can start fighting against the destruction of nature, and the more people join this cause, the more benefit it will be for our planet.
The most pressing environmental problems of our time
There are so many environmental problems in the world that they cannot be included in one big list. Some of them are global and some are local. However, let's try to name the most acute environmental problems that we have today:
- the problem of pollution of the biosphere - air, water, land;
- destruction of many species of flora and fauna;
- depletion of non-renewable minerals;
- global warming;
- destruction of the ozone layer and the formation of holes in it;
- desertification;
- deforestation.
Many environmental problems boil down to the fact that by polluting a small area, a person invades the whole ecosystem, and absolutely destroys it. So cutting down trees, shrubs and grasses will not be able to grow in the forests, which means that birds and animals will not have anything to eat, half of them will die out, and the rest will migrate. Then soil erosion will occur, and water bodies will dry up, which will further lead to desertification of the territory. In the future, environmental refugees will appear - people who, having lost all the resources for existence, will be forced to leave their home and begin to look for new habitats.
Solving environmental problems
Conferences and various meetings, events and competitions dedicated to environmental issues are held annually. Global environmental issues now they are of interest not only to scientists and caring people, but also to representatives of the highest levels of government in many countries. They form various programs that are implemented. So many countries began to apply eco-technologies:
- fuel is produced from waste;
- many items are reused;
- secondary raw materials are made from used materials;
- the latest developments are introduced at enterprises;
- the biosphere is cleared of the products of industrial enterprises.
Not the last place is played by educational programs and competitions that attract the attention of the general public.
Today it is very important to convey to people that the health of our planet depends on each of us. Anyone can save water and electricity, sort and recycle waste paper, use less chemicals and disposable products, find new uses for old things. These simple steps will bring tangible benefits. Let it be a trifle from the height of one human life, but if you put together such actions of millions and even billions of people, then this will be the solution to the environmental problems of the world.
Global Environmental Issue #1: Air Pollution
Every day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air, which contains, in addition to vital oxygen, a whole list of harmful suspended particles and gases. Air pollutants are conditionally divided into 2 types: natural and anthropogenic. The latter prevail.
The chemical industry is not doing well. Factories emit such harmful substances as dust, oil ash, various chemical compounds, nitrogen oxides and much more. Air measurements showed the catastrophic state of the atmospheric layer, polluted air becomes the cause of many chronic diseases.
Atmospheric pollution is an environmental problem, familiar to the inhabitants of absolutely all corners of the earth. It is especially acutely felt by representatives of cities where ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, energy, chemical, petrochemical, construction and pulp and paper industries operate. In some cities, the atmosphere is also heavily poisoned by vehicles and boilers. These are all examples of anthropogenic air pollution.
As for the natural sources of chemical elements that pollute the atmosphere, they include forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion (dispersal of soil and rock particles), the spread of pollen, evaporation of organic compounds and natural radiation.
Consequences of atmospheric pollution
Atmospheric air pollution adversely affects human health, contributing to the development of heart and lung diseases (in particular, bronchitis). In addition, atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide destroy natural ecosystems, destroying plants and causing the death of living creatures (particularly river fish).
The global environmental problem of atmospheric pollution, according to scientists and government officials, can be solved in the following ways:
limiting population growth;
reduction in energy use;
improving energy efficiency;
waste reduction;
transition to environmentally friendly renewable energy sources;
air purification in highly polluted areas.
Global Environmental Issue #2: Ozone Depletion
The ozone layer is a thin strip of the stratosphere that protects all life on Earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.
Causes of the environmental problem
Back in the 1970s. environmentalists have discovered that the ozone layer is destroyed by exposure to chlorofluorocarbons. These chemicals are found in coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners, as well as solvents, aerosols/sprays, and fire extinguishers. To a lesser extent, other anthropogenic influences also contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer: the launch of space rockets, the flights of jet aircraft in high layers of the atmosphere, nuclear weapons testing, and the reduction of the planet's forest lands. There is also a theory that global warming contributes to the thinning of the ozone layer.
Consequences of ozone depletion
As a result of the destruction of the ozone layer, ultraviolet radiation passes unhindered through the atmosphere and reaches the earth's surface. Exposure to direct UV rays adversely affects people's health by weakening the immune system and causing diseases such as skin cancer and cataracts.
World Environmental Issue #3: Global Warming
Like the glass walls of a greenhouse, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor allow the sun to heat our planet and at the same time prevent infrared radiation reflected from the earth's surface from escaping into space. All these gases are responsible for maintaining the temperature acceptable for life on earth. However, an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and water vapor in the atmosphere is another global environmental problem, called global warming (or the greenhouse effect).
Causes of global warming
During the 20th century, the average temperature on earth increased by 0.5 - 1?C. The main cause of global warming is considered to be an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to an increase in the volume of fossil fuels burned by people (coal, oil and their derivatives). However, according to the statement Alexey Kokorin, head of climate programs WWF(WWF) Russia, “the largest amount of greenhouse gases is generated by the operation of power plants and methane emissions during the extraction and delivery of energy resources, while road transport or the burning of associated petroleum gas in flaring causes relatively little environmental damage”.
Other prerequisites for global warming are overpopulation of the planet, deforestation, ozone depletion and littering. However, not all ecologists place the responsibility for the increase in average annual temperatures entirely on anthropogenic activities. Some believe that the natural increase in the abundance of oceanic plankton also contributes to global warming, leading to an increase in the concentration of the same carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Consequences of the greenhouse effect
If the temperature during the 21st century increases by another 1 ? C - 3.5 ? C, as scientists predict, the consequences will be very sad:
the level of the world ocean will rise (due to the melting of polar ice), the number of droughts will increase and the process of land desertification will intensify,
many species of plants and animals adapted to existence in a narrow range of temperatures and humidity will disappear,
hurricanes will increase.
Solving an environmental problem
To slow down the process of global warming, according to environmentalists, the following measures will help:
rising prices for fossil fuels,
replacement of fossil fuels with environmentally friendly ones (solar energy, wind energy and sea currents),
development of energy-saving and waste-free technologies,
taxation of emissions into the environment,
minimization of methane losses during its production, transportation through pipelines, distribution in cities and villages and use at heat supply stations and power plants,
introduction of carbon dioxide absorption and binding technologies,
tree planting,
reduction in family size
environmental education,
application of phytomelioration in agriculture.
Global Environmental Issue #4: Acid Rain
Acid rain containing fuel combustion products also pose a threat to the environment, human health, and even to the integrity of architectural monuments.
The effects of acid rain
Solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids, aluminum and cobalt compounds contained in polluted precipitation and fog pollute the soil and water bodies, adversely affect vegetation, causing dry tops of deciduous trees and oppressing conifers. Due to acid rain, crop yields are falling, people are drinking water enriched with toxic metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), marble architectural monuments are turning into gypsum and eroding.
Solving an environmental problem
In order to save nature and architecture from acid rain, it is necessary to minimize the emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere.
Global Environmental Issue #5: Soil Pollution
Every year people pollute the environment with 85 billion tons of waste. Among them are solid and liquid waste from industrial enterprises and transport, agricultural waste (including pesticides), household waste and atmospheric fallout of harmful substances.
The main role in soil pollution is played by such components of industrial waste as heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, thallium, bismuth, tin, vanadium, antimony), pesticides and petroleum products. From the soil, they penetrate into plants and water, even spring water. In a chain, toxic metals enter the human body and are not always quickly and completely removed from it. Some of them tend to accumulate over many years, provoking the development of serious diseases.
Global Environmental Issue #6: Water Pollution
Pollution of the oceans, underground and surface waters of land is a global environmental problem, the responsibility for which lies entirely with man.
Causes of the environmental problem
The main pollutants of the hydrosphere today are oil and oil products. These substances penetrate into the waters of the oceans as a result of the collapse of tankers and regular discharges of wastewater from industrial enterprises.
In addition to anthropogenic oil products, industrial and domestic facilities pollute the hydrosphere with heavy metals and complex organic compounds. Agriculture and the food industry are recognized as the leaders in poisoning the waters of the oceans with minerals and biogenic elements.
The hydrosphere does not bypass such a global environmental problem as radioactive contamination. The prerequisite for its formation was the disposal of radioactive waste in the waters of the oceans. From the 1949s to the 1970s, many powers with a developed nuclear industry and atomic fleet purposefully stockpiled harmful radioactive substances into the seas and oceans. In the places of burial of radioactive containers, the level of cesium often goes off scale even today. But "underwater polygons" are not the only radioactive source of pollution of the hydrosphere. The waters of the seas and oceans are enriched with radiation as a result of underwater and surface nuclear explosions.
Consequences of radioactive contamination of water
Oil pollution of the hydrosphere leads to the destruction of the natural habitat of hundreds of representatives of oceanic flora and fauna, the death of plankton, seabirds and mammals. For human health, the poisoning of the waters of the oceans also poses a serious danger: fish and other seafood “infected” with radiation can easily get on the table.