Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences N. MOISEEV.
We continue the series of articles by academician Nikita Nikolaevich Moiseev, begun by the magazine at the end of last year. These are the thoughts of the scientist, his philosophical notes “On the necessary features of the civilization of the future,” published in No. 12, 1997. In the first issue of this year, Academician Moiseev published an article, which he himself defined as the reflections of a pessimistic optimist, “Is it possible to talk about Russia in the future tense?” With this material, the magazine opened a new column, “Looking into the 21st Century.” Here we publish the following article, its topic is one of the most pressing problems of the modern world - the protection of nature and the ecology of civilization.
A section of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
The exact opposite of a reef is a desert. Z
Synthetic foam detergents in one of the Chicago sewers. Unlike soap, detergents are not subject to the decomposing action of bacteria and remain in water for many years.
Sulfur dioxide contained in the smoke emitted by production completely destroyed the vegetation on this mountain. Now we have learned to capture these gases and use them for industrial needs.
Water extracted from the bowels of the earth irrigated the lifeless dunes. And a new city grew in the Moiab Desert.
The fight of bison bulls during the mating season is evidence that these animals, which until recently were almost completely extinct, have now been revived through human efforts and are doing quite well.
Birth of a discipline
Today, the term “ecology” has begun to be used very widely, for a variety of reasons (on business and not on business). And this process is apparently irreversible. However, excessive expansion of the concept of “ecology” and its inclusion in jargon is still unacceptable. For example, they say that the city has a “bad environment.” The expression is meaningless, because ecology is a scientific discipline and it is the same for all humanity. We can talk about the poor environmental situation, unfavorable environmental conditions, the fact that there are no qualified ecologists in the city, but not about bad ecology. This is as ridiculous as saying that arithmetic or algebra is bad in a city.
I will try to reduce the known interpretations of this word into a certain scheme of methodologically interrelated concepts. And to show that this can become a starting point for very specific activities.
The term "ecology" arose within the framework of biology. Its author was Jena University professor E. Haeckel (1866). Ecology was initially considered as a part of biology that studies the interaction of living organisms, depending on the state of the environment. Later, the concept of “ecosystem” appeared in the West, and in the USSR - “biocenosis” and “biogeocenosis” (introduced by academician V.N. Sukachev). These terms are almost identical.
So - initially the term “ecology” meant a discipline that studies the evolution of fixed ecosystems. Even now, in general ecology courses, the main place is occupied by problems mainly of a biological nature. And this is also incorrect, because it extremely narrows the content of the subject. Whereas life itself significantly expands the range of problems solved by ecology.
New problems
The Industrial Revolution, which began in Europe in the 18th century, made significant changes in the relationship between Nature and man. For the time being, man, like other living beings, was a natural component of his ecosystem, fit into its circulation of substances and lived according to its laws.
Starting from the time of the Neolithic revolution, that is, from the time when agriculture was invented, and then cattle breeding, the relationship between man and Nature began to change qualitatively. Human agricultural activity gradually creates artificial ecosystems, so-called agrocenoses, living according to their own laws: to maintain them, they require constant, focused human labor. They cannot exist without human intervention. Man is extracting more and more minerals from the bowels of the earth. As a result of its activity, the nature of the circulation of substances in nature begins to change, and the nature of the environment changes. As the population grows and human needs increase, the properties of its environment change more and more.
At the same time, it seems to people that their activity is necessary in order to adapt to living conditions. But they do not notice, or do not want to notice, that this adaptation is local in nature, that not always, while improving living conditions for themselves for some time, they at the same time improve them for the clan, tribe, village, city, and even for themselves in the future. For example, if you throw waste from your yard, you pollute someone else's, which ultimately turns out to be harmful to you. This happens not only in small things, but also in big things.
However, until very recently, all these changes happened so slowly that no one thought seriously about them. Human memory, of course, recorded major changes: Europe was covered with impenetrable forests back in the Middle Ages, endless feather grass steppes gradually turned into arable land, rivers became shallow, animals and fish became fewer. And people knew that there was one reason for all this - Man! But all these changes happened slowly. They became clearly noticeable only after generations.
The situation began to change rapidly with the beginning of the industrial revolution. The main reasons for these changes were the extraction and use of hydrocarbon fuels - coal, oil, shale, gas. And then - prey in huge quantities metals and other minerals. The circulation of substances in nature began to include substances stored by former biospheres - those that were in sedimentary rocks and had already left the circulation. People began to talk about the appearance of these substances in the biosphere as pollution of water, air, and soil. The intensity of the process of such pollution increased rapidly. Living conditions began to visibly change.
Plants and animals were the first to feel this process. The number and, most importantly, the diversity of the living world began to decline rapidly. In the second half of this century, the process of oppression of Nature has especially accelerated.
I was struck by a letter to Herzen, written by one of the residents of Moscow in the sixties of the last century. I quote it almost verbatim: “Our Moscow River has become impoverished. Of course, you can still catch a pound of sturgeon now, but you can’t catch the sterlet that my grandfather loved to treat visitors to.” Like this! And only a century has passed. You can still see fishermen with fishing rods on the banks of the river. And some people manage to catch a roach that accidentally survived. But it is already so saturated with “products of human production” that even a cat refuses to eat it.
The problem of studying the impact of those changes on his health, on his living conditions, on his future has risen before him. natural environment, which are caused by himself, that is, by the uncontrolled activity and selfishness of the person himself.
Industrial ecology and monitoring
So, human activity changes the nature of the environment, and in most (not always, but in most) cases, these changes have Negative influence per person. And it’s not difficult to understand why: over millions of years, his body has adapted to very specific living conditions. But at the same time, any activity - industrial, agricultural, recreational - is the source of human life, the basis of his existence. This means that people will inevitably continue to change the characteristics of the environment. And then look for ways to adapt to them.
Hence, one of the main modern practical directions of ecology: the creation of technologies that have the least impact on the environment. Technologies that have this property are called environmentally friendly. Scientific (engineering) disciplines that deal with the principles of creating such technologies have received the general name - engineering or industrial ecology.
As industry develops, as people begin to understand that they cannot exist in an environment created from their own waste, the role of these disciplines is growing all the time, and almost every technical university now has departments of industrial ecology focused on those or other productions.
Let us note that the less waste that pollutes the environment, the better we learn to use waste from one industry as raw material for another. This is how the idea of “waste-free” production is born. Such production, or rather, such chains of production, solve another extremely important task: they save those natural resources that people use in their production activities. After all, we live on a planet with very limited mineral resources. We must not forget about this!
Today, industrial ecology covers a very wide range of problems, and the problems are very different and not at all biological. Here it is more appropriate to talk about a whole range of environmental engineering disciplines: ecology of the mining industry, ecology of energy, ecology of chemical production, etc. It may seem that the use of the word “ecology” in combination with these disciplines is not entirely legitimate. However, it is not. Such disciplines are very different in their specific content, but they are united by a common methodology and a common goal: to minimize the impact of industrial activity on the processes of circulation of substances in Nature and environmental pollution.
Simultaneously with such engineering activity, the problem of its assessment arises, which constitutes the second direction of practical ecology. To do this, it is necessary to learn how to identify significant environmental parameters, develop methods for measuring them, and create a system of standards for permissible pollution. Let me remind you that in principle there cannot be non-polluting industries! That is why the concept of MPC was born - maximum permissible concentration standards harmful substances in the air, in the water, in the soil...
This most important area of activity is commonly called environmental monitoring. The name is not entirely apt, since the word “monitoring” means measurement, observation. Of course, it is very important to learn how to measure certain characteristics of the environment; it is even more important to combine them into a system. But the most important thing is to understand what needs to be measured first, and, of course, to develop and justify the MPC standards themselves. You need to know how certain values of biosphere parameters affect human health and practical activities. And there are still a lot of unresolved questions. But Ariadne's thread has already been outlined - human health. It is precisely this that is the final, Supreme judge of all the activities of ecologists.
Protection of Nature and ecology of civilization
All civilizations and all peoples have long had the idea of the need to take care of Nature. For some - to a greater extent, for others - to a lesser extent. But the fact that the earth, rivers, forest and the animals living in it is lasting value Perhaps, man understood the main value that Nature has long ago. And nature reserves probably arose long before the word “reserve” itself appeared. So, even Peter the Great, who cut down the entire forest in Zaonezhye for the construction of the fleet, forbade anyone to touch the forests in the vicinity of the Kivach waterfall with an ax.
For a long time, the main practical tasks of ecology boiled down to environmental protection. But in the twentieth century, this traditional frugality, which also began to gradually fade away under the pressure of developing industry, was no longer enough. The degradation of Nature began to turn into a threat to the very life of society. This led to the emergence of special environmental laws and the creation of a system of reserves like the famous Askania-Nova. Finally, a special science was born that studies the possibility of preserving relict areas of Nature and endangered populations of individual living species. Gradually, people began to understand that only the richness of Nature and the diversity of living species ensure the life and future of man himself. Today this principle has become fundamental. Nature has lived without humans for billions of years and can now live without him, but humans cannot exist outside a full-fledged biosphere.
The problem of its survival on Earth is rising before humanity. The future of our species is in question. Humanity may face the fate of dinosaurs. The only difference is that the disappearance of the former rulers of the Earth was caused by external reasons, and we can die from the inability to wisely use our power.
It is this problem that is the central problem of modern science (although perhaps not everyone has yet realized this).
Exploring your own home
The exact translation of the Greek word “ecology” means the study of our own home, that is, the biosphere in which we live and of which we are a part. In order to solve the problems of human survival, you must, first of all, know your own home and learn to live in it! Live long, happily! And the concept of “ecology”, which was born and entered the language of science back in the last century, it related only to one of the aspects of the life of the inhabitants of our common home. Classical (more precisely, biological) ecology is only a natural component of the discipline that we now call human ecology or modern ecology.
The original meaning of any knowledge, any scientific discipline is to comprehend the laws of one’s own home, that is, that world, that environment on which our common destiny depends. From this point of view, the entire set of sciences born of the human Mind is an integral part of a certain general science about how a person should live on Earth, what he should be guided in his behavior in order not only to preserve himself, but also to ensure the future of his children, grandchildren, their people and humanity as a whole. Ecology is a science aimed at the future. And it is based on the principle that the values of the future are no less important than the values of the present. This is the science of how to convey Nature, our common Home our children and grandchildren, so that they can live in it better and more conveniently than us! So that it preserves everything necessary for people’s lives.
Our house is one - everything in it is interconnected, and we must be able to combine the knowledge accumulated in different disciplines into a single holistic structure, which is the science of how a person should live on Earth, and which is naturally called human ecology or simply ecology.
So, ecology is a systemic science; it relies on many other disciplines. But this is not its only difference from traditional sciences.
Physicists, chemists, biologists, and economists study many different phenomena. They study in order to understand the nature of the phenomenon itself. If you like, out of interest, because a person, when solving a particular problem, first simply seeks to understand how it is solved. And only then he begins to think about what to adapt the wheel he invented to. Very rarely do they think in advance about applying the acquired knowledge. At the birth of nuclear physics, did anyone even think about the atomic bomb? Or did Faraday imagine that his discovery would lead to the planet being covered in a network of power plants? And this detachment of the researcher from the goals of the study has the deepest meaning. It is laid down by evolution itself, if you like, by the market mechanism. The main thing is to know, and then life itself will select what a person needs. After all, the development of the living world occurs exactly this way: each mutation exists on its own, it is only an opportunity for development, only a “testing of the paths” of possible development. And then selection does its job: from the countless number of mutations, it selects only those units that turn out to be useful for something. It’s the same in science: how many unclaimed volumes of books and journals containing the thoughts and discoveries of researchers gather dust in libraries. And one day some of them may be needed.
In this respect, ecology is not at all like traditional disciplines. Unlike them, it has a very specific and predetermined goal: such a study of one’s own home and such a study of possible human behavior in it that would allow a person to live in this house, that is, to survive on planet Earth.
Unlike many other sciences, ecology has a multi-tiered structure, and each of the floors of this “building” is based on a variety of traditional disciplines.
Top floor
During the period of perestroika proclaimed in our country, we began to talk about the need to get rid of ideology, from its total dictate. Of course, in order for a person to reveal his potential inherent in Nature, a person needs freedom of search. His thought should not be constrained by any boundaries: the whole variety of development paths should be accessible to vision in order to have wide possibilities of choice. And frameworks in the thinking process, whatever they may be, are always a hindrance. However, only thought can be unconstrained and as revolutionary as desired. And you should act carefully, based on proven principles. This is why it is also impossible to live without ideology, which is why free choice must always be based on a worldview, and it is formed by the experience of many generations. A person must see, realize his place in the world, in the Universe. He must know what is inaccessible and forbidden to him - the pursuit of phantoms, illusions, and ghosts has at all times been one of the main dangers facing man.
We live in a house whose name is the biosphere. But she, in turn, is only a small particle of the Great Universe. Our home is a tiny corner of vast space. And a person must feel like a part of this boundless Universe. He must know that he arose not due to someone’s otherworldly will, but as a result of the development of this infinitely vast world, and as the apotheosis of this development, he gained Reason, the ability to foresee the results of his actions and influence the events that occur around him, and therefore , and what is happening in the Universe! I would like to call these principles the basis, the foundation of an ecological worldview. And therefore, the basis of ecology.
Any worldview has many sources. This includes religion, traditions, and family experience... But still, one of its most important components is the condensed experience of all humanity. And we call it SCIENCE.
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky used the phrase “empirical generalization.” By this term he called any statement that does not contradict our direct experience, observations, or one that can be deduced by strict logical methods from other empirical generalizations. So, at the heart of the ecological worldview lies the following statement, first clearly formulated by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr: we can consider as existing only that which is an empirical generalization!
Only such a foundation can protect a person from unjustified illusions and false steps, from ill-considered and dangerous actions; only it can block access to the young minds of various phantoms who, on the ruins of Marxism, begin to travel around our country.
Man has to solve a problem of enormous practical significance: how to survive on an impoverished Earth? And only a sober, rationalistic worldview can serve as a guiding thread in the terrible labyrinth into which evolution has driven us. And help cope with the difficulties that await humanity.
This means that ecology begins with a worldview. I would even say more: a person’s worldview in the modern age begins with ecology - with ecological thinking, and the upbringing and education of a person - with environmental education.
Biosphere and man in the biosphere
The biosphere is part top shell The land in which it exists or is capable of existing living matter. The biosphere usually includes the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (seas, oceans, rivers and other bodies of water) and the upper part of the earth's firmament. The biosphere is not and has never been in a state of equilibrium. It receives energy from the Sun and, in turn, emits a certain amount of energy into space. These energies have different properties (quality). The Earth receives short-wave radiation - light, which, when transformed, heats the Earth. And long-wave thermal radiation goes into space from the Earth. And the balance of these energies is not maintained: the Earth emits slightly less energy into space than it receives from the Sun. This difference - small fractions of a percent - is absorbed by the Earth, or more precisely, by its biosphere, which accumulates energy all the time. This small amount of accumulated energy is enough to support all the grandiose processes of the planet’s development. This energy turned out to be enough for one day for life to flare up on the surface of our planet and for the biosphere to arise, so that in the process of development of the biosphere, man appears and Reason arises.
So, the biosphere is a living, developing system, a system open to space - to the flows of its energy and matter.
And the first main, practically very important task of human ecology is to understand the mechanisms of development of the biosphere and the processes that occur in it.
These are the most complex processes of interaction between the atmosphere, ocean, and biota - processes that are fundamentally nonequilibrium. The latter means that all the circulation of substances here is not closed: some material substance is continuously added, and something else precipitates, forming over time huge layers of sedimentary rocks. And the planet itself is not an inert body. Its depths constantly emit various gases into the atmosphere and ocean, primarily carbon dioxide and hydrogen. They are included in the circulation of substances in nature. Finally, man himself, as Vernadsky said, has a decisive influence on the structure of geochemical cycles - on the circulation of substances.
The study of the biosphere as an integral system is called global ecology - a completely new direction in science. Existing methods experimental study of Nature is unsuitable for him: the biosphere cannot, like a butterfly, be studied under a microscope. The biosphere is a unique object; it exists in a single copy. And besides, today she is not the same as she was yesterday, and tomorrow she will not be the same as today. And therefore, any experiments with the biosphere are unacceptable, simply unacceptable in principle. We can only observe what is happening, think, reason, study computer models. And if experiments are carried out, then only of a local nature, allowing one to study only individual regional features of biosphere processes.
That is why the only way to study global environmental problems is through methods mathematical modeling and analysis of the previous stages of the development of Nature. The first significant steps have already been taken on this path. And over the past quarter century, much has been understood. And most importantly, the need for such study has become generally recognized.
Interaction between the biosphere and society
Vernadsky was the first, at the very beginning of the twentieth century, to understand that man is becoming “the main geological-forming force of the planet” and the problem of interaction between man and Nature should be among the main fundamental problems of modern science. Vernadsky is not an accidental addition to the line of remarkable Russian natural scientists. He had teachers, he had predecessors and, most importantly, he had traditions. Of the teachers, we must remember first of all V.V. Dokuchaev, who revealed the secret of our southern black soils and laid the foundation for soil science. Thanks to Dokuchaev, we today understand that the basis of the entire biosphere, its connecting link, is soils with their microflora. That life, those processes that occur in soils, determine all the features of the cycle of substances in nature.
Vernadsky's students and followers were V. N. Sukachev, N. V. Timofeev-Resovsky, V. A. Kovda and many others. Viktor Abramovich Kovda owns very important assessment the role of the anthropogenic factor on modern stage evolution of the biosphere. Thus, he showed that humanity produces at least 2000 times more organic waste than the rest of the biosphere. We agree to call waste or garbage substances that are excluded for a long time from the biogeochemical cycles of the biosphere, that is, from the circulation of substances in Nature. In other words, humanity is radically changing the nature of the functioning of the basic mechanisms of the biosphere.
A well-known American specialist in the field of computer technology, MIT professor Jay Forrester, in the late 60s, developed simplified methods for describing dynamic processes using computers. Forrester's student Meadows applied these approaches to study the processes of change in the characteristics of the biosphere and human activity. He published his calculations in a book he called “The Limits to Growth.”
Using very simple mathematical models that could not be considered scientifically based, he carried out calculations that allowed him to compare the prospects for industrial development, population growth and environmental pollution. Despite the primitiveness of the analysis (or perhaps precisely because of this), the calculations of Meadows and his colleagues played a very important positive role in the formation of modern environmental thinking. For the first time, using specific numbers, it was shown that humanity is facing a global environmental crisis in the very near future, most likely in the middle of the coming century. This will be a food crisis, a resource crisis, a crisis with planetary pollution.
Now we can definitely say that Meadows’ calculations were largely erroneous, but he grasped the main trends correctly. More importantly, due to its simplicity and clarity, the results obtained by Meadows attracted the attention of the world community.
Research in the field of global ecology developed differently in the Soviet Union. At the Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences, a computer model was built that can simulate the course of basic biosphere processes. She described the dynamics of large-scale processes occurring in the atmosphere and ocean, as well as the interaction of these processes. A special block described the dynamics of biota. An important place was occupied by the description of atmospheric energy, cloud formation, precipitation, etc. As for human activity, it was given in the form of various scenarios. This made it possible to assess the prospects for the evolution of biosphere parameters depending on the nature of human activity.
Already in the late 70s, with the help of such a computing system, in other words, at the tip of a pen, it was possible for the first time to evaluate the so-called “greenhouse effect.” Its physical meaning is quite simple. Some gases - water vapor, carbon dioxide - allow them to reach the Earth. sunlight, and it heats the surface of the planet, but these same gases shield the long-wave thermal radiation of the Earth.
Active industrial activity leads to a continuous increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere: in the twentieth century it increased by 20 percent. This causes an increase in the average temperature of the planet, which in turn changes the nature of atmospheric circulation and the distribution of precipitation. And these changes are reflected in the vital activity of the plant world, the nature of polar and continental glaciation changes - glaciers begin to melt, ocean levels rise, etc.
If the current growth rate of industrial production continues, then by the thirties of the coming century the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will double. How can all this affect the productivity of biota - historically established complexes of living organisms? In 1979, A. M. Tarko, using computer models, which by that time had already been developed at the Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences, carried out calculations and analysis of this phenomenon for the first time.
It turned out that the overall productivity of the biota will remain virtually unchanged, but there will be a redistribution of its productivity across different geographical zones. For example, the aridity of the Mediterranean regions, semi-deserts and deserted savannas in Africa, and the US corn belt will sharply increase. Our steppe zone will also suffer. Yields here may decrease by 15-20, even 30 percent. But the productivity of taiga zones and those areas that we call non-black soil will increase sharply. Agriculture may move north.
Thus, already the first calculations show that human production activity in the coming decades, that is, during the lifetime of current generations, can lead to significant climate changes. For the planet as a whole, these changes will be negative. But for the North of Eurasia, and therefore for Russia, the consequences of the greenhouse effect may also be positive.
However, there is still a lot of debate in current assessments of the global environmental situation. It is very dangerous to draw definitive conclusions. For example, according to calculations by our computer center, by the beginning of the next century the average temperature of the planet should increase by 0.5-0.6 degrees. But natural climate variability can fluctuate within plus or minus one degree. Climatologists debate whether the observed warming is the result of natural variability, or a manifestation of the increasing greenhouse effect.
My position on this issue is very cautious: the greenhouse effect exists - this is indisputable. I think it is certainly necessary to take it into account, but we should not talk about the inevitability of tragedy. Humanity can still do a lot to mitigate the consequences of what is happening.
In addition, I would like to draw attention to the fact that there are many other extremely dangerous consequences human activity. Among them are such difficult ones as the thinning of the ozone layer, the reduction of genetic diversity human races, environmental pollution... But these problems should not cause panic. But under no circumstances should they be ignored. They must be the subject of careful scientific analysis, since they will inevitably become the basis for developing a strategy for the industrial development of mankind.
The danger of one of these processes was foreseen at the end of the 18th century by the English monk Malthus. He hypothesized that humanity is growing faster than the planet's ability to create food resources. For a long time it seemed that this was not entirely true - people learned to increase the efficiency of agriculture.
But in principle, Malthus is right: any resources on the planet are limited, food resources first of all. Even with the most advanced food production technology, the Earth can only feed a limited number of people. Now this milestone has apparently already been passed. In recent decades, the amount of food produced in the world per capita has begun to slowly but inevitably decrease. This is a formidable sign that requires an immediate response from all humanity. I emphasize: not individual countries, but all humanity. And I think that improving agricultural production technology alone cannot do this.
Ecological Thinking and Humanity Strategy
Humanity has approached a new milestone in its history, in which the spontaneous development of productive forces, uncontrolled population growth, lack of discipline individual behavior can put humanity, that is, biological species homo sapiens, to the brink of death. We are facing the problems of a new organization of life, a new organization of society, a new worldview. Now the phrase “ecological thinking” has emerged. It is intended, first of all, to remind us that we are children of the Earth, not its conquerors, but children.
Everything is returning to normal, and we should, like our distant Cro-Magnon ancestors, hunters of the pre-glacial period, again perceive ourselves as part of surrounding Nature. We must treat Nature as our mother, as our own home. But there is a huge fundamental difference between a person who belongs to modern society, from our pre-glacial ancestor: we have knowledge, and we are able to set development goals for ourselves, we have the potential to follow these goals.
About a quarter of a century ago, I began to use the term “coevolution of man and the biosphere.” It means such behavior of humanity and each person individually, which is capable of ensuring the joint development of both the biosphere and humanity. The current level of development of science and our technical capabilities makes this mode of coevolution fundamentally realizable.
Here is just one important note that protects against various illusions. Nowadays they often talk about the omnipotence of science. Our knowledge of the world around us has indeed expanded incredibly over the past two centuries, but our capabilities are still very limited. We are deprived of the ability to foresee the development of natural and social phenomena for more or less distant times. That's why I'm always wary of broad, far-reaching plans. In each specific period, one must be able to isolate what is known to be reliable, and rely on this in one’s plans, actions, and “perestroikas.”
And the most reliable knowledge is often about what exactly causes harm. Therefore, the main task of scientific analysis, the main one, but, of course, far from the only one, is to formulate a system of prohibitions. This was probably understood during the Lower Paleolithic by our humanoid ancestors. Even then, various taboos began to arise. We cannot do without this: it must be developed new system prohibitions and recommendations - how to implement these prohibitions.
Environmental strategy
In order to live in our common home, we must develop not only certain general rules behavior, if you like - the rules of the hostel, but also the strategy for your development. The rules of the hostel are in most cases local in nature. They most often come down to the development and implementation of low-waste industries, to cleansing the environment of pollution, that is, to protecting Nature.
To satisfy these local requirements, there is no need for any super-large events: everything is decided by the culture of the population, technological and, mainly, environmental literacy and discipline of local officials.
But then we are faced with more complex situations when we have to think about the well-being of not only our own, but also that of our distant neighbors. An example of this is a river crossing several regions. Many people are already interested in its purity, and they are interested in very different ways. Residents of the upper reaches are not very inclined to care about the condition of the river in its lower reaches. Therefore, in order to ensure normal joint life of the population of the entire river basin, regulations are already required at the state and sometimes at the interstate level.
The river example is also just a special case. After all, there are also problems of a planetary nature. They require a universal strategy. To develop it, culture and environmental awareness alone are not enough. There are few actions by a competent (which is extremely rare) government. There is a need to create a universal strategy. It should cover literally all aspects of people’s lives. These include new industrial technology systems that should be waste-free and resource-saving. This includes agricultural technologies. And not only better soil cultivation and the use of fertilizers. But, as the works of N.I. Vavilov and other remarkable representatives of agronomic science and plant growing show, the main path of development here is the use of plants that have the highest efficiency of solar energy. That is, clean energy that does not pollute the environment.
Such a radical solution to agricultural problems is of particular importance, since they are directly related to a problem that, I am convinced, will inevitably have to be solved. We are talking about the population of the planet. Humanity is already faced with the need for strict regulation of the birth rate - in different areas The lands are different, but everywhere there is a limitation.
In order for a person to continue to fit into the natural cycles (circulation) of the biosphere, the population of the planet, while maintaining modern needs, must be reduced by a factor of ten. And this is impossible! Regulating population growth, of course, will not result in a tenfold reduction in the number of inhabitants of the planet. This means, along with a smart demographic policy, it is necessary to create new biogeochemical cycles, that is, a new circulation of substances, which will include, first of all, those plant species that more efficiently use clean solar energy, which does not cause environmental harm to the planet.
Solving problems of this magnitude is only possible for humanity as a whole. And this will require a change in the entire organization of the planetary community, in other words, a new civilization, a restructuring of the most important thing - those value systems that have been established for centuries.
The principle of the need to form a new civilization was declared by the International Green Cross, an organization whose creation was proclaimed in 1993 in the Japanese city of Kyoto. The main thesis is that man must live in harmony with Nature.
Today it affects almost every corner of the world. Promoting the fight against environmental pollution is one of the steps to preserving the environment. To this end, the Day of Environmental Knowledge is celebrated on April 15.
Ecological problems
Resource depletion, extinction rare species plants and animals - all this is a consequence of human impact on nature. However, people can not only destroy, but also create, which means they are able to preserve nature and restore what has not yet been lost forever.
Environmental issues include:
- environmental pollution;
- irrational use of resources;
- human impact on nature for selfish purposes (deforestation, drainage of water bodies, excessive shooting of animals);
- indirect human impact (for example, the release of large amounts of freon into the atmosphere leads to the destruction of the ozone layer).
Since the problem exists, it needs to be given due attention. Many of us have heard about this situation, but not everyone knows how to influence the state of the environment. Therefore, World Environmental Awareness Day is an important step towards realizing the goal.
International Day of Environmental Awareness. How did the idea for the holiday come about?
The first proposal to create such a holiday was made in 1992 at the World Environmental Conference in Rio de Janeiro. The UN, as the organizer of this congress, focused attention on environmental problems of that time.
As a result, one of the points of this conference was the creation of a new holiday - world day environmental knowledge. The day of the action was set for April 15.
Day of Environmental Knowledge. Holiday scenario
The goal of Environmental Awareness Day is to involve as many people as possible in the fight against environmental pollution. On April 15, all schools and universities in Russia and many other countries hold events, environmental conferences and meetings, games and other ways to introduce students of educational institutions to the problem of ecology. Experts believe that it is very important at this age to draw the child’s attention to the global problem of environmental pollution.
However, events are held not only in schools, but also on the streets. Competitions, events aimed at increasing the interest of listeners in nature conservation, speeches by ecologists - this can be seen at the festival sites. Participation often comes with prizes.
knowledge in Russia
April 15th within the walls of almost everyone educational institution Russia organizes events on the same applies to environmental competitions and events that are held on the streets of big cities. In general, everything that is typical for the holiday can be seen in action at many venues across the country.
The Day of Environmental Knowledge is not the only such holiday in Russia. On April 15, the season of several events dedicated to nature conservation and the fight against environmental pollution opens. This holiday is immediately followed by days of protecting the environment from environmental hazards, and this chain is closed by World Day, which is held on June 5th.
Are days of environmental awareness celebrated everywhere?
Although the Day of Environmental Knowledge is international holiday, it is not carried out in every country. So, in Belarus they are talking about the uselessness of this event. This approach is proven by the fact that universities already train good ecologists during classes, so there is no need for unnecessary propaganda. Even university professors think so. Sakharov - the country's leading university with an environmental focus.
However, this situation does not mean completely ignoring environmental problems. On the contrary, in addition to Sakharov University, work is carried out by the biological and geological faculties of the Belarusian state university, and at the Faculty of Chemistry the “Green Chemistry” project was created, aimed, again, at helping to preserve the gifts of nature.
The meaning of the holiday
The environmental problem has been plaguing humanity for a long time, and in order not to worsen the current state, everyone must contribute to the conservation of nature. It is clear that such global problems as resource depletion or accidents at power plants cannot be solved by an ordinary person, but even a small contribution from everyone can have an overall impact on the ecological state.
The primary goal of Environmental Awareness Day is to show people how important it is to preserve nature. The action makes you think about pressing problems and how important it is to solve them. The knowledge gained during the holiday should influence a person’s attitude towards nature and help him, to the extent possible, preserve it.
The modern world is characterized by extraordinary complexity and contradictory events; it is riddled with opposing trends, full of complex alternatives, anxieties and hopes.
The end of the 20th century is characterized by a powerful breakthrough in the development of scientific and technological progress, the growth of social contradictions, a sharp population explosion, deterioration of the natural environment around humans.
Truly, our planet has never before been subjected to such physical and political overloads as it is experiencing at the turn of the 20th - 21st centuries. Man has never before exacted so much tribute from nature and never found himself so vulnerable to the power that he himself created.
What does the coming century bring us - new problems or a cloudless future? What will humanity be like in 150, 200 years? Will a person, with his mind and will, be able to save himself and our planet from the numerous threats hanging over it?
These questions undoubtedly concern many people. The future of the biosphere has become the subject of close attention of representatives of many branches of scientific knowledge, which in itself may be a sufficient basis for identifying a special group of problems - philosophical and methodological problems of environmental forecasting. It should be emphasized that this aspect is one of the “weaknesses of the young science of futurology” as a whole. The development of these problems is one of the most important requirements for the development of human culture at the present stage of human development. Scientists agreed that the adopted policy of “react and correct” was fruitless and led to a dead end everywhere. “Predict and prevent is the only realistic approach.” Future research will help all countries of the world solve the most pressing question: how to direct the enormous circulation of natural forces and resources along a path that will better satisfy people's needs and not disrupt environmental processes?
The growth in the scale of human economic activity and the rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution have increased the negative impact on nature and led to disruption ecological balance on the planet. Consumption in the sphere of material production has increased natural resources. In the years after the Second World War, as many mineral raw materials were used as in the entire previous history of mankind. Since the reserves of coal, oil, gas, iron and other minerals are not renewable, they will be exhausted, according to scientists, in a few decades. But even if the resources that are constantly renewed are in fact rapidly declining, deforestation on a global scale significantly exceeds the growth of wood, and the area of forests that provide oxygen to the earth decreases every year.
The main foundation of life—soils everywhere on Earth—are degrading. While the Earth accumulates one centimeter of black soil in 300 years, now one centimeter of soil dies in three years. No less dangerous is the pollution of the planet.
The world's oceans are constantly being polluted due to the expansion of oil production in marine fields. Huge oil spills are detrimental to ocean life. Millions of tons of phosphorus, lead, and radioactive waste are dumped into the ocean. For every square kilometer of ocean water there are now 17 tons of various land wastes. Fresh water has become the most vulnerable part of nature. Sewage, pesticides, fertilizers, mercury, arsenic, lead and much more find their way into rivers and lakes in huge quantities.
The Danube, Volga, Rhine, Mississippi, and Great American Lakes are heavily polluted. According to experts, in some areas of the world 80% of all diseases are caused by poor quality water.
Air pollution has exceeded all permissible limits. The concentration of substances harmful to health in the air exceeds medical standards in many cities by tens of times. Acid rain, containing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, resulting from the operation of thermal power plants and factories, brings death to lakes and forests. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant showed the environmental threat that accidents create nuclear power plants, they are operated in 26 countries around the world. Clean air is disappearing around cities, rivers are turning into sewers, there are piles of garbage, landfills, mutilated nature everywhere - this is a striking picture of the insane industrialization of the world.
The main thing, however, is not the completeness of the list of these problems, but in understanding the reasons for their occurrence, their nature and, most importantly, in identifying effective ways and means of resolving them. (found on the Internet)
Ecology is a science that studies the laws of nature, the interaction of living organisms with the environment, the foundations of which were laid by Ernst Haeckel in 1866. However, people have been interested in the secrets of nature since ancient times, they had careful attitude To her. There are hundreds of concepts of the term “ecology”, including different times scientists gave their definitions of ecology. The word itself consists of two particles, from Greek “oikos” is translated as house, and “logos” is translated as doctrine.
With the development of technological progress, the state of the environment began to deteriorate, which attracted the attention of the world community. People have noticed that the air has become polluted, species of animals and plants are disappearing, and the water in rivers is deteriorating. These and many other phenomena were given a name -.
Global environmental problems
Majority environmental problems from local to global. Changing a small ecosystem in a specific place in the world can affect the ecology of the entire planet. For example, a change in the oceanic Gulf Stream will lead to major climate changes and a cooling of the climate in Europe and North America.
Today, scientists count dozens of global environmental problems. We present only the most relevant of them, which threaten life on the planet:
- - changing of the climate;
- — depletion of fresh water reserves;
- - reduction of populations and extinction of species;
- — depletion of mineral resources;
This is not a complete list global problems. Let's just say that environmental problems that can be equated to a disaster are pollution of the biosphere and. Every year the air temperature rises by +2 degrees Celsius. The reason for this is greenhouse gases. A world conference dedicated to environmental problems was held in Paris, at which many countries around the world pledged to reduce gas emissions. As a result of the high concentration of gases, the ice at the poles melts, the water level rises, which in the future threatens the flooding of islands and the coasts of continents. To prevent the impending catastrophe, it is necessary to develop joint actions and carry out activities that will help slow down and stop the process of global warming.
Subject of study of ecology
On this moment There are several sections of ecology:
- — general ecology;
- — bioecology;
Each section of ecology has its own subject of study. The most popular is general ecology. She studies the surrounding world, which consists of ecosystems, their individual components - relief, soil, flora and fauna.
The importance of ecology for every person
Caring for the environment has become a fashionable activity today; the phrase “eco” is used everywhere. But many of us do not even realize the depth of all the problems. Of course, it is good that the vast humanity of people has become indifferent to the life of our planet. However, it is worth realizing that the state of the environment depends on each person.
Any inhabitant of the planet can perform simple actions every day that will help improve the environment. For example, you can recycle waste paper and reduce water use, save energy and throw garbage in the trash bin, grow plants and use reusable items. The more people follow these rules, the greater the chance of saving our planet.
Today it is difficult to overestimate the importance and role of ecology both in the life of the whole society and separately in the life of each person. Likewise, the state of the planet depends both on commercial companies that produce tons of waste every year, and on the individual who enjoys the benefits of civilization.
A little history
Throughout known history, humanity has developed and, along with it, its concepts about the world around us have developed. Very early, people realized that natural gifts must be used wisely, without destroying the natural balance between man and the planet.
This is confirmed by rock paintings that speak of human interest in environment.
From more recent data it is known that nature conservation was actively practiced in Ancient Greece, where residents protected the beauty of natural forests.
Modern look
Now ecology is interpreted as a science that studies the interaction of living organisms with each other, as well as with the environment.
Any organism living on the planet is influenced by many factors: favorable and unfavorable. All these factors can be divided into two groups: biotic and abiotic. Biotic include those that come from living nature; to abiotic - those carried by inanimate nature. For example, an orchid growing on the bark of a tree is an example of symbiosis, that is, a biotic factor, but the direction of the wind and weather conditions affecting these two organisms are already an abiotic factor. All this creates conditions for the natural evolution of living organisms on the planet.
But here another important aspect appears that significantly influences the state of the environment - this is the anthropogenic factor, or the human factor. Deforestation, diversion of rivers, mining and development of minerals, release of various toxins and other wastes - all this affects the environment where such impacts are produced. As a result, biotic and abiotic factors in this territory undergo changes, and some of them even disappear altogether.
In order to regulate environmental changes, scientists have identified the main tasks that ecology must solve, namely: the development of laws for the wise use of natural resources, based on general principles organization of life, as well as timely resolution of environmental problems.
For this, environmental scientists have identified four basic laws:
- everything is connected to everything;
- nothing disappears into nowhere;
- nature knows best;
- nothing is given for nothing.
It would seem that compliance with all these rules should lead to a reasonable and harmonious use of natural gifts, but, unfortunately, we are seeing a different trend in the development of this area.
Why is this happening? Why does the role of ecology in the lives of many people still remain in the background? Any external problem is only a reflection of human consciousness. Most people are not even aware of what is hidden behind the results of their daily life activities.
Aspects of nature affected by anthropogenic factors
The sharp increase in consumer lifestyle has led to unwise use of natural resources. The rapid development of scientific and technological progress, the large-scale growth of human agricultural activity - all this has aggravated the negative impact on nature, which has led to a serious disruption of the ecological situation on the entire planet. Let's consider the main natural aspects that are most susceptible to environmental crisis.
Air
Once upon a time there was a different atmosphere on Earth, then it happened that oxygen appeared on the planet, and after it the formation of aerobic organisms, that is, those that feed on this gas.
Absolutely all aerobic creatures depend on oxygen, that is, on air, and our life activity depends on its quality. Everyone knows from school that oxygen is produced by plants, therefore, given modern trend deforestation and active growth of the human population, it is not difficult to guess what the destruction of fauna leads to. But this is only one of the aspects affecting the state of the atmosphere of our planet. In reality, everything is more complicated, especially in large populated cities, where, according to medical standards, the concentration of toxic substances is tens of times higher.
Water
The next equally important aspect of our life is water. Human body consists of 60–80% water. 2/3 of the entire earth's surface consists of water. Oceans, seas, and rivers are constantly being polluted by humans. Every day we “kill” the world’s oceans with oil production in offshore fields. Oil spills threaten the lives of marine life. Not to mention the garbage islands continuously drifting across the surface of the oceans and seas.
Fresh water is most vulnerable to human ignorance. Sewage, various toxins such as mercury, lead, pesticides, arsenic and many other “heavy” chemicals poison rivers and lakes every day.
Earth
The main foundation of life on earth is soil. It is known that in order for the Earth to create one centimeter of black soil, it will take about 300 years. Today, on average, one centimeter of such fertile soil dies in three years.
Climate
The combination of all environmental problems leads to climate deterioration. Climate can be compared to the health of the planet. When individual “organs” of the Earth suffer, this has a direct impact on the climate. For many years now we have been observing various anomalies due to climate change, the causes of which are the anthropogenic factor. Human intervention in nature has led to sudden warming or cooling in certain areas, rising sea levels due to rapid melting of glaciers, abnormal amounts of precipitation or lack thereof, and severe natural disasters and much more.
The main thing is not focusing on the list of problems, but understanding the reasons for their occurrence, as well as concentrating on effective ways and methods for solving them.
Areas of our lives affected by ecology
What is the role of ecology in human life? As for absolutely everything that we all deal with every day, every second of our lives; without which life, such as it is now, could not exist?
Health
Health is like a constructor, on whose individual parts its condition as a whole depends. There are many such factors, the main ones are known to everyone - this is the lifestyle, nutrition, human activity, the people around him, as well as the environment where he lives. Ecology and human health are closely interconnected. If there are violations on one side, the other reacts accordingly.
A person living in a city runs the risk of getting sick serious illness many times more than a person living in the suburbs.
Nutrition
When a person eats incorrectly, his metabolism is disrupted, which in turn leads to more serious problems with health. It is worth remembering that these disorders can also affect future generations.
The main problem for human health is chemical substances, mineral fertilizers, pesticides used to treat agricultural fields, as well as the use of additives and dyes to improve the appearance of products, preservatives to increase the shelf life of products, and much more.
There are known cases of adding compounds of heavy metals and other elements unfavorable to the human body, such as mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium, manganese, tin and others.
In poultry and large feed cattle There are many toxins that can cause cancer, metabolic failure, blindness and other serious diseases.
To protect yourself and your loved ones, you need to be careful about the products you buy. Study the composition and symbols printed on the packaging. Do not support manufacturers who are indifferent to your fate and the state of our planet. Special attention pay attention to E-supplements with three-digit numbers, the value of which can be easily found on the Internet and thereby live a longer and happier life.
Vital activity and mood
The state of health and quality of nutrition are the determining factors of human activity and vitality. As we see, all these factors can be associated with the state of ecology on our planet, on which we directly depend. Leading a healthy lifestyle, practicing yoga and self-knowledge, it is simply impossible to be indifferent to the environment. When we are in nature, we breathe fresh air, we eat clean, home-grown products - our life changes its quality. The state of mind is also transformed, which harmonizes the mood and attitude towards life in general.
Karma
Everything in this world is natural; everything we do, one way or another, comes back to us, immediately or later - it doesn’t matter. If we take care of ourselves and the world where we now live, save resources, think about nature, live according to our conscience, then the environmental situation on the planet will improve - and we will not have to pay for our own recklessness and inattention.
Live consciously, eat healthily - only natural products, - take care of waste disposal and recycling, use the essentials - then your life and the life of our entire planet will improve! Great things start from small things!
