Great geological cycle of matter. Geological, large (biospheric) and small (biological) cycles of matter in the biosphere

In order for the biosphere to continue to exist, so that its movement (development) does not stop, the cycle of biologically important substances must constantly occur on Earth. This transition of biologically important substances from link to link can be carried out only with a certain expenditure of energy, the source of which is the Sun.

Solar energy provides two cycles of matter on Earth:

- geological (abiotic), or large, circulation;

- biological (biotic), or small, circulation.

geological cycle most clearly manifested in the water cycle and atmospheric circulation.

Approximately 21 10 20 kJ of radiant energy comes to the Earth from the Sun every year. About half of it is spent on the evaporation of water. This is what creates the big cycle.

The water cycle in the biosphere is based on the fact that its total evaporation from the Earth's surface is compensated by precipitation. At the same time, more water evaporates from the ocean than returns with precipitation. On land, on the contrary, more precipitation falls than water evaporates. Its excess flows into rivers and lakes, and from there - again into the ocean.

In the process of the geological water cycle, mineral compounds are transferred from one place to another on a planetary scale, and the state of aggregation of water also changes (liquid, solid - snow, ice; gaseous - vapor). Water circulates most intensively in the vapor state.

With the advent of living matter based on the circulation of the atmosphere, water, mineral compounds dissolved in it, i.e. on the basis of the abiotic, geological cycle, the cycle arose organic matter, or small, biological cycle.

As living matter develops, more and more elements are constantly extracted from the geological cycle and enter a new, biological cycle.

In contrast to the simple transfer-movement of mineral elements in a large (geological) cycle, in a small (biological) cycle, the most important moments are the synthesis and destruction of organic compounds. These two processes are in a certain ratio, which underlies life and is one of its main features.

In contrast to the geological cycle, the biological cycle has a lower energy. As is known, only 0.1-0.2% of the solar energy incident on the Earth is spent on the creation of organic matter (up to 50% on the geological cycle). Despite this, the energy involved in the biological cycle is expended on a huge amount of work to create primary production on Earth.

With the advent of living matter on Earth, chemical elements continuously circulate in the biosphere, passing from external environment into organisms and back to the environment.

Such a circulation of chemical elements along more or less closed paths, proceeding with the use of solar energy through living organisms, is called biogeochemical circulation (cycle).

The main biogeochemical cycles are the cycles of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, water and biogenic elements.

The carbon cycle.

On land, the carbon cycle begins with the fixation of carbon dioxide by plants through photosynthesis. Further, carbohydrates are formed from carbon dioxide and water and oxygen is released. At the same time, carbon is partially released during the respiration of plants as part of carbon dioxide. The carbon fixed in plants is consumed to some extent by animals. Animals also release carbon dioxide when they breathe. The obsolete animals and plants are decomposed by microorganisms, as a result of which the carbon of the dead organic matter is oxidized to carbon dioxide and re-enters the atmosphere.

A similar cycle of carbon occurs in the ocean.

The nitrogen cycle.

The nitrogen cycle, like other biogeochemical cycles, covers all areas of the biosphere. The nitrogen cycle is associated with its conversion into nitrates due to the activity of nitrogen-fixing and nitrifying bacteria. Nitrates are absorbed by plants from soil or water. Plants are eaten by animals. In the end, the reducers again convert nitrogen into a gaseous form and return it to the atmosphere.

In modern conditions, a man intervened in the nitrogen cycle, who, growing nitrogen-fixing legumes on vast areas, artificially binds natural nitrogen. It is believed that agriculture and industry provide almost 60% more fixed nitrogen than natural terrestrial ecosystems.

A similar nitrogen cycle is also observed in the aquatic environment.

Phosphorus cycle.

Unlike carbon and nitrogen, phosphorus compounds are found in rocks that are eroded and release phosphates. Most of them end up in the seas and oceans and partly can be returned to land again through marine food chains ending in fish-eating birds. Some of the phosphates end up in the soil and are taken up by plant roots. The absorption of phosphorus by plants depends on the acidity of the soil solution: as the acidity increases, practically insoluble phosphates in water are converted into highly soluble phosphoric acid. The plants are then eaten by animals.

The main links of biogeochemical cycles are various organisms, the variety of forms of which determines the intensity of the cycles and the involvement of almost all elements of the earth's crust in them.

In general, each circulation of any chemical element is a part of the general grandiose circulation of substances on Earth, i.e. they are closely related.

The cycle of substances in nature is a repetitive cyclic process of transformation and movement of individual chemical elements and their compounds. Occurred throughout the history of the development of the Earth and continues at the present time. There is always a certain deviation in the composition and quantity of the circulating substance, so in nature there is no complete repetition of the cycle. This determines the progressive development of the Earth as a planet. The circulation of substances is especially characteristic for the geological stage of development, when the main. shells of the earth. In terms of the scale of manifestation, in the first place is geological cycle . It represents the movement of matter primarily in the inner shells: uplift as a result of ascending tectonic movements and volcanism; its transfer horizontally in outer shells and accumulation; descending movements - burial of sediments, sinking as a result of descending tectonic movements. At depth, metamorphism occurs, the melting of matter with the formation of magma and metamorphic rocks. The fundamental role in the creation of the geographic envelope is played by The water cycle.

Since the appearance of life on Earth, biological cycle. It provides continuous transformations, as a result of which substances, after being used by some organisms, are transferred into a form digestible for other organisms. The energy basis is the solar energy coming to Earth. Plant organisms absorb minerals that enter the animal body through food chains, then return to the soil or atmosphere with the help of decomposers (bacteria, fungi, etc.). The intensity of this cycle depends on the number and diversity of living organisms on Earth and the amount of energy accumulated by them. biomass. Max. the intensity of the biological cycle on land is observed in tropical rainforests, where plant residues almost do not accumulate and released minerals are immediately absorbed by plants. The intensity of the cycle is very low in swamps and tundra, where plant remains that do not have time to decompose accumulate. Of particular importance are the cycles of biogenic chemical elements, primarily carbon. Plant organisms extract from the atmosphere up to 300 billion tons of carbon dioxide (or 100 billion tons of carbon) annually. Plants are partly eaten by animals, partly die off. As a result of the respiration of organisms, the decomposition of their remains, the processes of fermentation and decay, organic matter turns into carbon dioxide or is deposited in the form of sapropel, humus, peat, from which coal, oil, and combustible gas are subsequently formed. A very small part of it is involved in the active cycle of carbon, a significant amount is conserved in the form of combustible fossil limestones and other rocks. Main the mass of nitrogen is concentrated in the atmosphere (3.8510 N? t); in the waters of the World Ocean it contains 2510Ni tons. The leading role in the nitrogen cycle belongs to microorganisms: nitrogen fixers, nitrifiers and denitrifiers. Approx. 4510? tons of nitrogen, aquatic environment 4 times less. Nitrogen-containing compounds from dead residues are converted by nitrifying microorganisms into nitrogen oxides, which are subsequently decomposed by denitrifying bacteria with the release of molecular nitrogen. Cycles are also associated with living matter. oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and many other elements. The consequences of human impact on the cycle of substances are becoming more significant. They are comparable to the results geological processes: in the biosphere, new ways of migration of substances appear, new chemical compounds that did not exist before, the water cycle is changing.

Small (biological) circulation

The mass of living matter in the biosphere is relatively small. If it is distributed over the earth's surface, then a layer of only 1.5 cm will be obtained. Table 4.1 compares some quantitative characteristics of the biosphere and other geospheres of the Earth. The biosphere, accounting for less than 10-6 masses of other shells of the planet, has an incomparably greater diversity and renews its composition a million times faster.

Table 4.1

Comparison of the biosphere with other geospheres of the Earth

*Live substance based on live weight

4.4.1. Functions of the biosphere

Thanks to the biota of the biosphere, the predominant part of the chemical transformations on the planet is carried out. Hence the judgment of V.I. Vernadsky about the huge transformative geological role living substance. For organic evolution living organisms a thousand times (for different cycles from 103 to 105 times) passed through themselves, through their organs, tissues, cells, blood, the entire atmosphere, the entire volume of the World Ocean, most of the mass of soil, a huge mass of minerals. And they not only missed it, but also modified the earthly environment in accordance with their needs.

Thanks to the ability to transform solar energy into the energy of chemical bonds, plants and other organisms perform a number of fundamental biogeochemical functions on a planetary scale.

gas function. Living beings constantly exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide with the environment in the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. Plants played a decisive role in the change from a reducing environment to an oxidizing environment in the geochemical evolution of the planet and in the formation of the gas composition of the modern atmosphere. Plants strictly control the concentrations of O2 and CO2, which are optimal for the totality of all modern living organisms.

concentration function. Passing through their body large volumes of air and natural solutions, living organisms carry out biogenic migration (movement chemical substances) and concentration of chemical elements and their compounds. This applies to organic biosynthesis, the formation of coral islands, the construction of shells and skeletons, the appearance of sedimentary limestone strata, deposits of certain metal ores, the accumulation of iron-manganese nodules, on the ocean floor, etc. The early stages of biological evolution took place in the aquatic environment. Organisms have learned to extract the substances they need from a dilute aqueous solution, multiplying their concentration in their bodies many times over.

The redox function of living matter is closely related to the biogenic migration of elements and the concentration of substances. Many substances in nature are stable and do not undergo oxidation under normal conditions, for example, molecular nitrogen is one of the most important biogenic elements. But living cells have such powerful catalysts - enzymes that they are able to carry out many redox reactions millions of times faster than it can take place in an abiotic environment.

Information function of the living matter of the biosphere. It was with the advent of the first primitive living beings that active (“live”) information appeared on the planet, which differs from the “dead” information, which is a simple reflection of the structure. Organisms turned out to be able to receive information by connecting the flow of energy with an active molecular structure that plays the role of a program. The ability to perceive, store and process molecular information has undergone an advanced evolution in nature and has become the most important ecological system-forming factor. The total stock of biota genetic information is estimated at 1015 bits. The total power of the flow of molecular information associated with the metabolism and energy in all cells of the global biota reaches 1036 bit/s (Gorshkov et al., 1996).

4.4.2. Components of the biological cycle.

The biological cycle is carried out between all components of the biosphere (ie, between soil, air, water, animals, microorganisms, etc.). It occurs with the obligatory participation of living organisms.

Solar radiation reaching the biosphere carries an energy of about 2.5 * 1024 J per year. Only 0.3% of it is directly converted in the process of photosynthesis into the energy of chemical bonds of organic substances, i.e. involved in the biological cycle. And 0.1 - 0.2% of the solar energy falling on the Earth turns out to be enclosed in pure primary production. Further fate This energy is associated with the transfer of organic matter of food through the cascades of trophic chains.

The biological cycle can be conditionally divided into interrelated components: the cycle of substances and the energy cycle.

4.4.3. Energy cycle. Energy transformation in the biosphere

An ecosystem can be described as a collection of living organisms continuously exchanging energy, matter, and information. Energy can be defined as the ability to do work. The properties of energy, including the movement of energy in ecosystems, are described by the laws of thermodynamics.

The first law of thermodynamics or the law of conservation of energy states that energy does not disappear and is not created anew, it only changes from one form to another.

The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy can only increase in a closed system. With regard to energy in ecosystems, the following formulation is convenient: the processes associated with the transformation of energy can occur spontaneously only if the energy passes from a concentrated form to a diffuse one, that is, it degrades. A measure of the amount of energy that becomes unavailable for use, or otherwise a measure of the change in order that occurs when energy is degraded, is entropy. The higher the order of the system, the lower its entropy.

In other words, living matter receives and transforms the energy of space, the sun into the energy of terrestrial processes (chemical, mechanical, thermal, electrical). It involves this energy and inorganic matter in the continuous circulation of substances in the biosphere. The flow of energy in the biosphere has one direction - from the Sun through plants (autotrophs) to animals (heterotrophs). Natural untouched ecosystems in a stable state with constant important environmental indicators (homeostasis) are the most ordered systems and are characterized by the lowest entropy.

4.4.4. The cycle of substances in nature

The formation of living matter and its decomposition are two sides of a single process, which is called the biological cycle of chemical elements. Life is the circulation of chemical elements between organisms and the environment.

The reason for the cycle is the limitedness of the elements from which the bodies of organisms are built. Each organism extracts from environment substances necessary for life and returns unused. Wherein:

some organisms consume minerals directly from the environment;

others use products processed and isolated first;

the third - the second, etc., until the substances return to the environment in their original state.

In the biosphere, the need for the coexistence of various organisms that can use each other's waste products is obvious. We see practically waste-free biological production.

The cycle of substances in living organisms can be conditionally reduced to four processes:

1. Photosynthesis. As a result of photosynthesis, plants absorb and accumulate solar energy and synthesize organic substances - primary biological products - and oxygen from inorganic substances. Primary biological products are very diverse - they contain carbohydrates (glucose), starch, fiber, proteins, fats.

The scheme of photosynthesis of the simplest carbohydrate (glucose) has the following scheme:

This process takes place only during the day and is accompanied by an increase in the mass of plants.

On Earth, about 100 billion tons of organic matter are formed annually as a result of photosynthesis, about 200 billion tons of carbon dioxide are assimilated, and about 145 billion tons of oxygen are released.

Photosynthesis plays a decisive role in ensuring the existence of life on Earth. Its global significance is explained by the fact that photosynthesis is the only process during which energy in the thermodynamic process, according to the minimalist principle, does not dissipate, but rather accumulates.

By synthesizing the amino acids necessary for building proteins, plants can exist relatively independently of other living organisms. This manifests the autotrophy of plants (self-sufficiency in nutrition). At the same time, the green mass of plants and the oxygen formed in the process of photosynthesis are the basis for maintaining the life of the next group of living organisms - animals, microorganisms. This shows the heterotrophy of this group of organisms.

2. Breathing. The process is the reverse of photosynthesis. Occurs in all living cells. During respiration, organic matter is oxidized by oxygen, resulting in the formation of carbon dioxide, water and energy.

3. Nutritional (trophic) relationships between autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms. In this case, there is a transfer of energy and matter along the links the food chain, which we discussed earlier in more detail.

4. The process of transpiration. One of the most important processes in the biological cycle.

Schematically, it can be described as follows. Plants absorb soil moisture through their roots. At the same time, mineral substances dissolved in water enter them, which are absorbed, and moisture evaporates more or less intensively, depending on environmental conditions.

4.4.5. Biogeochemical cycles

Geological and biological cycles are connected - they exist as a single process, giving rise to the circulation of substances, the so-called biogeochemical cycles (BGHC). This circulation of elements is due to the synthesis and decay of organic substances in the ecosystem (Fig. 4.1). Not all elements of the biosphere are involved in BHCC, but only biogenic ones. Living organisms consist of them, these elements enter into numerous reactions and participate in the processes occurring in living organisms. In percentage terms, the total mass of the living matter of the biosphere consists of the following main biogenic elements: oxygen - 70%, carbon - 18%, hydrogen - 10.5%, calcium - 0.5%, potassium - 0.3%, nitrogen - 0, 3%, (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon are present in all landscapes and are the basis of living organisms - 98%).

Essence of biogenic migration of chemical elements.

Thus, in the biosphere there is a biogenic cycle of substances (ie, a cycle caused by the vital activity of organisms) and a unidirectional flow of energy. Biogenic migration of chemical elements is determined mainly by two opposite processes:

1. The formation of living matter from the elements of the environment due to solar energy.

2. The destruction of organic substances, accompanied by the release of energy. At the same time, elements of mineral substances repeatedly enter living organisms, thereby entering into the composition of complex organic compounds, forms, and then, when the latter are destroyed, they again acquire a mineral form.

There are elements that are part of living organisms, but not related to biogenic ones. Such elements are classified according to their weight fraction in organisms:

Macronutrients - components of at least 10-2% of the mass;

Trace elements - components from 9 * 10-3 to 1 * 10-3% of the mass;

Ultramicroelements - less than 9 * 10-6% of the mass;

To determine the place of biogenic elements among other chemical elements of the biosphere, let us consider the classification adopted in ecology. According to the activity shown in the processes occurring in the biosphere, all chemical elements are divided into 6 groups:

The noble gases are helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon. Inert gases are not part of living organisms.

Noble metals - ruthenium, radium, palladium, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold. These metals almost do not form compounds in earth's crust.

Cyclic or biogenic elements (they are also called migratory). This group of biogenic elements in the earth's crust accounts for 99.7% of the total mass, and the remaining 5 groups - 0.3%. Thus, the bulk of the elements are migrants who carry out circulation in geographical envelope, and the part of inert elements is very small.

Scattered elements, characterized by the predominance of free atoms. Enter into chemical reactions, but their compounds are rarely found in the earth's crust. They are divided into two subgroups. The first - rubidium, cesium, niobium, tantalum - create compounds in the depths of the earth's crust, and on the surface of their minerals are destroyed. The second - iodine, bromine - react only on the surface.

Radioactive elements - polonium, radon, radium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium.

Rare earth elements - yttrium, samarium, europium, thulium, etc.

Year-round biochemical cycles set in motion about 480 billion tons of matter.

IN AND. Vernadsky formulated three biogeochemical principles that explain the essence of biogenic migration of chemical elements:

Biogenic migration of chemical elements in the biosphere always tends to its maximum manifestation.

The evolution of species in the course of geological time, leading to the creation of sustainable forms of life, proceeds in a direction that enhances the biogenic migration of atoms.

Living matter is in continuous chemical exchange with its environment, which is a factor that recreates and maintains the biosphere.

Let us consider how some of these elements move in the biosphere.

The carbon cycle. The main participant in the biotic cycle is carbon as the basis of organic substances. Mostly carbon cycle occurs between living matter and carbon dioxide of the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis. Herbivores get it with food, predators get it from herbivores. When breathing, rotting, carbon dioxide is partially returned to the atmosphere, the return occurs when organic minerals are burned.

In the absence of carbon return to the atmosphere, it would be used up by green plants in 7-8 years. The rate of biological turnover of carbon through photosynthesis is 300 years. The oceans play an important role in regulating the content of CO2 in the atmosphere. If the CO2 content rises in the atmosphere, some of it dissolves in water, reacting with calcium carbonate.

The oxygen cycle.

Oxygen has a high chemical activity, enters into compounds with almost all elements of the earth's crust. It occurs mainly in the form of compounds. Every fourth atom of living matter is an oxygen atom. Almost all of the molecular oxygen in the atmosphere originated and is maintained at a constant level due to the activity of green plants. Atmospheric oxygen, bound during respiration and released during photosynthesis, passes through all living organisms in 200 years.

The nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is integral part all proteins. The total ratio of bound nitrogen, as an element constituting organic matter, to nitrogen in nature is 1:100,000. The chemical bond energy in the nitrogen molecule is very high. Therefore, the combination of nitrogen with other elements - oxygen, hydrogen (the process of nitrogen fixation) - requires a lot of energy. Industrial nitrogen fixation takes place in the presence of catalysts at a temperature of -500°C and a pressure of -300 atm.

As you know, the atmosphere contains more than 78% of molecular nitrogen, but in this state it is not available to green plants. For their nutrition, plants can use only salts of nitric and nitrous acids. What are the ways of formation of these salts? Here are some of them:

In the biosphere, nitrogen fixation is carried out by several groups of anaerobic bacteria and cyanobacteria at normal temperature and pressure due to the high efficiency of biocatalysis. It is believed that bacteria convert approximately 1 billion tons of nitrogen per year into a bound form (the world volume of industrial fixation is about 90 million tons).

Soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria are able to assimilate molecular nitrogen from the air. They enrich the soil with nitrogenous compounds, so their value is extremely high.

As a result of the decomposition of nitrogen-containing compounds of organic substances of plant and animal origin.

Under the action of bacteria, nitrogen is converted into nitrates, nitrites, ammonium compounds. In plants, nitrogen compounds take part in the synthesis of protein compounds, which are transferred from organism to organism in food chains.

Phosphorus cycle. Another important element, without which protein synthesis is impossible, is phosphorus. The main sources are igneous rocks (apatites) and sedimentary rocks (phosphorites).

Inorganic phosphorus is involved in the cycle as a result of natural leaching processes. Phosphorus is assimilated by living organisms, which, with its participation, synthesize a number of organic compounds and transfer them to various trophic levels.

Having finished their journey along the trophic chains, organic phosphates are decomposed by microbes and turn into mineral phosphates available to green plants.

In the process of biological circulation, which ensures the movement of matter and energy, there is no place for the accumulation of waste. The waste products (i.e. waste products) of each life form are the breeding ground for other organisms.

Theoretically, the biosphere should always maintain a balance between the production of biomass and its decomposition. However, in certain geological periods, the balance of the biological cycle was disturbed when, due to certain natural conditions, cataclysms, not all biological products were assimilated, transformed. In these cases, surpluses of biological products were formed, which were conserved and deposited in the earth's crust, under the water column, sediments, and ended up in the permafrost zone. So deposits of coal, oil, gas, limestone were formed. It should be noted that they do not litter the biosphere. The energy of the Sun, accumulated in the process of photosynthesis, is concentrated in organic minerals. Now, by burning organic fossil fuels, a person releases this energy.

In the biosphere, there is a global (large, or geological) circulation of substances, which existed even before the appearance of the first living organisms. It involves a wide variety of chemical elements. The geological cycle is carried out thanks to solar, gravitational, tectonic and cosmic types of energy.

With the advent of living matter, on the basis of the geological cycle, the cycle of organic matter arose - a small (biotic, or biological) cycle.

The biotic cycle of substances is a continuous, cyclic, uneven in time and space process of movement and transformation of substances that occurs with the direct participation of living organisms. It is a continuous process of creation and destruction of organic matter and is implemented with the participation of all three groups of organisms: producers, consumers and decomposers. About 40 biogenic elements are involved in biotic cycles. Highest value for living organisms, they have cycles of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

As living matter develops, more and more elements are constantly extracted from the geological cycle and enter a new, biological cycle. The total mass of ash substances involved annually in the biotic cycle of substances only on land is about 8 billion tons. This is several times the mass of the products of the eruption of all volcanoes in the world throughout the year. The rate of circulation of matter in the biosphere is different. The living matter of the biosphere is updated on average for 8 years, the mass of phytoplankton in the ocean is updated daily. All oxygen of the biosphere passes through living matter in 2000 years, and carbon dioxide - in 300 years.

Local biotic cycles are carried out in ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles of atomic migration are carried out in the biosphere, which not only bind all three outer shells of the planet into a single whole, but also determine the continuous evolution of its composition.

ATMOSPHERE HYDROSPHERE

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LIVING SUBSTANCE

THE SOIL

Evolution of the biosphere

The biosphere appeared with the birth of the first living organisms about 3.5 billion years ago. In the course of the development of life, it changed. The stages of evolution of the biosphere can be distinguished taking into account the characteristics of the type of ecosystems.

1. The emergence and development of life in water. The stage is connected with the existence aquatic ecosystems. There was no oxygen in the atmosphere.

2. The emergence of living organisms on land, the development of the land-air environment and soil, and the emergence of terrestrial ecosystems. This became possible due to the appearance of oxygen in the atmosphere and the ozone screen. It happened 2.5 billion years ago.

3. The emergence of man, his transformation into a biosocial being and the emergence of anthropoecosystems occurred 1 million years ago.

4. The transition of the biosphere under the influence of intelligent human activity into a new qualitative state - into the noosphere.

Noosphere

The highest stage in the development of the biosphere is the noosphere - the stage of reasonable regulation of the relationship between man and nature. This term was introduced in 1927 by the French philosopher E. Leroy. He believed that the noosphere includes human society with its industry, language and other attributes of intelligent activity. In the 30-40s. XX century V.I. Vernadsky developed materialistic ideas about the noosphere. He believed that the noosphere arises as a result of the interaction of the biosphere and society, is controlled by the close relationship between the laws of nature, thinking and the socio-economic laws of society, and emphasized that

noosphere (sphere of the mind) - the stage of development of the biosphere, when the intelligent activity of people will become the main determining factor in its sustainable development.

The noosphere is a new, higher stage of the biosphere, associated with the emergence and development of mankind in it, which, knowing the laws of nature and improving technology, becomes the largest force comparable in scale to geological ones, and begins to have a decisive influence on the course of processes on Earth, profoundly changing it. with their labor. The formation and development of mankind was expressed in the emergence of new forms of exchange of matter and energy between society and nature, in the ever-increasing impact of man on the biosphere. The noosphere will come when humanity, with the help of science, will be able to meaningfully manage natural and social processes. Therefore, the noosphere cannot be considered a special shell of the Earth.

The science of relationship management human society and nature is called noogenics.

The main goal of noogenics is the planning of the present for the sake of the future, and its main tasks are the correction of violations in the relationship between man and nature caused by the progress of technology, the conscious control of the evolution of the biosphere. A planned, scientifically substantiated use of natural resources should be formed, providing for the restoration in the cycle of substances of what has been violated by man, as opposed to a spontaneous, predatory attitude towards nature, leading to environmental degradation. For this it is necessary sustainable development a society that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

At present, the planet has formed biotechnosphere - a part of the biosphere, radically transformed by man into engineering structures: cities, factories and factories, quarries and mines, roads, dams and reservoirs, etc.

BIOSPHERE AND MAN

The biosphere for man is and habitat and source of natural resources.

Natural resources – natural objects and phenomena that a person uses in the labor process. They provide people with food, clothing, shelter. According to the degree of exhaustion, they are divided into exhaustible and inexhaustible . Exhaustible resources are divided into renewable And non-renewable . Non-renewable resources include those resources that are not revived (or are renewed hundreds of times slower than they are spent): oil, coal, metal ores and most minerals. Renewable Natural resources soil, vegetation and animal world, mineral raw materials (table salt). These resources are constantly being replenished with different speed: animals - several years, forests - 60-80 years, soils that have lost fertility - for several millennia. Exceeding the rate of consumption over the rate of reproduction leads to the complete disappearance of the resource.

Inexhaustible resources include water, climate ( atmospheric air and wind energy) and space: solar radiation, the energy of sea tides and tides. However, the growing pollution of the environment requires the implementation of environmental measures to conserve these resources.

The satisfaction of human needs is unthinkable without the exploitation of natural resources.

All types of human activity in the biosphere can be combined into four forms.

1. Changing the structure of the earth's surface(plowing land, draining water bodies, deforestation, building canals). Humanity is becoming a powerful geological force. A person uses 75% of land, 15% of river waters, 20 hectares of forests are cut down every minute.

· Geological and geomorphological changes - intensification of the formation of ravines, the appearance and frequency of mudflows and landslides.

· Complex (landscape) changes - violation of the integrity and natural structure of landscapes, the uniqueness of natural monuments, loss of productive land, desertification.