Abstract: The current state of the natural environment. General characteristics of the state of the natural environment in Russia

The global processes of formation and movement of living matter in the biosphere are associated with the circulation of huge masses of matter and energy. Unlike purely geological processes, biogeochemical cycles involving living matter have a much higher intensity, speed, and amount of matter involved in the turnover.

With the advent and development of mankind, the process of evolution has noticeably changed. In the early stages of civilization, cutting down and burning forests for agriculture, grazing, hunting and hunting for wild animals, wars devastated entire regions, led to the destruction of plant communities, extermination certain types animals. As civilization developed, especially the stormy end of the Middle Ages after the industrial revolution, mankind seized ever greater power, ever greater ability to involve and use huge masses of matter, both organic, living, and mineral, inert, to satisfy their growing needs.

Population growth and expanding development Agriculture, industry, construction, transport caused massive deforestation in Europe and North America. Livestock grazing on a large scale led to the death of forests and grass cover, to erosion (destruction) of the soil layer ( middle Asia, North Africa, southern Europe and the USA). Exterminated dozens of animal species in Europe, America, Africa.

Scientists suggest that soil depletion in the territory of the ancient Central American Mayan state as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture was one of the reasons for the death of this highly developed civilization. IN Ancient Greece Extensive forests have disappeared as a result of deforestation and excessive grazing. This increased soil erosion and led to the destruction of the soil cover on many mountain slopes, increased the aridity of the climate and worsened agricultural conditions.

The construction and operation of industrial enterprises, the extraction of minerals have led to serious violations of natural landscapes, pollution of soil, water and air with various wastes.

Global shifts in biospheric processes began in the 20th century. as a result of the next industrial revolution. The rapid development of energy, engineering, chemistry and transport has led to the fact that human activity became comparable in scale with the natural energy and material processes occurring in the biosphere. The intensity of human consumption of energy and material resources is growing in proportion to the population and even ahead of its growth.

warning about possible consequences of the expanding intrusion of man into nature, half a century ago, Academician V. I. Vernadsky wrote that man is becoming a geological force capable of changing the face of the Earth. This warning was prophetically justified. The consequences of anthropogenic (man-made) activities are manifested in the depletion natural resources, pollution of the biosphere by production waste, destruction natural ecosystems, changing the structure of the Earth's surface, climate change. Anthropogenic impacts lead to disruption of almost all natural biogeochemical cycles.

As a result of the combustion of various fuels, about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere annually and a corresponding amount of oxygen is absorbed. The natural reserve of CO 2 in the atmosphere is about 50,000 billion tons. This value fluctuates and depends, in particular, on volcanic activity. However, anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions exceed natural ones and currently account for a large share of it. total. Increasing concentration

carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount of aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some chemical compounds), can lead to noticeable changes in climate and, accordingly, to disruption of the equilibrium relationships that have developed over millions of years in the biosphere.

The result of the violation of the transparency of the atmosphere, and, consequently, the heat balance may be the occurrence of " greenhouse effect", that is, an increase average temperature atmosphere by a few degrees. This can cause the melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level of the World Ocean, a change in its salinity, temperature, global climate disturbances, flooding of coastal lowlands and many other adverse consequences.

The release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO (carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of the vital activity of plants and animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living organisms.

Uncontrolled influence on the climate in combination with irrational agriculture can lead to a significant decrease in soil fertility, large fluctuations in crop yields. According to UN experts in last years fluctuations in agricultural production exceeded 1%. But a decrease in food production even by 1% can lead to the death of tens of millions of people from starvation.

The forests on our planet are declining catastrophically. Irrational deforestation and fires have led to the fact that in many places, once completely covered with forests, by now they have survived only on 10-30% of the territory. Africa's rainforests have shrunk by 70% South America- by 60%, in China only 8% of the territory is covered with forest.

The appearance in the natural environment of new components caused by human activity or some grandiose natural phenomena (for example, volcanic activity) is characterized by the term "pollution".

IN general view pollution - this is the presence in the environment of harmful substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their individual elements and reduce the quality of the human environment or the conduct of economic activities. This term characterizes all bodies, substances, phenomena, processes that in a given place, but not at the time and not in the amount that is natural for nature, appear in the environment and can bring its systems out of equilibrium.

The environmental impact of polluting agents can manifest itself in different ways; it can affect either individual organisms (manifested at the organismal level), or populations, biocenoses, ecosystems, and even the biosphere as a whole.

At the organismic level, there may be a violation of individual physiological functions of organisms, a change in their behavior, a decrease in the rate of growth and development, and a decrease in resistance to the effects of other adverse environmental factors.

At the level of populations, pollution can cause changes in their numbers and biomass, fertility, mortality, structural changes, annual migration cycles, and a number of other functional properties.

At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and functions of communities. The same pollutants affect different components of communities in different ways. Accordingly, the quantitative ratios in the biocenosis change, up to the complete disappearance of some forms and the appearance of others. The spatial structure of communities is changing, decomposition chains (detrital) begin to prevail over pastures, and dying off over production. Ultimately, it happens

degradation of ecosystems, their deterioration as elements of the human environment, a decrease in the positive role in the formation of the biosphere, economic depreciation.

There are natural and anthropogenic pollution. Natural pollution occurs as a result of natural causes: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic pollution is the result of human activity.

At present, the total power of anthropogenic pollution sources in many cases exceeds the power of natural ones. So, natural sources emit 30 million tons of nitrogen oxides per year, and anthropogenic - 35 - 50 million tons; sulfur dioxide, respectively, about 30 million tons and more than 150 million tons. As a result of human activity, lead enters the biosphere almost 10 times more than in the process of natural pollution.

Pollutants resulting from human activities and their impact on the environment are very diverse. These include: compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals, various organic substances, artificially created materials, radioactive elements and much more.

Thus, according to experts, about 10 million tons of oil enter the ocean every year. Oil on water forms a thin film that prevents gas exchange between water and air. Settling to the bottom, oil enters bottom sediments, where it disrupts the natural life processes of bottom animals and microorganisms. In addition to oil, there has been a significant increase in the release into the ocean of domestic and industrial Wastewater containing, in particular, such dangerous pollutants as lead, mercury and arsenic, which have a strong toxic effect. Background concentrations of such substances in many places have already been exceeded by dozens of times.

Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on nature, so their entry into the environment must be strictly controlled. The legislation establishes for each pollutant the maximum allowable discharge (MPD) and the maximum allowable concentration (MPC) of it in the natural environment.

Reset Limit (MPD) is the mass of a pollutant emitted by individual sources per unit of time, the excess of which leads to adverse effects in the environment or is hazardous to human health.

Maximum Permissible Concentration (MAC) is understood as the amount of a harmful substance in the environment that does not adversely affect human health or its offspring through permanent or temporary contact with it. Currently, when determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants on human health is taken into account, but also their effect on animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, as well as on the natural community as a whole.

Special monitoring services (surveillance) environment exercise control over compliance with the established standards of MPD and MPC of harmful substances. Such services have been established in all regions of the country. Their role is especially important in large cities, near chemical plants, nuclear power plants and other industrial facilities. Monitoring services have the right to apply measures provided by law, up to the suspension of production and any work, if environmental protection standards are violated.

In addition to environmental pollution, anthropogenic impact is expressed in the depletion of the natural resources of the biosphere. The enormous use of natural resources has led to a significant change in landscapes in some regions (for example, in the coal basins). If, at the dawn of civilization, man used for his

needs only about 20 chemical elements, at the beginning of the 20th century there were about 60, now there are more than 100 - almost the entire periodic table. About 100 billion tons of ore, fuel and mineral fertilizers are annually mined (extracted from the geosphere).

That's far from full picture environmental situation on our planet at the present time. Even individual successes in environmental protection activities cannot noticeably change the general course of the process of the harmful influence of civilization on the state of the biosphere.

Let us consider some features of the current state of the biosphere and the processes taking place in it.

The global processes of formation and movement of living matter in the biosphere are connected and accompanied by the circulation of huge masses of matter and energy. Unlike purely geological processes, biogeochemical cycles involving living matter have a much higher intensity, speed, and amount of matter involved in the turnover.

As already mentioned, with the advent and development of mankind, the process of evolution has noticeably changed. In the early stages of civilization, cutting down and burning forests for agriculture, grazing, hunting and hunting for wild animals, wars devastated entire regions, led to the destruction of plant communities, and the extermination of certain animal species. As civilization developed, especially the stormy end of the Middle Ages after the industrial revolution, mankind mastered ever greater power, ever greater ability to involve and use huge masses of matter to satisfy its growing needs - both organic, living, and mineral, inert.

Population growth and the expanding development of agriculture, industry, construction, and transport caused massive deforestation in Europe, North America. Grazing on a large scale led to the death of forests and grass cover, to erosion (destruction) of the soil layer (Central Asia, North Africa, south of Europe and the USA). Exterminated dozens of animal species in Europe, America, Africa.

Scientists suggest that soil depletion in the territory of the ancient Central American Mayan state as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture was one of the reasons for the death of this highly developed civilization. Similarly, in ancient Greece, vast forests disappeared as a result of deforestation and immoderate grazing. This increased soil erosion and led to the destruction of the soil cover on many mountain slopes, increased the aridity of the climate and worsened agricultural conditions.

Real shifts in biospheric processes began in the 20th century. as a result of the next industrial revolution. The rapid development of energy, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and transport has led to the fact that human activity has become comparable in scale with the natural energy and material processes occurring in the biosphere. The intensity of human consumption of energy and material resources is growing in proportion to the population and even ahead of its growth.

Warning about the possible consequences of the expanding intrusion of man into nature, half a century ago, Academician V. I. Vernadsky wrote: "Man is becoming a geological force capable of changing the face of the Earth." This warning was prophetically justified. The consequences of anthropogenic (man-made) activities are manifested in the depletion of natural resources, pollution of the biosphere with industrial waste, destruction of natural ecosystems, changes in the structure of the Earth's surface, and climate change. Anthropogenic impacts lead to disruption of almost all natural biogeochemical cycles.

As a result of the combustion of various fuels, about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere annually and a corresponding amount of oxygen is absorbed. The natural supply of CO2 in the atmosphere is about 50,000 billion tons. This value fluctuates and depends, in particular, on volcanic activity. However, anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide exceed natural ones and currently account for a large proportion of its total amount. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount of aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some chemical compounds), can lead to noticeable climate changes and, accordingly, to disruption of the equilibrium relationships that have developed over millions of years in the biosphere.

The result of a violation of the transparency of the atmosphere, and, consequently, of the thermal balance, may be the emergence of a "greenhouse effect", that is, an increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere by several degrees. This can cause the melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level of the World Ocean, a change in its salinity, temperature, global climate disturbances, flooding of coastal lowlands and many other adverse consequences.

The release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO (carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of the vital activity of plants and animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living organisms.

Uncontrolled influence on the climate in combination with irrational agriculture can lead to a significant decrease in soil fertility, large fluctuations in crop yields. According to UN experts, in recent years, fluctuations in agricultural production have exceeded 1%. But a decrease in food production even by 1% can lead to the death of tens of millions of people from starvation.

The forests on our planet are catastrophically reduced. Irrational deforestation and fires have led to the fact that in many places, once completely covered with forests, by now they have survived only on 10-30% of the territory. The area of ​​tropical forests in Africa has decreased by 70%, in South America - by 60%, in China only 8% of the territory is covered with forest.

Pollution of the natural environment. The appearance of new components in the natural environment, caused by human activity or some grandiose natural phenomena (for example, volcanic activity), is characterized by the term pollution. In general, pollution is the presence in the environment of harmful substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their individual elements and reduce the quality of the environment in terms of human habitation or economic activity. This term characterizes all bodies, substances, phenomena, processes that in a given place, but not at the time and not in the amount that is natural for nature, appear in the environment and can bring its systems out of equilibrium.

The environmental impact of polluting agents can manifest itself in different ways; it can affect either individual organisms, manifest itself at the organismal level, or populations, biocenoses, ecosystems, and even the biosphere as a whole.

At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and functions of communities. The same pollutants affect different components of communities in different ways. Accordingly, the quantitative ratios in the biocenosis change, up to the complete disappearance of some forms and the appearance of others. The spatial structure of communities is changing, chains of decomposition (detrital) begin to prevail over pastures, and dying off over production. Ultimately, there is degradation of ecosystems, their deterioration as elements of the human environment, a decrease in the positive role in the formation of the biosphere, and economic depreciation.

There are natural and anthropogenic pollution. Natural pollution occurs as a result of natural causes - volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic pollution is the result of human activities.

At present, the total power of anthropogenic pollution sources in many cases exceeds the power of natural ones. Thus, natural sources of nitric oxide emit 30 million tons of nitrogen per year, and anthropogenic - 35-50 million tons; sulfur dioxide, respectively, about 30 million tons and more than 150 million tons. As a result of human activity, lead enters the biosphere almost 10 times more than in the process of natural pollution.

Pollutants resulting from human activities and their impact on the environment are very diverse. These include: compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals, various organic substances, artificially created materials, radioactive elements and much more.

Thus, according to experts, about 10 million tons of oil enters the ocean every year. Oil on water forms a thin film that prevents gas exchange between water and air. Settling to the bottom, oil enters bottom sediments, where it disrupts the natural life processes of bottom animals and microorganisms. In addition to oil, there has been a significant increase in the release of domestic and industrial wastewater into the ocean, containing, in particular, such dangerous pollutants as lead, mercury, and arsenic, which have a strong toxic effect. Background concentrations of such substances in many places have already been exceeded by dozens of times.

Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on nature, so their entry into the environment must be strictly controlled. The legislation establishes for each pollutant the maximum allowable discharge (MPD) and the maximum allowable concentration (MPC) of it in the natural environment.

Maximum allowable discharge (MPD) is the mass of a pollutant emitted by individual sources per unit of time, the excess of which leads to adverse effects in the environment or is hazardous to human health. The maximum allowable concentration (MAC) is understood as the amount of a harmful substance in the environment that does not adversely affect human health or its offspring through permanent or temporary contact with it. Currently, when determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants on human health is taken into account, but also their impact on animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, as well as on the natural community as a whole.

Special environmental monitoring (surveillance) services monitor compliance with the established standards for MPC and MPC of harmful substances. Such services have been established in all regions of the country. Their role is especially important in large cities, near chemical plants, nuclear power plants and other industrial facilities. Monitoring services have the right to apply measures provided by law, up to the suspension of production and any work, if environmental protection standards are violated.

In addition to environmental pollution, anthropogenic impact is expressed in the depletion of the natural resources of the biosphere. The enormous use of natural resources has led to a significant change in landscapes in some regions (for example, in the coal basins). If at the dawn of civilization a person used only about 20 chemical elements for his needs, at the beginning of the 20th century 60 flowed in, now more than 100 - almost the entire periodic table. About 100 billion tons of ore, fuel, and mineral fertilizers are annually mined (extracted from the geosphere).

The rapid growth in demand for fuel, metals, minerals and their extraction led to the depletion of these resources. Thus, according to experts, while maintaining current rates of production and consumption, explored oil reserves will be exhausted in 30 years, gas - in 50 years, coal - in 200. A similar situation has developed not only with energy resources, but also with metals (depletion aluminum reserves are expected in 500-600 years, iron - 250 years, zinc - 25 years, lead - 20 years) and mineral resources such as asbestos, mica, graphite, sulfur.

This is a far from complete picture of the ecological situation on our planet at the present time. Even individual successes in environmental protection activities cannot noticeably change the general course of the process of the harmful influence of civilization on the state of the biosphere.

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Federal Agency for Education

State educational institution higher professional education

Faculty of Economics and Law

Department of Finance and Management

Course work

On the discipline "Nature management"

Environmental management in Russia

Introduction

Chapter 1. Formation of environmental management methods in

1.1 The historical aspect of the regulatory and methodological framework in

1.2 Payments for natural resources

Chapter 2. Methods of environmental management in Russia

2.1 Economic incentives for environmental protection

2.2 Environmental certification

2.3 Privatization and sustainable development

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

In the last ten years, the Russian economy began to form a trend of active application of economic methods of regulation of environmental protection and the use of natural resources.

First of all, this is evidenced by the introduction of fees for environmental pollution and the use of natural resources, as well as the creation of appropriate funds for the formation and use of funds from the collected fees.

Similar mechanisms already existed in the international practice of environmental management and proved their effectiveness.

The main methodological principle of establishing fees for environmental pollution was the "polluter pays" principle. Under this principle, the corresponding regulatory and methodological bases were brought up, and issues of management and control were resolved on the basis of this principle.

work on the formation of an economic mechanism for nature management has noticeably intensified. This was facilitated by the creation of special services - nature protection committees at the federal, republican, regional, regional, city and district levels. The Union and Russian committees for nature protection began to develop regulatory and methodological documents on the introduction of fees for environmental pollution. At the same time, the payment standards included the costs associated with partial compensation for damage arising from environmental pollution.

However, the novelty of the problem, the lack of development of a number of methodological issues, as well as opposition from the industrial ministries required testing of these proposals.

Chapter 1. Formation of environmental management methods in Russia

1.1 Historical aspect of legal and methodological

bases in Russia

The main economic instrument for the development of environmental protection activities in Russia before the adoption of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Environmental Protection" was the payment for emissions and discharges of pollutants into the environment and waste disposal, which was regulated by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR dated January 9, 1991 No.

No. 13 "On the approval for 1991 of the standards for payment for emissions of pollutants into the environment and the procedure for their application."

In 1991, the Goskompriroda of the RSFSR proposed to the Committee on Ecology and rational use Natural Resources Supreme Council Russian Federation The concept of formation of the economic mechanism of nature management in the conditions of transition to the market.

Section III of the Law "On Environmental Protection", dedicated to the economic mechanism of environmental protection, was built on the main provisions of the Concept.

The law provides for a phased, evolutionary replacement of the existing tax system in Russia on the basis of a previously developed program of long-term tax reform.

As part of the development of the program, it is necessary to justify the rate of change in the proportions of various types of tax revenues, the maximum possible without significant negative consequences for the economy; to determine the list, structure, as well as the timing of the adoption of legislative acts regulating the issues of changing fees for the use of various types of natural resources, laws on other types of taxes, which should be reduced or canceled as fees for nature use increase; develop a methodological basis for the economic assessment of all types of natural resources and, on this basis, conduct such an assessment; develop methods for determining fees for the use of various natural resources, taking into account the gradual achievement of the level of fees corresponding to the full economic assessment of natural resources.

Calculations show that the main part of the Russian budget, which is formed under the current price structure due to:

1) income tax;

2) personal income tax;

3) turnover tax;

4) excises;

5) value added tax - in fact, it is formed due to gas and oil production (rental income) and almost total absence in the structure of prices for products, the production of which causes damage to the environment, fees that "compensate" this impact.

1.2 Payments for natural resources

Under the existing tax system, it is difficult to introduce an efficient payment for natural resources.

Accepted legislative acts, regulating payment for land, subsoil, forests and other natural resources, are not interconnected. Fees determined on the basis of different methodology and calculation methods, focusing on the profit (cost) of a real nature user, do not match with each other in terms of absolute sizes, sources of their coverage, directions of use, etc. In this regard, it is important in the conditions of a transitional economy to form an effective system of payment for natural resources, which would be integral part the tax system as a whole.

It is necessary, first of all, to change the concept of taxation, to develop a strategy for its improvement, which would be aimed at a permanent (up to the full value of the economic assessment of natural resources reflected in payments) increase in the role of environmental fees in the formation of the revenue side of budgets by reducing the rates of other taxes .

As a first step towards greening the tax system of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation with the participation of scientific organizations, a draft Law of the Russian Federation "On the system of payments for the use of natural resources" was developed, which defines general principles introduction, establishment, determination, collection and use of payments for natural resources.

The project proceeds from the priority of the issue of ownership. The practical task is to obtain comprehensive socio-economic assessments of natural resources (objects), which make it possible to approach the assessment of the natural resource potential of the territory as a whole.

By order of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 7, 1993, a decision was made on an experiment to improve the accounting and socio-economic assessment of natural resource potential.

The purpose of the experiment is to work out the mechanism for the formation of integrated territorial cadastres of natural resources (KTKPR) as an information base for making environmentally sound management decisions in the field of nature management, taking into account the priorities of the socio-economic development of territories and the preservation of the natural environment.

As of December 31, 1994, 31 constituent entities of the Federation participated in the experiment, whose administrations officially confirmed their interest in its implementation and began to form territorial interdepartmental bodies to implement the goals and objectives of the experiment.

This work is carried out most actively in the Moscow, Leningrad, Yaroslavl and Kaluga regions.

To provide measures for the experiment, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, with the participation of ministries and departments of the environmental resource block and scientific organizations, developed a project entitled "The procedure for the formation and maintenance of integrated territorial cadastres of natural resources" and a draft federal targeted scientific and technical program "Cadastres of natural resources", as well as "Temporary guidelines for the formation and maintenance of integrated territorial cadastres of natural resources", aimed at coordinating the actions of the participants in the experiment at the regional level within the first stage of the experiment.

Under the leadership of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, a system of indicators and the structure of databases by types of natural resources as part of the KTKPR were developed, application software was prepared for regional government bodies in terms of comprehensive information on the natural resource potential, natural resource statements were developed, which are used in a number of regions in order to improve the accounting of natural resources and taxation in the field of nature management.

Adopted in 1991

The Law of the RSFSR "On the Protection of the Environment" has become an effective lever for increasing the efficiency of using natural resources, conserving them and preventing dangerous pollution, introducing a system of economic regulation of nature management and protecting the natural environment.

The main elements of this system are described in Section III of the Law and include: accounting and socio-economic assessment of natural resources, financing of environmental programs and activities, the use of contracts and licenses for integrated environmental management, payment for emissions and discharges, waste disposal, fees; for natural resources, issues of formation of environmental funds, environmental insurance, economic incentives and support for environmental entrepreneurship.

In 1992-1993, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation developed a package of regulatory and methodological documents aimed at implementing the Law in terms of the economic mechanism of nature management.

Geography

Textbook for grade 7

§16.

Earth exploration by man. Countries of the world

1. What is the population of the earth?
2. Name the main types of economic activity of the inhabitants of your locality.

The spread of man across the continents. Most scientists believe that the ancient homeland of man is Africa and Southwestern Eurasia. Gradually, people settled on all continents of the globe, with the exception of Antarctica (Fig.

38). It is assumed that at first they mastered the territories of Eurasia and Africa, convenient for life, and then other continents.

The current state of the earth's natural systems

On the site of the Bering Strait, there was land, which about 30 thousand years ago connected the north eastern part Eurasia and North America. Through this land "bridge" ancient hunters penetrated into North and then into South America, up to the islands of Tierra del Fuego.

Man entered Australia from the South East Asia.

Findings of fossil remains of people helped to draw conclusions about the ways of human settlement.

main areas of settlement. Ancient tribes moved from one place to another in search of better conditions for life. The settlement of new lands accelerated the development of animal husbandry and agriculture.

The population also gradually increased. If about 15 thousand years ago there were about 3 million people on Earth, then at present the population has reached almost 6 billion people. Most people live on the plains, where it is convenient to cultivate arable land, build factories and factories, and place settlements.

There are four areas of high population density on the globe - South and East Asia, Western Europe and the eastern part of North America. This can be explained by several reasons: favorable natural conditions, well-developed economy, prescription of settlement.

In South and East Asia, in a favorable climate, the population has long been engaged in agriculture on irrigated lands, which makes it possible to collect several crops a year and feed a large population.

Rice. 38. Proposed ways of human settlement. Describe the nature of the regions through which the resettlement of people took place

IN Western Europe and in the east of North America, industry is well developed, there are many factories and plants, and the urban population predominates.

On the Atlantic coast of North America, the population settled here from the countries of Europe.

The main types of economic activities of people. Their influence on natural complexes. The nature of the globe is the environment of life and activity of the population.

Being engaged in farming, a person influences nature, changes it. Wherein different types economic activities affect natural complexes differently.

Agriculture changes the natural complexes especially strongly. Significant areas are required for growing crops and raising domestic animals. As a result of plowing, the area under natural vegetation has decreased. The soil has partially lost its fertility. Artificial irrigation helps to get high yields, but in arid areas, excessive watering leads to soil salinization and reduced yields.

Domestic animals also change the vegetation cover and soil: they trample vegetation, compact the soil. In arid climates, pastures can turn into desert areas.

Under the influence of human economic activity, forest complexes experience great changes.

As a result of uncontrolled logging, the area under forests around the globe is shrinking. In the tropical and equatorial zones, forests are still being burned out, making room for fields and pastures.

Rice. 39. Rice fields. Each sprout of rice is planted by hand in water-filled fields.

The rapid growth of industry has a detrimental effect on nature, polluting the air, water and soil. Gaseous substances enter the atmosphere, and solid and liquid substances enter the soil and water.

In the development of minerals, especially open way, on the surface there is a lot of waste and dust, deep large quarries are formed. Their area is constantly growing, while soils and natural vegetation are also destroyed.

The growth of cities increases the need for new land areas for houses, construction of enterprises, roads. Nature is changing around major cities where he rests big number residents.

Environmental pollution adversely affects human health.

Thus, in a significant part of the globe, the economic activity of people has changed natural complexes to one degree or another.

Complex cards. The economic activity of the population of the continents is reflected on complex maps. According to them conventional signs can be defined:

1. mining sites;
2. features of land use in agriculture;
3. areas for cultivation of cultivated plants and breeding of domestic animals;
4. settlements, some enterprises, power plants.

Depicted on the map and natural objects, protected areas. (On a comprehensive map of Africa, find the Sahara. Determine the types of economic activities of the population in its territory.)

Countries of the world. People living in the same territory, speaking the same language and having a common culture, form a historically established stable group - an ethnos (from the Greek ethnos - people), which can be represented by a tribe, nationality or nation.

The great ethnic groups of the past created ancient civilizations and states.

From the history course, you know what states existed in ancient times in Southwest Asia, North Africa and in the mountains of South America. (Name these states.)

Currently, there are more than 200 states.

The countries of the world are distinguished by many features. One of them is the size of the territory they occupy. There are countries that occupy the whole mainland (Australia) or half of it (Canada).

But there are very small countries, such as the Vatican. Its area of ​​1 km - just a few quarters of Rome. Such states are called "dwarf". The countries of the world also differ significantly in terms of population. The number of inhabitants of some of them exceeds hundreds of millions of people (China, India), in others - 1-2 million, and in the smallest - several thousand people, for example, in San Marino.

40. Timber drifting pollutes rivers

Countries are also distinguished by geographic location. Most of them are located on the continents. There are countries located on large islands (for example, Great Britain) and on archipelagos (Japan, Philippines), as well as on small islands (Jamaica, Malta). Some countries have access to the sea, others are hundreds and thousands of kilometers away from it.

Many countries differ in the religious composition of the population. Most common in the world christian religion(Eurasia, North America, Australia).

In terms of the number of believers, it is inferior to the Muslim religion (the countries of the northern half of Africa, Southwest and South Asia). In East Asia, Buddhism is widespread, and in India, many profess the Hindu religion.

Countries also differ in the composition of the population, in the presence of monuments created by nature, as well as by man.

All countries of the world are also heterogeneous in terms of the features of economic development. Some of them are more developed economically, others are less.

As a result of the rapid growth of the population and the equally rapid growth in the need for natural resources the influence of man on nature has increased throughout the world. Economic activity often leads to adverse changes in nature and to the deterioration of people's living conditions. Never before in the history of mankind has the state of nature deteriorated so rapidly on the globe.

The issues of nature protection, preservation of conditions for the life of people on our planet have become one of the most important global problems affecting the interests of all states.

1. Why are population densities different in different parts of the world?
2. What types of economic activities of people change the natural complexes most strongly?
3. How has the economic activity of the population in your area changed natural complexes?
4. Which continents have the most countries? Why?

The current state of the natural environment - Abstract, section Biology, - 1998 - Anthropogenic impact on the biosphere The current state of the natural environment. Consider Some Features of Modern…

The current state of the natural environment. Let us consider some features of the current state of the biosphere and the processes taking place in it. The global processes of formation and movement of living matter in the biosphere are connected and accompanied by the circulation of huge masses of matter and energy.

Unlike purely geological processes, biogeochemical cycles involving living matter have a much higher intensity, speed, and amount of matter involved in the turnover.

As already mentioned, with the advent and development of mankind, the process of evolution has noticeably changed.

In the early stages of civilization, cutting down and burning forests for agriculture, grazing, hunting and hunting for wild animals, wars devastated entire regions, led to the destruction of plant communities, and the extermination of certain animal species.

As civilization developed, especially the stormy end of the Middle Ages after the industrial revolution, mankind mastered ever greater power, ever greater ability to involve and use huge masses of matter to satisfy its growing needs - both organic, living, and mineral, inert.

Population growth and the expanding development of agriculture, industry, construction, and transport caused massive deforestation in Europe, North America. Grazing on a large scale led to the death of forests and grass cover, erosion, destruction of the soil layer in Central Asia, North Africa, southern Europe and USA.

Search results

Exterminated dozens of animal species in Europe, America, Africa.

Scientists suggest that soil depletion in the territory of the ancient Central American Mayan state as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture was one of the reasons for the death of this highly developed civilization. Similarly, in ancient Greece, vast forests disappeared as a result of deforestation and immoderate grazing.

This increased soil erosion and led to the destruction of the soil cover on many mountain slopes, increased the aridity of the climate and worsened agricultural conditions.

Construction and operation of industrial enterprises, mining have led to serious violations of natural landscapes, pollution of soil, water, air with various wastes.

Real shifts in biospheric processes began in the 20th century. as a result of the next industrial revolution. The rapid development of energy, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and transport has led to the fact that human activity has become comparable in scale with the natural energy and material processes occurring in the biosphere.

The intensity of human consumption of energy and material resources is growing in proportion to the population and even ahead of its growth.

Warning about the possible consequences of the expanding human intrusion into nature, half a century ago, Academician V. I. Vernadsky wrote Man becomes a geological force capable of changing the face of the Earth.

This warning was prophetically justified.

The consequences of anthropogenic activities produced by man are manifested in the depletion of natural resources, pollution of the biosphere with industrial waste, destruction of natural ecosystems, changes in the structure of the Earth's surface, and climate change.

Anthropogenic impacts lead to disruption of almost all natural biogeochemical cycles. As a result of the combustion of various fuels, about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere annually and a corresponding amount of oxygen is absorbed.

The natural reserve of CO2 in the atmosphere is about 50,000 billion tons.

This value fluctuates and depends, in particular, on volcanic activity. However, anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide exceed natural ones and currently account for a large proportion of its total amount. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount of aerosol of small particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some chemical compounds, can lead to noticeable climate changes and, accordingly, to disruption of the equilibrium relationships that have developed over millions of years in the biosphere.

The result of a violation of the transparency of the atmosphere, and hence the heat balance, may be the emergence of a greenhouse effect, that is, an increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere by several degrees.

This can cause the melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level of the World Ocean, a change in its salinity, temperature, global climate disturbances, flooding of coastal lowlands and many other adverse consequences.

The release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of the vital activity of plants and animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living organisms.

Uncontrolled influence on the climate in combination with irrational agriculture can lead to a significant decrease in soil fertility, large fluctuations in crop yields.

According to UN experts, in recent years, fluctuations in agricultural production have exceeded 1. But a decrease in food production by even 1 can lead to the death of tens of millions of people from starvation.

Catastrophically reduced forests on our planet. Irrational deforestation and fires have led to the fact that in many places, once completely covered with forests, by now they have survived only on 10-30 territories.

The area of ​​tropical forests in Africa has decreased by 70, in South America - by 60, in China only 8 territories are covered with forest. Pollution of the natural environment. The appearance of new components in the natural environment, caused by human activity or some grandiose natural phenomena, for example, volcanic activity, is characterized by the term pollution.

In general, pollution is the presence in the environment of harmful substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their individual elements and reduce the quality of the environment in terms of human habitation or economic activity.

This term characterizes all bodies, substances, phenomena, processes that in a given place, but not at the time and not in the amount that is natural for nature, appear in the environment and can bring its systems out of equilibrium.

The ecological effect of polluting agents can manifest itself in different ways; it can affect either individual organisms at the organism level, or populations, biocenoses, ecosystems, and even the biosphere as a whole.

At the organismic level, there may be a violation of individual physiological functions of organisms, a change in their behavior, a decrease in the rate of growth and development, a decrease in resistance to the effects of other adverse environmental factors.

At the level of populations, pollution can cause changes in their numbers and biomass, fertility, mortality, structural changes, annual migration cycles, and a number of other functional properties.

At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and functions of communities.

The same pollutants affect different components of communities in different ways. Accordingly, the quantitative ratios in the biocenosis change, up to the complete disappearance of some forms and the appearance of others. The spatial structure of communities is changing, detrital decomposition chains begin to prevail over pasture chains, and dying off over production.

Ultimately, there is degradation of ecosystems, their deterioration as elements of the human environment, a decrease in the positive role in the formation of the biosphere, and economic depreciation.

There are natural and anthropogenic pollution. Natural pollution occurs as a result of natural causes - volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic pollution is the result of human activity.

At present, the total power of anthropogenic pollution sources in many cases exceeds the power of natural ones. Thus, natural sources of nitrogen oxide emit 30 million tons of nitrogen per year, and anthropogenic sources emit 35-50 million tons of sulfur dioxide, respectively, about 30 million tons and more than 150 million tons.

As a result of human activity, lead enters the biosphere almost 10 times more than in the process of natural pollution. Pollutants resulting from human activities and their impact on the environment are very diverse.

These include compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals, various organic substances, artificially created materials, radioactive elements and much more. Thus, according to experts, about 10 million tons of oil enters the ocean every year.

Oil on water forms a thin film that prevents gas exchange between water and air. Settling to the bottom, oil enters bottom sediments, where it disrupts the natural life processes of bottom animals and microorganisms.

In addition to oil, there has been a significant increase in the release of domestic and industrial wastewater into the ocean, containing, in particular, such dangerous pollutants as lead, mercury, and arsenic, which have a strong toxic effect. Background concentrations of such substances in many places have already been exceeded by dozens of times.

Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on nature, so their entry into the environment must be strictly controlled.

The legislation establishes for each pollutant the maximum allowable discharge of MPD and the maximum allowable concentration of MPC in the natural environment.

The maximum allowable discharge of MPD is the mass of a pollutant emitted by individual sources per unit of time, the excess of which leads to adverse effects in the environment or is dangerous to human health. The maximum allowable concentration of MPC is understood as the amount of a harmful substance in the environment that does not adversely affect human health or its offspring through permanent or temporary contact with it.

Currently, when determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants on human health is taken into account, but also their impact on animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, as well as on the natural community as a whole.

Special environmental monitoring services monitor compliance with the established standards for MPC and MPC of harmful substances.

Such services have been established in all regions of the country. Their role is especially important in large cities, near chemical plants, nuclear power plants and other industrial facilities.

Monitoring services have the right to apply measures provided by law, up to the suspension of production and any work, if environmental protection standards are violated. In addition to environmental pollution, anthropogenic impact is expressed in the depletion of the natural resources of the biosphere. The enormous use of natural resources has led to a significant change in landscapes in some regions, for example, in the coal basins.

If at the dawn of civilization a person used only about 20 chemical elements for his needs, at the beginning of the 20th century 60 flowed in, now more than 100 - almost the entire periodic table.

About 100 billion tons of ore, fuel, and mineral fertilizers are extracted annually from the geosphere. The rapid growth in demand for fuel, metals, minerals and their extraction led to the depletion of these resources.

Thus, according to experts, while maintaining current rates of production and consumption, the explored reserves of oil will be exhausted in 30 years, gas - in 50 years, coal - in 200.

A similar situation has developed not only with energy resources, but also with metals, the depletion of aluminum reserves is expected in 500-600 years, iron - 250 years, zinc - 25 years, lead - 20 years and mineral resources, such as asbestos, mica, graphite , sulfur. This is a far from complete picture of the ecological situation on our planet at the present time. Even individual successes in environmental protection activities cannot noticeably change the general course of the process of the harmful influence of civilization on the state of the biosphere.

– End of work –

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Anthropogenic impact on the biosphere

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With the advent and development of mankind, the process of evolution is noticeably








inert.

Agriculture.

biogeochemical cycles.

time a large proportion of its total. Increasing concentration
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount
aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some
chemical compounds), can lead to noticeable climate changes and
correspondingly to the violation of the
equilibrium relationships in the biosphere.

adverse consequences.

organisms.

equilibrium states.

the biosphere as a whole.

pollution.

elements and more.

environment.

In addition to environmental pollution, anthropogenic impact is expressed in
depletion of the natural resources of the biosphere. Huge scale of use
natural resources have led to a significant change in landscapes in
some regions (for example, in the coal basins). If at dawn
civilization, man used for his needs only about 20 chemical
elements at the beginning of the 20th century. - about 60, now more than 100 - almost all
periodic table. Annually mined (extracted from the geosphere) about
100 billion tons of ore, fuel, mineral fertilizers.

Rapid growth in demand for fuel, metals, minerals and their
mining led to the depletion of these resources. Thus, according to experts,
while maintaining modern rates of production and consumption, explored
oil reserves will be exhausted in 30 years, gas - in 50 years, coal
- after 200 years. A similar situation exists not only with
energy resources, but also with metals (depletion of aluminum
expected in 500-600 years, iron - 250 years, zinc - 25 years, lead -
20 years) and mineral resources such as asbestos, mica, graphite,
sulfur.

This is a far from complete picture of the ecological situation on our planet in
present time. Even individual successes in environmental protection
can appreciably change the overall course of the process of harmful influence
civilization on the state of the biosphere.

The mass of the atmosphere of our planet is negligible - only one millionth
the masses of the earth. However, its role in the natural processes of the biosphere is enormous.
The presence of an atmosphere around the globe determines the general thermal regime
surface of our planet, protects it from harmful space and
ultraviolet radiation. Atmospheric circulation affects
local climatic conditions, and through them - to the regime of rivers,
soil and vegetation cover and on the processes of relief formation.

The modern gas composition of the atmosphere is the result of a long
historical development the globe. It represents mainly
a gas mixture of two components - nitrogen (78.095%) and oxygen (20.95%). IN
Normally, it also contains argon (0.93%), carbon dioxide (0.03%) and
small amounts of inert gases (neon, helium, krypton, xenon),
ammonia, methane, ozone, sulfur dioxide and other gases. Along with gases in
atmosphere contains particulate matter coming from the Earth's surface
(e.g. combustion products, volcanic activity, soil particles)
and from space (cosmic dust), as well as various products
vegetable, animal or microbial origin. Besides,
Water vapor plays an important role in the atmosphere.

Highest value for different ecosystems have three gases included in
Atmospheric composition: oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. These gases are involved in
basic biochemical cycles.

Oxygen plays an essential role in the life of most living organisms on
our planet. It is necessary for everyone to breathe. Oxygen was not always included
part earth's atmosphere. It appeared as a result of life
photosynthetic organisms. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays,
turned into ozone. With the accumulation of ozone, the formation
ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. The ozone layer is like a screen
reliably protects the Earth's surface from ultraviolet radiation,
fatal to living organisms.

The modern atmosphere contains hardly a twentieth of oxygen,
available on the planet. The main reserves of oxygen are concentrated in
carbonates, in organic substances and iron oxides, part of oxygen
dissolved in water. In the atmosphere, apparently, there was an approximate
balance between the production of oxygen during photosynthesis and its
consumption by living organisms. But lately there has been
the danger that, as a result of human activities, oxygen reserves in
atmosphere may decrease. Of particular danger is the destruction
ozone layer observed in recent years. Most scientists
associated with human activity.

The oxygen cycle in the biosphere is unusually complex, since with it
reacts with a large number of organic and inorganic
substances, as well as hydrogen, combining with which oxygen forms water.

Carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide) is used in the process of photosynthesis
for the formation of organic matter. It is through this process
closes the carbon cycle in the biosphere. Like oxygen, carbon
is a part of soils, plants, animals, participates in diverse
mechanisms of the circulation of substances in nature. The content of carbon dioxide in
the air we breathe is about the same in different areas
planets. The exception is large cities, in which the content
this gas in the air is higher than normal.

Some fluctuations in the content of carbon dioxide in the air of the area
depend on the time of day, season of the year, vegetation biomass. At the same
time studies show that since the beginning of the century, the average content
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, although slowly but constantly
increases. Scholars attribute this process to
human activity.

Nitrogen is an indispensable nutrient because it is part of
proteins and nucleic acids. The atmosphere is an inexhaustible reservoir of nitrogen,
however, the bulk of living organisms cannot directly
use this nitrogen: it must be pre-bound in the form
chemical compounds.

Part of the nitrogen comes from the atmosphere to ecosystems in the form of nitric oxide,
formed under the action of electrical discharges during thunderstorms. However
most of the nitrogen enters the water and soil as a result of its
biological fixation. There are several types of bacteria and
blue-green algae (fortunately, very numerous), which
capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen. As a result of their activities,
also due to the decomposition of organic residues in the soil
autotrophic plants get the opportunity to absorb the necessary nitrogen.

The nitrogen cycle is closely related to the carbon cycle. Despite,
that the nitrogen cycle is more complex than the carbon cycle, it tends to
happens faster.

Other constituents of air do not participate in biochemical cycles, but
the presence of a large number of pollutants in the atmosphere can lead to
serious violations of these cycles.

lead air pollution.

well-being.

broad-leaved.

With the advent and development of mankind, the process of evolution is noticeably
changed. In the early stages of civilization, cutting down and burning forests
for agriculture. Grazing, fishing and hunting for wild animals, wars
devastated entire regions, led to the destruction of plant communities
extermination of certain animal species. As civilization develops,
especially turbulent after the industrial revolution of the end of the Middle Ages,
humanity has become more and more powerful, more and more able to
engage and use to meet their growing needs
huge masses of matter - both organic, living, and mineral,
inert.

Population growth and expanding agricultural development,
industry, construction, transport caused mass destruction
forests in Europe, North America. Livestock grazing on a large scale
led to the death of forests and grass cover, to erosion (destruction)
soil layer (Central Asia, North Africa, southern Europe and the USA).
Exterminated dozens of animal species in Europe, America, Africa.

Scientists suggest that the depletion of soils in the territory of the ancient
the Central American Mayan state as a result of slash-and-burn
agriculture was one of the reasons for the death of this highly developed
civilization. Similarly, in ancient Greece, vast forests disappeared in
as a result of deforestation and overgrazing. This increased the erosion
soil and led to the destruction of the soil cover on many mountainous
slopes, increased the aridity of the climate and worsened the conditions for maintaining
Agriculture.

Construction and operation of industrial enterprises, mining
fossils have led to serious disturbances of natural landscapes,
pollution of soil, water, air by various wastes.

Real shifts in biospheric processes began in the 20th century as a result of
another industrial revolution. The rapid development of energy
engineering, chemistry, transport has led to the fact that human
activities have become comparable in scale with natural energy
and material processes occurring in the biosphere. Intensity
human consumption of energy and material resources is growing
in proportion to the population and even ahead of its growth.

Consequences of anthropogenic (man-made) activities
are manifested in the depletion of natural resources, pollution of the biosphere
production waste, destruction of natural ecosystems, change
structure of the Earth's surface, climate change. Anthropogenic
impacts lead to the violation of almost all natural
biogeochemical cycles.

As a result of burning various fuels into the atmosphere annually
about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted and absorbed
appropriate amount of oxygen. Natural stock of CO in the atmosphere
is about 50,000 billion tons. This value fluctuates
depends, in particular, on volcanic activity. However, anthropogenic
carbon dioxide emissions exceed natural ones and currently amount to
time a large proportion of its total.

An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by
an increase in the amount of aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions
some chemical compounds), can lead to noticeable changes
climate and, accordingly, to the violation of the prevailing over millions of
years of equilibrium relationships in the biosphere.

The result of the violation of the transparency of the atmosphere, and consequently, the thermal
balance may be the emergence of a "greenhouse effect", that is,
an increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere by several degrees. This
capable of causing the melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level
of the World Ocean, changes in its salinity, temperature, global
climate disturbances, flooding of coastal lowlands and many others
adverse consequences.

Air emissions of industrial gases, including compounds such as
carbon monoxide CO (carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and others
pollutants, leads to the inhibition of the vital activity of plants and
animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living
organisms.

The appearance in the natural environment of new components caused by activities
a person or some grandiose natural phenomena (for example,
volcanic activity), characterized by the term pollution. IN
In general terms, pollution is the presence of harmful substances in the environment.
substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their
individual elements and reduce the quality of the environment in terms of living
person or their business. This term
characterize all bodies, substances, phenomena, processes that in a given
place, but not at the time and not in the amount that is natural for
nature, appear in the environment and can bring its systems out of
equilibrium states.

The environmental impact of pollutants can be
differently; it can affect either individual organisms (manifest
at the organism level), or populations, biocenoses, ecosystems, and even
the biosphere as a whole.

At the organismic level, there may be a violation of individual
physiological functions of organisms, changing their behavior, reducing
growth and development rates, reduced resistance to the impacts of other
adverse environmental factors.

At the population level, pollution can change population numbers.
and biomass, fertility, mortality, changes in structure, annual cycles
migrations and a number of other functional properties.

At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and
community functions. The same pollutants have different effects
on different components of communities. Accordingly, quantitative
ratios in the biocenosis, up to the complete disappearance of some forms and
the appearance of others. The spatial structure of communities is changing, chains
decomposition (detrital) begin to prevail over pasture, dying off
- over products. Ultimately, ecosystems are degraded,
deterioration of them as elements of the human environment, a decrease in their positive role in
formation of the biosphere, depreciation in economic terms.

There are natural and anthropogenic pollution. natural pollution
occurs as a result of natural causes - volcanic eruptions,
earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic
pollution is the result of human activity.

At present, the total capacity of anthropogenic pollution sources
in many cases surpasses the power of natural ones. Yes, natural
sources of nitric oxide emit 30 million tons of nitrogen per year, and
anthropogenic - 35-50 million tons; sulfur dioxide, respectively, about 30
million tons and more than 150 million tons. As a result of human activity, lead
enters the biosphere almost 10 times more than in the process of natural
pollution.

Pollutants from economic activities
human, and their impact on the environment are very diverse. These include:
compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals, various
organic matter, man-made materials, radioactive
elements and more.

Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on
nature, so their entry into the environment must be strictly
controlled. Legislation establishes for each
pollutant maximum allowable discharge (MPD) and maximum
permissible concentration (MAC) of it in the natural environment.

The maximum allowable discharge (MPD) is the mass of a pollutant,
emitted by individual sources per unit of time, excess
which leads to adverse effects in the environment or
dangerous to human health. Maximum Permissible Concentration (MAC)
is understood as the amount of a harmful substance in the environment, which
does not adversely affect human health or
offspring in permanent or temporary contact with him. Currently
when determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants is taken into account
on human health, but also their impact on animals, plants, fungi,
microorganisms, as well as the natural community as a whole.

Special environmental monitoring (observation) services
exercise control over compliance with the established standards of MPD and MPC
harmful substances. Such services have been established in all regions of the country. Especially
their role is important in large cities, near chemical industries, nuclear
power plants and other industrial facilities. Monitoring services have
the right to apply the measures prescribed by law, up to the suspension
production and any work, if environmental protection standards are violated
environment.

Air pollution. Various negative changes in the Earth's atmosphere
associated mainly with changes in the concentration of minor
components atmospheric air.

There are two main sources of air pollution: natural and
anthropogenic. The natural source is volcanoes, dust storms,
weathering, Forest fires, processes of decomposition of plants and animals.

The main anthropogenic sources of pollution include enterprises
fuel and energy complex, transport, various
engineering companies.

In addition to gaseous pollutants, a large amount of
the amount of solid particles. These are dust, soot and soot. Great danger
conceals environmental pollution with heavy metals. Lead, cadmium,
mercury, copper, nickel, zinc, chromium, vanadium have become almost permanent
air components of industrial centers. The problem is especially acute
lead air pollution.

Global air pollution affects the state
natural ecosystems, especially on the green cover of our planet. One of
The most obvious indicators of the state of the biosphere are forests and their
well-being.

Oxygen rain caused mainly by sulfur dioxide and oxides
nitrogen, cause great harm to forest biocenoses. It has been found that conifers
rocks suffer from oxygen rain to a greater extent than
broad-leaved.

On the territory of our country, the total area of ​​forests affected by industrial
emissions, reached 1 million hectares. A significant factor in forest degradation in
recent years is environmental pollution with radionuclides.

Green spaces in industrial cities are particularly affected,
the atmosphere contains a large amount of pollutants.

aerial ecological problem depletion of the ozone layer, including
the appearance of ozone holes over Antarctica and the Arctic is associated with excessive
the use of freons in production and everyday life.

Nature in the broad sense of the word is everything that exists, the whole world in
variety of its forms, a complex self-regulating system of all earthly
objects and phenomena. For man, nature is the environment of life and the only
source of existence. As a biological species, a person needs
a certain composition of atmospheric air, natural water with an admixture
salts, plants and animals, earth temperature and pressure. Optimal
the environment for him is that of her natural state, which
formed in the process of long historical development and normal
cycles of substances and energy flows occurring in nature.

Literature:

1. I.M. Kutyrin “Protection of air and surface waters from pollution”,
Moscow 1980, "Science"

2. A.V.Mikheev, V.M.Konstantinov "Nature Protection", Moscow
1986, "Higher School".

ABSTRACT

"The current state of the natural environment"

School student №12

10 "A" class

Nikolaev Yuri

Volgograd 1999

Population growth and the expanding development of agriculture, industry, construction, and transport caused massive deforestation in Europe, North America. Grazing on a large scale led to the death of forests and grass cover, to erosion (destruction) of the soil layer (Central Asia, North Africa, south of Europe and the USA). Exterminated dozens of animal species in Europe, America, Africa.

Construction and operation of industrial enterprises, mining have led to serious violations of natural landscapes, pollution of soil, water, air with various wastes.

Real shifts in biospheric processes began in the 20th century. as a result of the next industrial revolution. The rapid development of energy, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and transport has led to the fact that human activity has become comparable in scale with the natural energy and material processes occurring in the biosphere. The intensity of human consumption of energy and material resources is growing in proportion to the population and even ahead of its growth.

The consequences of anthropogenic (man-made) activities are manifested in the depletion of natural resources, pollution of the biosphere with industrial waste, destruction of natural ecosystems, changes in the structure of the Earth's surface, and climate change. Anthropogenic impacts lead to disruption of almost all natural biogeochemical cycles.

The result of the violation of the transparency of the atmosphere, and hence the heat balance, may be the occurrence “greenhouse effect”, that is, an increase in the average temperature of the atmosphere by several degrees. This can cause the melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level of the World Ocean, a change in its salinity, temperature, global climate disturbances, flooding of coastal lowlands and many other adverse consequences.

The release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO (carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of the vital activity of plants and animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living organisms.

Uncontrolled influence on the climate in combination with irrational agriculture can lead to a significant decrease in soil fertility, large fluctuations in crop yields.

Pollution of natural environment. The appearance in the natural environment of new components caused by human activity or some grandiose natural phenomena (for example, volcanic activity) is characterized by the term pollution. In general, pollution is the presence in the environment of harmful substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their individual elements and reduce the quality of the environment in terms of human habitation or economic activity. This term characterizes all bodies, substances, phenomena, processes that in a given place, but not at the time and not in the amount that is natural for nature, appear in the environment and can bring its systems out of equilibrium.

The environmental impact of polluting agents can manifest itself in different ways; it can affect either individual organisms (manifested at the organismal level), or populations, biocenoses, ecosystems, and even the biosphere as a whole.

At the organismic level, there may be a violation of individual physiological functions of organisms, a change in their behavior, a decrease in the rate of growth and development, a decrease in resistance to the effects of other adverse environmental factors.

At the level of populations, pollution can cause changes in their numbers and biomass, fertility, mortality, structural changes, annual migration cycles, and a number of other functional properties.

At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and functions of communities. The same pollutants affect different components of communities in different ways. Accordingly, the quantitative ratios in the biocenosis change, up to the complete disappearance of some forms and the appearance of others. The spatial structure of communities is changing, chains of decomposition (detrital) begin to prevail over pastures, dying off - over production. Ultimately, there is degradation of ecosystems, their deterioration as elements of the human environment, a decrease in the positive role in the formation of the biosphere, and economic depreciation.

Distinguish natural and anthropogenic pollution. Natural pollution occurs as a result of natural causes - volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic pollution is the result of human activity.

Oil on water forms a thin film that prevents gas exchange between water and air. Settling to the bottom, oil enters bottom sediments, where it disrupts the natural life processes of bottom animals and microorganisms. In addition to oil, there has been a significant increase in the release of domestic and industrial wastewater into the ocean, containing, in particular, such dangerous pollutants as lead, mercury, and arsenic, which have a strong toxic effect. Background concentrations of such substances in many places have already been exceeded by dozens of times.

Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on nature, so their entry into the environment must be strictly controlled. The legislation establishes "for each pollutant the maximum allowable discharge (MPD) and the maximum allowable concentration (MPC) of it in the natural environment.

In addition to environmental pollution, anthropogenic impact is expressed in the depletion of the natural resources of the biosphere. The enormous use of natural resources has led to a significant change in landscapes in some regions (for example, in the coal basins).

The rapid growth in demand for fuel, metals, minerals and their extraction led to the depletion of these resources.

ATMOSPHERE - THE OUTER SHELL OF THE BIOSPHERE. AIR POLLUTION.

The mass of the atmosphere of our planet is negligible - only one millionth of the mass of the Earth. However, its role in the natural processes of the biosphere is enormous. The presence of the atmosphere around the globe determines the general thermal regime of the surface of our planet, protects it from harmful cosmic and ultraviolet radiation. Atmospheric circulation has an impact on local climatic conditions, and through them - on the regime of rivers, soil and vegetation cover and the processes of relief formation.

The modern gas composition of the atmosphere is the result of a long historical development of the globe. It is mainly a gas mixture of two components - nitrogen (78.09%) and oxygen (20.95%).

The three gases that make up the atmosphere are of greatest importance for various ecosystems: oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. These gases are involved in the main biogeochemical cycles.

Oxygen plays an essential role in the life of most living organisms on our planet. It is necessary for everyone to breathe. Oxygen has not always been part of the earth's atmosphere. It appeared as a result of the vital activity of photosynthetic organisms. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays, it turns into ozone. As ozone accumulated, an ozone layer formed in the upper atmosphere. The ozone layer, like a screen, reliably protects the Earth's surface from ultraviolet radiation, which is fatal to living organisms.

The modern atmosphere contains hardly a twentieth of the oxygen available on our planet. The main reserves of oxygen are concentrated in carbonates, organic substances and iron oxides, part of the oxygen is dissolved in water. In the atmosphere, apparently, there was an approximate balance between the production of oxygen in the process of photosynthesis and its consumption by living organisms. But recently there has been a danger that, as a result of human activity, oxygen reserves in the atmosphere may decrease. Of particular danger is the destruction of the ozone layer, which has been observed in recent years. Most scientists attribute this to human activity.

The oxygen cycle in the biosphere is extremely complex, since a large number of organic and inorganic substances, as well as hydrogen, react with it, combining with which oxygen forms water.

Carbonic gas (carbon dioxide) is used in the process of photosynthesis to form organic substances. It is thanks to this process that the carbon cycle in the biosphere closes. Like oxygen, carbon is a part of soils, plants, animals, and participates in various mechanisms of the circulation of substances in nature. The content of carbon dioxide in the air we breathe is about the same in different parts of the world. The exception is large cities in which the content of this gas in the air is above the norm.

Pollution atmosphere. Various negative changes in the Earth's atmosphere are mainly associated with changes in the concentration of minor components of atmospheric air.

There are two main sources of air pollution: natural and anthropogenic. Natural source- these are volcanoes, dust storms, weathering, forest fires, processes of decomposition of plants and animals.

To the main anthropogenic sources atmospheric pollution include enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, transport, various machine-building enterprises.

Global air pollution affects the state of natural ecosystems, especially the green cover of our planet. One of the most obvious indicators of the state of the biosphere is forests and their well-being.

Acid rains, caused mainly by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, cause great harm to forest biocenoses. It has been established that conifers suffer from acid rain to a greater extent than broad-leaved ones.

Man and the biosphere. With the advent and development of mankind, the process of evolution has noticeably changed. In the early stages of civilization, cutting down and burning forests for agriculture, grazing, fishing and hunting for wild animals, wars devastated entire regions, led to the destruction of plant communities, and the extermination of many animals. As civilization developed, especially the end of the Middle Ages, which was turbulent after the industrial revolution, humanity seized more and more power, an ever greater ability to involve and use huge masses of matter, both organic, living, and mineral, inert, to satisfy its growing needs.

Population growth and the intensive development of agriculture, industry, construction, and transport caused massive deforestation in Europe and North America. Livestock grazing on a large scale has led to the death of forests and grass cover, to erosion (destruction) of the soil layer (Central Asia, North Africa, southern Europe and the USA). Exterminated dozens of animal species in Europe, America, Africa.

Scientists suggest that soil depletion in the territory of the ancient Central American Mayan state as a result of slash-and-burn agriculture was one of the reasons for this highly developed civilization. Similarly, in ancient Greece, vast forests disappeared as a result of deforestation and immoderate grazing. This increased soil erosion and led to the destruction of the soil cover on many mountain slopes, increased the aridity of the climate and worsened agricultural conditions.

Construction and operation of industrial enterprises, mining have led to serious violations of natural landscapes, pollution of soil, water, air with various wastes.

Real shifts in biospheric processes began in the 20th century. as a result of the next industrial revolution. The rapid development of energy, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and transport has led to the fact that human activity has become comparable in scale with the natural energy and material processes occurring in the biosphere. The intensity of human consumption of energy and material resources is growing in proportion to the population and even ahead of its growth.

Warning about the possible consequences of the expanding human intrusion into nature, half a century ago Academician V.I. Vernadsky wrote: "Man becomes a geological force capable of changing the face of the Earth." This warning was prophetically justified. The consequences of anthropogenic (man-made) activities are manifested in the depletion of natural resources, pollution of the biosphere with industrial waste, destruction of natural ecosystems, changes in the structure of the earth's surface, and climate change. Anthropogenic impacts lead to disruption of almost all natural biogeochemical cycles.

As a result of the combustion of various fuels, about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere annually and a corresponding amount of oxygen is absorbed. The natural supply of CO2 in the atmosphere is about 50,000 billion tons. This value fluctuates and depends, in particular, on volcanic activity. However, anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide a exceed natural ones and currently account for a large proportion of its total amount. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount of aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some chemical compounds), can lead to noticeable climate changes and, accordingly, to disruption of the equilibrium relationships that have developed over millions of years in the biosphere.

The release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO (carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of the vital activity of plants and animals, metabolic disorders, poisoning and death of living organisms.

Pollution of the natural environment. The appearance of new components in the natural environment, caused by human activity or some grandiose natural phenomena (for example, volcanic activity), is characterized by the concept of pollution. In general, pollution is the presence in the environment of harmful substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their individual elements and reduce the quality of the environment in terms of human habitation or economic activity.

Pollutants include all those substances, phenomena, processes that in a given place, but not at the time and in the amount that is natural for nature, appear in the environment and can bring its systems out of balance (Fig. 1.1).

Rice. 1.1. environmental pollutants

The environmental impact of polluting agents can manifest itself in different ways; it can affect either individual organisms (manifested at the organismal level), or populations, biocenoses, ecosystems, and even the biosphere as a whole.

At the organismic level, there may be a violation of individual physiological functions of organisms, a change in their behavior, a decrease in the rate of growth and development, and a decrease in resistance to the effects of other adverse environmental factors.

At the population level, pollution can cause changes in their abundance and biomass, fertility and mortality, as well as changes in the structure, annual migration cycles, and a number of other functional properties.

At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and functions of communities. The same pollutants affect different components of communities in different ways. Accordingly, the quantitative ratios in the biocenosis change, up to the complete disappearance of some forms and the appearance of others. The spatial structure of communities is changing, decay chains begin to prevail over pasture chains, and dying off over production.

Ultimately, there is degradation of ecosystems, their deterioration as elements of the human environment, a decrease in the positive role in the formation of the biosphere, and economic depreciation.

There are natural and anthropogenic pollution. Natural pollution occurs as a result of natural causes: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic pollution is the result of human activity.

Pollutants resulting from human activities and their impact on the environment are very diverse. These include: compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals, various organic substances, artificially created metals, radioactive elements and much more.

Thus, according to experts, about 10 million tons of oil enters the ocean every year. Oil on water forms a thin film that prevents gas exchange between water and air. Settling to the bottom, oil enters bottom sediments, where it disrupts the natural processes of life of bottom animals and microorganisms. In addition to oil, there has been a significant increase in the release of domestic and industrial wastewater into the ocean, containing, in particular, such dangerous pollutants as lead, mercury, and arsenic, which have strong toxic effects. Background concentrations of such substances in many places have already been exceeded by dozens of times.

Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on nature, so their entry into the environment must be strictly controlled. The legislation establishes for each pollutant the maximum allowable discharge (MPD) and the maximum allowable concentration (MPC) of it in the natural environment.

Maximum allowable discharge (MPD) is the mass of a pollutant emitted by individual sources per unit of time, the excess of which leads to adverse effects in the environment or is dangerous to human health.

The maximum allowable concentration (MAC) is understood as the amount of a harmful substance in the environment that does not adversely affect human health or its offspring through permanent or temporary contact with it. Currently, when determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants on human health is taken into account, but also their impact on animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, as well as on the natural community as a whole.

Special environmental monitoring (surveillance) services monitor compliance with the established standards for MPC and MPC of harmful substances. Such services have been established in all regions of the country. Their role is especially important in large cities, near chemical plants, nuclear power plants and other industrial facilities. Monitoring services have the right to apply measures provided by law, up to the suspension of production and any work, if environmental protection standards are violated.

Russia, on whose territory a very significant part of the planetary system and biosphere is located, is experiencing all the hardships of a severe global ecological crisis. This crisis is a consequence of anthropogenic imbalance biogeochemical cycles as a result of the destruction of natural ecosystems over large areas of land, i.e. breaking the mechanism of natural regulation and stabilization of the environment. Each country contributes to the global environmental crisis. The contribution can be assessed by different measures and ratios of territories with disturbed and undisturbed natural ecosystems and by the consumption of clean primary production biota1 within each country. This balance is not complete, since many countries are connected by material flows with other countries, and in order to obtain adequate estimates, these flows must also be taken into account, which are formed due to the destruction of the natural environment (renewable and non-renewable resources) in the countries that supply materials.

Satellite data make it possible to obtain estimates of the degree of ecosystem disturbance. Such assessments are carried out regularly; the latter was published in the journal Ambio in 1994 (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1.

Areas with natural ecosystems disturbed to varying degrees on the continents of the Earth

*Excluding ice, rock and bare surfaces

The criteria for classifying the degree of ecosystem disturbance were: for undisturbed territories - the presence of natural vegetation cover (natural ecosystems) and very low population density - less than 1 person per 1 km2 in deserts, semi-deserts and tundra and less than 10 people per 1 km2 in other territories; for partially disturbed areas - the presence of replaceable or permanent agricultural land, secondary but naturally regenerating vegetation, increased density of livestock exceeding the capacity of pastures, other traces of human activity (for example, deforestation) and the impossibility of attributing to the first and third positions of the classification; for disturbed territories - the presence of permanent agricultural areas and urban settlements, the absence of natural vegetation, the difference between the existing vegetation and that naturally inherent in this region, the manifestations of desertification and other types of permanent degradation. Based on this classification, a map of human disturbances of the global ecosystem with a resolution of 100,000 ha was constructed.

From the table. 2.1 of the data shows that there are 94 million km2 of territory left on the planet with undisturbed ecosystems. However, if the areas covered by glaciers, exposed rocks and lands are subtracted from this area, then only 52 million km2 remain. It should be borne in mind that the authors of the study believe that natural ecosystems are preserved on ¼ of the area of ​​sites partially disturbed by humans, and this gives an additional 10 million km2. Here, unfortunately, they did not take into account the impact of the anthropogenic environment on these patches of natural life , as well as anthropogenic pressure on the boundaries between disturbed and undisturbed territories.