How environmental problems are solved in countries around the world. Let's solve environmental problems together. Declining mineral reserves

Today our planet faces many environmental threats, some of them local, others common to all countries. We present to your attention ten of the most significant environmental problems of our time.

1. Climate change

Global warming is considered the most significant cause of climate change in recent times, and its consequences will become increasingly noticeable over the next hundred years. Governments around the world are engaged in conflicting efforts to combat harmful climate change. On the one hand, everyone declares their readiness to solve the problem, as evidenced by the existence of relevant global agreements, for example, the Kyoto Protocol, on the other hand, no real actions have been taken. There are curious studies according to which, at present, there is only one real opportunity to limit warming to 2 °C (characterizing dangerous climate change) - the economies of developed countries must stop their own development and switch to an anti-growth strategy.

2. Energy

Energy generation is a significant source of environmental damage, primarily due to the combustion of fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas power plants are the primary source of electricity across the planet and contribute to the majority of greenhouse gases found in the atmosphere. Of course, there are alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants, however, they can only cover a small percentage of countries' total energy needs. Increasing the amount of energy produced from renewable sources is the most important step in reducing environmental degradation from electricity generation.

3. Water

As the driest inhabited continent in the world, Australia is particularly vulnerable to water pollution. Many other capital cities have also faced shortages of drinking water and are forced to impose restrictions on its use. Agriculture is the leading cause of watercourse degradation and pollution in Australia. Irrational methods of irrigation and production of fertilizers and pesticides within this industry are the main causes of water pollution.

4. Biodiversity and land use

Unsustainable use of land has led to the degradation of many valuable ecosystems and the loss of irreplaceable biodiversity. Australia (and here it holds the lead) has more than 1,500 terrestrial species that are currently listed as endangered, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. It should be understood that the resources we need for life are not taken from thin air, but are provided by the wealth of diverse ecosystems: oxygen production, natural filtration of water, nutrient cycling and pollination - all this is the result of the work of a complex mechanism of living nature, in which man is only one of links Therefore, the loss of biodiversity due to environmental degradation also threatens our human lives. For this reason, the preservation and maintenance of natural resources is of great importance for all living organisms.

5. Chemicals, toxic substances, and heavy metals

Although chemicals and toxic substances exist naturally in nature, over the last 250 years man has been actively harming the environment through the use of man-made pollutants. There are many sources of such destructive effects, the damage they cause is sometimes colossal, this is especially noticeable in the areas of heavy industry and agriculture. It is very difficult to clean an ecosystem contaminated with toxic chemicals, and in practice, this is rarely done systematically. Meanwhile, reducing the production of harmful compounds and minimizing their emissions is an important part of preserving the environment.

6. Air pollution

When considering problems associated with air pollution, they most often talk about greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are many other forms of negativity that affect our atmosphere. When fossil fuels, especially coal, are burned, they produce many other compounds besides the familiar carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide). Sulfur and nitrogen are also byproducts of coal combustion and can cause significant environmental problems. Acid rain caused by these two compounds can cause damage to both living and built environments. Air pollution can also be caused by the release of dust or other substances into the atmosphere that affect animal and human health.

7. Waste management

Irrational waste management has led to a number of environmental problems throughout the planet. Modern societies have significantly increased the amount of waste, which is constantly replenished due to the relentless pace of production and packaging processes, this in turn is due to the rapid growth of population and the need to serve it. To reduce the amount of waste generated, governments, businesses and individuals are encouraged to recycle existing waste products and use recyclable materials. This minimizes the amount of waste that must be assimilated and reduces the need to extract minerals and other resources to produce new products.

8. Ozone layer depletion

The depletion of our ozone layer is attributed mainly to the release of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, into the atmosphere. When CFCs reach the upper atmosphere, they cause ozone molecules to break down, causing so-called ozone holes, the largest of which are located over Antarctica. Meanwhile, the ozone layer is very important, as it blocks ultraviolet solar radiation, which can lead to serious damage to the tissues of living organisms and cause cancer. In an effort to reduce the depletion of the ozone layer, the use of chlorofluorocarbons has been banned in many industries.

9. Oceans and fisheries

Fish stocks are depleted in many areas of the world's oceans. Valuable fish species are experiencing catastrophic population decline. The so-called cod crisis (a sharp decline in the Atlantic cod population as a result of fishing) is an example of people's willingness to exploit the planet's natural resources to the point of their complete extinction. Currently, there are many other species of fish and marine organisms suffering from unsustainable fishing methods. Without proper control, these important resources that we depend on for our daily bread will become unviable as a food source.

10. Deforestation

Deforestation around the world has been occurring at alarming rates since the era of colonization. European settlers and Muslim invaders easily destroyed forests, developing new territories for the construction of cities, agriculture and pastoral land use. Thus, the island of Borneo lost about 80% of its forest, which was the natural home for many species of wild animals and birds. In Russia, from 2000 to 2013, the area of forests decreased by 20.3 million hectares (first place in the world), 36.5 million hectares were cut down. Deforestation destroys vital habitat for plants and animals. This leads to a loss of biodiversity and deterioration of important ecosystems, as well as an increase in the greenhouse effect due to a decrease in photosynthesis.

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State budgetary professional educational institution

Stavropol Territory "Kislovodsk Medical College"

on the topic: “Global environmental problems and ways to solve them”

discipline "Ecology"

Performed by Saidova D.K.

checked by teacher Kodzhakova S.Z.

g-k. Kislovodsk 2016

Introduction

Global Environmental Problem #2: Ozone Depletion

Global environmental problem No. 4: Acid rain

Environmental Problem #5: Soil Pollution

Conclusion

Introduction

Continuous technological progress, the continuing enslavement of nature by man, industrialization, which has changed the surface of the Earth beyond recognition, have become the causes of a global environmental crisis. Currently, the world's population faces particularly acute environmental problems such as air pollution, ozone layer depletion, acid rain, the greenhouse effect, soil pollution, ocean pollution and overpopulation.

Global environmental problem No. 1: Air pollution

Every day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air, which contains, in addition to vital oxygen, a whole list of harmful suspended particles and gases. Air pollutants and polluted air cause many chronic diseases.

Atmospheric pollution is an environmental problem that is familiar firsthand to residents of absolutely all corners of the earth.

It is felt especially acutely by representatives of cities where enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, energy, chemical, petrochemical, construction and pulp and paper industries operate. In some cities, the atmosphere is also heavily poisoned by vehicles and boiler houses. These are all examples of anthropogenic air pollution. As for the natural sources of chemical elements that pollute the atmosphere, these include forest fires, volcanic eruptions, wind erosion (scattering of soil and rock particles), the spread of pollen, evaporation of organic compounds and natural radiation.

Consequences of air pollution. Atmospheric air pollution negatively affects human health, contributing to the development of heart and lung diseases (in particular, bronchitis).

In addition, air pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide destroy natural ecosystems, destroying plants and causing the death of living creatures (particularly river fish).

Solving an environmental problem. The global environmental problem of air pollution, according to scientists and government officials, can be solved in the following ways:

Limiting population growth;

Reducing energy use;

Increasing energy efficiency;

Reduce waste;

Transition to environmentally friendly renewable energy sources;

Air purification in particularly polluted areas.

Global Environmental Problem #2: Ozone Depletion

The ozone layer is a thin strip of the stratosphere that protects all life on Earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the Sun.

Causes of the environmental problem. Back in the 1970s. Environmentalists have discovered that the ozone layer is being destroyed by chlorofluorocarbons. These chemicals are found in refrigerator and air conditioner coolants, as well as solvents, aerosols/sprays, and fire extinguishers. To a lesser extent, other anthropogenic impacts also contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer: the launch of space rockets, the flights of jet aircraft in high layers of the atmosphere, nuclear weapons testing, and the reduction of forest lands on the planet. There is also a theory that global warming is contributing to the thinning of the ozone layer.

Consequences of ozone layer destruction. As a result of the destruction of the ozone layer, ultraviolet radiation passes unhindered through the atmosphere and reaches the earth's surface. Exposure to direct UV rays has detrimental effects on people's health, weakening the immune system and causing diseases such as skin cancer and cataracts. Ways to solve the problem of ozone layer depletion

Awareness of the danger leads to the fact that the international community is taking more and more steps to protect the ozone layer. Let's look at some of them.

1) Creation of various organizations for the protection of the ozone layer (UNEP, COSPAR, MAGA)

2Conferences.

a) Vienna Conference (September 1987). The Montreal Protocol was discussed and signed there:

The need for constant monitoring of the production, sale, and use of substances most dangerous to ozone (freons, bromine-containing compounds, etc.)

The use of chlorofluorocarbons compared to the 1986 level should be reduced by 20% by 1993 and halved by 1998.

b) At the beginning of 1990. scientists came to the conclusion that the restrictions of the Montreal Protocol were insufficient and proposals were made to completely stop production and emissions into the atmosphere already in 1991-1992. those freons that are limited by the Montreal Protocol.

The problem of preserving the ozone layer is one of the global problems of humanity. Therefore, it is discussed at many forums at various levels, up to Russian-American summit meetings.

We can only believe that a deep awareness of the danger threatening humanity will prompt the governments of all countries to take the necessary measures to reduce emissions of substances harmful to ozone.

World environmental problem No. 3: Global warming

Like the glass walls of a greenhouse, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapor allow the sun to heat our planet while preventing infrared radiation reflected from the earth's surface from escaping into space. All these gases are responsible for maintaining temperatures acceptable for life on earth. However, the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and water vapor in the atmosphere is another global environmental problem called global warming (or the greenhouse effect).

Causes of global warming. During the 20th century, the average temperature on earth increased by 0.5 - 1? C. The main cause of global warming is considered to be an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to an increase in the volume of fossil fuels burned by people (coal, oil and their derivatives).

However, according to Alexey Kokorin, head of climate programs at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia, “the largest amount of greenhouse gases is generated as a result of the operation of power plants and methane emissions during the extraction and delivery of energy resources, while road transport or the combustion of associated petroleum gas in flares cause relatively little harm to the environment.”

Other causes of global warming include overpopulation, deforestation, ozone depletion and littering.

However, not all ecologists blame the increase in average annual temperatures entirely on anthropogenic activities.

Some believe that global warming is also facilitated by a natural increase in the abundance of oceanic plankton, leading to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Consequences of the greenhouse effect. If the temperature during the 21st century increases by another 1? C - 3.5? C, as scientists predict, the consequences will be very sad:

The level of the world's oceans will rise (due to the melting of polar ice), the number of droughts will increase and the process of desertification will intensify,

Many species of plants and animals adapted to exist in a narrow range of temperatures and humidity will disappear,

Hurricanes will become more frequent.

Solving an environmental problem. According to environmentalists, the following measures will help slow down the process of global warming:

Rising prices for fossil fuels,

Replacing fossil fuels with environmentally friendly ones (solar energy, wind energy and sea currents),

Development of energy-saving and waste-free technologies,

Taxation of environmental emissions,

Minimizing methane losses during its production, transportation through pipelines, distribution in cities and villages and use at heat supply stations and power plants,

Introduction of carbon dioxide absorption and sequestration technologies,

Tree planting,

Reducing family sizes

Environmental education,

Application of phytomelioration in agriculture.

Global environmental problem No. 4: Acid rain

Acid rain, containing products of fuel combustion, also poses a danger to the environment, human health and even to the integrity of architectural monuments.

Consequences of acid rain. Solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids, aluminum and cobalt compounds contained in polluted sediments and fog pollute the soil and water bodies, have a detrimental effect on vegetation, causing dry tops of deciduous trees and inhibiting conifers. Because of acid rain, agricultural yields fall, people drink water enriched with toxic metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), marble architectural monuments turn into plaster and are eroded.

Solving an environmental problem. In order to save nature and architecture from acid rain, it is necessary to minimize emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere.

Global Environmental Problem #5: Soil Pollution

Every year people pollute the environment with 85 billion tons of waste. Among them are solid and liquid waste from industrial enterprises and transport, agricultural waste (including pesticides), household waste and atmospheric fallout of harmful substances.

The main role in soil pollution is played by such components of technogenic waste as heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, thallium, bismuth, tin, vanadium, antimony), pesticides and petroleum products. From the soil they penetrate into plants and water, even spring water. Toxic metals enter the human body along a chain and are not always quickly and completely removed from it. Some of them tend to accumulate over many years, provoking the development of serious diseases.

Solutions:

Development of environmental technologies or waste-free production.

Disinfection of hazardous waste and wastewater.

Combating toxic emissions from various types of equipment.

Destruction or recycling of garbage.

Disinfection of contaminated soil, water and air.

Global Environmental Problem #6: Water Pollution

pollution atmosphere water greenhouse

Pollution of the world's oceans, groundwater and surface waters is a global environmental problem, the responsibility for which lies entirely with humans.

Causes of the environmental problem. The main pollutants of the hydrosphere today are oil and petroleum products. These substances penetrate into the waters of the world's oceans as a result of tanker wrecks and regular wastewater discharges from industrial enterprises.

In addition to anthropogenic petroleum products, industrial and domestic facilities pollute the hydrosphere with heavy metals and complex organic compounds. Agriculture and the food industry are recognized as the leaders in poisoning the waters of the world's oceans with minerals and nutrients.

The hydrosphere is not spared by such a global environmental problem as radioactive pollution. The prerequisite for its formation was the burial of radioactive waste in the waters of the world's oceans. Many powers with a developed nuclear industry and nuclear fleet deliberately stored harmful radioactive substances in the seas and oceans from the 49th to the 70th years of the 20th century. In places where radioactive containers are buried, cesium levels often go off scale even today. But “underwater test sites” are not the only radioactive source of hydrosphere pollution. The waters of the seas and oceans are enriched with radiation as a result of underwater and surface nuclear explosions.

Consequences of radioactive contamination of water. Oil pollution of the hydrosphere leads to the destruction of the natural habitat of hundreds of representatives of oceanic flora and fauna, the death of plankton, seabirds and mammals. For human health, poisoning the waters of the world's oceans also poses a serious danger: fish and other seafood “contaminated” with radiation can easily end up on the table.

Humanity, realizing that as a result of its life activity it sometimes causes irreparable damage to the aquatic biosphere, is trying to find effective ways to purify natural waters from various types of pollution. Activities of this kind include the following types of actions:

Industrial and domestic wastewater treatment;

Disinfection of natural waters using chemical reagents;

Pumping contaminated water into special reservoirs or aquifers;

Development of recycling water supply technologies in production that do not require additional water intake and drainage.

Conclusion

Global problems are a challenge to the human mind. It is impossible to escape them. They can only be overcome. To overcome through the efforts of every person and every country in close cooperation for the great goal of preserving the opportunity to live on Earth.

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Causes and prerequisites for global environmental problems

The initial reasons that appeared at the end of the 20th century. global environmental problems were a population explosion and a simultaneous scientific and technological revolution.

The world's population was 2.5 billion in 1950, doubled in 1984 and reached 7.44 billion in 2018. Geographically, the growth of the world's population is uneven. In Europe, the population does not change or even decreases, but it is constantly growing in China, the countries of southern Asia, throughout Africa and Latin America. Accordingly, over half a century, the spaces taken from nature by cultivated areas, residential and public buildings, railways and highways, airports and marinas, vegetable gardens and landfills have expanded several times.

The scientific and technological revolution gave humanity the possession of atomic energy, which, in addition to the good, led to radioactive contamination of vast territories. Jet high-speed aviation has emerged, destroying the ozone layer. The number of cars polluting the atmosphere of cities with exhaust gases has increased tenfold. In agriculture, in addition to fertilizers, various poisons began to be widely used - pesticides, the wash-off of which polluted the surface layer of water of the entire World Ocean.

Enterprises producing various industrial products have become widespread, polluting the environment with production waste. Mechanical waste is difficult to decompose. As a result, they change the landscape and reduce the areolas of flora and fauna. In addition to difficult-to-degrade waste, air dust has a negative impact, which affects the health of those living in large industrial cities, and also contributes to changes in the microclimate. One of the most serious environmental problems is the pollution of the environment with municipal waste.

Unfortunately, humanity at the beginning of the 21st century has come to the conclusion that almost any human activity in the modern world causes enormous damage to the ecological state of the planet.

Global problems are generated by the contradictions of social development, the sharply increased scale of the impact of human activity on the environment, and are also associated with the uneven socio-economic, scientific and technological development of countries and regions. Solving global problems requires the deployment of international cooperation.

Global environmental problems

Reduction in the number and area of natural habitats

The main threat to biological diversity is the destruction of habitats, and therefore the most important thing for the conservation of biological diversity is their protection. The loss of habitats is associated both with direct destruction (deforestation, sowing fields with agricultural crops, draining swamps, creating artificial reservoirs, etc.) and with damage in the form of pollution and poisoning from industrial waste. For most plants and animals facing extinction, habitat loss is the primary threat. Other important factors include the negative impact of genetically modified species and overexploitation of agricultural land.

The areas of rivers, lakes and swamps provide habitats for fish, aquatic invertebrates and birds. They regulate flood levels and serve as sources of drinking water and energy. Swampy lands are often filled in and drained; rivers are transformed by artificial canals, dams or through chemical pollution. The protection of water resources is directly related to the development of water use strategies at the national and local levels. The priority is to reduce water consumption per unit of agricultural industrial production in every possible way.

Desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land in arid regions of the globe, caused by both human activity (anthropogenic causes) and natural factors and processes. Environmentalists believe that along with climate change and a lack of fresh water, the environment is threatened by desertification. Today, this phenomenon threatens more than half of the world's cultivated lands and the lives of more than 250 million people in different countries of the world. More than 100 countries around the world, most of them poor and developing, are experiencing severe drought or desertification, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

Desertification is the loss of continuous vegetation in an area with the subsequent impossibility of its restoration without human intervention. As a rule, desertification occurs in arid, but not necessarily hot, areas. Occurs as a result of both natural and anthropogenic causes.

A powerful factor in desertification is technogenic impacts on very sensitive, unstable ecosystems. This includes exploration and development drilling, a network of unsystematic roads, residential and commercial buildings, and irrigation and drainage construction.

Depletion of the ozone layer, ozone holes

One of the serious environmental problems is the destruction of the ozone layer. Ozone holes are the result of the Earth's ozone layer shrinking. The ozone layer is located at an altitude of 7-18 km and is characterized by a high concentration of the allotropic modification of oxygen - ozone (O 3). As is known, the ozone layer protects the earth's surface from the destructive ultraviolet rays of the Sun, among which the short-wave part of UV radiation poses the greatest danger. These rays negatively affect human health, the immune and genetic systems of all living things.

Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, oxygen molecules (O2) break down into free oxygen molecules, which, in turn, can join with other oxygen molecules to form ozone (O3). Free oxygen atoms can also react with ozone molecules to form two oxygen molecules. Thus, under normal conditions, equilibrium is established and maintained between oxygen and ozone. However, pollutants such as freons catalyze (accelerate) the process of ozone decomposition, disturbing the balance between it and oxygen towards a decrease in ozone concentration.

When the ozone layer is depleted, the flow of this dangerous radiation to the Earth's surface increases, which leads to an increase in the level of infectious and cancer diseases.

Also, ultraviolet rays destroy plankton, which form the basis of the food chain in the world's oceans. Due to the warming of the waters in which plankton live, there is a change in its quantity and species composition, which disrupts the entire food chain of the ecosystem.

Ozone holes appear most often in polar regions. The first such hole was discovered by a probe from a British station in Antarctica in 1982. At first, this fact of the occurrence of ozone holes in cold polar regions caused bewilderment, but then, as a result of research, it turned out that a significant part of the ozone layer is destroyed by rocket engines of aircraft and spaceships.

Another reason for the thinning of the ozone layer and the formation of “holes” are emissions into the atmosphere of fluorinated and chlorinated hydrocarbons and halogen compounds (freons), widely used in refrigeration units and air conditioners. In 1987, the Montreal Protocol was adopted, significantly limiting the use of obsolete types of freon, which have the most destructive effect on the ozone layer.

Based on the results of the research, scientists concluded that ozone holes arise due to the operation of the rocket engines of our spaceships, satellites and even airplanes. This problem manifests itself most significantly over the polar regions - it was there that this phenomenon was first recorded back in 1982.

Air and water pollution

The air has been subject to pollution at all times. Eruptions, forest and peat fires, dust and pollen and other releases of substances into the atmosphere that are usually not inherent in its natural composition, but occurred as a result of natural causes - this is the first type of origin of air pollution - natural. The second is pollution resulting from human activity, that is, artificial or anthropogenic.

Anthropogenic pollution, in turn, can be divided into subtypes: transport - resulting from the operation of different types of transport, industrial, that is, associated with emissions into the atmosphere of substances formed in the production process and household or resulting from direct human activity.

Atmospheric pollution negatively affects human health, contributing to the development of heart and lung diseases (in particular, bronchitis). In addition, air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide destroy natural ecosystems, destroying plants and causing the death of living creatures (particularly river fish).

In the 60s, it was believed that air pollution was characteristic only of large cities and industrial centers. However, it later became clear that harmful emissions can spread over vast distances. Air pollution is a global environmental problem. And the release of harmful chemicals in one country can lead to a total deterioration of the environment in another.

Water pollution is an equally serious environmental problem. After all, water is necessary for the existence of everyone, including people. But its pollution makes it impossible to use the water for drinking. And existing methods of water purification are by no means a panacea, since in many cases they cannot help.

The rapid growth of cities leads to a continuous increase in the amount of domestic wastewater into water bodies. Biological wastewater treatment does not effectively reduce microbial contamination - disinfection of wastewater is also required. However, this is not always carried out, and as a result, pathogens of various infections are found in water bodies.

The causes of infectious diseases associated with water pollution are varied. And first of all, this is unsatisfactory control over water purification, pollution of water collection and distribution (reservoirs, networks, pipes) systems, consumption of water from surface reservoirs without purification. Water is one of the specific factors in the transmission of intestinal infections, and primarily typhoid-paratyphoid diseases.

The world is already experiencing a shortage of fresh water (mainly in regions close to the equator). Pollution of water bodies only worsens the situation. All this threatens a shortage of fresh water for a large number of people. Water pollution is a serious environmental problem for humanity, but there are many ways to solve it: learn to use natural resources more carefully, create more advanced water purification mechanisms, introduce zero-drain technologies in industry, reuse treated wastewater (in agriculture, for example), etc. d.

Acid rain

Acid rain, containing products of fuel combustion, also poses a danger to the environment, human health and even to the integrity of architectural monuments.

Acid rain cannot be considered an independent environmental problem; it is a consequence of air and water pollution by specific substances, but the harm caused by acid rain to nature and historical heritage is so great that ecologists pay special attention to combating it.

Solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids, aluminum and cobalt compounds contained in polluted sediments and fog pollute the soil and water bodies, have a detrimental effect on vegetation, causing damage to deciduous trees and inhibiting conifers. Because of acid rain, agricultural yields fall, people drink water contaminated with toxic metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), marble architectural monuments turn into plaster and are washed away.

Global warming

Climate change is changing the image of our planet. Weather quirks are no longer unusual, they are becoming the norm. Our planet is heating up and this is having a catastrophic effect on the Earth's ice caps. rises, the ice begins to melt, the sea begins to rise. For those who have been to a greenhouse at least once, it will not be difficult to understand how it works. The same principle is used to create the greenhouse effect on a more global scale.

Like the glass walls of a greenhouse, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and water vapor allow us to warm our planet and at the same time prevent infrared radiation reflected from the earth's surface from escaping into space. However, their excess is the cause of global warming.

Industrial emissions of carbon dioxide from factories, factories, cars, and airplanes are especially dangerous. An increase in emissions of this substance into the atmosphere is predicted throughout the 21st century, which is due to the combustion of fossil energy sources (, gas, coal). By 2100, the average global temperature is expected to rise to 5.8 degrees Celsius. The greatest influence on climate warming, based on carbon dioxide emissions, is exerted by industrialized countries such as Germany, the USA, and Russia. The impact of anthropogenic emissions is aggravated by a number of indirect causes, which include forest destruction, changes in landscapes and land use.

Some researchers believe that global warming is a myth; some scientists reject the possibility of human influence on this process. There are those who do not deny the fact of warming and admit its anthropogenic nature, but do not agree that the most dangerous impacts on the climate are industrial emissions of carbon dioxide.

The climate balance changes both as a result of natural internal processes and in response to external influences, both anthropogenic and non-human, with geological and paleontological evidence showing the presence of long-term climate cycles, the influence of which is superimposed on environmental problems caused by human activity.

Rising sea levels

Climate warming leads to intensive melting of glaciers and rising sea levels. The changes that may occur as a result are simply difficult to predict.

The rise in sea levels due to global warming is slowly accelerating every year. Climatologists from the University of Colorado came to this conclusion as a result of computer modeling. The results showed that on average sea levels rose by 2.9 mm per year. In this case, the data were best averaged by a curve that assumed a constant acceleration of growth: each year the rate increased by 0.084 mm per year. Scientists estimated the measurement error at 30%.

“The warming of the Arctic will continue at an accelerating pace. In this century, it will become noticeable in other regions of the Earth’s northern hemisphere, which will lead to rapid melting of ice and rising sea levels and other global consequences.” said one of the study's authors, Gifford Miller.

Based on the results obtained, scientists modeled sea level rise until the end of the century: by 2100, according to their calculations, the level of the World Ocean will rise by 65 centimeters. Previously, most previous climate models predicted an increase of only 30 centimeters by the end of the 21st century.

Extinction of rare animal species

Maintaining the ecological health of the environment means maintaining the good health of all its components: ecosystems, communities, species and genetic diversity. Initial small disturbances in each of these components can eventually lead to its complete destruction. At the same time, communities degrade and shrink spatially, lose their importance in the ecosystem and ultimately are completely destroyed. But as long as all the original species for the community are preserved, it can still recover.

As the population of a species decreases, intraspecific variability decreases, which can lead to genetic shifts from which the species will no longer be able to recover. In an endangered species, the uniqueness of the genetic DNA contained in its DNA and the combinations of traits it possesses are lost forever. Once a species is extinct, its population cannot be restored; the communities they belonged to are also irrevocably destroyed.

Over the past 50 years, the rate of extinction of species and decline in their populations has increased sharply, and this is primarily due to human activity. Every fourth species of mammal, every eighth species of bird, every fourth species of coniferous plants are under threat of extinction in the near future. The reason for this is human economic activity. The land used to grow food, the cultivation of plants to make clothes, the construction of homes and infrastructure, the extraction of fuel, the food we consume and the garbage we produce all contribute to species extinction.

English biologists have published a review on the problem of species extinction in Europe. The study provides the first comparative analysis of the extinction of butterflies, birds and plants. The conclusion reached by scientist Jeremy Thomas and his colleagues from the Environmental Research Council suggests the beginning of the sixth mass extinction of biological species in the history of the planet. Tens of millions of years separate us from the previous 5 periods. The apogee of the latter, which occurred 65 million years ago, was the death of the dinosaurs.

Overpopulation

The population of our planet is more than 7.4 billion people and is growing very quickly. Over the next 10 years, the world's population will increase by at least another billion people. More than half of the world's population is concentrated in Asian countries - 60%. Over 90% of the total population growth occurs in the least developed regions and countries, and in the near future these countries will maintain high growth rates.

In our time, the consequences of population growth have become so urgent that they have received the status of a global problem. It is population that is considered by many as one of the factors threatening the very survival of civilization, because Taking into account the growing consumption of natural resources, technical and energy equipment, population pressure on the territory will continuously increase.

It should be borne in mind that the socio-demographic situation in the developed and developing world is diametrically opposed.

Only 5% of world population growth occurs in economically developed countries, most of which are in the northern hemisphere. This increase is due to a decrease in mortality rates and an increase in life expectancy.

At least 95% of the world population growth in the coming years will occur in developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The dynamic growth of the population of these countries is one of the most important socio-economic problems of global importance. It received the loud name “demographic explosion” and successfully emphasizes the essence of the process of population reproduction in these countries - its emergence from the control of society.

“Demographic pressure” not only complicates the food or environmental situation, but also has a negative impact on the development process. For example, rapid population growth does not allow stabilizing the problem of unemployment and makes it difficult to solve problems of education, health care, etc. In other words, any socio-economic problem also includes a demographic one.

Population growth, along with industrial development, is the second main factor of negative impact on the biosphere, since the increase in human population is accompanied by an increase in the need for agricultural and industrial products and the volume of natural resources involved. These processes lead to increased environmental pollution and negative impacts on the biosphere.

The increase in food production, the creation of new jobs, and the expansion of industrial production are accompanied by the consumption of non-renewable natural resources, but the main reason for the contradictions between man and nature is the rapid increase in the total anthropogenic load on it.

Household environmental pollution

One of the significant sources of environmental pollution is household waste. Thus, the famous Roman aqueduct, “worked by the slaves of Rome,” as V.V. wrote about it. Mayakovsky, was intended to supply the Eternal City with drinking water as early as 500 BC, since the waters of the Tiber River flowing through the city were already unsuitable for consumption at that time due to the city sewage entering it.

Nowadays, the activities of enterprises, housing and communal services organizations have a much greater negative impact on the environment in comparison with ancient Rome:

abstraction of a large amount of natural water (surface and underground) for the purposes of domestic, drinking and industrial water supply;
discharge into water resources of untreated or insufficiently treated domestic wastewater, as well as surface runoff from urbanized areas;
emissions into the atmosphere from boiler houses of centralized and private heat supply systems;
placement of household and industrial waste in landfills (organized and unorganized);
urbanization of natural areas.

Due to the often uncontrolled discharge of various household and industrial wastes near densely populated areas, an extremely unfavorable environmental situation is created. Firstly, the content of harmful and even toxic substances increases - herbicides, pesticides, various chlorine-containing substances, heavy compounds, arsenic, etc. Secondly, objects made of plastic cause significant harm: polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, etc. The fact is that these substances do not decompose in nature. Under the influence of light and winds, plastic bags and objects can disintegrate into small enough parts while maintaining their internal structure, clogging the environment.

This environmental problem begins with individual human behavior. If he allows even small garbage to be thrown out on city streets or even in an open field, then global environmental problems arise at the mass level.

Ways to solve global environmental problems

When characterizing the general state of the natural environment, scientists from different countries usually use such definitions as “degradation of the global ecological system”, “ecological destabilization”, “destruction of natural life support systems”, etc. The latest annual reports of the American World Observation Institute directly refer to “terrible” environmental situation emerging in the world. Russian scientists - ecologists, geographers and representatives of other sciences - adhere to approximately the same assessments.

It can be argued that the majority of domestic and foreign scientists agree that the current stage of development of human civilization is characterized by an increase in the global environmental crisis.

The need for an urgent practical solution to the problem of environmental protection has led to the development in most countries of state measures of a legislative, organizational and administrative nature aimed at preserving and restoring the quality of the natural environment. Moreover, it is this aspect that is increasingly becoming the main direction of government activity in countries with developed economies, accompanied by the active use of economic levers and incentives, which together ensure the achievement of the goal.

The most important measures that will help solve global environmental problems include protecting the ozone layer from destruction. In order to protect humanity from the harmful effects of ultraviolet solar radiation, it is necessary to reduce emissions into the atmosphere of chemical compounds that destroy the ozone layer, primarily freons (compounds of chlorine, fluorine and hydrocarbons).

The consequences of the greenhouse effect, which causes global warming, can be reduced by prohibiting the destruction of moist equatorial forests, which act as unique filters that absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

Reducing the effects of acid rain and other air, water and soil pollution requires the installation of filters in industrial enterprises and transport, the use of a closed water cycle, the use of natural fertilizers in agriculture, the introduction of effective methods of using forest and other resources, recycling waste, etc.

To avoid destruction of the top fertile layer of soil, it is necessary to take care of environmentally friendly farming. Thus, organic fertilizers retain water better and prevent soil drying out and erosion. However, even the size of the field helps reduce soil erosion: the smaller its area, the less humus is removed from it.

Modern global environmental problems urgently require human transition from the idea of domination over nature to the idea of “partnership” relations with it. It is necessary not only to take from nature, but also to give to it (planting forests, fish farming, organizing national parks and nature reserves).

Planets are a real scourge of the 21st century. Many people also think about the issue of preserving and restoring the environment. Otherwise, future generations will only get a lifeless surface.

No man is an island!

It is likely that at least once in our lives each of us asked ourselves the question: “What environmental problems of the planet currently exist and what can I do to solve them?” It would seem, indeed, that just one person can do this? Nevertheless, each of us is capable of much. First, start taking care of the environment yourself. For example, throw away garbage in strictly designated containers, and it would also be a good idea to pay attention to separating waste into specific materials (glass in one bin, and plastic in another). In addition, you can regulate and gradually reduce the consumption of both electricity and other resources (water, gas) necessary for your comfortable living. If you are a driver and are faced with choosing a suitable vehicle, then you should pay attention to cars that have a reduced content of harmful compounds in exhaust gases. It will also be correct - both for you and for the entire planet as a whole - to have a small engine size installed in the selected car model. And, as a result, reduced fuel consumption. With such simple and accessible measures to everyone, we can solve the environmental problems of the planet.

Let's help the whole world

Despite everything described earlier, you will not be alone in this fight. As a rule, the policies of many modern states are aimed at the well-known environmental problems of the planet and, of course, ways to solve them. In addition, there is an active propaganda program, the goal of which is to limit and exterminate rare representatives of flora and fauna. Nevertheless, such a policy of world powers is quite purposeful and makes it possible to create conditions for the normal functioning of the population, which do not disturb natural ecosystems.

Environmental problems of the planet: list

Modern scientists identify about several dozen basic issues that require special attention. Such planets arise as a result of significant changes in the natural environment. And those, in turn, are the result of devastating natural disasters, as well as the ever-increasing Environmental problems of the planet are quite simple to list. One of the first places is occupied by air pollution. Each of us knows from an early age that, thanks to the content of a certain percentage of oxygen in the air space of the planet, we are able to exist normally. However, every day we not only consume oxygen, but also exhale carbon dioxide. But there are also factories and factories, cars and planes travel around the world and trains knock on the rails. All of the above objects, in the process of their operation, emit substances of a certain composition, which only aggravates the situation and increases the environmental problems of planet Earth. Unfortunately, even though modern production facilities are equipped with the latest developments in purification systems, the condition of the airspace is gradually deteriorating.

Deforestation

We know from our school biology course that representatives of the plant world help maintain the balance of substances in the atmosphere. Thanks to natural processes such as photosynthesis, the green spaces of the Earth not only cleanse the air of harmful impurities, but also gradually enrich it with oxygen. Thus, it is easy to conclude that the destruction of flora, in particular forests, only aggravates the global environmental problems of the planet. Unfortunately, human economic activity leads to the fact that deforestation is carried out on a particularly large scale, but replenishment of green spaces is often not carried out.

Declining fertile land

Similar environmental problems of the planet arise as a result of the previously mentioned deforestation. In addition, improper use of various agricultural techniques and incorrect farming also lead to depletion of the fertile layer. And pesticides and other chemical fertilizers poison not only the soil, but also all living organisms that are interconnected with it for many years. But, as you know, layers of fertile soil are restored much more slowly than forests. It will take more than one century to fully replace the lost land cover.

Declining fresh water supplies

If you are asked: “What environmental problems of the planet are known?”, you have the right to immediately remember life-giving moisture. Indeed, in some regions there is already an acute shortage of this resource. And over time, this state of affairs will only worsen. Consequently, the above topic can be considered one of the most important in the list of “Ecological problems of the planet”. Examples of improper water use can be found everywhere. Starting from the pollution of lakes and rivers by all kinds of industrial enterprises and ending with the irrational consumption of resources at the household level. In this regard, many natural reservoirs are already closed areas for swimming. However, this is not the end of the planet's environmental problems. The list can also be continued with the next paragraph.

Extermination of flora and fauna

Scientists have calculated that in the modern world, every hour one representative of the planet’s animal or plant world dies. It is important to remember that not only poachers are involved in such actions, but also ordinary people who consider themselves respectable citizens of their country. Every day, humanity is conquering more and more new territories both for the construction of its own housing and for agricultural and industrial needs. And animals have to move to new lands or die, remaining to live in an ecosystem destroyed by anthropogenic factors. Among other things, it must be remembered that all of the above factors also have a detrimental effect on the state of flora and fauna, both current and future. For example, pollution of water bodies, destruction of forests, etc. entails the disappearance of the diversity of flora and fauna that our ancestors are accustomed to seeing. Even over the last hundred years, species diversity has declined significantly under the direct or indirect influence of anthropogenic factors.

Earth's protective shell

If the question arises: “What environmental problems of the planet are currently known?”, then it is easy to remember the holes in the ozone layer. Modern human economic activity involves the release of special substances that cause a thinning of the Earth's protective shell. Consequently, the formation of new so-called “holes”, as well as an increase in the area of existing ones. Many people know this problem, but not everyone understands how all this can turn out. This results in dangerous solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface, which negatively affects all living organisms.

Desertification

The global environmental problems presented earlier become the cause of the development of a severe catastrophe. We are talking about desertification of lands. As a result of improper farming, as well as pollution of water resources and deforestation, gradual weathering of the fertile layer, drying out of soils and other negative consequences occur, under the influence of which land covers become unsuitable not only for further use for economic purposes, but also for living of people.

Declining mineral reserves

A similar topic is also present in the list “Environmental problems of the planet”. It is quite simple to list the resources currently in use. These are oil, coal of all kinds, peat, gas and other organic components of the Earth's solid shell. According to scientists, mineral reserves will come to an end in the next hundred years. In this regard, humanity has begun to actively implement technologies that operate on renewable resources, such as wind, solar, and others. However, the use of alternative sources is still quite small compared to more familiar and traditional ones. In connection with this state of affairs, modern governments are conducting various incentive programs that contribute to a deeper introduction of alternative energy sources both in industry and in the everyday life of ordinary citizens.

Overpopulation

Over the last century, there has been a significant increase in the number of people around the globe. In particular, over a period of just 40 years, the planet's population has doubled - from three to six billion people. Scientists predict that by 2040 this number will reach nine billion, which, in turn, will lead to particularly acute food shortages, shortages of water and energy resources. The number of people living in poverty will increase significantly. There will be an increase in deadly diseases.

Municipal solid waste

In the modern world, people produce several kilograms of garbage every day - these are cans from canned food and drinks, and polyethylene, and glass, and other waste. Unfortunately, at present, their recycling is carried out only in countries with a highly developed standard of living. In all other cases, such household waste is disposed of in landfills, the territory of which often occupies huge areas. In countries with a low standard of living, heaps of garbage can lie right on the streets. This not only contributes to soil and water pollution, but also increases the growth of pathogenic bacteria, which in turn leads to widespread acute and sometimes fatal diseases. It should be noted that even the Earth’s atmosphere is filled with tons of debris left over from the launches of research probes, satellites and spacecraft into the vastness of the Universe. And since it is quite difficult to get rid of all these traces of human activity naturally, it is necessary to develop effective methods for processing solid waste. Many modern states are introducing national programs that promote the distribution of easily recyclable materials.

Modern technogenic civilization, in addition to increasing the degree of everyday comfort, has led to a rapid deterioration of the environmental situation in the world. Over time, the ecology spoiled by civilization can lead to catastrophic consequences. Let us briefly consider the main global environmental problems.

The destruction and impoverishment of the gene pool is the largest environmental problem in the whole world. American scientists have calculated that over the past 200 years, earthlings have lost 900 thousand species of plants and animals.

In the territory of the former USSR, the gene pool decreased by 10–12%. Today, the number of species on the planet is 10–20 million. The reduction in the number of species is due to the destruction of the natural habitat of plants and animals, excessive use of agricultural land, and due to the existing...

An even more rapid decline in species diversity is predicted in the future. Deforestation

Forests are dying out on a massive scale across the planet. Firstly, due to logging for the use of wood in production; secondly, due to the destruction of the normal habitat of plants. The main threat to trees and other forest plants is acid rain, which occurs due to the release of sulfur dioxide from power plants. These emissions have the ability to be transported over long distances from the immediate point of release. Over the past 20 years alone, earthlings have lost about 200 million hectares of valuable forests. Of particular danger is the depletion of tropical forests, rightly considered the lungs of the planet.

Reduction of mineral resources

Today, the amount of mineral resources is rapidly decreasing. Oil, shale, coal, peat are our inheritance from the dead biospheres that absorbed the energy of the sun. However, it should be remembered that approximately half of the oil produced by mankind has been pumped out of the bowels of the earth over the past 10–15 years. The extraction and sale of minerals has become a gold mine, and entrepreneurs do not care about the global environmental situation. Only the development of alternative projects can save earthlings from the loss of energy sources: collecting energy from the sun, winds, sea tides, hot bowels of the earth, and so on.

Problems of the world's oceans

As you know, the world's oceans occupy 2/3 of the planet's surface and supply up to 1/6 of the animal proteins that the inhabitants of the Earth eat. About 70% of all oxygen is produced during photosynthesis by phytoplankton.

Chemical pollution of the ocean is extremely dangerous, because it leads to a depletion of water and food resources, and an imbalance in the oxygen balance in the atmosphere. During the twentieth century, emissions into the world's oceans of indegradable synthetic substances and products of the chemical and military industries increased greatly.

Air pollution

In the 60s, it was believed that air pollution was characteristic only of large cities and industrial centers. However, it later became clear that harmful emissions can spread over vast distances. Air pollution is a global phenomenon. And the release of harmful chemicals in one country can lead to a total deterioration of the environment in another.

Acid rain in the atmosphere causes damage to forests comparable to deforestation.

Ozone layer depletion

It is known that life on the planet is possible only because the ozone layer protects it from the deadly effects of ultraviolet radiation. If the amount of ozone continues to decrease, humanity faces at least an increase in the incidence of skin cancer and eye damage. Ozone holes appear most often in polar regions. The first such hole was discovered by a probe from a British station in Antarctica in 1982. At first, this fact of the occurrence of ozone holes in cold polar regions caused bewilderment, but then it turned out that a significant part of the ozone layer is destroyed by the rocket engines of aircraft, spacecraft, and satellites.

Surface contamination and disfigurement of natural landscapes

A handful of soil, this skin of the earth, contains many microorganisms that ensure fertility.

A layer of soil 1 cm thick takes a century to form, but it can be destroyed in 1 field season.

And this, in turn, leads to the complete disfigurement of natural landscapes.

The annual plowing of agricultural soils and grazing of animals leads to rapid depletion of soils with further loss of their fertility.

Solving environmental problems

There are quite a lot of ways to solve humanity's environmental problems. But usually it all comes down to properly disposing of industrial waste and, in general, switching to more environmentally friendly industrial methods, using cleaner fuel, natural electricity generation systems (like solar panels or windmills). However, in reality the problems are much deeper.

Humanity is accustomed to living in cities and megalopolises, which is already a violation of the natural biogeocenosis. The city and hazardous industries are the main sources of environmental pollution.

At the moment, creating a completely eco-friendly city is beyond the reach of humanity. If you try to imagine what an environmentally friendly city integrated into nature should look like, then only 100% harmless materials, similar in properties to wood and stone, should be used for construction there.

Naturally, such a city should be much more reminiscent of a park or nature reserve than an industrial metropolis, and the houses in it should be buried in trees, and animals and birds should calmly walk along the streets. But creating such a metropolis is a complex process.

It is easier, on the contrary, to disperse human settlements and begin to settle in natural landscapes practically untouched by human hands. Settlements dispersed in space reduce the load on the biosphere in individual places. Naturally, life in new places should include compliance with environmental safety regulations.

Holzer biocenosis

The possibility of such a natural, almost heavenly life without losing the comfort that the achievements of modern civilization provide was proven by the famous Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer. He does not use irrigation, land reclamation, pesticides or herbicides on his farm. He has only one hired worker (despite the scale of the farm of 45 hectares), only one tractor and his own power plant.

Holzer created a natural biocenosis, where, in addition to cultivated plants, animals, birds, fish, and insects live. Almost the only work that the owner and mistress do is sowing and harvesting.

Everything else is done by nature with the correct organization of natural environmental conditions. Holzer was able to grow even rare species of plants that do not grow in high alpine regions, as well as plants characteristic of much warmer countries (kiwi, lemon, cherries, oranges, cherries, grapes).

All of Austria is lining up for Holzer's vegetables, fruits, fish, and meat. The farmer believes that today's food production is completely pointless, because it wastes an inordinate amount of energy. It is enough to simply study natural patterns and create the most natural living conditions for plants and animals.

How environmental problems are solved in countries around the world. Let's solve environmental problems together. Declining mineral reserves

1. Climate change

2. Energy

3. Water

4. Biodiversity and land use

5. Chemicals, toxic substances, and heavy metals

6. Air pollution

7. Waste management

8. Ozone layer depletion

9. Oceans and fisheries

10. Deforestation

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Global environmental problem No. 1: Air pollution

Global Environmental Problem #2: Ozone Depletion

World environmental problem No. 3: Global warming

Global environmental problem No. 4: Acid rain

Global Environmental Problem #5: Soil Pollution

Global Environmental Problem #6: Water Pollution

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Causes and prerequisites for global environmental problems

Global environmental problems

Reduction in the number and area of ​​natural habitats

Desertification

Depletion of the ozone layer, ozone holes

Air and water pollution

Acid rain

Global warming

Rising sea levels

Extinction of rare animal species

Overpopulation

Household environmental pollution

Ways to solve global environmental problems

No man is an island!

Let's help the whole world

Environmental problems of the planet: list

Deforestation

Declining fertile land

Declining fresh water supplies

Extermination of flora and fauna

Earth's protective shell

Desertification

Declining mineral reserves

Overpopulation

Municipal solid waste

Reduction of mineral resources

Problems of the world's oceans

Air pollution

Ozone layer depletion

Surface contamination and disfigurement of natural landscapes

Solving environmental problems

Holzer biocenosis

Reduction in the number and area of natural habitats