Ecological crisis: concept, causes, forms of manifestation and ways of overcoming. Main aspects of the ecological crisis Causes of the ecological crisis in the world

Ecological bases of nature management

A course of lectures for students of SVE full-time and part-time forms of study

Lecture 4 . Signs of an ecological crisis

Ecological crisis - this is a tense state of relations between humanity and nature, characterized by a discrepancy between the development of productive forces and production relations in human society and the resource and economic possibilities of the biosphere.

The ecological crisis can also be viewed as a conflict in the interaction of a biological species or genus with nature. In a crisis, nature, as it were, reminds us of the inviolability of its laws, those who violate these laws perish. So there was a qualitative renewal of living beings on Earth. In a broader sense, the ecological crisis is understood as a phase in the development of the biosphere, in which a qualitative renewal of living matter takes place (the extinction of some species and the emergence of others).

The modern ecological crisis is called the “crisis of decomposers”, i.e. its defining feature is the dangerous pollution of the biosphere due to human activity and the associated violation of the natural balance.

The term “environmental crisis” first appeared in scientific literature in the mid 1970s.

The ecological crisis is usually divided into two parts: natural and social.Natural part indicates the onset of degradation, the destruction of the environment natural environment. Social side of the ecological crisis lies in the inability of state and public structures to stop the degradation of the environment and improve it. Both sides of the ecological crisis are closely interconnected. The onset of the ecological crisis can be stopped only with a rational state policy, the existence of state programs and state structures responsible for their implementation, a developed economy and the implementation of emergency measures for environmental protection.

Signs of a Modern Ecological Crisis

    dangerous pollution of the biosphere;

    depletion of energy reserves;

    reduction in species diversity.

Dangerous pollution biosphere associated with the development of industry, agriculture, development of transport, urbanization. A huge amount of toxic and harmful emissions from economic activity enters the biosphere. The peculiarity of these emissions is that thesecompounds are not included in natural metabolic processes and accumulate in the biosphere . For example, when wood fuel is burned, carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis, as a result of which oxygen is produced. When burning oil, sulfur dioxide is released, which is not included in the natural exchange processes, but accumulates in the lower layers of the atmosphere, interacts with water and falls to the ground in the form of acid doges.

In agriculture, a large number of pesticides and pesticides are used, which accumulate in the soil, plants, and animal tissues.

Dangerous pollution of the biosphere is expressed in the fact that the content of harmful and toxic substances in its individual components exceeds the maximum allowable standards. For example, in many regions of Russia, the content of a number of harmful substances in water, air, soil exceeds the maximum allowable standards by 5-20 times.

According to statistics, among all sources of pollution, vehicle exhaust gases are in first place (up to 70% of all diseases in cities are caused by them), emissions from thermal power plants are second, and the chemical industry is third. (According to Russian Academy Sciences, the nuclear industry is in 26th place.) Today, the hydrosphere (primarily poisonous effluents) and soils (acid rain and waste water, including radioactive ones) are no less polluted.

On the territory of Russia there are landfills for waste disposal, where waste is stored not only from Russian lands, but also from the territories of other former Soviet republics, as well as from the territories of those countries where nuclear power facilities have been built using Soviet technology.

Depletion of energy reserves. The level of energy-to-weight ratio of human labor is growing at an unprecedented pace, never seen in many millennia of human history. The accelerated development of the power industry is connected primarily with the growth of industrial production and its power supply.

The main sources of energy used by man include: thermal energy, hydropower, nuclear energy. Thermal energy is obtained by burning wood, peat, coal, oil and gas. Companies that generate electricity from chemical fuels are called thermal power plants.

Oil, coal and gas arenon-renewable natural resources, and their stocks are limited. world reservesoil in 1997 were estimated at 1016 billion barrels (162,753.04 million tons), i.e. before

By 2020, there will be no oil left on Earth.

strip there is much more on the planet than oil. World gas reserves are estimated at about 350 trillion m³ (including 136 trillion m³ of explored). With global consumption forecast for 2010 of 3.55 trillion m³ of gas per year, explored reserves will run out in 40 years, i.e. almost simultaneously with oil. Russia is much richer in natural gas than other countries: explored reserves of about 49 trillion m³. Over 70% of the gas produced in the country comes from the two richest deposits on the planet: Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye.

hard coal There is much more to Earth than oil and gas. According to experts, its reserves can last for hundreds of years. However, coal is an environmentally dirty fuel, it contains a lot of ash, sulfur, and harmful metals. Hard coal can be used to produce liquid fuel for transport (it was made in Germany during World War II), but it is very expensive ($450/ton) and is not produced now. In Russia, plants for the production of liquid fuel from coal in Angarsk, Salavat, Novocherkassk are closed due to unprofitability.

Currently, new approaches to solving the problem of the energy crisis are being successfully developed.

1 . Reorientation to other types of energy;

2 . Mining on the continental shelf.

Reducing species diversity. In total since 1600

226 species and subspecies of vertebrates have disappeared, and over the past 60 years - 76 species, and about 1000 species are endangered. If the current trend of extermination of wildlife continues, then in 20 years the planet will lose 1/5 of the described species of flora and fauna, which threatens the stability of the biosphere - an important condition for the life support of mankind.

Where conditions are unfavorable, biodiversity is low. Up to 1000 species of plants live in the tropical forest, 30-40 species in the deciduous forest of the temperate zone, and 20-30 species in the pasture. Species diversity is an important factor that ensures the stability of the ecosystem to adverse external influences. The reduction of species diversity can cause irreversible and unpredictable changes on a global scale, so this problem is being solved by the entire world community.

One way to solve this problem is to create reserves. In our country, for example, there are currently 95 reserves. Some experience of international cooperation in the conservation of natural wealth already exists: 149 countries have signed the Convention on the Conservation of Species Diversity; signed the Convention on the Protection of Wetlands (1971) and the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (1973); since 1982 there has been an international moratorium on commercial whaling.

Global problems ecology

The environmental crisis is characterized by the presence of a number of problems that threaten sustainable development. Let's consider only some of them.

Destruction of the ozone layer . The content of ozone in the atmosphere

insignificant and amounts to 0.004% by volume. Ozone is formed in the atmosphere under the action of electrical discharges, synthesized from oxygen under the action of cosmic UV radiation. Within the atmosphere, elevated concentrations of ozone form the ozone layer, which is essential for life on Earth. The ozone shield attenuates deadly UV radiation in the atmosphere between 40 and 15 km above the earth's surface by about 6,500 times. The destruction of the ozone shield by 50% increases UV radiation by 10 times, which affects the vision of animals and humans and can have other detrimental effects on living organisms. The disappearance of the ozonosphere would lead to unpredictable consequences - an outbreak of skin cancer, the destruction of plankton in the ocean, mutations of flora and fauna. The appearance of the so-called ozone hole over Antarctica was first recorded by ground-based and satellite measurements in the mid-199970s. The area of ​​this hole was 5 million m², and the ozone in the air column was 30-50% less than the norm.

Several suggestions have been made about the causes of ozone depletion: the launch spaceships, supersonic aircraft, significant scale production of freons. Subsequently, based on scientific research it was concluded that the main cause is freons, which are widely used in refrigeration and aerosol cans.

The international community has taken a number of measures aimed at preventing the destruction of the ozone layer. In 1977, the United Nations Environment Program adopted an action plan on the ozone layer, in 1985 a conference was held in Vienna that adopted the Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, a list of substances that adversely affect the ozone layer was established, and a decision was made on mutual information states on the production and use of these substances, on the measures taken.

Thus, the harmful effects of changes in the ozone layer on human health and the environment were officially declared, and that measures to protect the ozone layer required international cooperation. Decisive was the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, according to which control over the production and use of freons is established. The protocol was signed by more than 70 countries, including Russia. In accordance with the requirements of these agreements, the production of freons harmful to the ozone layer must be stopped by 2010.

Greenhouse effect. The release of many gases into the atmosphere: carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrocarbons, i.e. methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), etc., which accumulate as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels and other production processes, leads to the greenhouse effect, although these substances are almost not dangerous as independent pollutants (except for high concentrations).

The mechanism of the greenhouse effect is quite simple. Ordinary solar radiation in cloudless weather and a clean atmosphere relatively easily reaches the Earth's surface, is absorbed by the soil surface, vegetation, etc. Heated surfaces give off thermal energy again to the atmosphere, but in the form of long-wave radiation, which is not scattered, but absorbed by the molecules of these gases (CO2 absorbs 18% of the heat given off), causing intense thermal movement of molecules and an increase in temperature.

Atmospheric gases (nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor) do not absorb thermal radiation, but scatter it. The concentration of CO2 annually increases by 0.8-1.5 mg/kg. It is believed that with a doubling of the CO2 content in the air, the average annual temperature will rise by 3-5ºС, which will cause global climate warming, and in 125 years we can expect massive melting of the ice of Antarctica, a rise in the average level of the World Ocean, flooding of a significant part of the coastal territory and other negative consequences. . In addition to the greenhouse effect, the presence of these gases contributes to the formationsmog.

Smog comes in wet, dry, and icy forms.wet smog (London type) - a combination of gaseous pollutants, dust and fog droplets. Thus, in a 100-200-meter layer of air, a poisonous thick dirty yellow fog-moist smog arises. It is formed in countries with a maritime climate, where fogs are frequent and relative humidity is high.

dry smog (Los Angeles type) - secondary air pollution resulting from chemical reactions accompanied by the appearance of ozone. Dry smog does not form fog, but a bluish haze.

ice smog (Alaskan type). It occurs in the Arctic and Subarctic at low temperatures in the anticyclone. A dense fog is formed, consisting of the smallest crystals of ice and, for example, sulfuric acid.

Global warming - one of the most significant consequences of anthropogenic pollution of the biosphere. It manifests itself in climate and biota changes: the production process in ecosystems, shifting the boundaries of plant formations, and changing crop yields. Especially strong changes concern the high and middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The rise in ocean level due to warming will be 0.1-0.2 m, which may lead to flooding of the mouths of large rivers, especially in Siberia. At the regular conference of the countries-participants of the Convention on Prevention of Climate Change, held in Rome in 1996, the need for coordinated international action to solve this problem was once again confirmed.

Tropical forest destruction. Over the past 50 years, with the participation of man, 2/3 of the forests covering the Earth have been destroyed. Over the past 100 years, 40% of the forests that existed on Earth have been irretrievably lost. The tropical rainforest is one of the most important suppliers of oxygen to the atmosphere and plays a huge role in maintaining the oxygen balance. Rainforests are called the "green lungs of the planet". The problem is that these forests have already been destroyed by 40%. Every year, 15-20 million hectares of tropical forest are lost in the world, which is equivalent to half the area of ​​Finland. The greatest losses were suffered by 10 countries of the world, including Brazil, Mexico, India, Thailand. If the destruction of tropical forests continues at the same pace, then in 30-40 years it will no longer remain on Earth.

Due to the deforestation of tropical forests, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere decreases annually by 10-12 billion tons, and the content of carbon dioxide compared to the middle of the 20th century. increased by 10-12%. There is a risk of oxygen imbalance.

The main causes of deforestation are: the plowing of forest land for agricultural land; increasing demand for woodfuel; industrial deforestation; implementation of large-scale development projects.

According to the UN, approximately 90% of the rural and 30% of the urban population in Asia, Africa and Latin America use mainly woodfuel. Commercial logging operations are carried out without regard to environmental requirements and, as a rule, are not accompanied by planting trees in clearings.

After the UN conference in Rio de Janeiro (1992), developing countries confirmed their readiness to reach an international consensus on the problem of conservation of forest resources, intending to take measures on their part to ensure the sustainable development of forestry.

Water shortage. Many scientists attribute it to a continuous increase in air temperature over the past decade due to an increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is not difficult to make a chain of problems that give rise to each other: a large energy release (solution of the energy problem) - the greenhouse effect - lack of water - lack of food (crop failures). Over the past 100 years, the temperature has increased by 0.6ºС. In 1995-1998 there was a particularly large increase. Carbon dioxide, methane and some other gases absorb thermal radiation and increase the greenhouse effect.

An even more important factor is the sharp increase in water consumption for industrial and domestic purposes. The lack of water has sharply worsened the ecological situation in many regions and caused a food crisis.

Desertification. This is the name of the totality of natural and anthropogenic processes that lead to the destruction (violation) of the balance in ecosystems and to the degradation of all forms of organic life in a particular area. Desertification occurs in all natural areas of the world.

The main reason for the current increase in desertification in various countries of the world is the discrepancy between the existing structure of economic use natural resources with the potential natural possibilities of this landscape, population growth, an increase in anthropogenic pressures, the imperfection of the socio-economic structure of a number of countries. According toUNEP *, now more than 9 million km² are occupied by deserts of anthropogenic origin, and up to 7 million hectares of land are annually eliminated from productive use.

Pollution of the oceans. The World Ocean, covering 2/3 of the earth's surface, is a huge reservoir, the mass of water in which is 1.4 10²¹ kg. Ocean water makes up 97% of all water on the planet. The oceans provide 1/6 of all animal proteins consumed by the world's population for food. The ocean, especially its coastal zone, plays a leading role in maintaining life on Earth, because about 70% of the oxygen entering the planet's atmosphere is produced in the process of plankton photosynthesis. Thus, the World Ocean plays a huge role in maintaining a stable balance of the biosphere, and its protection is one of the urgent international environmental tasks.

Of particular concern is the pollution of the oceansharmful and toxic substances , including oil and oil products, radioactive substances.

The most common ocean pollutants areoil and oil products. An average of 13-14 million tons of oil products enter the World Ocean annually. Oil pollution is dangerous for two reasons: firstly, a film forms on the surface of the water, which deprives marine life of oxygen; secondly, oil itself is a toxic compound that has big period half-life, when the oil content in water is 10-15 mg/kg, plankton and fish fry die. Major oil spills during the crash of supertankers can be called real environmental disasters.

Especially dangerous isNuclear pollution in the disposal of radioactive waste (RW). Initially, the main way to get rid of radioactive waste was the disposal of radioactive waste in the seas and oceans. This was usually low-level waste, which was packed in 200-liter metal drums, filled with concrete and dumped into the sea. The first such disposal of radioactive waste was carried out by the United States 80 km from the coast of California. Until 1983, 12 countries practiced RW discharge into the open sea. During the period from 1949 to 1970, 560,261 containers with radioactive waste were dumped into the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Recently, a number of international documents have been adopted,

whose main goal is to protect the oceans.

Lack of food. An important reason for the lack of food is the reduction since 1956 of arable land per capita due to soil erosion and the withdrawal of fertile land for other purposes. Thanks to the "Green Revolution" of the 1970s. managed to compensate for the decline in yield through the introduction of new varieties, irrigation, the use of fertilizers and herbicides. However, this was not achieved in Australia and Africa - there was not enough water for irrigation. Now it is clearly lacking in Asia and America.

Fish stocks have been drastically reduced. From 1950 to 1989, the world catch increased from 19 to 89 million tons, after which there was no increase. An increase in the fishing fleet does not lead to an increase in catch.

Population growth. The rapidly growing population is the most serious problem of the Earth.

Numerous attempts to reduce the birth rate have been unsuccessful. A population explosion is currently taking place in the countries of Africa, Asia and South America. AT Russian Federation An unfavorable situation for population growth has developed due to a drop in the birth rate.

Questions for self-examination

    What signs characterize the modern ecological crisis?

    What are the main causes of pollution of the biosphere.

    Give examples of depletion of energy resources.

    What global changes are taking place in the atmosphere?

    What are the causes and what are the consequences of ozone layer depletion?

    What are the causes and what are the consequences of the greenhouse effect?

    What global continental problems do you know?

    What are the main causes of rainforest destruction?

    What are the main sources of pollution in the oceans?

    What are the consequences of population growth?

Ecological crisis- this is a tense state of relations between society and nature, characterized by a discrepancy between the development of productive forces and production relations in society and the resource-ecological possibilities of the biosphere. As a result, the biosphere begins to threaten life itself on Earth.

Causes of the ecological crisis

Among the causes of depletion, pollution and destruction of the natural environment, emanating from human anthropogenic activities, one can single out objective and subjective ones.

To the objective include the following:

1. Limiting abilities of earthly nature for self-purification and self-regulation;

2. Physical limitation of the land area within one planet;

3. Waste-free production in nature and waste of human production;

4. Incomplete knowledge and use by man of the laws of development of nature.

To subjective Causes of the environmental crisis include:

1. Shortcomings of the organizational, legal and economic activities of the state for environmental protection;

2. Defects in environmental upbringing and education;

3. Ecological ignorance - unwillingness to study the laws of the relationship between man and the environment;

4. Ecological nihilism - unwillingness to be guided by these laws, neglect of these laws.

Degradation of the natural environment- this is the destruction or significant violation of ecological ties in nature, ensuring the exchange of substances and energy within nature, between nature and man, caused by human activity, carried out without taking into account the laws of nature development.

Criteria for an ecological crisis and approaching environmental catastrophe:

Biosocial Criteria:

As a result of increased radioactivity, chemical pollution of the environment, the number of pathologies of intrauterine development, malignant tumors, mental disorders, etc. increases. Mutagens of the environment in the form chemical compounds, ionizing radiation, viruses penetrate cells and affect their genetic program - causing mutations. Mutations are sudden, natural (spontaneous) or induced, artificial (induced) inherited changes in the genetic material that lead to a change in certain signs of the organism.

Biospheric Criteria:

1. The transition of renewable resources to non-renewable:

Soil condition. Due to weathering and anthropogenic pollution, 30-40% of the chernozem has already died.

The water supply of the planet. Mankind annually dumps up to 1.5 thousand cubic kilometers Wastewater. For their purification of water, more is needed than in the rivers of all globe. As a result of acid rains, the pH in water bodies decreases, microorganisms and fish die. The supply of fresh water suitable for drinking is sharply reduced.

self-sustaining biota. For example, the forest: everything is balanced in it. The extinction of one species entails the death of others. And since forests are severely cut down, species diversity dies (hence the Red Book). At one time, 60-75% of the surface of Germany was covered with forests, now less than 25%.

Maintain oxygen regime. Normally, atmospheric oxygen is restored (photosynthesis). However, its supply on Earth is gradually decreasing. Tropical forests - the main supplier of oxygen to the Earth's atmosphere - are cut down by 50%, temperate forests - by 40%. From 60 to 80% of the plankton of the world's oceans died as a result of the spill of the oil film. And these are the “lungs” of our planet.

2. Global biospheric environmental problems:

« Greenhouse effect ». The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect, which increases from the heating of the Earth by the rays of the Sun. This gas does not allow solar heat to pass back into space. Consequences for Russia: redistribution of precipitation throughout the country; an increase in droughts; change in the regime of river flow and the operation of hydroelectric power plants; the upper layer of permafrost will melt (and this is 60% of the territory of Russia), the stability of the foundations of engineering structures will suffer; the level of the World Ocean will rise, which will lead to the flooding of low-lying coasts.

« Ozone holes » . Ozone - triatomic oxygen molecules - is scattered above the Earth at an altitude of 15 to 50 km. If you hypothetically compress this shell at normal atmospheric pressure, you get a layer of 2 mm, but life on the planet is impossible without it. The stratospheric ozone layer protects people and wildlife from the cruel ultraviolet and soft x-ray radiation in the ultraviolet part of the solar spectrum. Every percent of ozone lost globally causes up to 150,000 additional cases of cataract blindness and a 2.6% increase in skin cancers. UVR suppresses the body's immune system.

The main factors that destroy the Earth's ozone layer are:

1) the use of freons in technology, perfumery and chemical products,

2) launching powerful rockets,

3) flights of jet aircraft in high layers of the atmosphere,

4) testing of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons,

5) destruction of the natural ozonizer - forests.

The ecological crisis is characterized by Reimers,(1992) not so much by increasing human impact on nature as by a sharp increase in the impact of human-modified nature on social development (the boomerang effect).

Ecological boomerang - an expression for a difficult situation caused by poor consideration of environmental laws, as a result of which man's actions on nature turn against him.

The boomerang effect comes in two forms:

1) in the form of acute impact - drying up of forests from acid rain, thinning of the ozonosphere from the impact of ozone-depleting substances, etc.;

2) in the form of permanent, chronic processes such as gradual climate change (including the "greenhouse effect").

Ecological crisis - this is a sustainable imbalance between society and nature, which consists in the degradation of the natural environment and the inability of state structures to take appropriate measures in order to solve the problem and restore the state of a favorable environment.

One of the prerequisites for the ecological crisis is human pollution of the environment.

Environmental pollution - introduction into the ecological system of living or non-living components that are not characteristic of it, physical or structural changes that interrupt or disrupt the processes of circulation and metabolism, with an indispensable consequence in the form of a gradual destruction of the ecosystem.

Causes of the ecological crisis:

  1. The limitation of natural resources within the framework of the planet and near-Earth outer space.
  2. Deficiencies in the organizational, legal and economic activities of the state for environmental protection.
  3. The high cost of treatment facilities and other means of environmental protection.
  4. Insufficient level environmental education population, as well as the low level of culture and morality of individuals.
  5. Environmental nihilism- denial of the laws of the relationship between man and the environment, neglect of nature.

Forms of manifestation of the ecological crisis:

  • radiation pollution;
  • air pollution;
  • agricultural degradation;
  • shortage of drinking water.

So far, society has not developed a unified view of the ecological situation on the planet. There were 3 points of view:

  1. Humanity is already in ecological disaster.
  2. Humanity is entering a global ecological crisis.
  3. There are only local places of ecological trouble.

Now scientists have identified the importance of the above problem. Obviously, at the current pace of human development, an ecological crisis is inevitable.

It is necessary to distinguish between a crisis and a catastrophe. If a catastrophe is an irreversible phenomenon in which the role of mankind is minimal, then crisis is a reversible state in which a person acts as an active party. Accordingly, there are ways to overcome the crisis, the effectiveness of which directly depends both on society as a whole and on each individual.

Ways to overcome the ecological crisis:

  1. An important step towards overcoming the ecological crisis is enlightenment of all strata of society. Ecology as academic discipline should become an integral part of the training of specialists in the field of various sciences.
  2. Creation of effective environmental legislation. Of course, in addition to national laws governing relations between enterprises, the state and its environmental legal relations, interstate legal relations are important.
  3. Search for competent scientific and technical solutions, which can be carried out by financing the activities of institutes and laboratories.
  4. It is necessary that every inhabitant of our planet realize that the environmental threat comes from from each individual person, including himself.

People must understand that life on Earth depends on their relationship to nature and on the harmony between them and the natural world.

Ecological crisis - this is a tense state of relations between humanity and nature, characterized by a discrepancy between the development of productive forces and production relations in human society and the resource and economic possibilities of the biosphere.

The ecological crisis can also be viewed as a conflict in the interaction of a biological species with nature; crisis nature reminds of the inviolability of its laws; Those who break these laws die. In a broader sense, the ecological crisis is understood as a phase in the development of the biosphere, in which a qualitative renewal of living matter takes place (the extinction of some species and the emergence of others).

Intervention in the natural cycle began by man at the moment when he first threw grain into the ground. Thus began the era of man's conquest of his planet. primitive man prompted to engage in agriculture, and then cattle breeding, that at the dawn of their development, the inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere destroyed almost all ungulates, using them as food (one example is mammoths in Siberia). The lack of food resources led to the fact that most of the individuals of the then human population became extinct. It was one of the first natural crises that hit people. It should be emphasized that the extermination of certain large mammals could not be total. A sharp decrease in the number as a result of hunting leads to the division of the species range into separate islands. The fate of small isolated populations is deplorable: if a species is not able to quickly restore the integrity of its range, its inevitable extinction occurs due to epizootics or a shortage of individuals of one sex with an overabundance of the other.

The first crises (not only the lack of food) forced our ancestors to look for ways to preserve the size of their population. Gradually, man took the path of technological progress. The era of the great confrontation between man and nature began. Man more and more moved away from the natural cycle, which is based on the substitution of natural parts and the non-waste nature of natural processes. Over time, the confrontation turned out to be so serious that it became impossible for a person to return to the natural environment.

In the second half of the XX century. mankind is facing an ecological crisis, which is called "the crisis of decomposers”, i.e. its defining feature is the dangerous depletion and pollution of the biosphere as a result of human activity and the associated disturbance of the natural balance.

The ecological crisis is usually divided into two parts: natural and social. Natural part testifies

about the onset of degradation, destruction of the natural environment. Social side of the ecological crisis lies in the inability of state and public structures to stop the degradation of the environment and improve it. Both sides of the ecological crisis are closely interconnected. The onset of the ecological crisis can be stopped only with a rational state policy, the existence of state programs and state structures responsible for their implementation, a developed economy and the implementation of emergency measures for environmental protection.

Use of the term "environmental crisis" to refer to environmental issues takes into account the fact that a person is part of an ecosystem that is modified as a result of his activity (primarily production). Natural and social phenomena are a single whole, and their interaction is expressed in the destruction of the ecosystem. It is now obvious to everyone that the ecological crisis is a global and universal concept that concerns each of the people living on Earth.

Signs of the modern ecological crisis are:

  • ? global warming, greenhouse effect, shift of climatic zones;
  • ? ozone holes, destruction of the ozone screen;
  • ? reduction of biodiversity on the planet;
  • ? global environmental pollution;
  • ? non-utilizable radioactive waste;
  • ? water and wind erosion and reduction of fertile soil areas;
  • ? population explosion, urbanization;
  • ? depletion of non-renewable mineral resources;
  • ? energy crisis;
  • ? a sharp increase in the number of previously unknown and often incurable diseases;
  • ? lack of food, a permanent state of hunger for most of the world's population;
  • ? depletion and pollution of the resources of the oceans. The overall economic burden on ecological systems depends on three factors: population size, average consumption levels, and widespread use of various technologies. The environmental damage caused by the consumer society can be reduced by changing agricultural patterns, transportation systems, urban planning methods, energy consumption intensity, rethinking industrial technologies, and so on. In addition, when technology changes, the level of material requests can be reduced. And this is gradually happening due to the rise in the cost of living, which is directly related to environmental problems.

The essence of the ecological threat lies in the fact that the ever-increasing pressure on the biosphere of anthropogenic factors can lead to a complete break in the natural cycles of reproduction of biological resources, self-purification of soil, water, and atmosphere. This will cause a sharp and rapid deterioration of the ecological situation, which may lead to the death of the planet's population. Already, environmentalists are warning about the growing greenhouse effect, the spread of ozone holes, the fallout of everything more acid rain, etc. These negative trends in the development of the biosphere are gradually becoming global in nature and pose a threat to the future of mankind.

Control questions and tasks

  • 1. What is an “environmental crisis”?
  • 2. Name two sides of the ecological crisis.
  • 3. Why is the current environmental crisis called the "crisis of decomposers"?
  • 4. What are the signs of the current environmental crisis?
  • 5. What factors determine the overall economic burden on ecological systems?

Ecological crisis

Ecological crisis- special type environmental situation when the habitat of one of the species or population changes in such a way that its continued survival is called into question. The main causes of the crisis:

  • Abiotic: The quality of the environment degrades from the needs of the species after a change in abiotic environmental factors (such as an increase in temperature or a decrease in rainfall).
  • Biotic: environment becomes difficult for a species (or population) to survive due to increased predation pressure or overpopulation.

The crisis can be:

  • global;
  • local.

Fighting a global environmental crisis is much more difficult than dealing with a local one. The solution to this problem can only be achieved by minimizing the pollution produced by mankind to a level that ecosystems will be able to cope with on their own. Currently, the global environmental crisis includes four main components: acid rain, greenhouse effect, pollution of the planet with superecotoxicants and the so-called ozone holes.

The evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium suggests that rare ecological crises can be the engine of rapid evolution.

Abiotic factors

Climate change is starting to have a strong impact on ecosystems. Due to global warming, snowfall is decreasing and sea levels are rising. Ecosystems will have to change to coexist with rising temperatures. As a consequence, many species may leave their habitats.

Polar bears are in danger. They require ice to hunt their main food, fur seals. At the same time, the ice caps are melting, making the hunting season shorter every year. As a result, they do not gain enough fat for wintering; and therefore cannot reproduce to the extent necessary to maintain the population.

Freshwater and marsh ecosystems are also highly affected by rising temperatures. Climate change can be fatal for some fish species (salmon, trout, etc.).

Many species will be able to adapt by moving their habitats closer to the poles, while others will be less fortunate. For example, there will be nowhere for polar bears or salmon to move.

The disappearance of species diversity

A huge number of species disappear. Every year, between 17,000 and 100,000 species disappear. The rate at which species are becoming extinct has skyrocketed in recent years.

The extinction of species from the ecosystem will affect everyone sooner or later. In the US and Canada, an extraordinary decline in shark populations has been recorded along the east coast. At the same time, an increase in the population of stingrays was recorded, which, in turn, reduced the number of crustaceans in the same region by an order of magnitude. The reduction in the number of crustaceans has led to a deterioration in water quality and to a reduction in underwater fields. Species diversity is declining at a tremendous rate. Seven million square kilometers of rainforest have disappeared in the last 50 years. Two million of them were subsequently used for agriculture, the remaining five are not suitable for this. It takes about five billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year for 10-20 years to restore forest to them. Afforestation, however, will bring enormous benefits to species diversity.

overpopulation

AT wild nature The problem of overpopulation is solved with the help of predators. Predators perfectly notice traces of the disease in their victims and eat mainly the old and sick. A side effect is survival of the strongest and limiting population growth.

In the absence of predators, species are limited by the resources they can find in their habitat, but this does not always deter overpopulation. In fact, resource abundance can cause birth boom which will result in the fact that the region will have more consumers than it can feed. In this case, hunger and fierce competition for scarce resources will lead the population to collapse, and very quickly. Lemmings and some other rodents are known for such periods of rapid growth and subsequent fall.

Ideally, along with the growth of the population, the population of predators that feed on it also grows. Animals that are genetically weak or have birth defects also soon die, unable to compete for survival with healthy ones.

In reality, animals that have appeared in the region from outside have an advantage over local ones, for example, they can be “inedible” for local predators. If left unchecked, such animals can instantly grow in numbers and practically destroy the ecosystem.

Examples of overpopulation caused by species introduced into the ecosystem.

  • In Argentina (Patagonia), alien species such as trout and sheep introduced from Europe have proven to be more deadly than the plague, displacing native species of fish and ruminants.
  • In Australia, when European immigrants brought rabbits there, they proliferated so much that they got out of hand and began to eat plants that the local species needed to survive. Farmers staged a real rabbit hunt to protect their farms. They also brought cats for protection from rats. Cats proved to be another problem as they began to eat local animals.

see also

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See what the "Environmental Crisis" is in other dictionaries:

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Books

  • Global ecological crisis. Based on the materials of the course of lectures "Nature Protection: Biological Basis, Simulation Models, Social Applications", Fridman V.S. Faculty of Biology Lomonosov Moscow State University. The central task of the work is to help everyone understand ...
  • Global ecological crisis. Based on the materials of the course of lectures Nature Protection. Biological Foundations, Simulation Models, Social Applications, V. S. Fridman. The book was written on the basis of the author's lectures on the Nature Conservation course given at the Faculty of Biology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. The central task of the work is to help everyone understand their own ...
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