Relevant for Russia. It should be recognized that the country is one of the most polluted in the world. This affects the quality of life and has a detrimental effect on people's health. The emergence of environmental problems in Russia, as in other countries, is associated with the intense human influence on nature, which has acquired a dangerous and aggressive character.

What common environmental problems exist in Russia?

Air pollution

Water and soil pollution

Household waste

On average, each resident of Russia produces 400 kg of solid household waste per year. The only way out is recycling waste (paper, glass). There are very few enterprises that deal with waste disposal or recycling in the country;

Nuclear pollution

At many nuclear power plants, the equipment is outdated and the situation is approaching catastrophe, because an accident can happen at any moment. In addition, radioactive waste is not properly disposed of. Radioactive radiation from hazardous substances causes mutation and cell death in the body of humans, animals, and plants. Contaminated elements enter the body along with water, food and air, are deposited, and the effects of radiation may appear after a while;

Destruction of protected areas and poaching

This lawless activity leads to the death of both individual species of flora and fauna and the destruction of ecosystems as a whole.

Arctic problems

As for specific environmental problems in Russia, in addition to global ones, there are several regional ones. First of all, this is Arctic problems. This ecosystem was damaged during its development. There are large quantities of hard-to-reach oil and gas reserves here. If they start to be mined, there will be a threat of oil spills. leads to the melting of Arctic glaciers, they may completely disappear. As a result of these processes, many species of northern animals are dying out, and the ecosystem is changing significantly; there is a threat of flooding of the continent.

Baikal

Baikal is the source of 80% of Russia's drinking water, and this water area was damaged by the activities of a paper and pulp mill, which dumped industrial and household waste and garbage nearby. The Irkutsk hydroelectric power station also has a detrimental effect on the lake. Not only are the banks destroyed, the water is polluted, but its level also drops, fish spawning grounds are destroyed, which leads to the disappearance of populations.

The Volga basin is subject to the greatest anthropogenic load. The quality of the Volga water and its inflow does not meet recreational and hygienic standards. Only 8% of wastewater discharged into rivers is treated. In addition, the country has a significant problem of declining river levels in all water bodies, and small rivers are constantly drying up.

The Gulf of Finland

The Gulf of Finland is considered the most dangerous water area in Russia, since the water contains a huge amount of oil products that spilled as a result of tanker accidents. There is also active poaching activity here, and as a result, animal populations are declining. There is also uncontrolled salmon fishing.

The construction of megacities and highways is destroying forests and other natural resources throughout the country. In modern cities, there are problems not only with air and hydrosphere pollution, but also with noise pollution. It is in cities that the problem of household waste is most acute. In populated areas of the country there are not enough green areas with plantings, and there is also poor air circulation. Among the most polluted cities in the world, the Russian city of Norilsk ranks second. A bad environmental situation has developed in such cities of the Russian Federation as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Cherepovets, Asbest, Lipetsk and Novokuznetsk.

Demonstrative video of environmental problems in Russia

The problem of public health

Considering the various environmental problems of Russia, one cannot ignore the problem of deteriorating health of the country's population. The main manifestations of this problem are as follows:

• — degradation of the gene pool and mutations;
• — increase in the number of hereditary diseases and pathologies;
• - many diseases become chronic;
• — deterioration of sanitary and hygienic living conditions for certain segments of the population;
• - increase in the number of drug addicts and alcohol dependent people;
• — increase in infant mortality rate;
• - increase in male and female infertility;
• - regular epidemics;
• — an increase in the number of patients with cancer, allergies, and cardiovascular diseases.

The list goes on. All of these health problems are a major consequence of environmental degradation. If environmental problems in Russia are not solved, the number of sick people will increase, and the population will regularly decline.

Ways to solve environmental problems

The solution to environmental problems directly depends on the activities of government officials. It is necessary to control all areas of the economy so that all enterprises reduce their negative impact on the environment. We also need the development and implementation of environmental technologies. They can also be borrowed from foreign developers. Today drastic measures are required to solve environmental problems. However, we must remember that a lot depends on ourselves: on lifestyle, saving natural resources and utilities, maintaining hygiene and on our own choice. For example, everyone can throw out garbage, recycle waste paper, save water, put out a fire in nature, use reusable dishes, buy paper bags instead of plastic ones, and read e-books. These small actions will help you make your contribution to improving the environment of Russia.

Global environmental problems and ways to solve them

Introduction …………………………………………………………………….3

Chapter 1. Main environmental problems ……………………………5

1.1.Atmospheric pollution……………………………………….....5

1.2.Global climate change……………………………………...14

1.3.Ways to solve global problems…………………………….....17

1.4.The impact of environmental problems on the economy……………….18

Chapter 2. Environmental problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan …………………………………...21

2.1. Soil desertification………………………………………………………….....21

2.2.Radioactive contamination of the Republic of Kazakhstan………………………...…………….25

Conclusion ………………………………………...………………………....27

Bibliography ……..………………………………………………...31

Humanity is too slow to understand the scale of the danger created by a careless attitude towards the environment. Meanwhile, the solution (if it is still possible) of such formidable global problems as environmental ones requires urgent, energetic joint efforts of international organizations, states, regions, and the public.
During its existence and especially in the 20th century, humanity managed to destroy about 70 percent of all natural ecological (biological) systems on the planet that are capable of processing human waste, and continues their “successful” destruction. The amount of permissible impact on the biosphere as a whole has now been exceeded several times. Moreover, humans release thousands of tons of substances into the environment that were never contained in it and which often cannot be or are poorly recyclable. All this leads to the fact that biological microorganisms, which act as an environmental regulator, are no longer able to perform this function.
According to experts, in 30 - 50 years an irreversible process will begin, which at the turn of the 21st - 22nd centuries will lead to a global environmental disaster.

The consequences of environmental problems are costly for a generation of society - the environmental crisis results in deterioration of health, rivers, and a decrease in life expectancy. Especially in areas of environmental disaster. Environmental problems occupy one of the first places in the public consciousness, and concern for the state of the environment is growing. Environmental problems are not only disasters, catastrophes and cataclysms, but also events that are morally intolerable, since they threaten the health and well-being of people.

The state of the natural environment surrounding humans is one of the most pressing global problems of our time. Many people have studied the problems of ecology and the global state of the environment. Among them are Albert Gore, V.I. Vernadsky, E. Haeckel, Bjorn Lomborg and others.

The purpose of the course work is to consider the most important environmental problems and study programs for solving them.

The objective of the coursework is to disclose all the most pressing environmental problems available, their causes, consequences, impact on the environment and human health and ways to solve them.

The coursework consists of 31 pages and contains two chapters. The first chapter consists of 4 subchapters, the second – of 2 subchapters.

Chapter 1 Main environmental problems

1.1. Air pollution

First, we need to say a few words about the very concept of “ecology”.

Ecology was born as a purely biological science about the “organism-environment” relationship. However, with increasing anthropogenic and technogenic pressure on the environment, the inadequacy of this approach has become obvious. Indeed, at present there are no phenomena, processes and territories unaffected by this powerful pressure. And there is no science that could avoid searching for a way out of the environmental crisis. The range of sciences involved in environmental issues has expanded enormously. Nowadays, along with biology, these are economic and geographical sciences, medical and sociological research, atmospheric physics and mathematics and many other sciences.

Environmental problems of our time, in terms of their scale, can be conditionally divided into local, regional and global and require different means of solution and scientific developments of different nature for their solution.

An example of a local environmental problem is a plant that discharges its industrial waste, which is harmful to human health, into the river without treatment. This is a violation of the law. Nature conservation authorities or even the public should fine such a plant through the courts and, under the threat of closure, force it to build treatment facilities. No special science is required.

An example of regional environmental problems is the drying up of the Aral Sea with a sharp deterioration of the environmental situation throughout its periphery (Appendix 1), or the high radioactivity of soils in areas adjacent to Chernobyl.

To solve such problems, scientific research is already needed. In the first case - precise hydrological studies to develop recommendations for increasing flow into the Aral Sea, in the second - elucidation of the impact on public health of long-term exposure to low doses of radiation and the development of methods for soil decontamination.

Today, the biggest and most dangerous problem is the depletion and destruction of the natural environment, the disruption of the ecological balance within it as a result of growing and poorly controlled human activities. Exceptional harm is caused by industrial and transport disasters, which lead to mass death of living organisms, contamination and contamination of the world's oceans, atmosphere, and soil. But an even greater negative impact is caused by continuous emissions of harmful substances into the environment.

Firstly, a strong impact on people’s health, all the more destructive since humanity is increasingly crowded in cities, where the concentration of harmful substances in the air, soil, atmosphere, directly in premises, as well as in other influences (electricity, radio waves, etc.) ) very high.

Secondly, many species of animals and plants disappear, and new dangerous microorganisms appear.

Thirdly, the landscape is deteriorating, fertile lands are turning into piles, rivers into sewers, and the water regime and climate are changing in places. But the greatest danger is global climate change (warming), possible, for example, due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This could lead to the melting of glaciers. As a result, vast and densely populated areas in different regions of the world will be under water.

Atmospheric air is the most important life-supporting natural environment and is a mixture of gases and aerosols of the surface layer of the atmosphere, which developed during the evolution of the Earth, human activity and is located outside residential, industrial and other premises.

The results of environmental studies clearly indicate that ground-level atmospheric pollution is the most powerful, permanent impact factor on humans, the food chain and the environment. Atmospheric air has unlimited capacity and plays the role of the most mobile, chemically aggressive and pervasive interaction agent near the surface of the components of the biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

In recent years, data have been obtained on the significant role of the ozone layer of the atmosphere in preserving the biosphere, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, which is harmful to living organisms, and forms a thermal barrier at altitudes of about 40 km, preventing the cooling of the earth's surface.

The atmosphere has an intense impact not only on humans and biota, but also on the hydrosphere, soil and vegetation cover, geological environment, buildings, structures and other man-made objects. Therefore, the protection of atmospheric air and the ozone layer is the highest priority environmental problem and is given close attention in all developed countries.

The polluted ground atmosphere causes cancer of the lungs, throat and skin, disorders of the central nervous system, allergic and respiratory diseases, defects in newborns and many other diseases, the list of which is determined by the pollutants present in the air and their combined effects on the human body. The results of special studies have shown that there is a close positive relationship between public health and air quality.

The main agents of atmospheric influence on the hydrosphere are precipitation in the form of rain and snow, and to a lesser extent, smog and fog. Surface and underground waters of land are mainly fed by the atmosphere and, as a result, their chemical composition depends mainly on the state of the atmosphere.

The negative impact of a polluted atmosphere on soil and vegetation cover is associated both with the loss of acidic precipitation, which washes out calcium, humus and microelements from the soil, and with disruption of photosynthesis processes, leading to slower growth and death of plants. The high sensitivity of trees (especially birch and oak) to air pollution has been identified for a long time. The combined action of both factors leads to a noticeable decrease in soil fertility and the disappearance of forests. Acid precipitation is now considered as a powerful factor not only in the weathering of rocks and the deterioration of the quality of load-bearing soils, but also in the chemical destruction of man-made objects, including cultural monuments and ground communication lines. Many economically developed countries are currently implementing programs to address the problem of acid precipitation. As part of the National Acid Rain Program, established in 1980, many US federal agencies began to fund research into the atmospheric processes that cause acid rain in order to assess the impact of acid rain on ecosystems and develop appropriate environmental measures. It turned out that acid rain has a multifaceted effect on the environment and is the result of self-cleaning (washing) of the atmosphere. The main acidic agents are dilute sulfuric and nitric acids, formed during the oxidation reactions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides with the participation of hydrogen peroxide.

Natural sources of pollution include: volcanic eruptions, dust storms, forest fires, dust of cosmic origin, sea salt particles, products of plant, animal and microbiological origin. The level of such pollution is considered as background, which changes little over time.

The main natural process of pollution of the surface atmosphere is the volcanic and fluid activity of the Earth. Large volcanic eruptions lead to global and long-term atmospheric pollution, as evidenced by chronicles and modern observational data (the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991). This is due to the fact that huge amounts of gases are instantly released into the high layers of the atmosphere, which are picked up at high altitudes by air currents moving at high speeds and quickly spread throughout the globe.

The duration of the polluted state of the atmosphere after large volcanic eruptions reaches several years.

Anthropogenic sources of pollution are caused by human economic activities. These include:

1. Combustion of fossil fuels, which is accompanied by the release of 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. As a result, over 100 years (1860 - 1960), the CO2 content increased by 18% (from 0.027 to 0.032%). The rate of these emissions has increased significantly over the past three decades. At this rate, by 2000 the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be at least 0.05%.

2. Operation of thermal power plants, when the combustion of high-sulfur coals results in the formation of acid rain as a result of the release of sulfur dioxide and fuel oil.

3. Exhausts from modern turbojet aircraft contain nitrogen oxides and gaseous fluorocarbons from aerosols, which can lead to damage to the ozone layer of the atmosphere (ozonosphere).

4. Production activities.

5. Pollution with suspended particles (during grinding, packaging and loading, from boiler houses, power plants, mine shafts, quarries when burning waste).

6. Emissions of various gases by enterprises.

7. Combustion of fuel in flares, resulting in the formation of the most common pollutant - carbon monoxide.

8. Combustion of fuel in boilers and vehicle engines, accompanied by the formation of nitrogen oxides, which cause smog.

9. Ventilation emissions (mine shafts).

10. Ventilation emissions with excessive ozone concentrations from premises with high energy installations (accelerators, ultraviolet sources and nuclear reactors). In large quantities, ozone is a highly toxic gas.

During fuel combustion processes, the most intense pollution of the surface layer of the atmosphere occurs in megalopolises and large cities, industrial centers due to the widespread use of vehicles, thermal power plants, boiler houses and other power plants operating on coal, fuel oil, diesel fuel, natural gas and gasoline. The contribution of motor transport to total air pollution here reaches 40-50%. A powerful and extremely dangerous factor in air pollution are disasters at nuclear power plants (Chernobyl accident) and testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. This is due both to the rapid spread of radionuclides over long distances and to the long-term nature of contamination of the territory.

The high danger of chemical and biochemical production lies in the potential for emergency releases into the atmosphere of extremely toxic substances, as well as microbes and viruses, which can cause epidemics among the population and animals.

Currently, there are many tens of thousands of pollutants of anthropogenic origin in the surface atmosphere. Due to the continued growth of industrial and agricultural production, new chemical compounds are emerging, including highly toxic ones. The main anthropogenic pollutants of atmospheric air, in addition to large-scale oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, dust and soot, are complex organic, organochlorine and nitro compounds, man-made radionuclides, viruses and microbes. The most dangerous widely distributed in the air basin of Kazakhstan are dioxin, benzo(a)pyrene, phenols, formaldehyde, and carbon disulfide. Solid suspended particles are represented mainly by soot, calcite, quartz, hydromica, kaolinite, feldspar, and less often by sulfates and chlorides. Oxides, sulfates and sulfites, sulfides of heavy metals, as well as alloys and metals in native form were discovered in snow dust using specially developed methods.

In Western Europe, priority is given to 28 particularly dangerous chemical elements, compounds and their groups. The group of organic substances includes acrylic, nitrile, benzene, formaldehyde, styrene, toluene, vinyl chloride, and inorganic substances - heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, V), gases

(carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, radon, ozone), asbestos.

Lead and cadmium have a predominantly toxic effect. Carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, styrene, tetrachloroethane, and toluene have an intense unpleasant odor. The halo of exposure to sulfur and nitrogen oxides extends over long distances. The above 28 air pollutants are included in the international register of potentially toxic chemicals.

The main air pollutants in residential premises are dust and tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide and carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, radon and heavy metals, insecticides, deodorants, synthetic detergents, drug aerosols, microbes and bacteria. Japanese researchers have shown that bronchial asthma may be associated with the presence of domestic mites in the air.

The atmosphere is characterized by extremely high dynamism, due to both the rapid movement of air masses in the lateral and vertical directions, and high speeds and the variety of physical and chemical reactions occurring in it. The atmosphere is now considered as a huge “chemical cauldron”, which is under the influence of numerous and variable anthropogenic and natural factors. Gases and aerosols emitted into the atmosphere are characterized by high reactivity. Dust and soot arising from fuel combustion and forest fires absorb heavy metals and radionuclides and, when deposited on the surface, can pollute large areas and enter the human body through the respiratory system.

The “lifetime” of gases and aerosols in the atmosphere varies over a very wide range (from 1 – 3 minutes to several months) and depends mainly on their chemical stability, size (for aerosols) and the presence of reactive components (ozone, hydrogen peroxide, etc. .).

Assessing and, even more so, forecasting the state of the surface atmosphere is a very difficult problem. Currently, its condition is assessed mainly using a normative approach. The values ​​of toxic chemicals and other standard indicators of air quality are given in many reference books and manuals. Such guidelines for Europe, in addition to the toxicity of pollutants (carcinogenic, mutagenic, allergenic and other effects), take into account their prevalence and ability to accumulate in the human body and the food chain. The disadvantages of the normative approach are the unreliability of the accepted indicator values ​​due to the poor development of their empirical observational base, the lack of taking into account the joint impact of pollutants and sudden changes in the state of the surface layer of the atmosphere in time and space. There are few stationary air monitoring posts, and they do not allow us to adequately assess its condition in large industrial and urban centers. Needles, lichens, and mosses can be used as indicators of the chemical composition of the surface atmosphere. At the initial stage of identifying sources of radioactive contamination associated with the Chernobyl accident, pine needles, which have the ability to accumulate radionuclides in the air, were studied. The reddening of coniferous tree needles during periods of smog in cities is widely known.

The most sensitive and reliable indicator of the state of the surface atmosphere is snow cover, which deposits pollutants over a relatively long period of time and makes it possible to determine the location of sources of dust and gas emissions using a set of indicators. Snowfalls contain pollutants that are not captured by direct measurements or calculated data on dust and gas emissions.

Promising directions for assessing the state of the surface atmosphere of large industrial and urban areas include multichannel remote sensing. The advantage of this method is the ability to characterize large areas quickly, repeatedly, and in “one key.” To date, methods have been developed to assess the content of aerosols in the atmosphere. The development of scientific and technological progress allows us to hope for the development of such methods for other pollutants.

The forecast of the state of the surface atmosphere is carried out using complex data. These primarily include the results of monitoring observations, patterns of migration and transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere, features of anthropogenic and natural processes of air pollution in the study area, the influence of meteorological parameters, topography and other factors on the distribution of pollutants in the environment. For this purpose, heuristic models of changes in the surface atmosphere in time and space are developed for a specific region. The greatest success in solving this complex problem has been achieved in areas where nuclear power plants are located. The end result of using such models is to quantify the risk of air pollution and assess its acceptability from a socio-economic point of view.

The main atmospheric pollutants include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, as well as trace gas components that can affect the temperature regime of the troposphere: nitrogen dioxide, halocarbons (freons), methane and tropospheric ozone.

The main contribution to the high level of air pollution comes from ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical and petrochemical enterprises, the construction industry, energy, pulp and paper industry, and in some cities, boiler houses.

Sources of pollution are thermal power plants, which, along with smoke, emit sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide into the air, metallurgical enterprises, especially non-ferrous metallurgy, which emit nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, fluorine, ammonia, phosphorus compounds, particles and compounds of mercury and arsenic into the air; chemical and cement plants. Harmful gases enter the air as a result of burning fuel for industrial needs, heating homes, operating transport, burning and processing household and industrial waste.

Atmospheric pollutants are divided into primary, which enter directly into the atmosphere, and secondary, which are the result of the transformation of the latter. Thus, sulfur dioxide gas entering the atmosphere is oxidized to sulfuric anhydride, which reacts with water vapor and forms droplets of sulfuric acid. When sulfuric anhydride reacts with ammonia, ammonium sulfate crystals are formed. Similarly, as a result of chemical, photochemical, physicochemical reactions between pollutants and atmospheric components, other secondary characteristics are formed. The main sources of pyrogenic pollution on the planet are thermal power plants, metallurgical and chemical enterprises, and boiler plants, which consume more than 170% of the annually produced solid and liquid fuel.

The main harmful impurities of pyrogenic origin are the following:

a) Carbon monoxide. It is produced by incomplete combustion of carbonaceous substances. It enters the air as a result of the combustion of solid waste, exhaust gases and emissions from industrial enterprises. Every year, at least 250 million tons of this gas enter the atmosphere. Carbon monoxide is a compound that actively reacts with components of the atmosphere and contributes to an increase in temperature on the planet and the creation of a greenhouse effect.

b) Sulfur dioxide. Released during the combustion of sulfur-containing fuel or processing of sulfur ores (up to 70 million tons per year). Some sulfur compounds are released during the combustion of organic residues in mining dumps. In the United States alone, the total amount of sulfur dioxide released into the atmosphere amounted to 85 percent of global emissions.

c) Sulfuric anhydride. Formed by the oxidation of sulfur dioxide.

The final product of the reaction is an aerosol or solution of sulfuric acid in rainwater, which acidifies the soil and aggravates diseases of the human respiratory tract. The fallout of sulfuric acid aerosol from smoke flares of chemical plants is observed under low cloudiness and high air humidity. Pyrometallurgical enterprises of non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy, as well as thermal power plants, annually emit tens of millions of tons of sulfuric anhydride into the atmosphere.

d) Hydrogen sulfide and carbon disulfide. They enter the atmosphere separately or together with other sulfur compounds. The main sources of emissions are enterprises producing artificial fiber, sugar, coke plants, oil refineries, and oil fields. In the atmosphere, when interacting with other pollutants, they undergo slow oxidation to sulfuric anhydride.

e) Nitrogen oxides. The main sources of emissions are enterprises producing; nitrogen fertilizers, nitric acid and nitrates, aniline dyes, nitro compounds, viscose silk, celluloid. The amount of nitrogen oxides entering the atmosphere is 20 million tons per year.

f) Fluorine compounds. Sources of pollution are enterprises producing aluminum, enamels, glass, and ceramics. steel, phosphate fertilizers. Fluorine-containing substances enter the atmosphere in the form of gaseous compounds - hydrogen fluoride or sodium and calcium fluoride dust.

The compounds are characterized by a toxic effect. Fluorine derivatives are strong insecticides.

g) Chlorine compounds. They enter the atmosphere from chemical plants producing hydrochloric acid, chlorine-containing pesticides, organic dyes, hydrolytic alcohol, bleach, and soda. In the atmosphere they are found as impurities of chlorine molecules and hydrochloric acid vapors. The toxicity of chlorine is determined by the type of compounds and their concentration.

In the metallurgical industry, when smelting cast iron and processing it into steel, various heavy metals and toxic gases are released into the atmosphere. Thus, per 1 ton of pig iron, in addition to 2.7 kg of sulfur dioxide and 4.5 kg of dust particles are released, which determine the amount of compounds of arsenic, phosphorus, antimony, lead, mercury vapor and rare metals, resinous substances and hydrogen cyanide.

The most common air pollutants enter the atmosphere primarily in two forms: either suspended particles or gases. Let's consider each of them separately.

Carbon dioxide. As a result of fuel combustion and cement production, huge amounts of this gas are released into the atmosphere. This gas itself is not poisonous.

Carbon monoxide. The combustion of fuel, which creates most of the gaseous and aerosol pollution in the atmosphere, serves as a source of another carbon compound - carbon monoxide. It is poisonous, and its danger is aggravated by the fact that it has neither color nor smell, and poisoning with it can occur completely unnoticed.

Currently, about 300 million tons of carbon monoxide enters the atmosphere as a result of human activity.

Hydrocarbons entering the atmosphere as a result of human activities make up a small proportion of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, but their pollution is very important. Their release into the atmosphere can occur at any stage of production, processing, storage, transportation and use of substances and materials containing hydrocarbons. More than half of the hydrocarbons produced by humans enter the air as a result of incomplete combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel during the operation of cars and other vehicles.

Sulphur dioxide. Atmospheric pollution with sulfur compounds has important environmental consequences. The main sources of sulfur dioxide are volcanic activity, as well as the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds.

Sulfurous sources of sulfur dioxide have long surpassed volcanoes in intensity and are now equal to the total intensity of all natural sources.

Aerosol particles enter the atmosphere from natural sources.

The processes of aerosol formation are very diverse. This is, first of all, crushing, grinding and spraying of solids. In nature, mineral dust raised from the surface of deserts during dust storms has this origin. The source of atmospheric aerosols is of global importance, since deserts occupy about a third of the land surface, and there is also a tendency for their share to increase due to unwise human activity. Mineral dust from the surface of deserts is carried by the wind for many thousands of kilometers.

Volcanic ash, which enters the atmosphere during eruptions, occurs relatively rarely and irregularly, as a result of which this source of aerosol is significantly inferior in mass to dust storms, its significance is very high, since this aerosol is thrown into the upper layers of the atmosphere - into the stratosphere. Remaining there for several years, it reflects or absorbs some of the solar energy that would, in its absence, reach the Earth's surface.

The source of aerosols is also the technological processes of human economic activity.

A powerful source of mineral dust is the building materials industry. Extraction and crushing of rocks in quarries, their transportation, cement production, construction itself - all this pollutes the atmosphere with mineral particles. A powerful source of solid aerosols is the mining industry, especially during the extraction of coal and ore in open pits.

Aerosols enter the atmosphere when solutions are sprayed. The natural source of such aerosols is the ocean, which supplies chloride and sulfate aerosols resulting from the evaporation of sea spray. Another powerful mechanism for the formation of aerosols is the condensation of substances during combustion or incomplete combustion due to lack of oxygen or low combustion temperature. Aerosols are removed from the atmosphere in three ways: dry deposition under the influence of gravity (the main route for large particles), deposition on obstacles, and removal by precipitation. Aerosol pollution affects weather and climate. Chemical inactive aerosols accumulate in the lungs and lead to damage. Ordinary quartz sand and other silicates - mica, clay, asbestos, etc. accumulates in the lungs and penetrates into the blood, leading to diseases of the cardiovascular system and liver disease.

1.2. Global climate change

The colossal power of nature: floods, natural disasters, storms, rising sea levels. Climate change is changing the image of our planet. Weather quirks are no longer unusual, they are becoming the norm. The ice on our planet is melting and this changes everything. Seas will rise, cities may be flooded and millions of people may die. No coastal area will escape the dire consequences.

Global warming, we hear this expression all the time, but behind the familiar words there is a frightening reality. Our planet is heating up and this is having a catastrophic effect on the Earth's ice caps. The temperature rises, the ice begins to melt, the sea begins to rise. Around the world, sea levels are rising twice as fast as they were 150 years ago. In 2005, 315 cubic km of ice from Greenland and Antarctica melted into the sea; for comparison, the city of Moscow uses 6 cubic km of water per year - this is global melting. In 2001, scientists predicted that sea levels would rise by 0.9 meters by the end of the century. This rise in water levels is enough to affect more than 100 million people around the world, but already many experts fear that their forecasts may be wrong. Even conservative estimates predict that over the next 60 years, rising sea levels will destroy a quarter of all homes located within 150 meters of the coast. Recent research paints a more alarming picture. By the end of the century, sea levels could rise by as much as 6 meters, and this could all happen to us all due to melting.

To understand what happens when ice melts, scientists need to study the processes that cause melting. Today's advanced technologies are able to reveal the ancient history of our planet by studying the changes that took place in the past and they hope to predict our future.

Global warming can be caused by various factors, however, many scientists attribute it to the greenhouse effect.

Long-term observations show that as a result of economic activities, the gas composition and dust content of the lower layers of the atmosphere changes. Millions of tons of soil particles rise into the air from plowed lands during dust storms. During the development of mineral resources, during the production of cement, during the application of fertilizers and the friction of car tires on the road, during the combustion of fuel and the release of industrial waste, a large amount of suspended particles of various gases enter the atmosphere. Determinations of air composition show that there is now 25% more carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere than 200 years ago. This is, of course, the result of human economic activity, as well as deforestation, the green leaves of which absorb carbon dioxide. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is associated with the greenhouse effect, which manifests itself in the heating of the inner layers of the Earth's atmosphere. This happens because the atmosphere transmits most of the sun's radiation. Some of the rays are absorbed and heat the earth's surface, which heats the atmosphere.

Another part of the rays is reflected from the surface of the Planet and this radiation is absorbed by carbon dioxide molecules, which contributes to an increase in the average temperature of the planet. The effect of the greenhouse effect is similar to the effect of glass in a greenhouse or greenhouse (this is where the name "greenhouse effect" comes from).

Let's consider what happens to bodies in a glass greenhouse. High energy radiation enters the greenhouse through the glass. It is absorbed by the bodies inside the greenhouse. They then themselves emit lower energy radiation, which is absorbed by the glass. The glass sends some of this energy back, providing extra heat to the objects inside. In exactly the same way, the earth's surface gains additional heat as greenhouse gases absorb and then release lower energy radiation. Gases that cause the greenhouse effect due to their increased concentration are called greenhouse gases. These are mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor, but there are other gases that absorb energy coming from the Earth. For example, chlorofluorine-containing hydrocarbon gases, such as freons or freons. The concentration of these gases in the atmosphere is also increasing.

Consequences of global warming:

1. If Earth's temperature continues to rise, it will have a dramatic impact on the world's climate.

2. More rainfall will occur in the tropics as the additional heat will increase the water vapor content in the air.

3. In dry areas, rains will become even more rare and they will turn into deserts, as a result of which people and animals will have to leave them.

4. Sea temperatures will also rise, leading to flooding of low-lying coastal areas and an increase in the number of severe storms.

5. Rising temperatures on Earth can cause sea levels to rise because:

a) water, when heated, becomes less dense and expands; the expansion of sea water will lead to a general rise in sea level.

b) rising temperatures may melt some of the perennial ice covering some land areas, such as Antarctica or high mountain ranges. The resulting water will eventually flow into the seas, raising their levels. It should be noted, however, that melting ice floating in the seas will not cause sea levels to rise. The Arctic ice cover is a huge layer of floating ice. Like Antarctica, the Arctic is also surrounded by many icebergs. Climatologists have calculated that if the Greenland and Antarctic glaciers melt, the level of the World Ocean will rise by 70-80 m.

6. Residential land will be reduced.

7. The water-salt balance of the oceans will be disrupted.

8. The trajectories of cyclones and anticyclones will change.

9. If the temperature on Earth increases, many animals will not be able to adapt to climate change. Many plants will die from lack of moisture and animals will have to move to other places in search of food and water. If rising temperatures lead to the death of many plants, then many species of animals will also die out.

Measures to prevent global warming.

The main measure to prevent global warming can be formulated as follows: find a new type of fuel or change the technology for using current types of fuel. This means that it is necessary:

1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

2. Install facilities for purifying emissions into the atmosphere in boiler houses, plants and factories.

3. Refuse traditional fuels in favor of more environmentally friendly ones.

4. Reduce the volume of deforestation and ensure their reproduction.

5. Create laws to prevent global warming.

6. Identify the causes of global warming, monitor them and eliminate their consequences.

The greenhouse effect cannot be completely eliminated. It is believed that if not for the greenhouse effect, the average temperature on the earth's surface would be -15 degrees Celsius.

1.3. Ways to solve global problems

Speaking about possible options for the development of the environmental situation on the planet, the most rewarding and, of course, the most meaningful, seems to be a conversation about some of the areas of environmental protection that exist today. Otherwise, we would have to talk exclusively about the horrors of depletion of natural resources, etc.

Despite the fact that each of the global problems discussed here has its own options for partial or more complete solutions, there is a certain set of general approaches to solving environmental problems. In addition, over the last century, humanity has developed a number of original ways to combat its own nature-destroying shortcomings.

Such methods (or possible ways to solve the problem) include the emergence and activities of various kinds of “green” movements and organizations. In addition to Green Peace, which is distinguished not only by the scope of its activities, but also, at times, by the noticeable extremism of its actions, as well as similar organizations that directly carry out environmental actions, there is another type of environmental organizations - structures that stimulate and sponsor environmental activities - such as the Foundation wildlife, for example. All environmental organizations exist in one of the forms: public, private state or mixed type organizations.

In addition to various types of associations that defend civilization’s rights to the nature it is gradually destroying, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives in the sphere of solving environmental problems. For example, environmental legislation of countries around the world, various international agreements or the Red Book system.

The International “Red Book” - a list of rare and endangered species of animals and plants - currently includes 5 volumes of materials. In addition, there are national and even regional “Red Books”.

Among the most important ways to solve environmental problems, most researchers also highlight the introduction of environmentally friendly, low- and non-waste technologies, the construction of treatment facilities, the rational location of production and the use of natural resources.

Although, undoubtedly - and this is proven by the entire course of human history - the most important direction for solving the environmental problems facing civilization is the increase in human ecological culture, serious environmental education and upbringing, everything that eradicates the main environmental conflict - the conflict between the savage consumer and the intelligent inhabitant fragile world that exists in the human mind.

1.4. Impact of environmental problems on the economy

Policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should not become a drag on the economy.

Addressing climate change and the economic damage it is likely to cause poses a dilemma for policymakers. The benefits of policies are uncertain and are likely to accrue to future generations, while the costs of policies are likely to be required more immediately and will be significant. At the same time, the costs of inaction are irreversible and possibly catastrophic, and are likely to hit poor countries harder than developed ones. Moreover, even if climate-warming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accumulating in the atmosphere were stopped immediately, temperatures would continue to rise for decades due to emissions already accumulated.

For these reasons, economic policymakers are increasingly recognizing that policies need to be taken both to mitigate the impact of global warming by slowing and ultimately reducing harmful emissions, and to adapt to the impacts of emissions that have already occurred or will occur in the coming decades. They also agree that mitigation policies in particular can have rapid and far-reaching effects. To shed light on how mitigation measures are likely to affect countries' economies, research was conducted comparing alternative policy options - emissions taxes, emissions trading and hybrid schemes combining elements of these two options. It is encouraging that the analysis shows that climate change can be addressed without undermining macroeconomic stability and growth or placing undue burdens on countries least able to bear the costs of policies. In other words, if policies are well designed, their economic costs should be affordable.

Baseline scenarios include a significant risk that the global climate will change dramatically by the end of this century. Without policies to control emissions, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) projects global temperatures will rise by an average of 2.8° Celsius by 2100. The likelihood of a greater temperature rise is not negligible. Nicholas Stern (2008) indicates that if baseline scenario pollutant concentrations stabilize at at least 750 ppm hydrocarbon equivalent by the end of the century, as assumed in the latest IPCC scenarios, there is at least a 50% chance that that global temperatures will rise by more than 5° Celsius, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the planet. Any estimate of the economic damage from climate change is subject to great uncertainty. In his study, Stern (United Kingdom) estimates that the reduction in GDP per capita by 2200 under his baseline climate scenario (assuming relatively high emissions, including market and non-market impacts and catastrophic risk) is in the range of 3 to 35 percent (90- percentage confidence interval) with a center estimate of 15 percent.

Uncertainty about the damage from climate change stems from a variety of sources. First, scientific knowledge about the physical and environmental processes underlying climate change continues to evolve.

For example, it is unclear how quickly greenhouse gases will accumulate in the atmosphere, how sensitive the climate and biological systems will be to increases in the concentrations of these gases, and where the “final frontiers” will be before catastrophic climate impacts such as the melting of the Western Ice Sheet in Antarctica occur.

or permafrost, a change in monsoon patterns, or a turn in the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean.

Secondly, it is difficult to assess how well people will be able to adapt to new climatic conditions. Third, it is difficult to provide a current estimate of the damage that future generations will suffer.

Moreover, low estimates of global damage mask wide variation between countries

Climate change will be felt earlier and much more acutely by less developed countries, at least relative to the size of their economies. Such countries are more reliant on climate-sensitive industries (such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism), have less healthy populations that are more vulnerable to environmental change, and provide fewer public services, which are also often of lower quality. Regions likely to be hardest hit include Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America. India and Europe are exposed to catastrophic risks such as changes in monsoon patterns and a reversal of the thermohaline circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, China, North America, developed Asia and emerging economies are less vulnerable and may even benefit from small amounts of warming (for example, from higher crop yields).

Chapter 2. Environmental problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2.1. Soil desertification

In most regions of our republic, the environmental situation is not only unfavorable, but also catastrophic.

The main sources that pollute the environment and cause degradation of natural systems are industry, agriculture, road transport and other anthropogenic factors. Of all the components of the biosphere and the environment, the atmosphere is the most sensitive; it primarily receives not only gaseous, but also liquid and solid pollutants.

Man has been polluting the atmosphere for thousands of years, but the consequences of the use of fire, which he used throughout this period, were insignificant.

What is the atmosphere? The air around us is a mixture of gases or, in other words, an atmosphere that envelops our globe.

The supply of various pollutants to the atmosphere from stationary industrial sources currently amounts to more than 4 million tons per year.

A significant amount of highly toxic gaseous and solid substances are released into the atmosphere over Kazakhstan. If we compare the amount of emissions from various stationary sources, then approximately 50 percent is emitted by heat and power sources, and 33 percent by mining and non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises. The largest amount of emissions of various pollutants occurs in Eastern Kazakhstan - 2231.4 thousand tons/year, which is 43 percent of the total emissions throughout Kazakhstan. Central Kazakhstan is in second place by the amount of emissions - 1868 thousand tons/year or 36 percent. The atmosphere is least polluted in Northern Kazakhstan - 363.2 thousand tons/year (7 percent) and Southern Kazakhstan - 415.1 thousand tons/year, which is 8 percent. The most mobile, with a wide range of action, are nitrogen and sulfur oxides. They carry over to significant considerations and have a strong influence on the death, especially of agricultural crops.

Desertification is one of the most important problems of our time. Currently, the area of ​​degraded lands in Kazakhstan is 179.9 million hectares, or more than 66% of its territory.

Thus, in Kazakhstan there is an urgent need to take preventive measures to prevent further land degradation and take measures to restore and further rationally use the country’s natural resources, including land and water.

The decrease in the fertility of arable land, the degradation of pastures and the reduction in the area of ​​hayfields, chemical and radioactive contamination of soils and water bodies have greatly worsened the condition of natural lands and led to a decrease in the volume of agricultural production, a deterioration in living conditions and public health. Thus, Kazakhstan is faced with the urgent issue of taking preventive measures to prevent further land degradation and taking measures to restore and further rationally use the country’s natural resources, including land and water. At present, when the land has been transferred to private land users, there is an urgent need to increase public awareness about the processes of desertification in Kazakhstan, the impact of these processes on the economic and social situation of the rural population, the goals and objectives of the Convention.

To solve these problems, the Republic of Kazakhstan signed in 1996 and ratified the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on June 7, 1997 and thereby committed itself to steadily implementing the main provisions of the Convention.

In 1996, work began in Kazakhstan to prepare a national action program. A group of scientists, with the participation of all interested ministries and departments, broad public participation and with the financial support of UNEP and UNDP, completed the draft “National Program of Action to Combat Desertification in Kazakhstan” (NACP) in December 1997. In 1999, the development of the National Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Desertification (NSDSAP) began.

With the support of the UN Development Program/UNSO, the Republic of Kazakhstan developed the “Pastures” project, management of pasture ecosystems. The goal of developing this project is to organize actions together with local administrations to preserve biodiversity, combat desertification and poverty in remote villages on the coast of the Kazakh part of the Aral Sea to support grazing livestock. This project involves providing effective assistance to local communities in the restoration, improvement and sustainable use of pasture lands, restoration and rational use of water for the development of livestock, and the local population gaining self-sufficiency.

Strategic directions for combating desertification are being developed as an integral part of the country’s broader national sustainable development policy, as set out in the “Kazakhstan-2030” Strategy.

During the implementation of the Convention, the following priority areas for combating desertification were identified:

Desertification monitoring. A basic territorial-zonal monitoring network is being formed in the republic. Currently it is represented by 36 stationary and 16 semi-stationary environmental sites. To create a basic monitoring network covering the entire territory of the republic, it is necessary to significantly increase their number, develop and implement a set of desertification indicators. As part of the Regional Action Plan for Asia, Kazakhstan made its proposals and became a member of the Thematic Program Network “Organization of a regional network for monitoring and assessing desertification in Asia.” Kazakhstan is participating in the work carried out by the BWC Secretariat on indicators and impact indicators. The importance of this work for assessing the implementation of the BWC in affected countries must be noted.

The basis of ecological zoning is the ecosystem principle and the establishment of the potential capabilities of ecosystems for self-healing - the ecological capacity of the area.

Measures for the rational use of natural resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan include the main directions of combating desertification:

Regarding arable land: maintaining intensive grain farming on more fertile lands; restoration of fertility of arable land; transformation of part of low-productive arable land into forage lands; introduction of soil protection farming system, etc.

For pastures: inventory of pastures; watering and surface improvement of pastures; development and implementation of a system of fenced pastures, etc.

For afforestation and protection of the forest fund: carrying out reforestation work on state forest fund lands; organization of monitoring of desert, tugai and mountain forests, etc.

On water resources: introduction of water-saving irrigation technologies; replacing moisture-loving crops with drought-resistant, less moisture-loving crops.

The Convention Secretariat decided to develop a Regional Action Program to Combat Desertification in Asia on the basis of regional thematic networks. As part of strengthening regional cooperation, Kazakhstan entered as a participating country into the already created thematic program networks:

1. Monitoring and assessment of desertification (responsible country - China);

2. Agroforestry and soil conservation.

Currently, Kazakhstan is actively participating in the development of regional cooperation. Active work is underway to include Kazakhstan in the international network to combat desertification. The main actions are aimed at strengthening the role of Kazakhstan at the regional level, increasing awareness of the local population about the goals and objectives of the BWC through seminars, meetings, and appearances in the media. Great importance is attached to the issue of participation of non-governmental organizations in the process of implementation of the Convention at the local level.

Particular attention is paid to the issue of finding possible donors to attract investments and implement project proposals.

The fight against desertification in Kazakhstan, concern for the conservation of natural resources is a national task that can be successfully solved only with the direct and active participation of all administrative, legislative, executive bodies, public associations and the entire population as a whole.

2.2. Radioactive contamination in the Republic of Kazakhstan

A serious real threat to the environmental safety of Kazakhstan is posed by radioactive contamination, the sources of which are divided into four main groups:

1. waste from non-operating enterprises, uranium mining and processing industries (uranium mine dumps, self-flowing wells, tailings dumps, dismantled equipment of technological lines); territories contaminated as a result of nuclear weapons tests; waste from the oil industry and oil equipment;

2. waste generated as a result of the operation of nuclear reactors and radioisotope products (spent sources of ionizing radiation). In Kazakhstan there are six large uranium-bearing geological provinces, many small deposits and ore occurrences of uranium, which cause an increased level of natural radioactivity, waste accumulated at uranium mining enterprises and at sites of nuclear explosions. On 30% of the territory of Kazakhstan there is a potential for increased release of natural radioactive gas - radon, which poses a real threat to human health. It is dangerous to use water contaminated with radionuclides for drinking and household needs. There are more than 50 thousand spent sources of ionizing radiation at enterprises in Kazakhstan, and during a radiation survey, more than 700 uncontrolled sources were discovered and eliminated, of which 16 are deadly to humans. A comprehensive solution to the problem should include the creation of a specialized organization for the processing and disposal of radioactive waste. The result of these measures will be a reduction in exposure of the population and radioactive pollution of the environment.

The barbaric, predatory attitude of central departments towards the natural resources of Kazakhstan led in the 70s-90s. to the environmental crisis in the republic, which has become catastrophic in some regions.

One of the most difficult environmental problems is radiation contamination of the territory of Kazakhstan. Nuclear tests conducted since 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site led to the contamination of a vast area in Central and Eastern Kazakhstan. There were five more test sites in the republic where nuclear tests were carried out; the Chinese Lop-Nor test site is located in close proximity to its borders. The background radiation in Kazakhstan also increases as a result of the formation of ozone holes during the launch of spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Radioactive waste poses a huge problem for Kazakhstan. Thus, the Ulba plant has accumulated about 100 thousand tons of waste contaminated with uranium and thorium, and the waste storage facility is located within the city limits of Ust-Kamenogorsk. There are only three repositories for nuclear waste in the republic, and all of them are located in the aquifer. Mining of uranium ore was carried out without land reclamation, only in 1990-1991. 97 thousand tons of radioactive rocks were transported to the Moyynkum district of the Zhambyl region, and in total up to 3 million tons of contaminated waste accumulated here.

It was the seriousness of the problem of radiation pollution that led to the fact that one of the first laws of sovereign Kazakhstan was the Decree of August 30, 1991, banning tests at the Semipalatinsk test site.

Another of the most serious environmental problems in Kazakhstan has been the depletion of water resources. Increased consumption of fresh water, primarily for irrigated agriculture, has led to clogging and depletion of natural water sources. The shallowing of the Aral Sea due to the irrational use of the waters of the Amur Darya and Syr Darya has become especially catastrophic. If in the 60s the sea contained 1066 km3 of water, then in the late 80s its volume was only 450 km3, the salinity of the water increased from 11-12 g/l to 26-27 g/l, which led to the death of many marine species animals and fish. Sea levels dropped by 13 meters, and the exposed seabed turned into a salt desert. Annual dust storms carry salt over vast areas of Eurasia. In the adjacent lands, the level of saline groundwater rose to 1.5-2 meters, which led to a drop in the fertility of irrigated lands in the Aral Sea region. The decrease in the surface of the sea entailed a change in the direction of winds and the climatic characteristics of the region.

A similar situation has developed on Lake Balkhash, the level of which has decreased by 2.8-3 meters over 10-15 years. At the same time, the level of the Caspian Sea continues to rise, caused by an ill-conceived decision to drain the Kara-Bogazgol Bay. Huge areas of coastal areas, grazing lands and promising oil fields have already been flooded.

The Zyryanovsky lead and Leninogorsk polymetallic plants caused pollution of the Irtysh, into which 895 tons of suspended substances, 2,139 tons of organic substances, and 263 tons of petroleum products were discharged in 1989 alone. An alarming ecological situation has developed in the valley of the Ili and Ural rivers.

The republic's land resources are in critical condition, fertile arable lands are being depleted, and pastures are becoming desertified. More than 69.7 million hectares of land are subject to erosion; every year thousands of hectares are withdrawn from agricultural use. The problem of air pollution remains serious, especially in large industrial centers.

Conclusion

Environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources and disruption of ecological connections in ecosystems have become global problems. And if humanity continues to follow the current path of development, then its death, according to the world’s leading ecologists, is inevitable in two to three generations.

As the negative consequences of ecological imbalance began to become universal, the need arose to create an environmental movement. Private entrepreneurs have also become involved in the creation of such opportunities, trying to reconcile the requirements for protecting nature with the protection of the right to profit and the possibility of its implementation. They strive to implement these requirements in two ways: by focusing production on the creation of means of production and by carrying out work to protect the natural environment and limit economic growth.

In recent years, monopolists have increasingly talked about production in order to protect the environment. Monopolies are fighting for dominance over the environmental movement, since environmental protection is a new area, the costs of which entail higher prices or direct public contributions, i.e. from the budget or through sharp relaxations (benefits). In fact, the very mechanism of market relations in capitalist production allows enterprises to use even their contribution to environmental protection to obtain ever-increasing profits.

Finally, enterprises that pollute the natural environment are obliged to make a major contribution to its protection and try to increase the price of their goods. But this is not easy to achieve, since all other enterprises that pollute the environment (manufacturers of cement, metal, etc.) also want to sell their products at a higher price to final producers. Taking into account environmental requirements in the end will have the following result: there is a tendency for prices to rise faster than wages to workers (rent), the purchasing power of the people decreases, and things will develop in such a way that the costs of protecting the environment will fall on the amount of money that people have to purchase goods. But since this amount of money will then decrease, there will be a tendency for stagnation or decrease in the volume of production of goods. The trend of regression or crisis is obvious. Such a slowdown in industrial growth and stagnation of production volume in some other system could have a positive aspect (less machines, noise, more air, shorter working hours, etc.). but with intensively developed production, all this can have a negative effect: goods, the production of which is associated with environmental pollution, will become luxury, inaccessible to the masses, and will be available only to privileged members of society,

inequality will deepen - the poor will become poorer, and the rich will become richer. Thus, entrepreneurs whose production method has led to a violation of the ecological balance, by protecting the natural environment, create for themselves the opportunity to continue to appropriate profits by participating in solving environmental problems.

To solve modern environmental problems, it is necessary to change industrial civilization and create a new basis for society, where the leading motive for production will be the satisfaction of essential human needs, the even and humane distribution of natural and labor-created wealth. (The incorrect distribution, for example, of food in modern distribution is evidenced by the following fact: in the USA, as much protein is spent on feeding domestic animals as it is spent on feeding the population in India.). The creation of a new civilization can hardly occur without a qualitative change in the bearer of social power.

To maintain ecological balance, “reconciliation of society with nature,” it is not enough to eliminate private property and introduce public ownership of the means of production. It is necessary that technological development be considered as part of cultural development in a broad sense, the purpose of which is to create conditions for the realization of man as the highest value, and not to replace this with the creation of material values. With this attitude towards technical development, it becomes clear that technology will develop for any production processes for the rational use of raw materials and energy in the environment and undesirable and threatening consequences will not arise. To achieve this goal, it would be logical to focus science on the development of alternative production processes that would satisfy the requirement of rational use of raw materials and energy and the closure of the process within the boundaries of the workshop, providing equal or lower costs compared to dirty technologies. This attitude towards technological development also requires a new concept of social needs. It must differ from the concept of a consumer society, have a humanistic orientation, cover needs, the satisfaction of which enriches a person’s creative abilities and helps him express himself, which is the most valuable thing for society. A radical renewal of the system of needs will give more scope for the development of true human values; instead of a quantitative increase in goods, a condition will arise for the establishment of a long-term dynamic correspondence between man and nature, between man and his living environment.

To establish a long-term dynamic relationship between society and nature, man and his environment, for the correct development of nature in the process of activity, there are objective prerequisites for the development of productive forces, especially those arising in the conditions of scientific and technological revolution. But in order for productive forces to be used for the development of nature in an appropriate manner, it is necessary to develop socio-economic relations in which the goal of production will not be greater and cheaper than in production that does not take into account the negative consequences for the environment. And such socio-economic relations cannot exist without a person who finds and rationally distributes resources, protects the natural environment as much as possible from pollution and further degradation, takes maximum care of the progress and health of people; without a person who simultaneously improves himself... The basis for such social action, along with everything else, is created by the awareness by an increasing number of people of the irrationality of a system in which the pursuit of wealth along the extreme line of excess is paid for by discarding more essential things, for example, a humane pace of life, creative work , non-impersonal social relations.

Humanity increasingly understands that often wasted resources are paid too dearly by those resources that are becoming increasingly scarce - clean water, clean air, etc.

Today, protecting the human environment from degradation is consistent with the requirement to improve the quality of life and the quality of the environment. This interconnection of demands (and social actions) - protecting the human environment and improving its quality - is a prerequisite for improving the quality of life, which is reflected in theoretical understandings of the relationship between man and nature and in the clashes of ideas that accompany this understanding.

Application

Appendix 1. Aral Sea. (www.ecosystem.ru)

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Ecology is a factor on which our standard of living, health and comfort in this world depends! Understanding the intricacies of the interaction of living organisms with the environment, it is not difficult to determine what is good and what is bad for the health of our home - the planet. After all, all environmental problems begin small - introducing destructive changes into a small area, which can subsequently trigger a chain reaction leading to the formation of environmental disasters, first on a small and then on a planetary scale.

Ecology is considered the science of environmental health. The importance of this area for human health and life is incredibly huge, because you can stay healthy and live a full life only in a clean and healthy environment.

What are the environmental problems?

Ecology is now causing concern among scientists in various fields of science. The fact is that environmental problems are so comprehensive and pressing that they are felt literally in all areas of life in modern society. You may not notice them or pay attention to them, but this does not mean that sooner or later you will not face the consequences of environmental pollution, as they say, face to face. Let's look at the main classes of environmental problems and try to figure out what specific areas of environmental “diseases” affect.

Classification of environmental problems

Environmental problems today can be found in all known areas of the biological environment. Let's consider the main classes of environmental problems that living organisms, including humans, face every day.

Air pollution. The air we breathe contains a huge amount of unhealthy impurities, such as carbon dioxide, sulfur, nitrogen and other harmful chemical elements that are in solid, gaseous or liquid states. We inhale all this into our lungs. These “vapors” settle into the soil and saturate the upper atmospheric layer. Any air pollution creates an unhealthy background for living organisms. But a much more dangerous moment is that the structure of the shell of our planet is destabilizing. This could lead to a huge environmental disaster. A striking example is the prospect of destruction of the ozone layer. Theoretically, this problem could arise due to an oversaturation of the atmosphere with freons, compounds of fluorine, chlorine, carbon and other substances. All these elements are constantly “emitted” into the atmosphere at the domestic and industrial level. Also, with the development of high-altitude aviation and human space exploration, the negative impact on the thickness of the ozone layer has increased.

Purity of surface and ground waters. All life on earth consists of water. Water is life-giving moisture, food for saturating the cells of animals and plant organisms. Without water, life on planet Earth is simply impossible. But the purity of underground and surface waters is now in question. Industrial emissions occur every day in many water bodies around the world. Any 3rd grade student already knows perfectly well what the water cycle in nature is. Based on this, it is easy to understand that, going through a cyclic path, the water mass receives saturation from all layers. And although the water flows into our taps after undergoing multi-stage purification, we cannot say that it is crystal clear. And we shouldn’t forget that the health of the earth’s water body is extremely important for preserving the life of many important organisms, as well as for the formation of the habitual habitat of all life on earth. On a global scale, there is a risk of a decrease in the volume of fresh water on the planet. Is it worth going into specifics about how this threatens humanity?

The reasons for the decrease in the volume of fresh water include the irrational use of water resources by humans, as well as the same banal pollution of natural sources and their complete disappearance.

Soil pollution. The volume of fertile soil layer also tends to decrease, but the earth not only gives us a stable support plane, but is also a source of food. Everything that we grow on earth is nourished from its depths. The quality of products obtained by cultivating agricultural land and private summer cottages depends on the health of the soil layer. Also, the life of animals, insects, plants, birds, etc. directly depends on the purity of the soil layer.

What threatens soils today? Pollution by chemicals, radiation particles, salinization, erosion, weathering. Chemical fertilizers used in modern agriculture often cause enormous damage to the health of the soil layer. Deforestation, depletion of useful plantings - all this leads to increased weathering of the soil layer. As a result of irrational land use, erosion of the fertile layer develops.

Urbanization and the natural environment. Man is a rational being, and it is human influence that most noticeably changes the environment. The growth of cities, the development of technology, an increase in the level of infrastructure, and industrial progress often closely border on deforestation, pollution and shallowing of water bodies, and the extermination of certain species of animals and plants. Often, in pursuit of good goals, people seriously upset the balance of artificial and natural landscapes. For this reason, some remarkable objects of nature have remained only in history and no longer please the human eye, do not provide useful “fruits” for the development and existence of life on earth.

Global environmental problems

There is a whole section of environmental problems, the development of which is almost unaffected by human activity, for example, global warming. Scientists are still arguing over the nature of this phenomenon. However, it has been absolutely proven that today the climate has become warmer by 0.8 degrees, the ocean level has risen, the volume of glaciers is slowly decreasing, and the snow layer in the corresponding parts of the world is melting.

The following hypotheses are put forward:

• Global warming is caused by increased solar activity.
• The development of climate warming began with the growth of technological progress and due to active emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• The causes of climate change lie in forest fires and volcanic activity.
• Also, sources provoking the development of climate change are the world ocean and the territory of permafrost.

Of course, it is impossible to completely exclude the anthropological factor as the cause of climate problems. It would be foolish to believe that the development of technology will not affect this area. However, we know so little about the mechanisms of interaction of celestial bodies and about the influence of objects in the Universe on changes on planet Earth that it would hardly be appropriate to state anything in this direction with absolute certainty.

Ecological problems and human activities

After reading all of the above, many will ask a reasonable question: what can be done to preserve the health of our environment? After all, a person with his activities has a direct impact on the emergence of serious environmental problems. Environmental scientists and representatives of other scientific fields work tirelessly to find solutions to important issues of maintaining the ecological balance on the planet. Today there are several very real ideas, which, if implemented, can greatly help nature.

1. Separate waste collection. Domestic and industrial waste are also a source of environmental pollution. After all, garbage can belong to different categories. This could be toxic waste or trash items that can be recycled. Some types of waste can be used as fuel. There is a category of waste that is subject to disposal. By throwing garbage indiscriminately into one pile, we cause economic and environmental damage. After all, simple sorting and rational disposal of waste solves a lot of serious issues, which helps preserve the health of the environment and the population of the country.
2. Saving fuel and electricity, rational use of technical means. Technological progress is good and right. But all resources associated with technological benefits should be used rationally. You should always weigh the level of need to use a particular household appliance, assessing the benefits received and the possible harm. It is definitely worth organizing days, hours, minutes of saving electricity consumption or fuel use. This will significantly reduce emissions into the atmosphere, reduce the level of water pollution, and help save useful resources.
3. Reducing consumption of meat products. It is believed that vegetarianism can be excellent medicine for the environment. The fact is that livestock breeding on a production scale causes enormous harm to the environment, as it contributes to the formation of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Also, livestock farming for the purpose of producing meat products is at the forefront of such problems as the use of usable areas and disruption of the natural landscape, large-scale consumption of clean water, and pollution of the external environment with waste. By switching to plant foods, a person can significantly reduce the need for livestock production. This, in turn, will relieve the load from this area of ​​​​negative influence. In addition, the health of each individual person adds up to one big “puzzle” of a healthy environment. As you know, giving up food of animal origin helps cleanse the body of toxins, waste, and harmful biological impurities. Vegetarian nutrition helps purify the spirit and heal the body. But, as you know, when caring about the preservation of nature and the cleanliness of the surrounding world, you should start with yourself and your own health.

Ecology of thought

To preserve our world and make it better, it is worth paying attention to your own perception of reality. After all, by coming into this world and living according to the consumer principle, you will not be able to make your contribution to preserving the health of the environment. As mentioned earlier, you need to start with yourself. Everything starts small. Teach your child not to litter on the street. Don't throw trash past the trash can yourself. Take the trouble to study the degree of harm from the use of certain gadgets and use resources rationally and with restraint. A spiritually developed person will not allow himself to harm nature. He will take care of the health of his physical and mental bodies. By choosing a healthy lifestyle, the right way of thinking, taking a special view of the world as a fulcrum, a person will begin to care about the environment. This will manifest itself both on a global scale and in small things. It is important to pay attention to the culture of your body, creating the right diet, and also look for connections in certain actions and processes occurring in the world. It is quite possible that by changing the inner world, spending a little effort and resources, choosing the right guidelines, each person will contribute to preserving the ecology of our planet. And then large-scale environmental disasters will remain horror stories from newspapers and will never become a reality!

Ecopositive

Having read so much bleak stuff about environmental prospects, you shouldn’t be upset! Today there is a tendency in the world to pay attention to these issues. Surely, many have noticed that the prefix “eco” flashes here and there today. They offer us eco-products, eco-materials for sewing clothes, building houses, repairing, and producing various things. Today, environmentally friendly fuels are being developed. You can often hear about the increase in the use of environmentally friendly transport. For example, electric cars, bicycles, and scooters are becoming fashionable. Modern people more often think about the environmental friendliness of the composition of products, fabrics, materials used for repairs and construction of housing. Many owners strive to feed even their pets with environmentally friendly food, without the addition of genetically modified and chemical enhancers of volume, nutrition and taste. Many summer residents, farmers, and owners of large agronomic farms fundamentally refuse to use harmful fertilizers and care about the environmental cleanliness of the crops being grown.

And although the prefix “eco” in 55% of cases is only a marketing ploy that helps enhance the value of the product offered, the issue of preserving the environment excites minds and becomes relevant for all ages and generations of people. This means that humanity is on the right path. After all, the main thing in solving any problem is awareness of its depth and recognition of its existence. The next step is to search for accessible and effective means and expand the accompanying tool base. The next step is to maintain a high level of discipline in applying the rules for maintaining a healthy environment. From all this we can conclude that everything is not so bad. The fact that today the words “ecology”, “ecologically friendly”, “environmentally friendly” are not an empty phrase for most people is a good sign. This means that every day someone thinks about maintaining the purity of the world around them. This means that someone cares about the health of the planet and there is a great chance of preventing an environmental disaster in the foreseeable future and much later.

Human activity in relation to nature is aggressive. Unfortunately, Russia is no exception. It remains one of the most polluted countries in the world, and faces many serious environmental problems. The main threats to the country's environment, as well as the necessary steps to address them, are described below.

Deforestation

Large-scale fires in deciduous forests lead to increased carbon release and increased rates. After cutting down, the nature of the lighting changes. Due to the abundance of sunlight, plants that prefer shade die. Fertility decreases and erosion occurs. When the root system decomposes in the soil, a lot of nitrogen is released. It prevents the growth of new trees and plants. Swamps often form in place of pine and cedar forests.

It has been proven that wood loss reaches 40%. Every second tree is cut down in vain. It will take at least 100 years to completely restore the destroyed forest areas.

Energy production and the environment

The largest sources of environmental pollution are thermal power plants. Their boilers burn organic fuel. Thermal power plants emit particulate matter into the air. Due to the large release of unused energy, thermal pollution occurs. The operation of power plants leads to acid rain and the accumulation of greenhouse gases, which negatively affects nearby populated areas.

Nuclear power plants pose a high risk of disasters. In normal operation, they emit a lot of heat into water bodies. During operation of a nuclear power plant, radiation emissions do not exceed permissible standards. But radioactive waste requires complex processing and disposal procedures.

Some time ago it was believed that hydroelectric power plants were incapable of causing harm. However, the damage to the environment is still noticeable. To build a power plant, artificially created reservoirs are needed. A large area of ​​such reservoirs is occupied by shallow water. It causes water overheating, bank collapse, flooding and fish death.

Pollution of water and reservoirs

According to scientists, diseases of people living in environmentally unfavorable areas are associated with poor water quality. Most of the harmful substances flowing into water bodies are completely dissolved in water, which is why they remain invisible. The situation is constantly getting worse. It can result in an environmental disaster at any moment.

A difficult situation has developed in large cities located on rivers. Industrial enterprises that are concentrated there pollute nearby areas and even remote areas with waste water. penetrates deep into the soil and makes underground sources unusable. Agricultural regions cause environmental damage. The water bodies in these places are polluted with nitrates and animal waste.

Every day, water comes from sewage, which contains residues of detergents, food and feces. They allow a pathogen to develop. Once in the human body, it provokes a number of infectious diseases. Most of the treatment facilities are outdated and cannot cope with the increased load. This negatively affects the flora and fauna of water bodies.

Air pollution

Industrial enterprises are the main source of pollution. There are about thirty thousand plants and factories in the country that regularly emit harmful impurities into the atmosphere, large amounts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde and sulfur oxide.

In second place are exhaust gases. The main source of the problem is used cars, the lack of special filters on them, poor road surfaces and poor traffic management. Carbon dioxide, lead, soot, and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere. Large cities with extensive road networks suffer more than others from exhaust fumes.

The European part of Russia is flat. From the west, polluted air masses from other countries freely penetrate here. Due to industrial emissions from neighboring countries, tons of oxidized nitrogen and sulfur regularly enter Russia. Siberia suffers from harmful substances from Kazakhstani industry. Factories in Chinese provinces are poisoning the Far Eastern regions.

The problem of radioactive contamination

Radioactivity is associated with the development of ores, nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes and waste disposal. More recently, the natural background radiation was 8 microroentgens per hour. Weapons testing, mineral extraction and nuclear reactions in the energy sector have significantly increased these figures. Leakage of hazardous substances may occur during transportation or storage of sources of radioactive elements. The most dangerous of them are strontium-90, cesium-137, cobalt-60 and iodine-131.

The service life of a nuclear power plant is 30 years. After this, the power units are decommissioned. Until recently, waste was disposed of as ordinary garbage, which caused enormous damage to the Russian environment. Today there are special storage containers and burial grounds for them.

Household waste

Garbage is conventionally divided into plastic, paper, glass, metal, textiles, wood and food debris. Some materials are not exposed. The country has accumulated billions of tons of waste and the numbers are constantly growing. Unauthorized landfills are a big problem for the environment.

Thousands of hectares of land suitable for agriculture remain under the rubble. Dumping, that is, dumping waste at sea, pollutes water. Factories constantly release waste, including radioactive waste. Smoke from burning waste contains heavy metals.

Environmental protection

The State Duma began actively adopting environmental laws in 2012. They are aimed at combating illegal logging, provide for tougher penalties for trade in rare animals and plants, and also strengthen the protection of natural areas. The implementation is practically invisible.

The Russian environmental movement is of great importance. The All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation regularly conducts raids, inspections of enterprises and various examinations. It is engaged in cleaning recreation areas, planting forests and much more. The Wildlife Conservation Center addresses environmental issues.

And are of great importance. They not only protect flora and fauna. Their activities are aimed at developing a culture of environmental responsibility among ordinary people.

Solving environmental problems

Planting new trees will partially solve deforestation. In the logging industry, control over the activities of companies is necessary. State environmental organizations need to monitor the forest fund. Significant efforts must be directed toward preventing natural fires. Businesses should consider recycling wood.

Increasingly, plants and factories are trying to improve their equipment. In Russia, the activities of organizations with high levels of pollution emissions have been suspended. Public transport and cars have been converted to EURO-5 fuel standards with low emission standards. Supervision over the activities of hydroelectric power plants is being strengthened.

A waste separation program is being actively introduced in the regions. Solid residues will subsequently become recyclable materials. Large hypermarkets are offering to abandon plastic bags in favor of eco-bags.

The state needs to take care of educating the population. People need to understand the real scale of the problems and the exact numbers. Promotion of nature conservation should be carried out at school. Children should be taught to love and care for the environment.

The ecological situation is rapidly deteriorating. If you do not start solving problems now, you can completely destroy forests and reservoirs, depriving yourself and your children of normal conditions for existence.

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 production.

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.