Modern environmental problems. §52
We live in a time of technological progress, which makes life easier in many ways thanks to new and useful inventions. But these achievements of mankind also have a flip side to the coin - the consequences of this progress directly affect the ecological situation of the environment throughout the world.
Many plants, factories and other production facilities constantly emit harmful substances into the atmosphere, pollute water bodies with their waste, as well as the earth when they dispose of their waste into the ground. And this is reflected not only locally at the place where waste is released, but throughout our entire planet.
What environmental problems exist in the modern world?
Air pollution
One of the main problems is atmospheric and, accordingly, air pollution. It was the atmospheric air that first felt the effects of technological progress. Just imagine that tens of thousands of tons of harmful and toxic substances are released into the atmosphere every hour every day. Many industries and productions cause an irreparable and simply stunning blow to the environment, for example, oil, metallurgy, food and other types of industries. As a result, large amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere, causing the planet to constantly warm up. Despite the fact that temperature changes are insignificant, on a more global scale this can seriously affect hydrological regimes, or rather, their changes. In addition to all this, air pollution affects weather conditions, which have already changed with the advent of technological progress.
Acid rain, which occurs due to sulfur oxides entering the air, is now very widespread. These rains negatively affect many things and cause damage to trees, plants, the lithosphere and the top layer of the earth.
There are not enough resources, both financial and physical, to eliminate environmental problems, so at the moment they are only in the development stage.
Water pollution
This problem is particularly widespread in Africa and some Asian countries. There is a huge shortage of drinking water there, since all existing reservoirs are terribly polluted. This water cannot even be used for washing clothes, let alone used as drinking water. This is again due to the release of waste into wastewater from many industrial enterprises.
Earth pollution
To discharge waste, many enterprises use the method of recycling it in the ground. Undoubtedly, this negatively affects the soil, not only in the burial area, but also in nearby areas. Subsequently, vegetables and fruits of poor quality are grown in this soil, which can cause many fatal diseases.
Ways to solve environmental problems
- Effective recycling of garbage and other hazardous waste.
- Using environmentally friendly fuel that does not pollute the atmosphere.
- Strict sanctions and fines at the state level for air, water and land pollution.
- Educational work and social advertising among the population.
All these steps seem very simple and easy to put into practice, but often things are not so simple. Many countries and non-profit organizations are fighting violators, but they are sorely lacking financial support and human resources to implement their projects.
Over the past hundred years, in the relationship between man and the biosphere, there has been, firstly, an increase in the Earth's population (1830 - 1 billion; 1994 - 550,000,000), and secondly, a sharp increase in industrial production, energy production, and agricultural products. This has led to a sharp increase in anthropogenic impact on the environment, the scale of which is becoming planetary, and in terms of quantitative effect human activity exceeds many natural processes.
The human impact on the biosphere can be straight(artificial fish breeding, direct destruction of plants and animals, etc.) And indirect(changes in groups due to changes in climate). Based on the results, human influence is conventionally divided into positive(planting forests, cleaning water bodies, etc.) And negative(pollution of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, etc.).
Human influence on the lithosphere:
Exhaustion and erosion soil Erosion- destruction of the upper soil horizons by strong winds(wind erosion) or water streams(water erosion).
Exclusion from land use of an increasingly larger area of land through waterlogging, salinization, desertification, and expansion of open-pit mining.
Pollution with heavy metals (lead, tin, zinc, copper, etc.), synthetic substances.
The extraction of oil, gas, coal, and the use of groundwater leads to collapses and landslides.
Human influence on the atmosphere:
Pollution with oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon, soot, methane, etc.
Destruction of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons CFCl3, CF2Cl2, which are used in the refrigeration industry and in the production of aerosols, and the formation of ozone holes. Ozone "holes" are local areas of the ozonosphere where the ozone concentration is significantly (by 40...50%) less than usual. the appearance of ozone holes poses a real environmental danger for the corresponding region due to the weakening of the protection of all living things from the harmful effects of “hard” ultraviolet radiation.
An increase in the concentration of CO2 and CH4 as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels, which leads to " greenhouse effect." Greenhouse effect, greenhouse effect - heating of the lower layers of the atmosphere and the surface of the Earth as a result of the absorption of thermal radiation reflected from the surface of the planet by water vapor and carbon dioxide. Over the past 200 years, the CO2 content in the atmosphere has increased by almost 25%, and the temperature has increased by 0.5 ° C.
Photochemical formation smog from vehicle exhaust gases over industrial cities. Smog is apparently severe air pollution characterized by a combination of dust particles, fog droplets, gaseous pollutants and smoke. The main source of smog is combustion products of coal, fuel oil, diesel fuel, and vehicle exhaust.
Education acid precipitation due to atmospheric pollution with sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrogen chloride. Acid precipitation - precipitation whose acidity exceeds the normal value (pH<5,5 ).
Human influence on the hydrosphere:
Irrational use of fresh water reserves.
Pollution of water bodies with petroleum products, pesticides, mineral fertilizers, household and industrial waste, etc.
Human influence on the biosphere:
■ Radioactive contamination leads to the accumulation of radioactive metals in living organisms: strontium-90 (instead of calcium, to which it is close) and cesium-137 (instead of potassium), etc.
■ An important factor in human influence on the distribution of organisms is introduction (lot. Introductio - introduction) - relocation of certain species of plants and animals outside their natural range and adaptation to new conditions of existence. Introduction can be conscious or unconscious. A person consciously imports economically or aesthetically valuable plants into a new area. It should be noted that most cultivated plants are grown far beyond the natural distribution of their wild ancestors. Sometimes the country where plants are introduced becomes their second home. Thus, the birthplace of coffee is Africa, and cocoa is tropical America. Now the main exporter of coffee is Brazil, and cocoa is Ghana.
■ One form of anthropogenic impact is acclimatization - adaptation of organisms to new environmental conditions (biocenoses) , to which they are mainly transferred (deliberately or accidentally) person. Adaptation to new conditions occurs under the influence of natural or artificial selection as a result of changes in the genetic structure of the species. An example of anthropogenic impact is the acclimatization of rabbits in Australia, which later turned into a real disaster. In 1859, 24 rabbits were brought to Australia, which began to multiply rapidly and destroy pastures. In 1950, the myxomatosis virus was used to reduce the number of rabbits, after which the process of reviving the pastures began.
Degradation of the natural environment is carried out under the influence of negative actions of two types: a) minor in impact, but long-lasting; b) one-time catastrophic ones that occur during accidents.
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation
TSPU named after. L.N. Tolstoy
Department: Ecology and Geography.
ABSTRACT
TOPIC: Environmental problems of our time.
Completed by: 1st year OZO student
Faculty of History
Latov K.N.
Scientific adviser:
Lapina O.Yu.
2004
Introduction.
Threat of environmental crisis.
1. Decrease in biological diversity.
2. Environmental pollution.
3. Demographic problems.
Ways to solve environmental problems.
Conclusion.
INTRODUCTION
.
An environmental problem is any phenomenon associated with a noticeable human impact on nature, the reverse influence of nature on humans and the economy.
In the second half of the 20th century, humanity was faced with a group of problems on the solution of which social progress and the fate of civilization depended.
A characteristic feature of our time is the intensification and globalization of human impact on the environment, which is accompanied by an unprecedented intensification and globalization of the negative consequences of this impact. And if earlier humanity experienced regional and local environmental crises, which could lead to the death of any civilization, but did not interfere with the further process of the human race as a whole, then the current environmental situation is fraught with global ecological collapse. Because modern man is destroying the mechanisms of the integral functioning of the biosphere on a planetary scale. There are more and more crisis points, both in the problematic and in the spatial sense, and they turn out to be closely connected with each other, forming an increasingly frequent network. It is this circumstance that allows us to talk about the presence of a global environmental crisis and the threat of environmental catastrophe.
THREAT
ECOLOGICAL
CRISIS
.
The growth in the scale of human economic activity and the rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution have increased the negative impact of man on nature and led to a disruption of the ecological balance on the planet.
In the sphere of material production, the consumption of natural resources has increased. In the 40 years after the Second World War, as many mineral raw materials were used as in the entire previous history of mankind. But the reserves of coal, oil, gas, copper, iron and other natural resources important to people are non-renewable and, as scientists have calculated, will be exhausted in a few decades.
Even forest resources, which seem to be constantly renewed, are in fact rapidly declining. Global deforestation is 18 times greater than forest growth. More than 11 million hectares of forest are destroyed every year, and in three decades the area of destroyed forests will be approximately equal to the size of India. A significant part of the territory where forests previously grew is being converted into poor quality agricultural land that cannot feed the people living in this territory. The main reason for the reduction in forest area on our planet is direct deforestation for industrial timber and fuel production, taking into account the steady growth of population in developing countries, land clearing for farmland and pastures, environmental pollution with various toxicants, etc.
Tropical rainforests are being cut down especially intensively, and the rate of their destruction is increasing every year. If in the mid-80s of the 20th century 11.3 million hectares were destroyed annually, then in the 90s - already 16.8 million hectares. Currently, the tropical rainforests of Latin America have been reduced to 37% of the original area, in Asia - by 42%, in Africa - by 52%.
The largest areas of primary forests remain in Brazil, Zaire, Indonesia, Colombia, and boreal forests in Russia and Canada. The fewest primary forests remain in China and Australia, and in Western Europe (with the exception of the Scandinavian countries) there are practically none left.
Deforestation leads to negative environmental consequences: the albedo of the earth's surface changes, the balance of carbon and oxygen in the atmosphere is disrupted, soil erosion increases, the hydrological regime of rivers is disrupted, etc.
Pollution of the World Ocean is no less dangerous. The world's oceans are constantly being polluted, mainly due to the expansion of oil production in marine fields. Huge oil spills are detrimental to ocean life.
Millions of tons of phosphorus, lead, and radioactive waste are also dumped into the ocean. For every square kilometer of ocean space there are now 17 tons of various harmful waste from land. And a dead ocean, scientists believe, is a dead planet.
Fresh water has become the most vulnerable part of nature. Sewage, pesticides, fertilizers, disinfectants, mercury, arsenic, lead, zinc find their way into rivers and lakes in huge quantities. In the CIS republics, untreated wastewater containing millions of tons of harmful substances is annually discharged into rivers, lakes, reservoirs and seas. The situation is no better in other countries of the world. The Danube, Volga, Mississippi, and Great American Lakes are heavily polluted. According to experts, in some areas of the Earth, 80% of all diseases are caused by poor-quality water, which people are forced to consume.
It is known that a person can live without food for five weeks, without water for five days, without air for five minutes. Meanwhile, air pollution has long exceeded permissible limits. The dust content and carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere of a number of large cities have increased tenfold compared to the beginning of the 20th century. 115 million passenger cars in the United States absorb twice as much oxygen as is created in this country by all natural sources. The total emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere (industry, energy, transport, etc.) in the USA is about 150 million tons per year, in the CIS countries more than 100 million tons. In 102 CIS cities with a population of more than 50 thousand people, the concentration of substances harmful to health in the air exceeds medical standards by 10 times, and in some - even more. Acid rain, containing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which appears during the operation of power plants in Germany and the UK, falls in the Scandinavian countries and causes death to lakes and forests. The territory of the CIS receives 9 times more harmful substances from acid rain from the West than is transported in the opposite direction. The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986 showed the environmental threat posed by accidents at nuclear power plants, which exist in 26 countries around the world. Household waste has become a serious problem: solid waste, plastic bags, synthetic detergents, etc.
The clean air filled with the aroma of plants disappears around cities, rivers turn into sewers. Piles of cans, broken glass and other garbage, landfills along the roads, littering of the territory, mutilated nature - this is the result of the long dominance of the industrial world.
REDUCTION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY.
As civilization develops, its influence on nature increases. More and more urban areas and agricultural lands remain, fewer and fewer corners remain on our planet where animals could exist in natural conditions. As the population grows and economic activity expands, untouched areas of nature are shrinking. The main breeding territories, migration routes, hunting zones, and feeding areas of herbivores disappear under artificial coverings, are flooded with water, “fed” to livestock, or are plowed up. Forested areas are denuded by loggers, converted to pasture, used for crops, or planted with trees alien to the area. The problem of reducing biological diversity due to the destruction of natural areas is typical for all natural areas of the earth.
In the last decade, anthropogenic impact on the natural landscapes of the tundra zone has increased significantly. Anthropogenic transformation of typical tundras of the Yamal Peninsula. At the site of complete destruction of the moss-lichen tundra, the processes of thermokarst and erosion begin to actively develop (the growth of ravines in the vicinity of populated areas reaches 15-30 m per year). An alarming situation has developed in the Yashkul region of Kalmykia, where the main herd of the European saiga population is concentrated. Once upon a time, these ungulates, contemporaries of mammoths, grazed in vast open spaces from the Tien Shan to the Carpathians. Now there is a sharp decline in the numbers of this species, ideally adapted to the conditions of dry steppes. Animals, especially young animals, drown in the thousands in the waters of irrigation canals, cutting off the original migration routes of saigas. Poachers shoot hundreds of them per night. But the main reason for the decline in the number of saigas is the progressive process of anthropogenic desertification in the Caspian steppes, which is rapidly reducing the areas suitable for the habitat of these animals.
As a result of thoughtless industrial and agricultural development of land, environmental pollution in the United States is destroyed or sent to the natural habitats of wild waterfowl and rare animals. Ducks, geese, swans and other bird species flying there from Canada and Alaska die in the millions. In the world's oceans, due to predatory fishing and increasing pollution and environmental destruction, 25 species of the most valuable commercial fish have either been almost completely destroyed or their numbers have sharply decreased. Up to 250 thousand individuals of various species of dolphins are destroyed annually. Dugongs and sea turtles are dying, and about a million seabirds are killed in fishing nets every year.
Currently, almost all surface runoff basins in the European and Asian parts of Russia have been transformed by hydraulic construction. This significantly disrupted the reproduction of fish stocks in inland waters, primarily valuable anadromous and semi-anadromous fish, such as sturgeon, salmon, Caspian herring, roach, and vimba. Losses from fluctuations in water level alone due to the operation of hydraulic structures are equal to the annual catch in reservoirs (50-70 thousand tons) or exceed it. More juvenile commercial fish die in irrigation systems, waterworks and industrial water intakes than are produced by all fish factories in Russia. Thus, as a result of anthropogenic destruction of the habitat, there is a sharp reduction in the number and even extinction of many species of living beings. Over the last three centuries alone, 120 species of animals have disappeared from our planet. According to experts, in the next 30 years the same fate may befall about 100 more species, which will have a negative impact on people’s lives.
Scientific environmental research in the field of studying the protection of the gene pool of wild animals and plants makes it possible to ensure the safety of many valuable and rare animals and plants.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION.
The problem of a healthy environment has become as vitally important as the problem of providing people with food or energy. It is well known that human health depends on the state of the environment. Even hereditary diseases are ultimately, from a historical point of view, the result of interactions between an unfavorable environment and many previous generations of people.
Currently, as a result of human economic activity, environmental pollution has reached gigantic proportions and can have a number of undesirable consequences: damage to flora and fauna (decrease in the productivity of forests and cultivated plants, extinction of animals); violation of the stability of natural biocenoses; damage to property (corrosion of metals, destruction of architectural structures); harm to human health. Many of the pollutants (pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, plastics) decompose extremely slowly under natural conditions, and toxic compounds (mercury, lead) are not neutralized at all. Particularly many pollutants enter the environment as a result of energy production by burning fossil fuels. Man, releasing solar energy in this way, accelerates the circulation of substances and energy in nature. Industrial wastes and pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, particulate matter, etc.) of the atmosphere disrupt the natural carbon cycle, contributing to a number of negative consequences (greenhouse effect, photochemical smog, etc.).
A large number of pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere by various industries, in particular metallurgical enterprises around the world annually emit more than 150 thousand tons of copper, 120 thousand tons of zinc, 90 thousand tons of nickel, cobalt, mercury, etc.
Agriculture is also a significant pollutant of the environment. Thus, there are more than 1,500 pesticides alone in the world (in Russia, only 150-160 are currently used). Particularly dangerous is the use of organophosphorus pesticides, which are highly toxic substances that lead to mass death of birds (starlings, blackbirds, rock pigeons, etc.). Currently, in industrialized countries, natural products are replaced by synthetic ones, which are difficult to decompose and pollute the environment. These are, first of all, synthetic fibers, detergents (detergents, bleaches), food with additives, mineral fertilizers, synthetic rubber, etc.
Fundamentally new materials and new types of waste produced by modern industrial production, which did not previously exist in nature, are largely alien to living organisms in their physicochemical structure. The human body is not evolutionarily prepared for the effects of some of them. These include, first of all, new chemicals, types of energy, and various physical radiations. The effect of these new factors on humans has led to the emergence of previously unknown genetic, toxicological, allergic, respiratory, endocrine and other diseases.
Essentially, all environmental problems themselves come down to each person measuring his actions with the capabilities of the environment, because the fate of humanity and all life on Earth largely depends on establishing a balance between meeting human needs and environmental limitations, which can only be achieved through harmonization relations between people and nature, and this process should cover all countries without exception.
DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS.
For most of human history, population growth was almost imperceptible.
During the first few million years of human history, people lived in small groups and supported themselves by hunting wild animals and collecting wild plants. During this period, the population grew exponentially (i.e., the population had a constant percentage increase of the total for each period of time), but slowly, with an average rate of only 0.002% per year. The population slowly grew in strength throughout the 19th century and increased enormously in the 20th century after the Second World War. This gave rise to talk about a “demographic explosion.” Since then, the annual growth rate has increased significantly and in 1970 reached its highest level of 2.06%. At current growth rates, the planet's population will reach 7 billion by 2007. In 1989, the world's population increased by 90 million people - more than the populations of Canada and Germany combined. The weekly increase was 1.7 million people, the daily increase was 247 thousand people, and the hourly increase was 10,270 people. The world population is increasing today by 250 thousand people every day, 1 million 750 thousand every week, 7.5 million per month, 90 million per year. At this rate it is enough:
10 months to reproduce the 24 million people who died during the greatest disaster of mankind - the bubonic plague in the 14th century;
Less than 2 years for the birth of 165 million people - this is how many people were killed in all the wars over the past 200 years;
This massive population growth occurs at a time when:
At least half of the world's adults cannot read or write;
One out of every five people is hungry or malnourished, and one out of every six people is homeless;
One in four lack safe drinking water;
Every third person is not provided with municipal waste disposal services, does not receive appropriate medical care and does not have fuel for cooking and heating;
Population experts predict that, barring global nuclear war or widespread famine or pestilence, the population will reach 10.4 billion by 2100, twice the size of 1989. According to the UN, most of the world's population growth is occurring in developing countries. The distribution of population density around the globe is very uneven. This unevenness is clearly visible even within one country due to the concentration of the population in cities.
Global population growth (billion people)
Most analysts agree that there are currently two main demographic problems: overpopulation in developing countries and overconsumption in developed countries.
Overpopulation occurs where the population lasts longer than the resources of food, water, etc. allow, and where the rate of population growth exceeds the rate of economic growth so much that more and more people become poor and are unable to produce or buy enough food , fuel, as well as other necessary resources. In the world's less developed countries, overpopulation causes the premature death of 20 to 40 million people each year, leaving hundreds of millions more to struggle to survive.
Overconsumption occurs in industrialized countries and occurs when the largest population uses resources on such a scale that significant pollution, environmental degradation, and resource depletion occur.
Rapid population growth in developing countries is dramatically exacerbating environmental and social problems around the world.
The law of geometric progression of the rate of reproduction, discovered by Malthus, fully applies to humans as a biological species.
In modern society there are completely humane, civilized means of birth control. If humanity does not stop the growth of its numbers, then nature will do it much more decisively and harshly.
WAYS
SOLUTIONS
ECOLOGICAL
PROBLEMS
.
Each of the global problems discussed has its own options for a partial or more complete solution; there is a certain set of common
approaches to solving environmental problems.
MEASURES TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.
1. Technological:
Development of new technologies
Treatment plants
Fuel replacement
Electrification of life, production, transport
2. Architectural and planning activities:
Greening populated areas.
Organization of sanitary protection zones
3. Ecological.
4. Legal:
Creation of legislative acts to maintain environmental quality
5. Engineering and organizational:
Reducing car parking at traffic lights
Reducing traffic volume on congested highways.
In addition, over the last century, humanity has developed a number of original ways to combat environmental problems. These methods include the emergence and activities of various kinds of “green” movements and organizations. In addition to Greenreace, which is distinguished by the scope of its activities, there are similar organizations that directly carry out environmental activities (Wildlife Fund).
In addition to various types of associations in the field of solving environmental problems, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives: environmental legislation in Russia and in other countries of the world; various international agreements or the “Red Book” system.
Among the most important ways to solve environmental problems, most researchers also highlight the introduction of environmentally friendly, low- and waste-free technologies, rational placement of production and the use of natural resources.
CONCLUSION
.
Among some scientists and members of the public, the environmental threat has given rise to a mood of pessimism and disbelief in the ability to prevent environmental destruction. It is not accidental that their conclusions, hostile to science and technology, demands to stop the growth of production, and in connection with this, admiration for wild, uncultivated nature.
The true prospect of overcoming the environmental crisis lies in changes in human production activity, his consciousness and lifestyle. The scientific and technical process creates not only “overloads” for nature; in the most advanced resource-saving and waste-free technologies built on the principle of a closed cycle, it helps prevent negative impacts and creates the opportunity for environmentally friendly production. Thus, today there is not only an urgent need, but also real prerequisites for changing the essence of technological civilization, giving it an environmental character.
The environmental situation makes it necessary to assess the consequences of any activity associated with interference in the natural environment. An environmental assessment of all technical projects is required.
Modern science considers the individual, humanity as a whole, and the environment as a single system. Outstanding Russian scientist V.I. Vernadsky wrote that man will have to consciously take responsibility for the development of the biosphere. Vernadsky called the habitat of humanity, controlled by scientific reason, the noosphere. The transition of the biosphere to the noosphere is a qualitatively new stage in the development of human society. This is a necessary condition for the development of civilization.
List of used literature:
- L.A. Terekhin "Ecology: LECTURE COURSE". TULA 1999
- L.N. Bogolyubov "MAN AND SOCIETY". MOSCOW 2000
- N.D. Gladkov "NATURE CONSERVATION". MOSCOW 1975
- A.A. Gorelov "Ecology: TUTORIAL." MOSCOW 1998
Biology. General biology. Grade 11. Basic level Sivoglazov Vladislav Ivanovich
31. The main environmental problems of our time
Remember!
What global environmental problems are you aware of?
Give examples of environmental problems in your region.
Air pollution. One of the most pressing environmental problems currently is environmental pollution. In the early stages of the development of the biosphere, the air was polluted only by volcanic eruptions and forest fires, but as soon as a person lit his first fire, the anthropogenic impact on the atmosphere began. Back at the beginning of the 20th century. the biosphere coped with the combustion products of coal and liquid fuels that entered the air. It was enough to drive a few kilometers away from industrial enterprises to feel the clean air. However, later the rapid development of industry and transport led to a sharp deterioration in the state of the atmosphere.
Currently, carbon dioxide (CO 2), carbon monoxide (CO), chlorofluorocarbons, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, methane (CH 4) and other hydrocarbons enter the atmosphere as a result of human activity. The sources of these pollution are the combustion of natural fuels, forest burning, emissions from industrial enterprises and vehicle exhaust gases (Fig. 92).
Rice. 92. Air pollution: industrial emissions and vehicle exhaust gases
Acid rain. Near copper smelters, there is a high concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air, which causes the destruction of chlorophyll, underdevelopment of pollen, and drying of needles. Dissolving in droplets of atmospheric moisture, sulfur and nitrogen dioxides are converted into corresponding acids and fall to the ground along with rain. The soil becomes acidic and the amount of mineral salts in it decreases. When acidic precipitation gets on the leaves, it destroys the protective wax film, which leads to the development of plant diseases. Small aquatic animals and eggs are especially sensitive to changes in acidity, so acid rain causes maximum harm to aquatic ecosystems. In the most developed industrial areas, acid rain destroys the surface of buildings and spoils monuments of sculpture and architecture.
Greenhouse effect. An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere creates the so-called greenhouse effect. These gases allow sunlight to pass through, but partially block reflected thermal radiation from the Earth's surface. Over the past 100 years, the relative concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by 20%, and methane by 100%, leading to an average global temperature increase of 0.5 °C. If in the coming years the concentration of these gases increases at the same rate, then by 2050 the Earth will warm by another 2–5 °C. Such warming could lead to the melting of glaciers and a rise in sea levels by almost 1.5 m, which will cause flooding of many populated coastal areas.
Smog. Substances contained in car exhaust gases, when exposed to sunlight, enter into complex chemical reactions, forming toxic compounds. Together with water droplets, they form a toxic fog - smog, which has a harmful effect on the human body and plants.
Suspensions of solid particles and droplets of liquids (hazes and fogs) significantly reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. During the winter months in large cities, ultraviolet radiation weakens significantly.
Ozone holes. At an altitude of more than 20 km above the Earth's surface there is an ozone layer (O 3), which protects all living things from excess ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet radiation of a certain wavelength range is beneficial for humans because it causes the formation of vitamin D. However, excessive exposure to the sun can lead to skin cancer.
Substances that are used as components of aerosols and refrigerants in refrigerators - chlorofluorocarbons - rise into the stratosphere, where, under the influence of solar radiation, they decompose to release chlorine and fluorine. The resulting gases cause the conversion of ozone into oxygen, destroying the protective shell of the Earth, which arose about 2 billion years ago.
In 1987, it was discovered for the first time that over Antarctica, over an area the size of the United States, the ozone layer had almost completely disappeared. In subsequent years, thinning of the ozone layer was regularly observed over the Arctic and some land areas.
Pollution and overuse of natural waters. Fresh water makes up less than 1% of the world's total water supply, and humanity is wasting and polluting this priceless resource. Population growth, improvement of living conditions, development of industry and irrigated agriculture led to the fact that excess water consumption has become one of the global environmental problems of our time.
Entire rivers are being diverted for irrigation and the needs of large cities, and natural communities are dying along their beds and at their mouths. Water withdrawals for the city of Los Angeles have virtually destroyed the Colorado River. The place where it once flowed into the Gulf of California has become a dry riverbed. The extraction of water from the rivers of Central Asia led to the fact that the Aral Sea actually ceased to exist (Fig. 93). Salt from its dry bottom is carried by the wind, causing soil salinization for many hundreds of kilometers around.
Rice. 93. Reduction of the water area of the Aral Sea. Satellite image taken in the summer of 2002. The red line shows the water boundary as of 1960.
For centuries, groundwater washed out cavities in the bowels of the earth, a kind of underground reservoirs. Numerous springs feeding rivers and lakes are places where groundwater comes to the surface. Overuse of groundwater reduces the number of springs and causes a gradual subsidence of the land surface, the so-called soil subsidence. The soil falls into the resulting underground voids, and if this happens suddenly, it leads to catastrophic consequences.
An equally dangerous phenomenon is water pollution. Organic substances, mineral fertilizers, livestock waste, pesticides and herbicides enter the water from fields and pastures (Fig. 94).
Rice. 94. Defects in the limbs of tree frogs that developed in ponds in Pennsylvania (USA) are caused by exposure to pesticides
Sewage that is discharged into the sea without prior treatment poses a threat to human health. Due to tanker and pipeline accidents, a huge amount of oil is spilled into the ocean every year - about 5 million tons. Discharges from industrial enterprises and surface runoff from landfills are often contaminated with heavy metals and synthetic organic substances. Salts of heavy metals (lead, mercury, copper, zinc, chromium, cadmium, etc.) cause poisoning in humans with severe physiological and neurological consequences. Many artificial organic compounds are so reminiscent of natural ones that they are absorbed by the body, but when included in the metabolism, they completely disrupt its normal functioning. As a result, kidney disease, liver disease, infertility and many other physiological disorders occur. Particularly dangerous are toxic compounds that do not decompose and, passing through the food chain, accumulate in organisms.
In the early 1970s. A tragedy occurred in the small fishing village of Minamata in Japan. A chemical plant discharged waste containing mercury into the water. The mercury settled to the bottom, was absorbed by bacteria, and then, gradually concentrating, passed through the levels of the food chain and accumulated in fish. A few years before the causes of the tragedy were clarified, people began to notice that cats in the village often had seizures, which led to partial paralysis and later death. At first they thought it was some kind of specific cat disease, but soon similar symptoms began to appear in people. Cases of mental retardation, mental disorders and birth defects appeared. By the time the cause (acute mercury poisoning) was found out and the situation was brought under control, more than 50 people had already died and another 150 became disabled. Mercury entered the human body through fish. Cats were the first to suffer because they ate mostly only fish.
Soil pollution and depletion. Fertile soil is one of humanity’s most important resources for food production. The top fertile layer of soil is formed over a long period of time, but can be destroyed very quickly. Every year, along with the harvest, a huge amount of mineral compounds - the main components of plant nutrition - are removed from the soil. If you do not apply fertilizers, within 50–100 years complete soil depletion.
The most destructive effect on the soil is erosion. Plowing of steppes, destruction of forests, and excessive grazing by livestock make the soil unprotected, and the top layer is washed away by water (water erosion) or carried away by the wind (wind erosion). Soil carried away from the surface of the earth clogs river beds, causing disturbances in the structure of aquatic ecosystems. In irrigated agriculture, excessive irrigation in hot climates leads to soil salinization.
Archaeologists have found that the decline of many ancient civilizations was caused not by external causes or wars, but by slow environmental suicide - the inability to preserve their land and water resources. The loss of soil fertility led to the decline of the once thriving Mayan civilization in Central America. North Africa, which once fed the entire Roman Empire, is now mostly desert.
Currently, the entire territory of our planet is to one degree or another subject to anthropogenic influence. Rapid population growth requires constant expansion of production. The construction of cities and industrial enterprises, the development of agriculture and the development of mineral resources have led to the fact that almost 20% of the land has already been completely transformed by man. Mineral reserves, which are classified as non-renewable natural resources, are being depleted. Pollution of the atmosphere and natural waters, soil erosion and depletion, and destruction of natural ecosystems can lead humanity to an environmental disaster. That is why environmental protection measures aimed at preserving the biosphere are becoming increasingly important.
Review questions and assignments
1. What is the cause and what are the consequences of air pollution?
2. How does human economic activity affect the structure and fertility of the soil?
3. What are the consequences of pollution of the waters of the World Ocean?
4. What is the direct influence of humans on the flora and fauna of the Earth?
5. What impact does the expansion of agricultural production have on biogeocenoses and the biosphere as a whole?
Think! Do it!
1. What is the source of drinking water in the area where you live?
2. What are the main environmental problems in the region in which you live? What causes them?
3. Organize and conduct a sanitary-biological study of the air. Assess microbial air pollution in various outdoor and indoor locations at different times of day (e.g., on a busy street, in a school yard, in a park, in a school gym before and after practice, in a classroom at the beginning and end of school, in a school dining room, etc.).
5. The health of the nation is one of the main conditions for the successful development of the state, which directly depends on the state of the biosphere. Take part in a round table discussion on the topic “Environmental problems and their impact on the health of the nation.”
6. Create a portfolio on the topic “Environment and Immunity Disorders.”
7. Artificial night lighting has been used by humanity for centuries. However, people have only recently become concerned about the potential environmental consequences of light pollution. Street lighting has been found to change the composition and abundance of insect and other invertebrate populations that inhabit our cities. Discuss what consequences the problem of light pollution in cities can have.
8. Get acquainted with publications in local newspapers and magazines (over the last 1–2 months) and identify the most striking manifestations of violations of environmental legislation. Discuss the materials you found as a class.
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Lesson script |
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OU: | Municipal budgetary educational institution "Open (shift) secondary school" Abbreviated name: MBOU "O(S)OSH" |
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teacher: | Kukhtina Natalya Petrovna |
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item: | Ecology | Class: 10 | date of: 18.04.2015 |
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program: | Program basic general education in biology for grades 6-9 by N.I. Sonin and V.B. Zakharov, N.I. Sonina, T.E. Zakharova (Program for general education institutions. Biology. grades 5-11. - M. : Bustard, 2010) |
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lesson topic: | The main environmental problems of our time |
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lesson objectives: | subject: | formulate a competent ecological idea of the current state of the natural environment; |
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meta-subject: | R develop skills in working with various sources of information, the ability to transform them |
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personal: | fto form a stable cognitive interest, personal significance of the problem |
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generated universal educational actions: | educational: | assess the current state of the natural environment |
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regulatory: | consider the current state of the atmosphere; analyze the state of precipitation; |
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communicative: | ability to build a dialogue with the teacher and with each other; |
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personal: | ability to pose questions and formulate problems |
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interdisciplinary concepts | The boundaries of the biosphere and the density of life on it, the organic world of land, soil, and ocean. |
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equipment: | Tables, illustrations related to human activities on the environment; printout of B. Commoner's laws for each table |
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educational technology | technology of student-centered learning |
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methods and techniques: | partially search method, visual method, verbal method - conversation |
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ICT components: | |||||||
lesson type: | combined lesson |
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lesson structure and regulations: | name of the lesson stage (element) | ||||||
Organizing time | |||||||
Setting a work goal | |||||||
Mastering new material | |||||||
Consolidation of knowledge | |||||||
Summing up and closing conversation | |||||||
information sources: | 1.Biology. General biology. Basic level: textbook for grades 10-11 of general education institutions / V.I. Sivoglazov. I.B.Agafonov, E.T. Zakharova. |
Didactic goals of the lesson stages
(motivation stage)
Greeting students and getting ready for the lesson. Divides the class into groups. Distributes handouts and instructs students
Statement of the problem and goals of the work
Lead students to formulate a topic and set tasks, motivate them to study a new topic
Regulatory: setting a learning task based on correlating what is already known with what has not yet been studied; planning your activities.
Assessment and problem identification
Cognitive: making an assumption
Communicative: sharing knowledge among team members to make effective decisions.
Personal: shows a strong interest in finding a solution to a problem.
Updating knowledge
Define the concept of “Ecological balance”.
Cognitive: putting forward hypotheses, choosing grounds and criteria for comparison, classification, independent search for information
Communication skills: the ability to give a speech and give reasons for your statement.
Learning new material - solving a problem
Highlight the main environmental problems of humanity. Ways to solve them.
Regulatory: planning activities, setting work goals, mobilizing forces, awareness and assessment of what is already known with what is to be done, overcoming difficulties.
Cognitive: establishing cause-and-effect relationships.
Communicative: proactive cooperation in searching for new information.
Fixing the material
Checking the degree of mastery of the material, independent work of the student.
Regulatory: anticipating the result of the level of assimilation.
Cognitive: synthesis as the composition of a whole from parts, derivation of consequences, construction of a logical chain of reasoning.
Communication skills: control, assessment of a partner’s actions, ability to defend thoughts, mastery of monologue and dialogic speech
Reflection
Checking position, personal attitude
Cognitive: Understanding the importance of everyone's environmentally friendly behavior in solving problems.
Personal: awareness of one’s importance in this world.
Summarizing
analysis and assessment of the success of the quality of knowledge acquisition. Mark
Lesson script
1. Organizational moment
a) mutual greeting of participants in the educational process
b) preparing students for work in class
The motivational attitude of students on the part of the teacher to fruitful teamwork in the lesson
Lesson epigraph:“Everyone who walks the earth has responsibilities in life.”
E. Hemingway
2. Statement of the problem and updating of knowledge
Humanity is part of the biosphere, a product of its evolution. Have the relationships between humans and natural communities always been cloudless?
Student answers (possible): yes; No; we don't know.
The teacher leads students to set the goal of the lesson: in order to correctly answer the question posed, what educational goal, based on the topic of the lesson, do we need to set today?
Student answers (possible): study human activities in the biosphere.
The teacher agrees with the students and states the purpose of the lesson: to solve the problem we need summarize existing knowledge about negative and positive human activities in the biosphere.
Learning new material
Plan for studying new material (on the board):
1. Human economic activity is a new factor in the biosphere.
2. History of the relationship between man and the biosphere.
3. Ways to solve environmental problems.
4. Conclusions from the lesson.
1. Human economic activity is a new factor in the biosphere.
In the last years of his life, V.I. Vernadsky paid special attention to the study of human activity in the biosphere.
The biosphere is moving into a new, higher state - the noosphere, that is, the sphere of interaction between nature and society, in which human activity becomes the main factor in the transformation of nature, comparable in scale to geological forces.
This teaching has now acquired special significance. Practical significance due to the fact that human impact on the biosphere, previously local, has become global in nature. Therefore, the international program “Man and the Biosphere” was created to find ways to optimally solve environmental problems and ensure reasonable human economic activity that does not violate the functions of the biosphere.
Questions for the class:
Explain how you understand the phrase “ecological consciousness”? a deep understanding of the inextricable connection between man and nature, the dependence of human well-being, the integrity of the natural human environment on anthropogenic changes in the living environment on Earth.
Do modern people need environmental awareness? What needs to be done to educate him?
2.
History of the relationship between man and the biosphere.1. The hunting activity of ancient man accelerated the extinction of many large herbivores. Setting fire to vegetation for hunting purposes could lead to desertification. But these impacts were not significant.
But the sites of primitive people gradually became overgrown with waste, the tribe was removed from this place and migrated to another “clean” territory.
Waste consisted of substances of natural origin; they were easily included in natural cycles.
Then man switched to cattle breeding and agriculture and began to change and destroy entire communities. The steppe vegetation no longer had time to renew itself. And the steppe or savanna gave way to semi-desert. It is because of this that the area of the Sahara Desert has increased.
2.Farming requires land irrigation, and excessive irrigation often leads to soil salinization, and improper plowing leads to loss of the fertile layer.
There are several versions of the death of Babylon (Gate of God). According to one of them, the economy of this ancient state was based on irrigated agriculture. The waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were used. The speed of water flow in the canals was sufficient to prevent salinization of fertile soils and to prevent them from becoming clogged with gravel and sand.
In 582 BC. e. The ruler of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, sealed peace with Egypt by marrying princess Nitocris. A retinue of Egyptian advisers arrived with the princess. They proposed building a new canal and increasing the area of irrigated land. The king accepted the project and the Pallukat canal was built. This provided great economic benefits. But what were the consequences of this construction?
Apparently, the waters of the Euphrates, due to the fact that a significant part of its flow was taken into the canal, began to flow more slowly, and suspended matter settled in the canal. The waters of Pallukat flowing through dry areas caused soil salinization. Due to errors in the creation of canals, the population declined and only ruins remained of Babylon.
Over the past 100 years, two major shifts have occurred:
the world's population has increased sharply;
Industrial production of energy and agricultural products increased sharply.
As a result, the flows of matter and energy caused by human activity began to make up a significant proportion of the total biogenic cycle. For the first time, humanity began to have a noticeable impact on the functioning of the biosphere.
If urgent measures are not taken by the entire human community, in the coming decades we can expect disruption and death of many communities, and deterioration of the habitat as a whole.
3.Growth of the Earth's population.
In the 20th century The rate of population growth has increased sharply: according to various forecasts, by 2025 there will be from 7.5 to 9.4 billion people on Earth. The bulk of the increase is and will be in the future in developing countries. And hence - a sharp exacerbation of environmental problems.
4.Pollution of the World Ocean.
The famous scientist and traveler Thor Heyerdahl in his book “On “Ra” across the Atlantic” (1969-1970). says: “We woke up in the morning to find the ocean so dirty that there was nowhere to dip a toothbrush. The Atlantic Ocean went from blue to gray-green and murky, with lumps of fuel oil floating everywhere. There were plastic bottles dangling in this mess, as if we had found ourselves in a dirty harbor. I didn’t see anything like this when I sat in the ocean on the Kon-Tiki logs for one hundred and one days (1947).
We have seen with our own eyes that the most important source of life, the most important filter of the globe - the World Ocean - is being poisoned. And it became clear to us what a threat looms over us and future generations.”
5.Changes in the composition of the atmosphere and climate
This is nothing new. Back in 1306, the English king Edward I complained about the “unbearable stench” spread throughout London by burning coal, which was used to stoke fireplaces, and forbade their use
6. Soil depletion and pollution. And this problem is not new.
7.The problem of waste disposal. Middle Ages, Modern times.
In the famous novel “Perfume” by Patrick Suskind we read: “In the cities of that time there was a stench almost unimaginable to us modern people. The streets smelled disgustingly of manure, the courtyards of rotten wood and rat droppings, the kitchens of bad coal and lamb fat; the unventilated living rooms smelled of caked dust. Bedrooms - dirty sheets. There was smoke coming from the fireplaces, caustic alkalis from the tanneries, and stale meat from the slaughterhouses. The rivers, squares, churches smelled disgustingly, it smelled under bridges and in palaces. And of course. In Paris there was the greatest stench, for Paris was the largest city in France. Noble people were forced to resort to the help of servants in order not to get stuck in the flow of sewage carrying all kinds of garbage.”
These sewage became the cause of terrible epidemics.
You are well aware of Chistoprudny Boulevard, which is part of the boulevard ring of Moscow. It got its name from the name of the pond – Chisty, which was here long before the boulevard. But the pond was not always clean. It’s hard to imagine that once this pond, on which swans now gracefully swim, was called Pogany: waste from the slaughterhouses that stood on Myasnitskaya Street was poured into it. The pond was cleaned and renamed Chisty in 1703.
The problem of waste has become one of the most serious global problems of our time.
Let's remember what problems we were talking about? (write in notebook)
population growth in developing countries.
a sharp increase in industrial production and agricultural production.
pollution of natural waters.
changes in atmospheric composition and climate
soil depletion and pollution.
problem of waste accumulation
3. Ways to solve environmental problems.
This is the achievement of balanced development of humanity. The UN International Commission on Environment and Development characterizes it as a path for social, economic and political progress that meets the needs of the present without undermining the right of future generations to meet their needs. Humanity must learn to “live within our means,” curb population growth, develop new industrial technologies, search for new “clean” energy sources, increase food production while maintaining the same acreage, and preserve natural communities.
4. Let's draw conclusions. American scientist Barry Commoner, in his book “The Closing Circle,” formulated four basic laws of ecology.
The notes are on your desks, write them down in a notebook, comprehend them and try to remember them.
Everything is connected to everything.
Damage to one component of an ecosystem can lead to large adverse consequences.
Everything has to go somewhere
The Earth's landscapes, the geographic envelope as a whole, are systems in which chemical elements and substances are included in various, well-functioning cycles - circulations.
When household and industrial waste enters the environment, it does not disappear without a trace - it is not included in natural cycles and gradually accumulates in water. Soil, living organisms...
Nature knows best
Man, wanting to “improve” nature, often disrupts the course of natural processes, which often makes the habitat unfavorable for life.
You have to pay for everything
It is impossible to spend natural resources free of charge, pollute the environment, and transform natural landscapes.
5. Fastening.
It was these laws that became the conclusions of the lesson.
5.Reflection:
Let's return to the problematic question, can we answer it now?
(suggested answer) Yes! Of course it can!
Teacher: And this means that we have achieved the goal that we set together
6. Lesson results.
IN groups, based on the results of joint (active or not) work, conduct self-assessment and mutual assessment.
The teacher listens to the students and puts marks in the journal
I invite you to reflect on the following words at home:
“Wildlife is the raw material from which man has forged the product called civilization.”
(Oldo Leopold)
“The first sign of wisdom is a constant respect for nature” (Lao Tzu)
7. Homework § 5.7, questions after the paragraph, terms, textbook page 335.