What environmental problems are observed in modern society. Global environmental problems of our time

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. Ecological problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan …………………………………...21

2.1. Desertification of soils ……………………………………………….....21

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

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

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

Mankind is too slow to understand the extent of the danger that a frivolous attitude towards the environment creates. 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 has 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 by several times. Moreover, a person releases into the environment thousands of tons of substances that have never been contained in it and which are often not amenable or poorly recyclable. All this leads to the fact that biological microorganisms that act as a regulator environment 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 catastrophe.

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

State human environment the natural environment is one of the most pressing global problems of our time. The problems of ecology, the world state of the environment have been studied by many. 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 their solution.

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

Coursework consists of 31 pages, contains two chapters. The first chapter consists of 4 sub-chapters, the second - of 2 sub-chapters.

Chapter 1 Major Environmental Issues

1.1. Air pollution

First, a few words must be said about the very concept of "ecology".

Ecology was born as a purely biological science of the relationship "organism - environment". However, with the intensification of anthropogenic and technogenic pressure on the environment, the insufficiency of this approach became obvious. Indeed, at present there are no phenomena, processes and territories unaffected by this powerful pressure. And there is no science that could withdraw from the search for a way out of the ecological crisis. The range of sciences involved in environmental issues has expanded enormously. Now, along with biology, these are economic and geographical sciences, medical and sociological research, atmospheric physics and mathematics, and many other sciences.

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

An example of a local environmental problem is a plant that dumps its industrial waste into the river without treatment, which is harmful to human health. This is a violation of the law. The nature protection authorities or even the public should fine such a plant through the courts and, under threat of closure, force it to build a treatment plant. It does not require special science.

An example of regional environmental problems is the drying up Aral Sea with a sharp deterioration in 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 - accurate hydrological studies to develop recommendations for increasing the flow into the Aral Sea, in the second - to determine the impact on the health of the population of prolonged exposure to low doses of radiation and the development of soil decontamination methods.

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

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

Secondly, many species of animals and plants are disappearing, and new dangerous microorganisms are emerging.

Thirdly, the landscape is deteriorating, fertile lands are turning into piles, rivers into sewers, the water regime and climate are changing in places. But the biggest danger is global climate change (warming), possible, for example, due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This can lead to the melting of glaciers. As a result, huge 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, formed during the evolution of the Earth, human activity and located outside residential, industrial and other premises.

The results of environmental studies unequivocally indicate that pollution of the surface atmosphere is the most powerful, constantly acting factor influencing humans, the food chain and the environment. Atmospheric air has an unlimited capacity and plays the role of the most mobile, chemically aggressive and all-penetrating agent of interaction near the surface of the components of the biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

In recent years, data have been obtained on the essential role of the ozone layer of the atmosphere for the preservation of the biosphere, which absorbs the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun, which is harmful to living organisms and forms a thermal barrier at altitudes of about 40 km, which prevents 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 it is given close attention in all developed countries.

The polluted surface atmosphere causes cancer of the lungs, throat and skin, a disorder 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 the health of the population and the quality of atmospheric air.

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. The surface and underground waters of the land are mainly atmospheric nourishment and, as a result, their chemical composition depends mainly on the state of the atmosphere.

The negative impact of the polluted atmosphere on the soil and vegetation cover is associated both with the precipitation of acidic precipitation, which leaches calcium, humus and trace elements from the soil, and with the disruption of photosynthesis processes, leading to a slowdown in the growth and death of plants. The high sensitivity of trees (especially birch, 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 atmospheric precipitation is now considered as a powerful factor not only in the weathering of rocks and the deterioration of the quality of bearing soils, but also in the chemical destruction of man-made objects, including cultural monuments and land lines. Many economically developed countries are currently implementing programs to address the problem of acid precipitation. As part of National Program The Acid Rainfall Impact Assessment, established in 1980, began funding research into the atmospheric processes that cause acid rain to assess the effects of acid rain on ecosystems and develop appropriate conservation measures. It turned out that acid rain has a multifaceted impact on the environment and is the result of self-purification (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, space dust, sea salt particles, products of plant, animal and microbiological origin. The level of such pollution is considered as background, which changes little with 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 pollution of the atmosphere, as evidenced by the 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 emitted into the high layers of the atmosphere, which are picked up by high-speed air currents at high altitude 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 activities. These should include:

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

2. The operation of thermal power plants, when acid rain is formed during the combustion of high-sulfur coals as a result of the release of sulfur dioxide and fuel oil.

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

4. Production activity.

5. Pollution with suspended particles (when crushing, packing and loading, from boiler houses, power plants, mine shafts, quarries when burning garbage).

6. Emissions by enterprises of various gases.

7. Combustion of fuel in flare furnaces, resulting in the formation of the most massive pollutant - carbon monoxide.

8. Fuel combustion 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 concentrations of ozone from rooms with high energy installations (accelerators, ultraviolet sources and nuclear reactors). In large quantities, ozone is a highly toxic gas.

During the processes of fuel combustion, the most intense pollution of the surface layer of the atmosphere occurs in megacities and major cities, industrial centers due to the wide distribution in them 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 the total air pollution here reaches 40-50%. A powerful and extremely dangerous factor in atmospheric pollution are catastrophes at nuclear power plants (Chernobyl accident) and nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere. This is due both to the rapid spread of radionuclides over long distances and to the long-term nature of the contamination of the territory.

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

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

AT Western Europe priority is given to 28 especially 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 are predominantly toxic. Carbon disulfide, hydrogen sulfide, styrene, tetrachloroethane, toluene have an intense unpleasant odor. The impact halo of sulfur and nitrogen oxides extends over long distances. The above 28 air pollutants are included in the international registry of potentially toxic chemicals.

The main indoor air pollutants are dust and tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, 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 ticks in the air of dwellings.

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, a variety of physical and chemical reactions occurring in it. The atmosphere is now viewed as a huge "chemical cauldron" that is influenced by numerous and variable anthropogenic and natural factors. Gases and aerosols released into the atmosphere are highly reactive. Dust and soot generated during fuel combustion, forest fires absorb heavy metals and radionuclides and, when deposited on the surface, can pollute vast 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 of size (for aerosols) and the presence of reactive components (ozone, hydrogen peroxide, etc.). .).

Estimating and even more so forecasting the state of the surface atmosphere is a very complex problem. At present, her condition is assessed mainly according to the normative approach. Values for toxic chemicals and other air quality guidelines are given in many handbooks and guidelines. In such guidelines for Europe, in addition to the toxicity of pollutants (carcinogenic, mutagenic, allergenic and other effects), their prevalence and ability to accumulate in the human body and the food chain are taken into account. The shortcomings of the normative approach are the unreliability of the accepted values of the indicators due to the poor development of their empirical observational base, the lack of consideration for the combined impact of pollutants and abrupt changes in the state of the surface layer of the atmosphere in time and space. There are few stationary posts for monitoring the air basin, and they do not allow an adequate assessment of 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 foci of radioactive contamination associated with Chernobyl accident, studied pine needles, which have the ability to accumulate radionuclides in the air. Reddening of the needles of coniferous trees during periods of smog in cities is widely known.

The most sensitive and reliable indicator of the state of the surface atmosphere is the 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. Snowfall contains pollutants that are not captured by direct measurements or calculated data on dust and gas emissions.

The promising areas for assessing the state of the surface atmosphere of large industrial-urbanized territories include multichannel remote sensing. The advantage of this method lies in the ability to characterize large areas quickly, repeatedly and in the same way. To date, methods have been developed for estimating the content of aerosols in the atmosphere. The development of scientific and technological progress allows us to hope for the development of such methods in relation to other pollutants.

The forecast of the state of the surface atmosphere is carried out on the basis of complex data. These primarily include the results of monitoring observations, the patterns of migration and transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere, the features of anthropogenic and natural processes of pollution of the air basin of the study area, the influence of meteorological parameters, relief 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 particular region. The greatest success in solving this complex problem has been achieved for the areas where nuclear power plants are located. The end result of applying such models is a quantitative assessment of the risk of air pollution and an assessment of its acceptability from a socio-economic point of view.

The main atmospheric pollutants include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen dioxide, as well as small 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 is made by enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemistry and petrochemistry, construction industry, energy, pulp and paper industry, and in some cities, boiler houses.

Sources of pollution - thermal power plants, which, together 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 the combustion of fuel for industrial needs, home heating, transport, combustion and processing of household and industrial waste.

Atmospheric pollutants are divided into primary, entering directly into the atmosphere, and secondary, resulting from the transformation of the latter. So, sulfur dioxide entering the atmosphere is oxidized to sulfuric anhydride, which interacts 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, physico-chemical reactions between pollutants and atmospheric components, other secondary signs are formed. The main source of pyrogenic pollution on the planet are thermal power plants, metallurgical and chemical enterprises, boiler plants, which consume more than 170% of the annually produced solid and liquid fuels.

The main harmful impurities of pyrogenic origin are the following:

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

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

c) Sulfuric anhydride. It is formed during the oxidation of sulfur dioxide.

The end product of the reaction is an aerosol or solution of sulfuric acid in rainwater, which acidifies the soil and exacerbates human respiratory diseases. The precipitation of sulfuric acid aerosol from smoke flares of chemical enterprises is observed at 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 for the manufacture of artificial fiber, sugar, coke, 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 dust of sodium and calcium fluoride.

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

g) Chlorine compounds. They enter the atmosphere from chemical enterprises producing hydrochloric acid, chlorine-containing pesticides, organic dyes, hydrolytic alcohol, bleach, soda. In the atmosphere, they are found as an admixture 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, during the smelting of pig iron and its processing into steel, various heavy metals and toxic gases are released into the atmosphere. So, per 1 tonne of saturated cast iron, in addition to 2.7 kg of sulfur dioxide and 4.5 kg of dust particles, which determine the amount of compounds of arsenic, phosphorus, antimony, lead, mercury vapor and rare metals, tar substances and hydrogen cyanide, are released.

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

Carbon dioxide. As a result of fuel combustion, as well as the production of cement, a huge amount of this gas enters the atmosphere. This gas itself is not poisonous.

Carbon monoxide. Combustion of fuel, which creates most of the gaseous and aerosol pollution of 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, as a result of human activity, about 300 million tons of carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere.

Hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities are a small fraction of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, but their pollution is very important. Their entry 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 the incomplete combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel during the operation of cars and other means of transport.

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

Sulfur 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.

Aerosol formation processes are very diverse. This is, first of all, crushing, grinding and spraying, solids. In nature, this origin has mineral dust raised from the surface of deserts during dust storms. 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 increased share due to unreasonable human activities. Mineral dust from the surface of deserts is carried by the wind for many thousands of kilometers.

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

The source of aerosols is also the technological processes of people's economic activities.

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

Aerosols enter the atmosphere when spraying solutions. The natural source of such aerosols is the ocean, which supplies chloride and sulfate aerosols, formed as a result of 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 by gravity (the main route for large particles), deposition on obstacles, and fallout. Aerosol pollution affects weather and climate. Chemical inactive aerosols accumulate in the lungs and lead to damage. Ordinary quartz sand and other silicates - micas, clays, asbestos, etc. accumulates in the lungs and penetrates into the blood, leads to diseases of the cardiovascular system and liver disease.

1.2. global climate change

The colossal power of nature: floods, elements, 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 that changes everything. The seas will rise, cities may be flooded and millions of people may die. No coastal region is immune from the dire consequences.

Global warming, we hear this expression all the time, but there is a frightening reality behind the familiar words. Our planet is heating up and this is having a disastrous effect on the earth's ice caps. The temperature rises, the ice begins to melt, the sea begins to rise. Worldwide, ocean levels are rising twice as fast as they did 150 years ago. In 2005, 315 cubic kilometers of ice from Greenland and Antarctica melted into the sea, for comparison, the city of Moscow uses 6 cubic kilometers 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 worldwide, but already now many experts fear that their predictions 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 troubling picture. By the end of the century, sea levels could rise as much as 6 meters and all of this could happen to all of us due to melting.

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

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

Long-term observations show that as a result of economic activity, the gas composition and dust content of the lower layers of the atmosphere change. Millions of tons of soil particles rise into the air from plowed lands during dust storms. During the development of minerals, in 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 enters the atmosphere. Determinations of the composition of the air show that there are 25% more carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere now than 200 years ago. This is, of course, the result of human activities, as well as deforestation, the green leaves of which absorb carbon dioxide. The greenhouse effect is associated with an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which manifests itself in the heating of the inner layers of the Earth's atmosphere. This is because the atmosphere transmits most of the solar radiation. Some of the rays are absorbed and heat the earth's surface, and the atmosphere is heated from it.

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 action of the greenhouse effect is similar to the action of glass in a greenhouse or hotbed (from this the name "greenhouse effect" arose).

Consider what happens to the bodies in the 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 that energy back, providing the objects inside with additional heat. In the same way, the earth's surface receives additional heat as "greenhouse" gases absorb and then emit radiation of lower energy. Gases that cause the greenhouse effect by their increased concentration are called greenhouse gases. This is mainly carbon dioxide and water vapor, but there are other gases that absorb energy 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.

Effects global warming:

1. If the temperature on Earth continues to rise, it will have a major impact on the global climate.

2. More precipitation will fall in the tropics, as additional heat will increase the amount of water vapor in the air.

3. In arid regions, the rains will become even rarer and they will turn into deserts, as a result of which people and animals will have to leave them.

4. The temperature of the seas will also rise, which will lead to the flooding of low-lying areas of the coast and to an increase in the number of severe storms.

5. An increase in temperature on Earth can cause a rise in sea levels because:

a) water, as it heats up, becomes less dense and expands, the expansion of sea water will lead to a general rise in sea level.

b) an increase in temperature can melt some of the multi-year ice covering some areas of land, such as Antarctica or high mountain ranges. The resulting water will eventually drain into the seas, raising their levels. It should be noted, however, that the melting of ice floating in the seas will not cause sea levels to rise. The Arctic ice sheet 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 shrink.

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

8. Trajectories of cyclones and anticyclones will change.

9. If the temperature on Earth rises, 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 the increase in temperature leads to the death of many plants, then many species of animals will die out after them.

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 fuels. This means that you need:

1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

2. In boiler houses, plants and factories, install facilities for cleaning emissions into the atmosphere.

3. Abandon 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, observe them and eliminate their consequences.

It is impossible to completely eliminate the greenhouse effect. It is believed that if it were 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 the possible options for the development of the ecological situation on the planet, the most grateful and, of course, the most meaningful, it seems to talk about some of the current areas of environmental protection. Otherwise, one would have to speak exclusively about the horrors of the depletion of natural resources, etc.

Although each of the global problems discussed here has its own options for partial or more complete solutions, there is a certain set of common approaches to solving environmental problems. In addition, over the past century, mankind has developed a number of original ways to deal with their own, nature-destroying shortcomings.

Among such methods (or possible ways of solving the problem) can be attributed the emergence and activities of various kinds of "green" movements and organizations. In addition to the Green Peace, which is distinguished not only by the scope of its activities, but also, at times, by a noticeable extremism of actions, as well as similar organizations that directly conduct environmental actions, there is another type of environmental organizations - structures that stimulate and sponsor environmental activities - such as the Fund wildlife, for example. All environmental organizations exist in one of the forms: public, private state or mixed type organizations.

In addition to various kinds of associations that defend the rights of civilization that are gradually destroying nature, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives in the field of solving environmental problems. For example, the environmental legislation of the countries of the world, various international agreements or the system of "Red Books".

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-waste and waste-free technologies, the construction of treatment facilities, the rational distribution of production and the use of natural resources.

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

1.4. Impact of environmental issues on the economy

Policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should not be a brake on the economy.

Dealing with climate change and the economic damage it is likely to cause poses a dilemma for policy makers. The benefits of policies are uncertain and likely to accrue to future generations, while the costs of policies are likely to be needed more quickly and be significant. At the same time, the costs of inaction are irreversible and possibly catastrophic, and are likely to hurt poorer countries more than developed ones. Moreover, even if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that accumulate in the atmosphere and cause climate warming are immediately stopped, temperatures will continue to rise for several decades due to the emissions already accumulated.

For these reasons, economic policymakers are increasingly recognizing that policy action is needed both to mitigate the impact of global warming by slowing and ultimately reducing harmful emissions, and to adapt to the effects of emissions that have already occurred or will occur in coming decades. They also agree that mitigation policies in particular can have quick and far-reaching results. In order to shed light on how mitigation measures are likely to affect countries' economies, a study was conducted comparing alternatives policies, emissions taxes, emissions trading and hybrid schemes that combine elements of these two options. The results of the analysis are encouraging, showing that climate change can be tackled without undermining macroeconomic stability and growth and without imposing an undue burden on countries that are least able to bear the costs of appropriate policies. In other words, if policies are well planned, their economic costs should be affordable.

The baseline scenarios carry a significant risk that the global climate will change dramatically by the end of this century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) predicts that, in the absence of policies to control emissions, global temperatures will rise by an average of 2.8° Celsius by 2100. The probability of a larger increase in temperature is not negligible. Nicholas Stern (2008) indicates that if baseline pollutant concentrations stabilize at at least 750 parts per million 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 would rise by more than 5° Celsius, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the planet. Any assessment of the economic impact of climate change is subject to great uncertainty. In his study, Stern (United Kingdom) estimates that the decline in GDP per capita by 2200 under his climate baseline (with relatively high emissions, including market and non-market impacts and catastrophic risk) ranges from 3 to 35 percent (90-35 percent). percent confidence interval) with a central estimate of 15 percent.

Uncertainty about climate change damages comes from a variety of sources. First, scientific knowledge about the physical and environmental processes that underlie climate change continues to evolve.

For example, it is not clear how quickly greenhouse gases will accumulate in the atmosphere, how sensitive climate and biological systems to increases in concentrations of these gases, and where will be the "last frontiers" after which there will be catastrophic climatic consequences, such as the melting of the western ice sheet in Antarctica

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

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

In addition, low estimates of global damage mask a large variation between countries.

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

Chapter 2. Ecological problems of the Republic of Kazakhstan

2.1. Desertification of soils

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

The main sources polluting the environment and causing degradation 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, not only gaseous pollutants, but also liquid and solid substances enter first of all.

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

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

The intake of various pollutants into the atmosphere from stationary industrial sources is currently more than 4 million tons per year.

A significant amount of highly toxic gaseous and solid substances is 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 East Kazakhstan - 2231.4 thousand tons / year, which is 43 percent of the total emissions throughout Kazakhstan. Central Kazakhstan is in second place in terms 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 South Kazakhstan 415.1 thousand tons/year, which is 8 percent. The most mobile, with an extensive radius of action, are oxides of nitrogen and sulfur. They carry over to significant considerations and have a strong impact on mortality, 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 to take measures to restore and further rational use of the country's natural resources, including land and water.

Decreased fertility of arable lands, degradation of pastures and reduction of haylands, chemical and radioactive contamination of soils and water bodies have greatly worsened the state of natural lands and led to a decrease in agricultural production, deterioration of living conditions and health of the population. Thus, Kazakhstan is faced with the acute issue of taking preventive measures to prevent further land degradation and taking measures to restore and further rational use of 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 raise awareness of the population about the processes of desertification in Kazakhstan, about the impact of these processes on the economic and social situation of the rural population, about the goals and objectives of the Convention.

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

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

With the support of the UN Development Program / UNSO, the Republic of Kazakhstan developed the project “Pastures”, management of pasture ecosystems. The purpose of the development of 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 Kazakhstani part of the Aral Sea to support pasture animal husbandry. This project involves the provision of 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 animal husbandry, and the local population gaining self-sufficiency.

Strategic directions for combating desertification are being developed as an integral part of a wider national policy sustainable development of the country, set out in the Strategy "Kazakhstan-2030".

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 ecological 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. Within the framework of the Regional Action Plan for Asia, Kazakhstan submitted its proposals and entered as a member of the Thematic Program Network “Organization of a Regional Desertification Monitoring and Assessment Network in Asia”. Kazakhstan participates in the work carried out by the UNCCD Secretariat on indicators and impact indicators. The importance of this work for assessing the implementation of the BWC in the affected countries should be noted.

The ecological zoning is based on the ecosystem principle and the establishment of the potential of ecosystems for self-restoration - the ecological capacity of the region.

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

On arable land: conducting intensive grain farming on more fertile lands; restoration of fertility of arable lands; transformation of a part of low productive arable land into fodder lands; introduction of a soil-protective system of agriculture, etc.

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

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

For water resources: introduction of water-saving irrigation technologies; replacement of moisture-loving crops with drought-resistant, less moisture-loving ones.

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 the strengthening of regional cooperation, Kazakhstan joined as a participating country in the already established thematic program networks:

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

2. Agroforestry and soil conservation.

Currently, Kazakhstan takes an active part 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, raising awareness of the local population about the goals and objectives of the UNCCD through seminars, meetings, speeches in the media mass media. Great importance is attached to the participation of non-governmental organizations in the implementation of the Convention at the local level.

Particular attention is paid to the issue of finding possible donors to attract investment 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 radioactive contamination, the sources of which are divided into four main groups:

1. waste from non-operating enterprises, uranium mining and processing industries (dumps of uranium mines, self-flowing wells, tailings, dismantled equipment of technological lines); territories contaminated as a result of nuclear weapons testing; 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). Kazakhstan has 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 the 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. More than 50,000 spent sources of ionizing radiation are located at enterprises in Kazakhstan, and more than 700 uncontrolled sources, of which 16 are deadly for humans, were discovered and eliminated during a radiation survey. 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 activities will be to reduce exposure of the population and radioactive contamination of the environment.

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

One of the most difficult environmental problems is radiation pollution of the territory of Kazakhstan. Nuclear tests, conducted since 1949 at the Semipalatinsk test site, have led to the contamination of a vast territory in Central and Eastern Kazakhstan. There were five more test sites in the republic where nuclear tests were carried out, in the immediate vicinity of its borders there is a Chinese test site Lop-Nor. Radiation background in Kazakhstan also increases as a result of the formation of ozone holes during launch spaceships from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. A huge problem for Kazakhstan is radioactive waste. 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 burial sites for nuclear waste in the republic, and all of them are located in the aquifer. The extraction of uranium ore was carried out without land reclamation, only in 1990-1991. 97 thousand tons of radioactive rocks were taken to the Moiynkum district of the Zhambyl region, 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 on a ban on tests at the Semipalatinsk test site.

Another of the most serious environmental problems in Kazakhstan has been the depletion water resources. The expansion of fresh water consumption, primarily for irrigated agriculture, has led to clogging and depletion of natural water sources. The shallowing of the Aral Sea was especially catastrophic due to the irrational use of the waters of the Amur Darya and Syr Darya. 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. The sea level dropped by 13 meters, the exposed seabed turned into a salt desert. Annual dust storms carry salt over vast areas of Eurasia. On 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 sea surface led to a change in the direction of the 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-considered decision to drain the Kara-Bogazgol Bay. Huge tracts of coastal areas, rangelands and promising oil fields have already been flooded.

The Zyryanovsk lead and Leninogorsk polymetallic plants caused pollution of the Irtysh, into which in 1989 alone 895 tons of suspended matter, 2,139 tons of organic matter, and 263 tons of oil products were dumped. 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 deserted. More than 69.7 million hectares of land are subject to erosion, and every year thousands of hectares are withdrawn from agricultural use. Air pollution remains a serious problem, especially in large industrial centers.

Conclusion

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

As the negative consequences of the violation of the ecological balance began to acquire a universal character, it became necessary to create an environmental movement. Private entrepreneurs have also become involved in the creation of such opportunities, trying to reconcile the requirements for the protection of nature with the protection of the right to profit and the possibility of its implementation. They seek to implement these requirements in two ways: by orienting production towards the creation of means of production and by carrying out work to protect the natural environment and by limiting economic growth.

In recent years, monopolists have increasingly talked about production in order to protect the environment. The monopolies are vying for dominance over the environmental movement, as environmental protection is a new area, spending on which entails raising prices or direct public contributions, i.e. from the budget or through drastic relaxations (benefits). In fact, the very mechanism of market relations in capitalist production allows enterprises to even use their contribution to environmental protection to obtain ever-increasing profits.

Finally, enterprises that pollute the natural environment are obliged to make a great contribution to its protection, trying to raise the price of their goods. But this is not easy to implement, since all other enterprises that pollute the natural environment (manufacturers of cement, metal, etc.) also want to sell their products at a higher price to end producers. Taking into account environmental requirements in the final 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 environmental protection costs will fall on the amount of money that people have to buy goods. But since this quantity of money will then decrease, there will be a tendency for the output of goods to stagnate or decrease. The tendency of regression or crisis is obvious. Such a slowdown in industrial growth and a stagnation of output in some other system could have a positive aspect (less cars, noise, more air, shorter working hours, etc.). but with intensively developed production, all this can have a negative effect: goods whose production 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 even poorer, and the rich - even richer. Thus, entrepreneurs whose mode of production has led to an ecological imbalance, by protecting the natural environment, create the opportunity for themselves to further appropriate profits by participating in solving environmental problems.

To solve modern environmental problems, it is necessary to change the 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. (About the incorrect distribution of, for example, food in the modern distribution, this fact speaks: in the United States, as much protein is consumed for feeding pets as it is consumed for feeding the population in India.). The creation of a new civilization can hardly take place without a qualitative change in the bearer of social force.

To maintain ecological balance, "reconciliation of society with nature", it is not enough to eliminate private property and introduce public property into 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 such an attitude towards technical development, it becomes clear that technology will develop processes for the rational use of raw materials and energy in the environment for any production, and there will be no undesirable and threatening consequences. To achieve this goal, it would be logical to direct science towards the development of alternative production processes that would satisfy the requirement of the rational use of raw materials and energy and the isolation of the process within the boundaries of the workshop with a simple, equal cost or less compared to dirty technologies. This attitude towards technological development also requires a new concept of social needs. It should be different from the concept of a consumer society, have a humanistic orientation, cover needs, the satisfaction of which enriches Creative skills person and helps him to express himself, which is the most valuable 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 establishing 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 the productive forces to be used for the development of nature in an appropriate way, it is necessary to develop socio-economic relations in which the purpose of production will not be larger 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 the rest, 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 the rejection of more essential things, for example, a humane pace of life, creative labor , non-impersonal public relations.

Mankind understands more and more that often wasted resources are paid too dearly by those resources that are becoming less and less - clean water, clean air, etc.

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

Appendix

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

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. www.ecologylife.ru

2. www.new-garbage.com

3. Radkevich V.A. Ecology. Minsk: Higher school, 1997.

4. Danilov-Danilyan V. I. (ed.) Ecology, nature conservation and environmental safety. / MNEPU, 1997

5. Korableva A.I. Assessment of pollution of water ecosystems by heavy metals / Water resources. 1991. No. 2

6. Environment and sustainable development in Kazakhstan. UNDP Kazakhstan Publication Series. Almaty, No. UNDPKAZ 06, 2004

7. State report "On the state of the environment Russian Federation in 1995"/Green World, 1996. No. 24

8. www.ecosystem.ru

9. Ecology: Cognitive Encyclopedia / Translated from English by L. Yakhnina. M .: TIME-LIFE, 1994.

10. http/ru.wikipedia.org/ecology.html

11. Golub A., Strukova E. . Environmental activities in the transitional economy / Economic Issues, 1995. No. 1

12. Environment and sustainable development in Kazakhstan. UNDP Kazakhstan Publication Series. Almaty, No. UNDPKAZ 06, 2004

13. Shokamanov Yu., Makazhanova A. Human development in Kazakhstan. UNDP Kazakhstan. Workshop. Almaty. S-Print.2006

14. Sagybaev G. "Fundamentals of Ecology", Almaty 1995

15. Erofeev B.V. " environmental law RK", Almaty 19951.

16. Brinchuk M.M. "Legal protection of the environment from pollution by toxic substances", 1990

17. Shalinsky A.M. "Environmental pollution and environmental policy of Kazakhstan" 2002

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State budgetary professional educational institution

Stavropol Territory "Kislovodsk Medical College"

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

discipline "Ecology"

Made by Saidova D.K.

checked by teacher Kodzhakova S.Z.

mr. Kislovodsk 2016

Introduction

Global Environmental Issue #2: Ozone Depletion

Global Environmental Issue #4: Acid Rain

Environmental Issue #5: Soil Pollution

Conclusion

Introduction

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

Global Environmental Issue #1: Air Pollution

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

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

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

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

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

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

Limiting population growth;

Reducing the volume of energy use;

Improving energy efficiency;

Waste reduction;

Transition to environmentally friendly renewable energy sources;

Purification of air in especially polluted territories.

Global Environmental Issue #2: Ozone Depletion

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

causes of environmental problems. Back in the 1970s. environmentalists have discovered that the ozone layer is destroyed by exposure to chlorofluorocarbons. These chemicals are found in coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners, as well as solvents, aerosols/sprays, and fire extinguishers. To a lesser extent, other anthropogenic influences also contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer: the launch of space rockets, the flights of jet aircraft in high layers of the atmosphere, nuclear weapons testing, and the reduction of the planet's forest lands. There is also a theory that global warming contributes to the thinning of the ozone layer.

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

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

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

2Conferences.

a) Vienna Conference (September 1987). It discussed and signed the Montreal Protocol:

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

The use of chlorofluorocarbons, compared with 1986 levels, should be reduced by 20% by 1993 and by half by 1998.

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

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

It remains only to believe that a deep awareness of the danger threatening humanity will inspire the government of all countries to take the necessary measures to reduce emissions of substances harmful to ozone.

World Environmental Issue #3: Global Warming

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

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

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

Other prerequisites for global warming are overpopulation of the planet, deforestation, ozone depletion and littering.

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

Some believe that the natural increase in the abundance of oceanic plankton also contributes to global warming, leading to an increase in the concentration of the same carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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

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

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

Hurricanes will become more frequent.

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

Rising prices for fossil fuels,

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

Development of energy-saving and waste-free technologies,

Taxation of emissions into the environment,

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

Implementation of carbon dioxide absorption and sequestration technologies,

Tree planting,

Reducing the size of families

environmental education,

The use of phytomelioration in agriculture.

Global Environmental Issue #4: Acid Rain

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

The effects of acid rain. Solutions of sulfuric and nitric acids, aluminum and cobalt compounds contained in polluted precipitation and fog pollute the soil and water bodies, adversely affect vegetation, causing dry tops of deciduous trees and oppressing conifers. Due to acid rain, crop yields are falling, people are drinking water enriched with toxic metals (mercury, cadmium, lead), marble architectural monuments are turning into gypsum and eroding.

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

Global Environmental Issue #5: Soil Pollution

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

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

Solutions:

Development of environmental technologies or non-waste production.

Disinfection of hazardous waste, sewage.

Combating toxic emissions from various types of equipment.

Destruction or recycling of garbage.

Disinfection of contaminated soil, water and air.

Global Environmental Issue #6: Water Pollution

pollution atmosphere water greenhouse

Pollution of the oceans, underground and surface water sushi is a global environmental problem, the responsibility for which lies entirely with man.

causes of environmental problems. The main pollutants of the hydrosphere today are oil and oil products. These substances penetrate into the waters of the oceans as a result of the collapse of tankers and regular discharges of wastewater from industrial enterprises.

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

The hydrosphere does not bypass such a global environmental problem as radioactive contamination. The prerequisite for its formation was the disposal of radioactive waste in the waters of the oceans. From the 1949s to the 1970s, many powers with a developed nuclear industry and nuclear fleet purposefully stockpiled harmful radioactive substances into the seas and oceans. In the places of burial of radioactive containers, the level of cesium often goes off scale even today. But "underwater polygons" are not the only radioactive source of pollution of the hydrosphere. The waters of the seas and oceans are enriched with radiation as a result of underwater and surface nuclear explosions.

Consequences of radioactive contamination of water. Oil pollution of the hydrosphere leads to the destruction natural environment habitats of hundreds of representatives of oceanic flora and fauna, the death of plankton, sea birds and mammals. For human health, the poisoning of the waters of the oceans also poses a serious danger: fish and other seafood “infected” with radiation can easily get on the table.

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

Purification of industrial and household sewage;

Disinfection of natural waters with the help of chemical reagents;

Pumping of polluted waters into special reservoirs or aquifers;

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

Conclusion

Global problems are a challenge to the human mind. It is impossible to get away from them. They can only be overcome. To overcome with the efforts of each person and each country in close cooperation for the sake of the great goal - to preserve the possibility of living on Earth.

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How are environmental problems solved in Russia?

In our state, supervision over the extraction of minerals has been significantly weakened, despite the fact that the preservation and improvement of the environment is in the first place. The developed laws and local documentation do not have sufficient power to work effectively, completely leveling or reducing the main environmental problems in Russia.

Interesting! The Ministry of Ecology of the Russian Federation, reporting directly to the government, has existed since 2008. It has a large amount of activity towards improving the quality of local systems. However, there is no body in the country that would control the implementation of laws, so the ministry remains in a suspended and passive state.

The government, however, is carrying out organized measures aimed at resolving the situation in the most unfavorable industrial regions of the Russian Federation. It uses innovative technologies, strengthens the monitoring of large-scale facilities, and introduces energy-saving procedures into production.

A comprehensive approach to the problem is needed, including promising actions in all areas of human life and society. The cardinal resolution of the environmental situation in the Russian Federation includes the following categories:

The legal system creates a large body of environmental laws. International experience plays an important role here.

Eliminating the consequences of the irrational use of the planet's resources requires considerable financial support.

The use of new technologies in industry will reduce environmental pollution. The main goal of development is the creation of environmentally friendly energy. Special plants allow you to dispose of waste with the highest percentage of utility. Consequently, the extra territory is not occupied, and the energy from combustion is used for the needs of industry.

Landscaping will be beneficial settlements. It is necessary to plant trees near places of high pollution, as well as carry out measures to protect the soil from erosion. (cm. )

The plan is to reduce the number household waste, wastewater treatment. Modern technologies make it possible to achieve a transition from oil and coal to sources based on solar and hydropower. Biofuels significantly reduce the concentration of harmful elements in the atmosphere.

An important task is to teach the population of the Russian Federation to take care of the environment.

The decision to switch vehicles to gas, electricity and hydrogen will reduce emissions of toxic exhaust. A technique for obtaining nuclear energy from water is under development.

Expert Opinion - Environmental Issues and Corporations

Nowadays, the topic of environmental protection is heard more and more often, many countries are concerned about water, soil and air pollution, deforestation and global warming. In Russia, there are new regulations in the field of construction and regulation of emissions, social movements and programs. This is certainly a positive trend. However, all this solves only part of the problems. It is necessary to develop and stimulate voluntary efforts to reduce the burden on the environment, including among large companies.

Environmental responsibility of mining and manufacturing corporations

Mining and manufacturing corporations have a particularly high potential for causing environmental damage, therefore, as a rule, significant resources are directed to the implementation of an environmental program.

For example, the SIBUR corporation holds numerous subbotniks throughout Russia, and the Gazprom group invested more than 22 billion rubles last year. on environmental protection, the AVTOVAZ group reported on its success in reducing harmful production emissions and reducing the volume of solid waste. Environmental responsibility is an international practice.

For the last 5 years, 3M International Corporation has been conducting an annual environmental audit to assess the effectiveness of its sustainable development policy. One of its first points is the economical use of wood and mineral resources, including by increasing the use of recyclable materials. 3M, a member of the international association The Forest Trust, also motivates many other companies to protect the bowels of the Earth by raising environmental requirements for their suppliers.

On the other hand, manufacturing corporations can help preserve the environment by inventing and introducing sustainable products. An example is special coating for solar panels, invented by 3M, to improve the efficiency and lifespan of these renewable energy sources.

Application of an integrated approach while preserving the environment

Tangible results are achievable with the implementation of an integrated approach, which implies the leveling of all manageable factors that negatively affect the environment.

For example, it is not enough to organize tree planting in the fight against global warming. Companies must also reduce the consumption of greenhouse gases that live in the atmosphere for years, including halon used in refrigeration, fire fighting and chemical production.

Example. An adult tree on average absorbs 120 kg of CO2 per year, and the release of 1 cylinder with fire extinguishing freon will be several tons of CO2 equivalent. That is, the choice of an ecological fire extinguishing system, for example, with Novek® 1230 FOFS, which has a minimum global warming potential, will be equal in effect to planting a small park of trees.

The complexity of an effective nature conservation program lies in taking into account and prioritizing all factors affecting the environment. The task of the professional community is to form a center of competence, a set of ready-made environmental solutions that will be convenient for companies to implement and use.

International environmental organizations in Russia

A whole complex of specialized structures for environmental protection operates in the country. These organizations coordinate security specifics regardless of the political situation. Russia participates in the work of a large number of international structures for the protection of the environment. These organizations are strictly divided into areas of interest. Below is a list of systems operating in the Russian Federation.

The UN has developed a special UNEP program that protects nature from inappropriate use.
WWF - International - the largest organization protecting biological resources. They provide financial support for the protection, development and training of such structures.
GEF - created to help developing countries in solving environmental problems.
Active since the beginning of the 70s, UNESCO supports peace and environmental security in the country, and also deals with regulations on the development of culture and science.
The FAO organization functions in the direction of improving the quality of agricultural crafts and the extraction of natural resources.
Arc is an environmental movement that promotes the idea of selling food and goods that do not litter or pollute the environment.
WCP is a program that develops methods for long-term climate change and its improvement.
WHO is an organization whose goal is to achieve the best living conditions for humanity on the planet by monitoring the use of resources.
WSOP - the program accumulates the experience of all states and builds ways to resolve problems.
WWW is a service that collects information on meteorological conditions in all countries.

The work of international environmental organizations in Russia helps to increase national interest in cleanup native land and improve the overall cleanliness of the environment.

Interesting! Distrust of the authorities, accusations of espionage, the ban on obtaining proper information hinder the activities of these structures. Domestic systems do not want to spend money on environmental protection activities and do not accept the essence of environmental management, for which international institutions are convened.

Specialists social structure conducted a survey on the subject. Based on the results, lists of favorable and unfavorable cities were compiled. The course of the study was formed on the opinions of residents who distributed 100 items. Respondents rate the situation as a whole at 6.5 points.

The most environmentally friendly city in Russia is Sochi. Second place goes to Armavir. These settlements have excellent climatic features with clean air, sea and a lot of vegetation. In these cities, the desire of the inhabitants themselves to build gazebos, flower beds or front gardens is noted.
Sevastopol took the third place. The metropolis is distinguished by a variety of flora, a small amount of transport and a fresh atmosphere.
The top ten environmental favorites include: Kaliningrad, Grozny, Stavropol, Saransk, Nalchik, Korolev and Cheboksary. The capital is located on the 12th place, and St. Petersburg - in the middle of the third ten.

Here are the settlements, which were originally planned as industrial. Despite the efforts of the authorities, the situation in these cities remains virtually unchanged.

The respondents placed Bratsk on the last, 100th place in the list. Respondents note the huge amount of garbage on the streets and the minimum number of green spaces. People living here constantly smell emissions.
Novokuznetsk is on the 99th place. The "coal capital" of Russia is experiencing a glut of heavy metals in the atmosphere. It is difficult for residents to breathe in calm weather, there is always a thick smog.
Chelyabinsk closes the top three outsiders of the environmental rating. Respondents note poor water quality and dirty oxygen. Magnitogorsk, Makhachkala, Krasnoyarsk and Omsk are next to each other on the list.

Expert opinion – Experience of other countries in addressing environmental problems

Alexander Levin, Executive Director of the Fund for Support of Foreign Economic Activity of the Moscow Region

In my opinion, when solving environmental problems in our country, it is necessary to adopt the experience, first of all, of the countries of the European Union, especially such as Denmark, Germany, Austria. These states are focusing on improving the efficiency of enterprises, cleaning emissions into the atmosphere and recycling wastewater.

In addition, in Europe a lot of attention is paid to the recycling of raw materials, as well as the creation of renewable energy sources. In Russia, the problem is the elementary lack of industrial treatment facilities and storm water treatment facilities. There is also a technological backwardness of the existing reconstruction processes. I think that now we need to increase funding for activities related to the reconstruction of such facilities in the structure of housing and communal services and the road sector, as well as to subsidize the creation of a new treatment infrastructure where it does not exist. This is the only way we can save water resources on the territory of our country.

Solving environmental problems in Russia is a top priority not only for government agencies, but also for the population, which must reconsider their own views on the preservation and protection of the surrounding world.

In the last hundred years, as a result of human production activities in the biosphere, such changes have occurred that, in scale, can be equated to natural disasters. They cause irreversible changes in ecological systems and constituent parts biosphere. Environmental problems, the solution of which is associated with the elimination of the negative impact of human activity on the scale of the biosphere, are called global environmental problems.

Global environmental problems do not arise in isolation and do not suddenly fall on the natural environment. They are formed gradually as a result of the accumulation of negative impacts of industrial production on the natural environment.

The stages of formation of global environmental problems can be represented in the following sequence: environmental problems that arise on the scale of an individual enterprise, industrial region, region, country, continent and the globe. This sequence is quite natural, since industrial enterprises in different countries of the world, producing the same products, emit the same pollutants into the environment.

The most pressing of the global environmental problems to date are:

Growth of the Earth's population;

Strengthening the greenhouse effect;

Destruction of the ozone layer;

Pollution of the oceans;

Reducing the area of tropical forests;

Desertification of fertile lands;

Fresh water pollution.

Consider global environmental problems in more detail.

1. Population Growth

It is believed that in the next 4-5 decades the population of the Earth will double and stabilize at the level of 10-11 billion people. These years will be the most difficult and especially risky in the relationship between man and nature.

Intensive population growth in developing countries poses a great danger to the natural environment due to the fact that barbaric methods of destruction of tropical forests are used in the creation of new arable land. To provide the growing population with food, all kinds of methods will be used to catch and destroy wild animals, inhabitants of the seas and oceans.

In addition, the growth of the world's population is accompanied by a colossal increase in the volume of household waste. Suffice it to recall that for every inhabitant of the planet, one ton of household waste is generated annually, including 52 kg of hard-to-decompose polymer waste.

The growth of the Earth's population makes it necessary to intensify the impact on the natural environment during the extraction of minerals, an increase in the volume of production in various industries, an increase in the number of vehicles, an increase in the consumption of energy, natural resources, which are water, air, forests and minerals.

2. Strengthening the greenhouse effect

One of the important environmental problems of our time is the increase in the greenhouse effect. The essence of the greenhouse effect is as follows. As a result of pollution of the surface layer of the atmosphere, especially by the combustion products of carbon and hydrocarbon fuels, the concentration of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases increases in the air.

As a result, the infrared radiation of the earth's surface, heated by the direct rays of the Sun, is absorbed by molecules of carbon dioxide and methane, which leads to an increase in their thermal motion, and, consequently, an increase in the temperature of the atmospheric air of the surface layer. In addition to carbon dioxide and methane molecules, the greenhouse effect is also observed when atmospheric air is polluted with chlorofluorocarbons.

The greenhouse effect plays both positive and negative roles. So, the direct rays of the Sun heat the earth's surface only up to 18 ° C, which is not enough for the normal life of many species of plants and animals. Due to the greenhouse effect, the surface layer of the atmosphere heats up by an additional 13-15°C, which significantly expands the optimal conditions for the life of many species. The greenhouse effect also softens differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures. In addition, it serves as a protective belt that prevents the heat from the surface layer of the atmosphere from dissipating into space.

The negative side of the greenhouse effect is that as a result of the accumulation of carbon dioxide, the Earth's climate may warm, which can lead to the melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice and an increase in the level of the World Ocean by 50-350 cm, and consequently, flooding of low-lying fertile lands where seven tenths of the world's population.

3. Destruction of the ozone layer

It is known that the ozone layer of the atmosphere is located at an altitude of 20-45 km. Ozone is a corrosive and poisonous gas, and its maximum permissible concentration in the atmospheric air is 0.03 mg/m 3 .

In the troposphere, ozone is formed during the course of various physical and chemical phenomena. So, during a thunderstorm, it is formed under the action of lightning according to the following scheme:

0 2 + E m » 20; 0 2 + O > 0 3,

where E m - thermal energy of lightning.

Off the coast of the seas and oceans, ozone is formed due to the oxidation of algae thrown ashore by the wave. In coniferous forests, ozone is formed as a result of the oxidation of pine resin by atmospheric oxygen.

In the surface layer, ozone contributes to the formation of photochemical smog and has a destructive effect on polymeric materials. For example, under the influence of ozone, the surface of car tires quickly cracks, rubber becomes fragile and brittle. The same thing happens with synthetic leather.

In the stratosphere, ozone creates a uniform protective layer around the globe 25 km thick.

Ozone is formed when molecular oxygen interacts with the ultraviolet rays of the sun:

0 2 -> 20; 0 2 + O > 0 3 .

In the stratosphere, the ozone produced plays two roles. The first is that ozone absorbs most of the Sun's hard ultraviolet rays, which are detrimental to living organisms. The second important role is to create a thermal belt, which is formed:

Due to the release of heat during the formation of ozone molecules from oxygen under the action of sunlight;

Due to the absorption by ozone molecules of hard ultraviolet rays and infrared radiation from the sun.

Such a thermal belt prevents heat leakage from the troposphere and lower stratosphere into outer space.

Despite the fact that ozone is constantly being formed in the stratosphere, its concentration does not increase. If ozone were compressed at a pressure equal to the pressure at the Earth's surface, then the thickness of the ozone layer would not exceed 3 mm.

The concentration of ozone in the stratosphere over the past 25 years has decreased by more than 2%, and over North America- by 3-5%. It's the result of pollution upper layers atmosphere with nitrogen and chlorine gases.

It is believed that the decrease in the concentration of ozone in the protective layer is the cause of skin cancers and cases of eye cataracts.

One of the dangerous destroyers of the ozone layer are chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in spray guns and refrigeration units. The widespread use of CFCs as a refrigerant and nebulizer is due to the fact that they are harmless gases under normal conditions. Due to the high stability in the troposphere, CFC molecules accumulate in it, gradually rising into the stratosphere, despite their higher density compared to air. The following ways of their ascent into the stratosphere have been established:

Absorption of CFCs by moisture and rise with it to the stratosphere, followed by the release of moisture in high-altitude layers during freezing;

Convection and diffusion of large masses of air due to natural physical and chemical processes;

The formation of funnels during the launch of space rockets, sucking in large volumes of air from the surface layer and raising these volumes of air to the heights of the ozone layer.

To date, CFC molecules have already been observed at an altitude of 25 km.

CFC molecules will interact with the Sun's hard ultraviolet rays, releasing chlorine radicals:

CC1 2 F 2 >-CClF 2 + Cb

CI- + 0 3 > "CIO + 0 2

SU + O - "O + 0 2

It can be seen that the chloroxide radical *C10 interacts with the oxygen atom, which should have reacted with molecular oxygen to form ozone.

One chlorine radical destroys up to 100,000 ozone molecules. In addition, interaction with atomic oxygen, which, in the absence of chlorine, participates in the reaction with molecular oxygen, slows down the process of ozone formation from atmospheric oxygen. At the same time, the concentration of the ozone layer can be reduced by 7-13%, which can cause negative changes in life on Earth. In addition, chlorine is a very stable catalyst for the destruction of ozone molecules.

It has been established that the reason for the emergence of the ozone hole over Antarctica is the entry into the stratosphere of chlorine-containing compounds and nitrogen oxides as part of the exhaust gases of high-altitude aviation and space rockets for launching satellites and spacecraft into orbit.

Prevention of the destruction of the ozone layer is possible by stopping the emission of CFCs into the atmospheric air by replacing them in sprayers and refrigeration units with other liquids that do not pose a threat to the ozone layer.

In some developed countries, the production of CFCs has already been phased out; in other countries, effective replacements for CFCs in refrigeration units are being sought. For example, in Russia, refrigerators of the Stinol brand are filled not with CFCs, but with hexane, a practically harmless hydrocarbon. In Kazan, the Khiton enterprise uses a mixture of propane-butane and compressed air to fill aerosol cans instead of CFCs.

4. Pollution of the oceans

The oceans are a colossal heat accumulator, a carbon dioxide absorber and a source of moisture. He has a huge impact on climatic conditions the entire globe.

At the same time, the oceans are being heavily polluted by industrial discharges, oil products, toxic chemical waste, radioactive waste and acid gases that fall in the form of acid rain.

The greatest danger is the pollution of the oceans with oil and oil products. Losses of oil in the world during its production, transportation, processing and consumption exceed 45 million tons, which is about 1.2% of annual production. Of these, 22 million tons are lost on land, up to 16 million tons enter the atmosphere due to incomplete combustion of petroleum products during the operation of automobile and aircraft engines.

About 7 million tons of oil is lost in the seas and oceans. It has been established that 1 liter of oil deprives 40 m 3 of water of oxygen and can lead to the destruction of a large number of fish fry and other marine organisms. At a concentration of oil in water of 0.1-0.01 ml/l, fish eggs die within a few days. One ton of oil is capable of polluting 12 km 2 of the water surface.

Space photography has recorded that almost 30% of the surface of the World Ocean is covered with an oil film, the waters of the Atlantic are especially polluted, mediterranean sea and their shores.

Oil enters the seas and oceans:

When loading and unloading oil tankers capable of simultaneously transporting up to 400 thousand tons of oil;

In case of tanker accidents, leading to the pouring of tens and hundreds of thousands of tons of oil into the sea;

When extracting oil from the seabed and during accidents at wells located on platforms above water. For example, in the Caspian Sea, some drilling and oil production platforms are 180 km away from the coast. Consequently, in the event of an oil spill into the sea, pollution will occur not only near the coastal zone, which is convenient for eliminating the consequences of pollution, but will cover large areas in the middle of the sea.

The consequences of pollution of the oceans are very serious. First, surface contamination with an oil film leads to a decrease in the absorption of carbon dioxide and its accumulation in the atmosphere. Secondly, plankton, fish and other inhabitants of aquatic environments die in the seas and oceans. Thirdly, large oil slicks on the surface of the seas and oceans cause the death of a large number of migratory birds. From a bird's eye view, these spots look like the surface of the land. Birds sit down to rest on the polluted surface of the water and drown.

However, oil in ocean water does not last long. It has been established that up to 80% of oil products are destroyed in the ocean in one month, while some of them evaporate, some are emulsified (biochemical decomposition of oil products occurs in emulsions), and some undergo photochemical oxidation.

5. Reducing the area of forests

One hectare of tropical rainforest produces 28 tons of oxygen per year during photosynthesis. At the same time, the forest absorbs a large amount of carbon dioxide and thus prevents the increase in the greenhouse effect. Although tropical forests occupy only 7% of the earth's land, they contain 4/5 of the entire vegetation of the planet.

The disappearance of forests can lead to the formation of desert lands with a harsh climate. An example of this is the Sahara desert.

According to scientists, 8 thousand years ago the territory of the Sahara desert was covered with tropical forests and dense green vegetation, there were numerous full-flowing rivers. The Sahara was an earthly paradise for humans and wild animals. This is evidenced by rock paintings depicting elephants, giraffes and wild animals that have survived to this day.

The intensive growth of the population of developing countries has led to the fact that every year 120 thousand km 2 of tropical forests disappear from the surface of the Earth. According to scientists and experts, if the current rate of deforestation of tropical forests continues, they will disappear in the first half of the next century.

Deforestation in developing countries has the following goals:

Obtaining marketable solid wood;

The release of land for growing crops.

These goals are aimed at overcoming food shortages for a growing population. In most cases, tropical forests are first cut down, marketable timber is harvested, the volume of which does not exceed 10% of the felled forest. Then, following the loggers, the territory is cleared from the remnants of the forest and land areas are formed for farming.

However, the thickness of the fertile soil layer in tropical forests does not exceed 2-3 cm, therefore, in two years (or a maximum of five years), the fertility of such soil is completely depleted. Soil restoration occurs only after 20-30 years. As a result, the destruction of tropical forests to create new arable land has no prospect. At the same time, the hopeless situation associated with intensive population growth does not allow the governments of developing countries to ban the deforestation of tropical forests, which can only be achieved by the efforts of the entire world community.

There are many ways to solve the problem of tropical forest conservation, and among them the following can be considered the most realistic:

Increasing timber prices as they are currently at such a low level that income from the sale of timber does not finance the reforestation of cleared areas. In addition, high-quality wood does not exceed 10% of the volume of cut wood;

The development of tourism and the receipt of greater income from it than from agriculture. However, for this it is necessary to create special national parks, which requires significant capital investments.

6. Land desertification

In general, desertification of lands occurs for the following reasons.

Overgrazing. A large number of cattle in a small pasture can destroy all vegetation, leaving the soil exposed. Such soil is easily exposed to wind and water erosion.

Simplification of ecological systems. In the transition zone from the Sahara desert to the savannas West Africa up to 400 km wide, shepherds burn bushes, believing that fresh green grass will grow after the fire. However, negative results are often obtained. The fact is that shrubs feed on the moisture of the deep layers of the soil and protect the soil from wind erosion.

Intensive exploitation of arable land. Farmers often shorten crop rotation by not leaving the field to rest. As a result, the soil is depleted, exposed to wind erosion.

Wood preparation. In developing countries, firewood is used for heat generation, cooking and for sale. Therefore, forests are intensively cut down, and rapidly spreading soil erosion begins in the place of the former forest. A typical example is the island of Haiti. It was once an earthly paradise for humans and animals, but in recent years, due to a sharp increase in population, forests have been intensively exterminated on the island, and part of the soil has come to a state of desertification.

Salinization- this type of desertification is typical for irrigated lands. As a result of the evaporation of water from irrigation systems, water saturated with salts, that is, saline solutions, remains in them. As they accumulate, plants stop growing and die. In addition, hard salt crusts form on the soil surface. Examples of salinization are the deltas of the Senegal and Niger rivers, the valley of Lake Chad, the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, cotton plantations in Uzbekistan.

Every year, 50 to 70 thousand km 2 of arable land is lost due to desertification.

The consequences of desertification are food shortages and famine.

Desertification control includes:

Limitation of cattle grazing and slowdown in agricultural activity;

The use of agroforestry is the planting of trees that have green leaves during the dry season;

Development of a special technology for growing agricultural products and training peasants in effective work.

7. Pollution of fresh water

Pollution of fresh water causes its shortage not due to lack, but because of the impossibility of consumption for drinking. Water in general can be scarce only in the desert. However, at present, clean fresh water is becoming rare even in those regions where there are deep rivers, but polluted by industrial discharges. It has been established that 1 m 3 of waste water can pollute 60 m 3 of clean river water.

The main danger of water pollution by sewage is associated with a decrease in the concentration of dissolved oxygen below 8-9 mg/l. Under these conditions, eutrophication of the water body begins, leading to the death of the inhabitants of aquatic environments.

There are three types of drinking water pollution:

Pollution with inorganic chemicals - nitrates, salts of heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury;

Pollution with organic substances, such as pesticides and petroleum products;

Contamination with pathogenic microbes and microorganisms.

Measures to address contamination of drinking water sources include:

Reducing the discharge of wastewater into water bodies;

Use of closed water circulation cycles at industrial enterprises;

Creation of efficiently used state water reserves.

Sources of environmental pollution

Pollution is considered to be the introduction into the ecological system of new physical, chemical and biological agents that are not characteristic of it, or the excess of the natural long-term average level of these agents in the natural environment.

The direct objects of pollution are the components of the biosphere - the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Indirect objects of pollution are components of ecological systems, such as plants, microorganisms and wildlife.

Pollutants of the environment are hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds. At the same time, toxic substances, radioactive substances, salts of heavy metals are of particular danger.

Pollutants from different emission sources may be identical in composition, physicochemical and toxic properties.

Thus, sulfur dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere as part of the flue gases of thermal power plants that burn fuel oil and coal; waste gases of oil refineries; off-gases of the enterprises of the metallurgical industry; sulfuric acid production waste.

Nitrogen oxides are included in the composition of flue gases during the combustion of all types of fuel, waste (tail) gases from the production of nitric acid, ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers.

Hydrocarbons enter the atmosphere as part of emissions from enterprises in the oil, oil refining and petrochemical industries, transport, thermal power and gas production industries, during the extraction of coal.

Sources of pollution can be of natural and anthropogenic origin.

Anthropogenic pollution includes pollution arising from the production activities of people and in their daily lives. Unlike natural, anthropogenic pollution enters the natural environment continuously, which leads to the accumulation of pollutants with the formation of high local concentrations that have a harmful effect on the flora and fauna.

In turn, anthropogenic pollution is divided into physical, chemical and microbiological groups. Each of these groups is characterized by a variety of pollution sources and characteristics of environmental pollutants.

1. Physical pollution

Physical pollution includes the following types of environmental pollution: thermal, light, noise, electromagnetic and radioactive. Let's consider each type in more detail.

Thermal pollution occurs as a result of a local increase in air, water or soil temperature due to industrial emissions of heated gases or air, discharges of warm industrial or waste water into water bodies, as well as the laying of surface and underground heating mains.

It has been established that about 90% of the electricity in the world (in the Russian Federation - 80%) is produced at thermal power plants. For this, about 7 billion tons of standard fuel are burned annually. At the same time, the efficiency of thermal power plants is only 40%. Consequently, 60% of the heat from fuel combustion is dissipated in the environment, including when warm water is discharged into water bodies.

The essence of thermal pollution of water bodies in the production of electrical energy is as follows. Water vapor with high temperature and pressure, which is formed in the furnace of a thermal power plant when fuel is burned, rotates the turbine of a thermal power plant. After that, one part of the exhaust steam is used to heat residential and industrial premises, and the other part is collected in condensers due to heat transfer to the cooling water coming from the reservoir. The condensate is again supplied to produce high-pressure steam to rotate the turbine, and the heated water is discharged into the reservoir, which leads to an increase in its temperature. Therefore, thermal pollution leads to a decrease in the number of different types of plant and living organisms in water bodies.

If there is no reservoir near the thermal power plant, then the cooling water, which is heated during the condensation of steam, is supplied to cooling towers, which are structures in the form of a truncated cone for cooling hot water with atmospheric air. Numerous vertical plates are located inside the cooling towers. As water flows from top to bottom in a thin layer over the plates, its temperature gradually decreases.

Cooled water is recirculated to condense the exhaust steam. During the operation of cooling towers, a large amount of water vapor is released into the atmospheric air, which leads to a local increase in humidity and temperature of the ambient atmospheric air.

An example of thermal pollution of aquatic ecological systems is the reservoir of the Zainskaya thermal power plant, which does not freeze even in the most severe frosts due to the discharge of industrial warm water into it in large quantities.

Light pollution. It is known that light pollution of the natural environment disrupts the illumination of the earth's surface during the change of day and night, and, consequently, the adaptability of plants and animals to these conditions. Artificial light sources in the form of powerful searchlights along the perimeters of the territories of some industrial enterprises can have a negative impact on the vital activity of the flora and fauna.

Noise pollution is formed as a result of an increase in the intensity and frequency of noise above natural levels. Adaptation of living organisms to noise is practically impossible.

Noise is characterized by frequency and sound pressure. Sounds perceived by the human ear lie in the frequency range from 16 to 20,000 Hz. This range is called the audio frequency range. Sound waves below 20 Hz are called infrasound, and those above 20,000 Hz are called ultrasound. It has been established that infrasound and ultrasound pose a danger to humans and living organisms. For practical applications convenient is the logarithmic scale for measuring the sound pressure level of noise, measured in decibels (dB).

It is known that the upper limit of noise that does not cause inconvenience to a person and does not have a harmful effect on his body is the sound pressure level of 50-60 dB. Such noise is typical for a medium-busy street, for weak normal operation of radio and television equipment. Noise exceeding these values leads to noise pollution of the environment. So, the noise of a truck is 70 dB, the operation of a metal-cutting machine, a loudspeaker at maximum power is 80 dB, the noise when an ambulance siren is turned on and in a subway car has a sound pressure of 90 dB. Strong thunderclaps create a noise of 120 dB, the noise of a jet engine, leading to pain, is 130 dB.

Electromagnetic pollution is a change in the electromagnetic properties of the natural environment near power lines, radio and television stations, industrial installations and radar devices.

Radioactive contamination is an increase in the natural background of radioactivity caused by human activities or their consequences. Thus, the normal operation of a nuclear power plant can be considered as an anthropogenic activity, while the radioactive gas krypton-85, which is safe for people, is released, which has a half-life of 13 years. At the same time, it ionizes the air and pollutes the environment.

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant can be considered as a consequence of anthropogenic activity. In such accidents, the danger is radioactive iodine-131 with a half-life of 8 days, which can accumulate in the human thyroid gland instead of ordinary iodine.

Other dangerous radioactive elements are cesium, plutonium and strontium, which have long half-lives and result in radioactive contamination of large areas. The half-life of cesium-137 and strontium-95 is 30 years.

The main sources of radioactive contamination of the natural environment are nuclear explosions, nuclear energy and scientific research with the use of radioactive substances.

Radioactive contamination of the natural environment leads to an increase in the impact of alpha, beta and gamma radiation on the flora and fauna.

An alpha particle (the nucleus of a helium atom) and a beta particle (electron) can enter human and animal organisms as part of dust, water or food. Being charged particles, they cause ionization in body tissues. As a result, the formation of free radicals occurs in the body, the interaction of which leads to biochemical changes. With the slow flow of such changes, favorable conditions for the onset of oncological diseases can be created.

Gamma radiation has a very high penetrating power and easily penetrates the entire thickness of the human body, damaging it. It has been proven that mammals, including humans, have the greatest sensitivity to radioactive radiation. Plants and some lower vertebrates are less sensitive to radiation exposure. Microorganisms are the most resistant to the action of radioactive radiation.

2. Chemical pollution

The most massive and causing great harm to the natural environment is the chemical pollution of the biosphere.

Chemical pollution, unlike other types of pollution, is characterized by the interaction of pollutants with the components of the natural environment. As a result, substances are formed that can be more or less harmful than the environmental pollutants themselves.

Among the chemical pollutants of the atmosphere, the most common are gaseous substances such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, dust, hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide, ammonia, chlorine and its compounds, mercury.

Chemical pollutants of the hydrosphere include oil, industrial wastewater containing phenols and other highly toxic organic compounds, salts of heavy metals, nitrites, sulfates, and surfactants.

Chemical pollutants of the lithosphere are oil, pesticides, solid and liquid effluents of chemical industries.

Chemical pollutants of the natural environment also include toxic substances, or chemical weapons. The explosion of a chemical weapon projectile covers large areas with extremely toxic substances and poses a threat of poisoning people, animals and destroying plants.

3. Microbiological contamination

Microbiological pollution of the natural environment is understood as the appearance of a large number of pathogens associated with their mass reproduction on anthropogenic nutrient media changed in the course of human economic activity.

The air can contain various bacteria, as well as viruses and fungi. Many of these microorganisms can be pathogenic and cause infectious diseases such as influenza, scarlet fever, whooping cough, chickenpox and tuberculosis.

In the water of open reservoirs, various microorganisms are also found, including pathogenic ones, which, as a rule, cause intestinal diseases. In tap water of centralized water supply, the content of bacteria of the Escherichia coli group is regulated by the Sanitary Rules and Norms “Drinking Water. Hygienic requirements for water quality in centralized drinking water supply systems. Quality control” (SanPin 2.1.4.1074-01).

The soil cover contains a large number of microorganisms, especially saprophytes and opportunistic pathogens. At the same time, bacteria that cause gas gangrene, tetanus, botulism, etc. can be present in heavily polluted soil. The most resistant microorganisms can be in the soil for a long time - up to 100 years. They also include anthrax pathogens.

Environmental problems in Russia are the object of close attention from the state and scientists. On the territory of one of the largest states in the world, there are many unique natural complexes that are of great importance not only for the country, but for the entire planet. The environmental situation in Russia is threatened by the same factors that all states face, and they are associated with the expansion of civilized spaces, human use of the planet's resources, industrial development and pollution problems.

Major environmental issues

Environmental problems most relevant for the country can be divided into the following groups:

pollution of air, soil, industrial water;
changing the natural landscape, deforestation;
the complex negative impact on the environment exerted by large cities;
large volumes of incinerated and stored waste;
consequences of man-made disasters.

With respect to all these factors, constant monitoring and supervision is carried out, measures are being developed to minimize harm to the environment. But the measures taken are not always enough to solve the problem completely.

Pollution situation

A huge number of industrial enterprises operate on the territory of Russia, the activities of which negatively affect the state of not only the territories located in their vicinity, but can also affect the ecology of entire regions.

Any production can cause harm to the environment, but the following industries are the most problematic for the environmental situation:

mining, oil;
energy;
metallurgy;
production of plastic and other building materials;
military industrial enterprises.

Their emissions and waste end up in air and water. Rivers and wind carry harmful substances over long distances. Falling out along with precipitation, they poison the soil. As a result of the development of deposits, the natural landscape changes, dips and landslides are formed. All this has a negative impact not only on the state of the atmosphere, but also on the health of people living in areas affected by pollution. Soils in the territories of deposits become unsuitable for agriculture and housing construction for a long time.

In large cities, the situation is exacerbated by exhaust emissions and increased electricity costs. This affects the state of the ozone layer of the planet. Recent studies show that the excess of exhaust gases in the air is observed in more than 40 cities of Russia.

Environmental problems are also associated with waste disposal. Radioactive contamination of soils in landfill sites is of a long-term nature, and even after they are eliminated, the land in this place is unusable for decades. This means that for life a person needs more and more new areas.

Soil damage

For many years, agriculture has used fertilizers and pest control products that are harmful to the environment. It also led to severe chemical poisoning of the soil, the consequences of which have not yet been neutralized.

In Russia, industrial and agricultural enterprises, fuel producers in recent decades have been subject to requirements that force them to ensure high-quality waste treatment and environmental safety of production. But these requirements are not always fully met.

The economic crisis is forcing organizations to save even more money on environmental compliance. This is the serious environmental problem of modern Russia - to ensure the implementation of legislation in terms of environmental protection and to develop standards that correspond to the current situation.

Ecology of water resources, forests

Forests and water bodies are priceless natural wealth, which allow you to maintain the natural balance, purify the atmosphere of harmful substances, produce the oxygen necessary for life.

A characteristic trend of recent years is the constant reduction of forest areas as a result of uncontrolled logging and timber harvesting. This means the destruction of protected areas inhabited by animals and birds, unique species of plants and trees. Replenishment of the forest fund occurs at a much slower pace than its cutting.

In addition to industrial use, forests are threatened by the expansion of settlements, the construction of transport routes. In many territories, which are unique natural complexes protected areas have been created that are prohibited from use. But this is not enough to protect the environment and solve the ecological problem of deforestation.

Not only in Russia, but throughout the world, there is an acute issue with the state of water resources, especially fresh water bodies. Rivers and seas are the most convenient ways for businesses and cities to dispose of waste and wastewater. Strict requirements for their cleaning before dumping began to be presented not so long ago. During this time, irreparable damage was done. According to scientists, slightly more than 10% of water bodies and rivers are conditionally clean in the country.

Consequences of pollution

Pollution of rivers destroys the existing ecosystems, leads to the death of animals, fish, plants. For humans, this ecological situation threatens to turn into a significant shortage of usable water resources. Already now, in some important water bodies of Russia, the content of harmful substances, pesticides, heavy metals is much higher than the permissible norms, which makes the use of water from them for human consumption dangerous.

All treatment activities cannot provide 100% purification of heavily polluted waters. The recognition of water bodies and rivers as protected is slow and often the situation is already critical by the time environmentalists seek a ban on waste dumping.

Urboecology

The ecological systems of large cities are characterized by an increased level of gas pollution, a lack of oxygen due to a small amount of greenery. Smoke and smog in Russian cities are not as catastrophically noticeable as in Chinese policies. But for the health of the citizens living in them, the consequences in the form of diseases of the respiratory system, allergies and other consequences take place on a tangible scale. Bad air, food with pesticides cause many chronic diseases.

Measures to minimize urban environmental problems in Russia are being taken quite actively, but not in all cities this process is organized at the proper level. The big ones are especially affected. industrial centers and cities of Siberia, Far East where natural resources are extracted.

Solving environmental problems

To solve environmental problems in Russia, various sets of measures are used:

Ways to solve environmental problems in Russia

recognition of lands and reservoirs as protected zones, their protection from pollution and use;
restriction or prohibition on the use of certain types of natural resources: animals, plants, fish;
tightening requirements for the disposal of chemical waste, purification of emitted gases, production products, wastewater;
variable use of soils for agriculture with breaks for the restoration of individual sites, carrying out measures to clean them up;
control of the quantity of transport in cities and the quality of fuel.

In addition to state control, improving the situation requires a conscious attitude to natural resources on the part of all citizens of the country. Reasonable use of natural and energy resources, proper waste disposal, and land clearing help to avoid aggravating the state of the environment.