What does environmental protection study. Environmental protection in the modern world

ENVIRONMENT - the habitat and activities of mankind, the natural environment surrounding man and the material world created by him. The environment includes the natural environment and the artificial (technogenic) environment, i.e., a set of environmental elements created from natural substances by labor and the conscious will of a person and which have no analogues in virgin nature (buildings, structures, etc.). Social production changes the environment, influencing directly or indirectly on all its elements. This impact and its negative consequences are especially

They intensified in the era of modern scientific and technological revolution, when the scale of human activity, covering almost the entire geographical envelope of the Earth, became comparable to the action of global natural processes.

NATURE PROTECTION - a set of measures for the conservation, rational use and restoration of the Earth's natural resources, including the species diversity of flora and fauna, the richness of the subsoil, the purity of the waters and the atmosphere.

The danger of irreversible changes in the natural environment in certain regions of the Earth has become real due to the increased scale of human economic activity. From the beginning of the 80s. on average, 1 species (or subspecies) of animals disappeared daily,

And the species of plants - weekly (over 20 thousand species are under the threat of extinction). About 1000 species of birds and mammals (mainly inhabitants of tropical forests, reduced at a rate of tens of hectares per minute) are under threat of extinction.

About 1 billion tons of standard fuel are burned annually, hundreds of millions of tons of nitrogen oxides, sulfur, carbon oxides (some of which are returned in the form of acid rain), soot, ash and dust are emitted into the atmosphere. Soils and waters are polluted by industrial and domestic effluents (hundreds of billion tons per year), oil products (several million tons), mineral fertilizers (about a hundred million tons) and pesticides, heavy metals (mercury, lead, etc.), radioactive waste . There is a danger of violation of the Earth's ozone screen.

The ability of the biosphere to self-cleanse is close to the limit. The danger of uncontrolled change environment and as a result, the threat to the existence of living organisms on Earth, including humans, required decisive practical measures to protect and protect nature, legal regulation of the use of natural resources. Such measures include the creation of waste-free technologies, treatment facilities, the regulation of the use of pesticides, the cessation of the production of pesticides that can accumulate in the body, land reclamation, etc., as well as the creation of protected areas (reserves, national parks, etc.), centers for breeding rare and endangered animals and plants (including for the conservation of the Earth's gene pool), compiling the world and national Red Data Books.

Environmental measures are provided for in land, forestry, water and other national legislation, which establishes liability for violation of environmental standards. In a number of countries, as a result of the implementation of government environmental programs, the quality of the environment in certain regions has been significantly improved (for example, as a result of a long-term and expensive program, it was possible to restore the purity and quality of water in the Great Lakes). On an international scale, along with the creation of various international organizations the United Nations Environment Program operates on certain problems of nature protection.

The main substances polluting the environment, their sources.

Carbon dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels.

Carbon monoxide is the work of internal combustion engines.

Carbons are the work of internal combustion engines.

Organic compounds - chemical industry, waste incineration, fuel combustion.

Sulfur dioxide is the burning of fossil fuels.

Nitrogen derivatives - combustion.

Radioactive substances - nuclear power plants, nuclear explosions.

Mineral compounds - industrial production, operation of internal combustion engines.

Organic substances, natural and synthetic - chemical industry, fuel combustion, waste incineration, agriculture (pesticides).

The protection of nature is the task of our century, a problem that has become a social one. To fundamentally improve the situation, purposeful and thoughtful actions will be needed. Responsible and efficient environmental policy will only be possible if we accumulate reliable data on state of the art environment, substantiated knowledge about the interaction of important environmental factors, if he develops new methods to reduce and prevent the harm caused to nature by man.

Essays on topics:

1. Nature is everything that surrounds us: flowers, trees, ponds, forests and much more. Thanks to nature, a person is alive, because ...

MINISTRY OF GENERAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

KEMEROVSK STATE UNIVERSITY

REPORT

"The essence and directions of environmental protection ..."

Completed:

St-t gr. SP-981

Pavlenko P. Yu.

Checked:

Belaya Tatyana Yurievna

Kemerovo - 99

1. Essence and directions of environmental protection

§ 1. Types of environmental pollution and directions of its protection

§ 2. Objects and principles of environmental protection

2. Engineering protection of the environment

§ 1. Environmental activities of enterprises

§ 2. Types and principles of operation of treatment equipment and facilities

3. Regulatory framework for environmental protection

§ 1. System of standards and regulations

§ 2. Law on guard of nature

1. ESSENCE AND DIRECTIONS OF PROTECTION

ENVIRONMENT

§ 1. TYPES OF POLLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND DIRECTIONS OF ITS PROTECTION

A variety of human intervention in natural processes in the biosphere can be grouped into the following types of pollution, understanding them as any anthropogenic changes undesirable for ecosystems:

Ingredient (ingredient - an integral part of a complex compound or mixture) pollution as a set of substances quantitatively or qualitatively alien to natural biogeocenoses;

Parametric pollution (an environmental parameter is one of its properties, such as the level of noise, illumination, radiation, etc.) associated with a change in the qualitative parameters of the environment;

Biocenotic pollution, which consists in the impact on the composition and structure of the population of living organisms;

Stationary-destructive pollution (station - the habitat of the population, destruction - destruction), which is a change in landscapes and ecological systems in the process of nature management.

Until the 60s of our century, the protection of nature was understood mainly as the protection of its animal and plant life from extermination. Accordingly, the forms of this protection were mainly the creation of specially protected territories, the adoption of legal acts restricting the hunting of individual animals, etc. Scientists and the public were primarily concerned about the biocenotic and partially stationary-destructive effects on the biosphere. Ingredient and parametric pollution, of course, also existed, especially since there was no talk of installing treatment facilities at enterprises. But it was not as diverse and massive as it is now, it practically did not contain artificially created compounds that were not amenable to natural decomposition, and nature coped with it on its own. So, in rivers with undisturbed biocenosis and normal speed flow, not slowed down by hydraulic structures, under the influence of the processes of mixing, oxidation, sedimentation, absorption and decomposition by decomposers, disinfection by solar radiation, etc. polluted water completely restored its properties within 30 km from pollution sources.

Of course, separate centers of nature degradation were observed earlier in the vicinity of the most polluting industries. However, by the middle of the XX century. the rates of ingredient and parametric pollution have increased and their qualitative composition has changed so dramatically that in large areas the ability of nature to self-purify, i.e., the natural destruction of the pollutant as a result of natural physical, chemical and biological processes, has been lost.

At present, even such full-flowing and long rivers as the Ob, Yenisei, Lena and Amur are not self-purifying. What can we say about the long-suffering Volga, the natural flow rate of which is several times reduced by hydraulic structures, or the Tom River ( Western Siberia), all the water of which industrial enterprises manage to take away for their needs and drain it back contaminated at least 3-4 times before it gets from source to mouth.

The ability of the soil to self-cleanse is undermined by a sharp decrease in the number of decomposers in it, which occurs under the influence of the immoderate use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers, the cultivation of monocultures, the complete harvesting of all parts of grown plants from the fields, etc.

§ 2. OBJECTS AND PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Environmental protection is understood as a set of international, state and regional legal acts, instructions and standards that bring general legal requirements to each specific polluter and ensure its interest in meeting these requirements, specific environmental measures to implement these requirements.

Only if all these components correspond to each other in terms of content and pace of development, that is, if they form a single system of environmental protection, can one count on success.

Since the task of protecting nature from the negative impact of man was not solved in time, now the task of protecting man from the influence of the changed natural environment is increasingly becoming. Both of these concepts are integrated in the term "protection of the (human) natural environment".

Environmental protection consists of:

Legal protection, formulating scientific environmental principles in the form of legal laws that are binding;

Material incentives for environmental protection activities, seeking to make it economically beneficial for enterprises;

Engineering protection, developing environmental and resource-saving technology and equipment.

According to the law Russian Federation"On the Protection of the Environment" the following objects are subject to protection:

Natural ecological systems, the ozone layer of the atmosphere;

The earth, its subsoil, surface and underground waters, atmospheric air, forests and other vegetation, fauna, microorganisms, genetic fund, natural landscapes.

State natural reserves, natural reserves, national natural parks, natural monuments, rare or endangered species of plants and animals and their habitats are specially protected.

The main principles of environmental protection should be:

Priority to ensure favorable environmental conditions for life, work and recreation of the population;

Scientifically substantiated combination of environmental and economic interests of society;

Taking into account the laws of nature and the possibilities of self-healing and self-purification of its resources;

Prevention of irreversible consequences for the protection of the natural environment and human health;

The right of the population and public organizations to timely and reliable information about the state of the environment and the negative impact on it and on people's health of various production facilities;

The inevitability of liability for violation of the requirements of environmental legislation.

2. ENGINEERING PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

§ 1. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF ENTERPRISES

Nature protection is any activity aimed at maintaining the quality of the environment at a level that ensures the sustainability of the biosphere. It includes both large-scale activities carried out at the national level to preserve reference samples of untouched nature and preserve the diversity of species on Earth, organize scientific research, train ecologists and educate the population, as well as the activities of individual enterprises for the treatment of harmful substances from wastewater and waste gases, lowering the norms for the use of natural resources, etc. Such activities are carried out mainly by engineering methods.

There are two main areas of environmental protection activities of enterprises. The first is the cleaning of harmful emissions. This path "in its pure form" is ineffective, since it is not always possible to completely stop the flow of harmful substances into the biosphere with its help. In addition, reducing the level of pollution of one component of the environment leads to increased pollution of another.

And For example, the installation of wet filters in gas cleaning reduces air pollution, but leads to even more water pollution. Substances captured from waste gases and drain waters often poison large areas of land.

The use of treatment facilities, even the most efficient ones, drastically reduces the level of environmental pollution, but does not completely solve this problem, since the operation of these plants also produces waste, although in a smaller volume, but, as a rule, with an increased concentration of harmful substances. Finally, the operation of most of the treatment facilities requires significant energy costs, which, in turn, is also unsafe for the environment.

In addition, pollutants, for the neutralization of which huge funds are spent, are substances for which labor has already been spent and which, with rare exceptions, could be used in the national economy.

To achieve high environmental and economic results, it is necessary to combine the process of cleaning harmful emissions with the process of recycling trapped substances, which will make it possible to combine the first direction with the second.

The second direction is the elimination of the very causes of pollution, which requires the development of low-waste, and in the future, non-waste production technologies that would make it possible to comprehensively use the raw materials and utilize the maximum of substances harmful to the biosphere.

However, not all industries have found acceptable technical and economic solutions for a sharp reduction in the amount of waste generated and their disposal, so at present we have to work in both of these areas.

Caring for improvement engineering security of the natural environment, it must be remembered that no treatment facilities and waste-free technologies will be able to restore the stability of the biosphere if the permissible (threshold) values ​​​​of the reduction of natural systems that have not been transformed by man are exceeded, which manifests the effect of the law of indispensability of the biosphere.

Such a threshold may be the use of more than 1% of the energy of the biosphere and the deep transformation of more than 10% of natural areas (rules of one and ten percent). That's why technical achievements do not remove the need to solve problems of changing priorities community development, stabilization of the population, the creation of a sufficient number of protected areas and others discussed earlier.

§ 2. TYPES AND PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION OF PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES

Many modern technological processes are associated with crushing and grinding of substances, transportation of bulk materials. At the same time, part of the material turns into dust, which is harmful to health and causes significant material damage to the national economy due to the loss of valuable products.

For cleaning, various designs of apparatuses are used. According to the method of dust capture, they are divided into mechanical (dry and wet) and electrical gas cleaning devices. Dry apparatuses (cyclones, filters) use gravitational settling under the action of gravity, settling under the action of centrifugal force, inertial settling, and filtration. In wet apparatuses (scrubbers), this is achieved by washing the dusty gas with a liquid. In electrostatic precipitators, deposition on the electrodes occurs as a result of the communication of dust particles electric charge. The choice of apparatus depends on the size of dust particles, humidity, speed and volume of gas supplied for purification, and the required degree of purification.

To purify gases from harmful gaseous impurities, two groups of methods are used - non-catalytic and catalytic. Methods of the first group are based on the removal of impurities from a gaseous mixture using liquid (absorbers) and solid (adsorbers) absorbers. Methods of the second group consist in the fact that harmful impurities enter into a chemical reaction and turn into harmless substances on the surface of the catalysts. An even more complex and multi-stage process is wastewater treatment (Fig. 18).

Waste water is water used by industrial and municipal enterprises and the population and subject to purification from various impurities. Depending on the conditions of formation, wastewater is divided into domestic, atmospheric (stormwater, flowing down after rains from the territories of enterprises) and industrial. All of them contain mineral and organic substances in varying proportions.

Wastewater is purified from impurities by mechanical, chemical, physicochemical, biological and thermal methods, which, in turn, are divided into recuperative and destructive. Recovery methods provide for the extraction from wastewater and further processing of valuable substances. In destructive methods, water pollutants are destroyed by oxidation or reduction. Destruction products are removed from the water in the form of gases or precipitation.

Mechanical cleaning is used to remove solid insoluble impurities, using the methods of settling and filtering using gratings, sand traps, settling tanks. Chemical cleaning methods are used to remove soluble impurities using various reagents that enter into chemical reactions with harmful impurities, resulting in the formation of low-toxic substances. Physicochemical methods include flotation, ion exchange, adsorption, crystallization, deodorization, etc. biological methods are considered the main ones for the neutralization of wastewater from organic impurities that are oxidized by microorganisms, which implies a sufficient amount of oxygen in the water. These aerobic processes can occur both in natural conditions - in irrigation fields during filtration, and in artificial structures - aerotanks and biofilters.

Industrial wastewater that cannot be treated by the above methods is subjected to thermal neutralization, i.e. burning, or injection into deep wells (resulting in the risk of groundwater pollution). These methods are carried out in local (workshop), plant-wide, district or city cleaning systems.

To disinfect wastewater from microbes contained in domestic, especially fecal, effluents, chlorination is used in special sedimentation tanks.

After the grates and other devices have freed the water from mineral impurities, the microorganisms contained in the so-called activated sludge “eat up” organic contaminants, that is, the purification process usually goes through several stages. However, even after this, the degree of purification does not exceed 95%, i.e., it is not possible to completely eliminate the pollution of water basins. If, in addition, any plant discharges its wastewater into the city sewerage, which has not undergone preliminary physical or chemical treatment of any toxic substances at workshop or factory facilities, then the microorganisms in the activated sludge will generally die and it may take several years to revive the activated sludge. months. Therefore, the sinks of this locality during this time they will pollute the reservoir with organic compounds, which can lead to its eutrophication.

One of the most important problems of environmental protection is the problem of collection, disposal and disposal or disposal of solid industrial waste "and household waste, which accounts for from 300 to 500 kg per capita per year. It is solved by organizing landfills, recycling waste into composts with subsequent use as organic fertilizers or into biological fuel (biogas), as well as burning in special plants.Specially equipped landfills, the total number of which in the world reaches several million, are called landfills and are quite complex engineering structures, especially when it comes to storing toxic or radioactive waste.

More than 50 billion tons of waste accumulated in Russia are stored on 250,000 hectares of land.

3. REGULATORY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTION

ENVIRONMENT

§ 1. SYSTEM OF STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS

One of the most important constituent parts environmental legislation is a system of environmental standards. Its timely scientifically based development is necessary condition practical implementation of the adopted laws, since it is these standards that polluting enterprises should be guided by in their environmental activities. Failure to comply with the standards entails legal liability.

Standardization is understood as the establishment of a single and mandatory for all objects of a given level of a management system of norms and requirements. Standards can be state (GOST), industry (OST) and factory. The system of standards for nature protection has been assigned the general number 17, which includes several groups in accordance with protected objects. For example, 17.1 means “Nature Conservation. Hydrosphere", and group 17.2 - "Nature protection. Atmosphere”, etc. This standard regulates various aspects of the activities of enterprises for the protection of water and air resources, up to the requirements for equipment for monitoring air and water quality.

The most important environmental standards are environmental quality standards - maximum allowable concentrations (MPC) of harmful substances in natural environments.

MPC is approved for each of the most hazardous substances separately and is valid throughout the country.

B B Lately scientists argue that compliance with MPC does not guarantee the preservation of environmental quality at a sufficiently high level, if only because the influence of many substances in the future and when interacting with each other is still poorly understood.

Based on MPC, scientific and technical standards for maximum permissible emissions (MPE) of harmful substances into the atmosphere and discharges (MPD) into the water basin are being developed. These standards are set individually for each source of pollution in such a way that the cumulative environmental impact of all sources in a given area does not lead to an excess of the MPC.

Due to the fact that the number and power of pollution sources change with the development of the productive forces of the region, it is necessary to periodically review the MPE and MPD standards. The choice of the most effective options for environmental protection activities at enterprises should be carried out taking into account the need to comply with these standards.

Unfortunately, at present, many enterprises, due to technical and economic reasons, are not able to immediately meet these standards. The closure of such an enterprise or a sharp weakening of its economic situation as a result of penalties is also not always possible for economic and social reasons.

In addition to a clean environment, a person for a normal life needs to eat, dress, listen to a tape recorder and watch movies and TV shows, the production of films and electricity for which is very "dirty". Finally, you need to have a job in your specialty near your home. It is best to reconstruct ecologically backward enterprises so that they no longer harm the environment, but not every enterprise can immediately allocate funds for this in full, since environmental protection equipment, and the reconstruction process itself, are very expensive.

Therefore, temporary standards can be set for such enterprises, the so-called TSA (temporarily agreed emissions), which allow for increased environmental pollution in excess of the norm for a strictly defined period, sufficient to carry out the environmental measures necessary to reduce emissions.

The amount and sources of payment for environmental pollution depend on whether or not an enterprise complies with the standards established for it and in which ones - MPE, MPD or only in the ESS.

§ 2. LAW ON GUARD OF NATURE

It has already been noted earlier that the state ensures the rationalization of nature management, including the protection of the natural environment, by creating environmental legislation and monitoring its observance.

Environmental legislation is a system of laws and other legal acts (decrees, decrees, instructions) that regulates environmental relations in order to preserve and reproduce natural resources, rationalization of nature management, preservation of public health.

To ensure the possibility of practical implementation of the adopted laws, it is very important that they are backed up in time by by-laws adopted on their basis, precisely defining and clarifying, in accordance with the specific conditions of the industry or region, to whom, what and how to do, to whom and in what form to report, what environmental regulations, standards and rules to follow, etc.

Yes, the law "On the Protection of the Environment" establishes a general scheme for achieving the coincidence of the interests of society and individual users of natural resources through limits, payments, tax benefits, and specific parameters in the form of exact values ​​of standards, rates, payments are specified in resolutions of the Ministry of Natural Resources, industry instructions etc.

The objects of environmental legislation are both the natural environment as a whole and its separate natural systems (for example, Lake Baikal) and elements (water, air, etc.), as well as international law.

In our country, for the first time in world practice, the requirement for the protection and rational use of natural resources is included in the Constitution. There are about two hundred legal documents related to nature management. One of the most important is the comprehensive law “On the Protection of the Environment”, adopted in 1991.

It states that every citizen has the right to protect health from the adverse effects of a polluted natural environment, to participate in environmental associations and social movements and obtaining timely information about the state of the environment and measures to protect it.

At the same time, every citizen is obliged to take part in the protection of the natural environment, to raise the level of his knowledge of nature, ecological culture, to comply with the requirements of environmental legislation and established standards for the quality of the natural environment. If they are violated, then the perpetrator bears responsibility, which is divided into criminal, administrative, disciplinary and material.

In cases of the most serious violations, for example, when a forest is set on fire, the perpetrator may be subjected to criminal punishment in the form of imprisonment, the imposition of large monetary fines, and confiscation of property.

However, more often administrative responsibility is applied in the form of fines both on individuals and on enterprises as a whole. It occurs in cases of damage or destruction of natural objects, pollution of the natural environment, failure to take measures to restore the disturbed environment, poaching, etc.

Officials may also be subject to disciplinary action in the form of complete or partial loss of bonuses, demotion, reprimand or dismissal for failure to comply with environmental protection measures and non-compliance with environmental standards.

In addition, the payment of a fine does not exempt from material civil liability, i.e., the need to compensate for the damage caused by pollution or irrational use of natural resources to the environment, health and property of citizens, and the national economy.

In addition to the declaration of the rights and obligations of citizens and the establishment of responsibility for environmental offenses, the above law formulates environmental requirements for the construction and operation of various facilities, shows the economic mechanism for environmental protection, proclaims the principles of international cooperation in this area, etc.

It should be noted that the Environmental Legislation, although it is quite extensive and versatile, in practice is still not effective enough. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important is the discrepancy between the severity of the punishment and the severity of the crime, in particular, the low rates of fines levied. For example, for an official, it is equal to three to twenty times the minimum monthly wage (do not confuse with the actual salary received by the employee, which is always much higher). However, twenty minimum wages often do not exceed one or two real monthly salaries of these officials, since we are usually talking about heads of enterprises and departments. For ordinary citizens, the fine does not exceed ten times the minimum wage.

Criminal liability and compensation for damages are applied much less frequently than they should. And it is impossible to fully compensate for it, since it often reaches many millions of rubles or cannot be measured in money at all.

And Usually, no more than two dozen cases of liability for air and water pollution, which led to serious consequences, are considered throughout the country every year, and the most numerous cases related to poaching do not exceed one and a half thousand a year, which is incomparably less than the actual number of offenses. However, in recent years there has been an upward trend in these figures.

Other reasons for the weak regulatory effect of environmental legislation are the insufficient provision of enterprises with technical means for the effective treatment of wastewater and polluted gases, and inspection organizations with devices for monitoring environmental pollution.

Finally, the low ecological culture of the population, their ignorance of the basic environmental requirements, their condescending attitude towards the destroyers of nature, as well as the lack of knowledge and skills necessary to effectively defend their right to a healthy environment, proclaimed in law, are of great importance. Now it is necessary to develop a legal mechanism for the protection of environmental human rights, i.e., by-laws specifying this part of the law, and turn the flow of complaints to the press and higher administrative authorities into a flow of lawsuits to the judiciary. When every resident whose health has been affected by harmful emissions from an enterprise files a claim demanding financial compensation for the damage caused, valuing their health at a fairly large amount, the enterprise will simply be economically forced to urgently take measures to reduce pollution.

Literature:

1. Demina T. A. Ecology, nature management, environmental protection: A manual for high school students educational institutions. – M.: Aspect Press, 1998. – 143 p.

environmental protection

environmental protection - a system of measures aimed at ensuring favorable and safe conditions for the environment and human life. The most important environmental factors are atmospheric air, air of dwellings, water, soil. Environmental protection provides for the conservation and restoration of natural resources in order to prevent direct and indirect negative impacts of human activities on nature and human health.

In the context of scientific and technological progress and the intensification of industrial production, the problems of environmental protection have become one of the most important national tasks, the solution of which is inextricably linked with the protection of human health. Long years environmental degradation processes were reversible, since affected only limited areas, individual areas and were not of a global nature, therefore, effective measures to protect the human environment were practically not taken. In the last 20-30 years, irreversible changes in the natural environment or dangerous phenomena have begun to appear in various regions of the Earth. In connection with the massive pollution of the environment, the issues of its protection from regional, intrastate have grown into an international, global problem. All developed countries have identified environmental protection as one of the most important aspects of humanity's struggle for survival.

The advanced industrial countries have developed a number of key organizational, scientific and technical measures for environmental protection. They are as follows: identification and assessment of the main chemical, physical and biological factors that adversely affect the health and performance of the population, in order to develop the necessary strategy to reduce the negative role of these factors; assessment of the potential impact of toxic substances polluting the environment in order to establish the necessary risk criteria for public health; development of effective programs to prevent possible industrial accidents and measures to reduce the harmful effects of accidental emissions on the environment. In addition, of particular importance in environmental protection is the establishment of the degree of danger of environmental pollution for the gene pool, in terms of the carcinogenicity of some toxic substances contained in industrial emissions and waste. To assess the degree of risk of mass diseases caused by pathogens contained in the environment, systematic epidemiological studies are needed.

When addressing issues related to environmental protection, it should be taken into account that a person from birth and throughout his life is exposed to various factors (contact with chemicals at home, at work, use of drugs, ingestion of chemical additives contained in foodstuffs, etc.). Additional exposure to harmful substances entering the environment, in particular with industrial waste, can have a negative impact on human health.

Among environmental pollutants (biological, physical, chemical and radioactive), one of the first places is occupied by chemical compounds. More than 5 million are known. chemical compounds, of which over 60 thousand are in constant use. The world volume of production of chemical compounds increases for every 10 years by 2 1 / 2 times. The most dangerous is the entry into the environment of organochlorine compounds of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, asbestos.

The most effective measure to protect the environment from these compounds is the development and implementation of waste-free or low-waste technological processes, as well as the neutralization of waste or their processing for recycling. Another important area of ​​environmental protection is changing the approach to the principles of location of various industries, replacing the most harmful and stable substances with less harmful and less stable ones. Mutual influence of different industrial and page - x. facilities are becoming more significant, and the social and economic cost of accidents caused by the proximity of various enterprises may exceed the benefits associated with proximity raw material base or transportation facilities. In order for the tasks of placing objects to be optimally solved, it is necessary to cooperate with specialists of different profiles who are able to predict the adverse effects of diverse factors, use methods mathematical modeling. Quite often, due to meteorological conditions, territories remote from the direct source of harmful emissions are polluted.

The most important issue of all discussed so far iswater protection problem . One of the main tasks is the regulation of water relations in order to ensure the rational use of water for the needs of the population and National economy. In addition, there are other tasks:

Protection of waters from pollution, clogging and depletion;

Prevention and elimination of the harmful effects of water;

Improvement of the state of water bodies;

Protection of the rights of enterprises, organizations, institutions and citizens, strengthening the rule of law in the field of water relations.

Location, design, construction and commissioning of enterprises, structures and other facilities that affect the state of water.

Commissioning is prohibited:

New and reconstructed enterprises, workshops and units, communal and other facilities that are not provided with devices that prevent pollution and clogging of water or their harmful effects;

Irrigation and watering systems, reservoirs and canals until the implementation of the measures provided for by the projects to prevent flooding, flooding, waterlogging, land salinization and soil erosion;

Drainage systems until the readiness of water intakes and other structures in accordance with approved projects;

Water intake structures without fish protection devices in accordance with approved projects;

Hydraulic structures until the readiness of devices for the passage of flood waters and fish in accordance with approved projects;

Environmental protection. Basic provisions

Nature or the environment, as well as its components, is not only Natural resources, with which it is rich, the most important thing is the environment for the constant stay of a person, his place of residence. The science of ecology is engaged in the protection of the environment, its components, as well as the study of the impact of living organisms on the environment.

Definition 1

Environmental protection or conservation activities is a set of engineering, engineering, legal, organizational, economic, administrative and other measures aimed at the compliance of environmental indicators with established standards, the elimination or minimization of the negative impact on the environment in the process of anthropogenic activity.

Environmental protection and environmental safety are an urgent and priority area of ​​economic activity of organizations of all forms of ownership, as well as state and other forms of government.

Regulatory framework for environmental protection

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Environmental legislation serves as the basis for the implementation of environmental activities in Russia.

Definition 2

Legislation in the field of environmental protection- this is a system of state measures enshrined in regulatory legal acts (laws, regulations, etc.) and aimed at preserving, restoring and improving the conditions necessary to create a prosperous and safe living environment for humans and other living organisms, the development of material production , as well as minimizing or eliminating the consequences of past environmental damage.

The main objectives of environmental legislation are:

• protection of environmental components (air, water, soil, subsoil, forests, flora and fauna) from negative anthropogenic impact;
• conservation of biodiversity;
• rational use of natural resources;
• introduction of the best available technologies;
• environmental education and improvement of environmental culture among the population;
• elimination of past environmental damage;
• implementation of supervisory activities.

The basis of Russian environmental legislation is:

1. Legislative acts. These include the main regulatory and environmental acts (Constitution, International Treaties, Federal laws, laws of subjects of the Russian Federation, etc.)
2. Regulations. These include acts adopted by the President, the Government, executive authorities (Rosprirodnadzor).
3. System state standards (GOSTs of the Nature Protection system), sanitary rules and regulations (SanPiNs), building codes and regulations (SNiPs), sanitary standards (SN).

The main legal document in the country, including in terms of environmental legislation, is the Constitution of the Russian Federation. On the basis of the Constitution, all types of laws, by-laws, state standards, etc. are developed. No normative legal act may contradict the Constitution. The Constitution of the Russian Federation provides:

1. rights and obligations of citizens environmental management and environmental protection;
2. fundamentals of property rights to natural resources;
3. delimitation of environmental functions of the Russian Federation and subjects of the Russian Federation;
4. powers of public authorities in the field of environmental relations.

These norms are represented by articles of the Constitution that are directly related to environmental protection, environmental safety and nature management. The main articles of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, reflecting environmental standards - No. 7, No. 9, No. 36, No. 41, No. 42, No. 72.

Remark 1

In addition to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, ecological foundations laid down in codes. So, in Russia there are Water, Forest, Air and Land Codes. However, the last two codes are indirectly related to environmental issues and in more reflect the issues of air traffic and cadastral relations.

The main laws regulating the activities of individuals, legal entities, as well as environmental structures in terms of environmental protection are:

• Federal Law No. 7 "On Environmental Protection" dated 10.01.2002
• Federal Law No. 89 “On production and consumption waste” dated 06/24/1998.
• FZ-No. 96 "On the protection of atmospheric air" dated 04.05.1999.
• Federal Law No. 416 "On water supply and sanitation" dated 07.12.2011
• Federal Law No. 52 "On the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population" dated 30.03.1999.
• Law of the Russian Federation No. 2395-1 "On Subsoil" dated February 21, 1992.
• Federal Law No. 174 "On Environmental Expertise" dated November 23, 1995.

Apart from federal laws there are many orders, resolutions, decrees, GOSTs, methods, regulations and other legal acts regulating various types of activities that pose a clear or potential danger to the environment: the transport of dangerous goods, the emission of greenhouse gases, the production and use of substances that deplete the ozone layer , assignment of waste to a specific hazard class, payment for negative environmental impact and many others.

Environment protection. Environmental Engineering

Engineering protection environment is a set of engineering measures aimed at reducing or eliminating the negative impact on the environment through the implementation of engineering and design solutions, as well as the use of the best available technologies.

This set of measures is usually carried out by organizations (individuals and legal entities) of various forms of ownership that have sources of negative environmental impact on their balance sheet. In turn, these sources are divided into:

• sources of emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air;
• sources of pollutant discharges into the centralized sewerage system and into water bodies;
• sources of production and consumption waste generation.

In order to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air, enterprises are taking measures to introduce gas cleaning and dust collection plants (cyclones, scrubbers, filters, etc.). These units provide purification of exhaust gases from sources from 80 to 98%, as a result, much smaller volumes of pollutants enter the atmosphere, which ensures high quality of atmospheric air (Fig. 1.). Also, for these purposes, measures are taken to plant tree and shrub vegetation, which retains some of the pollutants.

In order to maintain the quality of water bodies at enterprises discharging wastewater, a wastewater treatment system is being introduced, which may consist of:

• mechanical cleaning systems (grids, sand traps, primary clarifiers, pre-aerators, etc.)
• systems biological treatment(biological filters, aeration tanks, secondary settling tanks, nitrogen and phosphorus removal facilities, etc.)

To reduce the negative impact on the environment in terms of carrying out activities with production and consumption waste, the following measures are taken:

• sorting of production and consumption waste by fractional and component composition in accordance with the hazard class;
• introduction of systems for pressing waste (Fig. 2.);
• implementation of systems for the neutralization and reuse (utilization) of waste in their own production.

Activities of public organizations

The main function of public environmental organizations in the preservation of the environment is the work on environmental education and inculcation of environmental culture among the population.

This feature is fundamental. After all, it’s not clean where they clean it, but where they don’t litter.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (a. environment protection; n. Umweltschutz; f. protection de l "environnement; and. proteccion de ambiente) - a set of measures to optimize or preserve the natural environment. The purpose of environmental protection is to counteract negative changes in it, which have taken place in the past, are happening now, or are to come.

General information. The cause of adverse events in the environment can be natural factors (in particular those causing natural disasters). However, the relevance of environmental protection, which has become global problem, is associated mainly with the deterioration of the environment as a result of an actively growing anthropogenic impact. This is due to the population explosion, accelerating urbanization and the development of mining and communications, environmental pollution with various wastes (see also), excessive pressure on arable, pasture and forest lands (especially in developing countries). According to the UN Environment Program (UNEP), by the year 2000 the world's population will reach 6.0-6.1 billion people, 51% of which are city dwellers. At the same time, the number of cities with a population of 1-32 million people will reach 439, urbanized territories will occupy over 100 million hectares. Urbanization usually leads to air pollution, surface and groundwater pollution, deterioration of flora and fauna, soils and soils. As a result of construction and improvement in urban areas, tens of billions of tons of soil masses are moved, and artificial soil stabilization is carried out on a large scale. The volume of underground structures that are not related to the extraction of minerals is growing (see).

The growing scale of energy production is one of the main factors of anthropogenic pressure on the environment. Human activity disrupts the energy balance in nature. In 1984, the production of primary energy amounted to 10.3 billion tons of standard fuel due to the combustion of coal (30.3%), oil (39.3%), natural gas (19.7%), and the operation of hydroelectric power stations (6.8%) , nuclear power plants (3.9%). In addition, 1.7 billion tons of reference fuel was generated from the use of firewood, charcoal and organic waste (mainly in developing countries). By 2000, energy generation is expected to increase by 60% compared to 1980 levels.

In areas of the globe with a high concentration of population and industry, the scale of energy production has become commensurate with the radiation balance, which has a noticeable effect on changes in microclimate parameters. Large energy costs in the territories occupied by cities, mining enterprises and communications lead to significant changes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and geological environment.

One of the most acute environmental problems caused by the increased technogenic impact on the natural environment is related to the state of atmospheric air. It includes a number of aspects. First, the protection of the ozone layer, which is necessary in connection with the growth of atmospheric pollution with freons, nitrogen oxides, etc. By the middle of the 21st century. this could result in a 15% reduction in stratospheric ozone. Observations over the past 30 years (by 1986) have revealed a trend towards a decrease in the ozone concentration in the atmosphere over Antarctica in spring. The same information was obtained for the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere. A probable reason for the partial destruction of the ozone layer is an increase in the concentration of organochlorine compounds of anthropogenic origin in the Earth's atmosphere. Secondly, the increase in CO 2 concentration, which is mainly due to increased burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, depletion of the humus layer and soil degradation (Fig. 1).

Since the end of the 18th century, about 540 billion tons of anthropogenic CO2 have accumulated in the Earth's atmosphere; over 200 years, the CO2 content in the air has increased from 280 to 350 ppm. By the middle of the 21st century a doubling of the gas concentration that occurred before the start of the HTP is expected. As a result of the combined action of CO 2 and other "greenhouse" gases (CH 4 , N 2 O, freons), by the 30s of the 21st century (and according to some forecasts, earlier), an increase in the average temperature of the surface air layer by 3 ± 1 may occur, 5°C, with the maximum warming occurring in the circumpolar zones, and the minimum at the equator. An increase in the rate of glacier melting and sea level rise of more than 0.5 cm/year is expected. An increase in CO 2 concentration leads to an increase in the productivity of terrestrial plants, as well as to a weakening of transpiration, the latter can lead to a significant change in the nature of water exchange on land. Thirdly, acid precipitation (rain, hail, snow, fog, dew with a pH of less than 5.6, as well as dry aerosol deposition of sulfur compounds and) have become essential components of the atmosphere. They fall in Europe, North America, as well as in areas of the largest agglomerations and Latin America. The main cause of acid precipitation is the release of sulfur and nitrogen compounds into the atmosphere during the combustion of fossil fuels in stationary installations and vehicle engines. Acid rain damages buildings, monuments and metal structures; cause degradation and death of forests, reduce the yield of many agricultural crops, worsen the fertility of acidic soils and the state of aquatic ecosystems. Atmospheric acidification adversely affects human health. General atmospheric pollution has reached significant proportions: annual dust emissions into the atmosphere in the 80s. estimated at 83 million tons, NO 2 - 27 million tons, SO 2 - over 220 million tons (Fig. 2, Fig. 3).

The problem of depletion of water resources is caused by an increase in water consumption by industry, agriculture and utilities, on the one hand, and water pollution, on the other. Every year, mankind uses an average of over 3800 km3 of water, of which agriculture 2450, industry 1100, for household needs 250 km 3. The consumption of sea water is growing rapidly (so far its share in the total water intake is 2%). Pollution of many water bodies on land (especially in countries Western Europe And North America) and the waters of the oceans have reached a dangerous level. Every year (million tons) enters the ocean: 0.2-0.5 pesticides; 0.1 - organochlorine pesticides; 5-11 - oil and other hydrocarbons; 10 - chemical fertilizers; 6 - phosphorus compounds; 0.004 - mercury; 0.2 - lead; 0.0005 - cadmium; 0.38 - copper; 0.44 - manganese; 0.37 - zinc; 1000 - solid waste; 6.5-50 - solid waste; 6.4 - plastics. Despite the measures taken, oil pollution, the most dangerous for the ocean, is not decreasing (according to some forecasts, it will increase as long as the production and use of oil and oil products continue to grow). In the North Atlantic, the oil film occupies 2-3% of the area. The northern and caribbean, the Persian Gulf, as well as areas adjacent to Africa and America, where it is transported by tanker fleet. Bacterial pollution of the coastal waters of some densely populated regions has acquired dangerous dimensions, in particular mediterranean sea. As a result of water pollution by industrial effluents and wastes, an acute shortage of fresh water has arisen in a number of regions of the world. Water resources are also depleted indirectly - when deforestation, draining swamps, lowering the level of lakes as a result of water management measures, etc. Due to the need to search for new water resources, forecasting their condition and developing a rational strategy for water use, mainly for densely populated, highly industrial and highly developed agricultural areas water problem acquired an international character.

One of the main environmental problems is related to the deterioration of land resources. Anthropogenic load on agricultural and forestry lands in energy terms is disproportionately less than on lands under cities, communications and mining, but it is precisely this that is the cause of the main losses of flora, fauna and land cover. Human economic activity on productive lands leads to a change in relief, a decrease in reserves and pollution of surface and groundwater. In the world, more than 120 million tons of mineral fertilizers and over 5 million tons of pesticides are annually applied to soils. Of the 1.47 billion hectares of arable land, 220 million hectares are irrigated, of which more than 1 is saline. Behind historical time as a result of accelerated erosion and other negative processes, humanity has lost almost 2 billion hectares of productive agricultural land. In areas with arid, semi-arid and semi-humid climates, as well as on productive lands in regions with a hyperarid climate, the problem of land resources is associated with desertification (see Desert). Desertification affects an area of ​​4.5 billion hectares, on which about 850 million people live, it is rapidly developing (up to 5-7 million hectares per year) in the tropical regions of Africa, South Asia and South America, as well as in the subtropics of Mexico . Great damage to the condition of agricultural land is caused by accelerated erosion caused by tropical downpours, characteristic of countries with a tropical, constantly and variable humid climate.

An increase in the area of ​​land converted to agricultural use for the construction of roads, settlements and industrial (primarily mining) enterprises causes rapid deforestation, which occurs mainly in the tropical zone, in areas of tropical rainforests, whose ecosystems combine from 0.5 to 3 million species of organisms, being the largest repository of the Earth's genetic fund. Industrial logging also plays a significant role in deforestation. The lack of fossil fuel reserves in many developing countries, as well as high prices for it, have led to the fact that about 80% of the wood harvested here is used for fuel. The rate of deforestation is 6-20 million hectares per year. Deforestation is fastest in South America, East and Southeast Asia and West Africa. During 1960-80, the area of ​​humid tropical forests decreased by 2 times, and by almost 1/3 of all forests of the tropical belt.

An important problem for mankind is the protection of the geological environment, i.e. the upper part of the lithosphere, which is considered to be multicomponent dynamic system, which is under the influence of human engineering and economic activities and, in turn, determines this activity to a certain extent. The main component geological environment - rocks containing, along with solid mineral and organic components, gases, groundwater, as well as "inhabiting" their organisms. In addition, the geological environment includes various objects created within the lithosphere by man and considered as anthropogenic geological formations. All these components - components of a single natural and technical system - are in close interaction and determine its dynamics.

In the formation of the structure and properties of the geological environment, the processes of interaction of the geospheres play an essential role. Anthropogenic impact causes the development of natural-anthropogenic and the emergence of new (anthropogenic) geological processes that lead to regular changes in the composition, state and properties of the geological environment.

According to UNESCO estimates, by the year 2000 the extraction of the most important minerals will reach 30 billion tons, by this time another 24 million hectares of land will be disturbed, and the amount of solid waste per unit mass of finished products will double. The size of the transport and communication network will double. Water consumption will increase to about 6,000 km3 per year. The area of ​​forest land will decrease (by 10-12%), and the area of ​​arable land will increase by 10-20% (compared to 1980).

Historical outline. The need for harmony between society and nature was pointed out in their works by K. Marx, F. Engels and V. I. Lenin. Marx, for example, wrote: "Human projects that do not take into account the great laws of nature bring only disasters" (K. Marx, F. Engels, Soch., vol. 31, p. 210). This phrase was especially noted in the notes of V. I. Lenin, who emphasized that “generally speaking, it is also impossible to replace the forces of nature with human labor, just as it is impossible to replace arshins with poods. Both in industry and in agriculture, a person can only use the action of the forces of nature , if he knows their action, and facilitate this use for himself by means of machines, tools, etc." (Lenin V.I., PSS, vol. 5, p. 103).

In Russia, extensive measures for the protection of nature were already provided for by decrees of Peter I. The Moscow Society of Naturalists (founded in 1805), the Russian geographical society(founded in 1845) and others published articles in which questions of the environmental plan were raised. On the relevance of maintaining equilibrium in the environment natural environment in 1864 the American scientist J. P. Marsh wrote in his book Man and Nature. The ideas of protecting the natural environment at the international level were promoted by the Swiss scientist P. B. Sarazin, on whose initiative the first international conference on nature protection was convened in Bern (Switzerland) in 1913.

In the 30s. In the 20th century, a Soviet scientist, having considered on a global scale the anthropogenic impact on the natural environment, came to the conclusion that "human economic and industrial activity in its scale and significance has become comparable to the processes of nature itself ... Man geochemically remakes the world" (Fersman A. E. ., Selected Works, vol. 3, p. 716). He made an invaluable contribution to understanding the global features of the evolution of the natural environment. Having revealed the origin of the three outer geospheres, he apparently formulated the main law geological development: in a single mechanism of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere living matter The Earth "performs functions of the greatest importance, without which it could not exist." Thus, V. I. Vernadsky actually established that the biotic "supercomponent" in the natural environment has control functions, since in a thin "film of life" on the planet, huge amounts of workable energy are concentrated and simultaneously dissipated from it. The conclusions of the scientist lead closely to the definition of a strategy for nature conservation: the management of the natural environment, its renewable resources should be built in accordance with how living matter and the habitat transformed by it are organized, i.e. it is necessary to take into account the spatial organization of the biosphere. Knowledge of the aforementioned law makes it possible to call the degree of reduction of the planetary biota by man the most important criterion for the state of the natural environment. Pointing to the beginning of the transformation of the biosphere into the noosphere, Vernadsky emphasized the spontaneous nature of many changes in the natural environment provoked by man.

The main attention to solving the problems of environmental protection is given after the 2nd World War 1939-45. The teachings of Vernadsky about living matter - the biosphere-noosphere and Fersman about technogenesis have been widely developed in the works of many Soviet and individual foreign scientists (A. P. Vinogradov, E. M. Sergeev, V. A. Kovda, Yu. A. Israel, A. (I. Perelman, M. A. Glazovskaya, F. Ya. Shipunov, P. Duvegno, etc.). In the same years, international cooperation aimed at solving environmental problems grew. In 1948 biologists created the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and in 1961 the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Since 1969, extensive interdisciplinary research has been carried out by a specially created Scientific Committee on Environmental Problems (SCOPE). Much work is being done under the auspices of the UN, on whose initiative the permanent UN Environment Program (UNEP) was created in 1972. Within the framework of the UN, environmental problems are also solved by: the World Meteorological Organization (BMO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Commission on Environment and Development (MKOCP), etc. UNESCO implements or participates in a number of programmes, chief among which are Man and the Biosphere (MAB), the International Hydrological Program (IHP) and the International Program on Geological Correlation (IGCP). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Economic Community (EEC), the Organization of American States (OAS), the League of Arab Countries for Education, Culture and Science (ALECSO) pay much attention to the problems of environmental protection.

The protection of flora and fauna on land is regulated by many international conventions and agreements. Since 1981, within the framework of the MAB, the Northern Scientific Network has been created, uniting Scientific research scientists northern countries(including CCCP) in three priority areas: environmental conditions and land use in the zone of subarctic birch forests; biosphere reserves in subpolar and polar regions; land use practices and herbivorous animals in the tundra and northern taiga. In order to protect natural communities, genetic diversity and individual species, a Plan for Biosphere Reserves was developed, approved in 1984 by the International Coordinating Council of the MAB program. Works on biosphere reserves are being carried out in 62 countries under the auspices of UNESCO, UNEP and IUCN. At the initiative of UNESCO, UNEP, FAO and IUCN, the network of protected areas of the most valuable areas of tropical rain forests is expanding. Keeping about 10% of the area of ​​primary forest intact can provide protection for at least 50% of the species of organisms. In developing countries, in order to reduce the volume of industrial logging in virgin forests, the use of forest plantations is increasing, the total area of ​​which reaches several million hectares. The area of ​​plantations of export crops is growing, this should reduce the use of forest resources for selling wood on the world market.

Protection of the geological environment. The main types of protection of the geological environment: protection of mineral and energy resources of the subsoil; groundwater protection; protection of rock masses as a source of natural underground space resources and the creation of artificial underground reservoirs and premises; protection and improvement of natural and anthropogenic soils as grounds for the placement of ground structures and components of natural and technical systems; forecasting and combating natural disasters. The goals of protecting the geological environment as a source of non-renewable minerals: ensuring scientifically based, rational use of natural mineral and energy resources, the greatest technically possible and economically feasible completeness of their extraction from, integrated use of deposits and mined mineral raw materials at all stages of processing; rational use of mineral raw materials in the economy and disposal of production waste, excluding unjustified losses of mineral raw materials and fuel. An increase in the effectiveness of the protection of the geological environment is facilitated by an increase in the use of alternative methods for obtaining mineral raw materials (for example, the extraction of minerals from sea water), the replacement of natural materials with synthetic ones, etc.

Groundwater protection measures are aimed at preventing the penetration of harmful (and generally polluting) substances into groundwater horizons and their further spread. Groundwater protection includes: implementation of technical and technological measures aimed at the multiple use of water in the technological cycle, waste disposal, development effective methods purification and neutralization of waste, prevention of the penetration of sewage from the surface of the Earth into groundwater, reduction of industrial emissions into the atmosphere and water bodies, reclamation of polluted soils; compliance with the requirements for the procedure for exploration of groundwater deposits, design, construction and operation of water intake facilities; implementation of proper water protection measures; management of the water-salt regime of groundwater.

Preventive measures include: systematic monitoring of the level of groundwater pollution; assessment of the scale and forecasts of changes in pollution; careful justification of the location of the projected large industrial or agricultural facility so that its negative impact on the environment and groundwater is minimal; equipment and strict observance of sanitary protection zones of the water intake site; assessment of the impact of the designed facility on groundwater and the environment; study of groundwater protection for reasonable placement of industrial and other facilities, water intake facilities and planning of water protection measures; identification and accounting of actual and potential sources of groundwater pollution; liquidation of abandoned and inactive wells, transfer of self-flowing wells to crane operation. The most important type of these measures is the creation of a specialized network of observation wells at large industrial facilities and centralized water intakes to monitor the state of groundwater.