IN modern world the impact of the environment on human health has become global problem requiring drastic measures. Today there is a lot of talk about protecting nature and water resources, but little is being done. The decline in soil fertility, the death of flora and fauna, the deterioration of air quality, and the pollution of freshwater lakes and rivers continue.

Main types of pollution

Let's look at the most common types of pollution. The most common are permanent chemical emissions industrial enterprises, cars, boiler rooms. Increase in carbon dioxide volume leads to a gradual increase in temperature on our planet. This is urgent problem of modern humanity.

The world's oceans are suffering from human activities in the oil refining industry. Territories located near oil fields are subject to destructive exposure to industrial waste. This leads to disruption of gas exchange between the hydrosphere and.

The most dangerous is radioactive radiation. The radiation disaster has irreversible consequences: development of genetic diseases, oncology, neurological diseases, early aging.

We have briefly outlined the main sources representing danger to life that negatively affect human health.

Reasons for the deterioration of the situation

Ecology studies interaction of living beings and plants with the environment and the results of human activity. How does it affect our health?Environmental pollution and human health are closely interrelated.

Air

How it happens atmospheric influence on the human body? It changes every season and daily - temperature, pressure, humidity. A healthy body quickly gets used to and adapts to changes. But there are categories of patients and weather-sensitive people, whose organisms have difficulty adapting to weather changes, various disasters, so they do not feel well during sudden changes in temperature and surges in atmospheric pressure.

When harmful substances enter the atmosphere, air pollution. Many substances coming into contact with others natural elements, change, becoming even more dangerous. The most common consequences of this process are ozone holes, acid rain, Greenhouse effect and I could. According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) for 2014, the cause of annual death and almost 3.8 million people becomes exactly air pollution. The total number of people who died due to inhalation of contaminated air in open and closed spaces has reached 7 million. Don't forget the impact negative ecology for development oncological diseases. According to WHO research, air pollution is the main cause of cancer.

Important! If you want to protect yourself from unwanted consequences in own home and outdoors, view daily reports on the ambient air conditions in your city. Based on the data obtained, take measures to protect yourself.

The soil

Soil is an invaluable resource that gives humans a chance to exist. The main reason soil pollution the person himself becomes. It is estimated that over the past hundred years, approximately 28% of all fertile soils on the planet have been eroded. Every year a considerable part of the land is lost fertile layer turning into desert. affects health, because all the food we eat is grown on the earth. In modern food you can find lead, cadmium, mercury, and sometimes even cyanide (arsenic and beryllium compounds). These substances have one dangerous property - they are not excreted from the body.

Important! The impact of an unfavorable environment on a person can increase significantly if the body lacks vitamins A, B and C.

Special mention should be made of agriculture. To control weeds and pests, agricultural producers use pesticides, which end up first in the soil and then in food. Fertilizers are divided into several types:

• herbicides– serve to destroy harmful plants;
• insecticides– used to control insects;
• fungicides– used against fungal formations;
• zoocides– are created to combat animal pests.

All of them are found in food products in certain quantities. You see how closely connected nature and human health are.

Arable land are most susceptible to degradation, and repeated grazing of animals in one area leads to the destruction of grass cover, which is especially noticeable after grazing sheep. Irrigation of the land also causes negative impacts, leading to its salinization.

Surface and underground waters

It has been established that more than 400 types of different substances can cause water pollution. To find out if water is suitable for drinking, it is subjected to special treatment . It goes through three stages: sanitary-toxicological, general sanitary and organoleptic. If at least one indicator is exceeded, the water is considered polluted.

Water pollution divided into three types:

• chemical ( oil and its products, dioxins, pesticides, heavy);
• biological(contains viruses and other pathogens);
• physical(radioactive substances,).

The most common types of water pollution are the first two types. Radioactive, thermal and mechanical are relatively less common.

The process itself surface and ground water pollution, including drinking, is caused by various factors. The main ones include:

• leakage of oil and petroleum products;
• the entry of pesticides from fields into water systems;
• gas and smoke emissions;
• discharge of sewage water into water systems.

Exist natural sources of pollution. They include highly mineralized groundwater and seawater, which are introduced into fresh water due to improper operation of water intake structures.

The importance of ecology

Ecology affects health every day. Environmental problems are inextricably linked with our everyday life. The food we eat, the water we drink and the food we inhale depend on the state of the environment.

Impact polluted air — current problem big cities. The air of large industrial cities contains a huge concentration of chemical substances, which contributes to the development of various diseases, including cancer. Pathologies of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, gastrointestinal tract, blood, allergic and endocrine diseases - these are the consequences of the influence environment for development pathogenic microflora, degenerative and other changes.

Important! During pregnancy, the fetus is very sensitive to all external pathogens. Environmental factors play an important role in shaping a child's health.

Plant food and water, which we consume daily, are taken from the soil. Nowadays, almost every farm uses fertilizers, growth stimulants, and pest control agents. All this comes to our table. If the transmission of harmful substances does not occur directly, then through products animal origin- meat, milk. The result is a variety of diseases. digestive system, decreased protective functions of the body, impaired absorption nutrients, toxic effects on the body and early aging.

The main problem - drinking water contamination, which negatively affects human health. Territories where there is a persistent deterioration in the quality of drinking water tend to increase infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Statistics say that deaths due to viruses entering the body account for 30 to 50 million cases in Russia.

Today people are constantly faced with ionizing radiation . Mining, air travel, nuclear explosions and the release of processed radioactive substances lead to changes in the radiation background of the external environment. The effect depends on time, dose and type of radiation. How does radiation affect humans? Most often, the consequence is the development of infertility, radiation sickness, burns, cataracts - visual disorders.

Environmental risks

One of the main quality indicators public health is environmental risk. But the main problem consists not in the degree of this indicator, but in the fact that when it affects a person, the consequences appear only after 2-3 generations, gradually affecting the human body. Therefore, most people do not think about it, because they do not feel a direct threat.

Diseases mainly depend on age, profession and gender. IN risk group people get there after reaching 50-60 years of age. Men aged 20 to 30 are considered the healthiest, girls under 20. Important role plays the area of ​​residence. In places with increased environmental risk, the population gets sick 30% more often.

Patterns of action of environmental factors on organisms

Examples of environmental pollution

Conclusion

As we see, the influence of an unfavorable environment on human health can lead to disastrous consequences, even death. Unfortunately, creating unfavorable and often destructive living conditions for oneself is inherent in one person. It's time for us to think about this global problem for the sake of our own well-being.

The nature of our planet is very diverse and inhabited by unique species of plants, animals, birds and microorganisms. All this diversity is closely interconnected and allows our planet to maintain and maintain a unique balance between various forms life.

Human impact on the environment

From the very first days of the appearance of man, he began to influence environment. And with the invention of more and more new tools, human civilization has increased its impact to truly enormous proportions. And at present, several important questions have arisen before humanity: how does man influence nature? What human actions harm the soil that provides us with our staple foods? What is the influence of man on the atmosphere we breathe?

Currently, man’s impact on the world around him not only contributes to the development of our civilization, but also often leads to the fact that the appearance of the planet undergoes significant changes: rivers are drained and dry up, forests are cut down, new cities and factories appear in place of plains, to please new transport routes destroy mountains.

With the rapid increase in the Earth's population, humanity requires more and more food, and with the rapid growth of production technologies, the production capacity of our civilization, requiring more and more new resources for processing and consumption, development of more and more new territories.

Cities are growing, seizing more and more land from nature and displacing their natural inhabitants: plants and animals.

This is interesting: in the chest?

Main reasons

The reasons for the negative impact of humans on nature are:

All these factors have a significant and sometimes irreversible impact on the world around us. And more and more often a person is faced with the question: what consequences will such influence ultimately lead to? Will we eventually turn our planet into a waterless desert, unsuitable for existence? How can a person minimize the negative consequences of his influence on the world around him? The contradictory impact of people on the natural environment is now becoming a subject of discussion at the international level.

Negative and contradictory factors

In addition to the obvious positive impact of humans on the environment, there are also significant disadvantages of such interaction:

1. Destruction of large areas of forests by cutting them down. This influence is associated, first of all, with the development of the transport industry - people require more and more highways. In addition, wood is actively used in the paper industry and other industries.
2. Wide use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture actively contributes to rapid soil pollution.
3. Widely developed network of industrial production with its own emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere and water They not only cause environmental pollution, but also contribute to the death of entire species of fish, birds and plants.
4. Rapidly growing cities and industrial centers significantly affect changes in the external living conditions of animals, a reduction in their natural habitat and a reduction in the populations of various species themselves.

Also, we cannot ignore man-made disasters that can cause irreversible harm not only separate species flora or fauna, and entire regions of the planet. For example, after the famous accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, to this day a large area of ​​Ukraine is uninhabitable. The radiation level in this area exceeds the maximum acceptable standards tens of times.

Also, a leak of radiation-contaminated water from a nuclear power plant reactor in the city of Fukushima could lead to environmental disaster on a global scale. The damage that this heavy contaminated water could cause to the ecological system of the world's oceans would be simply irreparable.

And the construction of conventional hydroelectric power plants causes no less harm to the environment. After all, their construction requires the construction of a dam and the flooding of a large area of ​​adjacent fields and forests. As a result of such human activity, not only the river and the surrounding areas suffer, but also the wildlife living in these areas.

In addition, many people thoughtlessly throw away garbage, polluting not only the soil, but also the waters of the world’s oceans with their waste. After all, light debris does not sink and remains on the surface of the water. And given that some types of plastic take more than a decade to decompose, such floating “islands of dirt” make it much more difficult for marine and river life to obtain oxygen and sunlight. Therefore, entire populations of fish and animals have to migrate in search of new, more suitable territories. And many of them die in the search process.

Deforestation on mountain slopes makes them susceptible to erosion; as a result, the soil becomes loose, which can lead to destruction of the mountain range.

And people treat vital supplies of fresh water negligently - daily polluting freshwater rivers with sewage and industrial waste.

Of course, the existence of humans on the planet brings considerable benefits to it. In particular, it is people who carry out activities aimed at improving the ecological situation in the environment. On the territory of many countries, people organize nature reserves, parks and sanctuaries, which allow not only to preserve the surrounding nature in its natural, pristine form, but also contribute to the preservation and increase in populations of rare and endangered species of animals and birds.

Special laws have been created to protect rare representatives of the nature around us from destruction. Exist special services, funds and centers fighting the destruction of animals and birds. Specialized associations of ecologists are also being created, whose task is to fight to reduce emissions into the atmosphere that are harmful to the environment.

Security organizations

One of the most famous organizations fighting for nature conservation is "Greenease" - international organization , created to preserve the environment for our descendants. Greenpease employees set themselves several main tasks:

1. Fighting ocean pollution.
2. Significant restrictions on whaling.
3. Reducing the scale of deforestation of taiga in Siberia and much more.

With the development of civilization, humanity must look for alternative sources of energy: solar or cosmic, to preserve life on Earth. Also great importance To preserve the nature around us, they have to build new canals and artificial water systems aimed at maintaining soil fertility. And to keep the air clean, many enterprises install specially designed filters to reduce the level of pollutants released into the atmosphere.

This reasonable and careful attitude to the world around us clearly has only a positive impact on nature.

Every day the positive impact of man on nature is increasing, and this cannot but affect the ecology of our entire planet. That is why the human struggle for the preservation of rare species of flora and fauna and the preservation of rare plant species is so important.

Humanity has no right to disrupt the natural balance through its activities and lead to the depletion of natural resources. To do this, it is necessary to control the extraction of mineral resources, carefully monitor and take care of the fresh water reserves on our planet. And it is very important to remember that it is we who are responsible for the world around us and how our children and grandchildren will live depends on us!

Human impact on the environment

The more we take from the world, the less we leave in it, and we end up having to pay our debts at what may be a very inopportune moment to ensure the continuation of our lives.

Norbert Wiener

Man began to change natural systems already at the primitive stage of the development of civilization, during the period of hunting and gathering, when he began to use fire. The domestication of wild animals and the development of agriculture expanded the area of ​​manifestation of the consequences of human activity. As industry developed and muscle power was replaced by fuel energy, the intensity of anthropogenic influence continued to increase. In the 20th century Due to the particularly rapid rate of population growth and its needs, it has reached unprecedented levels and spread throughout the world.

When considering human impact on the environment, we must always remember the most important environmental postulates formulated in Tyler Miller's wonderful book, Living in the Environment.

1. Whatever we do in nature, everything causes certain consequences in it, often unpredictable.
2. Everything in nature is interconnected, and we all live in it together.
3. Earth's life support systems can withstand significant pressure and rough interventions, but there is a limit to everything.
4. Nature is not only more complex than we think about it, it is much more complex than we can imagine.

All human-created complexes (landscapes) can be divided into two groups depending on the purpose of their creation:

– direct – created by purposeful human activity: cultivated fields, gardening complexes, reservoirs, etc., they are often called cultural;
– accompanying – not intended and usually undesirable, which were activated or brought to life by human activity: swamps along the banks of reservoirs, ravines in fields, quarry-dump landscapes, etc.

Each anthropogenic landscape has its own history of development, sometimes very complex and, most importantly, extremely dynamic. In a few years or decades, anthropogenic landscapes can undergo profound changes that natural landscapes will not experience in many thousands of years. The reason for this is the continuous intervention of man in the structure of these landscapes, and this interference necessarily affects the man himself. Here's just one example. In 1955, when nine out of every ten residents of North Borneo fell ill with malaria, on the recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO), the pesticide began to be sprayed on the island to combat the mosquitoes that carry malaria. The disease was practically banished, but the unforeseen consequences of such a fight turned out to be terrible: dieldrin killed not only mosquitoes, but also other insects, in particular flies and cockroaches; then the lizards that lived in the houses and ate dead insects died; after this, cats who ate the dead lizards began to die; Without cats, rats began to multiply quickly - and a plague epidemic began to threaten people. We got out of this situation by dropping healthy cats by parachute. But... it turned out that dieldrin did not affect the caterpillars, but destroyed the insects that fed on them, and then numerous caterpillars began to eat not only the leaves of the trees, but also the leaves that served as roofs for the roofs, as a result the roofs began to collapse.

Anthropogenic changes in the environment are very diverse. By directly influencing only one of the components of the environment, a person can indirectly change the others. In both the first and second cases, the circulation of substances in the natural complex is disrupted, and from this point of view, the results of the impact on the environment can be classified into several groups.

To the first group include impacts that lead only to changes in concentration chemical elements and their compounds without changing the shape of the substance itself. For example, as a result of emissions from road transport the concentration of lead and zinc increases in the air, soil, water and plants, many times exceeding their normal content. In this case, the quantitative assessment of exposure is expressed in terms of the mass of pollutants.

Second group– impacts lead not only to quantitative, but also qualitative changes in the forms of occurrence of elements (within individual anthropogenic landscapes). Such transformations are often observed during mining, when many ore elements, including toxic ones, heavy metals, pass from mineral form into aqueous solutions. At the same time, their total content within the complex does not change, but they become more accessible to plant and animal organisms. Another example is changes associated with the transition of elements from biogenic to abiogenic forms. Thus, when cutting down forests, a person, cutting down a hectare of pine forest and then burning it, converts about 100 kg of potassium, 300 kg of nitrogen and calcium, 30 kg of aluminum, magnesium, sodium, etc. from biogenic form into mineral form.

Third group– the formation of man-made compounds and elements that have no analogues in nature or are not characteristic of a given area. There are more and more such changes every year. This is the appearance of freon in the atmosphere, plastics in soils and waters, weapons-grade plutonium, cesium in the seas, widespread accumulation of poorly decomposed pesticides, etc. In total, about 70,000 different synthetic chemicals are used every day in the world. About 1,500 new ones are added every year. It should be noted that little is known about the environmental impact of most of them, but at least half of them are harmful or potentially harmful to human health.

Fourth group– mechanical movement of significant masses of elements without significant transformation of the forms of their location. An example is the movement of rock masses during mining, both open-pit and underground. Traces of quarries, underground voids and waste heaps (steep-sided hills formed by waste rocks transported from mines) will exist on Earth for many thousands of years. This group also includes the movement of significant masses of soil during dust storms of anthropogenic origin (one dust storm can move about 25 km 3 of soil).

When analyzing the results of human activity, one should also take into account the state of the natural complex itself and its resistance to impacts. The concept of sustainability is one of the most complex and controversial concepts in geography. Any natural complex is characterized by certain parameters and properties (one of them, for example, is the amount of biomass). Each parameter has a threshold value - a quantity upon reaching which changes in the qualitative state of the components occur. These thresholds have been practically unstudied, and often, when predicting future changes in natural complexes under the influence of one or another activity, it is impossible to indicate the specific scale and exact time frame of these changes.
What is the real scale of modern anthropogenic influence? Here are some numbers. Every year, over 100 billion tons of minerals are extracted from the depths of the Earth; 800 million tons of various metals are smelted; produce more than 60 million tons of synthetic materials unknown in nature; introduce over 500 million tons of mineral fertilizers and approximately 3 million tons of various pesticides into the soils of agricultural land, 1/3 of which comes from surface runoff into bodies of water or lingers in the atmosphere (when dispersed from aircraft). For their needs, people use more than 13% of river flow and annually discharge more than 500 billion m3 of industrial and municipal wastewater into water bodies. The list can be continued, but what has been stated is enough to realize the global impact of man on the environment, and therefore the global nature of the problems arising in connection with this.

Consider the consequences of three main types economic activity humans, although, of course, they do not exhaust the entire complex of anthropogenic influence on the environment.

1. Industrial impacts

Industry, the largest branch of material production, plays a central role in the economy of modern society and is the main driving force of its growth. Over the last century, the world industrial production increased by more than 50 (!) times, and 4/5 of this growth has occurred since 1950, i.e. a period of active implementation of scientific and technological progress into production. Naturally, such a rapid growth of industry, which ensures our well-being, primarily affected the environment, the load on which has increased many times over.

Industry and the products it produces impact the environment at all stages of the industrial cycle: from exploration and extraction of raw materials, their processing into finished products, waste generation and ending with use finished products consumer, and then its liquidation due to further unsuitability. At the same time, land is alienated for construction industrial facilities and entrances to them; constant use of water (in all industries) 1 ; release of substances from raw material processing into water and air; removal of substances from soil, rocks, biosphere, etc. The load on landscapes and their components in leading industries is carried out as follows.

Energy. Energy is the basis for the development of all industries, Agriculture, transport, public utilities. This is an industry with very high rates of development and huge scale of production. Accordingly, the share of participation of energy enterprises in the load on the natural environment is very significant. Annual energy consumption in the world is more than 10 billion tons of standard fuel, and this figure is continuously increasing 2. To obtain energy, they use either fuel - oil, gas, coal, wood, peat, shale, nuclear materials, or other primary energy sources - water, wind, solar energy, etc. Almost all fuel resources are non-renewable - and this is the first stage of impact on the nature of the energy industry - irreversible removal of masses of substance.

Each source, when used, is characterized by specific parameters pollution of natural complexes.

Coal- the most common fossil fuel on our planet. When it is burned, carbon dioxide, fly ash, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, fluoride compounds, as well as gaseous products of incomplete combustion of fuel enter the atmosphere. Sometimes fly ash contains extremely harmful impurities such as arsenic, free silica, free calcium oxide.

Oil. When burning liquid fuel, in addition to carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and sulfur anhydrides, nitrogen oxides, vanadium and sodium compounds, and gaseous and solid products of incomplete combustion are released into the air. Liquid fuel produces fewer harmful substances than solid fuel, but the use of oil in the energy sector is declining (due to the depletion of natural reserves and its exclusive use in transport and the chemical industry).

Natural gas - the most harmless of fossil fuels. When it is burned, the only significant air pollutant other than CO 2 is nitrogen oxides.

Wood Most used in developing countries (70% of the population of these countries burns an average of about 700 kg per person per year). Burning wood is harmless - carbon dioxide and water vapor enter the air, but the structure of biocenoses is disrupted - the destruction of forest cover causes changes in all components of the landscape.

Nuclear fuel. The use of nuclear fuel is one of the most controversial issues in the modern world. Of course, nuclear power plants pollute the air to a much lesser extent than thermal power plants (using coal, oil, gas), but the amount of water used at nuclear power plants is twice the consumption at thermal power plants - 2.5–3 km 3 per year at a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 1 million kW, and the thermal discharge at a nuclear power plant per unit of energy produced is significantly greater than at thermal power plants under similar conditions. But the problems of radioactive waste and operational safety are especially hotly debated. nuclear power plants. Enormous consequences for natural environment and people, possible accidents at nuclear reactors do not allow us to treat nuclear energy as optimistically as it was in the initial period of using the “peaceful atom.”

If we consider the impact of the utilization of fossil fuels on other components of natural complexes, we should highlight impact on natural waters. For the cooling needs of generators, power plants produce huge amounts of water: to generate 1 kW of electricity, 200 to 400 liters of water are required; a modern thermal power plant with a capacity of 1 million kW requires 1.2–1.6 km 3 of water per year. As a rule, water withdrawals for cooling systems of power plants account for 50–60% of total industrial water withdrawals. The return of wastewater heated in cooling systems causes thermal pollution of water, as a result of which, in particular, the solubility of oxygen in water decreases and at the same time the vital activity of aquatic organisms is activated, which begin to consume more oxygen.

The next aspect of the negative impact on the landscape during fuel extraction is alienation of large areas, on which vegetation is destroyed, changes soil structure, water mode. This applies primarily open methods fuel extraction (about 85% of minerals and building materials in the world are mined by open-pit mining).

Among other primary sources of energy - wind, river water, sun, tides, underground heat - water occupies a special place. Geothermal power plants, solar panels, wind turbines, tidal power plants have the advantage of having a low environmental impact, but their deployment in the modern world is still quite limited.

River waters, used by hydroelectric power plants (HPPs), which convert the energy of water flow into electricity, have virtually no polluting effect on the environment (with the exception of thermal pollution). Their Negative influence on ecology is different. Hydraulic structures, primarily dams, disrupt the regimes of rivers and reservoirs, impede the migration of fish, and affect the groundwater level. Reservoirs created to equalize river flow and uninterrupted water supply to hydroelectric power stations also have a detrimental effect on the environment. The total area of ​​the world's largest reservoirs alone is 180 thousand km 2 (the same amount of land is flooded), and the volume of water in them is about 5 thousand km 3. In addition to flooding land, the creation of reservoirs greatly changes the river flow regime and affects local climatic conditions, which, in turn, affects the vegetation cover along the banks of the reservoir.

Metallurgy . The impact of metallurgy begins with the extraction of ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, some of which, such as copper and lead, have been used since ancient times, while others - titanium, beryllium, zirconium, germanium - are actively used only in last decades(for the needs of radio engineering, electronics, nuclear engineering). But since the middle of the 20th century, as a result of the scientific and technological revolution, the extraction of both new and traditional metals has sharply increased, and therefore the number of natural disturbances associated with the movement of significant masses of rocks has increased.
In addition to the main raw material – metal ores – metallurgy quite actively consumes water. Approximate figures for water consumption for the needs of, for example, ferrous metallurgy are as follows: about 100 m 3 of water is spent on the production of 1 ton of cast iron; for the production of 1 ton of steel – 300 m 3; for the production of 1 ton of rolled products - 30 m 3 of water.
But the most dangerous side of the impact of metallurgy on the environment is the technogenic dispersion of metals. Despite all the differences in the properties of metals, they are all impurities in relation to the landscape. Their concentration can increase tens and hundreds of times without external changes in the environment (water remains water, and soil remains soil, but the mercury content in them increases tens of times). The main danger of trace metals lies in their ability to gradually accumulate in the bodies of plants and animals, which disrupts food chains.
Metals enter the environment at almost all stages of metallurgical production. Some is lost during transportation, enrichment, and sorting of ores. Thus, in one decade at this stage, about 600 thousand tons of copper, 500 thousand tons of zinc, 300 thousand tons of lead, 50 thousand tons of molybdenum were scattered throughout the world. Further release occurs directly at the production stage (and not only metals are released, but also other harmful substances). The air around metallurgical plants is smoky and contains high levels of dust. Nickel production is characterized by emissions of arsenic and large quantities of sulfur dioxide (SO 2); Aluminum production is accompanied by fluorine emissions, etc. The environment is also polluted by wastewater from metallurgical plants.
The most dangerous pollutants include lead, cadmium and mercury, followed by copper, tin, vanadium, chromium, molybdenum, manganese, cobalt, nickel, antimony, arsenic and selenium.
In the changing landscape around metallurgical enterprises, two zones can be distinguished. The first, with a radius of 3–5 km, directly adjacent to the enterprise, is characterized by the almost complete destruction of the original natural complex. There is often no vegetation here, the soil cover is largely disturbed, and the animals and microorganisms that inhabited the complex have disappeared. The second zone is more extensive, up to 20 km, looks less oppressed - the disappearance of the biocenosis rarely occurs here, but its individual parts are disturbed and an increased content of polluting elements is observed in all components of the complex.

Chemical industry – one of the most dynamic industries in most countries; it often occurs new productions, new technologies are being introduced. But it is also associated with the emergence of many modern problems environmental pollution caused by both its products and technological production processes.
This industry, like metallurgy and energy, is extremely water-intensive. Water is involved in the production of most of the most important chemical products - alkalis, alcohols, nitric acid, hydrogen, etc. The production of 1 ton of synthetic rubber requires up to 2800 m3 of water, 1 ton of rubber – 4000 m3, 1 ton of synthetic fiber – 5000 m3. After use, the water is partially returned to reservoirs in the form of heavily polluted Wastewater, which leads to weakening or suppression of the vital activity of aquatic organisms, which makes the processes of self-purification of water bodies difficult.
The composition of air emissions from chemical plants is also extremely diverse. Petrochemical production pollutes the atmosphere with hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons; production of synthetic rubber - styrene, divinyl, toluene, acetone; production of alkalis - hydrogen chloride, etc. Substances such as carbon and nitrogen oxides, ammonia, inorganic dust, fluorine-containing substances and many others are also released in large quantities.
One of the most problematic aspects of the impact of chemical production is the spread of previously non-existent compounds into nature. Among them, synthetic surfactants (surfactants) (sometimes called detergents) are considered especially harmful. They enter the environment during the production and household use of various detergents. When entering water bodies with industrial and domestic wastewater, surfactants are poorly retained by treatment facilities, contribute to the appearance of abundant foam in water, impart toxic properties and odor to it, cause death and degeneration of aquatic organisms and, which is very significant, enhance the toxic effect of other pollutants.
These are the main negative impacts on natural systems of the leading branches of world industry. Naturally, the influence of industry is not limited to the above: there is mechanical engineering, which uses the products of metallurgy and the chemical industry and contributes to the dispersion of many substances in the environment; There are water-intensive industries such as pulp and paper and food, which also provide a large share organic environmental pollution, etc. Based on an analysis of the environmental impact of the three main industries, it is possible to determine the nature and paths of industrial environmental pollution for any industry, for which it is necessary to know the specifics of production.

To be continued

Photo by M. Kabanov

1 The total industrial water withdrawal is about 800 km 3 per year, with irreversible losses of 30–40 km 3.

2 The main consumers of energy are developed countries. For example, in 1989, 249 million Americans used more energy for air conditioning alone than 1.1 billion Chinese used for all needs.

Humanity has a huge impact on the environment. And not always positive. Rapidly developing enterprises primarily care about making a profit and practically do not think about the environment.

This negative human impact on the environment and consumerism has led to the depletion of many natural resources and the deterioration of our planet.

Beginning of negative impact

Back at the beginning of the twentieth century, in the initial stages of technological progress, much effort was made to improve all areas of life. But was this a positive human impact on the environment? On the one hand, all possible consequences were calculated and attempts were made to minimize negative impact on nature. On the other hand, with high speed New territories were cleared, cities expanded, factories were built, kilometers of roads were laid, swamps and reservoirs were drained, and the first hydroelectric power stations were built. People have found new effective methods of mining. This human impact on the environment does not go unnoticed and must be reconsidered. Wasting natural resources can lead to an inevitable environmental disaster.

The impact of agriculture on the environment

An equally depressing picture can be observed in agriculture. Our ancestors had a more caring attitude towards the fertile nurse earth. The soil was cultivated according to appropriate agricultural rules. The fields were allowed to rest and generously fertilized during the dormant period. But over time, agriculture has undergone great changes. A fairly large percentage of the land was plowed under the fields. The problem of food shortages has not been solved in this way, but such human influence on the environment has already led to negative environmental changes. Without taking any measures and without reviewing its actions, humanity risks being left with depleted land unsuitable for agriculture.

Another factor that has the worst impact on the environment is the not always justified use of herbicides and large quantity fertilizers Such actions can lead to the fact that products grown in this way gradually become unsuitable and dangerous for consumption. And the soil and groundwater will also be poisoned.

Solution

Fortunately, humanity has increasingly begun to think about emerging environmental problems. Scientists around the world are looking for ways to wisely use valuable natural resources. The best minds are working to ensure that the human impact on the environment is not so destructive. Increasingly, reserves and nature reserves are being created to preserve endangered rare species of animals and birds. This allows us to significantly improve the overall picture of the environmental situation on the blue planet. The human impact on the environment is undoubtedly enormous. And as sad as it is to admit, it is more often negative. So it is worth trying for absolutely all people who live on Earth to leave our planet with pristine beauty that could delight more than one generation of people.

As a biological species, humans have lived in all areas of the globe since the anthropogenic era. At first, humanity used nature unconsciously, then consciously. Use of natural resources on various levels The development of mankind occurred in different ways (primitive, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist, socialist systems). It was directly related to the growth in the number of people on Earth and scientific and technological progress (STP). If at first man’s actions were limited only to the extermination of large animals and setting forests on fire, then later he began to master previously unknown crafts, build cities, develop industry, agriculture, and master science and technology.

According to some reports, 50% of the forests on the globe have been destroyed and 70-75% of all forests have been developed. usable area. The above facts are only a small part negative influence human activity on nature. As Academician V.I. Vernadsky said, “man on the globe will be turned into a powerful geological force” and the fate of nature will depend on his consciousness. This truth is still relevant today. These actions relate to anthropogenic factors. Their main directions:

1. Human influence as biological species on nature. Man destroys birds and animals for his food and existence. Its diet includes plant and animal foods. Therefore, in order to solve the food problem, people are forced to develop the land and reduce the number of animals and birds.

2. A person performs all his actions consciously. In the process of mastering nature, he rationally uses the achievements of science, enriches and protects nature, growing cultivated plants and producing new species of animals. But in some cases these actions are not maintained at their level and have a negative effect.

3. In the process of scientific and technical progress new substances are released into nature ( chemical compounds, plastic, explosive substances, etc.). Thus, the appearance of nature changes and collapses.

4. One of the largest human actions are the development of industry, construction, opening of mines, and development of mineral resources. At the same time, complex construction, the use of technology, and the development of production sites occur at the expense of natural ecosystems and the use of most of the usable area.

5. Great damage to nature is caused by humanity in connection with the development of atomic weapons and space exploration. As a result, individual ecosystems and landscapes have completely disappeared or become unsuitable.

The influence of anthropogenic factors can be divided into the following types:

1. Direct influence. In the process of life activity, people destroy the natural biocenosis, developing land, forests, using pastures to build roads, factories, etc.

2. Indirect influence. In the course of using some natural resources, humans have an indirect impact on other resources. For example, as a result of forest cutting, animals and birds disappear.

3. Complex influence. To control agricultural pests in fields and gardens, pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals are used. Poisons act not only purposefully on their objects, but also on all living things around.

4.Spontaneous actions. In some cases, a person commits negligence while on vacation; these include fires from bonfires, destruction of animals, plants, etc.

5. Conscious actions. Every state on the globe, to improve the social conditions of its people in a planned manner, on a scientific basis, observing safety regulations and agrotechnical measures, uses Natural resources. New technologies to improve productivity are being adopted useful varieties cultivated plants. Nature reserves are being created National parks, plants and animals are protected - thus creating optimal conditions for a full life for people. Restoring nature through planting trees in industrial complexes, education artificial reservoirs, parks, people create the cultural landscape in terms of aesthetics. But such humane actions are not relevant in all countries. They are related to the policy of the state, its development, the level of science and culture. Such states include Switzerland, Finland, Canada, Japan, etc. But at the same time, in many countries many mistakes are made in dealing with nature. Undoubtedly, this is not done on purpose, but for the benefit of man. For example, if a person created nuclear reactors to produce energy, then how much suffering was brought to humanity by using it for military purposes (Hiroshima, Nagasaki)! The failure of the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant shook the whole of Europe. The damage caused to humans and nature from missiles used for military purposes is still felt in different parts of the globe.

In Kazakhstan, the consequences of human influence on nature became especially noticeable during the development of virgin lands, the Aral, Syr Darya, Balkhash basins, the Kapchagai reservoir, the Semipalatinsk, Azgyr, Naryn, and Saryshagan test sites. Some territories were classified as environmental disaster zones by government decision.

It must be taken into account that man influences nature to solve problems of shortage of food, energy, and raw materials. The development of nature will never stop - it is a natural process. And its rational and competent use is our responsibility.

We must constantly remember that the nature that surrounds us now is also necessary for our future generations, because the center of life, the home of all humanity is one - this is the Earth!

1. Man uses natural resources to satisfy material needs.

2. Man tries to make maximum use of natural resources.

3. Human influence on nature can be different: positive or negative.

4. Environmental disaster zones have appeared on Earth.

1. What are positive and negative human activities?

2. What is the direct and indirect influence of man on nature?

3. Why does man influence nature?

1. How does man influence nature?

2.What changes does scientific and technological progress bring to nature?

3.What actions does humanity need to take to restore nature?

1. Why did V.I. Vernadsky compare people with “geological force”?

2.What influence does man have on nature?

3. How many types can anthropogenic factors be divided into according to the nature of their influence?

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