For thousands of years man has been a part of nature. Without opposing himself to her, he took what was necessary for survival: food, material for dwellings, fuel. However, the further the human race went in technical inventions, the more it consumed resources, the more serious harm it caused to the environment.
Today, the issue of ecology has risen in front of the inhabitants of our planet closely. A whole range of problems threatens to change the earth beyond recognition, cause irreparable harm directly to a person, his health and well-being.
I must say that people themselves inflict damage on the quality of their lives. Much has already been destroyed, dozens of species of animals and plants have disappeared, but there is an opportunity to save what remains. To do this, it is important to responsibly treat various areas of your life. It is necessary to think about what will be left as a legacy to future generations, how our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, society will feel, whether they will have a chance to change something.
The technical sphere in the modern life of the planet
Today, the amount of technology produced by man (what is called techno-mass in science) for the first time in the history of our world exceeded biomass (that is, wild living organisms).
By analogy with biomass, the concept of which underlies the biosphere, there is a generalized concept of technomass, in which scientists invest the following components:
- mining devices;
- energy generating devices;
- devices processing raw materials;
- technology that creates consumer products;
- everything related to the development of devices for processing and storing information.
Autonomous multifunctional systems are distinguished into a separate category, which, for example, perform various actions in space, and “technical orderlies” - waste processing devices.
Thus, we can say that the technosphere copies the biosphere in structure. At the same time, until the last moment, all the industrial power of mankind was aimed at the maximum exploitation of natural resources. The lack of a humanistic component and the insufficient interaction of social sciences with exact sciences has led to the fact that nature is being driven into reservations, species are dying out, plant and animal life has been practically destroyed in entire regions, and production wastes are landscapes.
The first step to solving a problem is recognizing it. Society needs to appreciate the horror of the state of nature, the role and impact of man on the environment. Only in this case is it possible to save what is left.
How does modern society harm nature?
- Each of us, to a greater or lesser extent, is focused on consumption. Each person has many things without which life seems impossible. Moreover, the industry needs to constantly expand the market. Therefore, with the help of advertising, we are inspired that old (whether good or not) things need to be thrown away and new ones purchased. This applies to cars and mobile phones, household appliances, clothes, shoes, furniture and more.
Thus, production volumes are constantly increasing, new factories and plants are being built. Each of them must have treatment facilities, all basic technologies and forms of activity must be regularly updated, and money must be invested in order to minimize harmful emissions. This requires considerable financial costs, which the owners do not want to go to. As a result, the atmosphere is polluted, forests and water bodies die, and people acquire serious diseases.
The petrochemical industry emits hydrocarbon compounds into the air, metallurgy - heavy metals.
- Special substances emit ballistic and space rockets. Every military exercise, every flight to orbit costs us a part of our atmosphere, what we breathe and with what we exist.
- A separate word should be said about cars. Today, their number per capita, especially in cities, is becoming critical. This is evidenced by traffic jams, accidents, problems with parking spaces. But the most important thing is that exhaust gases - products of fuel processing - also rise up, polluting the air and creating a "greenhouse effect". In short, its result is an increase in temperature throughout the planet. This contributes to the melting of glaciers, climate change, and frequent natural disasters. The main means of neutralizing the harm of cars is the adjustment of engines and the installation of special systems for cleaning combustion products, as well as the replacement of ethyl gasoline with other, environmentally friendly fuels.
- Human impact on the environment also lies in the active operation of thermal power plants. Sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which are formed as a result of the burning of raw coal, together with other chemical compounds, cause acid rain. They are dangerous for both human society and the natural environment - they oxidize soils and water bodies, contribute to the extinction of entire species of plants and living beings, and negatively affect the skin, hair, and the state of human internal organs.
This situation can be corrected. This will require, first of all, considerable funds. However, the consequences of human economic activity for the environment are so catastrophic that such investments are the only way to save nature.
- It is necessary to replace old-style thermal power plants with new ones, which include mechanisms for the disposal of hazardous gas and dust waste.
- Cleaning of coal is required right after its extraction - even before it gets to the thermal power plant. Ideally, it should be replaced by the most environmentally friendly and safe fuel at the moment - natural gas.
- Deforestation. Modern society is accustomed to taking from nature without giving anything in return. The destruction of forest areas has become catastrophic, especially in those countries where this natural wealth was originally abundant.
The most valuable timber from the tropical forests of South America is cut down. As for our country, unauthorized plots can be found in almost any region, and especially in the taiga.
The decrease in the number of forests is not only harmful for those animals that have lost their homes and are forced to migrate. The consequences of human economic activity for the environment in this case are climate change, which will affect the quality of life for each of us. Also, a decrease in the area of forests will contribute to a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Constant and systematic restoration of plantations, careful attitude to them, protection from felling and fires, from diseases - this is the recipe for preserving one of the main wealth - forests.
- A special word should be said about the garbage collection system in our country. She is at a low level. There are several reasons for this:
- Ignorance and illiteracy of each individual. Most of our cities are littered, many people throw food wrappers, bottles and cigarette butts right at their feet, teach their children this by their own example.
- Unorganized waste separation system. In European countries, society is set up and accustomed to the fact that garbage should be divided into biodegradable (food waste and paper), metal, glass, and plastic. Much of what is collected is sent for recycling. To do this, it is necessary to invest in the construction of factories, the purchase and adjustment of mechanisms, the main collection technologies. However, the result becomes noticeable soon.
All changes in the biosphere follow each other, they are characterized by a chain reaction. Therefore, destroying, for example, some species of animals, a person violates the state of the entire ecosystem of a forest, steppe or desert, interferes with the natural course of events that has existed for thousands of years. Failure to understand these connections leads to a significant change in the state of our planet and life on it.
The consequences of human economic activity for the environment are becoming more and more catastrophic every year. Therefore, it is important to develop a set of measures where every person, enterprise, state will be responsible for nature, as for our common home, and do what they can, contributing to the life and well-being of the planet. After all, no money or the benefits of civilization can replace air, clean water, greenery and all the riches that nature generously shares with us.