Biosphere and ecology

The modern condition of ecological situation in the world

Biosphere and ecology

Biosphere of a planet is a sphere of a life of all alive including the person. It is an area of existence of living substance. The composition, structure and power of biosphere are determined by cumulative activity of living organisms and space. The biosphere is not planet of all. It is limited from above up to height of an ozone cloud, i.e. 20-25 km above a level of ocean, on land - on depth of 2-3 km lower than a bottom of ocean. In these limits there is a living substance of our planet.

According with history, people are pursuing definite purposes: extraction of resources, manufacturing of products, a construction of roads, tried to execute only a specific target. They did not think about ecological consequences, about collateral influence of these consequences on an environment. And while the population and scales of manufacture were small in comparison with the sizes of the Earth, ecological consequences were perceived as the comprehensible compromise. In other words, natural resources in comparison with mankind were so extensive, that for achievement of aims and making of the profit it was quite possible to sacrifice a part of the untouched nature, some degree of cleanness of air and water.

But it is obvious, that our world is not boundless and this process cannot proceed indefinitely. In process of increase of the population and scales of manufacture ecological consequences became more and more serious and widespread, and untouched natural spaces all time were reduced. It became clear, that reduction of quality of an environment already cannot be counted the comprehensible compromise. There was a reassessment of values, the first measures have been accepted. There was a nature protection movement, the world community had been accepted the first laws about preservation of the environment, there were the official bodies supervising a condition of environment and a measure by its protection.

In middle of the Х1Х century the science has openedprinciples of mutual relations of plants and animals among themselves and with an environment. This part of biology was named ecology. The term"ecology" is formed from two words of the Greek origin: oikos- the house, dwelling and logos - a science. Thus, the ecology is a science about the natural environment surrounding us. It is the section of biology studying interrelations between organisms and environment, about circulation of substances in the nature and the streams of energy doing possible a life on the Earth.

In our century became conventional, that ecological principles and theories are concerned not only to wild plants and animals in their natural conditions of dwelling - they are applied and to people in global scales too.

Many-sided activity of mankind and increasing of value of its interaction from environment have led to that the modern ecology has broken up to a lot of scientific branches and disciplines. For example, the space ecology - studies the small closed systems of maintenance of ability to live of the person in space vehicles; the industrial ecology - studies influence of industry on the nature; the ecology of a person - investigates the general laws of mutual relations of biosphere and mankind; the ecological right, etc.

The environmental problem is a global problem, it infringes the interests of all five-milliard population of our planet, interests of all modern states without exception, interests of each person living on the Earth.

Pollution of biosphere, exhaustion of natural resources, destruction of ecological systems, loss of natural ability of self-restoration - all these factors are the extremely dangerous and complex processes, and development of these processes are caused and stimulated by economic activities of people. By present time many kinds of polluting substances, for example metals, a dust, pesticides, radioactive substances in connection with atmospheric and hydrospheric processes is displayed on a regional and global level, transforming a planet in uniform technical-biology system.

Let's look at the general picture of economic development of the modern world.

The world economy is capable to let out annually above 800 m.ton of ferrous metals, more than 60 m.ton of synthetic materials unknown to the nature, about 500 m. ton of mineral fertilizers, 8 m.ton of poisonous chemicals, above 300 m.ton of organic chemical compounds of 150 names, etc.

More than 300 m.ton of carbon oxide, 50 m.ton of hydrocarbons, 120 m.ton of ash, 150 millions ton of sulfur dioxide get in the atmosphere annually, in waters of World Ocean gets 6-10 m.ton of сrude oil, the firm drain makes 17 m.ton.

Besides irrigation of industrial production, drinking water supplies more than 13 % of a river drain, 500 milliard cubic metres of industrial and municipal drains get to reservoirs annually, their neutralization demands 5-12-fould dissolving by natural pure water.

Such changes in the natural environment do not pass completely for people. In opinion of physicians and experts in the field of sanitary hygiene, emissions of the industrial enterprises contains up to 150 substances dangerous for people^,s health. Already today that fact causes anxiety, that many modern illnesses of people are connected with occurrence in environment of products of chemical manufacture and transport emissions.Number of polluting substances possesses the mutagen properties. It can change even the heredity of a person. Intensive pollution of atmospheric air by the chemical substances, constantly growing contact of people with artificial synthesized compositions and materials lead to changes in immune system of an organism. Immune system of the certain part of mankind is already essentially made weak, and the society is compelled to spend enormous means to constrain these disasters.

So, the aspiration of people to "successes" during interaction with the nature has led to that these "victories" are its defeat.