How man destroys the environment. Common objects that are fatally dangerous to nature

It's lunchtime, but there's no food at home, so you get behind the wheel and drive to the nearest grocery store.

You walk among the stalls hoping to buy something. In the end, you choose chicken and a prepared salad and return home to enjoy your meal.

Let's consider how a seemingly harmless trip to the store influenced environment.

First, driving a car contributed to carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. The electricity in the store is nothing more than the result of burning coal, the mining of which has devastated the Appalachian ecosystem.

The salad ingredients were farmed and treated with pesticides, which then entered waterways, poisoning fish and aquatic plants (which help keep the air clean).

The chicken was raised on a very remote poultry farm where animal waste is thrown away a large number of toxic methane into the atmosphere. When delivering goods to the store, many modes of transport were involved, each of which caused its own harm to the environment.

Even the smallest human actions initiate changes in the environment. How we heat our homes, power our electrical appliances, what we do with our garbage and the origins of our food all place enormous pressure on the environment.

Looking at the problem at a societal level, it can be noted that human behavior has significantly impacted the environment. The earth's temperature has increased by one degree Fahrenheit since 1975, the amount polar ice decreased by 9 percent in just one decade.

We have caused enormous damage to the planet, much more than you can imagine. Construction, irrigation, mining significantly spoil natural landscape and disrupts the flow of important ecological processes. Aggressive fishing and hunting can deplete species, and human migration can introduce alien species into established food chains. Greed leads to catastrophic accidents, and laziness leads to destructive practices.

10. Public projects

Sometimes public works projects don't actually work to benefit the public. For example, dam projects in China that were designed to produce clean energy have devastated everything around them, causing cities and public places to environmental waste floods occurred, which significantly increased the risk of natural disasters.

In 2007, China completed 20 years of construction of the world's largest hydroelectric dam, called the Three Gorges Dam. During the implementation of this project, more than 1.2 million people had to leave their usual habitats, as 13 large cities, 140 ordinary towns and 1,350 villages were flooded. Hundreds of factories, mines, dumps and industrial centers were also flooded, plus the main reservoirs were heavily polluted. The project changed the ecosystem of the Yangtze River, turning the once mighty river into a stagnant basin, thereby to a greater extent destroying local flora and fauna.

Diverted rivers also significantly increase the risk of landslides along banks that are home to hundreds of thousands of people. According to forecasts, about half a million people living along the river are planning to be resettled by 2020, as landslides are inevitable and the ecosystem will continue to be depleted.

Scientists have recently linked dam construction to earthquakes. The Three Gorges Reservoir was built on top of two major fault lines, with hundreds of minor tremors occurring since its opening. Scientists have suggested that the catastrophic 2008 earthquake in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which killed 8,000 people, was also caused by the accumulation of water in the area of \u200b\u200bthe dam, located less than half a mile from the center of the earthquake. The phenomenon of dams causing earthquakes is associated with the water pressure created under the reservoir, which, in turn, increases the pressure in rocks and acts as a softener for fault lines that are already under tension.

9. Overfishing

“There are a lot of fish in the sea” is no longer a completely reliable statement. Humanity's appetite for seafood has devastated our oceans to such an extent that experts fear for the ability of many species to rebuild their populations on their own.

According to the World Federation wildlife, the global fish catch exceeds the permissible limit by 2.5 times. More than half of the world's fish stocks and species have already been depleted, and one quarter of species are overdepleted. Ninety percent of large fish species - tuna, swordfish, cod, halibut, flounder, marlin - have lost their natural environment a habitat. According to forecasts, if the situation does not change, the stocks of these fish will disappear by 2048.

It is worth noting that the main culprit is advances in fishing technology. Today, commercial fishing vessels are mostly equipped with fish-finding sonar. Having found the appropriate place, the fishermen release huge nets, the size of three football fields, which can sweep up all the fish in a few minutes. Thus, with this approach, fish populations could be reduced by 80 percent in 10-15 years.

8. Invasive species

Throughout the entire era of the founding of the world, man himself was a distributor invasive species. Even though it may seem like your beloved pet or plant is doing much better in its new location, the natural balance is actually being disrupted. Invasive flora and fauna have been proven to be the most destructive thing humanity has done to the environment.

In the United States, 400 of the 958 species are listed as endangered because they are considered at risk due to competition with invasive alien species.

Invasive species problems mostly affect invertebrate animals. For example, in the first half of the 20th century, the Asian fungus destroyed more than 180 million acres of American chestnut trees. As a result, more than 10 species dependent on chestnuts have become extinct.

7. Coal mining industry

The biggest threat posed by coal mining is climate change, but it also threatens local ecosystems.

Market realities pose serious threats to coal, especially in the United States. Coal is a cheap source of energy - one megawatt of energy produced by coal costs $20-30, as opposed to one megawatt produced by natural gas - $45-60. Moreover, one quarter of the world's coal reserves are located in the United States.

Two of the most destructive forms of the coal mining industry are mining coal from mountaintops and using gas. In the first case, miners can "cut down" more than 305 meters of a mountain peak in order to reach a coal deposit. Mining using gas occurs when the coal is closer to the surface of the mountain. In this case, all the “inhabitants” of the mountain (trees and any other creatures living in them) are exterminated to extract valuable minerals.

Every practice of this kind creates a large amount of waste along the way. Vast damaged and old forest areas are being dumped into nearby valleys. In the US alone, West Virginia is estimated to have over 121,405 hectares deciduous forests was destroyed by coal mining. By 2012, it is said that 5,180 square kilometers of Appalachian forest will cease to exist.

The question of what to do with this kind of “waste” still remains open. Typically, mining companies simply dump unwanted trees, dead wildlife, etc. into nearby valleys, which in turn not only destroys natural ecosystems, but also affects the drying out large rivers. Industrial waste from mines finds refuge in river beds.

6. Human disasters

Although most of the ways in which humans harm the environment develop over several years, some events can happen in an instant, but that instant will have far-reaching consequences.

The 1989 oil spill in Prince Williams Sound, Alaska, had devastating consequences. About 11 million gallons of crude oil were spilled and more than 25,000 people died as a result of the accident. seabirds, 2800 sea otters, 300 seals, 250 eagles, about 22 killer whales, as well as billions of salmon and herring. At least two species, the Pacific herring and the guillemot, did not recover from the disaster.

It's too early to assess the damage to wildlife caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the scale of the disaster is unlike anything seen before in the world. American history. For several days, more than 9.5 million liters of oil per day leaked into the Gulf - the largest spill in American history. By most estimates, damage to wildlife is still lower than the 1989 spill due to lower species density. However, despite this, there is no doubt that the damage from the spill will continue for many years to come.

5. Cars

America has long been considered the land of cars, so it's no surprise that one-fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from cars. There are 232 million cars on this country's roads, very few of which are powered by electricity, and the average car consumes about 2,271 liters of gasoline annually.

One car emits about 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the form of exhaust fumes. In order to clear the air of these impurities, 240 trees will be needed. In America, cars emit about the same amount of carbon dioxide as coal-burning factories.

The combustion process that occurs in a car engine produces fine particles nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and sulfur dioxide. In large quantities, these chemicals can be detrimental to performance. respiratory system person, causing coughing and suffocation. Cars also generate carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas produced by burning fossil fuels that blocks the transport of oxygen to the brain, heart and other vital organs.

At the same time, oil production, which is necessary to create fuel and oil to move a car, in turn, also has a serious impact on the environment. Land-based drilling is displacing native species, and offshore drilling and subsequent transportation has created an incredible amount of problems over the years, with more than 40 million gallons of oil spilled around the world since 1978.

4. Unsustainable agriculture

In all the ways humanity harms the environment, there is one common theme: we are failing to plan for the future. But nowhere is this more evident than in our method of growing our own food.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, current management practices Agriculture are responsible for 70 percent of the pollution in the country's rivers and streams. Drains chemical substances, contaminated soil, animal waste, all of this ends up in waterways, of which more than 173,000 miles are already in poor condition. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides increase nitrogen levels and decrease oxygen levels in water.

Pesticides used to protect crops from predators threaten the survival of some species of birds and insects. For example, the number of bee colonies on US farmland fell from 4.4 million in 1985 to less than 2 million in 1997. When exposed to pesticides, bees' immune systems are weakened, making them more vulnerable to the enemy.

Large-scale industrial agriculture also contributes to the process global warming. The vast majority of meat products in the world are produced on factory farms. On any farm, tens of thousands of livestock are concentrated in small areas to save space. Among other things, when unprocessed animal waste is destroyed, harmful gases are released, including methane, which, in turn, has a significant impact on the process of global warming.

3. Deforestation

There was a time when most of the land on the planet was covered with forests. Today, forests are disappearing before our eyes. According to the United Nations, 32 million acres of forest are lost every year, including 14,800 acres of primary forest, that is, land not occupied or damaged by human activity. Seventy percent of the planet's animals and plants live in forests, and, accordingly, if they lose their home, they themselves will be at risk of extinction as a species.

The problem is particularly acute rainforests With humid climate. Such forests cover 7 percent of the world's land area and provide homes for about half of all species on the planet. At current rates of deforestation, scientists estimate that tropical forests will be wiped out in about 100 years.

Deforestation also contributes to global warming. Trees absorb greenhouse gases, so fewer trees mean more greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. They also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor to the atmosphere. Without trees, forests will quickly turn into barren deserts, which will lead to even more severe fluctuations in global temperatures. When forests burn, trees release carbon into the atmosphere, which also contributes to the global warming problem. Scientists have calculated that trees Amazonian forests processed the amount of greenhouse gases equivalent to 10 years of human activity.

Poverty is one of the main causes of deforestation. Majority tropical forests are in third world countries, and politicians there regularly stimulate economic development weak regions. Thus, loggers and farmers are slowly but surely doing their job. In most cases, deforestation occurs due to the need to create a farm plot. A farmer typically burns trees and vegetation to produce ash, which can then be used as fertilizer. This process is called slash-and-burn farming. Among other things, the risk of soil erosion and flooding increases as within a few years nutrients evaporate from the soil, and the land is often unable to support the planted crops for which the trees were cut down.

2. Global warming

The average temperature of the Earth's surface has increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 130 years. Ice caps are melting at an alarming rate—more than 20 percent of the world's ice has disappeared since 1979. Sea levels are rising, causing floods and having a significant impact on the catastrophic natural disasters that are increasingly occurring around the world.

Global warming caused greenhouse effect, in which some gases send the resulting heat from the sun back into the atmosphere. Since 1990, annual greenhouse gas emissions have increased by about 6 billion tons worldwide, or 20 percent.

The gas most responsible for global warming is carbon dioxide, which accounts for 82 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Carbon dioxide is produced by burning fossil fuels, mainly when running cars and when factories are powered by coal. Five years ago, global atmospheric concentrations of gases were already 35 percent higher than before the Industrial Revolution.

Global warming could lead to development natural Disasters, large-scale food and water shortages, and devastating impacts on wildlife. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, sea levels could rise by 17.8 - 58.4 cm by the end of the century. And since most of the world's population lives in coastal areas, this is a very big danger for both people and ecosystems .

1. Overcrowding

"Overpopulation is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about," says Dr John Guillebaud, professor of family planning and reproductive health at University College London. "Unless we can do humane family planning ourselves reduce the population, nature will do it for us through violence, epidemics and famine,” he adds.

Over the past 40 years, the world population has grown from 3 to 6.7 billion. 75 million people (equivalent to the population of Germany) are added annually, or more than 200,000 people daily. According to forecasts, by 2050 the world population will exceed 9 billion people.

More people means more waste, more demand for food, more production of consumer goods, more needs for electricity, cars, etc. In other words, all the factors that contribute to global warming will only get worse.

Increasing demand for food will force farmers and fishermen to increasingly harm already fragile ecosystems. Forests will be removed almost entirely as cities continually expand and new areas for farmland are needed. The list of endangered species will become longer and longer. In rapidly developing countries such as India and China, increased energy consumption is expected to increase carbon emissions. In short, than more people, the more problems.

The nature of our planet is very diverse and populated unique species 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 man's appearance, he began to influence the environment. And with the invention of more and more new tools, human civilization has increased its impact to truly enormous proportions. And currently, 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 appearance The planet is undergoing significant changes: rivers are drained and drying up, forests are cut down, new cities and factories appear in place of plains, mountains are destroyed for the sake of new transport routes.

With the rapid increase in the world's population, humanity requires more and more food, and with rapid growth Production technologies are growing and the production capacity of our civilization is growing, requiring more and more new resources for processing and consumption, and the 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? The contradictory impact of people on natural environment Nowadays it is becoming a subject of discussion on 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:

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.
Wide use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture actively contributes to rapid soil pollution.
Widely developed network industrial production their 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.
Rapidly growing cities and industrial centers significantly influence the change external conditions life of animals, reduction of their range natural habitat and reduction of the populations themselves various types.

Also cannot be ignored man-made disasters, which are capable of causing irreversible harm not just to an individual species of flora or fauna, but to entire areas of the planet. For example, after the famous accident at Chernobyl nuclear power plant, until now, 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 flooding large area 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 the decomposition period of some types of plastic is more than ten years, such floating “islands of dirt” make it much more difficult to obtain oxygen and sunlight maritime and river inhabitants. 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 to vital supplies fresh water people are negligent - 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 environmental situation in the environment. On the territory of many countries people organize nature reserves, parks and reserves, 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 well-known organizations fighting for the conservation of nature is Greenpease is an international organization, created to preserve the environment for our descendants. Greenpease employees set themselves several main tasks:

Fighting ocean pollution.
Significant restrictions on whaling.
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 positive influence Human exposure to 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!

We all know what humanity has already done irreparable harm environment. The post-industrial era has led to pollution, a decline in animal and plant biodiversity, industrialization of forests and climate change. Of course, plants, factories, manufacturing and even agriculture are largely responsible for what is happening to the environment today. However, people hardly think about the fact that the familiar things that surround us every day can also become destructive for our planet. These are everyday items that can become deadly weapons against the environment.

Every person has batteries in their home, because today it is simply impossible to imagine your life without a huge number of gadgets and electronic devices. However, sooner or later the day comes when the battery runs out. According to statistics, only about 15% percent of the billions of alkaline batteries are recycled after use. According to scientists from the US Environmental Protection Agency, batteries account for more than 50% of toxic emissions from all household waste. At the same time, batteries account for 0.25% of all emissions. Used batteries contain mercury, cadmium, magnesium, lead, tin, nickel, and zinc. Once thrown away, batteries corrode (their metal coating breaks down) and heavy metals leach into the soil and groundwater. From groundwater these metals can end up in rivers and lakes. Just one AA battery pollutes 400 liters of water and 20 square meters soil. Harmful substances accumulate in the body of humans and animals, affecting the functioning of almost all organs, blocking the work of enzymes and causing malignant tumors.

Discarded plastic bags do not biodegrade, meaning they can, in fact, remain in nature for an average of 500 years! Around the world, people use about 4 trillion bags every year, a quantity that kills millions of birds and countless schools of fish. Every year, more than a hundred thousand whales, seals, and turtles die from plastic bags in Newfoundland alone. For these reasons, in a number of countries the use of plastic bags as household packaging is limited or prohibited, and on August 23, the ECA Movement holds an annual event - “Day without Plastic Bags.”

Since the 1950s, global plastic production has doubled every eleven years, to about 300 thousand tons annually. plastic waste ends up in the seas and oceans. There, large fragments gradually disintegrate into small bright pieces, which are often eaten Marine life and birds mistaking plastic for food. But if in 1960 only 5% of birds examined had plastic fragments found in their stomachs, then in 2010 this figure reached 80%. Birds often mistake floating bottles, lighters and other objects for fish, and not only swallow them themselves, but also bring them as food to their chicks. But plastic consists of toxic components and absorbs harmful substances from the environment. In addition, such fragments do not always pass through the gastrointestinal tract and accumulate in the body, causing intestinal blockage. Often so much plastic accumulates in the stomach that there is no room left for food, and the bird dies of starvation.

Gases used to sedate patients before surgery accumulate in the Earth's atmosphere, where they contribute to climate change. The results of recent analyzes of air samples showed the presence of anesthetics even in Antarctica. Over the past decades, concentrations of desflurane, isoflurane and sevoflurane have been increasing worldwide. Like carbon dioxide, anesthetic gases allow the atmosphere to store more solar energy. However, unlike carbon dioxide, medical gases in this case turned out to be much more powerful than greenhouse gases: one kilogram of desflurane, for example, is equivalent to 2500 kilograms of carbon dioxide.

It is estimated that out of the 6 trillion cigarettes smoked in the world every year, more than 4.5 trillion are thrown onto the ground by smokers. This is how nicotine, toxins, carcinogens and pesticides, which pose a huge danger to animals and people, get into the soil and then into the water. American scientists note that the toxicity of tobacco smoke is four times higher than the harmful effects of car exhaust gases. In their opinion, cigarettes cause no less harm to the planet than cement and asphalt factories.

Paper

Paper is biodegradable, but as you know, every sheet means felled trees and destroyed forests, as well as energy costs and environmental emissions during its production. Of course, wood is a renewable resource, but not all countries and companies monitor its renewal, trying to use what they have to the maximum. Many manufacturers now offer paper made from recycled materials, but this is also not a completely harmless option. When the process is underway paper processing, all of it is mixed into pulp. This pulp is washed, cleaned and then pressed into sheets of paper. During this process, all waste, such as paper fiber, ink, cleaning chemicals and paints, is filtered out and sent into one huge pile - paper sludge. This sludge is then either incinerated or sent to a landfill, where it releases dozens of toxic chemicals and heavy metals that eventually leach into groundwater.

IN modern world There is a point of view that man, through his activities, harms the environment by extracting minerals, polluting and destroying the environment. People have appeared who openly fight human activity, denying the benefits of civilization in favor of living in “harmony with nature.” At the same time, these people enjoy these benefits no less than others, but they consider it possible to consider themselves good. The other side is the people who mine, build, and produce. They give humanity the opportunity to live in the industrial world, but from this point of view they are considered rapists against nature... But lately I have become increasingly aware of another point of view regarding what is happening in the world.

The statement that a person harms nature, firstly, is very selfish and does not pursue the goal of improving the state of nature, but solely the interests of the person who says it. Secondly, this statement is based on the opinion that man is not a part of nature. Let's take a closer look at this concept.

Man over nature

Man in his development has reached a stage where he began to globally influence the world around him. He uproots forests and extracts minerals in gigantic quantities, such as coal, oil, natural gas, which were formed over millions of years. It pollutes soil, water, air and even space.

Therefore, man begins to oppose nature, to separate from it. As a result of industrialization, people began to believe that they should use nature for their own purposes: “We cannot wait for favors from nature; it is our task to take them from her,” (I.V. Michurin). This phrase has become a symbol of consumerism towards nature.

Such people began to be opposed by others who shouted that animals should not be killed, the environment should not be polluted, fossil remains should not be mined because... they are finite. In 100 years, oil, gas, and coal will run out and people will face an energy crisis. Such people blame others for making life on the planet worse, but what they themselves have done to improve the situation.

A person I know who studies water says, “I hate people. They are polluting the Earth." But what did he do? He simply incited aggression in people, which will be directed at him. He, like everyone else, enjoys the benefits of civilization. He hasn’t improved the lives of others in any way, hasn’t figured out how to improve living conditions on earth... But he hates.

At the same time, in reality, everyone only pursues their own goals. Some mine minerals. Others spend public money on imitation environmental improvement activities. This state of affairs benefits everyone...except humanity.

Man is part of nature

However, there is another point of view. Man is a part of nature. If you think about it, the consequences of accepting this simple postulate are enormous.

Throughout the history of the development of the Earth, periods have arisen many times during which thousands of species of living beings were destroyed. There were also creatures that also significantly influenced the world around them. And they also died out. Life on earth has constantly evolved, and now the crown of creation of evolution on Earth is man.

However, evolution continues. The activity of any creature, including humans, is exactly what was given by nature. It is nature (or one might say planet Earth) that strives to constantly develop. It now seeks to go beyond the boundaries of one planet and spread further into space. And it is man who now drives the development of nature through his activities.

Let's think about what minerals are... For the last millions of years, life has been in full swing on the surface of the Earth. And dying, living organisms (animals, plants, microorganisms) turned into soil. This process went on continuously, and gradually this layer grew larger and larger. Substances were removed from the cycle of life and deposited in the Earth. Gradually, all this turned into those fossil substances that people now extract.

Through his activities, man again extracts what was buried millions of years ago and introduces it into the cycle of substances. What is the use to nature of meaningless substances? There is nothing useless in nature, and through human activity the Earth shakes up all its resources, striving to develop further.

The statement that man, through his activities, harms the Earth is not true. He only harms himself. As a result of this activity, in the near future he will use up the materials he came up with. If he cannot come up with something new and goes extinct, then this is solely the problem of a species that was unable to adapt and develop. The earth will continue to be as it was before. She will strive to ensure that other species can go further where man has failed.

By polluting the environment, people only worsen their living conditions. Chernobyl now is one of the cleanest places in Ukraine, except for radiation. There is the cleanest air, many animals, many plants. In just 25 years, the Earth has already begun to forget about the presence of people there. The same thing will happen if a person cannot cope with his brain and figures out how to destroy himself. This means that the species is defective, and we need to develop differently.

So you don’t need to think about how to take care of nature, it will take care of itself. It will pass nuclear war. In a million years, life will flourish again on Earth, but without people. And some other species will begin to dominate and develop, and maybe go further than humans. 60 million years ago, 99% of land living species, including dinosaurs, became extinct, and mammals began to dominate. They lived before, but dinosaurs did not give them the opportunity to develop. Now they have this opportunity. Everything in the world happens expediently, and if a person does not live up to the expectations of evolution, then he will be forced to leave in favor of others.

Future

It turns out that we need to care not about the world in which we live, but about humanity. If a person destroys himself, the planet will “shake itself off” and move on. But if a person starts to think about how to improve his living conditions by purifying the air, water, food from harmful substances; develop intellectually and promote those branches of science that are really capable of improving the environment around him; study new sources of energy and use those that are least harmful to the person himself, then he has a chance to conquer the universe.

The difference here is that in the first understanding of the world there are two types of activities: one of them worsens human living conditions (pollutes the environment, affects water, food, etc.), and the other tries to improve (purifies). It's like bending an iron rod in different directions. Sooner or later you can break it. This is similar to how a person drinks a lot of coffee, and then immediately takes Valocardine so that the heart can survive this portion of coffee. But with both actions a person only worsens his condition.

People who fight human activity (the industry) fight themselves. They come out with banners and call for something, but in reality they only contribute to it.

In the second understanding of the world, there is the idea that it is necessary not to fight activity, but to put human activity for the benefit of humanity. Those. we should not fight against factories that emit waste into the air, but come up with ways to replace these factories with something new, more progressive, which will not have such a detrimental effect on a person, and better yet, will also improve his well-being. Instead of talking about saving endangered species (i.e., activities directed against evolution), we need to save the main dominant species on the planet - humans. Only when human activity will be aimed at the benefit of humanity itself, only then will man have a chance to continue his evolutionary development.

The relationship between people and nature has always been quite complex - man sought to subjugate it, use it for his needs and change it in every possible way. Today everyone is talking about negative consequences global warming, but this is far from the only example of how human civilization and nature influence each other.

1. A warming climate contributes to violence.

Many Scientific research for several decades it has been consistently assumed that the pace violent crimes always grow as they approach the equator, that is, the hotter the climate becomes. But none of these studies have been able to determine why this is so. There are two main theories. Firstly, hot weather causes people discomfort and makes them irritable, and therefore more violent.

Second, in warm weather people are outdoors more often and interact more actively, meaning there are more opportunities for violent conflict. But researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam believe that it is not so much the heat that is to blame for this behavior, but rather a slight change in temperature in these regions.

Without having to plan for upcoming seasons, people can focus on the present without worrying so much about the future. This “living one day at a time” strategy can lead to decreased self-control and thus an increase in acts of violence.

2. Light pollution causes early spring in cities

Light pollution caused by excess artificial lighting can actually be destructive to natural ecosystems. Over time, bright lights in cities gradually “deceive” the surrounding trees and plants, which begin to “believe” that spring has come earlier.

In a 12-year study of four different tree species, British scientists found that major cities, in which there is a lot of night lighting, the trees threw out buds a week earlier than similar species in rural areas. This has a natural multiplier effect on the surrounding ecosystem, causing disruptions in pollination cycles and bird and bee populations.

3. Cigarette butts are a threat to marine life

Of the billions of cigarette butts produced each year, only a fraction are disposed of correctly. An insane amount of them end up in the ocean. In fact, cigarette butts are the most common type of litter in the world's oceans. They are made up of thousands of tiny plastic particles woven into a fiber that breaks down in the ocean environment.

One study found that the hazardous materials contained in one cigarette butt could sufficiently contaminate 1 liter of water to kill any fish in that water.

4. People and evolution

Hunting, human encroachment on animals' natural habitats, and other environmental changes have contributed to the extinction of thousands of species over the centuries. But some human behavior patterns can ultimately lead to the emergence of new species that would not have appeared otherwise. For example, in London there are underground mosquitoes whose DNA and breeding habits are different from ordinary mosquitoes.

They came from insects that escaped into artificial underground tunnels during the bombing of World War II. Since they are no longer able to reproduce with other mosquitoes, these mosquitoes are a separate species that was actually created by humans.

5. Nature improves mental health

A 2013 study by the University of Essex found that clinical rates of depression dropped significantly (by 71 percent) in people who took at least a short walk in nature every day. These results stand in stark contrast to the control group, whose participants walked once a day during mall. Their depression levels dropped by 45 percent, while 22 percent actually felt more depressed.

Additionally, adolescents living within 1 km of green space experienced a decrease aggressive behavior. Either way, the study's authors came to a rather specific conclusion: increasing green space in urban areas could lead to a 12 percent reduction in violent and aggressive behavior among adolescents.

6. Increased vegetation growth

Melting glaciers and gradual disappearance of perennial ice shelves caused by global change climate, produced an unexpected secondary effect. In many places where the ice has retreated, greenery has appeared in its place.

This decades-long trend was noted by NASA using satellite imagery. In addition to retreating ice and rising temperatures, another factor is believed to be an increase in the amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere, which plants love.

7. Poor people in green areas get sick less often

Scientists from the University of Glasgow conducted a study that substantiated the theory that exposure to nature is beneficial for people. After excluding diseases such as lung cancer, circulatory diseases, and deliberate self-harm, the scientists decided to survey the entire working population of England to determine whether there was a pattern of health status among people who could not afford health care living near green spaces.

It turned out that people who live near greenery are actually healthier, even if they don’t visit doctors at all.

8. Mothers who live close to nature give birth to large children.

Ben-Gurion University researchers noted in 2014 that mothers in greener areas tend to give birth to children with much higher average weight bodies. The study also found that a much lower birth weight puts the baby at risk for a host of lifelong health problems.

It has been found that low birth weight is common in economically underdeveloped areas with minimum quantity green spaces.

9. Roads can have a positive impact on nature

Despite the fact that roads are vital to the infrastructure of any society, environmentalists actively protest against their construction. In fact, in 2013, Cambridge University professor Andrew Balmford suggested that building roads or improving existing roads in some areas could benefit surrounding areas.

Particularly in underdeveloped areas suitable for agriculture, roads clearly help preserve vulnerable plant and animal species because people simply “stay away from them.”

10. Animals adapt to human presence

During the Industrial Revolution and as a result of the human population explosion, there was a clear effect on the diversity of animal species. Hunting and fishing, despite changes in habitat and migration patterns, have had a negative impact on many species, but not all. Some have adapted to thrive in the presence of humans, and studying how they managed to do this may be key to mitigating the effect of future population growth.

Chipmunks and crows, for example, have completely changed their diet to adapt to city life. Many endangered birds have taken up residence on the flat roofs of shopping malls.