Ecological disaster in 1895, extinction of birds. Environmental disasters in Russia and the world

In the world of birds.

The similarity of ecological preferences of these groups of species determined the similarity of morphology: small size (up to 10 cm in modern species), short and rounded wings, long strong legs, thin pointed beaks for catching small invertebrates, protective coloration of plumage (see mimicry). Birds from New Zealand are distinguished from true wrens by short tails, reverse sexual dimorphism in size (females are larger than males), a clear tendency to lose the ability to fly in conditions of a shortage of terrestrial predators, unusually fluffy integumentary plumage, as well as a number of structural features of internal organs. Many of these traits are rare, if not unique, to passerine birds. This is a significant example of how habitat change affects island species that have lived in complete isolation from mainland fauna for millions of years.

The reasons for the unusual characteristics of New Zealand wrens have become clear after studying their DNA. It turned out that of all the passerines, which now make up more than half of the world's avifauna, it is the New Zealand wrens that are the branch of the evolutionary tree that separated the earliest - according to the most recent data, presumably at the beginning of the Eocene. For this reason, modern taxonomists often classify these birds into their own suborder. Acanthisitti. This isolated taxonomic position makes New Zealand wrens a valuable subject for a variety of molecular and morphological studies that can explain many aspects of the life and evolution of birds.

Of the seven species of the family that met the first people of New Zealand about 700 years ago, only two have survived to this day. The most numerous of them is the shooter ( Acanthisitta chloris), which received such an unusual name due to the similarity of its protective colors with the uniform of the New Zealand infantry riflemen. Males and females of the shooter are clearly distinguished by color: the back and top of the head of males are uniformly green, while those of females are olive green with dark and light streaks. In addition, females are distinguished by a slightly more upturned tip of the beak and a slightly longer claw of the hind toe. The current range of the species is both large islands of New Zealand, North and South, as well as a number of smaller islets adjacent to them. The clutch consists of 3–5 eggs; Both parents take part in building the nest and caring for the offspring. Arrows are found mainly in wooded areas; Due to their limited flight abilities, they are unable to cross vast open areas, making them especially vulnerable to massive tree felling that fragments the species' range.

The second modern species of the family is the New Zealand rock wren ( Xenicus gilviventris; see photo above). It inhabits the alpine and subalpine mountain belt of the western part of the South Island; in the North, populations of the species - probably representing a separate subspecies - died out in historical time. The usual habitat of this bird is more open locations with bare rock outcrops, often covered with low bushes. Sexual dimorphism in color is less pronounced: males are colored predominantly green on top, females are brownish. Birds construct relatively large, closed nests with an entrance from the side from dry grass and twigs with inclusions of feathers from other birds. There are usually three eggs in a clutch. Like the shooter, both parents take care of the offspring. The total population of the rock wren does not exceed 15 thousand individuals and tends to decline; The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The main threat to New Zealand rock wrens is persecution by invasive mice, rats and stoats.

The rock wren's closest relative was the New Zealand bush wren ( X. longipes), distinguished by a darker color on the top, a predominantly gray belly and slightly longer legs. The range of this species until the last century was not inferior to the range of the shooter, being divided into three geographical races: X.l. stokesii lived in the North Island, nominative X.l. longipes - on Yuzhny, X.l. variabilis - on Stewart Island and a number of adjacent small islets. Successive invasions of several species of rats, as well as mice and stoats, into New Zealand led to the extinction of all three subspecies during the 20th century. The northern subspecies was last seen at Lake Waikaremoana in 1955, the southern in 1968 in Nelson Lakes National Park. Following a rat invasion on the last stronghold of the Stuart subspecies, Big South Cape Island, New Zealand's Natural Resources Conservation Service carried out a desperate rescue operation, transporting six individuals to the rodent-free island of Kaimohu. Unfortunately, the small population of birds was unable to gain a foothold in the new location: after observing a pair of bush wrens in 1972, birds of this species were no longer seen.

Three more relatively large (up to 30–50 g) species of the family were able to survive only until the time when the islands of New Zealand were colonized by the Maori natives. This is the New Zealand long-billed wren ( Dendroscansor decurvirostris), as well as two species of great-footed wrens, which until recently were classified as an independent genus Pachylpichas - northern ( Xenicus jagmi) and southern ( X. yaldwyni). Subfossil remains of these birds indicate their more pronounced adaptation to a terrestrial lifestyle and a complete or almost complete renunciation of flight. The latter was probably the reason for the extinction of these species: around 1280 AD, New Zealand was colonized by the Maori natives and their unwanted companions - the Polynesian small rats ( Rattus exulans). It is unlikely that tiny wrens aroused much gastronomic interest among people who preferred larger game, such as the flightless ostrich-like moa ( Dinornitiformes), exterminated over the next few centuries. But for rats, small birds and their nests have become desirable and easy prey, since over millions of years of evolution in isolation they have not developed any means of defense against land mammals. The first European colonists did not find either long-billed or great-legged wrens in New Zealand.

The last, seventh species of the family is the famous Stephen's bush wren ( Traversia lyalli), lived on the tiny island of Stephens (or Stephens) in Cook Strait between the North and South islands. The legend of the disappearance of this bird is widely known (see The cat that destroyed an entire species of birds). However, in reality this story is somewhat more complex, but, alas, no less tragic. Archaeological finds eloquently indicate that until the time of settlement by the Maori, the species was common on both large islands of the archipelago. The invasion of Polynesian rats led to the extinction of this bird everywhere except for the only island, which the harmful rodents were unable to penetrate. But with the appearance of the first colonists of European origin on Stevens, the island was populated by other predatory companions of humans - cats. The cat of the first keeper of the newly built lighthouse, David Lyell, began to bring “trophies” to the owner in the summer of 1894, in which he quickly recognized something interesting for science, after which he handed over the carcasses to local naturalist Walter Buller.

Unfortunately for a rare bird, Tibbles - that was the cat's name - did not act alone. Old documents from the first settlers of Stevens indicate that in February of the same 1894, at least one pregnant cat was released onto the island, which apparently managed to survive and successfully raise its offspring. A few years later, the island was literally swarming with alien predators: Robert Cathcart, the new lighthouse keeper, reported personally killing over a hundred feral cats in 1899 alone! However, a smaller concentration of furry killers was enough for a small bird, practically unable to fly: the last information about an encounter with this wren dates back to August 1895. Subsequently, Stevens, by the way, lost both the cats, purposefully destroyed by local natural resource conservation services by 1925, and the last primary forests, cleared for the needs of local residents.

The bottom line is that we have the following picture. Over the course of two waves of settlement by humans and synanthropic species of mammals, a family of birds endemic to the island archipelago has been reduced to two species, one of which is in a vulnerable position. Their habitat in some cases has been destroyed, in others it has experienced significant anthropogenic transformations and cannot be restored to its original form without the investment of serious effort and material resources. The environmental legislation of modern New Zealand is one of the strictest in the world, but a significant share of the resources of the country's specialized organizations is spent on correcting the mistakes of previous generations. One of the most destructive of them is the introduction of numerous species that were previously not characteristic of the archipelago. The same problem is key for many other tropical and subtropical islands, which to this day harbor remnants of pristine flora and fauna, fighting for survival against hordes of foreign invaders.

Pictured is a New Zealand rock wren ( Xenicus gilviventris). Photo: © Robin Bush from nzgeo.com

Pavel Smirnov

The situation around the Great Barrier Reef continues to deteriorate and threatens to become the largest disaster in human history. reCensor remembered when the environment was still in a state of emergency due to human actions.

Scientists believe that, despite all the efforts of environmentalists, the world's largest coral reef is in danger of destruction in the near future. More recently, experts noted that more than 50% of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is at the stage of death. According to updated data, the figure increased to 93%.

The formation of such a unique natural formation occurred about 10 thousand years ago. It includes almost 3 thousand different coral reefs. The length of the Great Barrier Reef is 2.5 thousand kilometers with an area of 344 thousand square kilometers. A coral reef is home to billions of different living organisms.

In 1981, UNESCO recognized the Great Barrier Reef as a natural wonder that should be protected. However, in 2014, environmentalists began to notice that many corals had lost their color. It should be noted that similar changes have occurred in many coral reefs around the world, so scientists initially thought this was a standard anomaly. But after several months, it became clear that the number of bleached corals was growing exponentially.

Terry Hughes, head of the Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Research at James Cook University, said coral bleaching almost always leads to their death. “Corals can be saved if the bleaching rate has not reached 50% percent. More than half of the Great Barrier Reef's corals currently have bleaching rates between 60% and 100%.

Ecologists have been sounding the alarm for several years now, since the death of corals will lead to the disappearance of the entire ecosystem. Coral bleaching occurred in several stages. The largest wave of bleaching occurred in 2015, but scientists believe the biggest die-off is yet to come. “The reason for this is climate change associated with global warming. The temperature of the waters in the oceans has increased greatly, as a result of which corals began to die. The saddest thing is that we do not know how to confront this problem, so the extinction of the Great Barrier Reef will continue,” the scientists state.

The disaster of a large industrial tanker that occurred in 2010 is also considered one of the reasons for the extinction of corals. As a result of the tanker crash, more than 65 tons of coal and 975 tons of oil fell into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.

Experts are confident that this incident was an irreparable environmental disaster. “In the modern world, a trend has emerged that leads to the fact that, due to extremely careless human activity, almost all the animals inhabiting our planet will die. Even the destruction of the Aral Sea cannot compare with the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef,” says Professor Terry Hughes.

Most of the largest environmental tragedies occurred in the 20th-21st centuries. Below is a list of the 10 largest environmental disasters in history, information about which was collected by reCensor correspondents.

One of the largest incidents that caused serious damage to the environment is the sinking of the oil tanker Prestige. The incident happened on November 19, 2002 on the coast of Europe. The ship was caught in a strong storm, which caused a huge hole, more than 30 meters long, to form in its hull. Every day, a tanker carries at least 1 thousand tons of oil, which is released into the waters of the Atlantic. The tanker eventually broke into two pieces, sinking with all its cargo stored on it. The total amount of oil that entered the Atlantic Ocean was 20 million gallons.

2. Bhopal leak methyl isocyanate

The largest toxic vapor leak in history occurred in 1984. methyl isocyanate in the city of Bhopal. The tragedy caused the death of more than 3 thousand people. In addition, another 15 thousand people died later as a result of exposure to the poison. According to experts, the volume of deadly vapors in the atmosphere was about 42 tons. It still remains unknown what caused the accident.

3. Explosion at the Nipro plant

In 1974, a powerful explosion occurred at the Nipro plant, located in the UK, followed by a fire. According to experts, the explosion was so powerful that it could only be repeated by collecting 45 tons of TNT. The incident killed 130 people. However, the biggest problem was the release of ammonium, which resulted in thousands of people being admitted to hospitals with vision and respiratory problems.

4. The largest pollution of the North Sea

In 1988, the largest accident in the history of oil production occurred on the Piper Alpha oil platform. The damage of the accident amounted to 4 billion US dollars. The accident caused a powerful explosion that completely destroyed the oil production platform. Almost all of the company's personnel died during the accident. Over the following days, oil continued to flow into the North Sea, whose waters are now among the most polluted in the world.

5. Major nuclear disaster

The largest environmental disaster in human history is the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which occurred in 1986 on the territory of Ukraine. The cause of the explosion was an accident in the fourth power unit of the nuclear power plant. The explosion caused the death of more than 30 people.

However, the most terrible consequence is the release of huge amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. At the moment, the number of people who died as a result of radiation poisoning in subsequent years has exceeded several thousand. Their number continues to grow, despite the galvanized sarcophagus that sealed the exploded reactor.

In 1989, a major environmental disaster occurred on the coast of Alaska. The Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit a reef and was seriously holed. As a result, the entire contents of 9 million gallons of oil ended up in the water. Almost 2.5 thousand kilometers of the Alaskan coastline were covered in oil. This accident caused the death of tens of thousands of living organisms living both in water and on land.

In 1986, as a result of a tragedy at a Swiss chemical plant, the Rhine River was forever no longer safe for swimming. The chemical plant burned for several days. During this time, more than 30 tons of toxic substances spilled into the water, destroying millions of living organisms and polluting all drinking sources.

In 1952, a terrible disaster occurred in London, the causes of which are still unknown. On December 5, the capital of Great Britain was plunged into acrid smog. At first, the townspeople took it for ordinary fog, but after several days it still did not dissipate. People with symptoms of pulmonary diseases began to be admitted to hospitals. In just 4 days, about 4 thousand people died, most of them children and old people.

9. Oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico

In 1979, another oil disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident occurred at the Istok-1 drilling rig. As a result of the problems, almost 500 thousand tons of oil spilled into the water. The well was closed only a year later.

10. Amoco Cadiz oil tanker wreck

In 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz sank in the Atlantic Ocean. The cause of the crash was underwater rocks that the ship's captain did not notice. As a result of the disaster, the French coast was flooded with 650 million liters of oil. An oil tanker accident killed tens of thousands of fish and birds living in the coastal region.

TOP 10 largest environmental disasters in history updated: July 7, 2016 by: EDITORIAL

Environmental disasters have their own specifics - during them not a single person may die, but at the same time very significant damage to the environment will be caused. Nowadays, the culprit of environmental disasters is mainly man. The growth of industrial and agricultural production not only brings material benefits, but is also slowly killing our environment. Therefore, the biggest environmental disasters in the world are permanently imprinted in people's memories.

1. Oil leakage from the Prestige tanker

The Bahamian-flagged single-hull tanker Prestige was built by the Japanese shipyard Hitachi to transport crude oil and launched in 1976. In November 2002, while passing through the Bay of Biscay, the tanker encountered a strong storm off the coast of Galicia, as a result of which it received a 35 m long crack, from which about a thousand tons of fuel oil began to leak per day.
Spanish coast services did not allow the dirty ship to enter the nearest port, so they tried to tow it to Portugal, but a similar refusal was received there. In the end, the restless tanker was towed to the Atlantic. On November 19, it sank completely, splitting into two parts, which sank to the bottom to a depth of about 3,700 m. Since it was impossible to repair the damage and pump out the oil products, over 70,000 cubic meters of oil ended up in the ocean. A spot more than a thousand kilometers long formed on the surface along the coastline, causing enormous damage to the local fauna and flora.
For Europe, this incident became the most catastrophic oil spill in history. The damage from it was estimated at 4 billion euros, and 300,000 volunteers worked to eliminate its consequences.

2. Exxon Valdez tanker wreck

On March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker, fully loaded with oil, sailed from a terminal in the Alaskan port of Valdez, bound for the Californian port of Long Beach. Having taken the ship out of Valdez, the pilot handed over control of the tanker to Captain Joseph Jeffrey, who by that time was already “tipsy.” There were icebergs in the sea, so the captain was forced to deviate from the course, notifying the coast guard. Having received permission from the latter, he changed course, and at 23 o'clock he left the wheelhouse, leaving control of the ship to the third mate and the sailor, who had already served their watch and needed a 6-hour rest. In fact, the tanker was controlled by an autopilot, guided by a navigation system.
Before leaving, the captain instructed the mate that two minutes after passing abeam the island it was necessary to change course. The assistant conveyed this order to the sailor, but either he himself was late, or his execution was late, but at half past one on the night of March 24, the tanker crashed into Blythe Reef. As a result of the disaster, 40,000 cubic meters of oil spilled into the ocean, and environmentalists believe that much more. 2,400 km of coastline were polluted, making the accident one of the world's most significant environmental disasters.

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3. Chernobyl disaster

Everyone has probably heard about the largest nuclear power plant accident in the history of mankind, which occurred in Chernobyl. Its consequences are visible today and will continue to be felt for many years to come. On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, completely destroying the reactor, and tons of radioactive materials were released into the environment. At the time of the tragedy itself, 31 people died, but this is only the tip of the iceberg - it is simply impossible to calculate the number of victims and injured from this accident.
Officially, about 200 people who were directly involved in its liquidation are considered to have died from the accident; their lives were claimed by radiation sickness. The nature of all of Eastern Europe suffered enormous damage. Tens of tons of radioactive uranium, plutonium, strontium and cesium were dispersed into the atmosphere and began to slowly settle to the ground, carried by the wind. The authorities’ desire not to widely publicize what happened so that panic would not begin among the population contributed to the tragedy of the unfolding events around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Therefore, many thousands of residents of cities and villages who were not included in the alienated 30-kilometer zone carelessly remained in their places.
In subsequent years, there was a surge in cancer among them, mothers gave birth to thousands of deformities, and this is still observed. In total, due to the spread of radioactive contamination in the area, the authorities had to evacuate over 115,000 people living within a 30-kilometer zone around the nuclear power plant. More than 600,000 people took part in the elimination of this accident and its lingering consequences, and enormous amounts of money were spent. The territory directly adjacent to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is still a restricted area because it is unsuitable for habitation.

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4. Accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant

The disaster occurred on March 11, 2011. It all started with a strong earthquake and a powerful tsunami, which disabled the backup diesel generators and power supply system of the nuclear power plant. This led to dysfunction of the reactor cooling system and melting of the core in three power units of the station. During the accident, hydrogen was released, which exploded, destroying the outer shell of the reactor, but the reactor itself survived.
Due to the leak of radioactive substances, the level of radiation quickly began to increase, because the depressurization of the shells of the fuel elements caused the leak of radioactive cesium. On March 23, 30 kilometers from the station in the ocean, water samples were taken, which showed an excess of the norms for iodine-131 and cesium-137, but the radioactivity of the water was increasing and by March 31 it exceeded the normal level by almost 4400 times, because even after the accident the water was contaminated with radiation continued to leak into the ocean. It is clear that after some time, animals with strange genetic and physiological changes began to be found in local waters.
The spread of radiation was facilitated by the fish themselves and other marine animals. Thousands of local residents had to be resettled from the radiation-contaminated area. A year later, on the coast near the nuclear power plant, radiation exceeded the norm by 100 times, so decontamination work will continue here for a long time.

5. Bhopal disaster

The disaster in Bhopal, India was truly terrible, not only because it caused enormous damage to the state’s nature, but also because it claimed the lives of 18,000 residents. A subsidiary of the Union Carbide Corporation was building a chemical plant in Bhopal, which, according to the original design, was supposed to produce pesticides used in agriculture.
But in order for the plant to become competitive, it was decided to change the production technology towards something more dangerous and complex, which would not require more expensive imported raw materials. But a series of crop failures led to a decrease in demand for the plant's products, so its owners decided to sell the plant in the summer of 1984. Funding for the operating enterprise was curtailed, the equipment gradually wore out and no longer met safety standards. In the end, liquid methyl isocyanate overheated in one of the reactors, causing a sharp release of its vapors, which ruptured the emergency valve. In a matter of seconds, 42 tons of toxic vapors entered the atmosphere, which formed a deadly cloud with a diameter of 4 kilometers over the plant and the surrounding area.
The affected area included residential areas and a railway station. The authorities did not manage to inform the population about the danger in time, and there was a critical shortage of medical personnel, so on the very first day, 5,000 people died after inhaling poisonous gas. But for a number of years after this, poisoned people continued to die, and the total number of victims of that accident is estimated at 30,000 people.

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6. Disaster at the Sandoz chemical plant

One of the worst environmental disasters, which caused incredible damage to nature, occurred on November 1, 1986 in prosperous Switzerland. Chemical and pharmaceutical giant Sandoz's plant, built on the banks of the Rhine near Basel, produced a variety of chemicals used in agriculture. When a strong fire broke out at the plant, about 30 tons of pesticides and mercury compounds entered the Rhine. The water in the Rhine has turned an ominous red color.
The authorities prohibited residents living on its banks from leaving their homes. Downstream, in some German cities the centralized water supply had to be cut off, and residents were brought drinking water in tanks. Almost all the fish and other living creatures died in the river, some species were irretrievably lost. Later, a program was adopted until 2020, the goal of which was to make the waters of the Rhine suitable for swimming.

7. Disappearance of the Aral Sea

Back in the middle of the last century, the Aral was the fourth largest lake in the world. But the active withdrawal of water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya for irrigating cotton and other crops led to the fact that the Aral Sea began to quickly become shallow and was divided into 2 parts, one of which has already completely dried up, and the second will follow its example in the coming years.
Scientists estimate that from 1960 to 2007, the Aral Sea lost 1,000 cubic kilometers of water, which led to its reduction by more than 10 times. Previously, 178 species of vertebrates lived in the Aral Sea, but now there are only 38.
For decades, agricultural waste has been dumped into the Aral Sea and settled at the bottom. Now they have turned into poisonous sand, which the wind carries fifty kilometers around, polluting the surrounding area and destroying vegetation. Vozrozhdeniya Island has long been turned into part of the mainland, but once upon a time there was a testing ground for bacteriological weapons on it. There are burial places with such deadly diseases as typhus, plague, smallpox, and anthrax. Some pathogens are still alive, so they can spread into inhabited areas thanks to rodents.

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8. Flixborough chemical plant accident

In the British city of Flixborough there was a Nipro plant that produced ammonium nitrate, and on its territory 4000 tons of caprolactam, 3000 tons of cyclohexanone, 2500 tons of phenol, 2000 tons of cyclohexane and many other chemicals were stored. But various technological containers and spherical tanks were insufficiently filled, which increased the risk of explosion. In addition, the plant's reactors contained various flammable materials under high pressure and high temperature.
The administration sought to increase the plant's productivity, but this reduced the effectiveness of fire extinguishing agents. The company's engineers were often forced to turn a blind eye to deviations from technological regulations and neglect safety standards - a familiar picture. Finally, on June 1, 1974, the plant was shaken by a powerful explosion. Instantly, the production premises were engulfed in flames, and the shock wave from the explosion swept through the surrounding populated areas, shattering windows, tearing roofs off houses and injuring people. 55 people died then. The power of the explosion was estimated at 45 tons of TNT. But the worst thing is that the explosion was accompanied by the emergence of a large cloud of toxic fumes, which is why the authorities had to urgently evacuate residents of some neighboring settlements.
The damage from this man-made disaster was estimated at 36 million pounds - it was the most expensive emergency incident for British industry.

9. Fire on the Piper Alpha oil rig

In July 1988, a major disaster occurred on the Piper Alpha platform, which was used for oil and gas production. Its consequences were aggravated by the indecisive and ill-conceived actions of the personnel, due to which 167 of the 226 people working on the platform died. For some time after the accident, oil products continued to flow through the pipes, so the fire did not die out, but flared up even more. This disaster resulted not only in human casualties, but also in great environmental damage.

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10. Explosion of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico

On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deep Water Horizon oil production platform, owned by British Petroleum, located in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a huge amount of oil to be released from an uncontrolled well into the sea for a long time. The platform itself sank into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts were only able to roughly estimate the volume of spilled oil, but one thing is clear - this disaster became one of the most terrible for the biosphere not only of the Gulf Coast, but also of the Atlantic Ocean. Oil was poured into the water for 152 days, 75,000 square meters. km of water in the bay were covered with a thick oil film. All states whose coasts overlook the Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi) suffered from pollution, but Alabama suffered the most.
About 400 species of rare animals were threatened with extinction, and thousands of seabirds and amphibians died on oil-filled shores. The Office of Specially Protected Resources reported that there had been an outbreak of mortality among cetaceans in the gulf following the oil spill.

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History has repeatedly demonstrated what damage people can cause to each other, but sometimes the strongest misfortunes fell on the human race from heaven. The following little-known natural and man-made disasters have caused the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

Great Smog of 1952

If you want to know how a rapidly growing industry can harm the environment, you don't have to look far for an example. It's about the Great Smog of London in 1952. Soot particles and other pollutants accumulated over the city in calm weather, forming a thick blanket of black smoke that led to severe air pollution for as long as four days. The smog destroyed the cattle population and caused numerous health problems among local residents, including death. As a result, about four thousand people died from suffocation and pulmonary diseases before rising winds cleared the city of smog. What happened in London forced residents to rethink their attitude towards protecting the environment. So in 1956, to strengthen control over the environmental situation, the Clean Air Act was adopted.

Boston Molasses Flood

When you think of a flood, you probably don't think of giant waves of molasses—sticky black syrup—rushing to fill the streets, although that's exactly what happened in 1919 in Boston's North End. Filled to the brim, a huge cast-iron tank collapsed, unable to withstand the pressure, and two-story waves of sugar-containing liquid poured down onto the Irish and Italian quarters. The pressure was so strong that the train left the tracks. Black molasses swept away both pedestrians and people in carriages in its path, unable to get out of the viscous substance. As a result of the man-made disaster, 21 people were killed and 150 were injured. In addition, molasses caused significant damage to the city's architecture.

Empire State Building disaster

A US Army twin-engine B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the Empire State Building on a foggy July day in 1945. As a result of the incident, fourteen people were killed and about twenty were injured. Since the disaster happened on a Saturday, fortunately there were few people in the 103-story building. The plane's debris fell from a height of about 270 meters down onto the adjacent street and the roofs of neighboring buildings, causing a fire. In the Empire State Building itself, a fire started when part of an airplane engine fell into an elevator shaft, but the fire was extinguished forty minutes later. To everyone's surprise, the structural strength of the skyscraper was not damaged as a result of the incident; most of the offices in the building were reopened to the public this coming Monday.

Mass poisoning in Basra

In 1971, the Iraqi port of Basra in the southeast of the country received a large shipment of treated grain for planting, consisting mainly of American barley and Mexican wheat. To protect against pests and rot, the cargo not intended for human consumption was treated with methylmercury. The grain, which is deadly to humans, was painted a bright orange-pink color, and the bags had warning stickers in English and Spanish. However, local rebels stole the bags from the port and distributed them to the starving population. As a result, according to the most conservative estimates, more than six and a half thousand people were poisoned by mercury, and alarming symptoms such as deafness, loss of vision, and impaired coordination of movements were observed in many people for a long time.

Elephant stampede in India

In the summer of 1972, there was terrible heat and drought in the Chandka Elephant Nature Park in Orissa, eastern India. Local residents were afraid to leave their homes, as the heat and lack of water drove the unfortunate animals to madness. 24 people died on July 10, 1972, when elephants, driven by instinct, stampeded through five villages. Today the reserve is known as an elephant sanctuary, and its lush vegetation is, oddly enough, famous for its humidity.

“...One can perhaps say that the purpose of man is, as it were, to destroy his race, having first made the globe uninhabitable...”
J. Lamarck

Is coevolution possible?

Currently, there are two extreme opinions - some researchers believe that processes of co-evolution of humans and ecosystems are possible, others conclude that humans are such an aggressive species that they are capable of destroying (and actually destroying) all living things in their path, and the higher the level of development of civilization , the more intense the processes of technogenic impact on the ecosystem.

However, most scientists consider the processes of human impact on the environment (ecosystem, biogeocenoses) only over the last 100-200, or at best 300 years.

But there is also a well-founded opinion that in ancient times man was not a creator, and did not co-evolve in interaction with nature, but, on the contrary, was a kind of “destroyer,” and we are now seeing the consequences of the impact of ancient civilizations on the ecosystem in a number of regions of the Earth. The processes of ancient technogenic impact contributed to soil erosion and degradation, depletion of the species composition of animals and plants, and lead to a complete change in the landscape.

About 10-12 thousand years ago, at the end of the last Valdai glaciation, man began to master agriculture and at the same time domesticate animals, which made it possible to create reserves and depend less on chance during the hunt. This probably happened for the first time in the warm northern zone of the Eastern Hemisphere. At that time, a significant part of Europe and Asia was occupied by taiga, still separated from the nival zone by the tundra-steppe.

The Apennine Peninsula, Greece, Asia Minor, Southern China, Indochina were covered with deciduous forests, and North Africa, the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, where there is now a desert or dry steppe, were occupied by wet savannah or forest-steppe. Forest-steppe and savannah areas were the most favorable for life. It was there that the cereals that people began to domesticate and grow grew - barley, sorghum and millet (Vavilov, 1987).

Grains were sown in Palestine, Asia Minor, the west of the Iranian Plateau, in Egypt already in the 10th-8th millennium BC, and in the Balkans and Southern Turkmenistan no later than the 6th millennium BC. Probably at the same time, the goat and sheep (more than 10 thousand years ago), the donkey, cattle and pig (about 9 thousand years ago) were domesticated.

The horse was domesticated in the Southern Urals about 8 thousand years ago (the dog was the first animal domesticated by humans back in the Late Paleolithic). The period of human transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture is usually called neolithic revolution .

About 8-10 thousand years ago, the valleys of the great rivers of Africa and Asia - the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, Indus and Ganges, Yellow River - were developed by farmers, and a little later by pastoralists. The transition to agriculture and cattle breeding did not occur suddenly, of course, but took several millennia (meaning the entire period from the end of the Mesolithic to the “developed” Neolithic). The first objects of cultivation by farmers were single-row wheat and barley, and the first domesticated animals were goats and sheep. Most likely this first happened around the 9th millennium BC. on the territory of modern Palestine, Israel, Lebanon.

With the departure of the glacier, partial, often regional aridization of the climate occurred and, in a number of areas, people gradually adapted to the changing landscape. Agriculture was no longer based on rain irrigation, but on damming streams and diverting water through a system of ditches and canals to the fields. With the growth of the agricultural population, part of it began to move deeper into the steppes, and livestock breeding became more and more important in their way of life. However, the horse and camel were not yet domesticated, cattle breeders were not yet able to make long seasonal migrations, and to some extent still depended on agriculture. Grazing of livestock, especially sheep and goats, could greatly deplete the already dry steppe, and periods of drought could give impetus to the resettlement of groups and tribes previously engaged in agriculture.

For a number of regions in the zone of dry steppes and deserts (for example, Egypt and Mesopotamia), where grain cannot grow normally without artificial irrigation, and during intense annual floods large spaces become swamped, the population of these landscapes, which are very unfavorable for life, have learned to fence off flooded fields with earthen ramparts, diverting water into special reservoirs.

Presumably, in Egypt and Sumer by the end of the 4th millennium BC, they received 10-20-fold harvests. The abundance of grain made it possible to save grain in case of crop failure, and in some cases free some of the community members from agricultural work. Crafts began to develop intensively - pottery, weaving, metallurgy, etc.

Let us note that if in the Paleolithic the intensity and characteristics of the settlement of the territory were associated primarily with the productivity of hunting grounds, then in the future - not only with the possibility of agricultural development, but with the creation of certain production complexes (manufacture of stone tools, ore mining). An important factor in the development and maximum population of the territory is safety, protection from natural and anthropogenic factors.

The relationship between man and the landscape is a constant value determined by adaptation. “...All peoples of the Earth live in landscapes at the expense of nature, but as diverse as the landscapes are, the peoples inhabiting them are also diverse, because no matter how much they change the landscape, by creating anthropogenic relief, reconstructing flora and fauna, people have to feed only on what what the nature of a given territory can provide. A person not only adapts to the landscape, but also adapts the landscape to his needs and requirements, and when the landscape changes - under the influence of anthropogenic or natural factors, people must either adapt, leave, or die...” wrote L.N. Gumilev.

During the time of the Roman Empire, migrants (legionnaires, as well as former prisoners of war), sent to its remote parts (Syria, Britain, Gaul, Thrace), finding themselves in an unfamiliar, “hostile” landscape for them, preferred life in cities, where walls separated and protected them from a hostile nature and, accordingly, their attitude towards nature was consumerist, predatory. In those days, the landscape of Europe changed greatly, which was associated with the laying of roads by the Romans and the construction of fortifications, 2/3 of the forests of Gaul and the beech groves of the Apennine Peninsula were cleared, the valleys of the Atlas Mountains were plowed up and depleted, the landscapes of Africa and Asia were greatly improved - the Sumerians drained the swamps between the Tigris and Euphrates. The hills of Hellas and Phrygia, the islands of the Aegean Sea, sung by Homer, were actually “eaten by goats” (in the literal sense of the word!), the grazing of goats was turned into almost bare rocks, the landscapes of the island were practically destroyed by goats. Tenerife.

Subsequently, on the territory of Europe, Germanic, Proto-Slavic and Slavic tribes cut down huge areas of forest for fire-slash farming; in the Middle Ages, oak forests were cut down and landscapes in Europe were transformed. Now there are no relict forests left here, unless in the north of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Easter Island tragedy

One of the most striking examples of the complete destruction of an ecosystem is Easter Island. Easter Island, covering an area of only 165 square meters. km is one of the most secluded habitats: it is located in the Pacific Ocean at a distance of more than 3,700 km from South America and 2,600 km from the nearest inhabited island of Pitcairn.

When the island was settled around 400 AD. e. Polynesians, it was covered with forest, but after just 500-600 years the island’s ecosystem was completely changed, after another few centuries all tree vegetation was destroyed, and the population of the once prosperous island decreased tenfold.

Before the arrival of people, and in the first years of their stay, the island was not at all as deserted as it is now. A subtropical forest of trees and undergrowth rose above the shrubs, grasses, ferns and turf. The forest contained tree daisies, hau-hau trees, which can be used to make ropes, and toromiro palms, which are useful as fuel.

When Easter Island was discovered in 1722 by the expedition of Jacob Roggeveen, it was already a devastated area, covered with dried grass and scorched vegetation, not a tree or bush was visible anywhere. The only domestic animals were chickens, and the island's population was only about 2,000 people.

Paleontologist David Steadman conducted a study of Easter Island in order to find out what its flora and fauna used to be like. As a result, data appeared for the tragic, and at the same time instructive history of its settlers.

Blooming Island

Before people arrived, the island was an ideal place for birds; they had no enemies. Only 25 species of birds nested here - albatrosses, gannets, frigate birds, fulmars, and it was the largest bird market in the entire Pacific Ocean.

The islanders once grew bananas, taro, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, and mulberries on the island.

The relatively cold coastal waters supported fishing in only a few places and the main marine prey were dolphins and seals.

The beginning of the tragedy.

But around the 800s, the disappearance of forests began - when scientists studied rocks, layers of charcoal from forest fires began to appear more and more often, there was less and less tree pollen and more and more pollen appeared from grasses that replaced the forest. Around 1400, the palm trees disappeared completely, not only as a result of cutting down, but also because of the ubiquitous rats, which did not give them the opportunity to restore the palm trees by eating nuts. And rats were brought to the island by the Polynesians.

A little later, not only the palm trees disappeared, but the entire forest - it was destroyed by people who cleared areas for gardens, cut down trees to build canoes, to make skating rinks for sculptures, and for heating. The paradise that opened to the first settlers became almost lifeless 1600 years later. Fertile soils, an abundance of food, plenty of building materials, sufficient living space, and all opportunities for a comfortable existence were destroyed.

The ever-growing population depleted the forests faster than they could regenerate, more and more space was taken up by vegetable gardens and soil devoid of forests, springs and streams dried up, and the trees that were used to transport and lift statues, as well as to build canoes and dwellings, were not enough even for cooking food.

Rats ate seeds, and birds died out due to contamination of flowers and a decrease in fruit yield, and the fertility of arable land decreased due to wind and rain erosion. The same thing happened that happens everywhere in the world where forests are destroyed: most of the forest inhabitants disappear.

All species of local birds and animals disappeared on the island, and all coastal fish were caught. By the 15th century, dolphins had disappeared from the diet of people: there was nothing to go out to sea on, and there was nothing to make harpoons from.

Chaos, hunger, cannibalism.

As birds and animals were destroyed, famine set in. Small snails were used as food, and things even reached the point of cannibalism. The surviving islanders told the first Europeans to visit them how chaos had replaced the centralized system and the warlike class had defeated the hereditary leaders. The stones bear images of spears and daggers made by the warring parties in the 1600s and 1700s, and they are still scattered throughout Easter Island.

By 1700 the population was between a quarter and a tenth of its former size. People moved into caves to hide from their enemies. Around 1770, rival clans began knocking over each other's statues and cutting off their heads. The last statue was toppled and desecrated in 1864.

As the picture of the decline of Easter Island civilization unfolded before the researchers, they asked themselves: “Why didn’t they look back, didn’t realize what was happening, didn’t stop before it was too late? What were the inhabitants of the island thinking when they cut down the last palm tree?

The catastrophe did not occur suddenly, but stretched out over several decades and the changes occurring in nature were not noticeable for one generation - the trees gradually became smaller, thinner and less significant. Once upon a time, the last fruit-bearing palm was cut off, and the young shoots were destroyed along with the remains of bushes and undergrowth.

And no one noticed the death of the last palm tree...

A. A. Kazdym
Doctor of Geology