What is the impact of human activity on the number. Human influence on nature. Positive and negative influences: examples. Human influence on flora and fauna

Currently guard the environment has become one of the most urgent problems development of society.

This is due to the ever-increasing interdependence of socio-ecological and natural processes.

Humanity has reached such a level of development at present when the results of its activities become comparable to global natural disasters.

The growth rate of the world's population is very high.

The period for which the population is doubling is rapidly decreasing: in the Neolithic it was 2500 years, in 1900 - 100 years, in 1965 - 35 years.

As for the productivity of the biosphere, it is relatively small in terms of objective indicators.

Deserts occupy a significant part of the land, and the productivity of agricultural crops lags behind the rate of population growth. Added to this is the plundering of natural resources.

Forest fires (deliberate or accidental) annually destroy up to two million tons of organic matter on the planet. A huge number of trees are used to make paper. Huge areas of rainforest, after many years of agricultural use, turn into a desert.

Monocultures in many tropical countries, such as sugarcane, coffee tree, etc., drain the soil.

The improvement and increase in the number of vessels for fishing fish and marine animals has led to a decrease in the number of many marine fish species. Excessive whaling has contributed to a sharp decline in global whale stocks. The Greenland whale is almost extinct, and the blue whale is endangered. As a result of human poaching, the number of fur seals and penguins has significantly decreased.

Of the natural phenomena that play an important role in the depletion of natural resources, soil erosion and drought should be mentioned. Severe erosion destroys the soil. A person also contributes to this when he destroys the vegetation cover by improper management, burning and cutting down forest plantations, unscheduled grazing of livestock (especially sheep and goats).

Through the fault of man on the globe, more than five million square kilometers of cultural lands are currently lost.

The destruction of the vegetation cover leads to an ever more severe aridity.

The systematic drainage of many wet areas also contributes to the development of aridity. Aridity also increases with the steady depletion of the water table used in industry. So, for the production of one ton of paper, 250 cubic meters of water is required, and the production of one ton of fertilizers requires 600 cubic meters of water.

Today, in many parts of the world, there is already a very strong shortage of water, and with a decrease in precipitation, this shortage is felt even more.

Systematic drainage of marshes in the temperate zone is a serious mistake of mankind. Swamps function like a sponge - they regulate the water table - supplying it in the summer and absorbing water generated by heavy rainfall, thereby preventing flooding. In addition, swamps serve as a refuge for endangered species of plants and animals, and in terms of their profitability, swamps are equal to or even superior to the most profitable crops.

Human impact on the environment has led to the fact that many species of animals and plants have become very rare or completely disappeared.

The high rates of scientific and technological progress at the present time, on the one hand, has led humanity to the achievements that people have only dreamed of in the past centuries. On the other hand, the development of astronautics, the chemical and metallurgical industries, advances in medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, agricultural technology and other industries have a negative impact on humanity as a whole.

Systematization and generalization of information showed that scientific and technological progress has a negative impact on flora and fauna, including people.

Almost half of all diseases among the inhabitants of our planet are caused by the harmful effects of chemical, physical, mechanical, biological environmental factors.

At the same time, the degree of influence of environmental factors on the population largely depends on the age of people, climatic conditions in which they live, latitude, length of daylight hours, social conditions, and the level of environmental pollution.

About 60% of all cases of malformations among people and more than 50% of deaths are associated with environmental pollution. Mortality from diseases of the circulatory system, mental disorders, respiratory diseases, malignant neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, and diseases of the cardiovascular system is increasing.

In accordance with the density of the population, the degree of human impact on the environment also changes. However, at the current level of development of the productive forces, the activity of human society affects the biosphere as a whole. Humanity with its social laws of development and powerful technology is quite capable of influencing the secular course of biospheric processes.

Air pollution.

In the course of his activities, a person pollutes the air. Over cities and industrial areas, the concentration of gases in the atmosphere increases, which in rural areas are contained in very small quantities or are completely absent. Polluted air is harmful to health. In addition, harmful gases, combining with atmospheric moisture and falling out in the form of acid rains, degrade the quality of the soil and reduce the yield.

The main causes of air pollution are the combustion of fossil fuels and metallurgical production. If in the 19th century the products of combustion of coal and liquid fuel entering the environment were almost completely assimilated by the vegetation of the Earth, then at present the content harmful products combustion is steadily increasing. A number of pollutants are released into the air from stoves, fireboxes, and car exhaust pipes. Among them, sulfurous anhydride, a poisonous gas, readily soluble in water, stands out.

The concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere is especially high in the vicinity of copper smelters. It causes the destruction of chlorophyll, underdevelopment of pollen grains, drying out and falling of leaves of needles. Part of SO 2 is oxidized to sulfuric anhydride. Solutions of sulfurous and sulfuric acids, falling out with rains on the Earth's surface, harm living organisms and destroy buildings. The soil acquires an acidic reaction, humus (humus) is washed out of it - organic matter containing components necessary for plant development. In addition, the amount of calcium, magnesium, and potassium salts is reduced in it. In acidic soils, the number of animal species living in it also decreases, the rate of decomposition of litter is slowed down. All this creates unfavorable conditions for plant growth.

Billions of tons of CO 2 are released into the atmosphere each year as a result of fuel combustion. Half of the carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels is absorbed by the ocean and green plants, and half remains in the air. The content of CO 2 in the atmosphere is gradually increasing and has increased by more than 10% over the past 100 years. CO 2 interferes with thermal radiation into outer space, creating the so-called "greenhouse effect". Changes in the content of CO 2 in the atmosphere significantly affect the Earth's climate.

Industrial enterprises and cars cause many toxic compounds to enter the atmosphere - nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, lead compounds (each car emits 1 kg of lead per year), various hydrocarbons - acetylene, ethylene, methane, propane, etc. Together with water droplets they form a poisonous fog - smog, which has a harmful effect on the human body, on the vegetation of cities. Liquid and solid particles (dust) suspended in the air reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. So, in large cities, solar radiation decreases by 15%, ultraviolet radiation - by 30% (and in the winter months it can completely disappear).

Freshwater pollution.

The use of water resources is rapidly increasing. This is due to the growth of the population and the improvement of the sanitary and hygienic conditions of human life, the development of industry and irrigated agriculture. The daily consumption of water for household needs in rural areas is 50 liters per person, in cities - 150 liters.

A huge amount of water is used in industry. Smelting 1 ton of steel requires 200 m 3 of water, and for the manufacture of 1 ton of synthetic fiber - from 2500 to 5000 m 3. Industry absorbs 85% of all water used in cities.

Even more water is needed for irrigation. During the year, 12-14 m 3 of water is consumed per hectare of irrigated land. In our country, more than 150 km 3 are spent annually for irrigation.

The constant increase in water consumption on the planet leads to the danger of "water hunger", which necessitates the development of measures for rational use water resources. In addition to the high flow rate, water shortage is caused by its growing pollution due to the discharge of industrial and especially chemical waste into rivers. Bacterial contamination and poisonous chemical substances(for example, phenol) lead to the death of water bodies. Mole rafting of forests along rivers, which is often accompanied by congestion, also has harmful consequences. With a long stay of wood in water, it loses its business qualities, and the substances washed out from it have a detrimental effect on fish.

The rivers and lakes also receive mineral fertilizers washed out from the soil by rains - nitrates and phosphates, which in high concentrations can dramatically change the species composition of water bodies, as well as various pesticides - pesticides used in agriculture to combat insect pests. For aerobic organisms living in fresh waters, the discharge of warm waters by enterprises is also an unfavorable factor. V warm water oxygen is poorly soluble and its deficiency can lead to the death of many organisms.

Pollution of the World Ocean. The waters of the seas and oceans are subject to significant pollution. With river runoff, as well as from sea transport, disease-causing wastes, oil products, salts come to the seas heavy metals, poisonous organic compounds, including pesticides. The pollution of the seas and oceans reaches such proportions that in some cases the fish and shellfish caught are unsuitable for human consumption.

Anthropogenic changes in the soil.

The fertile soil layer takes a very long time to form. At the same time, together with the harvest, tens of millions of tons of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus - the main components of plant nutrition - are removed from the soil annually. Humus, the main factor of soil fertility, is contained in chernozems in an amount of less than 5% of the mass of the arable layer. On poor soils, humus is even less. In the absence of replenishment of soils with nitrogen compounds, its reserve can be used up in 50-100 years. This does not happen, since cultural farming involves the introduction of organic and inorganic (mineral) fertilizers into the soil.

Nitrogen fertilizers introduced into the soil are used by plants by 40-50%. The rest is reduced by microorganisms to gaseous substances, escapes into the atmosphere or is washed out from the soil. Thus, mineral nitrogen fertilizers are quickly consumed, so they have to be applied annually. With insufficient application of organic and inorganic fertilizers, the soil is depleted and yields fall. Unfavorable changes in the soil also occur as a result of incorrect crop rotations, that is, the annual sowing of the same crops, for example, potatoes.

Anthropogenic soil changes include erosion (corrosion). Erosion is the destruction and demolition of soil cover by water currents or wind. Water erosion is widespread and most destructive. It occurs on slopes and develops when the land is improperly cultivated. Together with melt and rainwater, millions of tons of soil are carried away from the fields to rivers and seas every year. If nothing prevents erosion, shallow gullies turn into deeper ones and, finally, into ravines.

Wind erosion occurs in areas with dry, bare soil and sparse vegetation. Overgrazing in steppes and semi-deserts contributes to wind erosion and rapid destruction of the grass cover. It takes 250-300 years to restore a 1-cm-thick soil layer under natural conditions. Consequently, dust storms bring irreparable loss of the fertile soil layer.

Significant areas with formed soils are withdrawn from agricultural use due to the open-pit mining of minerals that lie at a shallow depth. Open pit mining is cheap, since it eliminates the need for the construction of expensive mines and complex communication systems, and is also safer. Dug deep quarries and dumps of soil destroy not only the land to be developed, but also the surrounding territories, while the hydrological regime of the area is violated, water, soil and atmosphere are polluted, and the yield of agricultural crops is reduced.

Human influence on flora and fauna.

Human impact on wildlife consists of direct influence and indirect changes in the natural environment. One of the forms of direct impact on plants and animals is logging. Selective and sanitary cuttings, which regulate the composition and quality of the forest and are necessary for the removal of damaged and diseased trees, do not significantly affect the species composition of forest biocenoses.

Clear felling of the stand is another matter. Finding themselves suddenly in an open habitat, plants in the lower layers of the forest are adversely affected by direct sunlight. In shade-loving plants of herbaceous and shrub layers, chlorophyll is destroyed, growth is inhibited, and some species disappear. Light-loving plants that are resistant to high temperatures and a lack of moisture settle in the felling site. The fauna is also changing: species associated with the stand disappear or migrate to other places.

Massive visits to forests by vacationers and tourists have a tangible effect on the state of the vegetation cover. In these cases, the harmful effect is trampling, compaction of the soil and its pollution. The direct influence of man on the animal world consists in the extermination of species that are food or other material benefits for him. It is believed that since 1600 more than 160 species and subspecies of birds and at least 100 species of mammals have been exterminated by humans. The long list of extinct species includes a tour - a wild bull that lived throughout Europe.

In the XVIII century. was exterminated, described by the Russian naturalist G.V. Steller's sea cow (Steller's cow) is an aquatic mammal belonging to the order of sirens. A little more than a hundred years ago, the wild horse tarpan, which lived in the south of Russia, disappeared. Many species of animals are on the verge of extinction or have survived only in reserves. Such is the fate of the bisons, who inhabited the prairies of North America in tens of millions, and the bison, which were formerly widespread in the forests of Europe. In the Far East, sika deer have been almost completely exterminated. Intensive fishing for cetaceans has brought several species of whales to the brink of destruction: gray, bowhead, blue.

The number of animals is also influenced by human economic activities that are not related to fishing. The number of the Ussuri tiger has sharply decreased. This happened as a result of the development of territories within its range and a reduction in the food supply. V Pacific Several tens of thousands of dolphins die every year: during the fishing period, they fall into the nets and cannot get out of them. Until recently, before special measures were taken by fishermen, the number of dolphins dying in nets reached hundreds of thousands.

For marine mammals, the impact of water pollution is very negative. In such cases, the ban on trapping of animals turns out to be ineffective. For example, after the ban on catching dolphins in the Black Sea, their numbers are not restored. The reason is that a lot of toxic substances enter the Black Sea with river water and through the straits from the Mediterranean Sea. These substances are especially harmful to baby dolphins, whose high mortality rates prevent the growth of these cetaceans.

The disappearance of a relatively small number of animal and plant species may not seem very significant. Each species occupies a certain place in the biocenosis, in the chain, and no one can replace it. The disappearance of a particular species leads to a decrease in the stability of biocenoses. More importantly, each species has unique, inherent properties. The loss of genes that determine these properties and were selected in the course of a long evolution deprives a person of the opportunity in the future to use them for their practical purposes (for example, for breeding).

Radioactive contamination of the biosphere.

The problem of radioactive contamination arose in 1945 after the explosion of atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nuclear weapons tests carried out before 1963 in the atmosphere caused global radioactive contamination. Explosion atomic bombs very strong ionizing radiation occurs, radioactive particles are scattered over long distances, infecting soil, water bodies, living organisms. Many radioactive isotopes have long half-lives, remaining hazardous throughout their lifetime. All these isotopes are included in the circulation of substances, enter living organisms and have a destructive effect on cells.

Nuclear weapons testing (and even more so when using these weapons for military purposes) has another negative side. At nuclear explosion a huge amount of fine dust is formed, which is kept in the atmosphere and absorbs a significant part of the solar radiation. Calculations of scientists from different countries of the world show that even with a limited, local use of nuclear weapons, the resulting dust will retain most of the solar radiation. A prolonged cold snap (“nuclear winter”) will come, which will inevitably lead to the death of all life on Earth.

At present, almost any territory of the planet from the Arctic to Antarctica is subject to a variety of anthropogenic influences. The consequences of the destruction of natural biocenoses and environmental pollution have become very serious. The entire biosphere is under the ever-increasing pressure of human activity, therefore environmental protection measures are becoming an urgent task.

Acid atmospheric attacks on land.

One of the most acute global problems of our time and the foreseeable future is the problem of the increasing acidity of atmospheric precipitation and soil cover. Areas of acidic soils do not experience droughts, but their natural fertility is low and unstable; they are quickly depleted and yields are low. Acid rains cause not only acidification of surface waters and upper soil horizons. Acidity with downdrafts of water spreads over the entire soil profile and causes significant acidification of groundwater.

Acid rain results from economic activity human, accompanied by the emission of colossal amounts of oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, carbon. These oxides, entering the atmosphere, are transported over long distances, interact with water and turn into solutions of a mixture of sulfurous, sulfuric, nitrous, nitric and carbonic acids, which fall in the form of "acid rains" on land, interacting with plants, soils, and waters. The main sources in the atmosphere are the burning of shale, oil, coal, gas in industry, agriculture, and in everyday life.

Human economic activity has almost doubled the release of sulfur oxides, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Naturally, this affected an increase in the acidity of atmospheric precipitation, ground and ground waters. To solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the volume of systematic representative measurements of compounds of air pollutants over large areas.

Before all mankind stands the most important task- preservation of the diversity of all organisms living on Earth. All species (vegetation, animals) are closely interrelated. The destruction of even one of them leads to the disappearance of other species interconnected with it.

From the very moment a man invented tools of labor and became more or less reasonable, his all-round influence on the nature of the planet began. The more a person developed, the more influence he had on the environment of the Earth. How does a person influence nature? What is positive and what is negative?

Negative points

There are both pros and cons of human influence on nature. To begin with, consider negative examples of harmful things:

1. Deforestation associated with the construction of highways, etc.
2. Soil pollution occurs due to the use of fertilizers and chemicals.
3. A decrease in the number of populations due to the expansion of areas for fields with the help of deforestation (animals, losing their normal habitat, die).
4. Destruction of plants and animals due to the difficulties of their adaptation to a new life, greatly changed by man, or simply their extermination by people.
5. and waters by different people and by the people themselves. For example, in the Pacific Ocean there is a "dead zone" where a huge amount of debris floats.

Examples of human influence on the nature of the ocean and mountains, on the state of fresh water

The change in nature under the influence of man is very significant. The flora and fauna of the Earth are severely affected, water resources are polluted.

Typically, light debris remains on the surface of the ocean. In this regard, the access of air (oxygen) and light to the inhabitants of these territories is hampered. Numerous species of living creatures are trying to look for new places for their habitat, which, unfortunately, not everyone succeeds.

Ocean currents bring in millions of tons of garbage every year. This is a real disaster.

Deforestation on the mountain slopes also has a negative impact. They become naked, which contributes to the occurrence of erosion, as a result, loosening of the soil occurs. And this leads to devastating collapses.

Pollution occurs not only in the waters of the oceans, but also in fresh water. Thousands of cubic meters of sewage or industrial waste flows into rivers every day.
And they are contaminated with pesticides, chemical fertilizers.

The dire consequences of oil spills, mining

Just one drop of oil makes approximately 25 liters of water unusable. But this is not the worst thing. A rather thin film of oil covers the surface of a huge area of ​​water - about 20 m 2 of water. This is destructive for all living things. All organisms under such a film are doomed to slow death, because it prevents oxygen from entering the water. This is also a direct influence of man on the nature of the Earth.

People extract minerals from the bowels of the Earth, formed over several million years - oil, coal, etc. Such industrial production, together with cars, emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which leads to a catastrophic decrease in the ozone layer of the atmosphere - the protector of the Earth's surface from the death-carrying ultraviolet radiation from the Sun.

Over the past 50 years, the air temperature on Earth has increased by only 0.6 degrees. But this is a lot.

This warming will lead to an increase in the temperature of the oceans, which will contribute to the melting of polar glaciers in the Arctic. Thus, the most global problem- the ecosystem of the Earth's poles is disrupted. Glaciers are the most important and voluminous sources of clean fresh water.

Benefits of people

It should be noted that people bring both certain benefits and considerable ones.

It is necessary from this point of view to note the influence of man on nature. The positive lies in the activities carried out by people to improve the ecology of the environment.

In many vast areas of the Earth in different countries protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries and parks are organized - places where everything is preserved in its original form. This is the most reasonable influence of man on nature, positive. In such protected places, people contribute to the preservation of flora and fauna.

Thanks to their creation, many species of animals and plants have survived on Earth. Rare and already endangered species must be included in the man-made Red Book, according to which fishing and collection is prohibited.

People also create artificial water canals and irrigation systems that help maintain and increase

Planting of diverse vegetation is also carried out on a large scale.

Ways to solve emerging problems in nature

To solve problems, it is necessary and important, first of all, to have an active human influence on nature (positive).

And as for biological resources (animals and plants), they should be used (mined) in such a way that individuals always remain in nature in quantities that contribute to the restoration of the previous population size.

It is also necessary to continue work on the organization of reserves and planting forests.

Carrying out all these measures to restore and improve the environment is a positive influence of man on nature. All this is necessary for the benefit of oneself.

After all, the well-being of human life, like all biological organisms, depends on the state of nature. Now all of humanity is faced with the most important problem - the creation of a favorable state and stability of the living environment.

Economic activity affects not only directly but also indirectly on the atmosphere and the processes occurring in it. Especially strong impact of human economic activity has on the climate of entire regions - deforestation, plowing of land, large reclamation work, mining, burning fossil fuels, military operations, etc.
Human economic activity does not disrupt the geochemical circulation, and also has a significant impact on the energy balance in nature. During human economic activity, various chemical compounds, which is tens of times greater than the appearance of substances during the weathering of rocks and volcanoes. In some regions with a large population and industrial production, the amount of energy produced by steel is comparable to the energy of the radiation balance and has a great influence on the change in the microclimate.

The modern composition of the atmosphere is the result of a long historical development of the globe. The composition of the atmosphere is oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide and inert gases. Over cities and industrial areas, the concentration of gases in the atmosphere increases, which are usually found in very small quantities in rural areas or are completely absent. Polluted air is harmful to health. In addition, harmful gases, combining with atmospheric moisture and falling out in the form of acid rains, deteriorate the quality of the soil and reduce the yield.
Based on the results of studies checking the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, it was determined that the decrease occurs by more than 10 million tons per year. Consequently, the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can reach a critical situation. According to the calculations of some scientists, it is known that an increase in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere by 2 times will increase the average temperature of the Earth by 1.5-2 degrees due to the "greenhouse effect. Due to the increase in temperature, rapid melting of glaciers occurs, which leads to a serious change in the entire surrounding world. and also, a rise in the level of the World Ocean by 5 m is possible.

According to scientists, every year in the world as a result of human activity, 25.5 billion tons of carbon oxides, 190 million tons of sulfur oxides, 65 million tons of nitrogen oxides, 1.4 million tons of freons, organic lead compounds, hydrocarbons, are released into the atmosphere. including carcinogenic, a large amount of solid particles (dust, soot, soot).
Global air pollution affects the state of natural ecosystems, especially the green cover of our planet. Acid rains, mainly caused by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, cause enormous damage to forest biocenoses. Forests, especially conifers, suffer from them.

The main cause of air pollution is the combustion of fossil fuels and metallurgical production. If in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the combustion products of coal and liquid fuel entering the environment were almost completely assimilated by the vegetation of the Earth, then at present the content of combustion products is steadily increasing. A number of pollutants are released into the air from stoves, fireboxes, and car exhaust pipes. Sulfurous anhydride stands out among them - a poisonous gas, easily soluble in water. The concentration of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere is especially high in the vicinity of copper smelters. It causes the destruction of chlorophyll, underdevelopment of pollen grains, drying and falling of leaves and needles.

Soil - the top layer of land, formed under the influence of plants, animals, microorganisms and climate from the parent rocks on which it is located. It is an important and complex component of the biosphere, closely related to its other parts. Under normal natural conditions, all processes occurring in the soil are in balance.
As a result of the development of human economic activity, pollution, changes in the composition of the soil and even its destruction occur. Contamination of the soil cover with mercury (with pesticides and industrial waste), lead (during lead smelting and from vehicles), iron, copper, zinc, manganese, nickel, aluminum and other metals (near large centers of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy), radioactive elements ( as a result of precipitation from atomic explosions or during the disposal of liquid and solid waste from industrial enterprises, nuclear power plants or research institutes related to the study and use of atomic energy), persistent organic compounds used as pesticides. They accumulate in soil and water and, most importantly, are included in ecological food chains: they pass from soil and water to plants, animals, and eventually pass into the human body with food. Unskillful and uncontrolled use of any fertilizers and pesticides leads to disruption of the circulation of substances in the biosphere.

Erosion is one of the anthropogenic changes in soils. The destruction of forests and natural grass cover, repeated plowing of the land without observing the rules of agricultural technology lead to soil erosion - destruction and washout of the fertile layer by water and wind. The most destructive water erosion is also widespread. It occurs on slopes and develops when the land is improperly cultivated. Together with melt and rainwater, millions of tons of soil are carried away from the fields to rivers and seas every year. Significant areas with formed soils are withdrawn from agricultural use due to the open-pit mining of minerals that lie at a shallow depth.

At present, the area of ​​land developed by man has reached 60% of the land. Built-up land now occupies about 300 million hectares. Man today is subject to the regulation of hydrological regimes in large areas. It can significantly, albeit locally, change the climate, landscapes and green cover of the planet. The riches that nature has collected for centuries in the bowels of the planet, people extract and spread across its entire surface. For almost 50 years since the beginning of the scientific and technological revolution, there are no signs of a slowdown in technological progress. The power of modern civilization is growing rapidly, and science and technology are opening up new horizons for its development. Never before has civilization provided humanity with so many benefits as it is now.

Human impact on wildlife consists of direct impact and indirect changes in the natural environment. One of the forms of direct impact on plants and animals is logging. Finding themselves suddenly in an open habitat, plants in the lower layers of the forest are adversely affected by direct sunlight. In thermophilic plants of herbaceous and shrub layers, chlorophyll is destroyed, growth is inhibited, and some species disappear. Light-loving plants that are resistant to high temperatures and lack of moisture are settled in the felling sites. The fauna is also changing: species associated with the stand disappear or migrate to other places.

Due to intensive economic activity, a gradual depletion and destruction of the natural environment occurs, that is, the loss of those natural irreplaceable resources that serve as a source of human economic activity for a person. At the current rate of consumption, the explored reserves of coal, oil, natural gas and other minerals, according to scientists, will be enough for industrial use for 50-500 years. Moreover, a smaller indicator applies to liquid hydrocarbons, i.e. oil.
True, society has the prospect of using other types of energy, in particular nuclear, wind, solar, sea tides, geothermal waters, hydrogen energy, the reserves of which are still considered inexhaustible. However, the use of atomic energy in large-scale production is hampered by the unresolved problem of disposal of nuclear waste. The development of hydrogen as a source of energy is still possible only theoretically, since technologically this problem has not yet been solved.

One of the sharpest contemporary problems- lack of clean fresh water. In developing countries, up to 9 million people die from water pollution every year. According to scientists, already in 2000, more than 1 billion people experienced a shortage of drinking water. In general, there is a lot of water on Earth. The hydrosphere contains approximately 1.6 billion km 3 of free water; 1.37 billion km 3 of it falls on the World Ocean. On the continents - 90 million km 3, of which 60 million km 3 of water is underground - almost all of this water is salty, 27 million km 3 of water is stored in the glaciers of Antarctica, the Arctic, highlands.
Environmental ignorance and environmental nihilism have resulted from insufficient public attention to environmental issues. What they have in common is a disregard for knowledge and the use of environmental laws in communication between humans and the environment. Environmental ignorance - unwillingness to study the laws of the relationship between man and the environment; ecological nihilism - unwillingness to be guided by these laws. Unfortunately, ignorance and ecological nihilism, combined with consumer psychology, become dangerous for the existence of all life on Earth.

From century to century, people have used the surrounding nature as a source of resource consumption. But until a certain time, this activity did not have a detrimental effect on the world around a person. For example, plants have always served as a source of food for humans, as a building material for huts, and plants were used to feed livestock.

Developing, mankind more and more consumed plant raw materials, and with the advent of various adaptations, mechanisms, production, the plant world began to suffer serious losses. For example, if a couple of decades ago, about 5 thousand items of products were produced from wood, now there are already about 15 thousand items.

A person seeks to make his life better, more comfortable, therefore, he takes away more and more resources from nature. As a result, this human influence on plants results in the return of toxic production wastes to him, which are difficult to dispose of. In turn, this becomes a threat to both humans and the environment.

Only at the end of the last century did scientists pay attention to the results of the harmful effects of human economic activity on the flora. In this regard, scientific programs began to be created, grants were issued for the development of ways to improve the environmental situation.

Human economic activity and flora

Industrial emissions also have a detrimental effect on plants. For example, phytotoxicants released into the air have a detrimental effect on coniferous forests - forests dry out from these substances. Recently, rainforests, which are the main suppliers of oxygen to the surrounding atmosphere, began to suffer from industrial facilities. Restoring rainforests is a very difficult and extremely time-consuming task.

For the production of electricity, hydroelectric power stations and water storage facilities are being built on the rivers. In this regard, large areas of soil are flooded. Wrong human activity in the cultivation of floodplains of rivers and lakes provoked their siltation, which means the disappearance of many aquatic plants.

Population increase, urbanization

It should be noted that the degree of man's harmful influence on the flora also depends on the number of population. Indeed, in this regard, more and more food, energy resources are required, it is required to solve housing problems, etc. The population is constantly growing, new generations need more and more resources. But, unfortunately, the possibilities and resources of the planet are not unlimited. Therefore, now it is necessary to seriously and quickly solve the problem of insufficient resources.

In addition, the rapid growth of the world's population causes urbanization, which means that there are more and more cities and they occupy everything. large areas... But at the site of their construction and expansion, natural corners are being destroyed. Therefore, often at the site of the emergence of new cities, even the climate becomes different.

The flora as an object of protection

Under the influence of human activity (direct or indirect), many plant species are brought to the brink of destruction. They have become rare, disappearing, or have disappeared altogether. Currently, about 30 thousand species of plants are known to be under complete threat of extinction.

As an object of protection, all plants are divided into aquatic, soil, underground and terrestrial:

Aquatic vegetation growing in water bodies is extremely important for the ecosystem of the water bodies themselves and the organisms living in them. Man makes little use of this group of plants.

Soil vegetation is represented by fungi, bacteria, some algae. They all affect the soil, making it more fertile. A person also does not use them actively.

Land plants growing on the surface of the earth are most actively used by humans. It was from this group that most plants disappeared.

As a result of their activities, huge areas of wild plants have been replaced by agricultural crops, since man is constantly transforming the surrounding nature in his own interests. In addition, plants disappear due to the haphazard grazing of farm animals. They eat plants, and those that remain are damaged by hooves. As a result, degeneration of pastures occurs, water, wind soil erosion occurs.

If the presence and constantly growing number of industrial enterprises and power plants can be justified by production necessity, then spontaneous landfills, mass littering of hayfields and pastures cannot be justified in any way. Spontaneous garbage dumps, removal of industrial waste to inappropriate places have the most negative impact on the fragile ecosystem. The unorganized collection of medicinal plants, flowers and the activities of tourists leaving behind mountains of garbage is also very detrimental to the flora.

Man increasingly began to face the impoverishment of recently green corners of nature, pastures, meadows and forests. Thus, he has to study the laws of nature of the surrounding world more and more deeply. Humanity has begun to realize the serious danger of the further detrimental effect of its activities on plants, which means that humanity will find ways to reduce it.