An essay on the topic “Our common home is the Earth. Essay "the earth is our home" The earth is our common home essay

1. Earth is our common home

I believe that life is one and the world is one. All environmental problems are closely intertwined. Population explosion, poverty, ignorance, war, planetary pollution, the accumulation of nuclear weapons, biological and chemical methods of mass destruction - all this makes up a single strong circle. Each of these problems is important and requires an urgent solution, but solving them one by one is a waste of time.

Indira Gandhi.

1.1. Spaceship Earth

In the last decade of the 20th century, humanity is intensively looking for ways to preserve and develop its unique home - planet Earth with its living nature.

In the 60s, a figurative expression was born among specialists in the field of rocket and space technology - “spaceship Earth”. 4.5 billion years, first “in automatic mode,” and then with a crew that today exceeds 5 billion people, the “spaceship Earth” makes orbits around the Sun. “The ship is well equipped and well-functioning by nature. Life itself has turned the oxygen-free atmosphere of the primordial Earth into oxygen , suitable for breathing by today's highly developed creatures. In the “cargo compartments” of the planet’s bowels, there are significant reserves of essential substances - minerals, which have not yet dried up, but are not renewed.

So, the Earth is a comfortable, intelligently organized and adapted planet for life, where the best examples of nature and the best examples of technology are combined, where the energy of the Sun, wind, water, and subsoil is carefully collected - this is the ideal of the Earth that seems to us. But man, unlike the natural world, builds everything according to the laws and ideals of beauty, often encroaching on nature or even simply impoverishing it.

For decades now, not only scientists, but also the world public have not ceased to be disturbed by the symptoms of trouble in the relationship between humanity and nature.

1.2. Time to be wise

Human economic activity on the planet is acquiring the characteristics of a natural disaster. If in the 70s there was simply a growing concern for the state of the natural environment, then in the 80s it became obvious that man lacks deep ecological knowledge to act intelligently in the system of nature in new dimensions that arose due to the enormous growth of industry and cities, the multiplication of means of communication and communications. Indeed, the signs of a global environmental crisis are extensive. This includes pollution of the World Ocean and atmosphere, the onset of deserts, deforestation, and the disappearance of entire living species from the face of the Earth. People have gained the technological ability to see from space a typhoon, the birth of a hurricane, the lights and smoke of forest fires all over the planet, and plumes of dust from industrial centers stretching like comet tails. Truly living nature is both huge and easily vulnerable!

But environmental urgency does not dissolve in the distance of time. The time to be wise is today. Tomorrow will be too late, because an ecologically uneducated person can unknowingly put into action such natural mechanisms that themselves, without the mediation of man and in spite of him, will complete the processes of degradation of the natural world.

Today ecology has ceased to be a part of biology alone. Moreover, it has grown beyond the scope of a scientific concept and has become a symbol of the anxieties and concerns of each state.

Ecology at the present time is the focus of many problems and the crossroads of many paths from the past to the future. Humanity is reflecting.

So, what is ecology?

2.Ecology as a science of human interaction

with the surrounding nature of the Earth

Ecology (from the Greek oikos - house, dwelling, place of residence and ... ology - science, knowledge, teaching) is the science of the relationships of organisms with each other and the environment. Modern ecology also studies the problems of interaction between man and the biosphere.

2.1. The origin and development of ecology

The term “ecology” was proposed in 1866 by the German zoologist E. Haeckel, defining ecology as “the general science of the relationships of organisms in the environment...”

The prehistory of ecology dates back to the works of philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome. Valuable environmental observations are contained in the works of naturalists of the 18th century (especially C. Linnaeus, J. Buffon and I.I. Lepyokhin). The formation of science was primarily influenced by works that studied the lifestyle of organisms, as well as the dependence of their distribution and development on various environmental factors.

For the development of ecology in Russia, the works of K.F. Roulier were of great importance, which emphasized the need to study animals in interaction with other organisms and the abiotic environment; The role of technical conditions created by man (anthropogenic factor) was also particularly different.

The decisive influence on the formation of ecology as an independent science was exerted by Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species..” (1859), which emphasized the importance of studying the mechanisms of the struggle for existence, intraspecific and interspecific relationships. Under the direct influence of Darwin, Haeckel came to the conclusion about the need to separate ecology into a special discipline.

In the last decade, ecology has developed under the influence and with the participation of many scientists from Germany, Denmark, the USA, Switzerland, Russia, etc.

In our country, the doctrine of the biosphere, which was created in the 20-30s of the 20th century by the scientist V.I., had a huge influence on environmental thinking. Vernadsky. In the middle of the 20th century, his ideas became especially relevant in connection with the increasing impact of man on nature.

In the 60-70s there was a rapid growth of environmental research all over the world. The reason for this, firstly, was the maturity of the science itself, a clear definition of objects and methods of research; secondly, ecology has acquired special significance as the scientific basis for rational environmental management and protection of living organisms, and the term “ecology” itself has a broader meaning.

2.2. Main objectives and practical significance

A characteristic feature of modern ecology is the study of processes covering the entire biosphere. The interaction between man and the biosphere is studied especially closely. Since 1964, work began within the framework of the International Biological Program (IBP): its main goal is to study ecological systems in different areas of the globe. Research was continued by the international program “Man and the Biosphere” (CHB), in which the main attention was paid to the analysis of the impact of human activity on the biosphere. The unification of ecologists from different countries was facilitated by the emergence of the International Society of Ecologists (INTECOL), the 1st congress of which was held in The Hague (Netherlands) in 1974 year. Thus, since the 70s of the 20th century, human ecology, or social ecology, has been taking shape, studying the patterns of interaction between society and the environment, as well as practical problems of its conservation.

So, we can highlight the main task of ecology - a detailed study, using quantitative methods, of the fundamentals of the structure and functioning of natural and man-made systems. The study of the biosphere in general is especially important. These problems can only be solved by the combined efforts of scientists from different countries.

The variety of phenomena studied by modern ecology explains the wide connections with many natural and human sciences, such as genetics, physiology, soil science, hydrology, etc. Much attention has been paid to ecology by the achievements of mathematics, physics, chemistry, and philosophy.

In turn, ecology poses new challenges for mathematics (especially in the field of statistics) and other sciences.

At the present stage of development of human society, when as a result of the scientific and technological revolution its impact on the biosphere has increased, the practical importance of ecology has increased enormously. Ecology should serve as the scientific basis for any measures to use and protect natural resources, to preserve the environment in a state favorable for human habitation.

One of the most important practical tasks is to study the state of inland water bodies, resulting from a violation of their biological and hydrochemical regime, leading to unfavorable consequences for humans: the massive development of planktonic blue-green algae (“water blooms”), the disappearance of valuable fish species, and deterioration of water quality.

Ecology also studies the interaction of agricultural and natural ecological systems, combinations of cultivated and natural landscapes.

Ecology serves as a theoretical basis for the development of measures for the transition from hunting wild species of plants and animals to their cultivation and other forms of more rational use. The creation of a network of nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, and landscape planning are also based on recommendations developed by ecologists.

A clearly expressed practical orientation is characteristic of human ecology. The scientific and technological revolution is associated with the continuous intensification and expansion of the scale of human economic activity. This sharpens attention to environmental problems, in particular to the direct and collateral impact of industrial activities on the composition and properties of the atmosphere, the thermal regime of the planet, background radioactivity, pollution of the World Ocean, land bodies of water and the reduction of fresh water reserves, the reduction of reserves of non-renewable raw materials and energy resources, the release of non-recyclable materials into the biosphere biochemical and toxic waste, the environmental impact of anthropogenic, especially urbanized, landscapes, the influence of environmental factors on human physical and mental health, etc.

3.Environmental problems at the present stage

I did not set myself the task of considering each of the environmental problems that have come to the fore at the present time, since it is impossible not to ignore many issues due to the enormous scale of their distribution, but I tried to use several of the most striking examples of environmental disasters in our country to show the severity of this or that problem, its influence on people's lives.

3.1. Water resources are the main wealth of man

By the middle of the 20th century, human impact on nature sharply increased. One of the global problems is the problem of water pollution. We live in a fabulous time when you can set the sea on fire, because it is often covered with an oil film due to supertanker accidents. Oil pollution today threatens to kill life in the oceans and seas. But the World Ocean not only occupies 71% of the planet’s surface, but also contains half of the Earth’s biomass, and oceanic phytoplankton supplies the bulk of free oxygen to the atmosphere. The famous Norwegian scientist and traveler T. Heyerdahl said: “Before destroying the oceans, our activities will destroy the inland seas.” Indeed, pollution of both lakes and rivers has reached alarming proportions.

3.1.1. The fight for the purity of Baikal

The largest freshwater lake in the world is Baikal. This lake is the main spring of Russia. Over 1,300 species of plants and animals live here, not found anywhere else. The famous Baikal omul and lake whitefish are of commercial importance. The copepod epimura is the most interesting and widespread inhabitant of the lake. He purifies the water by filtering it through his sink. And the most unique local attraction is the Baikal seal. About 7 thousand seals are caught annually. Moreover, even the method of shooting is important for the environment. Poaching occurs.

The most stable and widespread form of the Baikal shores is Lukomorye. This is a natural system for protecting the coast from sea waves. Thoughtless mining of sand and gravel is destroying the shores.

Enormous damage to the lake, not to mention deforestation in the Baikal basin, was caused by the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (pulp and paper mill), which produced cordwood pulp, which cannot be produced without clean water. But chemical wastewater treatment was not provided for at all. The wastewater was diluted with the most valuable Baikal water. A mixture of poisons went into the lake. Settling ponds have disfigured the Baikal Lukomorye. If an earthquake occurred - the seismicity of the territory of the east - then these giant bowls of waste would tip over into the environment.

More than 700 million m3 of wastewater is discharged into Baikal annually. Only in the last 20 years of operation of the Baikal Central Clinical Hospital, it has discharged 1.5 billion m 3 of industrial wastewater into Baikal. The impact of the Central Clinical Hospital wastewater has spread into the lake over an area of ​​35 km2. The MPC (maximum permissible concentration) of industrial wastewater changed six times. The concentration of harmful substances has become dangerous for the inhabitants of Lake Baikal. In 1986-1987 alone, there were three releases of lye, sediment during the cleaning of settling ponds was twice poured into the lake, and concentrated lye was released twice (foam the size of a man clogged the shore). The discharges resulted in the death of fish.

Gas emissions led to the death of the taiga. The fir stands that were most sensitive to pollution were drying out. Dust and gas emissions damaged 250 thousand hectares of forest, 40 thousand hectares of which were lost irretrievably. In the pulp and paper mill area there are weakened and drying forests, the area of ​​which has reached 500 thousand hectares

In 1966, the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill produced its first products, but only in the early 1980s its activities began to be gradually curtailed. Calculations showed that the environmental damage from the plant’s activities was many times greater than the cost of its products. The Baikal cord turned out to be unsuitable for aviation, and cellulose can serve as a raw material for the production of conventional tires. For such purposes, other non-Baikal water would be suitable, and in general, is it moral to give up such resources as Baikal water for even the best industrial products?

Who are the main air pollutants in the Baikal basin today? These are tungsten-molybdenum, metallurgical plants, several large state district power plants and thermal power plants; Not only boiler houses smoke, but also landfills, including those on the lake shore.

Under pressure from environmentalists, the transportation of petroleum products across Lake Baikal was stopped in 1988. In 1989, rafting of timber along the rivers and the lake itself was stopped, but the banks of many rivers in the Baikal basin still remain littered with driftwood. Despite all the measures, there are 150 sources of pollution in Lake Baikal!

With the completion of the construction of the BAM, Baikal found itself, as it were, in a vice between two transcontinental highways: the old Siberian and the new Baikal-Amur. The Baikal region is industrializing. The environmental situation in Transbaikalia is unfavorable. These areas directly affect the nature of Baikal. The change of water in the lake is very slow, and, according to estimates, it is renewed in 400 years - this means that the runoff that enters it pollutes it for centuries. And the path to saving Baikal was not easy, but an ecological approach to the problem took over. The voice of the public also played a significant role here.

3.1.2. Hydropower problems

Unfortunately, the Aral Sea remains a zone of environmental disaster. It has almost dried up. Names have already been prepared for the two large salt lakes that are being formed - the Big Sea and the Small Sea.

It is impossible not to mention the damming of the Kari-Bogou-Gal Bay. The bay itself quickly became shallow, polluting the surrounding agricultural land and the entire environment. And the Caspian Sea, whose level began to rise, lost the ability to store its salts - the most valuable mineral raw materials of Kari-Bogou-Gala.

An alarming situation has developed on Lake Ladoga, the largest reservoir of fresh water in Europe.

It was only thanks to environmental insight that the project, which arose in the late 40s, was not implemented to turn the great Siberian rivers - the Irtysh, Ob, Yenisei, into the arid regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, which were believed to “flow uselessly into the Arctic Ocean, swamping the entire Western Siberia".

Considering the environmental problems of water resources, it is necessary to touch upon hydropower.

The production of electricity at hydroelectric power plants is based on the inexhaustible flow of water. Hydroelectric power stations do not require fuel, and nuclear power plants and thermal power plants use non-renewable natural resources, in addition, when burning fossil fuels at thermal power plants, a large amount of carbon dioxide and other harmful compounds are released into the atmosphere, which contribute to the occurrence of such phenomena as "Greenhouse effect".

Currently, there are about 200 hydroelectric power stations in our country and neighboring countries; during their construction, 12 million agricultural lands were flooded. But this is only one side of the hydropower problem. Only recently have they begun to seriously study environmental phenomena characteristic only of reservoirs. Changes in water levels in reservoirs occur not according to natural laws, but according to dispatcher commands. Fluctuations in various parameters that determine the living conditions of living organisms occur periodically in the form of jumps and regardless of the life cycles of the organisms inhabiting the reservoir. The mass of blue-green algae in some places begins to exceed 50 kg/m2; when they die and decompose, the oxygen content in the water sharply decreases and toxic substances are released. Fish die, water becomes unfit for drinking, it is almost impossible to use it for technical purposes, and recreational conditions on the coast are disrupted. The self-purifying ability of water bodies decreases. Yes, waterworks have eliminated the danger of spring floods in many areas. Regulation of rivers made it possible to direct water to irrigated fields, factories, and power plants. At the same time, reservoirs led to constant flooding of forests and meadows, many populated areas, cultural monuments, mineral deposits and other valuable objects. The area of ​​the Kuibyshev reservoir is 6450 km2, Bratsk - 5470, Rybinsk - 4550, Volgograd - 3120, Tsimlyansk - 2900. Seeping into the ground, water floods and swamps vast coastal areas, changing their landscape and microclimate.

What's going on with the sites of large reservoirs? Large areas of the forest are flooded. For example, during the construction of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station, 40 million m2 of wood was flooded. They could cover all construction needs. There are bays on the Bratsk Sea that cannot be entered by boat - the tops of trees stick out all around. At the Ust-Ilimsk hydroelectric power station, 20 million m 3 of forest were under water. On the Yenisei, everything happened again. And the forest rots, reservoirs become unsuitable for all living things. The situation is no better in those areas where logging is carried out. The trunks are lying along the banks of the rivers, pushing in the rivers until they reach the mouth. During the delivery of wood to the lower warehouses, most of it sinks and is thrown out by the current of the bank. Many rivers of Siberia are spoiled. The small Mana River, a tributary of the Yenisei, has today turned into a “log storage facility”; its bed from the upper reaches to the lower reaches is clogged with tree trunks.

Here's another example. After the damming of the Ob River by the Novosibirsk Hydroelectric Power Station and the formation of the Novosibirsk Reservoir, the natural conditions of the Ob River changed. Pollution of the water and bottom here intensified, and the species composition of fish decreased.

After the launch of the first hydroelectric power station, the Yenisei stopped freezing tens of kilometers below the dam, therefore, the living conditions also changed.

During the construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, power engineers did not build fish receivers and fish passages in the dam, which led to the cessation of spawning of valuable species of fish in the Yenisei.

Let's limit ourselves to this. There are many environmental disasters associated with hydropower. The situation remains alarming.

3.2. Nuclear energy from an environmental perspective.

Having touched upon the problems of hydropower, we cannot ignore the equally important problems of nuclear energy. It is based on nuclear power plants. By the beginning of the 90s. In 27 countries, over 430 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of about 340 GW operated, of which more than 40 were in our country. Nuclear power plants provide 12% of our energy needs. Of course, the use of controlled nuclear energy is profitable and promising. Nuclear power plants practically do not pollute the environment during operation. Delivery of compact uranium fuel to nuclear power plants does not require high transportation costs. This is why nuclear power plants are effective in areas of energy-intensive production and industrial agglomerations, where there are no fuel resources.

From this alone it is clear that nuclear energy must be technologically accident-free and flawless. The accident in Chernobyl is far from the first in the global nuclear energy industry, but it is the largest. V. Vernadsky said: “... the time to master atomic energy is already close...”, and was the first to raise the question of “whether humanity will use this colossal source of energy for well-being or for self-destruction.”

Nuclear specialists have identified three major accidents during the operation of power plants (since 1954, when the world's first Obninsk nuclear power plant, with a capacity of 5 MW, was launched in our country on June 27): in England - at the Windscale nuclear power plant, in the USA - at the "Windscale" nuclear power plant. Three Mile Island" and in Ukraine - in Chernobyl.

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred on April 26, 1986. As a result of the destruction of the reactor, tens of millions of curiradioactive substances were released into the environment. In the first 2-3 days, the most powerful radiation of radioactive products was observed. The height of the jet of radioactive release on April 27, sent from an airplane, exceeded 1200 m. There were two salvo releases in total. The flow of a highly radioactive gas aerosol jet from the exposed radioactive zone due to the fire of the graphite masonry of the reactor continued for 10 days. The substances released at the time of the accident spread to the territories of the Gomel, Mogilev regions, Belarus, the Kyiv, Zhitomir regions of Ukraine, and part of the Bryansk region. In total, eleven regions with a population of 17 million people were contaminated. Radioactive particles reached certain regions of the Caucasus, Siberia and Central Asia via air currents. A slight increase in radiation levels was noted even over the territory of Sweden, Finland, Poland and other 23 IAEA member states. Small amounts of radioactive material were transported outside Europe, including China, Japan and the USA. 23 main radionuclides were identified as part of the emissions from the emergency reactor, most of which decayed within a few months. Subsequently, the main radioactive contamination by radionuclides is associated with the spread of iodine-131, plutonium, isotopes of strontium and cesium (especially cesium-137).

In places where rain fell, entire “spots” of radioactive contamination formed. Radioactive products entered water basins as a result of deposition on the water surface, runoff from contaminated areas, and migration with groundwater. For example, in the Kremenchug reservoir in May 1986, the concentration of strontium-90 had a radioactivity of 5 * 1012 C/l, which is almost 100 times the above-established norm. These soils in the area of ​​the Kyiv Reservoir, adjacent to the mouth of the Pripyat River, turned out to be heavily polluted. The city of power engineers, Pripyat, has been mothballed and has become lifeless. The total area of ​​pollution in the first days was about 200 thousand km2. There are 640 settlements located in this zone. Tens of thousands of people, even hundreds, were evacuated from the resettlement zone. But how many people are now receiving low doses of radiation! Today, genetic disorders that arise from irradiation of living organisms have become widely known. An eight-legged foal was born in the Zhytomyr region. The size of ordinary plants and animals found in the contaminated area is amazing. These are the consequences of releasing 50 million curies of radioactivity into the environment.

It is impossible not to mention the problem of radioactive waste disposal. Each of several types has its own burial technology. Special burial grounds may be created. Radioactive waste is hermetically sealed in concrete containers or iron tanks and placed in concrete sarcophagi. Containers can collapse, and then the waste penetrates into the soil and groundwater. Even if, even after a thousand years, a well is drilled in a place where, for example, plutonium is buried, there will be a danger to life.

The only sure way is to recycle radioactive waste. In France, where 75% of electricity comes from nuclear power plants, this method is most common.

Unfortunately, even a peaceful atom turns out to be a formidable and sometimes unpredictable force. The Chernobyl tragedy once again warned against the deliberate inhumane use of nuclear energy.

4. Ecological situation in Rostov and the Rostov region

The problem of environmental protection is acute both in our city and in the region. Rostov-on-Don is a city with a population of more than 1 million people. This is a large industrial center and environmental problems have not bypassed it, like any large city.

In order to compile a general picture of the state of the environment in the territory of Rostov, the most important work was to create an “Ecological and geochemical atlas of the city of Rostov-on-Don.” During the research, samples of atmospheric air, melt and external waters, soils, hydrochemical tests on rivers and streams (Temernik, Aleksandrovka, Leventsovka), as well as samples of vegetables and fruits, measurements of noise levels on the streets were carried out. The following conclusions were made.

The dust load in the city ranges from 200 to 400 kg/km2 per day. In the dirtiest areas of the city (Central Market, Selmash, Tekuchev Street, etc.) at a load of 3000-4000 kg/km2 per day, the dust concentration in the air is 4-5 times higher than the standard daily average maximum permissible concentration (MPC). In microdistricts where there is a lot of greenery in the area of ​​private households, and in large parks, the intensity of atmospheric pollution is much lower.

Abnormally high contents of zinc, lead, chromium, vanadium, nickel, copper, cobalt, etc. were recorded in the dust. The maximum load of zinc falling out of the atmosphere is observed in the Empils area, in the city center; lead - in Selmash, Voenved, in the area of ​​the GPP- 10; chromium - in the zone of influence of the Agat plant, GPZ-10, Empilsa. Abnormally high levels of sulfides, nitrates, and ammonia were noted in the Kirov region (Meat Processing Plant, Rubin, Empils); in Voroshilovsky (in the area affected by the landfill and CHPP-2); in the old city center.

The recorded excess of maximum permissible concentrations for soils for lead, zinc, chromium, copper and other heavy metals indicates the levels of environmental pollution in Rostov. Contaminated soils themselves are dangerous secondary sources of air pollution when the wind lifts or transports soil into the air, or when vegetables and fruits are grown on these soils.

For the first time in Rostov, the intensity of pollution of rainwater and melt water was determined, and the scale of pollutants in the Don was assessed. From the territory of the Leninsky district alone, 12 thousand tons of suspended matter, 457 tons of chlorides, 740 tons of sulfates, 5.4 tons of iron, 1.2 tons of lead, 16.3 tons of oil products, 10 tons of aluminum,...

Another part of atmospheric precipitation is filtered into groundwater. As a result, groundwater throughout almost the entire city is contaminated with manganese, aluminum, nitrates, and petroleum products. Thanks to leaks from the water supply and sewer networks, groundwater is constantly recharged with industrial water. As a result, flooding, waterlogging, and building subsidence appear in the city. Due to the leakage of hot water from heating mains, the temperature of groundwater rises to (45o!).

It has already been mentioned how many (and counting in tons) of various elements are carried by surface waters into the Don. This river still held, until recently, the epithet “the purest of the large rivers of the European part of our country.” This applies mainly to the upper reaches. Let me give you an example. The water consumption near Rostov is 5-6 times less than the total amount of untreated discharges in the basin of the Don and Northern Donets rivers. In other words, by reaching Rostov, the water had already been processed 5-6 times at various enterprises. Knowing the number and low capacity of treatment facilities, one can imagine what a “clean river” contains. In the region it is no longer possible to drink untreated water from the Don, a long time ago.

But if air pollution is visible even from space, then water pollution is visible only from the shore. A huge cloud stretches from Novocherkassk to Vienna. This is what the hundred-kilometer smoke plume of the Novocherkassk State District Power Plant looks like from orbit. This pollutant alone annually “dumps” 100 kg of substances onto each resident of the region. All industrial enterprises in the region, without exception, make a “feasible” contribution, and there are about 500 of them.

It should also be noted that the Rostov region is a coal region. Dusty and spontaneously combusting waste heaps, black crumbs that have eaten into everything living and inanimate - this is the landscape of mining towns.

The Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir is a very vulnerable place from an ecological point of view. This is one of the largest artificial reservoirs in Russia, 250 km long. In its southernmost part, where the Don again turns into a river, there are two cities: Volgodonsk and Tsimlyansk, with a population of 250 thousand. Human. Another 2 million people live downstream. There are water intakes for people and irrigation, fish farms, and recreation areas. And the main thing is that the ecological balance of the entire region of the lower Don largely depends on the condition of the Tsimlyansk Reservoir. It is enough to place a dangerous industrial facility on it, and the balance (already very unstable) will be disrupted, and in the event of an accident it will result in a catastrophe.

5. The problem of preserving life on Earth is global problem of humanity

Our planet is fragile. This epithet was born when people managed to look from space at the Earth - so far the only known habitation of not only living, but also intelligent, with a thin layer of the biosphere in the blackness of endless and lifeless spaces. A. Schweitzer, philosopher, musician, doctor and great humanist of the 20th century, wrote on the eve of the space age and global problems of mankind that the Earth could die from any cosmic accident or initially imperceptible disturbance in the planet’s biosphere.

The encroachment on the Earth's magnetic field by an electrically saturated civilization is a clear example of such a danger. Here's another example, perhaps even more sinister. Fluoride compounds, which are included in many household chemical products, entering the upper layers of the atmosphere in a gaseous state, destroy the ozone layer, which protects all life on Earth from excessive solar ultraviolet irradiation. This is how numerous freons behave, inert on the surface of the Earth and used in the refrigeration industry and for the manufacture of aerosol packaging; in the stratosphere, freons undergo photochemical decomposition and produce a chlorine ion, which bombards and destroys ozone. The thinning of the ozone layer risks the extinction of the living species most sensitive to ultrasonic rays - primarily humans.

And, finally, all problems pale in comparison to the most terrible thing - a general nuclear war, the threat of which has been hanging over the community of the Earth's inhabitants for the last decades. This war brings with it not a crisis, but a catastrophe. Fifteen or even twentyfold destruction of all life on Earth - such is the power of modern nuclear potential, which will actually work only once. The remaining fourteen or nineteen times are more than sufficient for the “guaranteed” eradication of seeds, bacteria and other “vital remains”, without the subsequent emergence of life on our planet, where the conditions for this are a thing of the astronomical past.

As you know, nuclear explosions were not only experiments. Combat explosions of American atomic bombs hit the cities of Hirosmima and Nagasaki in 1945. No less well known is the real environmental war. It was also carried out by the Americans in Indochina, where many people and the surrounding nature were poisoned with pesticides. And although the wounds are gradually healing, excess strontium and cesium from post-war tests continue to “illuminate the Earth in the cosmic darkness.

Currently, the image of war is becoming greener, and the struggle for peace is becoming greener. An example of the struggle for peace is the activities of the international non-governmental organization Greenpeace (“Green World”). It unites environmentalists and opposes any actions that harm nature. It has fought especially persistently recently against the ongoing nuclear tests in Mururoa Atoll. belonging to France, so that the multicolored world will never be replaced by a “white nuclear winter” - the freezing of the planet after a nuclear massacre and the fires of cities and forests caused by it, when the smoky atmosphere will sharply and for many months reduce access to the Earth of sunlight and heat.

Cooperation with nature, its restoration and reasonable development require enormous new efforts and sacrifices. For the coordinated work of a multi-billion-dollar crew, social compatibility (ie interaction and cooperation between states, cultures, ethnic groups) is required so that our “spaceship Earth” does not stop.

By talking about our planet as a “spaceship,” we looked at the Earth from a cosmic point of view. We cannot forget about the connections between the Earth and space. Space, primarily the Sun, can help solve environmental problems on Earth.

There are projects for the active use of solar energy. Solar resources can also be used in space itself, where some types of earthly production can be transferred, using not only energy, but also raw materials of extraterrestrial origin (matter of the Moon, asteroids), and the Earth can be turned into an environmentally comfortable place for human habitation. These are the universal horizons that open up on ways to solve environmental problems on Earth.

But the Earth came, and the Earth will leave, like any specific body in the cosmos. Billions of years ago the Solar System was formed. And also billions of years ago, life formed on Earth - on the only planet out of nine.

Today the entire globe has been cultivated, and there is not a single piece of land that does not directly or indirectly indicate the presence of man. But today the overgrown tree of culture threatens to choke and destroy the tree of life. Man can prevent the Earth from leaving. And in order to survive, he needs to reconsider his views on the combination of artificial and natural in his environment and rebuild environmental practices. And so, the first step towards this: we need a new vision of the Earth, today's Earth, as a unique planet with its main attraction - life.

P L A N:

1. The earth is our common home.

1.1.Spaceship Earth.

1.2. Time to be wise.

2. Ecology as the science of human interaction with the surrounding nature of the Earth.

2.1. Origin and development of ecology.

2.2. Main objectives and practical significance.

3. Problems of ecology at the present stage.

3.1. Water resources are the main wealth of man.

3.1.1. Fight for the cleanliness of Lake Baikal.

3.1.2. Problems of hydropower.

3.2.Nuclear energy from an environmental perspective.

4. Ecological situation in Rostov and the Rostov region.

5. The problem of preserving life on Earth is a global problem for humanity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Yu.A. Shkolenko “This fragile planet.”

2. A.L. Anshin, A.I. Melua "Lessons of environmental miscalculations."

3. Edited by professors Zozulin, Nomokonov, Chupakin “Man and the boisphere.”

4. Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

5. Gevozov, Lobanov, Malyarov “Economics of Environmental Management”.

6. Articles from the magazine “Yunost”, newspapers “Morning” and “Hammer”.

The feeling of awareness of the Motherland comes differently for everyone. But we are all united in one thing, that we are inseparable from our native land. Because on it we learned to take our very first steps and our children, and then our grandchildren, will take them. Since ancient times, our distant ancestors protected the earth and took care of its nature. Using her gifts, we understand that there will be much more of them if we take care of these riches. Today we all face an acute environmental problem. It arose due to the fact that man decided to become the full master of nature and subjugate it to himself. But nature does not forgive mismanagement and careless treatment of it.

To increase land for arable land, forests were destroyed. Old-timers remember what a beautiful place the reservoir in Kakhovka used to be, but now it’s unrecognizable, a complete stench. The dried up Aral Sea alone is worth a lot, and it’s all due to the fault of man - all the water was simply taken from it in order to irrigate dry areas. Our generation can only admire the beautiful drawings of the Aral Sea. The consequence of an irresponsible attitude was the Chernobyl disaster, the echoes of which are still heard in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Several hundred innocent people died in this large-scale accident at the nuclear power plant, many sick people remained, many cities and villages still have elevated background radiation. I personally believe that it is better to ban the construction of nuclear power plants, since they are so dangerous for the country. There are many examples of mismanagement of our Earth. Many cities and villages have embankments, but the rivers themselves no longer exist - their channels have been changed.

It’s a pity that now we have to revive everything, but was it really necessary to destroy it first? Why are we so careless about our Earth, because we, people, are a small part of it. Maybe we shouldn’t conquer it at such a pace, but rather learn to live in harmony with nature? Then you won't have to learn from your own mistakes.

Love and care for our native Earth - our home, concern for well-being - this is our patriotism. The Earth is our planet, and we are obliged to preserve nature for our ancestors, because such disasters and environmental changes arise only from our wrong actions.

Only wise use of resources and care for natural resources will give us all the opportunity to survive and be a healthy nation. If a person is so cruel in destroying resources, then the Earth will not forgive. Nature needs to be preserved and not destroyed, because the Earth is our common home.

Among all the planets in the solar system, Earth is the only planet where there is life. Astronauts say that the earth is very beautiful from space. And when you look at this green-yellow-blue ball from space, it takes your breath away. And immediately your heart ache and you want to go home.

Human civilization arose on Earth a long time ago. We were born here too. The sun warms our planet, maintains the optimal temperature, people can live here.

For our Earth to become a real home, we must love it and take care of it. Treats you like your own home. Clean up trash, but people, on the contrary, litter the planet. Landfills are spreading around large and small cities. The stench is in the air, and the wind carries this smell straight into the residents' apartments.

Just like in the house, the planet needs to be washed. Rains do a great job of this. In some places, it is even too active that rivers overflow their banks and flood the plains. How pleasant it is to walk on a summer morning along the streets of a newly washed city. It is necessary to wash the windows of houses from dust and dirt so that you can better see your city.

Just like the flowers in the house, forests and fields need to be watered (rain does this job well). And when he is gone for a long time, people turn on special watering systems.

Just like at home, you need to save energy. Turn off lights during the day. Why are they needed if the sun is shining?

It is necessary to care for and look after the animals. After all, at home we look after them. So why have people become so cruel and throw little kittens and puppies into the street? Over hundreds of years, some animal species ceased to exist altogether.

We must live on Earth in such a way as to leave our children and grandchildren a legacy of clean, fast rivers and lakes, and not pulp and paper mills along the shores of lakes. Green, noisy forests, not forest stumps. This will probably happen soon. They constantly show on TV how the Chinese are exporting timber from Russia in whole trains.

If it becomes impossible to live on Earth, then there will be nowhere to move. They have not yet found another planet suitable for life in the Universe. And then everyone will die. We must not forget about this.

Option 2

There is an opinion regarding how the development of the human personality is measured. If a person is poorly developed, then he becomes fixated on the interests of only his own body, or even on some separate interest, for example, how to get pleasure. If he is a little more developed, then he thinks in terms of benefits for his own family and his loved ones, and is focused on the team.

A further degree of development can be expressed in how a person associates himself and his own interests with his own city and country, considers himself part of some global community - people who live in a certain territory or those who are close at the level of genetics, belonging to a specific race , people. As you might guess, the next stage is to consider yourself as part of the planet, and then the whole world. This logic is quite understandable, but in fact, not many in this world can really clearly see themselves as inhabitants of the Earth.

It is not uncommon for people to become fixated on smaller scales. Some consider the view of the Earth as one’s own home to be some kind of cosmopolitanism and even a lack of patriotism. However, if you think about it, it is easy to remove these misconceptions and understand how beneficial it can be to consider the land as your own home sincerely and without prejudice.

Viewing the world in this way offers significant additions to one's worldview, such as increased responsibility and a more empathetic attitude towards people. Various conventions that separate people create an atmosphere of tension and confrontation, while the simple thought of the Earth as a common home allows you to see in any other person not a rival or simply different, but your friend, who was also lucky enough to visit this house and settle here. In turn, responsibility that extends to the entire planet is a factor that can improve behavior in a natural way; if you see the need to take care of the entire Earth, then a person can do much more useful things, and quite calmly, simply realizing that he is part of this beautiful and a huge world.

Article on the topic Earth is our home

Space flights have just begun their development, so today the only planet where there is definitely life is our Earth. This is the third cosmic body in the solar system. Among the terrestrial planets, it has the largest size. Scientific evidence indicates that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. The entire process of its formation took about 10-20 million years.

After another couple of million, the Earth’s satellite, the Moon, was formed. It is not known exactly how the Moon was formed. The most popular theory says that the satellite broke away from the Earth after its collision with another cosmic body.

Life on Earth began to develop 3.9 billion years ago, from the simplest cells.

The ocean occupies a large area of ​​the planet. Water covers approximately 70% of the total area of ​​the Earth. Everything else is continents, islands and ice. The entire water system is called the hydrosphere. This is not only the ocean and seas, but also fresh lakes, rivers, reservoirs and underground waters. The Earth's poles represent an area covered by ice. It is from here that icebergs break off and then drift in the waters of the world's oceans.

The planet consists of several layers. The most pronounced ones are the outer cortex and the inner core. The outer bark is quite dense, its main component is silicates. The planet's core is an active region, composed mainly of nickel and iron. The temperature in the center of the Earth can reach 6000 degrees.

The shape of the Earth is ellipsoidal. It is slightly flattened at the poles. Because of this feature, the diameter of the equator is larger than that of the poles.

The highest point on our planet is Mount Everest. Its height is 8848 meters. The deepest point on Earth is the Mariana Trench, which goes 10,994 meters deep.

With the development of technology, the Earth began to suffer from environmental problems. The rapid development of industrial society has led to environmental deterioration and the appearance of holes in the ozone layer. The biggest problem is the ozone hole over the Arctic. The ozone layer is an important part of the Earth's atmosphere. Thanks to it, the planet is protected from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays. With its destruction many problems arise. More and more people are developing skin cancer. However, this is not even the main thing. The greenhouse effect occurs, which leads to serious climate changes.

We must remember that today the Earth is the only home where we can live and try with all our might to preserve its natural resources.

Essay 4

Planet Earth is a unique planet. Only on it in our solar system there is life in the form of intelligent beings. It is significantly larger than Mercury and Mars and slightly larger than Venus. But although it is too small compared to Jupiter or Saturn, it is huge for people. To cross it along the equator, a lifetime may not be enough.

All people were born and raised on a wonderful planet called “Earth”. She is our refuge, a place that gives us everything: from food to the air we breathe.

Every person has a corner in his heart dedicated to his native land or Motherland. She is dear to us, and we simply must take care of her gifts that she gives us. This is the water and food that we use to replenish our energy, the air we breathe, other people who are our friends or relatives, animals that we also love and keep, and much more.

We are also obliged to protect and protect nature from harmful substances and pollution, because it provides us with most of our resources.

In nature, everything is interconnected. If a person cuts down a tree, kills an animal, or drains a river, all this can turn against him. The earth does not forgive such people, because without a river a person will not be able to fish, and without trees he will breathe poisoned air filled with exhaust gases and other chemicals.

Of course, it is good that our civilization is developing, our life is becoming much more improved, but it is worth remembering that all the resources of the planet must be spent wisely and take care of the cleanliness of our planet.

Man cannot live outside the Earth. It shelters us from the radiation of the Sun with its atmosphere and gives us oxygen, which is vital for our existence.

Man is very small compared to the planet and often forgets that he himself is part of the Earth. People organize wars, take lives, sometimes even entire cities, by dropping atomic bombs on them. After all, in this way people harm not only the planet, but also themselves. They deprive themselves of the only thing - what life gives them.

On Earth, as mentioned earlier, everything is interconnected. Every bird and every leaf. If a person drains a lake or river somewhere, then in another part of the planet a flood will begin and everything will be flooded with water. The earth is our common home and it is given to us not only for our own purposes, but also in order to learn something new, study and maintain the balance of all living things in it.

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1 Essay “The Earth is our common home”

Head: Zhanturina Zhenisgul Kuanyshbaevna

Aktogay Secondary School

Earth is our common home

1. The earth is our nurse.

2.Protecting nature is the responsibility of every person.

Man is the owner and protector of the earth

Let us preserve and preserve the riches of the Motherland.

3.Attitude to the earth, to nature is one of the indicators of human culture.

Take care of these lands, these waters,

I love even a small epic.

Take care of all animals inside nature

Kill only the beasts within yourself.

(E. Yevtushenko)

Human life is inextricably linked with our native nature, with the earth. The earth is our nurse. A person lives and works on it, shares joy and sorrow with it.

Homeland and nature, land are concepts that are inseparable from each other. It is symbolic that these words have the same root. For many of us, the concept of the Motherland is associated with home, with relatives, with the river where we spent our childhood. Mom’s hands, toys, fairy tales, the street, grass, forest, clouds in the sky and much, much more - this is our first idea of ​​the Motherland, of the complex huge world, of the earth. We are the masters of the earth, the masters of all living and beautiful things that adorn our lives. But if we are the owners, then we must also be the defenders of the land, because one cannot only own without paying good for good.

Our land is great and rich. Its wealth is immense, but it is not infinite. You need to know how to take care of them. The time has come for all people to take care of preserving nature and the wealth of the earth.

How much joy the earth has experienced together with man, and how much pain soulless people who do evil deeds cause it! The native land can do everything for a person. She can feed you bread, give you clean water to drink, and surprise you with her beauty. But she can’t defend herself. Protecting our native land is the sacred duty of everyone. Man is part of nature. We should never forget that a person must take care of everything in the world. Today, one of the important problems is the threat of environmental disaster.

Man is a part of nature and by destroying it, he destroys himself. And at the same time he drinks contaminated water and eats food grown on poisoned soil. We rarely think about how all this will affect our health and the health of future generations.

Nature is also a source of inspiration. Probably, a poet will not become a real poet if he cannot love nature, cannot admire it the way the poet N. Rylenkov did. He believed that nature and man are inseparable, but we must remember that

She'll give us everything: boom, but don't freak out,

Known beauty for vain undertakings...

Nature and the Motherland, land and man, its riches are inseparable in Yesenin’s work. Yesenin’s nature lives, moves, listens, dreams.

Lovely birch thickets!

You are the earth! And you, plain sands!

Before this host of departing

I am unable to hide my melancholy!..

… I think:

How beautiful

Each of us must be not only the owner of the earth, but also a faithful friend of nature. Man should not fight with nature, that she is not his enemy, for he himself is a part of it, has now become obvious.

Attitude towards nature is one of the indicators of a person’s culture and upbringing. Everyone has a responsibility to take care of nature and the environment. Man and nature are connected to each other. Reasonable human participation in the life of nature is beneficial to both man and nature. We must remember that clean rivers and rich forests, animals and birds, fertile soil and clean water are needed not only by us living in the 21st century.

Our task is to preserve the wealth of nature for the future. Future descendants will not forgive us for our consumerist, thoughtless attitude towards nature. Everyone should think about the fact that nature can be saved only when we realize a simple truth: by harming the environment, we thereby harm ourselves.

I want to finish my essay with poetry

Oh, Kazakhstan, a free country,

A land of wonders and good fairy tales.

Always be independent

Be rich and fertile.

Live in peace and goodness,

In harmony, friendship, prosper

And in this fabulous country

Know no sorrow, no sorrow!

My friends, our union is wonderful!

The Earth is our planet, and we live on it. This is our house. There are many of us, but she is one for all. We are a family. This is both man and nature. Nature created us and that is why we call her mother. She gives us everything, and we, her children, forget that she needs help and care. Our planet is in danger!

People create terrible poisons that infect and kill all life on Earth, produce cars that pollute the air with exhaust gases, cut down forests, drain swamps, and throw out garbage wherever it ends up.

Every person makes his home clean and cozy. IN

There is a lot of light and warmth. But when we walk out the door, we see heaps of garbage, landfills, and we breathe poisonous air. This happens because people only care about their home. But no one guards, cares for or protects our common home! People, look around! Look at our forests, rivers, seas, meadows, they all need help.

Ancient people knew their open spaces well. The earth seemed huge to them. Previously, there were few people on earth, and they lived in harmony with nature and did not interfere with it. Now there are many more people. They cut down forests. Now there is no one to clean the air. Cities sprang up everywhere. Even the water was no longer clean. People have lost a lot

Forever already. Every day one species of animal disappears on Earth, and every week we lose one species of plant. The Red Book is swelling with new names being added to it.

Man must become the master of the planet - carefully spend all the resources of the Earth, take care of its cleanliness.

A person must remember that one cannot only take from nature, but must give it something in return. Let's respond to her with warmth for warmth, love for love. Let's not forget that by caring for nature, we also take care of the Earth.

We, children, must help adults, protect nature: do not throw away garbage, do not pick flowers, feed the birds.

This winter our class decided to find out how birds winter. From various sources we have learned about birds and their life on Earth that it is very difficult for hibernating birds to feed themselves in winter. We even defended a project on this topic (Appendix 1). To save the birds, they made feeders for them and hung them in the school yard. Every week we feed the birds with grain, millet and seeds. Now our birds are always full and delight us with their singing.

To save our planet, you don’t have to be poor or rich, an adult or a child, a scientist or a worker. You just need to listen to your heart. The future of planet Earth, its well-being and prosperity are in our hands!

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