Manifestation of the problem. Manifestation of the problem in our time

Global problems of humanity affect our planet as a whole. Therefore, all peoples and states are engaged in solving them. This term appeared in the late 60s of the XX century. Currently, there is a special scientific branch that studies and solves global problems of humanity. It is called global studies.

Scientific specialists from various fields work in this area: biologists, soil scientists, chemists, physicists, and geologists. And this is no coincidence, because the global problems of humanity are complex in nature and their emergence does not depend on any one factor. On the contrary, it is very important to take into account the economic, political, and social changes taking place in the world. Life on the planet in the future depends on how correctly the modern global problems of humanity are solved.

You need to know: some of them have existed for a long time, others, quite “young”, are associated with the fact that people began to negatively impact the world. Because of this, for example, environmental problems of mankind have arisen. These can be called the main difficulties modern society. Although the problem of environmental pollution itself appeared a long time ago. All varieties interact with each other. Often one problem provokes another.

Sometimes it happens that global problems of humanity can be solved and completely gotten rid of them. First of all, this concerns epidemics that threatened the lives of people all over the planet and led to their mass death, but then they were stopped, for example, with the help of an invented vaccine. At the same time, completely new problems appear that were previously unknown to society, or existing ones grow to a global level, for example, depletion of the ozone layer. The cause of their occurrence is human activity. The problem of environmental pollution allows us to see this very clearly. But in other cases, the tendency of people to influence the misfortunes that happen to them and threaten their existence is clearly visible. So, what problems of humanity that have planetary significance exist?

Environmental disaster

It is caused by daily environmental pollution and depletion of earth and water reserves. All these factors together can accelerate the onset of environmental disaster. Man considers himself the king of nature, but at the same time does not strive to preserve it in its original form. This is also hampered by industrialization, which is proceeding at a rapid pace. Negatively affecting its habitat, humanity destroys it and does not think about it. It is not for nothing that pollution standards have been developed and are regularly exceeded. As a result, humanity's environmental problems may become irreversible. To avoid this, we must pay attention to the preservation of flora and fauna, and try to preserve the biosphere of our planet. And for this it is necessary to make production and other human activities more environmentally friendly so that the impact on the environment is less aggressive.

Demographic problem

The world's population is growing rapidly. And although the “population explosion” has already subsided, the problem still remains. The situation with food and natural resources is deteriorating. Their stocks are decreasing. At the same time, the negative impact on the environment is increasing, and it is impossible to cope with unemployment and poverty. Difficulties arise with education and healthcare. The UN has taken upon itself the solution to global problems of this nature. The organization created a special plan. One of its points is the family planning program.

Disarmament

After the creation of a nuclear bomb, the population tries to avoid the consequences of its use. For this purpose, non-aggression and disarmament treaties are signed between countries. Ban laws are passed nuclear arsenals, stopping the arms trade. The presidents of leading states hope in this way to avoid the outbreak of the Third World War, as a result of which, as they suspect, all life on Earth could be destroyed.

Food problem

In some countries, the population is experiencing food shortages. Residents of Africa and other third countries of the world suffer especially from hunger. To solve this problem, two options have been created. The first is aimed at ensuring that pastures, fields, and fishing areas gradually increase their area. If you follow the second option, you should not increase the territory, but increase the productivity of existing ones. For this purpose, the latest biotechnologies, methods of land reclamation, and mechanization are being developed. High-yielding plant varieties are being created.

Health

Despite the active development of medicine, the emergence of new vaccines and drugs, humanity continues to get sick. Moreover, many diseases threaten the lives of the population. Therefore, in our time, the development of treatment methods is actively underway. Modern substances are created in laboratories for effective immunization of the population. Unfortunately, the most dangerous diseases of the 21st century - oncology and AIDS - remain incurable.

Ocean problem

Recently, this resource has not only been actively researched, but also used for the needs of humanity. Experience shows that it can provide food, natural resources, and energy. The ocean is a trade route that helps restore communication between countries. At the same time, its reserves are used unevenly, and military operations are ongoing on its surface. In addition, it serves as a base for the disposal of waste, including radioactive waste. Humanity is obliged to preserve the riches of the World Ocean, avoid pollution, and rationally use its gifts.

Space exploration

This space belongs to all humanity, which means that all peoples must use their scientific and technical potential to explore it. For deep space exploration, special programs are created that use all modern achievements in this field.

People know that if these problems do not go away, the planet may die. But why do many people not want to do anything, hoping that everything will disappear and “dissolve” by itself? Although, in truth, such inaction is better than the active destruction of nature, pollution of forests, water bodies, destruction of animals and plants, especially rare species.

It is impossible to understand the behavior of such people. It would not hurt them to think about the fact that their children and grandchildren will have to live, if, of course, it is still possible, on a dying planet. You shouldn’t count on anyone being able to rid the world of difficulties in just one minute. a short time. Global problems of humanity can only be solved together if all of humanity makes an effort. The threat of destruction in the near future should not be frightening. It is best if it can stimulate the potential inherent in each of us.

Don’t think that it’s difficult to cope with the world’s problems alone. This makes it seem like it is useless to act, and thoughts of powerlessness in the face of difficulties appear. The point is to join forces and help at least your city prosper. Solve small problems of your habitat. And when every person on Earth begins to have such responsibility towards themselves and their country, large-scale, global problems will also be solved.

Hello, friends! Every person has problems in life, absolutely all people have problems in life and the truth is that they will never go away! Why? Because they have a certain meaning for a person and his development. This information will help you learn to approach problems in such a way that you always win and never lose your high spirit and good mood.

Of course, all people have completely different attitudes to the problems that arise in life. Alone They run away from problems all their lives, turn away from them and do not want to admit them until the problems catch up with them and finish them off completely. This is called and. Other, treat problems as punishment or pure, with heaviness and negativity, they say “again these problems, well, as many as possible, everything is enough...”, and such an attitude, of course, introduces a decent amount of suffering and negative emotions into a person’s life, making it heavier.

Still others, the wisest and, as a rule, more successful and happier than the first and second, have learned to treat their problems positively. We learned not to run away from them, but to solve them, and at the same time become only stronger, always achieving our Goal.

Human problems and how to deal with them

Problems for people never just appear out of nowhere. Remember, if a problem appears in your life, then there is always a reason, the root cause of its occurrence, and its solution! This is the Law. Any problem has arisen in your life for only one purpose - to teach you something, to make you stronger, wiser and closer to your goal. When you solve a problem, overcome an obstacle, it gives you its power, and you always rise higher, to the next stage of your evolution and development. By solving problems and challenges along the way, you grow!

Essentially you only need to do three things:

1. Understand that problems and obstacles are a definite benefit, this is something that should make you stronger and help you achieve your desired goals. That is, you need to stop being upset because new problems arise, and learn to solve them boldly and boldly, receiving well-deserved dividends.

2. Find the most effective methods solutions to problems, the most powerful solutions. Actually, the site was created so that you can find here the best answers and methods for solving your problems and tasks posed by life.

3. Recognize that all the reasons for the troubles and problems that arise in your life are in yourself, in and (in erroneous, negative emotions, motives and actions). There is an absolutely fair saying - “If you want to change your life, change yourself”. Learn to solve your psychological problems, for example, overcome your negative emotions (, etc.), develop positive personal qualities (

Introduction


The development of human society has never been a conflict-free, consistent process. Throughout the history of the existence of intelligent life on Earth, questions have invariably arisen, the answers to which forced us to radically reconsider the already familiar ideas about the world and man. All this gave rise to countless problems that faced man most acutely in the second half of the 20th century, when his destructive activities acquired global proportions. Conditions, processes, and phenomena have arisen on our planet that have placed humanity in danger of undermining the very foundations of its existence. The range of problems whose solution ensures the survival of humanity is called the global problems of our time.

The concept of globalization became truly key at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. For the first time in its history, the human race was faced with the possibility of its general destruction. The very existence of life on Earth was called into question, i.e. global problems of humanity cover all countries, the Earth’s atmosphere, the World Ocean and near-Earth space; affect the entire population of the Earth.

Distinctive feature modern civilization- increase global threats and problems. We are talking about the threat of nuclear war, the growth of armaments, the unreasonable waste of natural resources, diseases, hunger, poverty, etc., therefore, the study of the phenomenon of globalization attracts scientists, public and politicians, representatives of the business world.

The purpose of this work: a comprehensive study and characterization of modern global problems of humanity, as well as the causes of their occurrence.

To do this, we will solve the following problems:

the essence, causes, features of each of the global problems, possible ways to solve them;

possible consequences manifestations of global problems on modern stage development of societies.

The work consists of an introduction to three chapters of the main part, a conclusion, a list of sources used and applications.


1. Modern global problems of humanity


1 Concept, essence, origin and nature of global problems


Second half of the 20th century marked by the processes of globalization. According to the view of most researchers, the main content of the globalization process is the formation of humanity as a single society. In other words, if in the 19th century. Since humanity was still a system of independent societies, then in the 20th century, and especially in its second half, certain signs emerged indicating the formation of a single global civilization.

Globalization is a natural and inevitable process, its basis is internationalization, high degree division of labor, development of high, and above all, information technologies, formation of global markets. The end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. led to the development of a number of local, specific issues of development of countries and regions into the category of global ones. The problems that have arisen have given rise to a threat that is of a worldwide, planetary nature and is therefore called global.

The importance of global problems especially increased in the second half of the twentieth century; by this time the territorial division of the world was completed, two poles had formed in the world economy: at one pole there were industrial the developed countries, and on the other side of the country - agricultural and raw materials appendages. The latter were drawn into the international division of labor long before the emergence of national markets there. The world economy formed in this way, even after the former colonies gained independence, preserved the relationship between the center and the periphery for many years. This is where the current global problems and contradictions originate.

Thus, the global problems of our time should be understood as a set of problems on the solution of which the further existence of civilization depends.

Global problems are generated by uneven development of different areas of life modern humanity and contradictions generated in socio-economic, political-ideological, socio-natural and other relations of people. These problems affect the life of humanity as a whole.

Despite all the diversity and internal differences, global problems have common features:

have acquired a truly planetary, worldwide character, and because of this affect the interests of the peoples of all states;

threaten (if their solution is not found) humanity with either the death of civilization as such, or a serious regression in the further development of productive forces, in the conditions of life itself, in the development of society;

need urgent decisions and actions to overcome and prevent dangerous consequences and threats to the livelihoods and safety of citizens;

For their solution, they require collective efforts and actions on the part of all states and the entire world community.

The global problems of our time are in organic connection and interdependence with each other, forming a single, whole system, characterized by their well-known subordination, hierarchical subordination.

This circumstance allows us to classify these problems on the basis of establishing cause-and-effect relationships between them, as well as taking into account the degree of their severity and, accordingly, the priority of solutions. The main criteria for classifying a problem as global are its scale and the need for joint efforts to eliminate it. According to their origin, nature and methods of solution, global problems, according to the accepted international classification, are divided into 3 groups.

The first group consists of problems determined by the main socio-economic and political tasks of humanity. These include maintaining peace, ending the arms race and disarmament, non-militarization of space, creating favorable conditions for global social progress, and overcoming the development gap of countries with low per capita incomes.

The second group covers a complex of problems revealed in the triad “man - society - technology”. These problems should take into account the effectiveness of using scientific and technical progress in the interests of harmonious social development and the elimination of the negative impact of technology on people, population growth, the establishment of human rights in the state, its liberation from under excessively increased control state institutions, especially on personal freedom as the most important component of human rights.

The third group is represented by problems related to socio-economic processes and the environment, i.e. problems of relations between society and nature. This includes solving raw materials, energy and food problems, overcoming the environmental crisis, which is spreading to more and more new areas and can destroy human life.

Note that the above classification is relative, because various groups of global problems taken together form a single, extremely complex, multifactorial system in which all components are interconnected.

The scale, location and role of individual global problems are changing. Until recently, the struggle to preserve peace and disarmament occupied a leading place; now the environmental problem has taken first place.

Changes are also taking place within global problems: some of their components lose their former significance and new ones appear. Thus, in the problem of the struggle for peace and disarmament, the main emphasis began to be placed on the reduction of means of mass destruction, the non-proliferation of mass weapons, the development and implementation of measures for the conversion of military production; in the fuel and raw materials problem, a real possibility has arisen of the depletion of a number of non-renewable natural resources, and in the demographic problem, new tasks have arisen associated with a significant expansion of international migration of the population, labor resources, etc. It is also necessary to take into account that global problems do not arise somewhere nearby with pre-existing and local problems, but grow organically from them.


2 Contemporary problems caused by globalization


IN scientific literature You can find various lists of global problems, where their number varies from 8-10 to 40-45. This is explained by the fact that, along with the main, priority global problems (which will be discussed further in the textbook), there are a number of more specific, but also very important issues: for example, crime, drug addiction, separatism, democratic deficit, man-made disasters, natural disasters, etc.

IN modern conditions The main global problems include:

The North-South problem is a problem economic relations developed countries with developing ones. Its essence is that in order to bridge the gap in the levels of socio-economic development between developed and developing countries, the latter require various concessions from developed countries, in particular, expanding access for their goods to the markets of developed countries, increasing the influx of knowledge and capital (especially in the form assistance), debt write-off and other measures in relation to them. The backwardness of developing countries is potentially dangerous not only at the local level, but also for the global economic system as a whole. The backward South is his integral part and, therefore, its economic, political and social problems will inevitably find and are already finding manifestation outside. Concrete evidence of this can be, for example, large-scale forced migration from developing countries to developed ones, as well as the spread throughout the world of both new and previously considered defeated infectious diseases. That is why the North-South problem can be rightfully interpreted as one of the global problems of our time.

The problem of poverty is one of the main global problems. Poverty refers to the inability to provide the simplest and most affordable living conditions for most people in a given country. Large levels of poverty, especially in developing countries, pose a serious threat not only to national but also to global sustainable development. According to World Bank estimates, the total number of poor people, i.e. There are 2.5-3 billion people living on less than $2 a day in the world. Including the total number of people living in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day) - 1-1.2 billion people. In other words, 40-48% of the world's population are poor, and 16-19% are ultra-poor. Most of the poor are concentrated in rural areas of developing countries. In some developing countries, the problem of poverty has long reached critical levels. For example, at the beginning of the 21st century. 76% of the population of Zambia, 71% of Nigeria, 61% of Madagascar, 58% of Tanzania, 54% of Haiti are forced to live on less than $1 a day. What makes the global problem of poverty especially acute is that many developing countries, due to low income levels, do not yet have sufficient opportunities to alleviate the problem of poverty. This is why broad international support is required to eliminate pockets of poverty.

The world food problem lies in the inability of humanity to date to fully provide for itself. important products nutrition. This problem acts in practice as a problem of absolute food shortage (malnutrition and hunger) in the least developed countries, as well as nutritional imbalance in developed countries. Over the past 50 years, significant progress has been made in food production - the number of undernourished and hungry people has almost halved. At the same time, a large part of the world's population still experiences food shortages. The number of people in need exceeds 850 million people, i.e. Every seventh person experiences absolute food shortages. More than 5 million children die every year from the consequences of starvation. Its solution will largely depend on the effective use of natural resources, scientific and technological progress in the field Agriculture and from the level state support.

The global energy problem is the problem of providing humanity with fuel and energy now and in the foreseeable future. The main reason the emergence of a global energy problem should be considered fast growth consumption of mineral fuels in the 20th century. On the supply side, it is caused by the discovery and exploitation of huge oil and gas fields V Western Siberia, in Alaska, on the shelf North Sea, and on the demand side - by an increase in the vehicle fleet and an increase in production volumes polymer materials. The increase in the production of fuel and energy resources has entailed a serious deterioration in the environmental situation (expansion of open-pit mining, offshore mining, etc.). And the growth in demand for these resources has increased competition among countries exporting fuel resources for Better conditions sales and between importing countries for access to energy resources. At the same time, there is a further increase in mineral fuel resources. Under the influence of the energy crisis, large-scale geological exploration work intensified, leading to the discovery and development of new energy deposits. Security indicators have increased accordingly the most important species mineral fuel: it is believed that at the current level of extraction, proven coal reserves should be sufficient for 325 years, natural gas- for 62 years, and oil - for 37 years. If developed countries are now solving this problem, first of all, by slowing down the growth of their demand by reducing energy intensity, then in other countries there is a relatively rapid increase in energy consumption. Added to this may be growing competition in the global energy market between developed countries and newly large industrialized countries (China, India, Brazil). All these circumstances, combined with military and political instability in some regions, can cause significant fluctuations in the level of world prices for energy resources and seriously affect the dynamics of supply and demand, as well as the production and consumption of energy goods, sometimes creating crisis situations.

The global demographic problem is divided into two aspects: rapid and poorly controlled growth (demographic explosion) of the population of countries and regions developing world; demographic aging of the population of developed and transition countries. For the former, the solution is to increase economic growth and reduce population growth. For the second - emigration and reform of the pension system.

Never in the entire history of mankind has the world population growth rate been as high as in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries. During the period from 1960 to 1999, the planet's population doubled (from 3 billion to 6 billion people), and in 2007 it amounted to 6.6 billion people. Although the average annual growth rate of the world's population has decreased from 2.2% in the early 60s. to 1.5% in the early 2000s, the absolute annual growth increased from 53 million to 80 million people. Demographic transition from traditional (high birth rate - high mortality - low natural increase) to modern type population reproduction (low birth rate - low mortality - low natural population growth) ended in developed countries in the first third of the 20th century, and in most countries with transition economies - in the middle of the last century. At the same time, in the 1950-1960s, a demographic transition began in a number of countries and regions of the rest of the world, which begins to end only in Latin America, East and Southeast Asia and continues in East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle and Middle East. The rapid rate of population growth compared to the rate of socio-economic development in these regions leads to aggravation of problems of employment, poverty, food situation, land issue, low level education, deteriorating public health. These countries see the solution to their demographic problem in accelerating economic growth and simultaneously reducing the birth rate (China could be an example). In European countries, Japan and a number of CIS countries since the last quarter of the 20th century. There is a demographic crisis, manifested in slow growth and even natural decline and aging of the population, stabilization or reduction of its working population. Demographic aging (increase in the proportion of the population over 60 years of age to over 12% of the total population, over 65 years of age - over 7%) is a natural process, which is based on advances in medicine, improved quality of life and other factors that contribute to the extension of life of a significant part of the population. population.

For the economies of developed and transition countries, increasing life expectancy has both positive and negative consequences. The first includes the possibility of extending the working life of older citizens beyond the current threshold retirement age. The second includes problems of both material support for elderly and elderly citizens, and their medical and consumer services. The fundamental way out of this situation lies in the transition to a funded pension system, in which the citizen himself is primarily responsible for the size of his pension. As for the aspect of the demographic problem in these countries, such as a reduction in the economically active population, its solution is seen primarily in the influx of immigrants from other countries.

Relationship between population growth and economic growth long time is the subject of research by economists. As a result of research, two approaches to assessing the impact of population growth on economic development have been developed. The first approach is, to one degree or another, associated with the theory of Malthus, who believed that population growth is faster than food growth and therefore the world population is inevitably becoming poorer. The modern approach to assessing the role of population on the economy is comprehensive and identifies both positive and negative factors in the impact of population growth on economic growth. Many experts believe that the real problem is not population growth per se, but the following problems: underdevelopment - underdevelopment; depletion of the world's resources and destruction of the environment.

The problem of human development is a problem of matching quality characteristics work force the nature of the modern economy. Human potential is one of the main types of total economic potential and is distinguished by specific and qualitative characteristics. In the conditions of post-industrialization, the requirements for the physical qualities and especially for the education of the worker increase, including his ability to constantly improve his skills. However, the development of the qualitative characteristics of the labor force in the world economy is extremely uneven. The worst indicators in this regard are demonstrated by developing countries, which, however, are the main source of replenishment of the world labor force. This is what determines the global nature of the problem of human development.

The problem of disarmament and maintaining peace on Earth. The history of mankind can be viewed as the history of wars. Only in the 20th century. There were two world wars and many local wars (in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, the Middle East and other regions). Only after World War II until beginning of the XXI century. There were more than 40 international and about 90 intrastate conflicts, where tens of millions of people died. Moreover, if in international conflicts the ratio of civilian and military deaths is approximately equal, then in civil and national liberation wars the civilian population dies three times more than the military. And today, dozens of potential international or interethnic conflicts continue to exist on the planet.

The problem of ensuring human safety. Increasing globalization, interdependence and the reduction of time and spatial barriers create a situation of collective insecurity from various threats, from which a person cannot always be saved by his state. This requires the creation of conditions that enhance a person’s ability to independently withstand risks and threats. Over the past two decades, the concept of security has undergone significant revision. Its traditional interpretation as the security of the state (its borders, territory, sovereignty, population and material values) was supplemented by human security (human security).

Human security is a state of people being protected from internal and external threats and risks and freedom from fear and want, which is achieved through joint and purposeful activities civil society, nation state and the international community. To the basic conditions ensuring human security, include: personal freedom; peace and personal security; full participation in management processes; protection of human rights; access to resources and basic necessities of life, including access to health services and education; a natural environment favorable for human life. Creating these conditions involves, firstly, eliminating the root causes or establishing effective control over the sources of threat and, secondly, increasing the ability of each individual to withstand threats. To ensure these conditions, it is possible to use two groups of measures: preventive, or long-term, and immediate, extraordinary. The first group includes activities aimed at overcoming problems that are most often sources of instability and local conflicts. The second set of measures includes measures to resolve existing conflicts or post-conflict reconstruction measures and humanitarian aid.

The problem of the World Ocean is the problem of conservation and rational use of its spaces and resources. The essence of the global problem of the World Ocean lies in the extremely uneven development of the Ocean's resources, in the increasing pollution of the marine environment, and in its use as an arena for military activity. As a result, over the past decades, the intensity of life in the World Ocean has decreased by 1/3. That's why it's very great importance adopted in 1982 by the UN Convention on maritime law, which is called the “Charter of the Seas”. She installed economic zones at 200 nautical miles from the coast, within which the coastal state can also carry out sovereign rights on the use of biological and mineral pecyps. Currently, the World Ocean, as a closed ecological system, can hardly withstand the greatly increased anthropogenic load, and a real threat of its destruction is created. Therefore, the global problem of the World Ocean is, first of all, the problem of its survival. The main way to solve the problem of using the World Ocean is rational oceanic environmental management, a balanced, integrated approach to its wealth, based on the combined efforts of the entire world community. The essence of this problem lies in the difficult finding of ways to optimize the exploitation of the ocean's biological resources.

Ecological situation is currently one of the most acute and intractable problems. A feature of our time is the intense and global human impact on the environment, which is accompanied by intense and global negative consequences. Contradictions between man and nature can worsen due to the fact that there is no limit to the growth of human material needs, while the ability of the natural environment to satisfy them is limited. The contradictions in the “man - society - nature” system have acquired a planetary character.

There are two aspects of the environmental problem:

environmental crises arising as a consequence natural processes;

crises caused by anthropogenic impact and irrational environmental management.

The main problem is the planet's inability to cope with waste human activity, with self-cleaning and repair function. The biosphere is being destroyed. Therefore, there is a great risk of self-destruction of humanity as a result of its own life activity.

Nature is influenced in the following ways:

use of environmental components as a resource base for production;

the impact of human production activities on the environment;

demographic pressure on nature (agricultural use of land, population growth, growth of large cities).

Many global problems of humanity are intertwined here - resource, food, demographic - they all have access to environmental issues.

The ecological potential of the world economy is increasingly undermined by human economic activity. The answer to this was the concept of environmentally sustainable development. It involves the development of all countries of the world, taking into account current needs, but not undermining the interests of future generations. The problem of ecology and sustainable development is the problem of stopping the harmful effects of human activities on the environment.

Back in the middle of the last century, ecology was internal matter each country, because pollution from industrial activities occurred only in areas with increased concentration environmentally harmful industries. However, in the second half of the 20th century. The economic impact on nature has reached levels at which it began to lose its ability to self-heal. In the 1990s. The environmental problem has reached a global level, which is manifested in the following negative trends:

the world ecosystem is being destroyed, more and more representatives of flora and fauna are disappearing, upsetting the ecological balance in nature;

More and more large areas of the planet are becoming a zone of environmental disaster;

The most complex and potentially the most dangerous problem is possible climate change, which is expressed in an increase in average temperature, which, in turn, leads to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme natural and climatic events: droughts, floods, tornadoes, sudden thaws and frosts that cause significant economic damage to nature, people and the economies of countries. Climate change is usually associated with an increase in the “greenhouse effect” - an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that enter there from the combustion of fuel, associated gas in places of extraction, on the one hand, and deforestation and land degradation, on the other.

The main consequences of environmental pollution are as follows: harm to human health and farm animals; contaminated areas become unsuitable or even unsuitable for human habitation and their economic activity and pollution can lead to disruption of the biosphere’s ability to self-purify and its complete destruction. The main directions of exacerbation of the environmental crisis include the withdrawal from land use of saline soils subject to wind and water erosion; excessive use of chemical fertilizers, etc.; increasing chemical impact on food, water, and the human environment; destruction of forests, i.e. everything that in one way or another affects the life and health of people; growing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere leading to the gradual destruction of the protective ozone layer; rapid growth of waste, proximity to landfills of various industrial and household waste human habitat.

In principle, the level of environmental pressure can be reduced in three ways: reducing the population; reducing the level of consumption of material goods; making fundamental changes in technology. The first method is in fact already being implemented naturally in developed and many transition economies, where the birth rate has decreased significantly; this process is gradually covering more and more parts of the developing world, but the growth of the total world population will continue. Reducing consumption levels is hardly possible, although recently a new consumption structure has emerged in developed countries, in which services and environmentally friendly components and reusable products predominate. Therefore, technologies aimed at preserving the planet’s environmental resources are of paramount importance for the sustainable development of the world economy:

tightening measures to prevent environmental pollution. Today, there are strict international and national regulations regarding the content of harmful substances, for example, in car exhaust gases, which forces automobile companies to produce environmentally less harmful cars. As a result, NOCs, concerned about the negative reaction of their consumers to environmental scandals, strive to follow the principles of sustainable development in all countries where they operate;

creating cost-effective products that can be reused. This makes it possible to reduce the growth in consumption of natural resources;

creation of clean technologies. The problem here is that many industries use outdated technologies that do not meet the needs of sustainable development. For example, in the pulp and paper industry, many production processes are based on the use of chlorine and its compounds, which are one of the most dangerous pollutants, and only the use of biotechnology can change the situation.

The number of global problems is not constant and is growing steadily. As the human civilization understanding of existing global problems is changing, their priority is being adjusted, and new global problems are emerging (development outer space, weather and climate control, etc.).

Currently, other global problems are emerging.

The twenty-first century, having just begun, has already added its own problems: international terrorism. In the context of globalization, international terrorism represents the most serious security problem. International terrorism is aimed at undermining the stability of society, destroying borders and usurping territories. The goals of globalization are the same: to achieve influence, power, wealth and redistribution of property at the cost of public or international security.

Public danger international terrorism is expressed, first of all, in the transnational scale of its activities; expanding its social base; changing the nature and increasing the scope of goals; increasing the severity of the consequences; rapid changes in growth rates and level of organization; in the appropriate material, technical and financial support for its nature.

Thus, the problem of international terrorism poses a real planetary threat to the world community. This problem has its own specificity, which distinguishes it from other universal human difficulties. However, this problem is closely interconnected with most of the global problems of modern international relations, and therefore can be considered as one of the most pressing global problems of our days.

Terrorist acts of recent years, and above all the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York, have become unprecedented in the history of mankind in their scale and influence on the further course of world politics. The number of victims, the extent and nature of the destruction caused by terrorist attacks at the beginning of the 21st century were comparable to the consequences of armed conflicts and local wars. The response measures caused by these terrorist acts led to the creation of an international anti-terrorist coalition, which included dozens of states, which previously took place only in the case of major armed conflicts and wars.

Retaliatory anti-terrorist military actions have acquired a planetary scale.

Under these conditions, the global problem of international terrorism cannot be considered only as an independent phenomenon. She started to become important component a more general military-political global problem related to fundamental issues of war and peace, on the solution of which the further existence of human civilization depends.

In modern conditions, a new, already formed global problem is the exploration of outer space. The urgency of this problem is quite obvious. Human flights in near-Earth orbits have helped us create a true picture of the surface of the Earth, many planets, the terra firma and ocean expanses. They gave a new understanding of the globe as a center of life and an understanding that man and nature are an inextricable whole. Cosmonautics provided real opportunity to solve important national economic problems: improvement of international communication systems, long-term weather forecasting, development of navigation of sea and air transport. The entry of man into space was an important impetus for the development of both fundamental science and applied research. Modern communication systems, forecasting of many natural disasters, remote exploration of mineral resources are only a small part of what has become a reality thanks to space flights. At the same time, the scale of financial costs necessary for further exploration of outer space today already exceeds the capabilities of not only individual states, but also groups of countries. The extremely expensive components of research are the creation and launch of spacecraft and the maintenance of space stations. Enormous investments are required to implement projects related to the exploration and future development of other planets solar system. As a consequence, the interests of space exploration objectively imply broad interstate interaction in this area, the development of large-scale international cooperation in the preparation and conduct of space research.

Emerging global problems currently include the study of the structure of the Earth and the management of weather and climate. Like space exploration, the solution to these two problems is only possible on the basis of broad international cooperation. Moreover, weather and climate management requires, among other things, global harmonization of behavioral norms of business entities in order to universally minimize the harmful impact of economic activity on the environment.

An independent problem on a planetary scale is the problem of man-made disasters that have nothing to do with natural disasters.

One of the most pressing global problems of our time in the scientific literature is identified with the process of urbanization.

According to many scientists, natural disasters can be identified as an independent global problem of our time. natural phenomena.

Another emerging global problem is the problem of suicide (voluntary death). According to open statistics, in most countries of the world the suicide curve is creeping up today, which indicates the global nature of this problem. There is a point of view according to which it is suicide (not drugs, AIDS or road accidents) that is becoming an increasingly common cause of death in peaceful conditions. This is an inevitable payment for the benefits of technological progress in all its manifestations: industrialization, urbanization, acceleration of the pace of life, complications of human relationships and, of course, lack of spirituality.

The concept, essence, classification and ways to solve global problems of our time are clearly shown in the Appendix.


2. Causes of global problems and ways to solve them


An objective prerequisite for the emergence of global problems is the internationalization of economic activity. World Development labor led to the interconnectedness of all states. The scale and degree of involvement of various countries and peoples in world economic relations have acquired unprecedented proportions, which has contributed to the development of local, specific problems of development of countries and regions into the category of global ones. All this indicates that there are objective reasons for the emergence of such problems in the modern world that affect the interests of all countries. Contradictions on a global scale are emerging, affecting the foundations of the existence of life on earth.

The UN appeals to all countries: if we want to take the best of globalization and avoid the worst, we must learn to govern better together. These appeals could work successfully if most countries were sufficiently high level economic development, and there would not be such a significant differentiation in per capita income between countries. The vast inequality in the distribution of wealth in today's world, the miserable conditions in which more than a billion people live, the prevalence of ethnic conflicts in some regions of the world and the rapid deterioration of the natural environment - all these factors combine to make the current development model unsustainable. It can be said with good reason that in order to reduce tension on a number of global problems, it is necessary to completely discard the factors of class and political confrontation social systems and groups of people, and use the principle of spatial institutionality when considering global problems affecting the formation of the world economy.

Thus, the reasons for the emergence of global problems: on the one hand, are the enormous scale of human activity, which has radically changed nature, society, and people’s way of life; on the other hand, it is a person’s inability to rationally manage this power.

The following ways to solve global problems of our time are identified:

preventing world war using thermo nuclear weapons and other means of mass destruction that threaten the destruction of civilization. This involves curbing the arms race, prohibiting the creation and use of weapons systems of mass destruction, human and material resources, the elimination of nuclear weapons, etc.;

overcoming economic and cultural inequality between the peoples inhabiting the industrialized countries of the West and East and the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America;

overcoming the crisis state of interaction between humanity and nature, which is characterized by catastrophic consequences in the form of unprecedented environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources. This makes it necessary to develop measures aimed at the economical use of natural resources and the reduction of pollution of soil, water and air by waste from material production;

reducing population growth rates in developing countries and overcoming the demographic crisis in developed capitalist countries;

preventing the negative consequences of the modern scientific and technological revolution;

overcoming the downward trend in social health, which involves combating alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer, AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.

Therefore, the priority global goals of humanity are as follows:

in the political sphere - reducing the likelihood and, in the long term, completely eliminating military conflicts, preventing violence in international relations;

in the economic and environmental spheres - the development and implementation of resource- and energy-saving technologies, the transition to non-traditional energy sources, the development and widespread use of environmental technologies;

in the social sphere - improving living standards, global efforts to preserve people's health, creating a global food supply system;

in the cultural and spiritual sphere - the restructuring of mass moral consciousness in accordance with today's realities.

Solving these problems is an urgent task for all of humanity today. The survival of people depends on when and how they begin to be resolved.

Thus, summarizing the above, we note that the global problems of our time are a set of key problems that affect the vital interests of all humanity and require coordinated international actions within the global community for their resolution.

Global problems include the problems of preventing thermonuclear war and ensuring peaceful conditions for the development of all peoples, overcoming the growing gap in economic levels and per capita income between developed and developing countries, problems of eliminating hunger, poverty and illiteracy on the globe, demographic and environmental problems.

A distinctive feature of modern civilization is the increase in global threats and problems. We are talking about the threat of thermonuclear war, the growth of armaments, the unreasonable waste of natural resources, diseases, hunger, poverty, etc.

All global problems of our time can be reduced to three main ones:

the possibility of the destruction of humanity in a global thermonuclear war;

the possibility of a worldwide environmental disaster;

spiritual and moral crisis of humanity.

It is important to note that when solving the third problem, the first two are solved almost automatically. After all, a spiritually and morally developed person will never accept violence either towards another person or towards nature. Even a simply cultured person does not offend others and will never throw garbage on the sidewalk. From little things, from incorrect individual behavior of a person, global problems grow. We can say that global problems are rooted in human consciousness, and until he transforms it, they will not disappear in the outside world.


Conclusion


Thus, global problems are the key problems that confronted all of humanity in the second half of the twentieth century, on the solution of which its existence, preservation and development of civilization depend. These problems, which previously existed as local and regional, have become modern era planetary character. Thus, the time of the emergence of global problems coincides with the achievement of the apogee of industrial civilization in its development. This happened approximately in the middle of the 20th century.

Global problems emerged under the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution in the second half of the twentieth century; they are interconnected, cover all aspects of people’s lives and affect all countries of the world without exception.

Many problems are considered global; in the scientific literature their number varies from 8-10 to 40-45. This is explained by the fact that, along with the main, priority global problems (which will be discussed further in the textbook), there are also a number of more specific, but also very important problems: crime, drug addiction, separatism, democratic deficit, man-made disasters, natural disasters.

Exist various classifications global problems are usually distinguished: problems of the most “universal” nature, problems of a natural-economic nature, problems of a social nature, problems of a mixed nature. There are also “older” and “newer” global problems. Their priority may also change over time. So, at the end of the twentieth century. Environmental and demographic problems came to the fore, while the problem of preventing a third world war became less pressing.

Among modern global problems, the main groups are distinguished:

Problems of a socio-political nature. These include: preventing global thermonuclear war, creating a nuclear-free, non-violent world, bridging the growing gap in the level of economic and cultural development between the advanced industrial countries of the West and the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Problems related to the relationship between humanity and society. We are talking about the elimination of poverty, hunger and illiteracy, the fight against disease, stopping population growth, anticipating and preventing the negative consequences of the scientific and technological revolution and the rational use of its achievements for the benefit of society and the individual.

Ecological problems. They arise in the sphere of relations between society and nature. These include: protection and restoration of the environment, atmosphere, soil, water; providing humanity with the necessary natural resources, including food, raw materials and energy sources.

The problem of international terrorism has recently acquired particular relevance and, in fact, has become one of the highest priorities.

The causes of global problems are:

the integrity of the modern world, which is ensured by deep political and economic ties, for example, war;

the crisis of world civilization is associated with the increased economic power of man: the impact of man on nature in its consequences is comparable to the most formidable natural forces;

uneven development of countries and cultures: people living in different countries with different political system, according to the achieved level of development, they live in historically different cultural eras.

Global problems of mankind cannot be solved by the efforts of one country; jointly developed provisions on environmental protection, agreed economic policy, assistance to backward countries, etc.

In general, the global problems of humanity can be schematically represented as a tangle of contradictions, where from each problem various threads stretch to all other problems.

Solving global problems is only possible through the joint efforts of all countries coordinating their actions at the international level. Self-isolation and development features will not allow individual countries to remain aloof from the economic crisis, nuclear war, the threat of terrorism or the AIDS epidemic. To solve global problems and overcome the danger that threatens all of humanity, it is necessary to further strengthen the interconnection of the diverse modern world, change the interaction with the environment, abandon the cult of consumption, and develop new values.

globalization economic growth crisis


Bibliography


1.Bulatov A.S. World economy / A.S.Bulatov. - M.: Economy, 2005. 734 p. P.381-420.

2.Golubintsev V.O. Philosophy. Textbook / V.O. Golubintsev, A.A. Dantsev, V.S. Lyubchenko. - Taganrog: SRSTU, 2001. - 560 p.

.Maksakovsky V.P. Geography. Economic and social geography of the world. 10th grade / V.P.Maksakovsky. - M.: Education, 2009. - 397 p.

.Nizhnikov S.A. Philosophy: course of lectures: textbook / S.A. Nizhnikov. - M.: Publishing house "Exam", 2006. - 383 p.

.Nikolaikin N.I. Ecology: Textbook. for universities / N.I. Nikolaikin, N.E. Nikolaikina, O.P. Melekhova. - M.: Bustard, 2004. - 624 p.

.Rostoshinsky E.N. Formation of the disciplinary space of cultural studies / E.N. Rostoshinsky // Materials of the scientific and methodological conference 01/16/2001. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Philosophical Society. - No. 11. - 2001. - P.140-144.


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Using social science knowledge, name three positive consequences of the emergence of global problems of our time.


Read the text and complete tasks 21-24.

In our century, the solution to a number of problems can no longer be limited to the scale of one country; they have to be solved on the scale of our entire planet. This perception of the planetary nature of man’s relationship with nature first arose in connection with the emergence of atomic bomb and the threat of global nuclear war. It is generally accepted that such a war, wherever it occurs, could poison the entire globe and end human life in a few hours. This threat forces people to refuse to use nuclear weapons.

Currently, the world population is estimated at 3.7 billion people. If it continues to increase at the same rate (an average of 2% per year) as in this century, then in 700 years our planet will be so densely populated that for every square meter of the entire surface globe there will be one person at a time. Of course, this is impossible, and the process of increasing human reproduction should stop long before this. When and under what factors this will happen and what civilization will turn into is the most important global problem of the near future.

One of the most important global problems is related to energy, since people's use of natural energy resources is the main factor determining the level of modern civilization and the well-being of mankind. Now the largest source of raw materials in the energy sector is coal, and if its consumption stops at the current level, then coal reserves will be sufficient for about a thousand years. Even if humanity does not grow, but energy consumption per capita grows at the same rate as over the last 100 years, then coal reserves will only last for 100-150 years. An even closer crisis can be predicted for other types of raw materials. For example, silver will last within 13-40 years, lead - 20-60 years, etc. (taking into account the use of new, not yet discovered natural reserves on a fivefold scale).

The depletion of raw material resources of some important substances is already threatening our generation. And therefore, resolving issues related to the technical and economic aspect of the “man and nature” problem should be considered urgent. But here the socio-political aspect immediately arises: due to the global nature, the solution to these issues is impossible on a national scale; it is only possible with broad international cooperation based on the principles of peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems.

The next problem - environmental - arises as a result of an imbalance in nature due to environmental pollution on the same global scale. The difficulty in solving this problem is that the global scale technical processes With the modern level of civilization, they began to change the environment around us so much - pollute the air, water and soil, destroy forests, change natural landscapes - that the biological balance that previously existed in nature can no longer be maintained, and this begins to lead to the death of fauna and flora , which are necessary for the existence of people.

When will there be a global shortage of materials and supplies? energy resources and this begins to catastrophically affect the level of people’s well-being, then humanity will have no choice but to start reducing weapons, since the risk of death from aggression will be less real than the danger of death from a lack of material resources. Moreover, since the solution of global problems must occur through close international cooperation, people will begin to feel that they are living in a common apartment and that all humanity has only one common enemy: the advancing global crisis, with which, having forgotten all the feuds, we must begin to fight together.

(according to P. L. Kapitsa)

Explanation.

1) answer to the first question:

By global problems of humanity, the author understands problems that cannot be solved by the efforts of one country, and the solution of which is possible only on the scale of the entire planet;

2) answer to the second question:

The author associates awareness of the global scale of human impact on nature with the emergence of atomic weapons and the threat of the end of life on Earth as a result of nuclear war.

What three categories of global problems of humanity are named in the text? Based on social science knowledge, name another category of global problems of humanity not indicated in the text.

Explanation.

The correct answer must contain the following elements:

Demographic;

Environmental;

Energy (problem of depletion of raw materials);

2) among those not mentioned in the text, the following categories of global problems can also be given:

Socio-economic (problem of uneven economic development different regions, the problem of poverty, uncontrolled migration);

Political (threat of world terrorism, threat of nuclear war);

3) changes in natural landscapes (for example, reduction in the area of ​​the Aral Sea; soil erosion as a result of improper management during the development of virgin lands in the USSR).

Explanation.

The following consequences can be given:

1) lack of resources will lead to a reduction in countries' armaments;

2) the need to solve global problems of our time contributes to the development of international cooperation;

3) the need to find ways to solve global problems of our time contributes to the development of science and technology.

Other positive consequences may be cited.

The main goal of the work at this stage is an in-depth study of problem-symptoms, i.e. problems-consequences.

This can usually be done on the basis of market situation monitoring data, which is both formal and informal.

In effectively operating companies, marketing managers constantly monitor possible causes of problems. As the main indicators possible problems Typically, the dynamics of indicators of sales volume, market share, profit, as well as the number of orders received from the company's dealers, the level of consumer complaints, and the state of competition are considered.

4. Identification of the suspected causes of the problem (basic problems).

For this purpose, for each problem-symptom, the problems-causes of their occurrence are identified according to a certain scheme. Section 4.4 is devoted to the issue of using a special method - logical-semantic modeling - when solving these problems.

Identification of problem-causes can be carried out in the following directions:

  • -- actions of competitors;
  • -- consumer behavior;
  • -- changes in the activities of the company itself;
  • -- changes external environment marketing.
  • 5. Determining actions to mitigate the problem. At this stage, the leader and the researcher, jointly or separately, within the framework of available resources, generate several approaches to solving the identified basic problems, on the content of which agreement has been reached. These approaches are based on actions to improve the use of individual elements of the marketing mix.
  • 6. Determining the expected consequences of these actions. Every marketing action is analyzed by answering the “what if?” question. In other words, the possible impact of the decisions made is determined not only on the problem being solved, but also on the marketing program as a whole. In addition, it is advisable to determine what additional problems may arise if the decision made is not implemented.

Usually the range of consequences of possible marketing actions is quite obvious. For example, if you started advertising your products through other media, then the number of consumers reading this advertisement, may remain unchanged, or increase, or decrease. In addition to consumers, it is sometimes advisable to study the reaction to your decisions also from intermediaries and/or suppliers.

7. Identifying the manager's assumptions about these consequences.

When a problem is identified, certain assumptions are usually made that characterize the possible response, or consequences, to the decision made. For example, it is assumed that we will restore the previous sales volume if we reduce the price of products by 10%. Such assumptions must be analyzed to the fullest extent available. In conditions of uncertainty, marketing research usually helps to reduce the negative manifestations of this factor. In addition, among company managers there may be different opinions regarding key assumptions. The task of the study in this case is to determine which of the assumptions is true.

8. Assessing the adequacy of available information. A manager may have information of varying volume and quality. Therefore, the researcher must assess the state of the information support of the problem being solved and establish what it should be. The difference between the existing and required levels of information support is the basis for determining the goals of marketing research.

The following are questions that the researcher asked marketing personnel when identifying marketing problems.

The following are questions that the researcher asked marketing personnel when identifying marketing problems.

Problem Definition Areas

Sample questions

Symptoms

What changes have you been concerned about?

Basic information

What information regarding products, markets, etc. is essential?

Situation for decision maker

How do these changes affect your goals? What resources do you have? What is the time frame for implementing the required activities?

Situation Information

What do you know about the circumstances of these changes?

Supposed reasons

What do you think about the reasons for these changes?

Possible solutions

What are your options for solving the problem?

Expected Consequences

If you realize your potential, what will the results likely be?

Assumptions

Why do you expect these particular results from your actions to solve the problem?

As for the formulation of problems of marketing research, we can recommend carrying out this work in three stages: 1) selection and clear definition of the content of the parameters to be researched; 2) identification of relationships; 3) choice of model.

The researcher and marketing specialists must speak the same language, and it must be clear how to measure a particular parameter.

As an example of research parameters and their definitions, the following can be mentioned: “awareness” (the percentage of respondents who have heard about the product of a given brand); “attitude towards the product” (the number of respondents who have a positive, neutral or negative attitude towards this product).

Next, it is necessary to consider the relationships between various parameters. For example, usually a decrease in price leads to an increase in sales and vice versa. Relationships are established based on the knowledge and assumptions of marketing employees, as well as specialists conducting marketing research.

In essence, determining the parameters and their relationships, based on the accepted logic, leads to the creation of a model. You can use existing models as a first approximation. As a result, a model of possible causes of the problem is developed, focused on the needs of consumers, decisions and their consequences. These models can be either complex or simple. For example, the main condition for purchasing special software may be that the potential buyer has Personal Computer with a 486 processor.

After developing the model, the researcher formulates his formal sentences on conducting marketing research, including the formulation of marketing management problems, determining the goals and method of conducting marketing research.

Marketing management problems are formulated in a very concise form (no more than a few sentences), taking into account the following:

the company (if the researcher is an external consultant to the company), the division of the company and the managers who should take part in the study are indicated;

symptoms of problems are outlined;

Possible causes of these symptoms are outlined;

the proposed directions for using marketing information are formulated.

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