How human activity has changed the steppe ecosystem. Change of ecosystems under the influence of human activities

Ecosystems are complex, self-organizing systems that consist of living organisms and the physical and chemical phenomena associated with these organisms. The most important thing to emphasize is that the structure of these systems includes connections and interactions that connect living and nonliving components into a single stable system.

The concept of “ecosystem” is primarily associated with nature. People, as well as plants and animals, are an integral part of the ecosystem in which they live. Ecosystems that include humans are called human ecosystems. These systems are of particular importance for humans and have several fundamental differences from natural ecosystems themselves.

Human ecosystems are determined by human activities. In ecological terms, humans are the dominant species in human ecosystems. But there is a significant difference between human dominance and the dominance of wolves in the taiga ecosystem (or the dominance of any other biological species on its territory). Human activity is determined by social systems and is aimed at achieving goals that have a social rather than a biological basis. We cannot adequately perceive the modern world without understanding the activities of people, which, in turn, cannot be assessed without considering the social goals that guide these activities.

To consider such complex concepts as human ecosystems, it is useful to divide them into smaller components that are accessible to understanding. The human ecosystem can be represented in the form of several spheres: the sphere of the environment, the sphere of individual management and the sphere of political planning. For a briefer reference, the first can be designated as “environment”, and the rest can be combined under the concept of “society”. The definition of these areas, along with a description of their most important characteristics, is given in the table.

The environmental sphere unites those structural features of the system that function in accordance with the laws of the natural ecosystem. These include geobiological phenomena of the growth and development of animals and plants, the dynamics of populations and communities, and the exchange of nutrients and energy in food chains. The domain of individual management describes the behavior of individuals or organizations that have direct contact with and influence the natural environment, whether that influence is purposeful and deliberate or unintentional. The behavior of individual people predetermines the methods of population reproduction, migration flows, and the formation of economic phenomena.

This division allows us to identify different types of characteristic representatives that play a certain role in shaping the human environment as a whole.

Typically, the environment is perceived as something separate from society. The environment also includes untouched wild nature, rural landscapes, cities, polluted air and water, but very rarely the basis for human life. In fact, this approach is unreasonably restrictive. The main feature of human ecosystems is precisely that there is a two-way interaction between society and the environment that supports the life of this society. The environment includes the resource base for most of the most important activities for society, and people use them to satisfy their own needs (cited by S. Alekseev, Yu. P. Pivovarov, 2001).

At the same time, it would be wrong to assume that the managed ecosystem is completely dependent on the managing society. There is a two-way interaction here with feedback from the environment to society. The behavior of the environment influences the behavior of the person managing it, and vice versa. Indeed, on the one hand, problems related to the environment can lead to changes in policy, and on the other hand, the political activities of individual groups of people and governments ultimately have a certain impact on the viability and sustainability of the environment.

The areas considered are so closely interconnected that it is impossible to completely separate them. They are components of a complex system, the full meaning of which is revealed only in interconnection.

At first glance, there is no direct feedback between the environmental sphere and the planning sphere. The degree of pollution of natural water bodies is monitored by special organizations, the conclusion of which reaches the government and only then is reflected in changes in legislation, the issuance of relevant directives or the initiation of lawsuits. All these impacts are aimed at managers, and not at changing the state of the environment. The actual state of the latter depends on the actions of leaders, who can practically nullify the effectiveness of public opinion or the legislative efforts of society. That is why the process of monitoring the state of the environment will be significantly simplified if it concerns industrial enterprises directly and not indirectly.

Thus, despite all the diversity of human ecosystems, their structure depends on the geophysical and biological interactions between the components of the environment, on the goals and potential capabilities of the person managing this environment, as well as on the habits, customs, motives and potential resources of society. Goals reflect the values ​​and aspirations of society, and the environment itself has the most significant influence on their formation. That is why it makes no sense for people belonging to one social order to criticize the goals of another society.

The most telling example is the attitude of various countries towards wildlife. Highly developed countries give utmost importance to the conservation of areas with wildlife in the form of national parks, nature reserves, research and protected areas, etc. The creation and protection of such territories is determined by aesthetic or scientific research motives, as well as the possibility of using them for the development of tourism. The organization of a national park is a striking example of the so-called ecological type of thinking. Despite the fact that wild nature, clean air, and water, etc. important to all people, many countries currently simply cannot afford to define them as matters of primary importance, even if the leaders of these countries understand their importance in view of the future prospects.

Stress, limits and the ability of an ecosystem to heal itself

Human ecosystems, like natural ones, are characterized by certain limits beyond which they cannot be taken. Even the largest river has a very specific maximum level of permissible pollution. Management that does not take into account the characteristics of the natural environment will be less effective than management that recognizes danger signals in time and responds to them properly. Preserving the ability of human ecosystems to self-heal over time implies not only maintaining a balance between society and the environment, but also maintaining the ability of the system to withstand or neutralize disturbances. Some natural environments are inherently more impoverished, but with proper management they can be quite productive. On the other hand, the most stable natural ecosystems can be destroyed as a result of improper management. In the real world, no ecosystem is free from disturbances and stress. Natural phenomena such as droughts, floods, heavy rains, early or late frosts, and epidemics have been real disasters for ecosystems for thousands of years. Equally common are various social disasters - wars, economic cycles, changes in ethical and religious views, demographic changes. Factors influencing an ecosystem's ability to recover are not always obvious. They may relate to the natural environment as a whole, as in the example of Russian forests, and to the type of individual management, or to the type of organization of society, as in the case of wars or ethnic conflicts. The most important are those constant but hidden changes in the structure of the ecosystem that arise in response to small incremental adjustments to the management strategy that are made under the influence of social changes in accordance with the traditions and habits that have developed in society. Unfortunately, existing policies often do not take into account the impact of decisions on the natural environment. As a rule, they allow you to temporarily remove the problem, but at the same time lay the foundation for a new one to arise, which will require new corrections in the future. This type of management actually reduces the ability of ecosystems to recover. Moreover, the understanding that the state of the ecosystem is getting out of control usually does not occur until the process becomes irreversible.

Almost thirty years ago, a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on behalf of the Club of Rome, an international organization of prominent businessmen, statesmen and scientists, undertook a two-year study of the causes and long-term consequences of population growth, industrial production, food production, and resource consumption and environmental pollution. The results of the research were published in the book “Limits to Growth”. The book caused a sensation and was discussed in parliaments and scientific societies. In 1991, a second book was published, “Beyond Growth,” where updated data was presented and amendments were introduced to take into account the twenty-year period of social development. However, the conclusions in both cases were disappointing.

The rate of human use of many important resources and the rate of production of many

types of pollution already exceed permissible limits. Without a significant reduction in the flow of material and energy resources, the following per capita indicators will occur in the coming decades: food production, energy consumption and industrial production.

This reduction is inevitable. To prevent it, the following changes are necessary: ​​first, a comprehensive review of the policies and practices that promote population growth and levels of material consumption; secondly, a rapid and sharp increase in the efficiency of use of material and energy resources.

Technologically and economically, creating a sustainable society is still possible. It may turn out to be much more acceptable in comparison with a society that solves all problems through constant quantitative growth. The transition to a sustainable society requires a careful balance of long- and short-term goals and an emphasis on sufficiency, equality and quality of life rather than on output. The transition requires more than productivity and more than technology, it also requires maturity, compassion, wisdom.

Calculations carried out during this work showed that an exponentially growing economy, consuming resources and releasing waste into the environment, begins to put pressure on it long before acceptable limits are reached. In response, the environment sends signals about the depletion of resources and the burden on it from accumulated waste, and, in turn, puts pressure on the growing economy. These signals and this load represent negative feedback loops (cited by S. Alekseev, Yu. P. Pivovarov, 2001).

Ethical Perspectives on Ecosystems

It now seems almost self-evident that using a systems approach is the only way that society can manage complex entities such as human ecosystems in the most prudent and moral manner. But for now, for most even developed countries, this is an unattainable goal. Instead, in most cases a simplified approach is taken, where society and the environment are considered to be less closely related to each other. There are several different concepts representing the relationship between humans and the natural environment. They arose at different times and served different people. Let's look at some of the most important ones.

Concept of conquering nature. Perhaps the oldest ethical view of human ecosystems is the concept of conquering nature. According to this view, nature creates obstacles to the development of society and may even represent an enemy that must be defeated if people are to survive. Man has the right to change nature in accordance with his own desires, and the success of these changes is not always guaranteed.

This view is reflected in the Old Testament understanding of “wilderness” (unconquered nature) as a place of exile or exile for humans. In many animistic cultures that worship the forces of nature, religious rituals are often aimed not at establishing unity between nature and man, but at satiating and pleasing the gods so that people can continue to subjugate nature, deprived of divine protection. Even in pre-Christian Rome, Cicero declared that nature had been defeated: “We are the absolute masters... of the earth... We own the mountains and plains. All rivers are ours. We grow bread and plant trees. We fertilize the soil... Through our own actions we create a different nature.”

The ethic of the conqueror of nature is part of our history and culture, and it is still very powerful today.

The enormous engineering and technical capabilities of the 20th century allow humanity to consider itself more powerful than nature. Almost any goal was achieved, be it flying in the sky, discovering the depths of the ocean, communicating with people on the other side of the world, flying to the moon. Scenes from 19th century science fiction have become an integral part of our daily lives in the 20th century. More and more often, new technologies are replacing old ones. Until recently, the accelerating process of technology change knew no limits, so it is difficult to imagine what could limit it in the future. In this regard, two opposing points of view arose. The first - "technological optimism" - believes that such development will continue, and new technologies will emerge as soon as they are needed. Another point of view believes that “nature knows best” and that the natural environment sets the boundaries for further technological growth (cited by S. Alekseev, Yu. P. Pivovarov, 2001).

Technology optimism concept. A technological optimist believes that society will always have the technology to solve the problems it faces. As some sources of natural resources are depleted, new ones will be discovered. For resources that are in danger of being depleted, either suitable substitutes will be found or new ways of obtaining them will be developed. Often, the cost of substitutes or materials produced by a new method is even lower than the cost of the original natural resources. The depletion of a source of raw materials is directly proportional to the increase in the cost of materials produced from it. The more expensive the extraction of raw materials, the higher the cost of materials produced from them. Depletion of the source of raw materials increases the cost of production and increases the final price of the product. However, the higher price stimulates the development of new ways to satisfy the previous need. When these methods are found, the market reaches an equilibrium based on the new methods. The technological advantages of a new method often result in new production methods being cheaper than previous ones.

The concept of “nature knows best.” Followers of the “nature knows best” concept believe that natural relationships and the structure of natural communities, formed as a result of 3.5 billion years of evolution, at a minimum, represent the best model of human behavior and can represent the only correct model of ecosystem management. The needs of people as biological organisms differ slightly from the needs of animals. Humans are part of a complex food web, and their superiority over animals should not be greater than that of any other dominant species in any other ecosystem. And trusting the widely held belief that man is unique in relation to other animals in his ability to transform nature is like trusting a mirage in the desert. History shows that in most cases environmental planning is too limited and major changes in ecosystems are more likely to be negative than positive. An example is the attempt to introduce new chemicals into the natural environment. And in general, if a choice must be made between the natural way and the artificial way of solving a problem, then preference should be given to the natural way.

Concept of environmental affect. The concept of environmental impact corresponds to the widespread belief that public consciousness in relation to the natural environment becomes effective if society is aware of the environmental impact of a project on various ecosystems. At the same time, paramount importance is given to the preservation of the natural characteristics of these ecosystems, and very little attention is paid to the study of interactions between the environment and society. Almost all countries of the world have adopted laws on the protection of the natural environment, which determine the need for environmental assessment when implementing any significant project. The concept of an integral ecosystem. It is significant that the close connections between nature and society are most evident in the poorest regions of the globe. Rich regions have the economic and technological capabilities to “buy their way out” of many problems. Poor areas do not have such opportunities. For example, wealthy agricultural producers can compensate to some extent for the decline in soil organic matter by increasing levels of chemical fertilizers. The same decline in soil fertility for poor farmers could mean that they themselves would lose their livelihoods and possibly go hungry. The concept of technological optimism is not for them. Even if technology exists that could solve their problems, they cannot afford to use it. Likewise, the concept of “nature knows best” is of no use to them. They must do their best to extract as much food or other commodities from the land as possible, which they can then sell.

It is relatively simple to declare the need to use a systems approach when analyzing human ecosystems. It's much more difficult to accomplish this.

Adopting a systems view of human ecosystems implies understanding the needs of living organisms, their productive capacity, and how they interact in biological communities. This involves understanding the consequences of the development and use of non-living resources - soil, water, various fuels and mined metals - on both the environment and society. This, in turn, depends on the value system of society. The fact remains that the human way of perceiving and managing the environment is a cultural phenomenon, as is the human way of adapting to changes in that environment. The latter is a fundamental law of nature.

Opportunities for sustainable development of human ecosystems

Outstanding Russian scientist N.N. Moiseev, under whose leadership mathematical models were developed, which made it possible in 1983 to obtain the first quantitative estimates of the possible consequences of a nuclear war, known as “nuclear winter” and “nuclear night”, who for a long time studied the problems of the relationship between the biosphere and society, believes that changes living conditions on the planet in the coming years will require improvement of upbringing and education and, perhaps, their radical restructuring.

The preservation of modern civilization will be possible only if people's production activities change their basis. A new modernization is coming, which can naturally be called ecological, since it will focus on the creation of industries that do not destroy the equilibrium state of the biosphere, that is, fit into its biogeochemical cycles.

According to N.N. Moiseev, overcoming the environmental crisis only by technical means is impossible. It is even more impossible to maintain a state of equilibrium if society does not transform itself, its morality, mentality, but relies only on technical solutions. Humanity faces a long and very difficult process of joint transformation of nature and society, and the formation of a civilization that meets the new needs of man, consistent with the new realities of the surrounding nature, will be of decisive importance in its activities.

A new civilization, in order for it to be capable of ensuring the continued existence of humanity on Earth as a developing species, must rely not only on a new technological basis for people’s production activities, but also on a deep understanding of man’s place in the world around him, without which the formation of a new morality is impossible, then there is a new socially necessary behavior of people. A broad education of the planet's population is also necessary for the formation of a new morality, that is, the spiritual world of people.

At the UN Conference on Environment and Development, which took place in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the principle of “sustainable development” was declared. This expression subsequently received not only a biological, but also an economic context. The closest meaning to this term is the expression “acceptable development”. In Russia this expression is translated as “sustainable development”.

The term “sustainable development” has entered the dictionary of “ecological arithmetic”. It is necessary that the concept of “sustainable development”, filled with uniform scientifically based content, becomes the basis for practical activities.

N.N. Moiseev argues that the capabilities of any modern civilizations and the corresponding “worldview of consumers of natural resources” are close to exhaustion. Or maybe they have already been exhausted: the desire for power based on the idea of ​​​​the limitless inexhaustibility of natural resources has led humanity to the brink of disaster.

This means not only that a new environmental crisis on a planetary scale is inevitable, but also that humanity is facing an inevitable civilizational restructuring, a restructuring of all the principles familiar to us.

It is emphasized that the mentality of modern man and many characteristics of his mental constitution no longer correspond to his new living conditions and must be changed.

In other words, we are standing on the threshold of a new round of anthropogenesis, similar to the threshold that humanity crossed at the end of the Neolithic - at least! But if then the process of establishing new forms of life and the formation of a new ecological niche could develop spontaneously, now, when humanity owns nuclear weapons and other means of mass destruction, such a spontaneous process will lead to the almost complete destruction of humanity. In fact, the establishment of a new ecological niche will be accompanied by a struggle for a resource vital to people. And it’s hard to believe that all possible modern means at our disposal will not be used in this fight.

If you rely on the will of the elements, the coming crisis will most likely result in the destruction of humanity! This means that the elements of development must be countered by some reasonable strategy common to humanity.

That is why the Russian scientist sees the only alternative to the action of spontaneous forces, if you will, to the “planetary market”, in the rational, purposeful development of the planetary community, the meaning of which people will still have to decipher. In any case, the spontaneous process of self-organization must enter a certain channel with very rigid banks.

However, according to N.I. Moiseev, which is supported by numerous publications of Russian scientists, the main cause of the crisis is the one that the monk Malthus spoke about 200 years ago, if we understand his statements more broadly - as the fundamental inevitability within the framework of modern civilization of the mismatch between the growing needs of a growing population and the possibilities of satisfying them without changes in the modern human ecological niche and social (i.e. life-affirming) paradigms.

Within the framework of our civilization, this contradiction is truly irremovable. Scientists have calculated that the possibility of human existence in conditions of more or less stable biogeochemical cycles (both natural and artificial) can be realized only if its energy needs are reduced by 10-12 times, corresponding to the share of energy costs that humanity receives from renewable energy sources - ultimately from the Sun - in the current state of development of social consciousness. Our society is not ready for the transition to such a state, either technologically or morally.

First: achieving a new state of equilibrium, which would be a condition for the parallel evolution of man and the biosphere (or the era of the noosphere, if we use the terminology of V.I. Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin), is possible only within the framework of a new civilization, new civilizational paradigms, and spontaneously, i.e. e. Of course, as the founders of the concept of noo-spherogenesis assumed, the transition to the era of the noosphere cannot occur. Humanity does not have time for this.

Second: humanity expects a difficult and long transition period, which will require an unprecedented commitment of all intellectual and moral forces to formulate a strategy for the transition period and the will to implement it.

A truly new round of anthropogenesis awaits us, and it is very difficult to say anything about whether humanity will be able to overcome this bifurcation with a poorly predictable outcome and qualitatively change its way of life (N.N. Moiseev, 1998), (cited by S.V. Alekseev, Y.P. Pivovarov, 2001).

The role of man in the ecosystem presupposed his active intervention in the natural chain in order to carefully study it. At the same time, interest was constantly fueled by the constant evolution of the ecosystem, which occurred regardless of human activity, which sometimes led to irreversible consequences for both the environment and people.

Human and nature

Today, human influence on the ecosystem has become almost absolute. Over the past few centuries, thanks to the significant development of technological progress, environmental pollution has reached a critical level and has begun to pose a serious danger.

It has a significant influence on atmospheric changes in nature, since it is found in significant quantities in most minerals on earth. When mineral fuel is burned at enterprises, it releases dioxide (carbon dioxide), which tends to accumulate in the air, because as a result of large-scale deforestation, the remaining plants do not have time to cope with its purification.

As a result of the steadily increasing concentration of carbon dioxide on Earth, there is an increase in the global greenhouse effect, in which the dioxide traps heat on the surface, causing excessive heating, the effect of which increases every day.

Analysis and assessment of human activities in the ecosystem allow us to properly judge that if decisive measures are not taken to normalize the environmental situation, the immune system will not be able to properly cope with pollution that has a detrimental effect on the human body, which in the future can lead to irreversible consequences . The thing is that a pollutant can affect the body both directly and indirectly, easily moving through various elements of the ecosystem.

Deserts

All terrestrial ecosystems can be conditionally divided according to climatic and plant characteristics, while each ecosystem has individual characteristics associated mainly not with the rare animals and plants that live there, but with climatic factors. First of all, deserts can be attributed to this category of ecosystems.

The main feature of this area is that the intensity of evaporation in it is much higher than the level of precipitation. As a result of these conditions, vegetation in the desert is very sparse. This area is characterized by clear weather and a predominance of low-growing plants, as a result of which at night the soil begins to rapidly lose heat accumulated during the day. It is worth considering that deserts occupy more than 15% of the land surface and are located in almost all latitudes of the earth.

Deserts can be:

• Tropical.
• Moderate.
• Cold.

Plants and animals living in them, regardless of climatic conditions, are able to accumulate and retain scarce moisture in the body. The destruction of vegetation in a given area leads to the fact that its restoration will require a huge amount of time and effort.

Savannah

Natural ecosystems also include the savannah region, the territories of which are essentially grassy ecosystems. This category includes areas that experience several prolonged dry periods and, at their end, receive excessive amounts of rainfall. It is this category of ecosystem that occupies wide areas on both sides of the equator, occurring even in areas adjacent to the Arctic deserts.

Despite the fact that people are extremely rare in such areas, oil and gas reserves discovered in these territories have provoked high anthropogenic impact, because as a result of low rates of decomposition of organic matter, the growth rate of vegetation is minimal, due to which this particular ecological area is one of the most vulnerable.

Forest ecosystems

All forests, regardless of type, also belong to the category of terrestrial ecosystems.

They are presented:

• Deciduous forests. The main feature is the rapid restoration of vegetation after cutting down. Consequently, this area is best able to counteract the negative influence that people have on it.

• Coniferous. These forests are mainly represented in taiga regions. It is in this area that most of the wood for industrial needs is extracted.
• Tropical. The trees in these forests retain their foliage almost throughout the year, which ensures a stable removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As a result of human destruction of vegetation, the top layer of soil is completely washed away due to prolonged exposure to rain, and forests are almost impossible to restore after cutting down.

Artificially created ecosystems

Artificial ecosystems, or agrocenosis, include ecosystems artificially created by humans, the main task of which is to maintain and stabilize the ecological situation in the world, as well as the stable provision of people and animals with affordable food. This category includes:

• Fields.
• Haymaking.
• Parks.
• Gardens.
• Vegetable gardens.
• Forest plantings.

In most cases, artificial ecosystems are required for humans to obtain agricultural products for their normal life activities. Despite the fact that they are not very reliable in environmental terms, high yields make it possible, using a minimum amount of land, to provide food for the whole world. The main criteria that a person puts into their creation are the preservation of crops that have maximum productivity indicators.

In an agrocenosis, it is determined mainly by the care that a person can provide to increase the level of fertility that the artificial ecosystem so needs. Man, whose nature is associated with constant discoveries in the most important areas for life, has long understood that this particular type of ecosystem constantly needs a supply of useful elements. Among them, water plays a decisive role and some of them are constantly disappearing from the soil as a result of the water cycle in nature. This is the only way to maintain productivity and prevent starvation in constantly deteriorating environmental conditions.

At the same time, in agrocenosis, as in any other area, there are food chains of the ecosystem, of which humans are an obligatory component. At the same time, it plays a decisive role, because without it not a single artificial ecosystem can exist. The fact is that without proper care, it retains its properties for a maximum of a year in the form of grain fields and up to a quarter of a century in the form of fruit and berry crops.

The optimal way to increase and maintain the productivity of these ecosystems remains soil reclamation, which helps clear the land of foreign elements and stabilize the natural growth of plants.

Impact on natural ecosystems

Natural ecosystems include both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. At the same time, humanity must take significant measures to protect water bodies from the penetration of harmful substances. The number of living organisms for which water is the main source of life directly depends on the salt content in it and temperature factors. Unlike terrestrial ecosystems, animals living underwater need constant access to oxygen, as a result of which they try to stay on the surface of the water.

Terrestrial ecosystems differ from aquatic ones not only in the root system of vegetation, but also in the main components of nutrition. At the same time, depending on the depth of the water, food sources become much smaller. Even if waste emissions from enterprises are not made into water sources, but onto the surface of the Earth, thanks to atmospheric precipitation, pollution penetrates into groundwater. And with them it reaches the main sources, destroying most of the living organisms in them and having a harmful effect on the human body when people consume water.

Types of air pollution

The effects of human activities on ecosystems have primarily affected air pollution. Until recently, it was considered the most widespread environmental problem of all large cities, however, thanks to a thorough study of the problem, scientists were able to find out that atmospheric pollutants can travel considerable distances from the direct source of emissions. Consequently, we can conclude that even living in an extremely favorable environmental environment, people are just as little insured against harmful influences as those who live in close proximity to industrial sources.

The most common air pollutants that significantly affect the environment are:

• An increase in the concentration of its main element - carbon dioxide.
• Nitrogen oxides.
• Hydrocarbons.
• Sulfur dioxide.
• A gas mixture of chlorine, fluorine and carbon compounds, called CFCs.

Such human impact on the ecosystem has led to the fact that the fight against environmental pollution has acquired a global level, becoming the most important task for all countries without exception. Only in conditions of close international cooperation can optimal and rapid stabilization of the environmental situation be achieved.

Negative consequences

Negative human activity in the ecosystem has led to the fact that the concentration of natural atmospheric components in the air decreases every year, and the upper atmospheric layer suffers most from this, in which the concentration of ozone sometimes reaches a critical level. At the same time, the main difficulty in restoring its stable indicators is precisely that ozone itself can significantly increase air pollution on the earth's surface, having a detrimental effect on most agricultural crops. In addition, when ozone is mixed with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide, it forms the most harmful mixture, which has a detrimental effect on the environment.

Today, the best minds in the world are working on the problem of reducing the negative consequences of human activity. Of course, ecosystems created by man partially normalize the indicators, but there is a steady increase in harmful emissions from industrial enterprises accumulating in the atmosphere.

In addition, there are also side factors in the form of dust, noise, increased electromagnetic fields and climate change, as a result of which the ambient temperature has increased significantly in recent years, thereby causing irreversible climate change.

Environmental support measures

Since human influence on the ecosystem has led to serious climate changes, and in particular to global warming, humanity must develop serious measures to combat pollution, increasing the number of ecosystems on Earth, regardless of whether they are natural or artificial. Due to the accumulation of various gases in the atmosphere, of which only a small part is dispersed in outer space, and the rest causes a greenhouse effect on earth, scientists assume a significant increase in temperature on the planet in the future, which will have a detrimental effect on all living things. However, it must be taken into account that without such an influence, which has undergone little change over millions of years, modern ecosystems aimed by humans to support the ecological situation would not be able to exist.

Nevertheless, humanity must seriously reduce emissions of harmful elements into the air, and also at least stabilize the process of deforestation with the formation of new green spaces, because a stable increase in the greenhouse effect will further lead to evaporation of water and deterioration of weather systems. It is important that certain measures in this area have already been taken. First of all, this concerns the creation of an Intergovernmental Group, whose task is to monitor climate change and identify the location of powerful gas emissions, putting all efforts into correcting the environmental situation in this area.

In addition, the World Environmental Congress, better known as the Earth Summit, was created. It is carrying out full-scale work aimed at concluding an international agreement between all countries in order to reduce emissions of gas and other harmful elements into the atmosphere.

Despite the fact that there is no convincing evidence of modern anthropogenic warming today, most scientists believe that an irreversible process has already begun. This is why it is so important for the whole world to unite to stabilize the ecological situation on Earth.

Human influence on the ecosystem can be partially eliminated through the development and further implementation of powerful installations that will be used to thoroughly clean the air. Today, such structures are installed only at the most progressive enterprises, but their number is so small that the reduction in emissions is almost unnoticeable against the global background.

The development of alternative energy sources that do not have a harmful impact on the environment also plays an equally important role. In addition, industrial production must reach a new level of operation using waste-free industrial technology, and measures to combat exhaust gases produced by cars must be strengthened as much as possible. Only after the situation has been stabilized as much as possible will global environmental organizations be able to properly identify and combat all violations.

Steps to stabilize the situation

The negative impact of humans on the ecosystem can be observed not only in chemical waste, as, for example, in the case of Chernobyl, but also in the widespread extinction of the rarest species of animals and plants. All these factors contribute to the deterioration of human health, regardless of age groups. In addition, environmental disturbances affect even unborn children, significantly worsening the overall condition of the global gene pool and affecting the mortality rate of the population.

A detailed analysis and assessment of human consequences in ecosystems allows us to judge that the main deterioration of the ecological state on Earth is associated mainly with deliberately directed human activities. This area includes poaching and the increase in the number of chemical enterprises, the emissions of which have a strong impact on the environment. If in the near future humanity does not realize what result its actions will ultimately lead to and does not begin to actively use cleaning technologies, including increasing the amount of green space, especially in large industrial cities, in the future this may lead to irreversible consequences throughout the world.

Change of communities under the influence of human activity. If the change of communities under the influence of the life activity of the organisms themselves is a gradual and long process covering a period of tens, hundreds and even thousands of years, then the change of communities (underlying the change of ecosystems) caused by human activity occurs quickly, over several years.

The rapid (spasmodic) development of ecosystems is often accompanied by a reduction in their species diversity and a slowdown in the processes of self-regulation and sustainability. As a result, in such ecosystems communities of a simplified type are formed, with a poor species structure. For example, people turn mixed-grass steppes into arable land, and floodplain meadows turn out to be flooded with reservoirs. Thus, the plowing of virgin lands in the second half of the twentieth century led to the destruction of natural steppe ecosystems in Kazakhstan and southern Russia. As a result, many species of insects, mammals, and various types of grasses disappeared.

Suburban forests are under great pressure due to the massive number of people visiting them. Due to trampling of grass, the ground organs of plants are injured, the soil is compacted, and the undergrowth is damaged. As a result, the forest is thinned out and brightened. Shade-loving and shade-tolerant grasses are replaced by light-loving ones, characteristic of meadow ecosystems.

Overgrazing of livestock changes meadow and steppe ecosystems: those grasses that are not eaten by animals (wormwood, thistle) are widely distributed, and the abundance of forage grains decreases. Many plants do not have time to bloom and produce seeds. As a result, the species diversity of the ecosystem decreases, its structure and food webs become simplified.

Reservoirs also experience anthropogenic impact. If wastewater, fertilizers from fields, or household waste get into them, then the oxygen dissolved in the water is spent on their oxidation. As a result, species diversity decreases, various aquatic plants (floating salvinia, amphibian knotweed) are replaced by duckweed, algae are replaced by blue-green algae, and “water blooms” occur. Valuable commercial fish are being replaced by low-value ones, shellfish and many species of insects are disappearing. A rich aquatic ecosystem turns into an ecosystem of a decaying reservoir.

There are many cases where humans have disrupted the species structure of an ecosystem as a result of introducing new species into it. So, at the beginning of the 19th century. The prickly pear cactus was brought to Australia from America to create thorny fences in pastures. It multiplied so much that it began to shape the appearance of many communities, displacing familiar plant species, and led to a change in a number of ecosystems. By the middle of the twentieth century. Australia could have turned into a continent of continuous thorny thickets, but this did not happen thanks to the cactus moth butterfly brought to the mainland, whose caterpillars eat prickly pear. After the cactus population was regulated with the help of caterpillars, the disturbed ecosystems gradually recovered.

If the human impact that caused the change in communities stops, then, as a rule, the natural process of self-healing of the ecosystem begins. Plants continue to play a leading role in it. Thus, after the cessation of grazing, tall grasses appear on the pastures, typical forest plants appear in the forest, the lake is cleared of the dominance of unicellular algae and blue-greens, and fish, mollusks, and crustaceans reappear in it.

If the species and trophic structure of the ecosystem are simplified so much that the process of its self-healing can no longer occur, then man is again forced to intervene in this natural community, but now for good purposes: grass is sown in pastures, new trees are planted in the forest, reservoirs are cleaned and watered. there are young fish there.

An interesting experience is being used in the Stavropol Territory: hay is brought to already unproductive pastures, scattering it over the surface. Hay contains seeds of the entire complex of plant species in the steppe ecosystem. After three to four years, this area becomes close to the natural steppe.

The ecosystem is capable of self-healing only with partial disturbances. Therefore, the influence of human economic activity should not exceed the threshold after which the ecosystem cannot carry out self-regulation processes. To do this, the human impact on ecosystems is normalized: they determine how many livestock can be kept per 1 hectare of pasture, how many vacationers can visit a suburban forest park, and compare the total amount of wastewater with what the aquatic ecosystem itself can neutralize.

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Nature is man's partner. But the relationship between humanity and nature is not always mutually beneficial - most often a person takes everything without giving anything in return. People are an important natural link, so their activities have a significant impact on various ecosystems.

Human influence on natural ecosystems

Natural ecosystems are mainly influenced by targeted or direct human activities.

Cars, without which we cannot imagine everyday life, leave a big imprint on the concentration of chemical elements in the air, soil, vegetation and animals. Elements that change the life of ecosystems are zinc and lead.

When developing new deposits of necessary elements, people change the shape and composition of landscapes. Such exposure leads to the transition of toxic heavy metals from mineral form to aqueous solutions. At the same time, the amount of these elements does not change, but the risk of such waters entering the plant and animal world increases.

The activities of modern man are associated with chemical and man-made compounds that have no analogues in nature. At the same time, most of these substances are not processed, so there is a huge release of freon, weapons-grade plutonium, cesium and pesticides into nature.

Human influence on natural ecosystems also has positive aspects.

Nature reserves are created to preserve rare species of plants and animals. Such territories are created by man both in the wild and in artificially created objects: zoological and botanical gardens, parks and reserves.

For economic purposes, people create new species of plants and animals. Such activities contribute to the increase and conservation of natural populations of the natural world.

Planting new forests and greening cities has a positive impact on natural ecosystems. Artificial lakes and reservoirs are also favorable for the emergence of new natural ecosystems.

Today people are trying to find a replacement for natural resources. The reason for this is the lack of resources for today's rapidly developing society. Man began to extract energy from wind, sun and water.

Consequences of human activities in ecosystems

The atmosphere is polluted due to the burning of fuel. Industrial enterprises emit huge amounts of harmful gases that settle on the soil during precipitation.

Pollution of the seas and oceans also remains one of the main problems of modern society. Oil spills, nitrates and phosphates released into waters destroy most ecosystems.

Many industries continue to release radioactive and toxic substances onto the earth's surface, which negatively affect both nature and humans.

Thanks to the use of purification filters, fewer harmful substances and gases are released into the atmosphere, water and soil. And the use of environmentally friendly and natural energy sources - water, sun and wind - has led to the conservation and accumulation of natural resources.

Nature reserves, parks and gardens created by man have had a beneficial effect on increasing the populations of rare and endangered species of the animal world and all ecosystems.

People organize clean-up days, nature events, days without cars and hours without electricity. Each person participating in such actions makes an irreplaceable contribution to the restoration of natural ecosystems.

Typically, an ecosystem is understood as a natural phenomenon in which living organisms interact with the inanimate environment according to certain laws. These laws can be of an ecological, physical or chemical nature; they are inherent in the system itself and cannot be changed by people. At the same time, society and the environment are so interconnected that it is very often difficult to separate them from each other.

Ecosystems that include humans are called human ecosystems. At the same time, the human ecosystem reflects the values ​​and goals of human society, and the main driving forces in these systems are social in nature. However, it is necessary to realize that the laws inherent in natural systems do not lose their force for human ecosystems, therefore their general behavior depends on the interaction of all its elements, including both living organisms and inanimate nature. It would be wrong to believe that the functioning of human ecosystems can be in any way understood without taking into account the influence of these laws. But it would be no less misleading to attempt to consider human ecosystems without understanding the values, needs and relationships of the human society that manages this ecosystem.

The concept of “ecosystem” is primarily associated with nature. People, as well as plants and animals, are an integral part of the ecosystem in which they live, but human ecosystems have several fundamental differences from natural ecosystems themselves. Human ecosystems are determined by human activities. In ecological terms, humans are the dominant species in human ecosystems. But there is a significant difference in the dominance of humans from the dominance of wolves in the taiga ecosystem (or the dominance of any other biological species on its territory). Human activity is determined by social systems and is aimed at achieving goals that have a social rather than a biological basis. We cannot adequately perceive the modern world without understanding the activities of people, which, in turn, cannot be assessed without considering the social goals that guide these activities.

Of all biological species, only humans have the ability to intelligently set goals. Man has invented many ways to interact with the environment. As a rule, human society changes its own and natural ecosystems in accordance with its desires. Moreover, it can create and maintain the existence of artificial systems. However, although society can create and maintain certain types of ecosystems in accordance with its needs, it cannot change the basic laws of their functioning. Everything that exists on Earth is subject to environmental laws. The behavior of any ecosystem depends on its organization: its species composition, characteristics of the abiotic environment, and development history. Some of these components are amenable to direct human control, others only indirectly, others, such as climatic conditions or the genetic characteristics of most populations, are generally inaccessible to human intervention, and others may simply be unknown, due to the enormous complexity of ecosystems.

At the same time, human ecosystems, like all self-organizing systems, are subject to the following laws.

Le's principle-Chatelier-Brown: When an external influence takes the system out of a state of stable equilibrium, the equilibrium shifts in the direction in which the effect of the external influence is weakened.

Principle of event remoteness: a phenomenon removed in time and space seems less significant. In environmental management, this principle especially often becomes the basis for incorrect practical actions.

The principle of sudden increase in pathogenicity: An unexpected increase in pathogenicity occurs when a pathogenic organism mutates, when a new pathogenic organism is introduced into an ecosystem where there are no mechanisms for regulating numbers, or when the living environment for the ecosystem changes very sharply.

The principle of reasonable sufficiency and risk tolerance: the expansion of any human actions should not lead to socio-economic and environmental disasters.

Rules of mutual adaptation: species in a biocenosis are so adapted to each other that their community constitutes an internally contradictory, but unified and mutually interconnected systemic whole.

Integral resource rule: industries competing in the use of specific natural systems inevitably cause damage to each other, the more significantly they change the jointly exploited ecological component or the entire ecosystem as a whole.

The principle of the measure of transformation of natural systems: During the operation of natural systems, certain limits cannot be crossed, allowing these limits to retain the property of self-maintenance (self-organization and self-regulation).

The principle of compliance of environmental conditions with the genetic predetermination of the organism: a species of organism can exist until and to the extent that the natural environment surrounding it corresponds to the genetic capabilities of adapting this species to its fluctuations and changes.

The principle of chain reactions of “hard” management of nature:“hard”, as a rule, technical control of natural processes is fraught with chain reactions, a significant part of which turns out to be environmentally, socially and economically unacceptable.

To consider such complex concepts as human ecosystems, it is useful to divide them into smaller components that are accessible to understanding. The human ecosystem can be represented in the form of several spheres: the sphere of the environment, the sphere of individual management and the sphere of political planning (Table 3.1).

Table 3.1

Spheres of human ecosystems

The environmental sphere unites those structural features of the system that function in accordance with the laws of the natural ecosystem. These include geobiological phenomena of the growth and development of animals and plants, the dynamics of populations and communities, and the exchange of nutrients and energy in food chains.

The domain of individual management describes the behavior of individuals or organizations that have direct contact with and influence the natural environment, whether that influence is purposeful and deliberate or unintentional. The behavior of individual people predetermines the methods of population reproduction, migration flows, and the formation of economic phenomena.

The sphere of political planning unites all the mechanisms by which society produces political or economic signals that direct the development of individual sectors of society in a certain direction.

This division allows us to identify different types of characteristic representatives of each sphere that play a certain role in shaping the human environment as a whole, since the people, organizations and processes described in Table 3.1 have varying degrees of influence on the formation of the human ecosystem.

Typically, the environment is perceived as something separate from society. The environment also includes untouched wild nature, rural landscapes, cities, polluted air and water, but very rarely, something that is the basis of people’s lives. In fact, this approach is unreasonably restrictive. The main feature of human ecosystems is precisely that there is a two-way interaction between society and the environment that supports the life of this society. The environment includes the resource base for most of the most important activities for society, and people use them to satisfy their own needs.

At the same time, it would be wrong to assume that the managed ecosystem is completely dependent on the managing society. There is a two-way interaction here with feedback from the environment to society. The behavior of the environment influences the behavior of the person managing it, and vice versa. Indeed, on the one hand, problems related to the environment can lead to changes in policy, and on the other hand, the political activities of individual groups of people and governments ultimately have a certain impact on the viability and sustainability of the environment. The areas considered are so closely interconnected that it is impossible to completely separate them. They are components of a complex system, the full meaning of which is revealed only in interconnection.

Each of the considered areas is characterized by its own subjects and methods of communication between individual components. Thus, subjects of the sphere of individual management (business executives at various levels) influence certain aspects of the environment in certain ways. The response, as a rule, is some geobiological phenomenon.

However, business executives respond not only to the emergence of a geobiological phenomenon, but also to political and economic signals from the government and other organizations (subjects in the sphere of political planning). On the other hand, the choice of political and economic strategies in the field of political planning is influenced not only by the results of the activities of business executives. Possible direct impact on policy through the environment. An example of such changes are natural and man-made disasters, the elimination of the consequences of which requires the adoption of government decisions. However, direct control influence from the sphere of political planning on the environmental sphere is impossible (this explains the absence of a closed feedback loop between these two spheres), since control influences are always mediated by the activities of subjects in the sphere of individual control.

One of the characteristic human ecosystems is the individual farm. The peasant can be classified as an individual manager, while the environment considered in this case includes the fields (crops grown, pests, weeds, soils) and the established types of interactions between them. The connections between the farmer and the environment are very close. Most of the actions of a person working on the land are aimed at creating conditions that are most favorable for the crops grown. They constantly monitor plant growth and development, pest activity and soil conditions, as this provides the necessary information to adequately organize their cultivation activities, plan chemical treatment activities, and ultimately determine crop forecasts. When these conditions change, farmers can optimize their activities accordingly. On the other hand, agricultural producers also depend on government policy decisions that limit the area of ​​land on which a particular crop can be cultivated, set prices, or provide certain support and assistance in managing the farm. The purpose of political decisions is to influence or control the production of agricultural products, therefore, for effective management, the government is forced to constantly monitor the activities of subjects in the sphere of individual management to determine whether the decisions are having the desired effect.

Thus, there is a close feedback relationship between the agricultural producer and the environment, on the one hand, and the peasant economy and the government, on the other. Changing the behavior of one element affects the behavior of the other two.

For comparison, consider the ecosystem of industrial production that processes wastewater. The managing agents here are, on the one hand, industrial enterprises and city administrations responsible for the discharge of wastewater into rivers, and on the other, representatives of environmental organizations monitoring the state of water flows. The latter may be employees of industrial enterprises, water consumers (for example, drinking water production plants), various public environmental organizations or observers of government agencies. Natural bodies of water are considered as a dimensionless container for waste produced by society. From the point of view of industrial enterprises and city administration, water purification does not bring direct profit. Therefore, wastewater treatment by enterprises is aimed not at bringing the quality of wastewater in line with the quality of water in natural reservoirs, but at minimizing government penalties and negative public opinion. At first glance, there is no direct feedback between the environmental sphere and the planning sphere. The degree of pollution of natural water bodies is monitored by special organizations, the conclusion of which reaches the government and only then is reflected in changes in legislation, the issuance of relevant directives or the initiation of lawsuits. All these impacts are aimed at managers, and not at changing the state of the environment. The actual state of the latter depends on the actions of leaders, who can practically nullify the effectiveness of public opinion or the legislative efforts of society. That is why the process of monitoring the state of the environment will be significantly simplified if it concerns industrial enterprises directly and not indirectly.

In the example considered, the connections between the spheres are weaker and more distant than in the example with agriculture, but, nevertheless, the spheres remain interconnected, and the behavior of each element of the system is determined by the presence of this connection.

Russian scientists have developed an anthropoeconomic approach to assess human ecosystems, which allows us to identify the following 5 sectors and 5 functions of the social mechanism.

Human consumption sector. Controls, along with the efficiency of consumption of natural resources, including energy, material and technological resources (assessment, control and forecasting of environmental intensity, energy intensity, material intensity and knowledge intensity of production), also the cost of living labor (labor intensity) and, what seems most significant, the human intensity of production . The function of the bodies responsible for this sector is to minimize by all available means the resource intensity of the final product, primarily its human intensity, the cost of the product in units of population potential costs.

Accounting sector. Antiproduct forecasting and minimization. Since practically no production can be carried out without costs, without polluting the environment, natural, social, informational, demographic, etc. environment (thermodynamic law of entropy), the tasks of the bodies responsible for this sector are control of the anti-production process, monitoring of the anti-product, suppression of processes at the source if possible, minimization of the anti-product and compensation for its destructive effect.

Transformation sector. Transforms the industrial product into components of life support systems for the population (market mechanisms, contributions to the social sphere, social construction, etc.). Budget and tax processes, mechanisms of foreign economic relations, development and implementation of social standards are the functions of bodies associated with the sector.

Human production sector. Having certain resources produced in the third sector, society must not only compensate for the population costs incurred in the first sector, but also form a certain reserve and guarantee its progressive development. The more effectively the resources of life support systems are used in the process of human production, the more effective the guarantees will be. Bodies working in this sector use an indicator such as the increase in population potential per unit of investment in life support systems as a criterion for the quality of their work.

Balance sector. In monitoring mode, it provides government bodies and all interested structures with the necessary information (by industry, territory, socio-demographic groups) about the relationship between human consumption and human production. In this sector, apparently, long-term assessments and planning of social development should be concentrated, strategic goals and prospects, and scenarios for their achievement should be determined. Appropriate technical, software, mathematical and personnel support for the work of this sector will make it possible to build computer models of an object (city, region, region of the country) and, in an experimental, laboratory mode, analyze the immediate and long-term consequences of decisions made.

Thus, despite all the diversity of human ecosystems, their structure depends on the geophysical and biological interactions between the components of the environment, on the goals and potential capabilities of the person managing this environment, as well as on the habits, customs, motives and potential resources of society. Goals reflect the values ​​and aspirations of society, and the environment itself has the most significant influence on their formation. That is why it makes no sense for people belonging to one social order to criticize the goals of another society.

The most telling example is the attitude of various countries towards wildlife. Highly developed countries place high priority on the conservation of wildlife areas in the form of national parks, nature reserves, research or protected areas, etc. The creation and protection of such territories is determined by aesthetic or scientific research motives, as well as the possibility of using them for the development of tourism. The organization of a national park is a striking example of the so-called ecological type of thinking. However, in developing countries, environmental motives are not so popular there. For example, in African countries, with the exception of East Africa, where tourism is a major source of national income, the conservation of natural habitats, even for species at risk of extinction, is a lower priority than the development of land for direct human use, such as food production. In South and Southeast Asia, in areas with depleted soils, many species of animals and plants are on the verge of extinction, as their natural habitats are intensively used for human needs. If a politician in a developing country with depleted soils decides to establish a nature reserve, which is very common in North America or Europe, it will be tantamount to political suicide for him, since it will lead to the loss of agricultural land and the hunger of large numbers of people. The ability to satisfy the basic human needs of the population of the world varies, and this determines the differences in policy goals. Despite the fact that wild nature, clean air and water, etc. important to all people, many countries currently simply cannot afford to define them as matters of primary importance, even if the leaders of these countries understand their importance in view of the future prospects.

Another, perhaps most modern, way of looking at ecosystems with human values ​​in mind is to determine the ability of an ecosystem to recover. Can the system provide a person with everything necessary for a long time: food, timber, energy, air suitable for breathing, water suitable for drinking, conditions for recreation? Does it have sufficient potential to process human waste? If not, what stabilizing changes need to be made in the environment itself, in the technologies available to the person managing that environment, or in the goals and strategies of society as a whole?

For example, currently in Russia, deforestation is actively being carried out with the subsequent sale of wood abroad, without preliminary processing. This leads to the ruin of local wood processing industries. Uncontrolled destruction of forests, the restoration of which will take many decades, changes the composition of soils, destroys natural ecosystems, and deprives cities of a full-fledged recreational area. In principle, regulation is possible - planting new forests, carrying out not complete, but partial cutting, processing and manufacturing of timber products using the local woodworking industry, which would give greater profits with less felling. However, modern economic and political conditions in Russia, the lack of necessary financial resources for the development of local industry in conditions of insufficient legal regulation lead to the complete depletion of forest lands and the destruction of natural ecosystems. This, in turn, affects employment in logging, the disappearance of traditional opportunities for Russian residents to pick berries, mushrooms, and hunt, changing their way of life. Restoring forest lands in a number of Russian regions in the future will require huge financial costs, and in some cases it will simply be impossible.

Another notable example is the Indian peninsula, which until recently was characterized by wealth and prosperity driven by international trade in cultivated tea, coffee and spices. But the sharp increase in population on the Indian Peninsula over the last century has led to the fact that even rich agricultural resources have not been able to meet the increased food needs of the population. Large investments have been made to regulate agricultural production with a view to intensifying it, including through greater use of fertilizers and other modern methods. These measures led to a significant increase in agricultural production. However, the raw material for the production of most modern fertilizers is oil, and with increasing world oil prices, most peasant households in South Asia, and in particular on the Indian Peninsula, are unable to buy everything necessary for modern agricultural production.

The examples shown convince us that human ecosystems, like natural ones, are characterized by certain limits beyond which they cannot be taken. Even the largest river has a completely definite maximum level of permissible pollution, and even the most fertile black soil cannot be cultivated too intensively. Management that does not take into account the characteristics of the natural environment will be less effective than management that recognizes danger signals in time and responds to them properly. Preserving the ability of human ecosystems to self-heal over time implies not only maintaining a balance between society and the environment, but also maintaining the ability of the system to withstand or neutralize disturbances. Some natural environments are inherently more impoverished, but with proper management they can be quite productive. On the other hand, the most stable natural ecosystems can be destroyed as a result of improper management. In the real world, no ecosystem is free from disturbances and stress. Natural phenomena such as droughts, floods, heavy rains, early or late frosts, and epidemics over thousands of years are real disasters for ecosystems. Equally common are various social disasters - wars, economic cycles, changes in ethical and religious views, demographic changes.

The factors influencing the ability of the human ecosystem to recover are not always obvious. They may relate to the natural environment as a whole, as in the example of Russian forests, and to the sphere of individual management, or to the sphere of political planning, as in the case of wars or ethnic conflicts. The most important are those constant but hidden changes in the structure of the ecosystem that arise in response to small incremental adjustments to the management strategy that are made under the influence of social changes in accordance with the traditions and habits that have developed in society. Unfortunately, existing policies often do not take into account the consequences of a decision on the natural environment. As a rule, it allows you to temporarily remove the problem, but at the same time lays the foundation for a new one to arise, which will require new corrections in the future. This type of management actually reduces the ability of ecosystems to recover. Moreover, the understanding that the state of the ecosystem is getting out of control usually does not occur until the process becomes irreversible.

The most serious situation arises when negative changes tend to accumulate in an ecosystem over a long period of time, forming problems that are hidden from understanding. The company has some experience in solving or partially compensating sudden environmental problems, such as, for example, an emergency release of oil into sea waters or accidents at nuclear power plants. However, one cannot hope that society will be able to recognize the emergence of a serious problem and neutralize its consequences in a timely manner. This especially applies to problems that gradually cover the structure of the system as a whole and are by their nature so extensive that they simply cannot be fully comprehended. Population health effects are precisely such problems. Changes that affect genetic mechanisms accumulate and then, transmitted by inheritance, are detected in the form of an increase in congenital anomalies and a wide spread of hereditary pathology. At present, these problems have not yet been recognized by the world community, and the fight is being waged only against the consequences, and not against the causes that give rise to the phenomenon of a widespread decline in the level of population health. Kenneth Watt (1974) called this condition the Titanic effect. Changes in the ecosystem that society simply does not know about or does not pay enough attention to can lead to the destruction of even the most highly organized and complex human societies.