Natural conditions as the basis of life and economic development. Natural conditions as the basis of life and economic development Examples of the influence of nature on people’s economic activities

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

Air pollution. In the course of their activities, people pollute the air. Over cities and industrial areas in the atmosphere, the concentration of gases increases, which in rural areas are contained in very small quantities or are completely absent. Polluted air is harmful to health. In addition, harmful gases, combining with atmospheric moisture and falling in the form of acid rain, deteriorate the quality of the soil and reduce crop yields.

The main causes of air pollution are the combustion of natural fuels and metallurgical production. If in the 19th century the products of combustion of coal and liquid fuel entering the environment were almost completely assimilated by the vegetation of the Earth, now the content of harmful combustion products is steadily increasing. A number of pollutants enter the air from stoves, furnaces, and car exhaust pipes. Among them, sulfur dioxide is especially prominent - a poisonous gas that is easily soluble in water.

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

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

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

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

Huge amounts of water are used in industry. To melt 1 ton of steel, 200 m 3 of water is required, and to produce 1 ton of synthetic fiber - from 2500 to 5000 m 3. Industry absorbs 85% of all water used in cities.

Even more water is needed for irrigation. During the year, 12-14 m3 of water is consumed per 1 hectare of irrigated land. In our country, more than 150 km 3 is spent annually on irrigation.

The constant increase in water consumption on the planet leads to the danger of “water famine”, which necessitates the development of measures for the rational use of water resources. In addition to the high level of consumption, the shortage of water is caused by its growing pollution due to the discharge of industrial and especially chemical waste into rivers. Bacterial pollution and toxic chemicals (for example, phenol) lead to the death of water bodies. The rafting of timber along rivers, which is often accompanied by congestion, also has harmful consequences. When wood stays in water for a long time, it loses its commercial qualities, and the substances washed out of it have a detrimental effect on fish.

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

Pollution of the World Ocean. The waters of the seas and oceans are subject to significant pollution. With river runoff, as well as from sea transport, pathogenic waste, petroleum products, salts of heavy metals, toxic organic compounds, including pesticides, enter the seas. Pollution of the seas and oceans reaches such proportions that in some cases caught fish and shellfish are unsuitable for consumption.

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

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

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

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

Significant territories with formed soils are withdrawn from agricultural use due to the open-pit mining method for minerals lying at shallow depths. The open-pit mining method is cheap, as it eliminates the need to build expensive mines and a complex communications system, and is also safer. Dug deep quarries and dumps of soil destroy not only the lands to be developed, but also the surrounding areas, while the hydrological regime of the area is disrupted, water, soil and atmosphere are polluted, and agricultural yields are reduced.

Human influence on flora and fauna. Human impact on wildlife consists of direct influence and indirect changes in the natural environment. One form of direct impact on plants and animals is forest cutting. Selective and sanitary cuttings, which regulate the composition and quality of the forest and are necessary to remove damaged and diseased trees, do not significantly affect the species composition of forest biocenoses. Another thing is clear cutting of trees. Finding themselves suddenly in open habitat conditions, plants in the lower tiers of the forest experience the adverse effects of direct solar radiation. In shade-loving plants of the herbaceous and shrub layers, chlorophyll is destroyed, growth is inhibited, and some species disappear. Light-loving plants that are resistant to elevated temperatures and lack of moisture settle in the clearing areas. The animal world is also changing: species associated with the tree stand disappear or migrate to other places.

Mass visits to forests by vacationers and tourists have a noticeable impact on the state of vegetation. In these cases, the harmful effect is trampling, compaction of the soil and its pollution. The direct influence of man on the animal world is the extermination of species that provide food or other material benefits to him. It is believed that since 1600, more than 160 species and subspecies of birds and at least 100 species of mammals have been exterminated by humans. The long list of extinct species includes the aurochs, a wild bull that lived throughout Europe. In the 18th century was exterminated, described by the Russian naturalist G.V. Steller's sea cow (Steller's cow) is an aquatic mammal belonging to the order Sirenidae. A little over a hundred years ago, the wild Tarpan horse, which lived in southern Russia, disappeared. Many animal species are on the verge of extinction or are preserved only in nature reserves. Such is the fate of the bison, which inhabited the prairies of North America by the tens of millions, and the bison, formerly widespread in the forests of Europe. In the Far East, sika deer have been almost completely exterminated. Intensified fishing for cetaceans has brought several species of whales to the brink of destruction: gray, bowhead, and blue.

The number of animals is also influenced by human economic activities not related to fishing. The number of Ussuri tigers has sharply decreased. This occurred as a result of the development of territories within its range and a reduction in the food supply. In the Pacific Ocean, several tens of thousands of dolphins die every year: during the fishing season, they get caught in nets and cannot get out of them. Until recently, before fishermen took special measures, the number of dolphins dying in nets reached hundreds of thousands. The effects of water pollution are very unfavorable for marine mammals. In such cases, a ban on catching animals is ineffective. For example, after the ban on catching dolphins in the Black Sea, their numbers have not recovered. The reason is that many toxic substances enter the Black Sea with river water and through straits from the Mediterranean Sea. These substances are especially harmful to baby dolphins, whose high mortality rate prevents the growth of the population of these cetaceans.

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

Radioactive contamination of the biosphere. The problem of radioactive contamination arose in 1945 after the explosion of atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nuclear weapons tests carried out in the atmosphere before 1963 caused global radioactive contamination. When atomic bombs explode, very strong ionizing radiation is generated; radioactive particles are scattered over long distances, contaminating the soil, water bodies, and living organisms. Many radioactive isotopes have long half-lives, remaining dangerous throughout their existence. All these isotopes are included in the cycle of substances, enter living organisms and have a detrimental effect on cells.

Testing nuclear weapons (and even more so when using these weapons for military purposes) has another negative side. During a nuclear explosion, a huge amount of fine dust is formed, which remains in the atmosphere and absorbs a significant part of solar radiation. Calculations by scientists from around the world show that even with limited, local use of nuclear weapons, the resulting dust will block most of the solar radiation. There will be a long-term cooling (“nuclear winter”), which will inevitably lead to the death of all life on Earth.

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

Acidic atmospheric deposition on land. One of the most pressing global problems of our time and the foreseeable future is the problem of increasing acidity of atmospheric precipitation and soil cover. Areas of acidic soils do not experience droughts, but their natural fertility is reduced and unstable; They are quickly depleted and their yields are low. Acid rain not only causes acidification of surface waters and upper soil horizons. Acidity with downward flows of water spreads across the entire soil profile and causes significant acidification of groundwater. Acid rain occurs as a result of human economic activity, accompanied by the emission of colossal amounts of oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon. These oxides, entering the atmosphere, are transported over long distances, interact with water and are converted into solutions of a mixture of sulfuric, sulfuric, nitrous, nitric and carbonic acids, which fall in the form of “acid rain” on land, interacting with plants, soils, and waters. The main sources in the atmosphere are the combustion of shale, oil, coal, and gas in industry, agriculture, and everyday life. Human economic activity has almost doubled the release of oxides of sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Naturally, this affected the increase in acidity of atmospheric precipitation, surface and groundwater. To solve this problem, it is necessary to increase the volume of systematic representative measurements of compounds of air pollutants over large areas.

Natural conditions are a set of natural factors that characterize the influence of the natural environment on the life and activities of people. In addition, natural conditions can be defined as “bodies” and forces of nature that are essential for the life and economic activities of society, but are not directly included in the final product of consumption. This concept, along with the concept of “natural resources”, is an integral part (and in a narrower meaning and use is a synonym) of such concepts as “nature”, “natural environment”, “human environment”, “environment”.

For a long time, Soviet science gave preference to the study of the influence of natural conditions on various sectors of the economy. However, in the process of humanization of scientific knowledge, increasing preference is given to assessing natural conditions from the point of view of their favorableness for human life. The problem of human adaptation to natural environmental conditions deserves special attention.

There are direct and indirect effects of natural conditions on people's lives. Thus, the influence of weather and climatic conditions 1 on the health and performance (labor productivity) of a person is divided into direct - immediate and indirect - indirect (Fig. 3.1). The direct or immediate influence of weather and climate is manifested in the impact primarily on the thermal state of a person, meteotropic reactions and psychophysical state; indirect impact - through landscape and vegetation conditions, meteorological potential of air pollution (PAP), self-cleaning ability of the atmosphere (SCA) and through the epidemiological situation.

1 The climatic component of natural conditions includes the following components: temperature (its contrast), wind regime, amount of precipitation, amount of solar radiation.

According to research by anthropologists, natural conditions (or rather, the warm climate) had a decisive influence on the emergence and settlement of humans as a biological species, as well as the geographical location of ancient civilizations. The settlement of people in areas with more severe climatic conditions was associated with population growth, as well as the need to meet growing needs. The first mass population migrations are associated with sharp climate fluctuations, such as periods of glaciation. Currently, the problem of climate warming raises the issue of relocating people from coastal and island settlements.

The climatic component of natural conditions includes the following components: temperature (its contrast), wind conditions, precipitation, solar radiation. Climate assessment based on its impact on the human body can be presented in the form of anthropoclimatic zoning.

In addition to the great role of the climate component, for humans as a biological species and, therefore, a direct participant in food (trophic) chains, geochemical conditions are of significant importance - the content (as well as concentration) of chemical elements in water and soil that are vital for human health. Zoning a territory from the point of view of a given component of natural conditions (geochemical zoning) makes it possible to identify so-called geochemical anomalies.

Biotic natural conditions, or plant and animal components of the environment, should also be considered from the point of view of their potential health hazards (as pathogens and vectors of infections or factors that depress life activity). Based on medical-geographical zoning, natural foci of diseases are identified.

Natural conditions have an indirect impact on certain aspects of human life through the characteristic features of the home (the degree of isolation of the home from the natural environment), the nature of food (calorie content), and clothing (raw material, cut). These features of the population's life are associated primarily with the climatic characteristics of the natural environment.

Great theoretical and constructive importance is attached to the zoning of a territory based on a comprehensive assessment of the natural living conditions of the population. Such an assessment was carried out for the territory of Russia (within the borders of the former USSR) by the Soviet geographer O. R. Nazarevsky (1974). His work analyzed 30 indicators, the main part of which were climatic (Fig. 3.2). The assessment made it possible to introduce the concept of the degree of favorableness (comfort) of natural conditions for the life of the population.

Based on this type of zoning, areas with extreme habitat conditions are identified. Human life in these territories is associated with the need for adaptation - human adaptation to the natural environment. Adaptation occurs in various directions. It may be associated with changes in the morphological and functional characteristics of the human body: body structure, skin color, etc. - biological adaptation. In addition, the process can be non-biological in nature (non-biological adaptation) and expressed in a person’s adaptation to unfavorable environmental conditions by isolating his home from it, as well as changing some characteristics of the natural environment in the desired direction (for example, changing the wind regime of desert areas using artificial forest plantations or reducing relative air humidity by draining swampy areas, etc.). The process of extrabiological adaptation is called culture, putting into this concept everything that has been created by human civilization. In this case, the totality of transformed elements of the natural environment in their spatial combination is called a cultural landscape.

It is necessary to point out the special effect of the process of mutual influence of man and the natural environment. By adapting and simultaneously transforming (cultivating) the natural environment, human society subsequently continues to adapt in its behavior and economic activities aimed at supporting life to another natural environment that it has changed. This natural environment in scientific research has been called a quasi-natural environment (“second nature”) and an artificial environment (“third nature”) 1.

Let us consider the impact of natural conditions on individual sectors of the economy. The impact of natural conditions on the development of industries in the primary sector of the economy (raw materials industries) is obvious: agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing, and water management. As you know, plant productivity is determined by the amount of heat and moisture and the quality of the soil. Thus, in the well-known model of the “isolated state” by J. Thunen (1826), the factor of soil fertility and plant properties is decisive for the location of agriculture.

Other types of economic activity are related to natural conditions more or less indirectly. This impact has a specific economic expression, which is determined by an increase in the costs of extraction, production, and transportation of products compared to benchmark indicators. For example, the cost and terms of construction of industrial and residential buildings and structures depend on the terrain, the degree of seismicity, swampiness of the area, the presence of permafrost and other indicators; placement, power, and operating features of the energy sector are related to climatic indicators and daylight hours; mining requires additional costs due to the unfavorable conditions of their occurrence - high swampiness, location in the permafrost zone, on the shelf of the northern seas, etc.

To organize and optimize the production process, certain climatic conditions are necessary: temperature, humidity and air purity. For example, sudden temperature fluctuations in the shipbuilding industry are seen as a negative phenomenon. Due to the difference between high temperatures in ship steel structures and low temperatures

"Reimers N.F. Nature management: Dictionary-reference book. M., 1990. P. 493.

ambient air in winter, US shipbuilding was moved to the northwest of the country, where there are no sudden temperature changes. Certain industries have requirements for air humidity (for example, in the production of photographic films - an increase in air humidity above a certain level increases the risk of covering the film with a layer of water). Natural air humidity is important in the textile industry, especially in the wool industry (as air humidity increases, the moisture content of the yarn increases, which makes the spinning process easier). Great Britain, due to its island position, is famous for the high quality of woolen fabrics. Low humidity has an adverse effect on the strength of natural fibers. However, for artificial fibers (viscose), the opposite relationship is observed: with higher air humidity, their strength decreases.

One of the technological requirements in the leather industry (leather dressing) is low air humidity (the relative air humidity in a tannery should not exceed 40%; otherwise the leather becomes moldy and loses its elasticity).

The food, perfume, and pharmaceutical industries have certain requirements for clean air: it must be free of dust, toxic substances, odors and bacteria (for example, pharmaceutical enterprises should not be adjacent to construction industry enterprises or cement production).

The environmental consequences of the negative impact of industrial complexes on the environment are one of the reasons for the separation of production cycles and the weakening of connections in territorial production complexes (TPC). The environmental factor of industrial location is currently becoming increasingly important for production as a whole, not only for technological reasons, but also in its impact on the places where people live (stay). From an economic point of view, we are talking about the costs associated with possible harmful industrial emissions, which in many cases significantly exceed operational ones. In this regard, financing of new production can only be opened with a positive conclusion from the environmental impact assessment. When reconstructing or expanding the economic activities of existing facilities, an environmental audit procedure is carried out.

Not only the location of enterprises within one territory is important, but also their relative position and combination with other natural features, such as relief. Thus, the combination of metallurgical and chemical production in Novokuznetsk with their location in the river valley results in the frequent occurrence of smog as a result of temperature inversion. In the valleys, as a result of temperature inversion, the upper air layers are warmer than the lower ones. Smoke and dust clouds may not dissipate, since the warm air layer does not allow them to pass through and they accumulate over the entire inversion region. Under certain climatic conditions, when there is fog for a long time in calm weather, the mixture of emissions can reach concentrations that are dangerous to life. There are known facts of mass poisoning of people by industrial emissions into the atmosphere in the Meuse River valley in Belgium in 1930, in the American city of Donore in 1948. In general, respiratory tract diseases are typical for residents of areas with constant air pollution.

Air pollution causes significant harm to agricultural production: milk and meat production volumes and plant productivity are reduced. In emergency cases, as practice shows, there is a high probability of death of animals and plants. Industrial dust and gas issues often lead to the destruction of forests. Thus, in the USA, copper mining waste from a mine in the Ducktown area caused the death of previously abundant vegetation on an area of 100 km 2 . The soil erosion that followed this process spread over large areas, and the once prosperous region turned into a desert. Similar processes can be observed in the mines of Australia.

An increase in the content of dust and gases in the air - industrial waste - has other undesirable consequences. In heavily polluted air, the permeability to solar radiation decreases and the dose of ultraviolet radiation, which is of great importance for human health, changes. The atmosphere is most polluted in areas where open-pit coal mining, chemical plants and thermal power plants are located. The presence of treatment facilities at such enterprises is, as a rule, insufficient.

A special place belongs to industries that have an extremely adverse impact on the natural environment. For example, in the event of a nuclear power plant accident, vast areas become hazardous to life.

It is necessary to note the role of natural conditions in the spread of various types of pollution. When transporting air masses, industrial emissions, being involved in the general circulation of the atmosphere, can have an adverse effect on areas significantly removed from the source of pollution.

The size of the air pollution area depends on wind speed. The higher the wind speed, the higher the turbulence of the air flow, the closer to the source of pollution the emission particles settle. Consequently, the radius of exposure to harmful emissions is reduced. If the wind speed is low, dust and other particles settle at a considerable distance from the pipes.

If several sources of pollution are located in relative proximity, then depending on the wind speed, its direction, and the distance from the source, the pollution areas overlap. Thus, air pollution will be observed in the direction of the prevailing winds, but its magnitude reaches a maximum where the winds are weak or where the areas of atmospheric air pollution overlap.

The movement of water also influences the transport of pollutants and their distribution in the natural environment, since the cycle includes surface and groundwater flows containing different types of pollutants. A significant portion of pollutants returns to the surface in precipitation (acid rain). The incidence of acid rain has increased due to the increase in the height of industrial smokestacks, emitting dioxer (SO 2). Increasing the height of the pipes reduces pollution near the plant, but the pollutant lingers longer in the atmosphere and water-bearing clouds, resulting in more sulfuric acid being produced, which falls to the ground in so-called acid rain. Industrial wastes discharged into water bodies, as well as placed on the surface, are capable of penetrating into contact media and changing the properties of the natural habitats of living organisms. For example, radioactive waste buried in the seas causes changes in the qualitative characteristics of the habitat of fish and marine animals. The storage of chemical (including radioactive) substances causes their penetration into the environment and, as a result, leads to a change in its geochemical conditions.
3.2. Anthropogenic impact. Pollution and its types
Anthropogenic impact on the natural environment is understood as the direct or indirect influence of human society on nature, leading to local, local or global changes. The essence of anthropogenic impact on the biosphere is the consumption by humanity of primary biological products in the process of life for the purpose of survival. The consequences of anthropogenic impact can be interpreted as the formation of waste - primary (direct “residues” of unused biosphere products, including disturbed ones) and secondary (various types of pollution). Secondary waste includes substances synthesized by humans but alien to natural ecosystems. Currently, a person is able to synthesize about 10 million substances; he produces 50 thousand on a large scale, and 5 thousand on a particularly large scale. Anthropogenic impact is characterized by the concept of anthropogenic load - the degree of direct or indirect anthropogenic impact on the natural environment as a whole or on its individual components. According to experts, the anthropogenic load on the natural environment doubles every 10-15 years.

Anthropogenic impact is associated with an environmental risk to human life and civilization, since imperfect knowledge about the biosphere and the patterns of its dynamics leads to a distorted assessment of the magnitude of the permissible impact on it in terms of resource consumption.

It should be noted that crises of anthropogenic origin are fundamentally different from local natural disasters that are organic to the process of Earth's evolution (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, forest fires, etc.). Their consequences are quickly eliminated thanks to the natural processes of the biosphere - the cycle of substances and energy.

The amount of energy consumption per unit of territory is used as an indicator of anthropogenic impact on ecosystems (the contribution of economic activities to their destruction). There is a close correlation between the magnitude of anthropogenic pressure, population density and economic structure.

Pollution of the natural environment is the entry into it of completely new or known (solid, liquid, gaseous) substances, logical agents, various types of energy in quantities and concentrations exceeding the natural level for living organisms. There are several approaches to classifying environmental pollution (Fig. 3.3).

1. Based on their origin, a distinction is made between natural and anthropogenic pollution.

Natural pollution is environmental pollution that occurs without human participation or as a result of its distant influence on nature. The main sources of natural pollution are spontaneous, catastrophic natural processes: mudflows, volcanic eruptions, floods, fires, etc.

Anthropogenic pollution is any pollution caused by human activity.

2.
By objects of pollution they distinguish: pollution of water, atmosphere, soil, landscape.

3.
Based on the duration and scale of distribution, pollution is distinguished between temporary and permanent; local, regional, cross-border and global.

4.
Based on the sources and types of pollutants, the following types of pollution are distinguished: physical, chemical, biological, biotic, mechanical.

Let us dwell on their characteristics in more detail. Physical pollution is pollution that manifests itself in deviations from the norm in temperature, energy, wave, radiation and other physical properties of the environment. This type of pollution can be presented in various forms:

thermal (thermal) pollution, characterized by a periodic or prolonged increase in environmental temperature above the natural level. Typical for air and water environments (as a result of emissions (discharges) of heated gases and waste water);
light pollution associated with periodic or prolonged excess of the level of natural illumination of the area due to the use of artificial lighting sources.
Typical for industrial centers, large cities, and agglomerations. This form of pollution, alone or in combination with other forms, can lead to anomalies in the development of living organisms and cause their migration;
noise pollution characterized by exceeding the level
natural noise background. Its main source is technical
devices, transport, etc. This is especially true for cities, the vicinity of airfields, and industrial facilities. Leads to human fatigue, stress, and the development of neuropsychiatric diseases. When noise levels reach 90 decibels, hearing loss may occur. Even relatively low, but long-term noise pollution of natural ecosystems leads to their changes (relocation of certain species, disruption of reproduction processes, etc.);
radioactive contamination associated with an excess of the natural background radiation and the level of radioactive elements and substances in the natural environment (at the same time it can be considered as chemical contamination). The main sources are
nuclear installations, tests, accidents, artificial transuranium
elements, nuclear fission products of radioactive isotopes, etc. It is one of the particularly dangerous pollutants for humans, animals and plants due to the negative impact of increased doses of radiation on the genetic apparatus and biological structures of organisms;
electromagnetic - associated with changes in the natural electromagnetic properties of the environment. The main sources are high-voltage lines, television and radio installations, etc. It is considered particularly dangerous pollution, since it can induce disturbances in the fine biological structures of living organisms 1, in addition, it leads to geophysical anomalies.

Chemical pollution is formed as a result of changes in the natural chemical properties of the environment or when chemical substances that are not characteristic of the environment enter it, as well as in concentrations exceeding background (natural) ones. According to the UN definition, chemical pollutants are all substances and compounds found in the wrong place, at the wrong time and in the wrong quantity. The main sources of pollution are industry, transport, and agriculture.

Among chemical substances, a special place is occupied by substances of the 1st hazard class, either extremely dangerous or highly toxic, for which minimum values for presence in the environment have been established, since the very fact of the presence of these substances, which have the ability to accumulate in a living organism, requires special attention. These include: beryllium, vanadium, cobalt, nickel, zinc, chromium, lead, mercury and some other heavy metals, organometallic compounds, oil waste, cyanide compounds, pesticides, radioactive elements.

Among the highly dangerous substances synthesized by humans is a group of dioxidins, which have powerful mutagenic, carcinogenic, and embryotoxicological effects. Dioxidins also have

1 The most dangerous electromagnetic fields are those in the microwave range

ability to bioaccumulate; the various deviations in human development they cause can be inherited.

Biological pollution is the introduction into ecosystems of uncharacteristic species of living organisms that worsen the conditions of existence of natural biocenoses or negatively affect human health and economic activity. This type of pollution occurs as a result of the accidental natural introduction of organisms alien to a given territory, but it is more often associated with human activities (as a result of the mechanical introduction of alien species and the creation of biotechnological products). Biological pollution is facilitated by changes in the natural conditions of habitats as a result of physical and chemical influences.

A form of biological pollution - microbiological pollution - is associated with the massive proliferation of microorganisms on anthropogenic or human-modified natural substrates. Particularly dangerous are microorganisms that are pathogenic for humans, animals and plants, which are associated with humans through food chains (microbial contamination).

Biological (especially microbiological) pollution of anthropogenic origin leads to undesirable changes in the biotic qualities of the human living environment. This is evidenced by the emergence of new, life-threatening viral diseases, some of which are transmitted at the genetic level.

Man as a biological organism can exist in a fairly wide range of natural and climatic characteristics; on this basis it is called a supereurybiont. However, the types and forms of its activities, as well as their effectiveness, are significantly differentiated under the influence of natural factors. The natural conditionality of the forms and characteristics of economic activity is subsequently reflected in the socio-psychological characteristics of the country’s population and mentality characteristics.

Biotic pollution is an excess of certain types of nutrients in the environment (soil, water, air), undesirable from a human point of view, or the appearance of new types of them for a given territory. The main sources of this type of pollution are the flushing of mineral and organic fertilizers into water bodies, the accumulation of sewage, secretions, dead organisms in the environment, and the entry of artificially synthesized organic substances.

Mechanical pollution is environmental pollution with household and industrial waste that is relatively inert in physical and chemical terms (construction and household waste, packaging materials, etc.). Soils and water bodies are most exposed to this type of pollution.

Environmental contamination is one of the forms of mechanical pollution that significantly worsens the aesthetic and recreational qualities of the environment. This type of pollution also includes contamination of outer space. According to modern data, there are about 3000 tons of space debris in near space.

Nesterova I.A. The influence of natural conditions and natural resources on the territorial organization of society // Encyclopedia of the Nesterovs

The territorial organization of society is influenced by many factors. One of them is the presence of certain natural resources and the characteristics of climate and other natural conditions.

Concept and types of natural factors

Despite evolution, natural factors continue to play a significant role in human life. Natural factors are a broad concept, including such important elements as natural resources and natural conditions. In addition to them, it also includes such concepts as landscape sustainability and environmental situation.

Let's consider each element that makes up natural factors. First of all, let us turn to the interpretation of the concept of “natural conditions”.

Under natural conditions It is generally accepted to understand the totality of the most important natural characteristics of a territory, reflecting the main features of the components of the natural environment or local natural phenomena.

It is natural conditions that have a direct impact on the life and lifestyle of the population. Details of what depends on natural conditions are presented in the figure below.

The components of the natural environment are: climate, geological environment, surface and underground waters, soils, biota, and landscapes. Separately, the distribution of local natural phenomena should be highlighted. What it is? Local natural phenomena represent particularly dangerous natural phenomena and anomalies, as well as foci of infections.

Climatic conditions are of no less interest. They exert their influence through the relationship of heat and moisture. Thermal resources determine the energy of plant growth.

The territory of Russia is the largest in the world and is 17,125,191 km². There is climatic diversity on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, most of the territory is in cold climates. This affects the characteristics of economic activity.

At the same time, it should be emphasized that Russia as a whole is the northernmost and coldest country in the world, which affects its economy, economy and the peculiarities of social development. 10 million km2 is occupied by permafrost.

The fact is that the specifics of permafrost must be taken into account when constructing and laying cables, when installing power lines, etc.

The second climatic factor is moisture. Precipitation frequency affects agriculture, housing and communal services and other important elements of life in the territories.

No less important are relief features and geological structure. By influencing all components of the natural environment, the relief contributes to the appearance of differences in landscapes and at the same time is itself influenced by natural zoning and altitudinal zonation.

Engineering and geological conditions of the area include factors such as the relationship of layers of the earth's crust and the state of the upper layers. These factors influence the engineering and economic activity of territories, as they perform the following tasks presented below.

Accounting mining and geological conditions vital in all areas of economic activity, but especially in urban planning, transport and hydraulic engineering.

Separately, the soil factor should be mentioned. Soil is important for agriculture and construction. In this aspect, we will highlight the structure, chemical composition and density of soils. The value of soil lies in its ability to supply plants with nutrients.

Let's also look at the biota. Biota is understood as a historically established set of living organisms living on any large territory, i.e. fauna and flora of this territory. The characterization of the natural conditions of the area also includes an assessment of the flora and fauna.

So, natural factors play a vital role in human life. They determine his life, leisure time and state of health. Based on this, we can safely say that natural factors influence territorial division and local self-government.

Classification of territories by comfort level

Now we will consider each type of territory separately from the point of view of its potential features. As you can see in the figure, the territories are:

extreme territories;
uncomfortable territories;
comfortable areas;
hyper-comfortable areas;

Let's start, of course, with extreme territories. They represent the most difficult regions for economic development. These include: polar regions, high-mountain regions of high latitudes, etc.

Then there are territories that are less difficult for life and economic life, which are called uncomfortable territories. They are characterized by harsh conditions, a harsh climate, which is unsuitable for life for an unadapted population. Such territories include: arctic deserts, tundra, arid territories and mountainous regions.

Hyper-comfortable areas are considered more or less comfortable for life. These are areas where natural conditions are limitedly favorable. The settlers feel quite comfortable in such territories. Hyper-comfortable areas boreal and semiarid.

And finally, the most convenient for life are comfortable areas And comfortable areas. Pre-comfortable areas include areas with minor deviations from the natural optimum for the formation of a permanent population. Comfortable areas are those areas where conditions are almost ideal for the population to live. Such territories are located in the southern part of the temperate zone; in Russia they are represented by small areas.

Natural conditions are very important for those sectors of the national economy that operate in the open air. This is, first of all, agriculture, as well as water and forestry. Construction is very dependent on natural conditions. Hence the difference in financing the same objects in different territories.

Natural disasters and disasters

All kinds of disasters and natural disasters have a strong impact on the development of territories. They act as a specific form of natural conditions.

The following natural disasters are considered the most common and dangerous for humans:

earthquakes
floods,
tsunami,
hurricanes and storms,
tornadoes,
typhoons,
collapses.
landslides,
sat down
avalanches,
forest and peat fires.

Typical examples of unfavorable natural phenomena are droughts, frosts, severe frosts, thunderstorms, heavy or prolonged rains, hail and some others.

Many areas need protection from natural disasters. This significantly increases the cost of construction and maintenance of municipalities and communications. In addition, the cost of technologies adapted to increased loads or capable of preventing hazardous impacts is significantly higher.

Direct impact is, first of all, the impact of climatic conditions, primarily affecting the thermal state of a person, which not only affects well-being and performance, but can also be accompanied by certain changes in the body and diseases. Climate zoning based on its impact on the human body is called anthropoclimatic zoning.

Methods for assessing the impact of climate on the human condition

Methods for assessing the influence of climate on a person’s thermal state are based on taking into account the combined influence of four factors: temperature, relative air humidity, wind speed and solar radiation. In this case, the change in these indicators by season of the year should also be taken into account, since it has a pronounced seasonal nature. The length of the seasons of the year, which varies by region, is also important. For example, it is believed that in Western Siberia, winter lasts from 240 days a year in the north to 135 days in the south, and summer lasts from 30 to 140 days, respectively. Summer is defined as a period with average daily air temperatures above 10°, and winter - below 0°. The summer period allocated according to this criterion lasts up to 240 days a year on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, about 180-200 days in the North Caucasus, 120-150 days in the Moscow region and about 90 days in Arkhangelsk.

Anthropoclimatic zoning also uses such indicators as the degree of weather variability (which is important for assessing the possibility of adverse reactions in people), the duration of the period with ultraviolet starvation, the number of days with precipitation, and so on. An assessment of the contrast of the seasons of the year is also interesting: winter and summer can either not differ too significantly from each other (for example, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, where the average temperatures of July and January differ by 15°), or be sharply different (in Verkhoyansk the amplitude is 66° : in winter minus 48°, and in summer plus 18°).

Geochemical conditions are the content in the environment of certain elements and their compounds, the deficiency or excess of which causes deviations in the health of the population. The main line of influence is biochemical: trace elements contained in rocks are absorbed by plants and animals through water and soil, and then enter the human body through food of plant and animal origin. Currently, the impact of natural geochemical anomalies on public health has significantly decreased, since knowledge of the geochemical situation makes it possible to carry out preventive measures and, in addition, products from other areas play an increasingly important role in the nutrition of the population. But man-made changes in the geochemical situation are becoming increasingly important.

Biotic conditions (the nature of vegetation and fauna) can have a direct impact on humans through the causative agents of various diseases, that is, through natural foci of diseases. A significant part of these outbreaks in our country have either been completely destroyed or their danger to the population has been sharply reduced. If these foci persist, then the population needs to take special protective measures (for example, against tick-borne encephalitis and others).

In some cases, individual representatives of the animal world are not so much dangerous as carriers of infections, but simply interfere with being in the open air. For example, Viktor Ivanovich Perevedentsev considers the abundance of blood-sucking insects (botflies, mosquitoes and midges, collectively called “gnus”) as one of the most difficult living conditions for the population in the taiga part of Siberia, and sometimes in the forest-steppe. In some periods, in many places in Siberia, the number of midges is so great that without special protective measures it is impossible to work outdoors. The use of special clothing and nets is associated with a number of inconveniences, it greatly interferes with work, productivity decreases, and significantly worsens the well-being of workers.