Three types of environmental pollution. Environmental pollution (7) - Abstract. Radioactive and radiation contamination

Sources of pollution environment can be divided into two categories: natural and artificial. Pollution is the entry into the environment of any element unusual for it. The history of the origin of the Earth and the changes occurring on it can also be attributed to pollution. Pollution is an external influence. The environment reacts to it and changes. That is, pollution causes changes. One day such a change was the appearance of life on Earth. I wonder what kind of pollution caused it?

It is generally accepted that natural sources of pollution for the environment are waste products of organisms, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, sandstorms, and so on. Is it so? Can something that the system itself produces be considered pollution of the system? Or can pollution only occur when an unusual and unfamiliar element enters the system? Yes, as a result of these natural phenomena, an excess or deficiency of some substances occurs. For example, combustion products after fires, sulfur, ash and excess heat after volcanic eruptions, water after excessive rainfall or floods, and so on. And outwardly, all this could well be mistaken for pollution. In any case, according to external signs. But all these phenomena, firstly, are the result of the activity of the planet or its biosphere. And secondly, in the process of this “activity” no new, previously unknown elements and substances are produced on the planet. And only “alien” can pollute.

He is called an agent. It is not part of the system and its internal structure, and therefore is unusual for it. This is what solar radiation is like for the Earth. Some of its spectra, such as ultraviolet, are still destructive for the biosphere. She has developed a whole system of protection against it, reducing the penetration and influence of these rays.

Since the beginning of its existence, the Earth has always been exposed to various cosmic processes and objects. And she found protection from many of them. But the “attacks” did not stop, and this is quite natural. Meteorites penetrating through the protective layer of the atmosphere, and these should initially be quite large space objects, cause not only visible destruction. They bring extraterrestrial substances to Earth. Can this be considered pollution? Of course yes. It is difficult to assess the extent of such pollution and the consequences they may cause. Only the destruction visible immediately after the fall of the meteorite, which occurs at the atomic level, can only become known after a significant period of time. It is no coincidence that there are a lot of supporters of the theory of the extraterrestrial origin of life, that is, its introduction from space, including on meteorites or other space objects that fell to Earth.

And the increasing impact of solar radiation on the Earth occurs every day, and we are witnessing it. The atmosphere has recently undergone such changes that it can no longer perform its protective functions as before. We are talking about the warming of the planet's climate caused by the appearance of “ozone holes” and the “greenhouse effect”. The amount of ultraviolet radiation, as a result of a decrease in the amount of ozone in the atmosphere, penetrates more into areas of the planet populated by living organisms. This type of light spectrum carries greatest number energy and is harmful to some types of microorganisms. The “greenhouse effect” is associated with an increase in the amount of another light spectrum - infrared. This thermal radiation, originating from objects on the surface of the Earth. It returns to the atmosphere and is retained by it. If heat were not retained in the lower layers of the atmosphere, then sudden temperature changes would be inevitable, at which the existence of living organisms would be impossible.

The definition of biosphere states that living organisms influence and transform the environment. They release waste products, which can probably be mistaken for clogging. However, the biosystem is built in such a way that if this “pollution” did not exist, then the system itself would not exist. And the products produced by living organisms are agents within the system and are characteristic of it. Any type of natural or internal pollution is an integral and obligatory element of the existence of the biosphere as an integral, unified and self-regulating system.

Internal “pollution” was useful until another component and living organism of the biosphere – man – began to actively interfere with the process. He invented a new method of pollution and new elements of pollution, previously unknown to nature. That is, now the definition of the biosphere has sounded fully. The impact, change and transformation became complete and tangible. In the process of his life activity, or rather, to ensure his life, man began to create such forms and methods of such provision, the result of which was not only an increase in the volumes and concentrations of elements known to nature, but also the creation of new, artificial, and therefore unknown, called xenobiotics. The form of human impact on the biosphere was called anthropogenic, and the type of pollution was called artificial, that is, it did not appear as a result of natural phenomena or processes.

Types of artificial pollution

In order to live, a person must work, that is, engage in certain types of activities. Firstly, it is the provision of water for food consumption and production needs. Secondly, meet food requirements. Other activities are aimed at solving everyday needs for housing and clothing. For these purposes, natural resources and minerals are extracted and processed, transport and transportation are carried out, and additional energy is generated. In the struggle for life or improving its quality, a person expands the space for his existence, for which he conducts military operations, engages in science, explores space, and so on. All these types of activities are the main sources of environmental pollution, because they lead to the production of waste, industrial and domestic.

Sources of environmental pollution, as a rule, correspond to industries. The greatest danger to nature comes from oil and gas production, metallurgy and the chemical industry, transport, agriculture, and energy.

Waste is generated not only at the end of the production cycle or after complete processing of manufactured products. They are also produced during the technological process. Waste itself is a source of pollution, as a result of accumulation, improper storage, lack of processing and disposal, and so on. All types of environmental pollution can be divided into three main ones. Physical, chemical and biological pollution. Physical includes dust, ash and other combustion products, radiation, electromagnetic fields, noise, and so on. Chemical - substances and compounds, such as heavy metals, salts, acids, alkalis, aerosols and the like. Biological is contamination by bacteriological or microbiological materials.

Each source simultaneously pollutes several types of the natural environment with its waste. That is, its pollution is complex. For example, any industrial production consumes water for its needs, which, having fulfilled its functions, is discharged back into the reservoir. At the same time, going through the stages of the technological process, it is “enriched” with substances and elements involved in production. Returning back, it mixes with the waters of a river or lake and “shares” these substances. As a result, both the water itself and all organisms participating in the food chain of this biocenosis are exposed to pollution.

Manufacturing is usually a consumer of energy. For these needs they are used different kinds fuels - peat, coal, fuel oil or gas. When burned, these substances transfer energy to production units and mechanisms, setting them in motion, and the products released as a result of combustion enter the atmosphere. Exhaust gases, ash, suspended particles, etc., enter the respiratory system of living beings with air. In addition, over time, these substances fall out with precipitation onto the soil and water. And again they move along the food chain. Products produced by enterprises are supplied to consumers, after which waste is generated. In addition, the products themselves may fall out of their consumer turnover and finished form end up in waste. Both products and their waste contain substances that are unusual in nature either in terms of qualitative composition or quantitative concentration. Waste, even after disposal, the global percentage of which is very small, accumulates in landfills and landfills. There they are not processed, but rot and burn. The products of rotting and combustion, and these are pollutants, enter the soil, water and air in the ways already described and begin their circulation.

Types of sources and their features

Some sectors of the economy have their own specifics. For example, agriculture, oil and chemical industries, military complex and energy.

The specificity of agriculture is that in order to intensify production and increase crop yields, large amounts of pesticides and mineral fertilizers. Studies have shown that up to 10% of the applied substances are used productively. That is, it is precisely this small amount that is absorbed by plants and affects pests. Mineral fertilizers, pesticides, plant protection products, pesticides are substances with a high content of nitrogen and phosphorus. Wherever these substances are located, in storage areas, in fields or landfills, the substances they contain enter the environment in various ways. This mainly occurs during periods of floods, heavy rains, melting snow or blown by the wind. IN in every sense The words nitrogen and phosphorus cannot be called pollutants, because they can almost entirely be consumed by plants. In this case, too rapid growth of green mass has a negative impact on the natural environment. Filling it with almost the entire volume of the biome and squeezing out the rest of the living world. In such places, the animal world dies or leaves, plants significantly reduce their species diversity, water resources gradually disappear, giving way to organic sediments.

Chemical industry. Its main uniqueness is the synthesis of elements, substances and compounds unknown to nature. This means that there is no organism capable of processing such a substance into something “suitable” for inclusion in the food chain. Xenobiotics, without decomposing or being processed, accumulate in various natural environments and animal organisms. They cause various types of diseases, including changes in the gene structure.

The oil industry, which must include all its stages from production to refining. This industry deals a double blow to the environment. Firstly, oil itself is, in its physical and chemical properties, a substance close to toxic. Secondly, the process of its extraction, transportation and processing is extremely dangerous for nature. For example, during exploration and production of hydrocarbons, forests are cut down and soils are destroyed. At this stage of work, as well as during transportation, spills of oil and petroleum products are common. This is where the nature-harmful qualities of the oil itself come into play. Hydrocarbon processing is a process associated with the use and production of flammable, toxic substances of this kind, which themselves and when used in other industries emit chemicals that negatively affect the air, soil and water resources.

Energy. The main sources affecting the environment in this branch of human activity are: water with elevated temperatures discharged after use for cooling the technological equipment of stations and hydraulic structures that regulate river flows. In these cases, no specific chemical substances enter nature, but the warm water and regulated flow are such that they cause profound changes in the ecosystems of the regions, up to their destruction.

. Its peculiarity is that, despite the presence of almost all types of production, including weapons of mass destruction, chemical, bacteriological and nuclear, it is closed to external inspections. In addition, in a number of countries with powerful military potential, the maintenance of this complex is insufficient to carry out sufficient measures to protect the environment, modernize treatment and control equipment, as well as to dispose of hazardous substances and their storage.

Transport and, above all, automobile. With the invention of the engine internal combustion and the desire of man to live in cities, the nature of human settlements has changed dramatically. First of all, this concerns air. In some major cities Road transport accounts for up to 90% of all pollutant emissions. Urbanization and the consolidation of cities only contributes to the deterioration of the situation. Exhaust machine gases contain more than 280 types of various harmful substances. The main ones are: benzopyrene, nitrogen and carbon oxides, lead, mercury, sulfur, soot and hydrocarbons. In addition, transport enterprises, auto repair shops and private cars also mean thousands of tons of various rubber products, used oils and lubricants, scrap metal, glass, contaminated water after washing vehicles and sites for their repair and storage. All this flows into the water and into the soil and air. Most car engines use fuel with a high lead content. Exhaust gases from diesel engines are much more toxic than from gasoline engines.

. Both the first and second represent a concentrated accumulation of all possible pollutants. More and more surfactant additives found in washing powders and detergents are ending up in municipal wastewater. And the distinctive quality of landfills is that absolutely most of them are unauthorized and are formed chaotically. This does not make it possible to control the composition of substances contained in waste, and therefore the degree and danger of their impact on the environment and human health.

For the environment, the sources and types of pollution can be listed endlessly. Name the types of production, formulas of chemical compounds and their quantities, the consequences they cause in living organisms and the harm they cause to human health. You can also list legislative acts, regulatory bodies, events taken and conferences held. Who hasn’t heard this, doesn’t know or doesn’t understand? Why then do we leave garbage after a vacation in the forest, or throw plastic bottle further into the river or pours waste oil into a nearby ravine? And so on. The main, first and main source of environmental pollution is not an industrial enterprise, but you and me and each of us. And here you don’t need to be clever, but just try to do it right for once.

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ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION– the introduction of new, uncharacteristic physical, chemical and biological agents or exceeding their natural level.

Any chemical contamination is the appearance of a chemical substance in a place not intended for it. Pollution arising from human activity is the main factor in its harmful effects on the natural environment.

Chemical pollutants can cause acute poisoning, chronic diseases, as well as have carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. For example, heavy metals can accumulate in plant and animal tissues, causing toxic effects. In addition to heavy metals, particularly dangerous pollutants are chlorodioxins, which are formed from chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons used in the production of herbicides. Sources of environmental pollution with dioxins are by-products of the pulp and paper industry, waste from the metallurgical industry, and exhaust gases from internal combustion engines. These substances are very toxic to humans and animals even at low concentrations and cause damage to the liver, kidneys, and immune system.

Along with environmental pollution by new synthetic substances, great damage to nature and human health can be caused by interference in natural cycles of substances due to active production and agricultural activities, as well as education household waste.

At first, human activity affected only the living matter of land and soil. In the 19th century, when industry began to rapidly develop, significant masses of chemical elements extracted from the bowels of the earth began to be involved in the sphere of industrial production. At the same time, not only the outer part of the earth’s crust began to be exposed, but also natural waters and the atmosphere.

In the middle of the 20th century. some elements began to be used in quantities that are comparable to the masses involved in natural cycles. The low efficiency of most modern industrial technology has led to the generation of a huge amount of waste, which is not recycled in related industries, but is released into the environment. The masses of polluting waste are so large that they pose a danger to living organisms, including humans.

Although the chemical industry is not the main source of pollution (Fig. 1), it is characterized by emissions that are most dangerous for the natural environment, humans, animals and plants (Fig. 2). The term “hazardous waste” applies to any kind of waste that may cause harm to health or the environment when stored, transported, processed or discharged. These include toxic substances, flammable wastes, corrosive wastes and other reactive substances.

Depending on the characteristics of mass transfer cycles, the polluting component can spread over the entire surface of the planet, over a more or less significant area, or have a local character. Thus, environmental crises resulting from environmental pollution can be of three types - global, regional and local

One of the global problems is the increase in carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere as a result of man-made emissions. Most dangerous consequence This phenomenon can be caused by an increase in air temperature due to the “greenhouse effect”. The problem of disrupting the global carbon mass exchange cycle is already moving from the environmental sphere to the economic, social and, ultimately, political spheres.

In December 1997 in Kyoto (Japan) it was accepted Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(dated May 1992) (). The main thing in Protocol– quantitative obligations of developed countries and countries with economies in transition, including Russia, to limit and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily CO 2, into the atmosphere in 2008–2012. Russia's permitted level of greenhouse gas emissions for these years is 100% of the 1990 level. For EU countries as a whole it is 92%, for Japan - 94%. The US was supposed to have 93%, but this country refused to participate in the Protocol, since reducing carbon dioxide emissions means lower levels of electricity generation and, therefore, stagnation of industry. October 23, 2004 The State Duma Russia has decided to ratify Kyoto Protocol.

Regional pollution includes many wastes industrial enterprises and transport. First of all, this concerns sulfur dioxide. It causes the formation of acid rain, which affects plants and animals and causes diseases in the population. Technogenic sulfur oxides are distributed unevenly and cause damage to certain areas. Due to the transfer of air masses, they often cross state borders and end up in territories remote from industrial centers.

In large cities and industrial centers The air, along with carbon and sulfur oxides, is often polluted by nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emitted by car engines and smokestacks. Smog formation is often observed. Although these pollutions are local in nature, they affect many people living compactly in such areas. In addition, damage to the environment is caused.

One of the main environmental pollutants is agricultural production. Significant masses of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are artificially introduced into the circulation system of chemical elements in the form of mineral fertilizers. Their excess, not absorbed by plants, is actively involved in water migration. The accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in natural bodies of water causes increased growth of aquatic vegetation, overgrowing of water bodies and pollution of them with dead plant debris and decomposition products. Moreover, it is anomalous high content soluble nitrogen compounds in the soil entails an increase in the concentration of this element in agricultural food products and drinking water. It can cause serious illness in people.

As an example showing changes in the structure of the biological cycle as a result of human activity, we can consider data for the forest zone of the European part of Russia (table). In prehistoric times, this entire area was covered with forests; now their area has decreased by almost half. Their place was taken by fields, meadows, pastures, as well as cities, towns, and highways. The decrease in the total mass of some elements due to the general decrease in the mass of green plants is compensated by the application of fertilizers, which involves significantly more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in biological migration than natural vegetation. Deforestation and soil plowing contribute to increased water migration. Thus, the content of compounds of certain elements (nitrogen, potassium, calcium) in natural waters increases significantly.

Organic waste is also a water pollutant. Their oxidation requires additional oxygen. If the oxygen content is too low, the normal life of most aquatic organisms becomes impossible. Aerobic bacteria that require oxygen also die; instead, bacteria develop that use sulfur compounds for their vital functions. A sign of the appearance of such bacteria is the smell of hydrogen sulfide, one of their metabolic products.

Among the many consequences of the economic activities of human society, the process of progressive accumulation of metals in the environment is of particular importance. The most dangerous pollutants include mercury, pigs and cadmium. Technogenic inputs of manganese, tin, copper, molybdenum, chromium, nickel and cobalt also have a significant impact on living organisms and their communities (Fig. 3).

Natural waters can be contaminated with pesticides and dioxins, as well as oil. Oil decomposition products are toxic, and the oil film, which isolates water from air, leads to the death of living organisms (primarily plankton) in the water.

In addition to the accumulation of toxic and harmful substances in the soil as a result of human activity, land damage is caused by the burial and dumping of industrial and household waste.

The main measures to combat air pollution are: strict control of emissions of harmful substances. It is necessary to replace toxic starting products with non-toxic ones, switch to closed cycles, and improve gas purification and dust collection methods. Great importance has the optimization of the location of enterprises to reduce transport emissions, as well as the competent application of economic sanctions.

Greater role in protecting the environment from chemical pollution International cooperation begins to play a role. In the 1970s, a decrease in O 3 concentration was discovered in the ozone layer, which protects our planet from the dangerous effects of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. In 1974 it was established that ozone is destroyed by atomic chlorine. One of the main sources of chlorine entering the atmosphere are chlorofluorocarbon derivatives (freons, freons) used in aerosol cans, refrigerators and air conditioners. The destruction of the ozone layer occurs, perhaps, not only under the influence of these substances. However, measures have been taken to reduce their production and use. In 1985, many countries agreed to protect the ozone layer. Exchange of information and joint research on changes in atmospheric ozone concentrations continue.

Taking measures to prevent the entry of pollutants into water bodies includes the establishment of coastal protective strips and water protection zones, the abandonment of toxic chlorine-containing pesticides, and the reduction of discharges from industrial enterprises through the use of closed cycles. Reducing the risk of oil pollution is possible by increasing the reliability of tankers.

To prevent contamination of the Earth's surface, preventive measures are needed - to prevent contamination of the soil with industrial and domestic wastewater, solid household and industrial waste, sanitary cleaning of the soil and the territory of populated areas where such violations have been identified is necessary.

The best solution to the problem of environmental pollution would be waste-free production that does not have wastewater, gas emissions and solid waste. However, waste-free production today and in the foreseeable future is fundamentally impossible; to implement it, it is necessary to create a unified cyclic system of flows of matter and energy for the entire planet. If the loss of matter, at least theoretically, can still be prevented, then environmental problems in the energy sector will still remain. Thermal pollution cannot be avoided in principle, and so-called clean energy sources, such as wind farms, still cause damage to the environment.

So far, the only way to significantly reduce environmental pollution is low-waste technologies. Currently, low-waste industries are being created in which emissions of harmful substances do not exceed maximum permissible concentrations (MPC), and waste does not lead to irreversible changes in nature. Complex processing of raw materials, combination of several industries, and use of solid waste for the production of building materials are used.

New technologies and materials, environmentally friendly fuels, and new energy sources are being created that reduce environmental pollution.

Elena Savinkina

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION, impact on the biosphere, posing a danger to wildlife and the sustainable existence of ecosystems. There are natural pollution caused by natural causes (for example, volcanic activity) and anthropogenic pollution associated with human activity. Almost all types of economic activity entail some form of pollution. It is accompanied by an increase in the level of substances harmful to organisms, the emergence of new chemical compounds, particles and foreign materials that are toxic or cannot be utilized in the biosphere, an excessive increase in temperature (thermal pollution), noise (noise pollution), electromagnetic radiation, radioactivity (radioactive pollution ) and other environmental changes. Every year, more than 100 billion tons of various rocks are extracted from the bowels of the Earth. When burning about 1 billion tons of standard fuel (including gasoline), biogeochemical cycles include not only additional masses of carbon and nitrogen oxides, sulfur compounds, but also large quantities of elements dangerous to organisms such as mercury, lead, arsenic, etc. Involvement in industrial and agricultural production of heavy metals significantly exceeds the quantities that were in the biosphere cycle during the entire previous history of mankind. Up to 67% of the heat generated by power plants enters the biosphere. By the 21st century, about 12 million compounds previously not found in nature have been synthesized in the world, of which about 100 thousand have become widespread in the environment (for example, chlorine-containing pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls). Environmental pollution is so great that the natural processes of the cycle of substances in nature and the diluting ability of the atmosphere and hydrosphere are not able to neutralize its harmful effects. Natural systems and connections in the biosphere that have developed over a long period of evolution are disrupted, and the ability of natural complexes to self-regulate is undermined. Ecological disturbances are manifested in a reduction in the number and species diversity of organisms, a decrease in biological productivity, and degradation of ecosystems. Along with this, uncontrolled reproduction of organisms occurs that easily produce resistant forms (some insects, microorganisms). And although in a number of developed countries the volume of emissions and discharges of pollutants into the environment has decreased by the 21st century, in general, pollution of the biosphere is increasing, including due to global pollution (distributed throughout to the globe) and persistent (persistent, lasting for many decades) pollutants. The direct objects of pollution are the atmosphere, water bodies and soils.

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Air pollution. Combustion of oil, natural gas, coal, wood and organic waste are the main sources of pollution with sulfur compounds (SO2, SO3, H2S), oxides of nitrogen (NO, NO2, N2O) and carbon (CO, CO2), aerosols, dust, fumes and heavy metals. Significant amounts of methane are released during the extraction of fossil fuels, during the combustion of various organic substances, etc. The concentration of CO2 over the past 200 years has increased by more than 1.3 times, nitrogen oxides by almost 1.9 times, methane by more than 3 times ( main increase after 1950). Anthropogenic emissions of CO2 (an annual increase of 0.2%, in 2005 exceeded 28 billion tons) and some other gases, including methane, N2O, fluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), ozone, create a “greenhouse effect” in the atmosphere and can lead to to climate change on the planet. About 60% of sulfur entering the atmosphere is of anthropogenic origin (fuel combustion, production of sulfuric acid, copper, zinc, etc.). Oxides of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon interact with atmospheric water vapor, which causes acid rain, which has become a serious environmental problem in Europe, North America, and China. Emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (see Freons) and a number of other substances into the atmosphere lead to the depletion of the ozone layer of the stratosphere, which protects all living things from hard UV radiation. At the beginning of the 21st century, the appearance of an “ozone hole” over the Antarctic was registered (area 28 million km2; 3.9 million km2 more than in 2005). It also covers the southern tip South America, Falkland Islands, New Zealand, part of Australia. The emergence of the “ozone hole” is associated with an increase in the incidence of skin cancer and cataracts. There is an increase in the intensity of UV radiation in the middle latitudes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the Earth and in the Arctic. Since the 1990s, forest fires have contributed significantly to air pollution.

In Russia, more than 60 million people live in conditions of high (up to 10 MPC) and very high (more than 10 MPC) air pollution. About 50% of all harmful substances and up to 70% of the total volume of greenhouse gases enter the atmosphere from enterprises of the fuel and energy complex (FEC). Over the period from 1999 to 2003, the number of cities in which the maximum concentration of pollutants is ten times the MPC increased from 32 to 48; the main pollutants are lead, benzopyrene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, manganese compounds, NO2, H2S, sulfur, dust. In 2001-04, an additional contribution to environmental pollution was made by transboundary deposition of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, as well as cadmium, lead and mercury (mainly from Poland, Ukraine, Germany), which exceeded receipts from Russian sources.

Pollution of fresh water bodies. Industrial development, urbanization and agricultural intensification in the 20th century led to a significant deterioration in the quality of water in continental surface water bodies and a significant part of groundwater. At the beginning of the century, salinization (mineralization) prevailed, in the 1920s - pollution with metal compounds, in the 1930s - with organic substances, and in the 1940s, intensive eutrophication of water bodies began; in the 1950s - radionuclide contamination, after the 1960s - acidification. The main pollutants are agricultural, industrial and domestic wastewater, with which compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, copper, fluorine and chlorine, as well as hydrocarbons enter water bodies. Large-scale treatment of industrial wastewater began in most countries only in the 2nd half of the 20th century. In Western Europe, more than 95% of wastewater is treated; in developing countries - about 30% (China plans to treat 50% of wastewater by 2010). The most effective treatment facilities remove up to 94% of phosphorus-containing and up to 40% of nitrogen-containing compounds. Pollution of water bodies with agricultural runoff is primarily due to the presence of various fertilizers and pesticides (up to 100 million tons are used annually, up to 300 kg per 1 hectare of agricultural land; up to 15% of them are washed away). In addition, they contain persistent organic compounds, including chlorine-containing pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins. The supply of nitrogen and phosphorus is accompanied by intensive development of aquatic plants and oxygen deficiency in water bodies and, as a consequence, significant disruption of aquatic ecosystems. About 10% of the world's freshwater pollution comes from municipal wastewater. In general, more than 1.5 thousand km3 of wastewater is discharged into inland waters annually, the dilution of which takes about 30% of the total river flow, amounting to about 46 thousand km3. A significant portion of pollutants enters natural waters from the atmosphere, with rain and melt water. In the USA, for example, in the 1980s, up to 96% of polychlorinated biphenyls, 90% of nitrogen and 75% of phosphorus, and most of the pesticides entered water bodies in this way.

By the beginning of the 21st century, more than half of the world's major rivers were heavily polluted, and their ecosystems were degrading. In the bottom sediments of rivers and especially reservoirs, heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants accumulate. At the end of the 20th century, 3 million people died annually from diseases associated with contaminated drinking water sources in Africa alone.

In many regions of Russia, pollution of surface water bodies with petroleum products, compounds of copper, manganese, iron, nitrogen, phenol and other organic substances is tens of times higher than the maximum permissible concentration level. About 20% of polluted wastewater comes from fuel and energy complex enterprises. There are frequent cases of high pollution with mercury, lead, sulfides, hydrogen sulfide, pesticides, lignin, and formaldehyde. In 2005, more than 36% of wastewater discharged was polluted above acceptable standards. By 2005, environmental degradation affected the ecosystems of 26% of lakes and rivers. Tens of millions of tons of heavy metal salts and other substances hazardous to organisms have accumulated at the bottom of the Volga and other reservoirs, which has turned these reservoirs into uncontrolled sites for disposal of toxic waste. In 2005, almost 30% of surface water bodies used for drinking water supply did not meet hygienic standards, and more than 25% of water samples did not meet standards for microbiological indicators.

Pollution of the World Ocean within the coastal zone is determined mainly by the discharge of industrial and municipal waste, runoff from agricultural land, pollution from transport and oil and gas production. In coastal parts of the Gulf of Mexico, for example, the concentration of nitrogen compounds, which had remained unchanged since the early 20th century, increased 2.5-fold after 1960 as a result of inputs from the Mississippi River. 300-380 million tons of organic matter are carried into the ocean per year. Dumping of various wastes into the seas is still widely practiced (at the end of the 20th century, up to 17 tons per 1 km2 of ocean). Since the 1970s, the volume of untreated municipal wastewater flows has increased sharply (for example, in the Caribbean it accounts for up to 90% of wastewater). The share of atmospheric deposition in coastal pollution is projected to increase due to an increase in the number of vehicles and industrial development. Every year, more than 1 million tons of lead, 20 thousand tons of cadmium, 10 thousand tons of mercury and the same amount of lead enter the ocean with river runoff, and about 40 thousand tons of mercury come from the atmosphere.

Every year more than 10 million tons of oil enter the ocean (mostly carried out by rivers). Up to 5% of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans are constantly covered with an oil film. During Desert Storm (1991), emergency oil leaks into the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea exceeded 6 million tons. As a result of global transport, persistent organochlorine pesticides are found in dangerous quantities in Antarctic and Arctic mammals and birds. Radiochemical production facilities in France, Great Britain, the USSR (Russia) and the USA contaminated the North Atlantic, Northern Arctic Ocean, Eastern part Pacific Ocean. At the bottom of the world's oceans there are about 60 lost atomic bombs, as well as containers with radioactive waste and reactors with spent nuclear fuel. Tens of thousands of tons of chemical munitions sunk after the Great Patriotic War in the Baltic, White, Barents, Kara, Okhotsk and Japanese seas. A serious threat is ocean pollution from poorly biodegradable synthetic waste. Every year more than 2 million birds marine mammals, turtles are dying from ingesting plastic debris and becoming entangled in abandoned nets.

In the last 30 years, eutrophication of marine water bodies has been observed (for example, the Black, Azov and Baltic Seas), leading, in particular, to an increase in the intensity of reproduction of phytoplankton, including toxic ones (the so-called red tides). For some seas, biological pollution associated with the introduction of alien species, which enter mainly with the ballast waters of ships, is catastrophic. For example, the appearance of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis in the Azov Sea and the rapana in the Black Sea is accompanied by the displacement of the native fauna.

In the internal and marginal seas of the Russian Federation, for some types of pollutants, MPCs are consistently exceeded by 3-5 times. The most polluted areas include the Peter the Great Gulf (Sea of ​​Japan), the northern part of the Caspian Sea, the Sea of ​​Azov, and the Neva Bay (Baltic Sea). The annual removal of petroleum products by rivers in the 1990s was (thousands of tons): Ob - up to 600, Yenisei - up to 360, Volga - up to 82, Lena - up to 50.

Land and soil pollution. By the end of the 20th century, 2.4 million km2 of land was degraded due to chemical pollution (12% of the total area of ​​land whose degradation is associated with anthropogenic factors). More than 150 thousand tons of copper, 120 thousand tons of zinc, about 90 thousand tons of lead, 12 thousand tons of nickel, 1.5 thousand tons of molybdenum, and about 800 tons of cobalt fell onto the soil surface annually from metallurgical enterprises alone. When producing 1 g of blister copper, for example, 2 tons of waste are generated, which in the form of fine particles fall to the surface of the earth from the atmosphere (contain up to 15% copper, 60% iron oxides and 4% each of arsenic, mercury, zinc and lead). Mechanical engineering and chemical production pollute the surrounding areas with tens of thousands of tons of lead, copper, chromium, iron, phosphorus, manganese and nickel. During the mining and enrichment of uranium, billions of tons of low-level radioactive waste are distributed over thousands of km2 in North and Central Asia, Central and South Africa, Australia, and North America. Man-made industrial wastelands are forming around large enterprises in many countries. Acid precipitation causes acidification of soils over millions of km2.

About 20 million tons of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are annually applied to the fields of the world, a significant part of which is not absorbed, does not decompose and causes large-scale soil pollution. Soils on tens of millions of km2 are saline as a result of artificial irrigation (more than 18 million hectares in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru alone).

Modern cities pollute (landfills, wastewater treatment plants, etc.) an area 5-7 times larger than their own. On average, developed countries produce about 200-300 kg of waste per person per year. Typically, in countries with low level life, more waste is generated. According to expert estimates, in the world the volume of municipal waste buried in landfills increased until the 1990s, then began to decrease due to their recycling (in Western Europe about 80%, in the USA up to 34%, in South Africa 31% of municipal waste is recycled ). At the same time, the area of ​​land occupied by wastewater treatment facilities (sludge ponds, irrigation fields) is increasing. By the beginning of the 21st century, the removal of toxic waste from developed countries became a serious problem: up to 30% of hazardous waste from Western Europe at the end of the 20th century was buried in the territories of other states.

Technogenic contamination of soils around large thermal power plants (especially those operating on coal and shale) can be traced over an area of ​​​​several thousand km2 (they include compounds of cadmium, cobalt, arsenic, lithium, strontium, vanadium, as well as radioactive uranium). Thousands of km2 are occupied by ash and slag dumps. The areas around nuclear power plants and other nuclear enterprises are contaminated with radionuclides of cesium, strontium, cobalt, etc. Testing of atomic weapons in the atmosphere (before 1963) led to global persistent contamination of soils with cesium, strontium and plutonium. More than 250 thousand tons of lead per year reach the soil surface with vehicle exhaust gases. The soil is especially dangerously contaminated at a distance of up to 500 m from major highways.

In Russia, over 30% of solid waste comes from fuel and energy companies. More than 11% of residential areas in 2005 were heavily polluted with compounds of heavy metals and fluorine, 16.5% of soils in these areas are susceptible to microbiological contamination. At the same time, no more than 5% of the generated waste is recycled, the rest are a source of constant pollution, many solid waste landfills do not comply sanitary standards. In Moscow and the Moscow region alone, about 3,000 illegal dumps were identified in 2005. More than 47 thousand km2 (mainly Altai, Yakutia, Arkhangelsk region) are contaminated with tens of thousands of tons of rocket metal structures and rocket fuel components as a result of rocket and space programs. The storage areas for prohibited and unusable pesticides (more than 24 thousand tons in 2005), as well as the previously disposed burial sites of these substances, are in unsatisfactory condition. In all areas of oil production, transportation, distribution and refining, soil contamination with oil products and drill cuttings is significant (about 1.8% of the territory of the Russian Federation). During production and transportation (including due to ruptures and leaks from pipelines), about 10 million tons of oil are lost annually.

Environment protection. Measures aimed at protecting against environmental pollution are part of the problem of nature conservation. They come down mainly to legislative restrictions and a system of fines. The global nature of environmental pollution strengthens the role of international agreements and conventions on pollution prevention. Various countries of the world are making efforts to reduce and prevent pollution, for which dozens of international and hundreds of regional agreements and conventions have been concluded. Among them: Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Materials (1972); Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (1974); Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (1979); Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985); Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987); Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989); Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (1991); UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992); Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (1992); Convention for the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution (1992); Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001).

See also the articles Biosphere, Environmental Monitoring and the article State and protection of the environment in the volume “Russia”.

Lit.: Tinsley I. Behavior of chemical pollutants in the environment. M., 1982; Global Environmental Outlook: Review of Environmental Change: Yearbook. Nairobi, 2000-2007; Targulyan O. Yu. Dark pages of “black gold”. Environmental aspects of the activities of oil companies in Russia. M., 2002; Protecting the European environment: third assessment. Luxembourg, 2004; On the state and use of water resources of the Russian Federation in 2003: State report. M., 2004; On the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the Russian Federation in 2005: State report. M., 2006; Review of environmental pollution in the Russian Federation for 2005: State report. M., 2006; On the state of the natural environment of the Russian Federation in 2005: State report. M., 2006; Yablokov A.V. Russia: health of nature and humans. M., 2007.

V. F. Menshchikov, A. V. Yablokov.

Return to Environmental Pollution

Environmental pollution – prerequisites environmental disaster, which inevitably awaits both us and the entire planet if all measures are not taken to prevent the negative impact on nature, causing a change in its properties and capabilities.

Being inextricably linked with his environment, a person, one way or another, influences it, and every year this influence becomes more significant and, accordingly, more tangible.

Focusing on the most common problems, we can highlight the following causes of environmental pollution:

1. Chemical exposure, manifested in the release of toxic compounds into the environment. It would seem that today almost every production is aimed at cleanliness and waste-free production. However, in fact, the concentration of chemicals emitted by industrial enterprises, oil refineries, and boiler houses is so high that it has become a global problem.

To prevent the deterioration of an already serious situation, it is necessary to carry out a number of measures aimed at reducing chemical emissions into the atmosphere, water resources, and soil. These include improving treatment facilities, using low-sulfur fuel, working with environmentally friendly raw materials;

I would like to think that our site also helps reduce the chemical impact on the environment.

For example, if we recycle a battery instead of throwing it away, we save 20 square meters. meters of soil without chemical contamination. The same applies to the disposal of mercury lamps, thermometers or waste oils.

2. Biological impact - testing of biotechnologies, the latest research carried out at the genetic level, can give amazing results in one direction and at the same time cause serious harm to the environment. The slightest violation of safety requirements can result in the release of pathogenic microorganisms.

Strict adherence to protective measures, the use of closed water supply systems, high-quality waste and garbage treatment at processing plants will minimize the risk of infection;

3. Radioactive exposure is one of the most dangerous species infection. Even the average person understands that such an impact is comparable to an irreparable catastrophe, after which there may be nothing alive left on the planet.

An increase in background radiation is a consequence of nuclear tests, explosions, the use of specialized equipment, reactions using radioactive substances.

The best solution to this problem may be to abandon the use of nuclear energy. However, given the impossibility of its implementation, timely decontamination work, as well as preventive measures to prevent emergency situations, can partly help.

Rational environmental management is the best possible solution.

Environmentalists are sounding the alarm. Measures aimed at protecting the environment must be taken immediately.

Understanding that the economic component is becoming one of the most important for the manufacturer, in any case, one should focus on the choice of technologies that eliminate the risk of negative impact on nature. The opening of protected areas and reserves can help improve the health of nature.

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Abstract: Environmental pollution is a global problem

Plan

I. Introduction

II. Environmental pollution is a global problem:

1) Causes of pollution

2) Water pollution

3) Air pollution

4) Soil pollution

III. Conclusion

Bibliography

I. Introduction

A person who lived in the 20th century found himself in a society that was burdened with many dilemmas that accompanied its socio-economic development. The military struggle around the world, which has already subsided in our time, problems with resettlement, food, healthcare, the problem of electricity, etc. Problems with forest loss (25 ha/min), land desertification (46 ha/min), growth of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, etc. do not ease the situation. Society is faced with a severe crisis and it can be concluded that its foundations are the positions of relations between society and nature, developed during the transition to a producing economy.

The interaction between society and nature is realized objectively: people are part of nature, and nature is part of its economy through natural resources. At the same time, human dualism predetermines the substantial difference between society and nature and is a prerequisite for contradictions between them. With the advent of mental abilities, a person subordinated his upbringing to the tasks that shape him as a person. The scientific and technological revolution has opened the curtain on opportunities that satisfy the interests and needs of people, and at the same time the load on natural systems has increased thousands of times. No restrictions on full use natural resources led to irreversible deterioration of environmental quality. Cutting down forests, testing atomic bombs, subordinating everything to electricity - the world, as it may be inappropriate to say, began to resemble a greenhouse in which plants and living creatures develop, but with difficulty, which are not helped, but rather seem to put up barriers, air and not completely drinkable water.

As it turned out, the following were incompatible with each other: a fertile environment and high the economic growth. This situation is the root of the global environmental problem.

II. Pollution as a global problem

1) Causes of pollution

In fact, there are not many main reasons for the unsustainability of the environment. It has long become clear that people consider themselves right to solve global problems, trying not to spoil nature, but at the same time, of course, who has what goals, to fill their pockets well. Such an approach to a problem that is already global will lead to the destruction of all living things. What can we say about global warming, which is the outcome of the human factor. Humanity seems to ignore the “hints” of nature, believing that it has superiority over the current situation.

Meanwhile, human technology is increasingly disturbing the balance in the environment.

Along with the growing population on the planet, the pressure on the natural environment is also increasing. The types of pollutants are also becoming more diverse. After all, man progresses. More and more original chemicals are being invented that do not have the best effect on the biosphere. Considerable damage is caused to water resources by the food, petrochemical, and wood processing industries. Various slags and ashes stored on the surface of the earth cause irreversible harm to the atmosphere.

The inappropriate use of natural resources - mineral resources - will soon become scarce. After all, they belong to exhaustible types of natural resources. This outcome occurs during mining, enrichment, transportation, and processing. As a result, enormous volumes of rock masses upset the balance of the lithosphere surface. Under their weight, the earth sinks or swells, this can lead to disruption of the groundwater regime and swamping of large areas.

And one more reason for the gradual destruction of life on Earth. Demographic crisis - many countries with capitalist market economies are interested in increasing the population, rather in increasing the labor force. As the human factor increases, new technologies will be discovered that will either further destroy existence on the planet, or more intelligent inventions will be developed.

2) Water pollution

Water is the most abundant inorganic compound on Earth. It contains gas and salt compounds, as well as solid elements.

Most of the water is found in the seas and oceans. Fresh water - only 3%. A considerable share of fresh water (86%) is collected in the ice of the polar zones and glaciers.

Reservoirs are threatened to a greater extent by petroleum oils, wastewater from the pulp and paper industry, and wastewater from various chemical plants has a detrimental effect on the development of aquatic organisms. All this contributes to a change in the color, smell, taste of clean water, which is very necessary for the normal development of all living things. Wood produces harmful waste that aggravates the existence of fish in water bodies. As a result of this: eggs, invertebrates and other species of inhabitants die aquatic environment. Also, sewers and laundries cannot be left without attention. With the increase in human ingenuity, as if to improve everyday life, various detergents are produced, which does not have a beneficial effect on water resources. As a result of the nuclear industry, water bodies are contaminated with radioactivity, which causes irreparable harm to health. Scientific research into methods for neutralizing radioactive contamination is in demand.

Wastewater pollution can be divided into two groups: mineral and organic, as well as biological and bacterial.

Mineral pollution comes from wastewater from metallurgical enterprises, as well as from enterprises involved in mechanical engineering.

Fecal wastewater is organic water pollution. Their origin is obtained with the participation of a living factor. City water, waste from paper and pulp, brewing, tanning and other industries.

Living microorganisms are components of bacterial and biological contaminants: helminth eggs, yeast and mold fungi, small algae and bacteria. Most contaminants contain about 40% minerals and 57% organic.

Pollution of water bodies can be characterized by several features:

floating substances on the surface of the water;

modification of the physical qualities of water;

modification of the chemical formula of water

transformation of the types and numbers of bacteria and the appearance of pathogenic microbes.

Under the influence of solar radiation and self-purification, water is able to renew its beneficial features. Bacteria, fungi and algae help in self-cleaning. There are also developments in industry - mainly workshop and general plant wastewater treatment facilities.

3) Air pollution

The atmosphere is the air envelope of the Earth. The quality of the atmosphere implies the totality of its properties, reflecting the level of impact of physical, chemical and biological factors on people, plants and animals. With the formation of civilization, air pollution is increasingly dominated by anthropogenic sources.

A global problem is the pollution of the atmosphere by impurities, because air masses act as an intermediary in the pollution of other natural objects, contributing to the spread of harmful masses over impressive distances.

The growth of the Earth's population and the rate of its multiplication are the determining factors for the increase in the intensity of pollution of all geospheres of the Earth, as well as the atmosphere. In cities, maximum air pollution is observed, where typical pollutants are dust, gas masses, etc.

Chemical impurities that pollute the air:

1) natural impurities determined by natural processes;

2) arising as a result of human economic activity, anthropogenic.

In areas of active human activity, more stable pollution appears with increased concentrations. The rate of their growth and formation is significantly higher than average. These are aerosols, metals, synthetic compounds.

Various impurities enter the atmosphere in the form of gases, vapors, liquid and solid particles, such as: carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides, ozone, hydrocarbons, lead compounds, carbon dioxide (CO2), freons.

The production of cement and other building materials is also a source of air pollution with dust.

Dangerous circumstances include radioactive dust.

4) Soil pollution

Soil is a natural formation that has a number of properties of living and inanimate nature. The depth does not exceed 20-30 cm; on chernozems it can reach about 100 cm.

The soil consists of organic substances, mineral compounds, living organisms; Every soil has its own genotype.

Humus is the main and indispensable condition for the grain content of the soil; it is a complex organo-mineral complex. Under the best farming conditions, a positive balance of humus is maintained in natural conditions.

The value of soils is determined by buffer capacity, humus content, biological, agrochemical, and agrophysical indicators.

The set of natural and anthropogenic processes that lead to soil modification is called degradation; the quantity and quality also changes, and the fertile and economic importance of the land decreases. Soil fertility is quite reduced (over the past 30-35 years, the humus content in the soils of non-chernozem Russia has decreased by 35%). Due to annual emissions into the atmosphere in Russia, which are approximately equal to 50 million tons, the Earth is polluted and deteriorated.

The human factor has a negative impact on land resources, so it is necessary to take appropriate measures for the appropriate use of soils.

The state must protect lands by developing measures that would prevent destruction and pollution, and depletion of land resources.

When water and atmosphere are polluted, emergency measures are taken to clean up emissions. Due to the ability of water resources to regenerate themselves, the environment is more or less stabilized.

With land resources everything is much more complicated. With the constant entry of harmful substances into the soil, it is unable to restore fertility. And then the already contaminated soil itself becomes harmful to water and agricultural products.

Several ways for pollutants to enter the soil:

A) With precipitation, gases enter the soil - oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, which appear in the atmosphere as a result of the operation of enterprises and disperse in atmospheric moisture.

B) During dry weather, solid and liquid compounds usually settle in the form of dust and aerosols.

C) In dry weather, gases are absorbed by the soil, especially damp soil.

D) Various harmful compounds are absorbed by the leaves through the stomata. When leaves fall, these compounds enter the soil.

Chemicals, commonly known as pesticides, are used in agriculture to protect plants from pests, diseases, and weeds. The cost-effectiveness of pesticides has been proven. But, as a result of the toxicity of pesticides and the huge scale of their use (in the world - 2 million tons/year), the danger of their impact on the environment is growing.

III. Conclusion

In the 21st century, civilization around the world has entered a stage of development where the problems of survival and self-preservation of both humanity and the environment, and the wise use of natural resources, come first. This stage of the formation of humanity revealed tasks activated by the increase in the Earth's population and the irrational use of natural resources. Such objections slow down the further development of scientific and technological progress of mankind. Therefore, the most important condition for the formation of humanity is to treat nature with care.

Bibliography

1. Akimova T.A., Khaskin V.V. Ecology. M.: UNITY, 1998.

2. Danilov-Danilyan V. I., Losev K. S. Environmental challenge and sustainable development. M.: Progress-Tradition, 2000.

3. Konstantinov V. M. Nature conservation. M.: Publishing center "Academy", 2000.

4. Moiseev N. N. Man and the noosphere. M.: Mol. Guard, 1990.

5. Orlov D.S. Ecology and protection of the biosphere during chemical pollution: Textbook. manual/Orlov D.S., Sadovnikova L.K., Lozanovskaya I.N. M.: graduate School, 2002.

6.Petrov K.M... General ecology. Interaction between society and nature. St. Petersburg: Khimiya, 1997.

7.Nature management: Prob. textbook for 10-11 grades. profile schools/N. F. Vinokurova, G. S. Kamerilova, V. V. Nikolina and others. M.: Education, 1995.

8.Nature management: Textbook. Edited by prof. E.A. Arustamova. M.: Publishing House "Dashkov and K", 2000.

9. Sitarov V. A., Pustovoitov V. V. Social ecology. M.: Publishing center "Academy", 2000.

10. Khotuntsev Yu.L. Ecology and environmental Safety: Textbook. allowance. M.: ACADEMA, 2002.

At all stages of development, man was closely connected with nature. But with the emergence and formation of industrial society, it is increasingly becoming a problem modern world becomes environmental pollution.

The types of pollution are quite diverse in their impact and are characterized by the danger of spreading in the air, as well as in the water element and through the soil.

Natural causes

There are two types of sources harmful emissions into the atmosphere - natural and anthropogenic. These are precisely its main types. the diagram of which is given below is an important problem that needs to be solved.

The first type has nothing to do with human activity and occurs according to certain laws of nature. It should be noted that this type of pollution took place long before humanity appeared, so the environment copes well with such “waste”.

This is due to the fact that evolution already includes natural disasters (storms, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, decomposition of dead animals and plants). Natural pollution can be considered as biological pollution of the environment. Types of pollution of this kind include, first of all, nature itself in general.

Natural pollution can be illustrated by the following examples:

Death Valley. At the foot of the Kikhpinych volcano (Kamchatka) there is a valley filled with volcanic hydrogen sulfide gases. In the absence of wind above ground level, gas accumulates, and all animals and birds that enter this area die. Scientists studying Death Valley not only study this phenomenon, but also clear the area of ​​corpses. This is necessary to prevent scavengers from coming into the valley, which can harm not only living animals, but also spread infection from dead ones. Thus, this type of pollution has quite clear signs that similar types of environmental pollution have.

- "Red Tide". A brown coating forms on the surface of the seas, strongly reminiscent of blood. This occurs due to the proliferation of a certain type of algae, which is very toxic in nature. Toxic substances enter the food chain into the inhabitants of the sea, causing the latter to die.

There are known cases where crews of ships sailing in such areas received severe poisoning after eating fish or shellfish caught in “poisonous” places. Scientists associate the appearance of toxic algae with large amounts of chemical emissions into the ocean waters.

Anthropogenic sources

The saturation of nature with harmful substances by humans deserve special attention, since they are not limited to decomposition or fires caused by people. The classification of types of environmental pollution in this case may be as follows:

Fallout;

Inorganic water pollution;

Organic;

Thermal types;

Soil pollution;

Saturation with pesticides;

- (as a result of the relationship with the water cycle in nature).

All of the above methods are types of anthropogenic environmental pollution, that is, the result of human activity.

Aerosol emissions

Due to the functioning of mankind, the atmosphere contains a lot of impurities that can be called man-made dust. It is expressed in the form of fog, haze or regular smoke. As a result of the combustion of certain substances in production, toxic fumes and carcinogenic compounds are released into the environment.

The main sources of man-made dust are metallurgical plants, oil refineries, soot plants and others that use heat treatment of raw materials. Also, the main types of environmental pollution by aerosol include the release of dust and toxic substances in the mining industry.

When forming artificial embankments (dumps) from overburden rocks during mining, a huge amount of processing results is released into the atmosphere. Harmful particles are released into the environment during blasting operations.

For example, an average power explosion releases up to 2 thousand cubic meters of carbon monoxide and about 150 tons of dust. During the technological processes of processing semi-finished products for cement production, a lot of chemicals and process dust are also released into the air.

Types of environmental pollution from transport can also be called aerosol. As a result of combustion of a substance (gasoline or diesel fuel), gases are released: carbon oxides, hydrocarbons and nitrogen. The duration of these mixtures being in the atmosphere before their natural decomposition ranges from several hours to several years.

Photochemical fog

Smog is formed by combining chemically harmful emissions into the atmosphere with solar radiation energy. As a result, a photochemical reaction of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other harmful substances occurs.

Fog, thus, represents a category of saturation with harmful substances that contains types of chemical pollution of the environment.

The chain reaction of nitrogen dioxide converting into nitric oxide and atomic oxygen should result in ozone (a compound of molecular and atomic oxygen). The oxidation reaction of nitrogen with this compound should produce molecular oxygen and, as a result, nitrogen dioxide. However, when ozone occurs, it immediately reacts with exhaust gases in the atmosphere, resulting in the formation of a certain number of combined oxygen atoms and molecules.

This compound, reacting with impurities in the air, forms oxidants and free radicals, which are characteristic of smog. The compounds with which the air is literally saturated have an extremely negative effect on the circulatory and respiratory systems of residents, as a result of which a person can die.

Fallout

This type of pollution is the most dangerous for humanity and for all living things in the world. Precipitation that contains radioactive particles consists of atmospheric moisture and dust.

The heaviest particles of radioactive elements settle immediately on the surface of the earth, while lighter ones tend to linger in the atmosphere and be transported over fairly long distances.

Due to this, radionucleotides contained in the air fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow or fog.

When such precipitation gets on human skin, radioactive atoms penetrate into the body, gradually destroying it from the inside.

Inorganic types

Types of environmental pollution are also represented by inorganic “methods”.

In connection with the development of industry, waste that is generated during the activities of factories and enterprises for the procurement and processing of timber, during work in mines, in mines, as well as as a result of the use of transport, enters the water.

For example, wastewater that then ends up in water bodies contains large amounts of synthetic detergent residues. These elements, when entering the water treatment system, are not removed and are returned to the water supply.

Types of chemical environmental pollution include, in this case, pollution of wastewater with compounds of elements such as cadmium, arsenic, lead, mercury and other equally dangerous substances.

These compounds are absorbed by low-level inhabitants of water bodies and transmitted along the food chain to highly organized organisms.

Chemical contaminants tend to change the pH of water to a state where the inhabitants of the aquatic environment cannot live and reproduce in such water.

However, many invertebrate organisms inhabiting water element, are capable of accumulating radioactive elements and poisons. That is why they serve as an indicator of what main types of environmental pollution caused the pollution of the reservoir.

Despite the fact that water has the property of self-purification, due to the ingress of a large number of chemical compounds into it, the organisms that provide purification die. Accordingly, additional methods are required to separate harmful particles from water, but, unfortunately, this is not enough.

Organic "garbage"

Types of pollution in the human environment include their organic nature. These include oil, consisting mainly of saturated hydrocarbons.

If there is water on the surface, the inhabitants of the seas, as well as animals and plants of the coastal zone, die.

This is due to the fact that oil, falling on fish or waterfowl, envelops them in a thin black-brown film, and therefore the natural streamlining of the surface of the birds’ plumage (or fish scales) is disrupted.

Long before people learned to extract this natural resource, oil also reached the surface of the water. However, in the seas and oceans there are microscopic bacteria that can process “black gold” by feeding on it. Gradually, the stain disappears from the surface, and the bacteria become food for highly organized creatures.

The difficulty today in the natural destruction of spills is the huge amount of oil that spills out during tanker crashes or accidents on platforms. Bacteria do not have time to process it, and the flammable substance can flow into other bodies of water, spreading throughout the World Ocean.

Thermal type

Releases of temperature-unstable wastewater into rivers and lakes by power plants - this example illustrates such a category as types of energy pollution of the environment.

At first glance, a slight increase in water temperature should not harm the ecosystem as a whole. However, the amount of such runoff and the constant change and instability of liquid temperature in reservoirs leads to an artificial limitation of water exchange between the surface and the bottom.

Since the circulation necessary for the rational functioning of phytoplankton and algae is disrupted, the species constancy of the water structure changes.

Soil pollution

The Earth's soil is the most important component of the biosphere. This shell accumulates not only organic substances, but also energy. The existence of soil as an element of the biosphere is one of the important links in its functioning. Therefore, the problems of pollution of the earth's surface with chemicals (organic and inorganic), as well as special types of substances (pesticides), require special attention from scientists.

Pesticide pollution

Since special pesticides for treating plants are produced and used by humans, it can be said that soil contamination with these elements can illustrate the types of environment.

Despite the fact that this group of chemicals is important element in agriculture for large-scale cultivation of plant foods, such poisons pose a huge danger to the soil.

Pesticides tend to accumulate in the body into which they enter and, like radioactive elements, destroy human health from the inside, and also lead to the death of many microorganisms. Disruption of the natural course of the evolutionary process occurs, among other reasons, also due to the fact that environmental pollution is observed.

Types of pollution, which include saturation with pesticides, cause an imbalance and, as a consequence, natural selection. Chemicals penetrate the human body through the food chain and are found not only in the internal organs of adults, but also in newborns. This means that pesticides accumulated during life can be transmitted vertically from mother to child.

Today, chemicals are being developed and tested that, after use, having had the necessary effect, independently decompose into safe elements. In this case, it is important to observe the order of the chemical reaction, excluding the presence of catalysts that could disrupt the natural course of the decomposition of harmful substances into elementary ones.

Acid rain

As a result of human functioning, large amounts of oxides of chemical elements are released into the atmosphere, which causes environmental pollution. Types of pollution can be roughly defined as domestic and industrial.

When combustible materials intended for domestic and industrial needs are burned, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, carbon and hydrogen sulfide are released. When interacting with moisture contained in the atmosphere, these mixtures degenerate into acids, which then fall out as precipitation.

If there is a threat of such anomalies, it is necessary to be extremely careful, since the effect of acid on people, even in small concentrations, causes a chemical burn. If exposed to acid rain, a person can not only lose part of his hair or ruin his headdress, but also get a burn to his face or entire body.

When acid falls out, it harms not only people, but also the soil, that is, it causes environmental pollution. Types of pollution that are associated with the peculiarities of water circulation in nature cause oversaturation of the earth with these compounds. The soil is no longer able to retain beneficial natural properties. If vegetation appears on such soil and is then eaten, it can harm human health.

In addition, acidic rainwater, penetrating deep into the soil, ends up in groundwater. They are the ones who spread chemical compounds over long distances, which can further harm even those areas that are located quite far from the area where acid precipitation occurred.

Noise pollution

A person cannot live in absolute silence, just as he cannot live with fairly loud sounds. This imbalance changes intracranial pressure and can lead to disruption of the entire body.

In connection with these features of human essence, one can distinguish the environment, which cannot be seen.

The noise produced by numerous factories, equipment, trains, cars has an extremely negative effect on residents of large cities or people who are forced to be close to such “noisy” achievements of mankind.

Exposure to such sounds disrupts the natural functioning of internal organs, blood vessels, etc., which in the worst case can lead to premature aging and death.

Ways to fight

The types of sources of environmental pollution are quite diverse. However, it can be noted that they are all related to human activity. Some sources directly pollute the atmosphere, soil or water with toxic substances, while others only disrupt the natural course of events in nature. At the same time, quite often the system weakens, important food and other chains are broken, and mutations occur.

Genetically modified organisms are individuals that are fully adapted to survive in conditions of severe environmental pollution. With each attack by pesticides, the cells changed so much that they could (already in future generations) resist the destructive effects of the most powerful substances.

But we should not forget that our Earth is not adapted to absorb the “conveniences” of civilization, therefore, today, development is underway not of new chemically hazardous substances, but of their neutralizers.

The newest preparations or cultures of microorganisms are designed not only not to cause harm, but also to facilitate the rapid decomposition into safe elements of the substances that are planned to be used.

Sakhalin buckwheat

The natural properties of plants and organisms are identified and used in the fight for a clean planet. For example, Sakhalin buckwheat has an excellent property - it can germinate and bloom in soil that is saturated with heavy metals.

According to the results of numerous experiments, such plants can “take” up to 1 kg of cadmium, 24 kg of lead and 322 kg of zinc from the soil in just 1 year. And an experiment at one of the military training grounds where chemical weapons were tested showed that 2 years after planting buckwheat in the ground, the soil was completely clean.

"LENINGRAD STATE UNIVERSITY

named after A.S. PUSHKIN"

On the topic of:

on ecology

Completed by: Lazareva D.A.

Student of group No. 116

Specialty: State Medical University

Saint Petersburg

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..…..3 pp.

Types of environmental pollution……………………………………………………4 – 8 pp.

Conclusion………………………………………………………….….... 9 p.

List of used literature……………………………………………………10 pages.

Introduction

Environmental pollution is an undesirable change in its properties, which leads or may lead to harmful effects on humans or natural systems. The most well-known type of pollution is chemical (the release of harmful substances and compounds into the environment), but such types of pollution as radioactive, thermal (uncontrolled release of heat into the environment can lead to global changes in the natural climate), and noise pose no less potential threat. Environmental pollution is mainly associated with human economic activity (anthropogenic environmental pollution), but pollution may occur as a result of natural phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, meteorite falls and others. All shells of the Earth are subject to pollution.

The lithosphere (as well as the soil cover) becomes polluted as a result of the influx of heavy metal compounds, fertilizers, and pesticides into it. Up to 12 billion tons of waste from large cities alone are removed annually. Mining developments lead to the destruction of natural soil cover over vast areas.
The hydrosphere is polluted by wastewater from industrial enterprises (especially chemical and metallurgical enterprises), runoff from fields and livestock farms, and domestic wastewater from cities. Oil pollution is especially dangerous - up to 15 million tons of oil and oil products enter the waters of the World Ocean every year.
The atmosphere is polluted mainly as a result of the annual burning of huge amounts of mineral fuel and emissions from the metallurgical and chemical industries. The main pollutants are carbon dioxide, oxides of sulfur and nitrogen, and radioactive compounds.

Due to the large amount of human waste entering the environment, the environment's ability to cleanse itself is at its limit. A significant part of this waste is alien to the natural environment: they are either toxic to microorganisms: they destroy complex organic substances and transform them into simple inorganic compounds, or they are not destroyed at all and therefore accumulate in various parts of the environment. Even those substances that are familiar to the environment, entering it too much large quantities, can change its qualities and affect environmental systems.

Types of environmental pollution

Sources of biosphere pollution are usually divided into natural and industrial. Natural sources of pollution are caused by natural processes (volcanic eruptions, soil dust, etc.); such sources, as a rule, are localized and are not decisive for the biosphere as a whole. Industrial sources of biosphere pollution can have a long-term destructive effect. These sources are divided into material (substances), including mechanical, chemical and biological pollution, and energy (physical).

The direct objects of pollution are the main habitats of the biotic community: atmosphere, water, soil. The victims of pollution are the components of the biocenosis: plants, animals, microorganisms. Any pollution, as a rule, is not always felt immediately and is often of a hidden nature, and it may not necessarily be a direct release of harmful substances into the natural environment. For example, such a “harmless process as the removal of water from reservoirs for various economic needs leads to a change in the natural temperature regime (thermal pollution), which affects a number of interrelated processes characterizing a given ecological system, up to its complete destruction (for example, a disaster Aral Sea). When changing any ecological system, the appearance of substances that are not characteristic of it is dangerous.

Air pollution

Man has been polluting the atmosphere for thousands of years, but the consequences of the use of fire, which he used throughout this period, were insignificant. I had to put up with the fact that the smoke interfered with breathing and that the soot lay as a black cover on the ceiling and walls of the home. The resulting heat was more important to humans than clean air and smoke-free cave walls. This initial air pollution was not a problem, since people then lived in small groups, occupying an immeasurably vast, untouched natural environment. And even a significant concentration of people in a relatively small area, as was the case in classical antiquity, was not yet accompanied by serious consequences. This was the case until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Only in the last hundred years has the development of industry “given” us such production processes, the consequences of which at first a person could not yet imagine. Millionaire cities have emerged whose growth cannot be stopped. All this is the result of great inventions and conquests of man. There are basically three main sources of air pollution: industry, domestic boilers, and transport. The contribution of each of these sources to total air pollution varies greatly from place to place. It is now generally accepted that industrial production produces the most air pollution. Sources of pollution are thermal power plants, which, along with smoke, emit sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide into the air; metallurgical enterprises, especially non-ferrous metallurgy, which emit nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide, chlorine, fluorine, ammonia, phosphorus compounds, particles and compounds of mercury and arsenic into the air; chemical and cement plants. Harmful gases enter the air as a result of burning fuel for industrial needs, heating homes, operating transport, burning and processing household and industrial waste.

Atmospheric pollutants are divided into primary, which enter directly into the atmosphere, and secondary, which are the result of the transformation of the latter. Thus, sulfur dioxide gas entering the atmosphere is oxidized to sulfuric anhydride, which reacts with water vapor and forms droplets of sulfuric acid. When sulfuric anhydride reacts with ammonia, ammonium sulfate crystals are formed. Similarly, as a result of chemical, photochemical, physical chemical reactions between pollutants and atmospheric components, other secondary signs are formed. The main sources of pyrogenic pollution on the planet are thermal power plants, metallurgical and chemical enterprises, and boiler plants, which consume more than 70% of the annually produced solid and liquid fuel.

Soil pollution

The Earth's soil cover is the most important component of the Earth's biosphere. It is the soil shell that determines many of the processes occurring in the biosphere. The most important importance of soils is the accumulation of organic matter, various chemical elements, and energy. Soil cover functions as a biological absorber, destroyer and neutralizer of various pollutants. If this link of the biosphere is destroyed, then the existing functioning of the biosphere will be irreversibly disrupted. That is why it is extremely important to study the global biochemical significance of the soil cover, its current state and changes under the influence of anthropogenic activities.

Under normal natural conditions, all processes occurring in the soil are in balance. But often people are to blame for disturbing the equilibrium state of the soil. As a result of the development of human economic activity, pollution occurs, changes in the composition of the soil and even its destruction. Currently, there is less than one hectare of arable land for every inhabitant of our planet. And these small areas continue to shrink due to inept human economic activities.

Huge areas of fertile land are destroyed during mining operations and during the construction of enterprises and cities. Destruction of forests and natural grass cover, repeated plowing of the land without following the rules of agricultural technology leads to soil erosion - destruction and washing away of the fertile layer by water and wind. Erosion has now become a worldwide evil. It is estimated that over the last century alone, 2 billion hectares of fertile land for active agricultural use have been lost on the planet as a result of water and wind erosion.

The most dangerous soil pollutants include mercury and its compounds. Mercury enters the environment with pesticides and industrial waste containing metallic mercury and its various compounds.

Soil contamination with lead is even more widespread and dangerous. It is known that when one ton of lead is smelted, up to 25 kg of lead is released into the environment with waste. Lead compounds are used as additives in gasoline, so motor vehicles are a serious source of lead pollution. Lead is especially high in soils along major highways.

Radioactive elements can enter the soil and accumulate in it as a result of fallout from atomic explosions or during the disposal of liquid and solid waste from industrial enterprises, nuclear power plants or research institutions related to the study and use of atomic energy. Radioactive substances from soils enter plants, then into the bodies of animals and humans, and accumulate in them.

Modern agriculture, which widely uses fertilizers and various chemicals to control pests, weeds and plant diseases, has a significant impact on the chemical composition of soils. Currently, the amount of substances involved in the cycle during agricultural activities is approximately the same as during industrial production. At the same time, the production and use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture increases every year. Their inept and uncontrolled use leads to disruption of the cycle of substances in the biosphere.

Particularly dangerous are persistent organic compounds used as pesticides. They accumulate in soil, water, and bottom sediments of reservoirs. But the most important thing is that they are included in ecological food chains, pass from soil and water to plants, then to animals, and ultimately enter the human body with food.

Water pollution

In most cases, freshwater pollution remains invisible because the pollutants are dissolved in the water. But there are exceptions: foaming detergents, as well as oil products floating on the surface and raw sewage. There are several natural pollutants. Aluminum compounds found in the ground enter the fresh water system as a result of chemical reactions. Floods wash out magnesium compounds from the soil of meadows, which cause enormous damage to fish stocks. However, the volume of natural pollutants is negligible compared to those produced by humans. Every year, thousands of chemicals with unpredictable effects enter waterways, many of which are new chemical compounds. Increased concentrations of toxic heavy metals (such as cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium), pesticides, nitrates and phosphates, petroleum products, and surfactants can be found in water.

As is known, up to 12 million tons of oil enter the seas and oceans every year. Acid rain also makes a certain contribution to the increase in the concentration of heavy metals in water. They are able to dissolve minerals in the soil, which leads to an increase in the content of heavy metal ions in the water. Nuclear power plants release radioactive waste into the natural water cycle. Discharge of untreated wastewater into water sources leads to microbiological contamination of water. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80% of diseases in the world are caused by poor quality and unsanitary water. In rural areas, the problem of water quality is especially acute - about 90% of all rural residents in the world constantly use contaminated water for drinking and bathing.

Solid and liquid pollutants move from the soil into water supplies as a result of the so-called. leaching. Small amounts of waste dumped on the ground are dissolved by rain and flow into groundwater and then into local streams and rivers. Liquid waste reaches sources faster fresh water. Crop spray solutions either lose their potency upon contact with the soil, end up in local rivers, or leach into the ground and seep into groundwater. Up to 80% of such solutions are wasted, as they end up not on the sprayed object, but in the soil.

The time required for contaminants (nitrates or phosphates) to penetrate from soil into groundwater is not known exactly, but in many cases the process can take tens of thousands of years. Pollutants entering the environment from industrial enterprises are called industrial effluents and emissions.

Groundwater pollution is becoming increasingly important. With the help of modern technologies, people are increasingly using groundwater, depleting and polluting it. Around the cities, private construction of housing and small enterprises with autonomous water supply is rapidly developing. For example, in the Moscow region, from 50 to 200 wells of varying depths are drilled daily. For various reasons (for example, ignorance), the vast majority of wells are operated without following the rules for using such water sources. This leads to rapid local contamination of groundwater in this region.

Contamination can be indicated by signs such as dead fish, but there are more sophisticated methods for detecting it. Freshwater pollution is measured in terms of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) - that is, how much oxygen the pollutant absorbs from the water. This indicator allows you to assess the degree of oxygen starvation of aquatic organisms.

Conclusion

As a result of growing environmental pollution, many environmental problems arise, both at the local and regional levels (in large industrial areas and urban agglomerations) and at the global level (global warming, reduction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, depletion of natural resources). The main ways to solve environmental problems can be not only the construction of various treatment plants and devices, but also the introduction of new low-waste technologies, repurposing production, moving them to a new location in order to reduce the “concentration” of pressure on nature.

Recently, more and more often in the press, on radio, and television, environmental issues have become one of the main topics. The general public, aware of the critical state of the environment, must take active action. “Greenization” of the legislative and executive powers is now especially important, since the primary task is to make environmentally friendly production profitable and, conversely, any neglect of environmental standards economically unprofitable. Without this, calls to ordinary citizens to protect nature will look demagogic and are unlikely to achieve their goal. At the same time, the broadest educational work among citizens of all ages is also necessary.

List of used literature

2. Demina T. A. Ecology, environmental management, environmental protection:

A manual for high school students of general education institutions. – M.: Aspect Press, 1998.

3. Kormilitsyn V.I. Fundamentals of ecology - M.: INTERSTYLE, 1997.

4. Snakin V.V. Ecology and nature conservation: Dictionary-reference book. - M.: AKADEMIA, 2000