The AiF project "Explaining what is happening" is dedicated to explaining simple and at the same time difficult issues about the life of Voronezh residents in society. The project is being implemented within the framework of the program “Improving media coverage of the problems of socially oriented non-profit organizations and social (charitable) projects of representatives of the real sector of the economy (including those for the support of non-profit organizations)”.
From April 15 to June 5, the All-Russian Days of Protection from Environmental Hazard are held. The AiF correspondent talked with Victoria Labzukova, head of the department of activities in the field of ecology and environmental management of the All-Russian Regional Organization "Center for Environmental Policy", and learned shocking facts. An average family generates an average of 1.5 kg of garbage per day, about 10 kg per week and 40 kg per month. Now remember the arithmetic and multiply this figure by the number of families living in your high-rise building. And then on the number of high-rise buildings in the city. And then the number of cities on the planet ...
Victoria Labzukova spoke about the Center's project - ecological classes "Water Lesson", "Cleanliness Lesson", "Ecological problems of the city" - she shared how communication with schoolchildren can help the environment in the future.
Trash can pest
“Throwing another plastic bottle or piece of paper into the trash can, few people think about where it ends up? When you look at photographs of huge landfills for the disposal of household waste, you begin to come to a simple idea. If we do not collect waste separately, the number of landfills will increase, - says Victoria Labzukova. - Why not hand over paper and plastic bottle separately? Plastic takes about 200 years to decompose, although the bottle may not decompose during this period. Who knows? Everything that can be taken separately must be taken. Another problem is waste batteries and mercury lamps, which many residents dispose of with household waste. But this waste is considered hazardous and causes irreparable harm the environment, ending up at a landfill. "
When I cleaned it myself, next time you will think whether to throw a piece of paper or not. Photo: Center for Environmental Policy
- How to properly handle household waste?
In our opinion, one of the most competent ways of waste management is their separate collection. V large cities it's easier with this - there are points that deal with the reception of recyclable materials. You can hand over glass, cardboard, waste paper, textiles, plastic bottles, polyethylene. It is desirable that such points are within walking distance for any resident of our city and region.
- What if you do not live in regional center and want to donate waste separately?
We do our best. We leave for the districts of the Voronezh region, negotiate with the heads municipalities on holding a campaign to collect secondary material resources... In advance, the participants of the action - the population, educational institutions, business entities - begin to collect waste paper, plastic bottles. On the day of the action, all separately collected waste is transferred to specialized organizations. For this purpose, such organizations make a special trip to the region on the day of the action. During the action, the collection of waste batteries is also carried out - batteries, accumulators from mobile devices.
- What happens to the batteries that we hand over at promotions?
The collected waste batteries are transferred for disposal. The only plant in Russia that deals with the processing of used batteries is located in Chelyabinsk. Few people know that you have to pay money to neutralize batteries. Last year, the cost of this service was 110 rubles per 1 kg of batteries. In 2015, together with the Department of Ecology, the collection of waste batteries was organized. For this, containers were installed for collecting batteries in all district governments, as well as in universities, schools, libraries. About 500 kg of batteries were collected. In carrying out the action, we were supported by partner organizations that paid for the transfer of batteries for neutralization.
If it seems to you that building near your home, dumping or cutting down trees is illegal, you can contact the Environmental Policy Center for help.
- What to do with used mercury lamps?
By order of the Voronezh administration, the companies that manage apartment buildings must accept waste mercury lamps from the residents of these houses. You can take the used light bulb to your management company or homeowners association. There is, however, one requirement - the light bulb must be in the package so as not to break. And already the management companies must transfer the used mercury lamps to specialized organizations licensed to collect this type of waste. If you are in your management company refused, you can report this to the administration of the city district of the city of Voronezh or contact us.
If you live in the private sector, the mercury light bulb must be handed over directly to a specialized organization. The problem is that such organizations, as a rule, are located in an industrial zone, which is not very convenient to get to. But if you throw away the mercury light bulb with your household waste, it will go to a landfill. During the burial process, the light bulb is likely to break, thus mercury compounds will enter the soil and water, causing huge harm nature.
Children lessons for adults
Schoolchildren are taught rational use of natural resources and rules for waste management. Photo: Center for Environmental Policy
- Is it possible to develop this habit in society - to think about what you throw away?
Anyone should start with himself. Now each of us can, for example, stop using plastic bags and use paper or fabric bags. Paper bags can be returned along with waste paper, and cloth bags last much longer than a regular bag.
Vending machines for accepting plastic and aluminum containers have long appeared in Moscow. Perhaps they will appear with us too. Solving issues in the waste management system requires an integrated approach, and here we cannot do without the support of our government. Now legislation in the field of waste management is changing a lot. Soon, hopefully we will come to a more civilized approach. For our part, our organization is carrying out a great educational work in this direction.
- How can you tell the whole city about the ecological way of life?
The Center for Environmental Policy organizes and conducts various environmental events and actions, both in the city and in the region. For example, timed to significant environmental dates - Water Day, Earth Day, Bird Day, Forest Day, etc. We invite people to participate of different ages, but most of activities aimed at working with the younger generation. We conduct ecological lessons "Water Lesson", "Cleanliness Lesson", "Environmental problems of the city". All meetings are held in an interesting way. Children learn rational nature management, rules of waste management, rules of behavior in nature. We also organize excursions for school students to enterprises that collect secondary material resources.
- Why do you focus specifically on lessons for children?
It is easier to communicate with children, they perceive new information with interest and try to apply the knowledge gained in everyday life. Children tell their parents and relatives what they have learned during the class. Again, students who take part in subbotniks develop a more respectful attitude towards nature. When I cleaned it myself, next time you will think whether to throw a piece of paper or not. And the relatives will think: “My child has cleaned this place, I won’t be littering here”.
Eco-active lifestyle
Taking care of the environment is easy - you can skip the plastic bags or start making birdhouses. Photo: Center for Environmental Policy
- Where to go if you want to become an eco-activist?
There are initiative groups of citizens and movements that are not indifferent to environmental issues. They create their pages in different social networks, for example, VKontakte, and inform about their events there. The Center for Environmental Policy is ready to share its experience. We have ready-made presentations, handouts. We need volunteers who can carry out the environmental activities we have developed.
And there are people who, without waiting for help, try to do something themselves in order to improve ecological situation... Thus, an active group of citizens appeared in Voronezh, who purchased containers for collecting plastic bottles and installed them in the courtyards of apartment buildings. The containers were labeled with phone numbers to call when they are full. This initiative has found a great response among the townspeople, calls are received several times a day. Hence, we can conclude that the residents of Voronezh are ready to collect waste separately. Such initiatives, of course, must be supported by the government of our region.
- What to do if you notice an illegal dump or tree felling?
You see some kind of violation. For example, it seems to you that construction near your house is illegal, or you find a garbage dump, or you notice that work is underway to cut down trees. You can contact our organization, call by phone, write by e-mail or leave information in the VKontakte group. To do this, you must indicate the exact address where, in your opinion, an environmental violation occurs, leave your coordinates, it is desirable to record the violation and send it to us. It happens that they call anonymously, report that something is happening somewhere and hang up. It is important to leave your contacts so that we have the opportunity to contact and clarify the necessary information. In turn, we send an appeal to the authorities executive power, whose competence includes the solution of these issues.
Regarding the felling of trees on the territory of the city, you can immediately contact the ecology department. There they will answer you whether there is a permit for felling or not. If there is no permission, they will be accepted necessary measures to suppress this fact.
Our organization cooperates with social movements, initiative groups of citizens who are not indifferent to the problems associated with environmental protection, and we also actively interact with the authorities to solve these problems.
The relationship between people and nature has always been quite complicated - a person tried to subjugate it, use it for their needs and change it in every possible way. Today, everywhere they talk about negative consequences global warming, but this is far from the only example of how human civilization and nature affect each other.
1. Warming climate is fueling violence
Much scientific research over several decades has consistently assumed that the rate of violent crime always increases as it approaches the equator, that is, as the climate gets hotter. But none of these studies have been able to determine why this is so. There are two main theories. First, hot weather makes people uncomfortable and irritable and therefore more violent.
Second, in warm weather people are more likely to be outdoors and interact more actively, that is, there are more opportunities for violent conflicts. But researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam believe that this behavior is not so much to blame for the heat as a slight change in temperature in these regions.
Without having to plan for the seasons ahead, people can focus on the present without being so concerned about the future. This "one-day life strategy" can lead to a decrease in self-control and, thus, to an increase in the number of acts of violence.
2. Light pollution causes early spring in cities
Light pollution caused by excess artificial lighting, in fact, can be destructive to natural ecosystems. Over time, bright lights in cities gradually "deceive" the surrounding trees and plants, which begin to "believe" that spring has come earlier.
In a 12-year study of four different types trees, British scientists found that in large cities with a lot of nightlight, trees threw out buds a week earlier than similar species in countryside... This has a natural multiplier effect on the surrounding ecosystem, causing disruptions in pollination cycles and populations of birds and bees.
3. Cigarette butts - a threat to marine life
Of the billions of cigarette butts produced annually, only a fraction are disposed of correctly. An insane amount of them fall into the ocean. In fact, cigarette butts are the most common type of garbage in the oceans. They are made up of thousands of tiny plastic particles woven into fibers that decay in the ocean environment.
One study found that hazardous materials contained in a single cigarette butt can sufficiently contaminate 1 liter of water to kill any fish in that water.
4. People and evolution
Hunting, human encroachment on the natural habitat of animals, and other changes in the environment have contributed to the extinction of thousands of species over the centuries. But some patterns of human behavior can eventually lead to the emergence of new species that would not have appeared otherwise. For example, in London, there are underground mosquitoes whose DNA and breeding habits differ from ordinary mosquitoes.
They came from insects that escaped into artificial underground tunnels during the bombing of World War II. Since they are no longer able to breed with other mosquitoes, these mosquitoes are a separate species that was actually created by humans.
5. Nature improves mental health
In 2013, a study by the University of Essex found that clinical rates of depression decreased markedly (by 71 percent) in people who took at least a short walk in nature every day. These results are in stark contrast to the control group, whose participants took a walk once a day. mall... Their depression rates dropped 45 percent, while 22 percent actually felt even more depressed.
In addition, adolescents living within 1 km of green spaces experienced a decrease in aggressive behavior... Either way, the study's authors came to a rather specific conclusion: an increase in green space in urban areas could lead to a 12 percent reduction in violent and violent behavior among adolescents.
6. Increased vegetation growth
The melting of glaciers and the gradual disappearance of perennial ice shelves caused by global climate change have had an unexpected spillover effect. In many places where the ice receded, greenery appeared in its place.
This long-term trend has been noted by NASA using satellite imagery. In addition to the retreating ice and rising temperatures, another factor is the increase in the amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere, which plants love.
7. Poor people in green areas get sick less
Scientists from the University of Glasgow conducted research that substantiated the theory that the effects of nature are beneficial to humans. Having ruled out diseases such as lung cancer, circulatory diseases, and deliberate self-harm, the scientists decided to survey the entire working population in England to determine if there is a pattern of health status among people who cannot afford medical care, living near green spaces.
It turned out that people living near greenery are really healthier, even if they do not visit doctors at all.
8. Mothers living close to nature have big babies
Researchers at Ben Gurion University noted in 2014 that mothers in greener areas tend to give birth to babies with much higher average body weights. The study also showed that much lower birth weight threatens the baby with many lifelong health problems.
It has been found that low birth weight is commonly found in economically underdeveloped areas with minimum amount green spaces.
9. Roads can have a positive impact on nature
Despite the fact that roads are vital to the infrastructure of any society, environmentalists actively protest against their construction. In fact, in 2013 professor University of Cambridge Andrew Balmford suggested that building roads or improving existing roads in some areas might be beneficial to surrounding areas.
Particularly in underdeveloped areas suitable for agriculture, roads are clearly conducive to the conservation of vulnerable plant and animal species, as people simply "stay away from them."
10. Animals adapt to human presence
During the Industrial Revolution and as a result of the human population explosion, there was a clear impact on the diversity of animal species. Hunting and fishing, despite changes in habitat and migration patterns, have had a negative impact on many species, but not all. Some have adapted to thrive in the presence of people, and learning how they did it may be the key to mitigating the effects of future population growth.
Chipmunks and crows, for example, have completely changed their diet to accommodate urban life. Many endangered birds began to settle on the flat roofs of shopping malls.
Incredible facts
It's lunchtime, but there is no food at home, so you get behind the wheel and drive to the nearest grocery store.
You stroll among the stalls hoping to buy something. In the end, you choose the chicken and the prepared salad and return home to enjoy your meal.
Consider how a seemingly harmless shopping trip affected environment.
First, driving a car has contributed to the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The electricity in the store is nothing more than the combustion of coal, the mining of which has ravaged the Appalachian ecosystem.
The salad ingredients were grown on a farm and treated with pesticides, which were then released into water streams poisoning fish and aquatic plants(which help keep the air clean).
The chicken was raised on a far-away poultry farm where animal waste releases large amounts of toxic methane into the atmosphere. When delivering goods to the store, many types of transport were involved, each of which caused its own harm to the environment.
Even the most insignificant human actions initiate changes in the environment. How we heat our homes, power our electrical appliances, what we do with our waste, and what the origin of our food is - all of these put a huge strain on the environment.
Considering the problem at the social level, it can be noted that human behavior significantly affected the environment. The earth's temperature has increased by one degree Fahrenheit since 1975, and the amount of polar ice has decreased by 9 percent in just one decade.
We've done tremendous damage to the planet, far more than you might imagine. Construction, irrigation, mining significantly spoil the natural landscape and disrupt the flow of important ecological processes... Aggressive fishing and hunting can deplete all stocks of species, human migration can introduce alien species into established food chains. Greed leads to catastrophic accidents, and laziness leads to destructive practices.
10. Public projects
Sometimes public works projects don't actually work for the public good. For example, dam projects in China, designed to generate clean energy, have devastated everything around them, causing flooding in cities and places where environmental waste accumulates, which significantly increased the risk of natural disasters.
In 2007, China completed 20 years of construction on the world's largest hydroelectric dam, the Three Gorges. During the implementation of this project, more than 1.2 million people had to leave their habitats as they were flooded 13 major cities, 140 ordinary cities and 1350 villages. Hundreds of factories, mines, dumps and industrial centers were also flooded, plus the main reservoirs were heavily polluted. The project changed the ecosystem of the Yangtze River, transforming the once mighty river into a stagnant basin, thereby to a greater extent destroying the local flora and fauna.
Redirected rivers also significantly increase the risk of landslides along the banks, which are home to hundreds of thousands of people. According to forecasts, about half a million people living along the river are planned to be relocated by 2020, as landslides are inevitable, and the ecosystem will continue to deplete.
Recently, scientists have linked the construction of dams to earthquakes. The Three Gorges Reservoir was built on top of two major fault lines and has experienced hundreds of minor shocks since its discovery. Scientists have suggested that the disastrous 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province, which killed 8,000 people, was also caused by water accumulation in the area of the dam, located less than half a mile from the center of the tremors. The phenomenon of dams that provoke earthquakes is associated with the pressure of water created under the reservoir, which, in turn, increases the pressure in rocks and acts as a softener for fault lines that are already energized.
9. Overfishing
"There are a lot of fish in the sea" is no longer a completely reliable statement. Humanity's appetite for seafood has devastated our oceans to the point where experts fear the ability of many species to rebuild their populations on their own.
According to the World Federation wildlife, the global fish catch is 2.5 times allowable rate... More than half of the world's fish stocks and species are already depleted, and one quarter of the species are over-depleted. Ninety percent of large fish species - tuna, swordfish, cod, halibut, flounder, marlin - have lost their natural habitat. According to forecasts, if the situation does not change, then by 2048 the stocks of these fish will disappear.
It is worth noting that the main culprit is the advances in fishing technology. Most commercial fishing vessels today are equipped with fishfinding sonar. Having found a suitable place, the fishermen release huge nets, three football fields which can sweep up all the fish in a matter of minutes. Thus, with this approach, fish populations can be reduced by 80 percent in 10-15 years.
8. Invasive species
Throughout the foundation of the world, man himself was a distributor of invasive species. Even though it may seem to you that your favorite pet or plant feels much better in a new place, in fact, the natural balance of nature is disturbed. It has been proven that invasive flora and fauna is the most destructive thing that humanity has done for the environment.
In the United States, 400 of the 958 species are listed on the Red List as they are considered to be at risk from competition with invasive alien species.
Invasive species problems mostly affect invertebrates. For example, in the first half of the 20th century, an Asian mushroom destroyed more than 180 million acres of American chestnuts. As a result, more than 10 chestnut-dependent species became extinct.
7. Coal mining industry
Nai great danger coal mining is climate change, but it also threatens local ecosystems.
Market realities pose a serious threat to mining coal, especially in the United States. Coal is a cheap source of energy - one megawatt of energy from coal costs $ 20-30, as opposed to one megawatt obtained from natural gas- 45-60 dollars. Moreover, one quarter of the world's coal reserves are located in the United States.
Two of the most destructive forms of coal mining are mountain tops and gas mining. In the first case, the mountain workers can "cut down" more than 305 meters of the mountain peak in order to get to the coal deposit. Gas extraction occurs when the coal is closer to the surface of the mountain. In this case, all the "inhabitants" of the mountain (trees and any other creatures living in them) are exterminated to extract valuable minerals.
Each practice of this kind creates a large amount of waste along the way. Extensive damaged and old forest areas are dumped into nearby valleys. In the United States alone, it is estimated that over 121,405 hectares of deciduous forest has been destroyed by coal mining in West Virginia alone. By 2012, the 5,180 square kilometers of Appalachian forest is said to have ceased to exist.
The question of what to do with this kind of "waste" is still open. Usually, mining companies just dump unnecessary trees, dead wildlife, etc. into nearby valleys, which, in turn, not only destroys natural ecosystems, but also affects the drying up of large rivers. Industrial waste from mines finds refuge in river beds.
6. Human disasters
While most of the ways in which humans harm the environment evolve over several years, some events can happen in an instant, but that instant will have far-reaching consequences.
In 1989, the oil spill in Prince Williams Bay, Alaska, had dire consequences. Around 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled at the time, killing more than 25,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 seals, 250 eagles, about 22 killer whales, as well as billions of salmon and herring. At least two species, Pacific herring and guillemot pigeon, did not recover from the disaster.
It is too early to assess the wildlife damage caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but the scale of the disaster is incomparable to anything seen in American history. For several days, more than 9.5 million liters of oil seeped into the bay every day - the largest spill in American history. By most estimates, the damage to the wildlife world is still lower than the 1989 spill due to the lower species density. However, despite this, there is no doubt that the damage from the spill will continue for many years to come.
5. Cars
America has long been considered the land of automobiles, so it comes as no surprise that one-fifth of all emissions greenhouse gases in the USA it is the share of cars. There are 232 million cars on the roads of this country, with a very small proportion of them powered by electricity, and the average car consumes about 2,271 liters of gasoline annually.
A single car emits about 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as exhaust gases... In order to purify the air from these impurities, 240 trees are needed. In America, cars emit roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide as coal-fired plants.
The combustion process in a car engine produces fine particles of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and sulfur dioxide. In large quantities, these chemicals can interfere with work. respiratory system a person, causing coughing and choking. Cars also generate carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas produced by burning fossil fuels that blocks the transport of oxygen to the brain, heart, and other vital organs.
At the same time, the extraction of oil, which is necessary to create fuel and oil for the movement of the car, in turn, also has a serious impact on the environment. Onshore drilling is displacing native species, and offshore drilling and subsequent transportation has created an unimaginable number of problems over the years, as more than 40 million gallons of oil have been spilled worldwide since 1978.
4. Unstable Agriculture
In all the ways in which humanity harms the environment, there is one general trend: we are not able to make plans for the future. But nowhere is this more evident than in our method of growing our own food.
Current agricultural practices are responsible for 70 percent of the pollution in the country's rivers and streams, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Drains chemical substances, contaminated soil, animal waste, it all ends up in waterways, among which more than 173,000 miles are in a deplorable state. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides increase nitrogen levels and decrease oxygen levels in the water.
Pesticides used to protect crops from being eaten by predators threaten the survival of some species of birds and insects. For example, the number of bee colonies on US farmland fell from 4.4 million in 1985 to less than 2 million in 1997. When exposed to pesticides the immune system bees are weakened, making them more vulnerable to the enemy.
Large-scale industrial agriculture also contributes to global warming. The vast majority of the world's meat products are manufactured on industrial farms. On any farm, tens of thousands of livestock are concentrated in small areas to save space. Among other things, when untreated animal waste is destroyed, harmful gases are released, including methane, which, in turn, has a significant impact on the global warming process.
3. Deforestation
There were times when most of the earth on the planet was covered with forests. Today the forests are disappearing before our eyes. According to the United Nations, 32 million acres of forest are lost every year, including 14,800 acres of primeval forest, that is, land not occupied or affected by human activity. Seventy percent of the animals and plants of the planet live in forests, and, accordingly, having lost their home, they themselves will face the threat of extinction as a species.
The problem is especially acute for tropical forests with a humid climate. These forests cover 7 percent of the land area and provide home to about half of all species on the planet. At the current rate of deforestation, scientists believe the rainforest will be razed to the ground in about 100 years.
Deforestation is also contributing to global warming. Trees absorb greenhouse gases, so fewer trees mean emissions more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. They also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor to the atmosphere. Without trees, forests will quickly turn into barren deserts, leading to even more severe fluctuations in global temperatures. When forests burn, trees emit carbon into the atmosphere, which also aggravates the problem of global warming. Scientists estimate that trees in the Amazonian forests have processed an amount of greenhouse gases equivalent to 10 years of human activity.
Poverty is one of the main causes of deforestation. Majority rainforest are located in third world countries, and politicians there regularly stimulate economic development weak regions. Thus, loggers and farmers are slowly but surely doing their job. In most cases, deforestation is due to the need to create a farm plot. The farmer typically burns trees and vegetation to produce ash, which can then be used as fertilizer. This process is called slash and burn farming. Among other things, the risk of soil erosion and flooding increases, as nutrients from the soil evaporate over several years, and the land is often unable to support the crops planted for which the trees were felled.
2. Global warming
The average surface temperature of the Earth has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 130 years. Ice caps are melting at an alarming rate - since 1979, more than 20 percent of the world's ice has disappeared. Sea levels are rising, causing flooding and significantly contributing to catastrophic natural disasters that are increasingly occurring around the world.
Global warming is caused by greenhouse effect in which some gases channel the received solar heat back into the atmosphere. Since 1990, annual greenhouse gas emissions have grown by about 6 billion tonnes worldwide, or 20 percent.
The gas most responsible for global warming is carbon dioxide, which accounts for 82 percent of all US greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide is produced when fossil fuels are burned, mainly when running cars and when powering factories and factories with coal. Five years ago, global atmospheric gas concentrations were already 35 percent higher than before the industrial revolution.
Global warming can lead to natural disasters, large-scale food and water shortages, and devastating consequences for wildlife. According to the intergovernmental group of experts on climate change, sea level may rise by 17.8 - 58.4 cm by the end of the century.And since most of the world's population lives in coastal regions, this is a very great danger to both people and ecosystems ...
1. Overcrowding
"Overcrowding is' the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about," says Dr. John Guillebaud, professor of family planning and reproductive health at university college London. "If we ourselves can not use humane methods of family planning to reduce the population, nature will do it for us through violence, epidemics and hunger," he adds.
Over the past 40 years, the world's population has grown from 3 billion to 6.7 billion. 75 million people (equivalent to the German population) are added annually, or more than 200,000 people daily. The world's population is projected to exceed 9 billion by 2050.
More people means more waste, more demand for food, more production of consumer goods, more needs in electricity, cars, etc. In other words, all the factors that contribute to global warming will only get worse.
Increased demand for food will force farmers and fishermen to increasingly harm already fragile ecosystems. Forests will be removed almost entirely, as cities will constantly expand and new areas for farmland will be needed. The list of endangered species will get longer and longer. In emerging economies such as India and China, increased energy consumption is expected to increase carbon emissions. In short than more people, the more problems.
psychology of health and longevityIt is impossible to imagine a healthy humanity without a clean and flourishing living environment.
The psychology of health and long life is, first of all, education in early childhood in the child, feelings of respect and love for nature.
Nature is not only forests and lakes, it is ALL living things, the entire Cosmos. This is what surrounds a person, this is the primary environment, without which his full, unburdened existence, physical and spiritual health are simply unthinkable. The idea of separating a person from Nature, proclaiming him "the crown of creation and transferring to his knowledge and undivided use of the world of Living Nature and all its riches is a violation of the“ Primordial balance. " leads to disaster.
The destruction of nature always entails consequences, one of which is the irreversible spiritual loss of modern man, cut off from the roots of the people.
It is very difficult to educate, instill love and respect for Nature, creating a huge environmental problem. The senseless mass destruction of animals, trees, water bodies is a threat to earthly prosperity, a harbinger of the death of the living world.
A person needs to change his mind and understand that without nature it is impossible not only healthy offspring, but the very life of mankind! Change in Nature will lead a person to mutations. Each of us should feel responsible for everything that happens around us, for the land that belongs to everyone - who was before us and who will come after us.
The psychology of health and longevity begins with the feeling of being a part of this unique beauty of Nature, with love for insects, dogs and cats ... And this love should be based on such concepts as duty, wrinkle, conscience.
How to do it?
Original taken from oleg_bubnov in Love for Nature, children and adults
How much people consider themselves nature lovers and try to spend a significant part of their free time away from the bustle of the city! After a vacation or weekend, breathing out fresh air After taking a good swim and gaining strength, we return home with new impressions. Love for nature ennobles a person, makes him kinder and cleaner, if only this is true love.
What is our love? Is it mutual? How do we feel about what we love?
Love for the nature of the child
The little man, developing, learns the world. Initially, the potential of love for all living things lives in children. And if a baby, growing up, begins to destroy nature, animals, then adults are to blame for this, first of all, because the education of love for nature begins already with infancy, and it is very important to instill in time a sense of responsibility for all life on earth.
Learning to love small
It is important that the child understands that even the smallest creature is worthy of life. Let the education of love for nature begin with insects. One-year-old kids actively explore the world, and their attention is attracted by bright butterflies, bugs, ants. The child wants to touch everything, test its strength. He does not yet understand the fragility of the creatures around him, so you need to teach him to take care of even the insect.
Explain to the kid that when he squeezes a beetle in his hand, it hurts the insect, tell the child more about the world of insects, look at the pictures in books. And your efforts will gradually begin to bear fruitful shoots. Save with your child ladybirds, bugs. Have your toddler move the insect out of the way where it can be crushed, or get the insect out of a puddle. Praise the little lifeguard. After all, he did a good, good deed.
Cats and dogs are best friends
Very often, pets become favorites of babies. They are great at educating young researchers. big world... Playing with cats or dogs teaches the child to take good care of animals, empathize. It is not uncommon to see young children talking to “ smaller brothers". After all, for them such communication is more useful and better than any toys. And nothing can replace it.
Do not be afraid that something is wrong with your child when he tries to lift the kitten by the tail or pokes his finger in the dog's eye. This is not because the baby is cruel. It's just that children get to know the world in this way, they need to touch everything, conduct a small experiment. The child does not yet understand that animals experience pain in the same way as humans. And your task is to explain it. Explain that animals are fragile and can be hurt or hurt. Do not leave the baby alone with the animal, always control the communication process so that you can always correct the child's actions. Your time together is another contribution to fostering a love of nature.
Tell your child more about the habits and habits of animals, so that the baby knows the features of small pets, learns to love and understand them. Involve your baby in caring for your cat or dog. Of course, the habit of caring for or feeding the pet will not immediately come to the child. But gradually, your kindness and warmth will bring results. The child will begin to develop responsibility and love.
Green friends
Along with animals, instill a love for plants. Let your baby help care for indoor flowers. This is also a part of nature that teaches love and spiritual beauty. Let the baby water "his" flower. Let him plant a sprout or seed and watch "his" plant grow gradually. After all, the education of love for nature is laid in the little things, which a little later will give you a kind, caring little man who loves the world around him.
Adults' love for nature
For example, consider a couple of situations that almost all of us have repeatedly observed. Here is a group of young people with large backpacks and parcels gathered, as they often say now, to "have fun" in nature. We have brought with us a powerful music center and so many strong drinks that would be enough for a company of soldiers. It is not difficult to guess how they will "rest" and what they will bring to their environment. Somewhere on the banks of a river or lake, they pitched tents, made a fire. "So what's wrong with that?" - you ask. So far, it seems to be nothing, though ... For some reason, the fire is not built in a clearing, but right in the middle of bushes and trees. It’s not even worth talking about the fact that the smoke and heat from the fire will be harmful to plants - more, what good, they will laugh at them.
And the music? Why not listen to the splash of water, the sound of trees, the chirping of birds? Isn't this why, in the end, we are leaving the city? No, rumbling music has filled everything around, and not only the eardrums of young people (who believe they are resting) suffer, but nature suffers. Most of us just say that nature is alive. But this is really so! All nature is inhabited by living, conscious entities, which we, having moved away from her for many millennia, have forgotten how to see and hear. But what is there, we do not even know about their existence. For us, they are just "literature", images that come from myths and legends, and this is at best. For such entities, such a rumble is a real torment, they suffer, and this affects flowers and trees, animals and birds.
And nature suffers not only from noise. It's no secret that most people smoke. Smoke poisons the human body, and for the "essential" living in the forests, where, due to the relative distance from civilization, everything is much cleaner than in the city, this muck is especially painful. Is this love ?! And what kind of “gratitude” the faithful servants of the Creator and the Lord, caring for nature, send us for our outright shamelessness, can be seen with the naked eye. Dry rivers and lakes, ruined trees, endangered species of animals and much more over the past decades have changed even the visible world of the planet almost unrecognizably, there is nothing to say about the subtle world. What kind of "reciprocity" is there! We do not deserve it!
... And in such a frenzy, two days flew by, it's time to return. Bushes and mountains of rubbish, broken off and withered from smoke, remained around. You should take the garbage with you and throw it into a special container, but it never occurs to anyone. What for? After all, they are not going to return here anymore, there are enough other places, Russia is big. And let the others take care of themselves. It is sad, if not to say - tragic ...
Another example. The men go fishing. But not with rods and spinning rods, but with nets and bridges. They catch fish in bags, throw away small change, not thinking about anything - not about what they pollute with their aspirations and deeds thin world nor that they seriously violate the ecology of the visible gross-material world. And if they are engaged in such "fishing" during spawning, when is the breeding process? Moreover, for the sake of one caviar (!), Gutting and throwing away the most valuable fish, which could not fulfill one of its most important natural tasks - to bring offspring! What kind of love for nature is there, it rather smacks of hatred.
And after all, almost none of us thinks about the fact that we will have to answer for our actions to the fullest extent - it was possible, they say, to bypass the earthly law, and okay. There is no need to talk about responsibility before God, in which many do not believe. But even the responsibility to our children, in which each of us “oh, how believes!”, We ignore, leaving behind chaos, dirt and destruction. An unsightly picture, but this is how it really is. True love for nature, no doubt, would help every person to change for the better.
Nowadays, the problems of protecting the natural environment and ensuring environmental safety have become very important. People on own experience saw that, unfortunately, no human intervention in nature passes without a trace, very often the thoughtless actions of people have extremely unpleasant consequences. The belief, widespread in the twentieth century, that man is the conqueror of nature, turned out to be mistaken in practice.
Man is just one of the children of Mother Nature, and, as it turned out, is far from the most intelligent of her children, because no other creatures destroy the world in which they live. In order to somehow make amends for past mistakes and prevent such mistakes in the future, today mankind pays much attention to such issues as the protection of nature, the economical consumption of natural resources, caring for animals and plants ...
Once, people frivolously thought that such seemingly insignificant phenomena as the extermination of some kind of insect, deforestation somewhere far in the taiga, or pollution of a small river, would hardly have any serious consequences... However, as practice has shown, even these "little things" can become fatal, because everything in the world is interconnected, so that even the disappearance of the smallest link in the chain inevitably leads to a violation of the general equilibrium. As a result, we have what we have - global warming, ozone holes, hundreds of animal and plant species that are on the verge of extinction ...
People themselves also suffer, who today are faced with many problems unknown to them before - an increase in the number of various diseases among the population, birth a large number babies with certain pathologies and much more. Today healthcare has become one of the main priorities human society because the deterioration of the environmental situation has dealt a serious blow to human health. Excessive human activity and an irresponsible attitude towards nature have turned against us, therefore, if we want to save Natural resources for our descendants, who will live many hundreds of years after us, we must now take active measures to protect the environment.
What to do?
You need to start small - with the struggle for the purity of your settlement, because ecology is the guarantee of our common prosperous future. When you go to nature to relax, you should take with you large garbage bags and remove before and after yourself the area where you are resting or are going to rest (and preferably not only behind yourself). It is worth setting an example for people, conducting widespread active campaigning (leaflets, posters, newspapers, explanations), conducting mass subbotniks, teaching people to take good care of the natural environment, fighting those who stubbornly do not want to change their boorish and consumer attitude towards Nature (attracting to responsibility).
Everything returns to normal, everything that we have prepared for ourselves, according to the great Law of Interaction, which is sometimes called the "Law of Seeding and Harvesting." No matter that we do not know about the existence of the universal and most perfect Laws of the Universe, our ignorance does not exempt us from responsibility. So isn't it better for each of us, before it's too late, to try to look at ourselves from the outside and start doing something right now?
Let's still love, appreciate and respect Mother Nature, because this is ours, in which you and I live! Let's not mindlessly throw garbage anywhere and anywhere (even travel coupons or a piece of ice cream)! Think! Do it! Teach yourself and others order and cleanliness! Purely not where they clean, but where they don't litter ...
Nature is like a simple miracle
It is impossible to understand and unravel. He puts on a fur coat for the cold,
It melts the asphalt to dust.
Rain in the heat is unrestrainedly desired
Fast streams tremble.
Soul impulses soothes
And clears thoughts of filth.
People are in a hurry to learn all the facets
Mother's native nature.
But they understand that something is controlling us -
Ignorance does not let it through and stands as a wall.
Dreams go on forever.
The footprints are tangled in the shadows.
Nature reveals eternity
For those who are pure in their thoughts.
, http://puzkarapuz.ru/content/289.
When the last tree is cut down, when the last river is poisoned, when the last bird is caught - only then will you understand that you cannot eat money.
Cree prophecy
- A man appeared on a unique planet where there was abundance pure water and clean air - everything that is so necessary for life. Centuries passed, and it seemed to people that it would always be so, that the gifts of nature are inexhaustible. But in Lately more and more we notice that the air has become completely different from what it was before - it becomes difficult for them to breathe. And what have become our water sources - rivers and lakes? They became shallow, overgrown with mud and became so dirty that even "purified" water has to be drunk with caution ...
With what have we entered the XXI century? What's in store for us?
The fact-based environmental forecast is extremely disappointing. Scientists believe that humanity has reached this level technical development, at. where his unrestrained economic activity is capable of irreversibly changing the natural environment on Earth, as a result of which an ecological apocalypse will occur, that is, the death of all life on our still blue and green planet.
Formally, in Russia, and in other countries, measures are being taken to protect the natural environment, international symposia are being held, agreements are being signed between countries. For example, in 1972, agreements were signed between the USSR and the USA on cooperation in the field of environmental protection. But there are no visible improvements. On the contrary, seriousness environmental problem increases every year: in the atmosphere, the content of carbon dioxide, and the amount of free oxygen decreases; before our eyes rainforests are being destroyed, disappearing rare species animals and plants are declining fertile land, stocks of net fresh water... In a word, nature is degenerating. And if nature deteriorates, people begin to be overcome by diseases ...
One of the most important components of the natural environment is the atmosphere. According to researchers, industrial enterprises and thermal power plants annually emit into the earth's atmosphere many billions of tons (!) Of harmful chemical compounds, ash and dust. In countries with high level industrial development, the emission of pollution approximately doubles every 12 years. Over 40% of all pollution comes from road transport.
Atmospheric pollution has no boundaries. Today, within the troposphere, the air is already polluted throughout the Earth. In comparison with 1965, pollution has increased by about three times. According to the calculations of geochemists, more than 300 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere annually from the combustion of oil, coal, gas and wood! With an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide, the thermal balance of the planet changes: the Earth absorbs more infrared (thermal) radiation, the outflow of heat into space decreases, and the average temperature of the surface air layer rises. Consequently, "thermal" pollution is causing climate change on a planetary scale.
Some warming, which is observed now, is causing the ice in Antarctica and Greenland to melt, which inevitably leads to an increase in the level of the World Ocean. In the future, this process may become irreversible, and then an increase in the ocean level by 5-6 m (due to the intensified melting of continental glaciers) will pose a serious threat to the population living in the low-lying coastal regions of the Earth.
In cities, pollution, as a rule, is 5-10 times more than in rural areas. This is facilitated by dumps of industrial and domestic waste that form around cities. Such landfills have become a real disaster for the surrounding nature and people. They are a source of pollution not only for the atmosphere, but also for soil, and water basins, and even groundwater.
Recently, the danger began to come even from rural areas and due to the widespread use in agriculture of the so-called pesticide he - highly toxic chemicals that are used to control pests of agricultural crops. Air currents and waterways, these substances are distributed throughout the Earth. Suffice it to say that DDT has been found even in the stomachs of chinstrap penguins.
No less serious danger to humanity is the pollution of water sources. It is not only about the cleanliness of our rivers, lakes and reservoirs, but also about the cleanliness of our saline sea water... For some reason, it is considered in the order of things to discharge spent fuel oil directly overboard. Every year, its waste from all ships amounts to tens of thousands of tons (this is in addition to 10 million tons of oil flowing into the oceans as a result of accidents of oil tankers). You can imagine what this will lead to if every ton of fuel oil or oil spreads over the water surface as a thin film over an area of 12 km2, and the ocean is the main supplier of oxygen! On the space images taken from the orbital station, it can be seen: many thousands of square kilometers of the coastal waters of the World Ocean and seas are covered with a dark oil film ...
The famous French aquanaut scientist Jacques Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) was concerned about the results of his research deep sea: due to the constant pollution of the oceans, real threat complete destruction of many of its inhabitants. Over the past 50 years alone, more than a thousand species of marine fauna have disappeared.
If pollutants are present in the atmosphere, iodine and soil, they inevitably accumulate in plants and animals. Man eats plant and animal food. Consequently, through food, many harmful substances, such as lead and mercury, enter the human body.
At present, it is very difficult to find such a place on Earth that would not be exposed to human influence. But by changing the natural natural conditions, a person often does not consider how this will affect his own health. Striving to get momentary economic benefit, people do not at all think about what irreparable harm they cause not only to themselves, but also to future generations.
Thus, thoughtless economic activity of man leads to negative changes in the entire environment and, ultimately, to the complete devastation of nature. In turn, the polluted environment - the dying nature - becomes the cause of mass illness of people with chronic bronchial tubes, lung cancer, disorders of the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
All living things on Earth have always been exposed to ionizing radiation, the source of which is natural radioactive isotopes. They create a natural radioactive background of the planet, to which man has adapted well enough.
But in 1945, in connection with the first tests of nuclear weapons, radioactive substances created by people themselves appeared in the atmosphere. And together with the air and water, the person began to swallow them. The radioactive isotopes of strontium and uranium turned out to be especially dangerous for a living organism. Over the years, they accumulate in human bone tissue, which becomes a source of ionizing radiation that causes leukemia - a serious incurable disease.
Now all over the world at nuclear power plants there are about 500 nuclear power units. And if catastrophes like the Chernobyl on April 26, 1986 repeat themselves, the possibility of contamination with the most dangerous strontium-90 of the entire Earth is not excluded ...
As you can see, the problem of nature protection has acquired a global significance today. To cope with the impending threat, people across the earth must see their planet as one. Therefore, to successfully solve the global environmental problem, space sensing is indispensable. For the timely identification of foci of pollution, their localization and neutralization, special patrol observations of the Earth from space are needed. Such observations are already being established.
Space methods for operational control the state of the natural environment is very effective. And only thanks to this, further development space exploration should be recognized as an absolutely necessary deed. But for a complete solution of the environmental problem, it will be necessary to launch an offensive along the "entire front".
First of all, it is necessary to take urgent measures to reduce environmental pollution. A promising path is building on industrial enterprises waste-free technological process... But even if we create a waste-free land-based industry, it will still not bring the desired result: the pollution of the planet will continue to some extent. There is only one way out: to relocate all our industrial production into space.
Some supporters of the environmental movement, the so-called "green", believe that space technology has a detrimental effect on the natural environment: it pollutes the earth's atmosphere harmful products burning rocket fuel and destroys the ozone layer. Of course, this is happening to some extent. But a complete rejection of further space research will not save the nature of our planet from destruction. The most favorable development strategy should proceed from a reasonable combination of conflicting requirements: on the one hand, to preserve the earthly nature, on the other, to ensure not only the survival of man, but also his further progress.
The Russian scientist-philosopher Arkady Dmitrievich Ursul put forward a hypothesis about the division and future of social production into earthly and cosmic. The first should be predominantly agricultural, the second industrial. If it is not completely possible to create closed technological cycles, then it is important to develop such an option so that the waste of space production does not pollute the near space - near-earth space, does not affect the Earth's atmosphere and its nature.
At the present time on our planet there is an intensive accumulation of radioactive waste generated at nuclear power plants. This waste poses a deadly threat to humans and the earth's biosphere. Burial of containers with radioactive isotopes in deep mined mines and on the ocean floor - the options are not the best. All this for the time being. Trouble can strike at any time and will be worse than Chernobyl!
The decision has long been asking: the place of nuclear power is space! In the meantime, it continues to operate on Earth, one should better think: what to do with radioactive waste? There are projects for the space disposal of this highly hazardous waste. For example, the removal with the help of rockets outside the solar system - into interstellar space. But from an environmental point of view, the best option is considered to be the incineration of radioactive waste in the plasma envelope of the Sun.
Deleting industrial production beyond the Earth and the creation of orbital industrial complexes- this is a task that humanity must begin to solve in the second half of the 21st century. Only from the standpoint of space exploration can we solve the ecological disaster and save the nature of the Earth. There is no other way.
“All riches from the land begin, and the land loves care,” says a Russian proverb. Wise sense These words are understandable to everyone: a person should protect and protect nature in a fatherly way - our priceless wealth, the source of all our earthly goods.
