The ecological situation in the world is on the verge of disaster. And although numerous "green" organizations, funds for the conservation of nature and its resources, government agencies of all countries are trying to overcome the consequences of human economic activity, it is not possible to radically correct the situation. Thoughtless use of the Earth's we alth, irresponsibility, material interests of the largest corporations, globalization lead to the fact that the ecological situation is not improving.
Environmental problems in the world
To be fair, I would like to note that countries with developed economies and high living standards can also boast a high level of nature protection and a culture of ecology. In many countries of Europe, America, Japan, they try to minimize the consequences of human handiwork. At the same time, the level of education is risingcitizens who are trying at the household level to attach to the processes contributing to the preservation and cleanliness of the environment. But at the same time, serious gaps in such activities in developing countries, and even more so in lagging regions of the planet, kill all attempts to at least somehow protect nature in the bud. Thoughtless deforestation, pollution of water bodies with industrial waste, waste products, absolutely irresponsible attitude towards the land fund is obvious.
The poor state of the environment is a problem that can affect everyone. Troubles as far away as the thinning of the ozone layer, atmospheric pollution or melting glaciers cannot let a person know that he is making a mistake. But outbreaks of epidemics, adverse climatic conditions, dirty water and fresh agricultural land that does not give a good harvest, smog are all direct results of our hands.
Ecology of Russia
Unfortunately, Russia belongs to the list of countries with the worst environmental situation. This state of affairs is due to various factors and manifests itself in all areas. Traditionally, the greatest damage to indicators comes from the impact of industry. The economic crises that haunt both the global and domestic economies, one after another, contribute to a decline in production. It is logical to assume that this should reduce emissions of harmful substances into the outside world, but alas, the boomerang effect works here. Lack of working capital forces enterprises to save even more. This happens primarily due to the elimination of modernization programs,installation of treatment facilities.
But not only in large metropolitan areas and industrial regions, the situation is of great concern. Uneven felling of coniferous forests, neglect of leaf plantations, negligence of local authorities and citizens provoke the destruction of 20% of the world's treeland.
Emission of sewage into rivers and lakes, artificial drainage of swampy areas, plowing of coastal areas and sometimes vandal mining is a reality that exists, and the environmental situation in Russia is deteriorating daily in connection with this.
How to assess the real situation in the natural environment?
Comprehensive approach in the analysis of the state of the environment is the key to an adequate result. The study of only individual areas and the focal struggle against pollution of land, water and air will never bring a positive result on a global scale. Assessment of the environmental situation is a top priority for the government. Based on this assessment, a long-term strategy should be developed with the implementation of programs at all levels.
Only truthful and adequate monitoring, which will be carried out by truly independent experts in the field of ecology, can give a clear picture. Alas, the reality is that even world-famous organizations are often affiliated branches of large corporations and work under their dictation, taking a position that is beneficial to the monopolist.
In Russia, the situation is aggravated due to the high level of corruption frompublic services that perform both supervisory and executive functions. To achieve legitimate decisions on the protection of nature becomes an impossible task. There are neither means nor mechanisms for this, and most importantly, the will of officials. As long as the top leadership does not have a personal interest in the ecological situation in Russia getting out of the impasse, real transformations are unlikely to occur.
Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation
In every country there are both state and public organizations that deal with environmental issues at their own expense. Which of them do their job better is a complex and controversial issue. Definitely a good practice to have a country's environmental apparatus empowered with extended functions.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology in Russia has existed since 2008. It reports directly to the government. The scope of this organization is not very wide. The Ministry performs two functions - legislative and controlling. Direct activity is carried out by creating a regulatory framework, according to which there is control, management of the activities of enterprises, state facilities that fall under a special status (zakazniks, nature reserves), mining facilities, in the field of development and extraction of resources. Unfortunately, there is no body that would control the implementation of the instructions and take active actions in case of violation of the law. Thus, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology takesa passive position regarding the preservation of the country's ecosystem.
Earth is our everything
Agro-industrial complex occupies one of the most important places in the country's economy not by chance. The area of agricultural land occupies more than 600 million hectares. This figure is colossal, no other country in the world has such a resource, we alth. Powers that really care about their soil, which is intended for growing crops used in food and light industry, prefer not to exploit the land mercilessly.
The unreasonable use of fertilizers, which is a consequence of the pursuit of high yields, outdated heavy equipment that violates the integrity of the soil, the deterioration of the chemical composition of the soil not only in fields and gardens, but also on non-agricultural lands - these are all the fruits of human intervention, they directly show how indifferent we are to the world around us. Undoubtedly, in order to feed such a huge number of people, farmers are forced to plow every piece of land, but at the same time, the approach and attitude towards it must be radically revised.
Modern ways of doing business based on farms in developed countries are designed in such a way that land owners take care of their "breadwinner", and as a return receive higher yields, respectively, and income.
Water situation
The beginning of the 2000s was marked by the realization that freshwater sources around the worldis in a catastrophic state. Such an ecological problem and ecological situation as pollution and shortage of drinking water is fraught with the extinction of man as a species. The seriousness of the issue forced a more responsible approach to water quality control. However, weak attempts to bring water resources back to normal have so far been unsuccessful.
The fact is that the southern and central regions have the highest population. They contain the largest industrial capacities of the country, the highest indicator of the development of agriculture. The number of reservoirs suitable for supporting the national industry, on the contrary, is not as high as necessary. The intense pressure on the existing rivers has led to the fact that some of them have practically disappeared, some are so polluted that their use is absolutely impossible.
There is an improvement in the ecological situation, but this applies to water bodies that are taken under strict control. The numbers that characterize the overall situation are catastrophic:
- Only 12% of water bodies, according to environmentalists, fall under the category of conditionally clean.
- The amount of harmful impurities, such as pesticides, heavy metals, exceeds hundreds of times the permissible norms in some water bodies.
- More than half of the country's population uses water that is not suitable for drinking for domestic purposes. Moreover, almost 10% of the population does not use life-giving moisture for cooking, but poison. This provokes outbreaks of epidemics of hepatitis, intestinal infections and otherwaterborne diseases.
What do we breathe?
Average indicators show that the current environmental situation in the airspace has improved somewhat in recent years. However, the statistics are good only on paper; in reality, the drop in harmful emissions occurred at an insignificant level, and in some regions it even increased. Every year, 18 thousand enterprises across the country emit more than 24 million tons of harmful substances into the atmosphere.
The most critical ecological situation is developing in such cities as Krasnoyarsk, Moscow, Kemerovo, Grozny, Arkhangelsk, Novosibirsk. The list of cities with an unfavorable atmospheric background has 41 positions throughout the country.
In addition to the constant emission of gases and smoke, due to the increased number of vehicles on the roads, the intensive activity of enterprises, there is another factor that undermines the ecological situation - these are accidental emissions. The severe deterioration and obsolescence of treatment facilities are the reason why more than 40% of the population have respiratory diseases, almost 5% - oncological diseases.
Urboecology
It is city dwellers who most often suffer from bad air, dirty water, lack of food labeled "environmentally friendly". In large cities, for example in Moscow, officials are trying to set limits for enterprises, create modern treatment plants, modernize sewer systems and water supply. Such actions of the authorities managed to raise the capital this yearfrom 68th place to 33rd in terms of pollution in the overall ranking of cities in the country. However, these measures are not enough. Every summer, residents of large cities suffer from smog, smoke, high levels of gases in the atmosphere.
Urban sprawl and a high concentration of population in a small area threatens to deplete natural resources in urban areas. The unrealized energy conservation policy and the failure to comply with international standards regarding the provision of safe industrial activities also undermine the balance in nature. Thus, the ecological situation of the city cannot please.
A striking example of the consequences of poor ecology can be found by looking at the statistics of childhood illnesses over several decades. A high level of congenital pathologies, acquired diseases, a weak immune system - these are the realities that one has to face daily.
Yes, and the adult population of cities have cause for concern. The life expectancy of citizens and inhabitants of territories falling under the category of environmentally unfavorable is on average 10-15 years lower.
Collection, disposal and recycling of garbage
The problem of environmental pollution with waste is not new and lies on the surface in a literal sense. The trend towards waste disposal has outlived itself and is leading to the systematic transformation of the country into one large repository. Realizing that at the rate at which the population and industry produce waste, this prospect is getting closer, the Ministry of Ecology decided to create a newdirection in your work. Namely, the organization of centers for the collection, sorting and processing of various waste for recyclables.
All the same West took care of this issue several decades ago. The amount of non-recyclable waste they do not exceed 20%, while in Russia this figure is four times higher. But according to the optimistic plans of the country's leadership, the situation will change and by 2020 it will reach full-fledged waste processing with their subsequent implementation in industry and energy. Such a statement of the task is very pleasing, because if ambitious plans are implemented, one can hope for favorable environmental situations and conditions in the country.
Disasters of recent years
Meanwhile, you have to reap the rewards and be content with what you have. And the reality is that the current ecological situation is undermined and flares up in different places every year, showing all the gaps in the environmental protection system.
According to activists, lately the inhabitants of Russia had to face problems in different regions of the country. So, in the Sverdlovsk region, in the Zhelezyanka River, the level of iron and manganese in the water exceeds the norm by 22 and 25 thousand times, respectively! Such figures defy any common sense, and the situation is getting worse. Despite the fact that local authorities are inactive.
The increasing incidence of fuel emissions during its production and transportation also clearly demonstrate examples of environmental situations. Oil, fuel oil, spilling over the water, leads to the death of birds, animals, pollution of both the reservoirs themselves and groundwater. The same happenedwhen in November of this year there was an accident with the tanker "Nadezhda" off the coast of Sakhalin.
Environmentalists around the world are sounding the alarm to save Lake Baikal. The pride of Russia may soon partially turn into a swamp. The ingress of detergents into its waters, sewage from collectors, provokes abundant flowering of water. Toxic substances do not just pollute the water, but cause the extinction of the unique flora and various living organisms living in the lake.
Ways to solve environmental problems
The environmental situation in Russia requires urgent intervention. Passive surveillance, which the state is now engaged in, is fraught with serious problems. The main paths that need to be developed concern absolutely all levels of a person.
It is very important to instill in every citizen the foundations of ecological culture. After all, even the best bills and programs of officials will not be able to overcome the problem if society is not concerned about this. Although often it is they who are engaged in the elimination of disasters, the cleansing of coastal zones, parks, recreation areas, which cannot but rejoice.
The introduction of energy efficient technologies at all levels, from private households to large industrial enterprises, is a priority task that must be solved in the coming years.
Issues of the use of natural resources, their extraction, restoration cannot remain unresolved. To leave the next generations the opportunity to exist,it is necessary not to rely entirely on the independent revival of its natural resources. Man differs from other inhabitants of the planet in that he is reasonable, which means that this mind must be shown not only for consumption, but also for the creation of something worthwhile!
