Introduction

Subject control work- Environmental emergencies. It will reveal answers to the following questions: the concept of emergency situations, the concept of ecology, the term ecological character, the classification of environmental emergencies, the conclusion, the list of references, etc.

The purpose of studying the discipline of BZD is to provide rules of conduct in emergency situations (ES). The impact of emergencies on human life and health, the formation of the necessary skills to prevent and eliminate the consequences of emergencies, the protection of people and the environment - all this is the subject of study of the discipline of the BZD. The discipline of the Belarusian Railways is included in the cycle of disciplines in the specialty "Socio-cultural service and tourism".

The phrase "emergency situations (ES)" has firmly entered the life and consciousness of modern man. This is due to the fact that the history of the development of earthly civilization and the modern world are inextricably linked with emergency situations: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, cold, heat, fires, etc. On our planet, something is constantly exploding, flooding, damaged, destroyed, while people are injured and die. The history of the development of human society is inextricably linked with real emergencies. Often, emergencies caused the death and suffering of people, the destruction of material values, changes in the environment, the usual way of life. Sometimes emergencies led to the decline of civilizations and states, served as an impetus for the development of peoples and regions. Large-scale emergencies led to the undermining of economic and political systems, a revision of the issues of interaction between man and nature, man and technology, and people among themselves.

1. Emergency. Basic concepts

An emergency situation (ES) is a situation in a certain territory or water area that has developed as a result of an accident, natural hazard, catastrophe, natural or other disaster, which may entail human casualties, damage to human health or the environment, significant material losses and violation of the living conditions of people. Emergencies are distinguished according to the nature of the source: natural, man-made, biological and social and military. And also in terms of scale: local, local, territorial, regional, federal and cross-border (from GOST R 22.0.02-94 with a change in 2000 "Safety in emergency situations").

The source of emergency situations is a dangerous natural phenomenon, an accident or a dangerous man-made incident that is widespread. infectious diseases people, farm animals and plants, as well as the use modern means injury resulting in an emergency. Hazard source - any activity or state of the environment that can lead to the realization of a hazard or the emergence of hazard factors. By origin, the sources of danger are natural and anthropogenic.

Sources of danger

Natural sources of danger arise from natural phenomena in nature, and they can also arise in the internal environment of a person (aging, some diseases associated with aging of the body, etc.). The sources of anthropogenic hazards are the people themselves, as well as technical means, buildings and structures, highways - everything that is created by man. Extraordinary events underlying emergencies can be classified according to a significant number of signs:

- according to the signs of manifestation (type and species);

- by the nature of the damaging factors or sources of danger (thermal, chemical, radiation, biological, etc.);

- at the place of origin (constructive, production, operational, weather, geophysical, etc.);

- according to the intensity of the flow;

- by the scale of impact (damage);

- by the nature of the impact on the main objects of destruction (destruction, infection, flooding, etc.);

- in terms of long-term and reversible consequences, etc.

The first classification of emergencies in our country was developed by the Scientific and Technical Committee of the USSR Civil Defense and approved in the instruction "On the procedure for exchanging information about emergencies in the Russian Federation" by order of the State Committee for Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation dated April 13, 1992 No. 49.

In accordance with GOST R 22.0.02–94, several signs are distinguished that allow a certain event to be attributed to an emergency situation: the presence of an emergency source; threat to human health; violation of normal living conditions of people; causing damage (to people's property, economic facilities and the environment); presence of emergency borders. GOST R 22.0.02–94 is this standard, which establishes the terms and definitions of the basic concepts in the field of safety in emergency situations. The terms established by this standard are mandatory for use in all types of documentation and literature on safety in emergency situations that are within the scope of standardization work or use the results of these works. Developer: All-Russian Research Institute for Civil Defense and Emergencies. Document status: active. Publication date: 01.11.2000. Effective date: 01.01.1996. Last modified date: 06/23/2009.

All emergencies are classified as conflict and non-conflict, characterized by the speed and extent of spread.

TO conflict situations military clashes, economic crises, social explosions, national and religious conflicts, rampant criminality, terrorist acts, etc.

Conflict-free emergencies include man-made, environmental and natural phenomena that cause emergencies. According to the speed of propagation, all emergencies are divided into: suddenly occurring, rapidly, moderately and slowly spreading.

According to the scale of distribution, all emergencies are divided into local, local, territorial, regional, federal and transboundary.

2. The relationship of emergencies with the environment

All environmental emergencies occur as a result of man-made and natural emergencies. An emergency situation that has developed as a result of an accident, a natural hazard, a catastrophe, a natural or other disaster, the situation in a certain territory, may entail human casualties, damage to human health and the natural environment, significant material losses and violation of people's living conditions.

Environmental emergencies include:

- changes in the state of soils, bowels of the earth, landscapes;

– changes in the state of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere.

Environmental emergencies are associated with:

1) with a change in the state of the land:

- catastrophic subsidence, landslides, landslides of the earth's surface due to the development of subsoil during mining and other human activities;

- Availability heavy metals(radionuclides) and other harmful substances in the soil in excess of the maximum allowable concentrations (MAC);

- intensive soil degradation, desertification in vast areas due to erosion, salinization, waterlogging;

- Crisis situations associated with the depletion of non-renewable natural resources;

– critical situations associated with overflow of storage sites (landfills) with industrial and domestic waste and environmental pollution. Structural landslides (structure - homogeneous cohesive clay rocks: clays, loams, clay marls).

The main reasons for the formation of landslides are:

- excessive steepness of the slope (slope);

– overloading the upper part of the slope with various dumps and engineering structures;

- violation of the integrity of the rocks of the slope by trenches, upland ditches or ravines;

– pruning of the slope and its soles;

- Moisturizing the bottom of the slope.

Landslide locations:

– natural slopes of hills and river valleys (on slopes);

- slopes of cuts, consisting of layered rocks, in which the fall of the layers is directed towards the slope or towards the cut.

Landslide conditions:

- artificial earthworks with steep slopes;

- excavations formed in homogeneous clay soils in the watershed areas of the upland;

– deep sections for open mining of mineral deposits;

- embankments filled with the same rocks during waterlogging of the soil and vegetation cover and clayey rocks occurring near the day surface.

Hurricanes, storms, storms are meteorological hazards characterized by high wind speeds. These phenomena are caused by the uneven distribution of atmospheric pressure on the earth's surface and the passage of atmospheric fronts that separate air masses with different physical properties. The most important characteristics of hurricanes, storms and storms, which determine the amount of possible destruction and loss, are: wind speed, the width of the zone covered by the hurricane, and the duration of its action. In areas of the European part of the Russian Federation, wind speed during hurricanes, storms and storms varies from 20 to 50 m/s, and in the Far East from 60 to 90 m/s.

Intensive soil degradation- gradual deterioration of soil properties under the influence of natural causes or economic activity human (improper agricultural practices, pollution, depletion). Degradation occurs with improper use of fertilizers and pesticides. For example, increasing doses of pesticides containing salts of heavy metals can reduce soil fertility, and improper treatment leads to the destruction of microorganisms and worms in the soil. Thoughtless implementation of reclamation works reduces the humus layer, fertile soils are covered with unproductive soil.

soil erosion– various processes of destruction of soils and underlying rocks by various natural and anthropogenic factors. There are: water erosion, wind, glacial, landslide, river, biological.

2) with changes in the composition and properties of the atmosphere:

– abrupt changes in weather or climate as a result of anthropogenic activities;

– exceeding the MPC of harmful impurities in the atmosphere;

– temperature inversions over cities;

- acute "oxygen" hunger in cities;

– significant excess of the maximum permissible level of urban noise;

– formation of an extensive zone of acid precipitation;

– destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere;

– Significant changes in the transparency of the atmosphere.

3) associated with changes in the state of the hydrosphere:

- severe shortage drinking water due to water depletion or pollution;

- depletion of water resources necessary for the organization of household water supply and provision of technological processes;

- disruption of economic activity and ecological balance due to pollution of the zones of inland seas and the oceans.

4) associated with changes in the state of the biosphere :

– extinction of species (animals, plants) sensitive to changes in environmental conditions;

– death of vegetation on a vast territory;

- a sharp change in the ability of the biosphere to reproduce renewable resources;

- mass death of animals.

Earthquakes cause fires, gas explosions, dam breaks.

Volcanic eruptions- poisoning of pastures, death of livestock, famine. Flooding leads to soil water pollution, poisoning of wells, infections, mass diseases.

Protective measures against environmental disasters

When planning protective measures against environmental disasters, it is necessary to limit secondary consequences as much as possible and, through appropriate preparation, try to completely eliminate them. A prerequisite for successful protection against natural and environmental emergencies is the study of their causes and mechanisms. Knowing the essence of the processes, it is possible to predict them. A timely and accurate forecast of dangerous phenomena is the most important condition for effective protection. Protection from natural hazards can be active (construction of engineering structures, mobilization (activation, concentration of forces and means, to achieve specific purpose) natural resources, reconstruction of natural objects, etc.) and passive (use of shelters). In most cases, active and passive methods are combined. The source of emergencies affects a person and the environment with damaging factors. Depending on the environment of occurrence, sources of danger can be:

- the internal environment of a person;

– natural habitat;

– artificial habitat; professional activity;

- non-professional activity;

- social environment.

Water pollution

The intensive development of industry, transport, overpopulation in a number of regions of the planet have led to significant pollution of the hydrosphere.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 80% of all infectious diseases in the world are associated with the poor quality of drinking water and violations of the sanitary and hygienic standards of water supply. Pollution of the surface of water bodies with films of oil, fats, lubricants prevents the gas exchange of water and the atmosphere, which reduces the saturation of water with oxygen and negatively affects the state of phytoplankton and leads to the mass death of fish and birds.

The most intense anthropogenic impact is on freshwater surface water land (rivers, lakes, swamps, soil and groundwater).

Water exchange activity is the rate of renewal of individual water resources of the hydrosphere, which is expressed in the number of years or days required for the complete renewal of water resources. River waters are especially intensively used. A special place in the use of water resources is occupied by water consumption by the population. . Domestic and drinking purposes in our country account for 10% of the total water consumption. Rivers are needed to meet the drinking and domestic needs of the population. This is predetermined by the enormous physiological and hygienic significance of water, its exceptional role in the normal course of the most complex physiological processes in human body in creating the most favorable living conditions for people.

The amount of water needed for one inhabitant per day depends on the climate of the area, the cultural level of the population, the degree of improvement of the city and housing stock. On its basis, consumption standards have been developed, which include water consumption in apartments, enterprises of cultural, community, public services and Catering. Water used for watering green spaces and washing streets is accounted for separately.

The total capacity of the city water supply should provide for the immediate needs of the population, water consumption in public buildings (children's institutions, public catering establishments, etc.), watering of green spaces and household and drinking needs of industrial enterprises. The use of public water supply, prepared for drinking purposes, for the technological needs of industrial enterprises, except for food industry enterprises, should be recognized as irrational. In practice, it is also not uncommon for industrial enterprises to consume from 25 to 67% of drinking water, and on average for the country - up to 40% of urban water supply. Pathogenic microbes penetrate into open water bodies when sewage is discharged from river vessels, when banks are polluted and when precipitation is washed off the soil surface, when watering livestock, washing clothes and bathing.

Infectious morbidity of the population associated with water supply reaches 500 million cases per year.

Therefore, water quality is one of the most important problems. Big influence the composition of natural waters, both surface and underground, is affected by their technogenic pollution.

Therefore, the role of water in the development of diseases of a non-infectious nature is determined by the content of chemical impurities in it, the presence and amount of which is determined by technogenic and anthropogenic factors. (From the basics of the current water legislation in the Russian Federation).

By the mid 90s. More than 1,000 groundwater pollution sources have already been identified, 75% of which are in the most populated part of Russia. In general, the state of groundwater is assessed as critical and has a dangerous trend of further deterioration.

Groundwater suffers from pollution by oil fields, mining enterprises, waste from filtration fields, dumps from metallurgical plants, storage facilities for chemical waste and fertilizers, landfills, animal husbandry complexes, and sewage from settlements. Of the substances polluting groundwater, oil products, phenols, heavy metals (copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, nickel, mercury), sulfates, chlorides and nitrogen compounds predominate. Lower levels of pollution do not lead to the development of the disease, but affect the health of the population, causing non-specific signs of its violation and weakening the body's defenses.

3. Environmental emergencies in different areas

The duration of the soil formation process for various continents and latitudes ranges from several hundred to several thousand years.

Human economic activity is currently becoming the dominant factor in the destruction of soils, the decrease and increase in their fertility. Under the influence of man, the parameters and factors of soil formation change - reliefs, microclimate, reservoirs are created, reclamation is carried out.

The main property of the soil is fertility. It has to do with soil quality. In the destruction of soils and a decrease in their fertility, the following processes are distinguished.

Aridization of sushi - a complex of processes for reducing the humidity of vast areas and the resulting reduction in the biological productivity of ecological systems. Under the influence of primitive agriculture, the irrational use of pastures, and the indiscriminate use of technology on the lands, the soils turn into deserts.

Soil erosion.

Soil erosion is the destruction of soils by wind, water, machinery and irrigation. The most dangerous is water erosion - the washout of the soil by thawed, rain and storm water– water erosions are observed when the steepness is already 1–2°. Water erosion contributes to the destruction of forests, plowing on the slope.

There are three types of erosion:

– wind erosion is characterized by the removal of the smallest parts by the wind. Wind erosion contributes to the destruction of vegetation in areas with insufficient moisture, strong winds, continuous grazing.

– technical erosion (associated with the destruction of the soil under the influence of transport, earthmoving machines and equipment);

– irrigation erosion (develops as a result of violation of irrigation rules in irrigated agriculture). Soil salinization is mainly associated with these disturbances.

Currently, at least 50% of the area of ​​irrigated land is saline, and millions of hectares of previously fertile land have been lost.

A change in the content of microelements in the soil affects the health of herbivores and humans, leads to metabolic disorders, and causes various endemic diseases of a local nature. For example, a lack of iodine in the soil leads to thyroid disease, a lack of calcium in drinking water and food - to damage to the joints, their deformation, growth retardation. In podzolic soils with a high iron content, when iron interacts with sulfur, iron sulfide is formed, which is a strong poison. As a result, microflora (algae, bacteria) is destroyed in the soil, which leads to a loss of fertility. The soil becomes dead at a lead content of 2–3 g per 1 kg of soil (around some enterprises, the lead content in the soil reaches 10–15 g/kg).

Soil always contains carcinogenic (chemical, physical, biological) substances that cause tumor diseases in living organisms, including cancer.

The main sources of regional soil pollution with carcinogenic substances are vehicle exhausts, emissions from industrial enterprises, and oil products. Disposal of industrial and household waste to landfills leads to pollution and irrational use of land, creates real threats of significant air pollution, surface and ground water, the growth of transport costs and the irretrievable loss of valuable materials and substances.

Demographic and social consequences of the disaster

An ecological crisis is that stage of interaction between society and nature, at which the contradictions between human economic activity and ecology, the economic interests of society in the development of natural resources and environmental requirements for environmental protection are exacerbated to the limit. According to its structure, the ecological crisis is usually divided into two parts: natural and social. The natural part indicates the onset of degradation, the destruction of the environment. natural environment. The social side of the ecological crisis lies in the inability of state and public structures to stop the degradation of the environment and improve it. Both sides of the ecological crisis are closely interconnected. The onset of the ecological crisis can be stopped only with a rational state structure, a developed economy and as a result of urgent measures for environmental protection.

Despite the stabilization of the salt concentration for last years, the Sea of ​​Azov has lost its unique fishing value.

The most unfavorable ecological situation was created in connection with the drying up of the Aral Sea.

The environmental problems of large cities have become exceptionally acute in our country. Often they are associated with economic helplessness and mismanagement. For example, scientists associate the environmental problems of St. Petersburg with the situation on Ladoga, reminiscent of Baikal, with the only difference being that Ladoga is smaller than Lake Baikal, and there are more polluting objects on it. At the same time, Ladoga is the largest freshwater lake in Europe and the main source of water supply for the city of five million. It contains about 900 km 3 of water, twice as fresh as the waters of Baikal.

Ladoga water was considered very tasty and had a special softness. Currently, due to pollution with waste from pulp and paper enterprises and livestock farms, many parts of Ladoga are “blooming” due to the massive development of blue-green algae. Ladoga water now contains compounds of nitrogen and phosphorus. Toxic secretions of algae poison the Ladoga water. Algae, dying and decomposing, take oxygen from the water. And domestic wastewater from adjacent cities and towns also ends up in Ladoga.

Radioactive contamination of the environment

Of particular danger to all life on earth is ionizing radiation, which is the "achievement" of mankind XX - radioactive contamination of the environment. The main sources of radioactive contamination are nuclear reactors of power plants, naval ships and enterprises of the military-industrial complex. As a result of exposure to radiation, radiation sickness develops, genetic patterns are violated. Claims for excess radiation in our country can also be addressed to enterprises using radiation materials or dealing with their processing and disposal. A great danger to life on earth is the pollution of the world's oceans with radioactive waste. The dumping of low level solid waste into the sea has been carried out in almost all countries since the beginning of development nuclear energy and industry. Until 1971, radioactive waste was dumped without outside control. international organizations. The first discharges of such waste in our country were associated with sea trials of nuclear submarines and the Lenin icebreaker.

Forest

On the whole, forests in Siberia are annually cut down on an area of ​​600 thousand hectares, and on the same area it burns out from fires. Artificial restoration of forests does not exceed 200 thousand hectares. Thus, only 1/6 of what dies is restored. Practically uncontrolled self-harvesting of forests is widespread, accounting for up to 1/5 of the total volume of cuttings in the country. Acid rain completes the deplorable picture of mass destruction of forests. They dry up. The acid increases the mobility of aluminum in soils, which is toxic to small roots, and this leads to inhibition of foliage and needles, fragility of branches. There is no natural regeneration of coniferous and deciduous forests. These symptoms are accompanied by secondary lesions from insects and tree diseases. The defeat of forests is increasingly affecting young trees.

The reduction of agricultural land, especially arable land, continues. Over 50 years, more than 1 million hectares of arable land have left the agricultural circulation. The main reasons are: wind and water erosion of soils, the advance of cities and towns on the best arable land, the depletion of soil biopotential due to the improper use of mineral fertilizers, fungicides, massive soil salinization due to irrigated agriculture. The processes of swamping, overgrowing of lands with shrubs and small forests have acquired dangerous dimensions. In Russia, there are about 13% of such lands. Many disturbed lands have been obtained as a result of mining, during the construction of highways, river dams. Currently, 1.5 million hectares of land are in need of restoration.

Conclusion

Danger lurks on all sides. Under certain conditions, negative factors may arise that can lead to one or a combination of undesirable consequences for a person:

– deterioration of human health, i.e. illness, injury, death of a person;

– deterioration of the environment.

The danger of emergencies can come from both the environment and the internal environment of a person. Source of danger- any activity or state of the environment (including internal) that can lead to the realization of a hazard or the emergence of hazard factors. By origin, the sources of danger are of two types: natural and anthropogenic. Natural sources of danger arise from natural phenomena in nature, and they can also arise in the internal environment of a person (aging, some diseases associated with aging of the body, etc.). The sources of anthropogenic hazards are the people themselves, as well as technical means, buildings and structures, highways - everything that is created by man. Speaking about environmental emergencies, one should emphasize the role of anthropogenic influence on their manifestation. Numerous facts of imbalance in the natural environment as a result of human activity are known, leading to increased dangerous impacts. At present, the scale of the use of environmental resources has increased significantly, as a result, the features of the global environmental crisis have become tangible. Nature knows how to answer man for his gross intrusion into it. It's worth being careful. Ecological emergencies are complex in their specifics, since they are irreparable and together create the concept of an ecological crisis.

List of used literature

1. Rusak O.N., Malayan K.R., Zanko N.G. "Life Safety". Tutorial. Lan, 2000;

2. Kukin L.P., Lapin V.L., Podgornykh E.A. “Life safety. Safety of technological processes and production (Labor protection)”. Textbook for universities. graduate School, 1999;

3. Mastryukov B.S. "Safety in emergency situations", 1998;

4. http://www./referat-33913.html;

5. Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On the protection of the population and territories from natural and man-made emergencies" (dated December 21, 1994 No. 68-FZ, as amended by federal laws No. 129-FZ dated October 28, 2002, No. 122-FZ dated August 22, 2004, No. 206-FZ dated December 4, 2006, No. 232-FZ dated December 18, 2006, No. 241-FZ dated October 30, 2007);

6. State standard of the Russian Federation "Safety in emergency situations". (Date of introduction 1996–01–01);

7 . Azimov B.V., Navitniy A.M. "Problems of liquidation of environmental consequences in emergency environmental situations." "Environmental regulation of economic activities of enterprises: technical, legal, tax, investment issues". Digest of articles. (Perm, 2000);

8 . Ecological Doctrine Russian Federation, M., 2001;

9 . Brinchuk M.M. "Environmental Law", 1998.

Man-made emergencies.

Technogenic emergencies that may occur in peacetime are industrial accidents with the release of hazardous toxic chemicals (OHV); fires and explosions, accidents various types transport, as well as in the subway.

Depending on the scale, emergencies are divided into accidents in which there are destruction of technical systems, structures, vehicles, but there are no human casualties, and catastrophes in which not only the destruction of material values ​​is observed, but also the death of people.

Unfortunately, the number of accidents in all areas of industrial activity is steadily growing. This is due to the widespread use of new technologies and materials, non-traditional energy sources, the massive use of hazardous substances in industry and agriculture.

Modern complex production facilities are designed with a high degree of reliability. However, the more production facilities, the greater the likelihood of an annual accident at one of them. Absolute safety does not exist.

Increasingly, accidents are becoming catastrophic with the destruction of objects and severe environmental consequences.

The main causes of accidents:

Miscalculations in the design and insufficient level of security of modern buildings;

Poor quality construction or deviation from the project;

Ill-conceived location of production;

Violation of the requirements of the technological process due to insufficient training or indiscipline and negligence of personnel.

Accidents at radiation hazardous facilities. Radiation hazardous objects include nuclear power plants and reactors, enterprises of the radiochemical industry, facilities for the processing and disposal of radioactive waste, etc.

There are more than 480 power units at nuclear power plants in the world; they generate 75% of electricity in France, 51% in Sweden, 40% in Japan. So give them up present stage human development is no longer possible.

Radioactive contamination (contamination) of the area occurs in two cases: during explosions of nuclear weapons or during an accident at nuclear power facilities.

In a nuclear explosion, radionuclides with a short half-life predominate. Therefore, there is a rapid decline in radiation levels. The main danger is external exposure (90-95% of the total dose). In case of accidents at nuclear power plants, firstly, radioactive contamination of the atmosphere and terrain is characteristic. volatile radionuclides(iodine, cesium, strontium), and secondly, cesium and strontium have long half-life. Therefore, there is no sharp drop in radiation levels. During accidents at nuclear power plants, a significant part of the fission products of nuclear fuel is in a vaporous and aerosol state, so the external dose here is 15%, and the internal dose is 85%.

In case of accidents at nuclear power facilities, a focus of long-term and deadly radioactive contamination is formed.

When you hear a message about the danger of radioactive contamination, you must:

1. Take an anti-radiation drug from an individual first aid kit (potassium iodide).

2. Wear respiratory protection (gas masks, respirators, cotton-gauze bandages) for adults and children.

3. Seal the apartment (glue windows, ventilation openings, seal joints).

4. Put on jackets, trousers, overalls, raincoats made of rubberized or dense fabric.

5. Cover food in airtight containers.

6. Buses and other covered vehicles should be served directly to the entrances.

Dangerous chemical substances (OHV). Hazardous chemicals are toxic chemicals used in industry and agriculture that, if spilled or released, contaminate the environment and can cause death or injury to people, animals and plants.

Large stocks of toxic substances are possessed by enterprises of the chemical, pulp and paper, defense, oil refining industries, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Significant quantities of them are concentrated in the objects of the food, meat and dairy industry, refrigerators, trade depots.

The enterprises create a reserve of OHV to ensure their three-day uninterrupted operation. Storage of substances is carried out in special warehouses in high-strength containers. For each group of tanks around the perimeter, a closed earth embankment or a protective wall made of non-combustible or anti-corrosion materials is equipped.

The most common OHVs are chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocyanic acid, phosgene, etc. In most cases, under normal conditions, they are in a gaseous (liquefied) or liquid state. In case of accidents, liquids evaporate, therefore, such OHVs are capable of forming very large (up to tens of hectares) affected areas (especially under favorable meteorological conditions).

Chlorine. It is used in many branches of science and industry: production of profiles for plastic windows, rubber, varnishes, foam plastics, toys, synthetic fibers for clothing, insecticides, bleaching of fabrics and paper, water disinfection, production of pure metals in metallurgy, etc.

A gas with a pungent odor, 2.5 times heavier than air; accumulates in lowlands, flows into basements, tunnels, moves in the surface layers of the atmosphere. Vapors are irritating to mucous membranes, skin, respiratory tract and eyes. Causes burns on contact. The impact on the body is characterized by retrosternal pain, dry cough, vomiting, impaired coordination, shortness of breath, pain in the eyes, and lacrimation. Prolonged breathing can be fatal.

First aid to the victim:

Remove the victim from the affected area;

Remove contaminated clothing and shoes;

Give plenty of drink;

Rinse eyes and face with water;

If a person stops breathing, give him artificial respiration and let him breathe oxygen;

To evacuate, use the upper floors of tall buildings or move across the terrain against the wind.

Protection against defeat - gas masks.

Ammonia. Used in the production of nitric acid, fertilizers for Agriculture, explosives, polymers, in medicine, as a refrigerant, in the food industry, etc.

A colorless gas with the smell of ammonia, 2 times lighter than air. Forms explosive mixtures with air. It dissolves well in water. It is used in medicine and household (when washing clothes, removing stains). Liquid ammonia is used as a refrigerant in refrigeration systems.

Causes damage to the respiratory tract. Signs of defeat: runny nose, cough, pulse rate, suffocation. Vapors strongly irritate the mucous membranes and skin, cause burning, redness and itching of the skin, tearing in the eyes. Possible burns with blisters and ulcers.

First aid to the victim:

Put on a cotton-gauze bandage moistened with water or a 5% solution of citric acid, or a gas mask;

Remove from the affected area, transport in the supine state;

Give a breath of warm water vapor 10% solution of menthol in chloroform;

Rinse mucous membranes and eyes for at least 15 minutes with water or a 2% solution of boric acid.

Mercury. Used in high-precision mercury industrial thermometers, fluorescent lamps, chemical current sources, radioactive radiation detectors, detonators, alloys, etc.

Liquid heavy metal, very dangerous if ingested. The vapors are also highly toxic and cause severe injury.

If mercury spills in a room, open windows and prevent the spread of vapors to other rooms. In addition, you need:

Quickly leave a dangerous place and call specialists;

Change clothes, rinse your mouth with a 0.25% potassium permanganate solution, take a shower, brush your teeth;

If the thermometer breaks, mercury can be collected with a medical bulb, wipe the place with a damp cloth, and wash your hands thoroughly.

When collecting mercury, do not use a vacuum cleaner. It is strictly forbidden to throw the collected mercury into the sewer or garbage chute.

Accidents at hydraulic structures. The danger of flooding of low-lying areas occurs when dams, dams and hydroelectric facilities are destroyed. The immediate danger is the rapid and powerful flow of water, causing damage, flooding and destruction of buildings and structures. Casualties among the population and various destructions occur due to high speed and a huge amount of moving water sweeping everything in its path.

The height and speed of the wave depend on the size of the destruction of the hydraulic structure and the difference in heights in the upper and lower pools. For flat areas, the speed of the breakthrough wave varies from 3 to 25 km / h, in mountainous areas it reaches up to 100 km / h. At such speeds of water movement, significant areas of the terrain are already flooded with a layer of water from 0.5 to 10 m in 15-30 minutes. The time during which territories can be under water varies from several hours to several days.

There are diagrams and maps for each hydroelectric complex, which show the boundaries of the flood zone and give a characteristic of the breakthrough wave. The construction of housing and businesses is prohibited in this zone.

In the event of a dam break, all means are used to alert the population: sirens, radio, television, telephone and loudspeakers. Having received the signal, it is necessary to immediately evacuate to the nearest elevated areas. Stay in a safe place until the water subsides or a message is received that the danger has passed.

When returning to their original places, beware of broken wires. Do not consume foods that have been in contact with water streams. Do not take water from open wells. Before entering the house, one must carefully inspect it and make sure that there is no danger of destruction. Before entering the building, be sure to ventilate it; do not use matches, because possible presence of gas. Take all measures to dry the building, floors and walls. Remove all wet debris.

Railway accidents. Emergencies on railway can be caused by train collisions, train derailments, fires and explosions.

In the event of a fire, the immediate danger to passengers is fire and smoke, as well as impacts on the structure of the cars, which can lead to bruises, fractures or death.

To reduce the consequences of a possible accident, passengers must strictly observe the rules of conduct on trains; in the event of an accident, strictly follow the guidelines of rescuers and doctors.

Subway accidents. Emergencies at stations, in tunnels, in subway cars arise as a result of collisions and derailments of trains, fires and explosions, destruction of supporting structures of escalators, detection of foreign objects in cars and stations that can be classified as explosive, spontaneously igniting and toxic substances, and also as a result of falling passengers from the platform on the way.

Accidents in road transport. Road transport is a source of increased danger, and the safety of road users largely depends directly on them.

One of the safety rules is the strict observance of the requirements of road signs. If, despite the measures taken, it is not possible to avoid a traffic accident, then it is necessary to drive the car to the last opportunity, taking all measures in order to get away from the impact with an oncoming car, i.e. roll into a ditch, bush or fence. If this is not feasible, turn the frontal impact into a sliding side impact. In this case, you need to rest your feet on the floor, tilt your head forward between your hands, straining all your muscles, rest your hands on the steering wheel or front panel.

The passenger in the back seat should cover his head with his hands and roll to the side. If there is a child nearby, press him firmly, cover yourself and also fall on his side. The most dangerous place front seat so children under 12 are not allowed to sit on it.

As a rule, after the impact, the door jams, and you have to exit through the window. A car that has fallen into the water can stay afloat for some time. You need to get out of it through an open window. After providing first aid, call ambulance(or Ministry of Emergency Situations) and traffic police.

Accidents on sea and river transport. About 8 thousand shipwrecks occur annually in the world, in which more than 2 thousand people die. In the event of a shipwreck, by order of the captain, the rescue team boards passengers in boats and rafts in the following sequence: first women and children, the wounded and the elderly, and then healthy men. Drinking water, medicines, food, blankets, etc. are also loaded into the boats.

All floating craft with rescued people should stay together and, if possible, sail towards the shore or the route of passenger ships. It is necessary to organize duty to observe the horizon, air; use food and water sparingly; it must be remembered that a person can live from three to ten days without water, while without food - more than a month.

Aviation accidents. Flight safety depends not only on the crew, but also on the passengers. Passengers are required to take seats according to the numbers indicated in the tickets. You should sit in a chair so that in the event of an accident you do not injure your legs. To do this, you need to rest your legs on the floor, pushing them as far as possible, but not under the seat in front.

Having taken his seat, the passenger must find out where the emergency exits, first aid kit, fire extinguishers and other auxiliary equipment are located.

If the flight will take place over water, you should find out where the life jacket is and how to use it before takeoff.

Passengers must fasten their seat belts during takeoff and landing. In the event of an emergency landing of an aircraft, evacuation is carried out through emergency exits along inflatable slides. After leaving the aircraft, you should quickly provide assistance to the injured and do not stay near the aircraft.

An environmental emergency is a dangerous deviation from the natural, or normal, state of the environment that has arisen as a result of a natural disaster or human economic activity, leading to adverse economic and social consequences and posing a direct threat to human life and health, economic facilities and elements of the natural environment in a limited area.

According to the nature of the phenomena, environmental emergencies are divided into 4 groups:

1) change in the state of the land:

Catastrophic subsidence, landslides, collapses of the earth's surface due to the development of subsoil (overloading the upper part of the slopes with various dumps and engineering structures, violation of the integrity of the rocks of the slope by trenches, upland ditches or ravines);

Changing landscapes;

The presence of heavy metals (including radionuclides) and other harmful substances in the soil in excess of the maximum allowable concentrations;

Intensive degradation of soils under the influence of human activities (improper agricultural practices, pollution, depletion). Thus, degradation occurs when fertilizers and pesticides are used incorrectly, since they, due to the content of heavy metal salts, reduce soil fertility, destroy microorganisms and worms in the earth;

Desertification of soils in vast areas as a result of their erosion, salinization and waterlogging;

Depletion of natural resources;

Overflow of storages (dumps) of industrial and household waste.

2) change in the properties of the air:

Abrupt climate changes as a result of anthropogenic activities;

Exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful impurities in the atmosphere;

Exceeding the maximum permissible level of urban noise;

Formation of an extensive zone of acid precipitation;

Temperature inversions over cities;

Lack of oxygen in cities;

Decreased transparency of the atmosphere;

Destruction of the ozone layer.

3) change in the state of the hydrosphere:

Severe shortage of drinking water due to water depletion or pollution;

Depletion of water resources necessary for the organization of household water supply and provision of technological processes;

Water pollution.

4) change in the state of the biosphere:

Disappearance of animal and plant species that are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions;

A sharp change in the ability of the biosphere to reproduce resources (for example, to restore disturbed forest ecosystems, to self-purify water, air, soil);

Mass death of plants and animals as a result of catastrophes and accidents.

Threats of environmental disasters caused by the presence of global environmental problems also exist in Russia. According to many experts, the pace and scale of environmental degradation in the country are at the global average, but at the same time, in terms of the nature of land and forest degradation, Russia is closer to developing countries, and in terms of emissions of toxic substances into the air and water, their mass and diversity to industrialized countries.

At the same time, the features of environmental degradation in Russia include the highest radiation pollution in the world and a higher level of pollution with toxic heavy metals, pesticides, and organic compounds compared to other developed countries.

The extensive nature of the economy, accompanied by irrational use many kinds natural resources, irrational volumes of extraction of natural raw materials, concentration of production only in certain regions without taking into account the economic capacity of the corresponding ecosystems, lack of capacities for processing household and industrial waste. To this should be added the presence in most enterprises obsolete technologies, unreliability of technological equipment due to aging of fixed assets, etc.

Protective measures against environmental disasters. A prerequisite for successful protection against natural and environmental emergencies is the study of their causes and mechanisms. Knowing the essence of the processes, it is possible to predict them. A timely and accurate forecast of dangerous phenomena is the most important condition for effective protection. Protection from natural hazards can be:

Active: construction of engineering and technical facilities, reconstruction of natural objects, proper exploitation of natural resources, use of a complex of treatment facilities, implementation of international agreements on the non-use of especially hazardous substances, etc.;

Passive: Use cover.

In most cases, active and passive methods are combined.

by the most effective way protection were and remain environmentally friendly production. Their feature is that clean, safe and environmentally friendly technologies applied throughout the production and consumption process, from resource exploitation to waste disposal, with full use of materials that prevent pollution and reduce risk to people and the environment. Cleaner production is a fundamental approach to preventing and reducing the risk of environmental emergencies, especially man-made emergencies.

All environmental emergencies occur as a result of man-made and natural emergencies. An emergency situation that has developed as a result of an accident, a natural hazard, a catastrophe, a natural or other disaster, the situation in a certain territory, may entail human casualties, damage to human health and the natural environment, significant material losses and violation of people's living conditions.

Environmental emergencies include:

• - changes in the state of soils, bowels of the earth, landscapes;
• - changes in the state of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere.

Environmental emergencies are associated with:

• 1) with changing land conditions:
  • - catastrophic subsidence, landslides, collapses of the earth's surface due to the development of subsoil during mining and other human activities;
  • - the presence of heavy metals (radionuclides) and other harmful substances in the soil in excess of the maximum allowable concentrations (MAC);
  • - intensive soil degradation, desertification in vast areas due to erosion, salinization, waterlogging;
  • - Crisis situations associated with the depletion of non-renewable natural resources;
  • - Critical situations associated with overflow of storage sites (landfills) with industrial and domestic waste and environmental pollution. Structural landslides (structure - homogeneous cohesive clay rocks: clays, loams, clay marls).

The main reasons for the formation of landslides are:

• - excessive steepness of the slope (slope);
• - overload of the upper part of the slope with various dumps and engineering structures;
• - violation of the integrity of the rocks of the slope by trenches, upland ditches or ravines;
• - pruning of the slope and its soles;
• - moistening of the sole of the slope.

Landslide locations:

• - natural slopes of hills and river valleys (on slopes);
• - slopes of excavations, consisting of layered rocks, in which the fall of the layers is directed towards the slope or towards the excavation.

Landslide conditions:

• - artificial earth structures with steep slopes;
• - excavations formed in homogeneous clay soils in the watershed areas of the hill;
• - deep sections for open mining of mineral deposits;
• - embankments filled with the same rocks during waterlogging of the soil and vegetation cover and clayey rocks occurring near the day surface.

Hurricanes, storms, storms are meteorological hazards characterized by high wind speeds. These phenomena are caused by the uneven distribution of atmospheric pressure on the earth's surface and the passage of atmospheric fronts that separate air masses with different physical properties. The most important characteristics of hurricanes, storms and storms, which determine the amount of possible destruction and loss, are: wind speed, the width of the zone covered by the hurricane, and the duration of its action.

Intensive soil degradation- gradual deterioration of soil properties under the influence of natural causes or human activities (improper agricultural practices, pollution, depletion). Degradation occurs with improper use of fertilizers and pesticides. For example, increasing doses of pesticides containing salts of heavy metals can reduce soil fertility, and improper treatment leads to the destruction of microorganisms and worms in the soil. Thoughtless implementation of reclamation works reduces the humus layer, fertile soils are covered with unproductive soil.

soil erosion- various processes of destruction of soils and underlying rocks by various natural and anthropogenic factors. There are: water erosion, wind, glacial, landslide, river, biological.

• 2) with changes in the composition and properties of the atmosphere:
  • - sudden changes in weather or climate as a result of anthropogenic activities;
  • - exceeding the MPC of harmful impurities in the atmosphere;
  • - temperature inversions over cities;
  • - acute "oxygen" hunger in cities;
  • - significant excess of the maximum permissible level of urban noise;
  • - formation of an extensive zone of acid precipitation;
  • - destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere;
  • - Significant changes in the transparency of the atmosphere.
• 3) associated with changes in the state of the hydrosphere:
  • - a sharp shortage of drinking water due to depletion of water or its pollution;
  • - depletion of water resources necessary for the organization of household water supply and provision of technological processes;
  • - disruption of economic activity and ecological balance due to pollution of the zones of inland seas and the oceans.
• 4) associated with changes in the state of the biosphere:
  • - extinction of species (animals, plants) sensitive to changes in environmental conditions;
  • - death of vegetation on a vast territory;
  • - a sharp change in the ability of the biosphere to reproduce renewable resources;
  • - mass death of animals.

Earthquakes cause fires, gas explosions, dam breaks.

Volcanic eruptions- poisoning of pastures, death of livestock, famine. Flooding leads to soil water pollution, poisoning of wells, infections, mass diseases.

Protective measures against environmental disasters

When planning protective measures against environmental disasters, it is necessary to limit secondary consequences as much as possible and, through appropriate preparation, try to completely eliminate them. A prerequisite for successful protection against natural and environmental emergencies is the study of their causes and mechanisms. Knowing the essence of the processes, it is possible to predict them. A timely and accurate forecast of dangerous phenomena is the most important condition for effective protection. Protection from natural hazards can be active (construction of engineering structures, mobilization (activation, concentration of forces and means to achieve a specific goal) of natural resources, reconstruction of natural objects, etc.) and passive (use of shelters). In most cases, active and passive methods are combined. The source of emergencies affects a person and the environment with damaging factors. Depending on the environment of occurrence, sources of danger can be:

• - the internal environment of a person;
• - natural habitat;
• - artificial habitat; professional activity;
• - non-professional activity;
• - social environment.

Water pollution

The intensive development of industry, transport, overpopulation in a number of regions of the planet have led to significant pollution of the hydrosphere.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 80% of all infectious diseases in the world are associated with the poor quality of drinking water and violations of the sanitary and hygienic standards of water supply. Pollution of the surface of water bodies with films of oil, fats, lubricants prevents the gas exchange of water and the atmosphere, which reduces the saturation of water with oxygen and negatively affects the state of phytoplankton and leads to the mass death of fish and birds.

Groundwater suffers from pollution by oil fields, mining enterprises, waste from filtration fields, dumps from metallurgical plants, storage facilities for chemical waste and fertilizers, landfills, animal husbandry complexes, and sewage from settlements. Of the substances polluting groundwater, oil products, phenols, heavy metals (copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, nickel, mercury), sulfates, chlorides and nitrogen compounds predominate. Lower levels of pollution do not lead to the development of the disease, but affect the health of the population, causing non-specific signs of its violation and weakening the body's defenses.

Irrational use of natural resources is the cause of environmental crises and environmental disasters.

Technical accidents and natural disasters become serious factors of destabilization of the human environment. Many scientists and specialists point to the strengthening of the connection between them and to the acquisition by many of them of a global ecological character.

The most dangerous in terms of environmental consequences are accidents in the coal, oil and gas processing industries, metallurgy, chemical, petrochemical and microbiological industries and transport.

Great destruction and loss of life is observed not only in man-made accidents, but during natural disasters.

The difficult economic situation in Russia, many territories where technical transformation and environmental pollution have led to degradation of ecosystems, deterioration in public health and significant economic losses associated with this, have led to the need for zoning the country's territory on the basis of environmental stress and developing criteria for identifying zones of emergency environmental situations and ecological disaster zones.

The environmental situation in Russia is greatly influenced by the state of the environment of neighboring states. An example of this is the explosions, fire and eruption of products during the accident in 1986 at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine) became a catastrophe on a global scale.

The deterioration of the ecological situation is accompanied by severe social consequences. First of all, it concerns the global deterioration in the health of the population.

The scale of the adverse impact of modern industrial production, including the development of nuclear energy, on the environment has now reached such proportions that it is necessary to state the presence of irreversible changes in essentially all components of the geo- and biosphere of the Earth: air, water, soil, vegetation and animal world. In other words, here we are talking about pathological changes in the biosphere on a global scale.

Today, environmental pollution with various radioactive waste (RW) is also becoming a serious global environmental problem.

It is still not too late to prevent many major environmental disasters: at sea - by creating technologies that ensure the safe rise from the bottom of the seas and the subsequent destruction of buried shells and bombs filled with mustard gas and other toxic substances, for the rapid cleaning of the seas from oil products and products of chemical industries, nuclear installations and waste of nuclear production; on land - by creating new technologies to restore the ozone layer by introducing new technologies to increase its concentration in the stratosphere, creating new equipment and technologies that exclude the use of fossil fuels, as well as creating new technologies to combat forest fires.

Environmental emergencies are very diverse and cover almost all aspects of human life and activity. According to the nature of the phenomena, they are divided into 4 main groups.

1. Emergencies associated with a change in the state of the land (soil, subsoil, landscape):
- catastrophic subsidence, landslides, landslides of the earth's surface due to the development of subsoil during mining, etc.;
- the presence of heavy metals and other harmful substances in the soil in excess of the maximum allowable concentrations;
- intensive soil degradation, desertification in vast areas due to erosion, salinization, waterlogging of soils, etc.;
- Crisis situations related to the depletion of non-renewable natural resources;
- Critical situations caused by the overflow of storage facilities with industrial and domestic waste, pollution of the environment by them.

2. Emergencies associated with changes in the composition and properties of the atmosphere (air environment):
- sudden changes in weather or climate as a result of anthropogenic activities;
- exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful impurities in the atmosphere; temperature inversions over cities; acute oxygen starvation in cities; significant excess of the maximum permissible level of urban noise;
- formation of a zone of acid precipitation; destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere; a significant change in the transparency of the atmosphere.

3. Emergencies associated with changes in the state of the hydrosphere (aquatic environment):
- a sharp shortage of drinking water due to the depletion of water sources or their pollution;
- depletion of water resources necessary for the organization of household water supply and provision of technological processes;
- disruption of economic activity and ecological balance due to pollution of the seas and the oceans.

4. Emergencies associated with changes in the state of the biosphere:
- extinction of animal and plant species sensitive to changes in environmental conditions;
- death of vegetation on a vast territory;
- a sharp change in the ability of the biosphere to reproduce renewable resources;
- mass death of animals.

Environmental emergencies are very diverse and cover almost all aspects of human life and activity. According to the nature of the phenomena, they are divided into 4 main groups.

1. Emergencies associated with a change in the state of the land (soil, subsoil, landscape):

Catastrophic subsidence, landslides, landslides of the earth's surface due to the development of subsoil during mining, etc.;

The presence of heavy metals and other harmful substances in the soil in excess of the maximum allowable concentrations;

Intensive degradation of soils, desertification in vast areas due to erosion, salinization, waterlogging of soils, etc.;

Crisis situations associated with the depletion of non-renewable natural resources;

Critical situations caused by overflow of storage facilities with industrial and household waste, pollution of the environment.

2. Emergencies associated with changes in the composition and properties of the atmosphere (air environment):

Abrupt changes in weather or climate as a result of anthropogenic activities;

Exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful impurities in the atmosphere; temperature inversions over cities; acute oxygen starvation in cities; significant excess of the maximum permissible level of urban noise;

Formation of an acid precipitation zone; destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere; a significant change in the transparency of the atmosphere.

3. Emergencies associated with changes in the state of the hydrosphere (aquatic environment):

A sharp shortage of drinking water due to the depletion of water sources or their pollution;

Depletion of water resources necessary for the organization of household water supply and provision of technological processes;

Violation of economic activity and ecological balance due to pollution of the zones of the seas and the World Ocean.

4. Emergencies associated with changes in the state of the biosphere:

Disappearance of animal and plant species sensitive to changes in environmental conditions;

The death of vegetation over a vast area;

A sharp change in the ability of the biosphere to reproduce renewable resources;

Mass death of animals.

The change in land conditions leads to soil degradation, erosion and desertification. Intensive degradation of soils leads to the deterioration of their properties under the influence of natural causes or human activities (improper agricultural practices, pollution, depletion).

Soil erosion has become a global evil - the destruction and washing away of the fertile layer by wind and water. It is estimated that in the last century alone, as a result of water and wind erosion, 2 billion hectares of fertile lands of active agricultural use have been lost on the planet.

One of the consequences of increased human production activity is the intensive contamination of soils with metals and their compounds, radioactive elements, fertilizers and pesticides containing mercury and its various compounds. Hazardous soil contaminants accumulate and enter ecological food chains, move from soil and water to plants, then animals, and eventually enter the human body with food.

Human influence on the climate began to manifest itself several thousand years ago in connection with the development of agriculture. Meteorological processes on a large scale are affected by the destruction of the Earth's forests. The current human impact on climate is divided into two groups: the first group includes directed impacts on the hydrometeorological regime, and the second group includes impacts that are side effects of human economic activity. Human activity has already reached a level of development at which its impact on the environment and climate becomes global.

Climate warming is causing permafrost to melt. Up to 40%. coasts of the European part of Russia can recede at least 100 m in 50-100 years due to an increase in the level of the World Ocean by 0.5-1 m.

climate change in modern world primarily due to the release of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane into the atmosphere, the content of which in the atmosphere has increased dramatically over the past century. In addition, other gases that are not natural components of the global ecosystem also entered the atmosphere. An increase in the concentration of impurities, primarily carbon dioxide, leads to heating of the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere.

The Earth's ozone layer protects living organisms from the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Under the influence of ozone-depleting substances - freon, chlorine, carbon oxides emitted by refrigeration units and cars, this layer is gradually destroyed. It is known that in the northern regions of Europe over densely populated areas, its thickness decreased by 3%. Reducing the ozone layer by 1% leads to an increase in cancer by 6%.

As a result of the decrease in the ozone layer in the stratosphere, there is an increase in the flow of ultraviolet solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Exposure to high doses of this radiation has adverse consequences for human, animal and plant health. The likelihood of human skin cancer is increasing, weakening the immune system a person, the risk of cataract disease increases, complete or partial loss of vision is possible.

In the last 10-15 years, the detrimental environmental consequences of acid precipitation have manifested themselves, which are directly related to the level of pollution of the lower atmosphere with sulfur and nitrogen dioxides formed during the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, shale, fuel oil). Acid rain contributes to the drying of forests and the death of living things in the soil and water. Acid destroys structures made of marble and limestone. Indirectly, people's health suffers: there is additional pollution of drinking water.

The change in the state of the hydrosphere occurs as a result of depletion and pollution of the aquatic environment. Due to the rapid growth of industrial and housing construction, water became scarce, and its quality fell sharply. Under the influence of human activity, water resources are depleted (shallowing of water bodies, disappearance of small rivers, drying up of lakes). Huge harm is caused by such a phenomenon as the consumption of drinking water by enterprises for production needs. Water pollution leads to the fact that living organisms and fish die in it.

The increased power of the economy has become a destructive force for both the biosphere and man. Over the past hundred years, with a 3.1-fold increase in the population of the Earth, the volume of water consumption has increased 11 times, the area of ​​arable land has doubled. At the same time, the area of ​​​​deserts amounted to 156 million hectares, and the area of ​​​​populated territories decreased by 2.5 million km 2, the number of plant and animal species decreased by 20%.

The environmental problems of Russia are caused by two main factors: the wasteful use of natural resources, which reduces the productivity of the biosphere, and environmental pollution, which threatens the livelihoods of the population and human health in many regions and industrial cities. According to experts, our health is 20-25% dependent on the state of the environment and 50-55% on socio-economic conditions. Chronic diseases caused by environmental pollution in 15-20% are the cause of premature aging.