Demographic problems global problems environmental problems. Socio-economic and environmental global issues

Introduction

IN modern world there are a huge number of problems, such as overcoming backwardness developing countries, prevention nuclear war, elimination of dangerous diseases, food and energy problems, pollution environment and a number of other problems, but, in my opinion. A special place among them occupies demographic problem. It determines the development of almost all global problems of humanity.

Due to the avalanche-like growth of the population on the planet, humanity is facing more and more new problems. The earth is several billion years old. If this period of time is compressed to one day. It turns out that humanity exists for no more than a second. However, according to UN estimates, by 2015 there will be about 8 billion people living on the planet. They will all need water, food, air, energy and a place in the sun. But the planet can no longer provide this to every person.

To provide people with everything they need, plants and factories are built, minerals are mined, and forests are cut down. This causes enormous damage to nature, and it is difficult or impossible for humans to correct their mistakes. This could lead to a global environmental disaster. For example, over the past 50 years, more than half of the rain forests on Earth have been destroyed. As a result, hundreds of species of animals and plants disappeared forever. Every second, an area of rain forest the size of a football field is cut down for pastures and arable land, for timber, for oil and ore extraction. And rain forests are called “the lungs of the planet.”

According to scientists, humanity is currently living at the expense of future generations, who are destined for much worse living conditions, which will inevitably affect their health and social well-being. To avoid this, people need to learn to exist only on the “interest” from the fixed capital - nature, without spending the capital itself.

Since the twentieth century, this capital has been wasted at a steadily increasing pace, and by now the nature of the Earth has changed so much that for several decades now international level global ecological problems. In the ecosystem used, even Newest technologies rational environmental management does not allow the conservation of biodiversity. For this purpose, specially protected natural areas (SPNA) are needed, in which economic activity completely prohibited or limited. The area of protected areas in Russia is 20 or more times smaller than in developed countries. And in order to preserve the flora and fauna of our country in its current state, it is necessary to increase the territory occupied by protected areas at least 10-15 times.

Global environmental problems and ways to solve them

The initial reasons that appeared at the end of the 20th century. global environmental problems were a population explosion and a simultaneous scientific and technological revolution.

At the same time, the scientific and technological revolution gave humanity the possession of atomic energy, which, in addition to the good, led to radioactive contamination of vast territories. High-speed jet aviation has emerged, destroying the ozone layer of the atmosphere. The number of cars polluting the atmosphere of cities with exhaust gases has increased tenfold. In agriculture, in addition to fertilizers, various poisons began to be widely used - pesticides, the wash-off of which polluted the surface layer of water of the entire World Ocean.

All this has led to many major environmental problems. Global environmental problems are an objective result of the interaction between our civilization and the environment in the era of industrial development. The beginning of this era is considered to be 1860; around this time, as a result of the rapid development of Euro-American capitalism, the industry of that time reached new level. Global environmental problems are divided into several groups that are closely related to each other:

· demographic problem (negative consequences of population growth in the 20th century);

· energy problem(energy shortage gives rise to the search for new sources and pollution associated with their production and use);

· food problem (the need to achieve a full level of nutrition for every person raises questions in the field Agriculture and use of fertilizers);

· problem of conservation natural resources(raw materials and mineral resources have been depleted since the Bronze Age, the preservation of the gene pool of humanity and biodiversity is important, fresh water and atmospheric oxygen are limited);

· the problem of protecting the environment and people from the effects of harmful substances (sad facts of mass stranding of whales on the coast, mercury, oil, etc. disasters and poisonings caused by them are known).

In the last quarter of the 20th century. A sharp warming of the global climate began, which in the boreal regions is reflected in a decrease in the number of frosty winters. The average temperature of the surface air layer has increased by 0.7°C over the past 25 years. The temperature of subglacial water in the North Pole region increased by almost two degrees, as a result of which the ice began to melt from below.

Now most climatologists in the world recognize the role of the anthropogenic factor in climate warming. Over the past 10-15 years, many studies and meetings have been conducted that have shown that sea levels are indeed rising, at a rate of 0.6 mm per year, or 6 cm per century. At the same time, vertical rises and falls of coastlines reach 20 mm per year.

Currently, the main environmental problems that have arisen under the influence of anthropogenic activities are: destruction of the ozone layer, deforestation and desertification of territories, pollution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, acid rain, and a decrease in biodiversity. In this regard, the most extensive research and in-depth analysis of changes in the field of global ecology are needed, which could help in making fundamental decisions in the future. high level in order to reduce damage natural conditions and providing a favorable living environment.

Everything is interconnected with everything - says the first environmental law. This means that you cannot take a single step without touching, and sometimes even disturbing, something from the environment. Every human step on an ordinary lawn means dozens of destroyed microorganisms, frightened insects, changing their migration routes, and perhaps reducing their natural productivity.

Already in the last century, human concern arose for the fate of the planet, and in the current century it has reached a crisis in the global ecological system due to renewed stress on the natural environment.

Let's look at some problems and the reasons for their occurrence in more detail.

Demographic problem

People have always been crowded on the planet. Aristotle and other ancient philosophers were concerned about the overpopulation of the Earth. But this cramped space also served as an incentive for people to strive to explore new earthly spaces. This was the stimulus for the Great Geographical Discoveries, technical inventions, and the scientific process itself. If this were not so, people would not

they would explore new lands, would not strive to move to new continents, would not make geographical discoveries.

In fact, over the course of history, as productive forces developed, the size of the territory required to provide food for one person decreased. According to some estimates, in prehistoric times, when people lived by gathering, depending on the natural habitat, in order to feed one person, it was necessary to develop from 25 to 250 square kilometers. During the era of agriculture, during the slave era, this value decreased and was already about 1 square kilometer. Under feudalism, it was reduced to 0.2 square kilometers, and in our time it ranges from 0.5 to 1 hectare. The growing population of the planet requires an ever-increasing pace of economic development to maintain balance. However, if we take into account the current state of technology, such growth will cause increasing environmental pollution and may even lead to the irreversible destruction of nature, which gives us all food and supports all life.

It is difficult to judge the phenomenon of a population explosion in Russia, where the population has begun to decline since 1993, and even in Western Europe, where it is growing very slowly, but it is well illustrated by demographic statistics from China, African countries, Latin America, southern Asia, where the population is growing at a gigantic pace.

At the beginning of the century, 1.5 billion people lived on Earth. In 1950, despite losses in two world wars, the population increased to 2.5 billion, and then began to increase annually by 70-100 million people. In 1993, the world's population reached 5.5 billion people, that is, doubled compared to 1950, and in 2000 it will exceed 6 billion.

In a finite space, growth cannot be infinite. Stabilization of the world population is one of the most important conditions for the transition to sustainable environmental and economic development. In all likelihood, the current number of people on Earth will double.

Perhaps it will stabilize at 10-12, maybe 14 billion people by the end of the century. The conclusion follows: we must hurry today to stop the slide towards irreversible situations in the future.

The direct link between poverty and population explosion is visible on global, continental and regional scales.

Africa, a continent that is in the most difficult crisis ecological and economic state, has the highest population growth rate in the world, and unlike other continents, it is not declining there yet. This closes a vicious circle: poverty - rapid population growth - degradation of natural life support systems.

The gap between accelerated population growth and insufficient industrial development is further exacerbated by the widespread decline in production, which makes it difficult to solve the enormous problem of unemployment in developing countries. Almost a third of their working-age population is classified as fully or partially unemployed. Poverty does not reduce, but rather increases, incentives to have more children. Children are an important part of the family workforce. From an early age, they collect brushwood, prepare fuel for cooking, herd livestock, nurse younger children, and do a lot of other household work.

So, in reality, the danger for our planet is poverty, in which the vast majority of the world's population lives. The demographic explosion and the forced destruction of the natural basis of existence are largely consequences of poverty.

The view that the rapidly growing population of developing countries is the main reason for increasing global resource and environmental shortages is as simple as it is false.

Swedish environmental scientist Ralph Edberg wrote: “Two thirds of the world’s population are forced to settle for a standard of living that is 5-10% of the level in the richest countries. A Swede, a Swiss, an American consume 40 times more of the Earth’s resources than a Somali, they eat 75 times more meat products than an Indian. One English journalist calculated that the English cat eats twice as much meat protein as the average African, the food of this cat costs more than the average income of one billion people in poor countries. first of all, to express it in the fact that the wealthy fourth of the world’s population - at least out of an instinct for self-preservation - would give up direct excesses so that poor countries could get what they cannot live without.”

In 1830, the world's population reached 1 billion, in 1930 -2 billion, i.e. it took 100 years to double the population. The Earth's population reached 3 billion already in 1960, 4 billion lived on Earth in 1990, 2003 -6.1 billion.

According to UN experts, on July 17, 1999, at 8:45 GMT, the six billionth person on Earth was born.

In Third World countries, the share of the urban population doubled between 1980 and 2000. Landlessness and no chance of getting a job in rural areas pushing millions of unskilled people into cities. The explosive growth of urban population is accompanied by the formation of slum areas characterized by unsanitary living conditions. This type of urbanization is called “slum” or “false urbanization.” This process gives rise to very serious problems: housing, sanitary and hygienic, energy, providing cities with water, transport, environmental pollution, etc.

Environmental problems are currently of paramount importance to humanity. Human activity in the development of nature has been irreversibly destructive in the last century. These activities lead to a continuous increase in carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, which can cause global climate change as a result of the "greenhouse effect". Height material production entails such irreversible processes as pollution of the seas and oceans, the atmosphere, depletion of the planet’s ozone layer, disappearance of forests, desertification of the Earth (40% of its land), reduction of fresh water reserves, soil erosion, etc.
The artificial environment created by man is gradually and relentlessly advancing on the natural environment, threatening to swallow it completely in the near future. We must not forget that man is one of the biological species and, as a biological species, he can only exist in certain conditions favorable to his life (which he actively destroys).
Economic progress has been and is being achieved at the expense of environmental regression. main reason contradictions between economics and ecology - a person’s attitude towards a consumer attitude towards nature. An environmental catastrophe can be prevented only through society's awareness of its responsibility for the state of its environment and the development of clear legal norms that limit the anthropogenic impact on nature, mandatory for all countries.
War and Peace. Since the mid-twentieth century, problems of war and peace have ceased to be local in nature. The question is fundamental: “To be or not to be for humanity in general.” This is due to the emergence and spread, first of all, of nuclear weapons, which are capable of destroying all life on Earth. The number of nuclear warheads is currently three thousand times more powerful than the number of explosives used in World War II (3.6 tons for every inhabitant of the Earth). The use of nuclear weapons can lead not only and not simply to the destruction of part of the population. There are other consequences: 1) creating the effect of “nuclear winter” - the explosion of “only” one percent of the nuclear charges accumulated on the planet will lead to the destruction of all living things, because clouds of ash from fires and firestorms (caused by explosions) will make the planet’s atmosphere almost impenetrable to sunlight, a sharp cooling will occur (by 50-60 degrees) and all living things will die; 2) the appearance of an electromagnetic pulse that affects power plants and disables devices; 3) radioactive contamination of the area for many hundreds and thousands of years (even if someone remains, the question arises: how to live?).
The threat of global nuclear war comes primarily from US militaristic circles. It is the military-industrial complex that determines the policy of the ruling elite in this country, which gives preference to international relations power solutions. The situation in the world is becoming increasingly explosive after the collapse of the USSR and the transition from a bipolar world to a unipolar one, when one country (the USA) takes on the role of the world gendarme and tries to impose its understanding of the world order and its values on other countries (as in the situation with Iraq).
A serious problem fraught with the outbreak of a third world war is regional conflicts and crises that give rise to civil wars, global terrorism, national and religious extremism on a global scale. Many modern political scientists and sociologists, primarily S. Huntington, name the following as the causes of these conflicts:
1) the struggle of the “poor South” with the “rich North”;
2) the clash of civilizations with their different religious foundations (Christianity and Islam).
Effective solution problems of a national, regional and planetary scale, possibly in a non-violent way, based on dialogue and mutual understanding. The path to peace on Earth is complete and general disarmament. Otherwise, tension and war will escalate.
Demographic problem. The demographic factor (fertility, mortality, population density and migration) exerts significant pressure on the socio-natural environment on a global scale. The rate of population growth increases with the development of civilization: if before the 19th century it took 1000 years to double the population, after 1850 - 80 years, currently the population doubles every 50 years. The earth is capable of feeding 60 billion people; this “critical” threshold will be reached by 2150-2200. Already, 2.5 billion of the planet's 6.5 billion population are starving.
Demographic processes, starting from the 60s of the twentieth century, are largely determined by two opposing trends: 1) “demographic explosion” - a sharp increase in population in the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America: in China the population will increase from - 1 billion to 250 million . by 2040 - 300 million more, India - from 1 billion to 1 billion. 600 million - by 2050, Pakistan from 147 million to 375 million - by 2050, Vietnam - from 78 to 130 million people - by 2040, etc. ; 2) “zero population growth” in Western European countries. The first trend leads to a sharp aggravation of socio-economic problems in developing countries, primarily lack of work, hunger, illiteracy and unemployment for tens of millions of people. The second trend leads to a sharp aging of the population in developed countries and a reduction in population overall. According to Western political scientists, the population in developed countries (the rich North) in 100 years will be only 10% of the total population of the planet. Which could lead to a military confrontation between the small rich North and the overpopulated poor South and the beginning of the third world war. They are trying to solve the demographic problem in developing countries by implementing public policy control (reduction) of the birth rate; in developed countries, on the contrary, encouragement of the birth rate. However, the results in this direction are disappointing.
Key words and concepts: global problems humanity, demography, ecology, nuclear winter, population explosion, Club of Rome.

Test questions and assignments

1. Why in the twentieth century. did such a topic arise in philosophy as “global problems of humanity”?
2. What is the danger of modern wars on the planet?
3. What are the prospects for population on Earth in the near future?

The impact of society on the environment is directly proportional to the size of humanity, its standard of living, and is weakened with an increase in the level of environmental consciousness of the population. All three factors are equivalent. Discussions about how many people can or cannot survive on Earth are meaningless if we do not take into account the lifestyle and level of human consciousness. Population problems are studied by demography - the science of the patterns of population reproduction in the socio-historical conditionality of this process. Demography is the science of population that studies population changes, fertility and mortality, migration, age and sex structure, National composition, geographical distribution and their dependence on historical, socio-economic and other factors.

When considering the natural scientific aspects of the population problem, it is especially important to imagine the breadth of demographic problems. Demography studies the peculiarities of the interaction between the biological and the social in the reproduction of the population, the cultural and ethical determination of demographic processes, and the dependence of demographic characteristics on the level of economic development. A special place is occupied by identifying the impact of health care development, urbanization and migration on demographic processes.

The indicated general biological patterns can be applied when considering the history of mankind only for the period up to the 19th century. From ancient historical eras until the beginning of the last century, the world population fluctuated around several hundred million people, slowly increasing and then declining. By the beginning of the Neolithic (New Stone Age), the world's population reached 10 million people, by the end of the Neolithic (3,000 BC) - 50 million, and by the beginning of our era - 230 million people. In 1600, there were about 480 million in the world, of which 96 million were in Europe, i.e. 1/5 of the total population of the Earth. In the middle of the 19th century. - 1 billion, in 1930 - 3 billion people.

Today there are about 7 billion people living on the globe, and by 2060 there will be 10 billion people. Such population growth will naturally lead to an even greater impact of humanity on the environment and, apparently, will further exacerbate the problems that exist today. However, according to the resource model of the world system, the Earth's population should not exceed 7-7.5 billion people.

The demographic explosion was caused by a decrease in the mortality rate of children who had not reached puberty. This was a consequence of the development of the effectiveness of prevention and treatment measures after the discovery of the microbiological nature of infectious diseases. What matters is whether a person died before having children (reproductive death) or after (post-reproductive death). Post-reproductive mortality cannot be a factor limiting population growth, although it certainly has social and economic consequences. Likewise, accidents and natural disasters, contrary to what is sometimes suggested, do not control population numbers. These factors do not have a direct impact on overreproductive mortality and, despite the socio-economic significance of the losses associated with them, have a relatively weak effect on the growth of the population as a whole. For example, in the USA, annual losses from car accidents (approximately 50 thousand) are reimbursed within 10 days. Even wars since World War II do not affect population numbers for long. Approximately 45 thousand Americans died in the Vietnam War. Natural population growth in the United States - 150 thousand people per month - will compensate for these losses in three weeks, if you count only men. Even the regular death of 3 million people in the world per year from hunger and malnutrition is insignificant from a demographic point of view when compared with global population growth of approximately 90 million people during this period.

Around 1930, 100 years after reaching the billion level, the population exceeded 2 billion, 30 years later (1960) reached 3 billion and just 15 years later (1975) - 4 billion, then another 12 years ago (1987), the Earth's population exceeded 5 billion, and this growth continues, amounting to approximately 90 million - births minus deaths - people per year.

The peculiarity of raising environmental and demographic issues in modern science is to realize it in terms of uniqueness and individuality, the irreproducibility of both national, historical cultures, and the biosphere, and many resources. Even in the past there was no such global awareness, although the account of losses was opened much earlier. Some ecosystems have disappeared forever, and future generations will not see many of the earth's landscapes and landscapes. There is a catastrophic narrowing of diversity, a colossal standardization of production as a moment of man’s indirect relationship with the environment, and mass culture is flourishing, in which man is lost. In a society where the individual’s right to individuality has not been recognized, one can hardly count on a broad movement for the preservation of a unique image of nature. In general, uniqueness as a problem is realized only in the face of death. And the severity of the demographic and environmental problem forces us to take a fresh look at the “nature-society” relationship.

The problem of urbanization

One of the most pressing problems of our time is the process of urbanization. There are quite good reasons for this.

Urbanization (from Latin urbanus - urban) is a historical process of increasing the role of cities in the development of society, which covers changes in the distribution of productive forces, and above all in the settlement of the population, its demographic and socio-professional structure, lifestyle and culture.

Cities existed in ancient times: Thebes, on the territory of modern Egypt, was the largest city in the world back in 1300 BC. e., Babylon - in 200 BC. e.; Rome - in 100 BC e. However, the process of urbanization as a planetary phenomenon dates back twenty centuries: it became a product of industrialization and capitalism. Back in 1800, only about 3% of the world's population lived in cities, while today it is about half.

The main thing is that urbanization creates a complex knot of contradictions, the totality of which serves as a compelling argument for considering it from the perspective of global studies. We can distinguish economic, environmental, social and territorial aspects (the latter is highlighted rather arbitrarily, since it combines all the previous ones).

Modern urbanization accompanied by deterioration of the urban environment, especially in developing countries. In them, it became a threat to the health of the population and became an obstacle to overcoming economic backwardness. Cities in developing countries are witnessing the interweaving of a series of crises that are having a detrimental impact on all aspects of their lives. These crises include the ongoing population explosion in developing countries, famine and malnutrition of large parts of their population, causing deterioration in the quality human potential. The state of the environment is especially unfavorable in cities in the largest centers with a population of over 250 thousand inhabitants. It is these cities that are growing especially quickly, increasing their population by about 10% per year. There is a devastating disruption of the ecological balance in the largest and largest centers of all regions and third world countries.

The relationship between urbanization and the state of the natural environment is determined by a number of factors in a complex system socio-economic development and interaction between society and nature. Understanding the general and specific features of the state of the natural environment in cities in developing countries is important for developing long term strategy international cooperation in the field of global population and environmental problems. Large and major centers have become the focus of most of humanity's global problems. They have the most widespread impact on the state of the environment over vast areas.

Among the factors determining the state and quality of the natural environment in cities of developing countries, the most important are:

· disorderly and uncontrolled urbanization in conditions of economic underdevelopment;
· urban explosion, expressed primarily in the rapid growth rates of the largest and largest centers;
· lack of necessary financial and technical means;
· insufficient level of general education of the bulk of the population;
· lack of development of urban development policy;
· limited environmental legislation.

Circumstances such as the chaotic nature of urban development, the enormous overcrowding of the population in both central and peripheral parts of cities, the limitations of comprehensive urban planning and legislative regulation(which is typical for most developing countries). There are very frequent cases of direct proximity to built-up and densely populated residential areas And industrial enterprises with and without outdated technology treatment facilities. This further degrades the environment in cities. The state of the natural environment in cities in developing countries poses a challenge to their sustainable development.

The spatial aspect of urbanization is connected with all the previous ones. The “spreading” of agglomerations means the spread of the urban way of life over ever larger territories, and this, in turn, leads to worsening environmental problems, growing traffic flows (“agglomeration and encirclement”), and pushing agricultural and reactionary zones to the far periphery.