Introduction
The development of human society has never been a conflict-free, consistent process. Throughout the history of the existence of intelligent life on Earth, questions have invariably arisen, the answers to which forced us to radically reconsider the already familiar ideas about the world and man. All this gave rise to countless problems that faced man most acutely in the second half of the 20th century, when his destructive activities acquired global proportions. Conditions, processes, and phenomena have arisen on our planet that have placed humanity in danger of undermining the very foundations of its existence. The range of problems whose solution ensures the survival of humanity is called the global problems of our time.
The concept of globalization became truly key at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. For the first time in its history, the human race was faced with the possibility of its general destruction. The very existence of life on Earth was called into question, i.e. global problems of humanity cover all countries, the Earth’s atmosphere, the World Ocean and near-Earth space; affect the entire population of the Earth.
A distinctive feature of modern civilization is the increase in global threats and problems. We are talking about the threat of nuclear war, the growth of armaments, the unreasonable waste of natural resources, diseases, hunger, poverty, etc., therefore, the study of the phenomenon of globalization attracts scientists, public and political figures, and representatives of the business world.
The purpose of this work: a comprehensive study and characterization of modern global problems of humanity, as well as the causes of their occurrence.
To do this, we will solve the following problems:
the essence, causes, features of each of the global problems, possible ways to solve them;
possible consequences of the manifestation of global problems at the present stage of development of societies.
The work consists of an introduction to three chapters of the main part, a conclusion, a list of sources used and applications.
1. Modern global problems of humanity
1 Concept, essence, origin and nature of global problems
Second half of the 20th century marked by the processes of globalization. According to the view of most researchers, the main content of the globalization process is the formation of humanity as a single society. In other words, if in the 19th century. Since humanity was still a system of independent societies, then in the 20th century, and especially in its second half, certain signs emerged indicating the formation of a single global civilization.
Globalization is a natural and inevitable process, its basis is internationalization, a high degree of division of labor, the development of high, and above all, information technologies, formation of global markets. The end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries. led to the development of a number of local, specific issues of development of countries and regions into the category of global ones. The problems that have arisen have given rise to a threat that is of a worldwide, planetary nature and is therefore called global.
The importance of global problems especially increased in the second half of the twentieth century, by which time the territorial division of the world was completed, two poles had formed in the world economy: at one pole there were industrialized countries, and at the other there were countries with agrarian and raw materials appendages. The latter were drawn into international division labor long before the emergence of national markets there. The world economy formed in this way, even after the former colonies gained independence, preserved the relationship between the center and the periphery for many years. This is where the current global problems and contradictions originate.
Thus, the global problems of our time should be understood as a set of problems on the solution of which the further existence of civilization depends.
Global problems are generated by the uneven development of different areas of life of modern humanity and the contradictions generated in the socio-economic, political-ideological, socio-natural and other relations of people. These problems affect the life of humanity as a whole.
Despite all the diversity and internal differences, global problems have common features:
have acquired a truly planetary, worldwide character, and therefore affect the interests of the peoples of all states;
threaten (if their solution is not found) humanity with either the death of civilization as such, or a serious regression in the further development of productive forces, in the conditions of life itself, in the development of society;
need urgent decisions and actions to overcome and prevent dangerous consequences and threats to the livelihoods and safety of citizens;
For their solution, they require collective efforts and actions on the part of all states and the entire world community.
The global problems of our time are in organic connection and interdependence with each other, forming a single, integral system, characterized by their well-known subordination, hierarchical subordination.
This circumstance allows us to classify these problems on the basis of establishing cause-and-effect relationships between them, as well as taking into account the degree of their severity and, accordingly, the priority of solutions. The main criteria for classifying a problem as global are its scale and the need for joint efforts to eliminate it. According to their origin, nature and methods of solving global problems, according to the accepted international classification, are divided into 3 groups.
The first group consists of problems determined by the main socio-economic and political tasks of humanity. These include maintaining peace, ending the arms race and disarmament, non-militarization of space, creating favorable conditions for global social progress, and overcoming the development gap of countries with low per capita incomes.
The second group covers a complex of problems revealed in the triad “man - society - technology”. These problems should take into account the effectiveness of using scientific and technological progress in the interests of harmonious social development and the elimination of the negative impact of technology on people, population growth, the establishment of human rights in the state, its liberation from the excessively increased control of state institutions, especially over personal freedom as the most important component of human rights.
The third group is represented by problems related to socio-economic processes and the environment, i.e. problems of relations between society and nature. This includes solving raw materials, energy and food problems, overcoming the environmental crisis, which is spreading to more and more new areas and can destroy human life.
Note that the above classification is relative, because various groups of global problems taken together form a single, extremely complex, multifactorial system in which all components are interconnected.
The scale, location and role of individual global problems are changing. Until recently, the struggle to preserve peace and disarmament occupied a leading place; now the environmental problem has taken first place.
Changes are also taking place within global problems: some of their components lose their former significance and new ones appear. Thus, in the problem of the struggle for peace and disarmament, the main emphasis began to be placed on the reduction of means of mass destruction, the non-proliferation of mass weapons, the development and implementation of measures for the conversion of military production; in the fuel and raw materials problem, a real possibility has arisen of the depletion of a number of non-renewable natural resources, and in the demographic problem, new tasks have arisen associated with a significant expansion of international migration of the population, labor resources, etc. It is also necessary to take into account that global problems do not arise somewhere nearby with pre-existing and local problems, but grow organically from them.
2 Contemporary problems caused by globalization
In the scientific literature you can find various lists of global problems, where their number varies from 8-10 to 40-45. This is explained by the fact that, along with the main, priority global problems (which will be discussed further in the textbook), there are a number of more specific, but also very important problems: for example, crime, drug addiction, separatism, democratic deficit, man-made disasters, natural disasters, etc. .
In modern conditions, the main global problems include:
The North-South problem is a problem of economic relations between developed countries and developing countries. Its essence is that in order to bridge the gap in the levels of socio-economic development between developed and developing countries, the latter require various concessions from developed countries, in particular, expanding access for their goods to the markets of developed countries, increasing the influx of knowledge and capital (especially in the form assistance), debt write-off and other measures in relation to them. The backwardness of developing countries is potentially dangerous not only at the local level, but also for the global economic system as a whole. The backward South is its integral part and, therefore, its economic, political and social problems will inevitably find and are already finding manifestation outside. Concrete evidence of this can be, for example, large-scale forced migration from developing countries to developed ones, as well as the spread in the world of both new and previously considered infectious diseases. That is why the North-South problem can be rightfully interpreted as one of the global problems of our time.
The problem of poverty is one of the main global problems. Poverty refers to the inability to provide the simplest and most affordable living conditions for most people in a given country. Large levels of poverty, especially in developing countries, pose a serious threat not only to national but also to global sustainable development. According to World Bank estimates, the total number of poor people, i.e. There are 2.5-3 billion people living on less than $2 a day in the world. Including the total number of people living in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day) - 1-1.2 billion people. In other words, 40-48% of the world's population are poor, and 16-19% are ultra-poor. Most of the poor are concentrated in rural areas of developing countries. In some developing countries, the problem of poverty has long reached critical levels. For example, at the beginning of the 21st century. 76% of the population of Zambia, 71% of Nigeria, 61% of Madagascar, 58% of Tanzania, 54% of Haiti are forced to live on less than $1 a day. What makes the global problem of poverty especially acute is that many developing countries, due to low income levels, do not yet have sufficient opportunities to alleviate the problem of poverty. This is why broad international support is required to eliminate pockets of poverty.
The world food problem lies in the inability of humanity to date to fully provide itself with vital food products. This problem appears in practice as a problem of absolute food shortage (malnutrition and hunger) in the least developed countries, as well as nutritional imbalance in developed countries. Over the past 50 years, significant progress has been made in food production - the number of undernourished and hungry people has almost halved. At the same time, a large part of the world's population still experiences food shortages. The number of people in need exceeds 850 million people, i.e. Every seventh person experiences absolute food shortages. More than 5 million children die every year from the consequences of starvation. Its solution will largely depend on the effective use of natural resources, scientific and technological progress in agriculture and the level of state support.
The global energy problem is the problem of providing humanity with fuel and energy now and in the foreseeable future. The main reason for the global energy problem should be considered the rapid increase in the consumption of mineral fuels in the 20th century. On the supply side, it is caused by the discovery and exploitation of huge oil and gas fields in Western Siberia, Alaska, and on the North Sea shelf, and on the demand side, by an increase in the vehicle fleet and an increase in production volumes polymer materials. The increase in the production of fuel and energy resources has entailed a serious deterioration in the environmental situation (expansion of open-pit mining, offshore mining, etc.). And the growing demand for these resources has increased competition both between countries exporting fuel resources for the best sales conditions, and between importing countries for access to energy resources. At the same time, there is a further increase in mineral fuel resources. Under the influence of the energy crisis, large-scale geological exploration work intensified, leading to the discovery and development of new energy deposits. Accordingly, the availability of the most important types of mineral fuel has also increased: it is believed that at the current level of production, proven coal reserves should last for 325 years, natural gas for 62 years, and oil for 37 years. If developed countries are now solving this problem, first of all, by slowing down the growth of their demand by reducing energy intensity, then in other countries there is a relatively rapid increase in energy consumption. Added to this may be growing competition in the global energy market between developed countries and newly large industrialized countries (China, India, Brazil). All these circumstances, combined with military and political instability in some regions, can cause significant fluctuations in the level of world prices for energy resources and seriously affect the dynamics of supply and demand, as well as the production and consumption of energy goods, sometimes creating crisis situations.
The global demographic problem is divided into two aspects: rapid and poorly controlled growth (demographic explosion) of the population of countries and regions of the developing world; demographic aging of the population of developed and transition countries. For the former, the solution is to increase economic growth and reduce population growth. For the second - emigration and reform of the pension system.
Never in the entire history of mankind have the world population growth rates been as high as in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries. During the period from 1960 to 1999, the planet's population doubled (from 3 billion to 6 billion people), and in 2007 it amounted to 6.6 billion people. Although the average annual growth rate of the world's population has decreased from 2.2% in the early 60s. to 1.5% in the early 2000s, the absolute annual growth increased from 53 million to 80 million people. The demographic transition from the traditional (high birth rate - high death rate - low natural increase) to the modern type of population reproduction (low birth rate - low death rate - low natural population growth) was completed in developed countries in the first third of the 20th century, and in most countries with transition economies - in the middle of the last century. At the same time, in the 1950-1960s, a demographic transition began in a number of countries and regions of the rest of the world, which begins to end only in Latin America, Eastern and South-East Asia and continues in East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Near and Middle East. The rapid rate of population growth compared to the rate of socio-economic development in these regions leads to aggravation of problems of employment, poverty, food situation, land issue, low level of education, and deterioration of public health. These countries see the solution to their demographic problem in accelerating economic growth and simultaneously reducing the birth rate (China could be an example). In European countries, Japan and a number of CIS countries since the last quarter of the 20th century. There is a demographic crisis, manifested in slow growth and even natural decline and aging of the population, stabilization or reduction of its working population. Demographic aging (increase in the proportion of the population over 60 years of age to over 12% of the total population, over 65 years of age - over 7%) is a natural process, which is based on advances in medicine, improved quality of life and other factors that contribute to the extension of life of a significant part of the population. population.
For the economies of developed and transition countries, increasing life expectancy has both positive and negative consequences. The first includes the possibility of extending the working life of older citizens beyond the current retirement age threshold. The second includes problems of both material support for elderly and elderly citizens, and their medical and consumer services. The fundamental way out of this situation lies in the transition to a funded pension system, in which the citizen himself is primarily responsible for the size of his pension. As for the aspect of the demographic problem in these countries, such as a reduction in the economically active population, its solution is seen primarily in the influx of immigrants from other countries.
The relationship between population growth and economic growth has long been the subject of research by economists. As a result of research, two approaches to assessing the impact of population growth on economic development have been developed. The first approach is, to one degree or another, associated with the theory of Malthus, who believed that population growth is faster than food growth and therefore the world population is inevitably becoming poorer. The modern approach to assessing the role of population on the economy is comprehensive and identifies both positive and negative factors in the impact of population growth on economic growth. Many experts believe that the real problem is not population growth per se, but the following problems: underdevelopment - underdevelopment; depletion of the world's resources and environmental destruction.
The problem of human development is the problem of matching the qualitative characteristics of the labor force with the nature of the modern economy. Human potential is one of the main types of total economic potential and is distinguished by specific and qualitative characteristics. In the conditions of post-industrialization, the requirements for the physical qualities and especially for the education of the worker increase, including his ability to constantly improve his skills. However, the development of the qualitative characteristics of the labor force in the world economy is extremely uneven. The worst indicators in this regard are demonstrated by developing countries, which, however, act as the main source of replenishment of the world labor force. This is what determines the global nature of the problem of human development.
The problem of disarmament and maintaining peace on Earth. The history of mankind can be viewed as the history of wars. Only in the 20th century. There were two world wars and many local wars (in Korea, Vietnam, Angola, the Middle East and other regions). Only after the Second World War until the beginning of the 21st century. There were more than 40 international and about 90 intrastate conflicts, where tens of millions of people died. Moreover, if in international conflicts The ratio of civilian and military deaths is approximately equal, but in civil and national liberation wars the civilian population dies three times more than the military. And today, dozens of potential international or interethnic conflicts continue to exist on the planet.
The problem of ensuring human safety. Increasing globalization, interdependence and the reduction of time and spatial barriers create a situation of collective insecurity from various threats, from which a person cannot always be saved by his state. This requires the creation of conditions that enhance a person’s ability to independently withstand risks and threats. Over the past two decades, the concept of security has undergone significant revision. Its traditional interpretation as the security of the state (its borders, territory, sovereignty, population and material values) was supplemented by human security (human security).
Human security is a state of people being protected from internal and external threats and risks and freedom from fear and want, which is achieved through the joint and purposeful activities of civil society, the nation state and the international community. The main conditions ensuring human security include: personal freedom; peace and personal security; full participation in management processes; protection of human rights; access to resources and basic necessities of life, including access to health services and education; a natural environment favorable for human life. Creating these conditions involves, firstly, eliminating the root causes or establishing effective control over the sources of threat and, secondly, increasing the ability of each individual to withstand threats. To ensure these conditions, it is possible to use two groups of measures: preventive, or long-term, and immediate, extraordinary. The first group includes activities aimed at overcoming problems that are most often sources of instability and local conflicts. The second set of measures includes activities to resolve ongoing conflicts or post-conflict reconstruction measures and humanitarian assistance.
The problem of the World Ocean is the problem of conservation and rational use of its spaces and resources. The essence of the global problem of the World Ocean lies in the extremely uneven development of the Ocean's resources, in the increasing pollution of the marine environment, and in its use as an arena for military activity. As a result, over the past decades, the intensity of life in the World Ocean has decreased by 1/3. That is why the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982, which is called the “Charter of the Seas,” is very important. She established economic zones of 200 nautical miles from the coast, within which the coastal state can also exercise sovereign rights to use biological and mineral resources. Currently, the World Ocean, as a closed ecological system, can hardly withstand the greatly increased anthropogenic load, and a real threat of its destruction is created. Therefore, the global problem of the World Ocean is, first of all, the problem of its survival. The main way to solve the problem of using the World Ocean is rational oceanic environmental management, a balanced, integrated approach to its wealth, based on the combined efforts of the entire world community. The essence of this problem lies in the difficult finding of ways to optimize the exploitation of the ocean's biological resources.
The environmental situation is currently one of the most acute and difficult to resolve. A feature of our time is the intense and global human impact on the environment, which is accompanied by intense and global negative consequences. Contradictions between man and nature can worsen due to the fact that there is no limit to the growth of human material needs, while the ability of the natural environment to satisfy them is limited. The contradictions in the “man - society - nature” system have acquired a planetary character.
There are two aspects of the environmental problem:
environmental crises arising as a consequence of natural processes;
crises caused by anthropogenic impact and irrational environmental management.
The main problem is the inability of the planet to cope with the waste of human activity, with the function of self-cleaning and repair. The biosphere is being destroyed. Therefore, there is a great risk of self-destruction of humanity as a result of its own life activity.
Nature is influenced in the following ways:
use of environmental components as a resource base for production;
the impact of human production activities on the environment;
demographic pressure on nature (agricultural use of land, population growth, growth of large cities).
Many global problems of humanity are intertwined here - resource, food, demographic - they all have access to environmental issues.
The ecological potential of the world economy is increasingly undermined by human economic activity. The answer to this was the concept of environmentally sustainable development. It involves the development of all countries of the world, taking into account current needs, but not undermining the interests of future generations. The problem of ecology and sustainable development is the problem of ending harmful effects human activities on the environment.
Back in the middle of the last century, ecology was internal matter each country, because pollution from industrial activities only occurred in areas with a high concentration of environmentally hazardous industries. However, in the second half of the 20th century. The economic impact on nature has reached levels at which it began to lose its ability to self-heal. In the 1990s. The environmental problem has reached a global level, which is manifested in the following negative trends:
the world ecosystem is being destroyed, more and more representatives of flora and fauna are disappearing, upsetting the ecological balance in nature;
More and more large areas of the planet are becoming a zone of environmental disaster;
The most complex and potentially the most dangerous problem is possible climate change, which is expressed in an increase in average temperature, which, in turn, leads to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme natural and climatic events: droughts, floods, tornadoes, sudden thaws and frosts that cause significant economic damage to nature, people and the economies of countries. Climate change is usually associated with an increase in the “greenhouse effect” - an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which get there from the combustion of fuel, associated gas at production sites, on the one hand, and deforestation and land degradation, on the other.
The main consequences of environmental pollution are as follows: harm to human health and farm animals; contaminated areas become unsuitable or even unsuitable for human habitation and their economic activities, and pollution can lead to disruption of the biosphere’s ability to self-purify and its complete destruction. The main directions of exacerbation of the environmental crisis include the withdrawal from land use of saline soils subject to wind and water erosion; excessive use of chemical fertilizers, etc.; increasing chemical impact on food, water, and the human environment; destruction of forests, i.e. everything that in one way or another affects the life and health of people; growing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere leading to the gradual destruction of the protective ozone layer; rapid growth of waste, proximity to landfills of various industrial and domestic wastes of the human environment.
In principle, the level of environmental pressure can be reduced in three ways: reducing the population; reducing the level of consumption of material goods; making fundamental changes in technology. The first method is, in fact, already being implemented naturally in developed and many transition economies, where the birth rate has decreased significantly; this process is gradually covering an increasing part of the developing world, but the growth of the total world population will continue. Reducing consumption levels is hardly possible, although recently a new consumption structure has emerged in developed countries, in which services and environmentally friendly components and reusable products predominate. Therefore, technologies aimed at preserving the planet’s environmental resources are of paramount importance for the sustainable development of the world economy:
tightening measures to prevent environmental pollution. Today, there are strict international and national regulations regarding the content of harmful substances, for example, in car exhaust gases, which forces automobile companies to produce environmentally less harmful cars. As a result, NOCs, concerned about the negative reaction of their consumers to environmental scandals, strive to follow the principles of sustainable development in all countries where they operate;
creating cost-effective products that can be reused. This makes it possible to reduce the growth in consumption of natural resources;
creation of clean technologies. The problem here is that many industries use outdated technologies that do not meet the needs of sustainable development. For example, in the pulp and paper industry, many production processes are based on the use of chlorine and its compounds, which are one of the most dangerous pollutants, and only the use of biotechnology can change the situation.
The number of global problems is not constant and is growing steadily. As human civilization develops, the understanding of existing global problems changes, their priority is adjusted, and new global problems arise (space exploration, weather and climate control, etc.).
Currently, other global problems are emerging.
The twenty-first century, having just begun, has already added its own problems: international terrorism. In the context of globalization, international terrorism represents the most serious security problem. International terrorism is aimed at undermining the stability of society, destroying borders and usurping territories. The goals of globalization are the same: to achieve influence, power, wealth and redistribution of property at the cost of public or international security.
The social danger of international terrorism is expressed, first of all, in the transnational scale of its activities; expanding its social base; changing the nature and increasing the scope of goals; increasing the severity of the consequences; rapid changes in growth rates and level of organization; in the relevant logistical and financial security his nature.
Thus, the problem of international terrorism poses a real planetary threat to the world community. This problem has its own specificity, which distinguishes it from other universal human difficulties. However, this problem is closely interconnected with most of the global problems of modern international relations, and therefore can be considered as one of the most pressing global problems of our days.
Terrorist acts of recent years, and above all the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in New York, have become unprecedented in the history of mankind in their scale and influence on the further course of world politics. The number of victims, the extent and nature of the destruction caused by terrorist attacks at the beginning of the 21st century were comparable to the consequences of armed conflicts and local wars. The response measures caused by these terrorist acts led to the creation of an international anti-terrorist coalition, which included dozens of states, which previously took place only in the case of major armed conflicts and wars.
Retaliatory anti-terrorist military actions have acquired a planetary scale.
Under these conditions, the global problem of international terrorism cannot be considered only as an independent phenomenon. She started to become important component a more general military-political global problem related to fundamental issues of war and peace, on the solution of which the further existence of human civilization depends.
In modern conditions, a new, already formed global problem is the exploration of outer space. The urgency of this problem is quite obvious. Human flights in near-Earth orbits have helped us create a true picture of the surface of the Earth, many planets, the terra firma and ocean expanses. They gave a new understanding of the globe as a center of life and an understanding that man and nature are an inextricable whole. Cosmonautics has provided a real opportunity for solving important national economic problems: improving international communication systems, long-term weather forecasting, and developing navigation of sea and air transport. The entry of man into space was an important impetus for the development of both fundamental science, and applied research. Modern communication systems, forecasting of many natural disasters, remote exploration of mineral resources are only a small part of what has become a reality thanks to space flights. At the same time, the scale of financial costs necessary for further exploration of outer space today already exceeds the capabilities of not only individual states, but also groups of countries. The extremely expensive components of research are the creation and launch of spacecraft and the maintenance of space stations. Enormous investments are required to implement projects related to the exploration and future development of other planets in the solar system. As a consequence, the interests of space exploration objectively imply broad interstate interaction in this area, the development of large-scale international cooperation in the preparation and conduct of space research.
Emerging global problems currently include the study of the structure of the Earth and the management of weather and climate. Like space exploration, the solution to these two problems is only possible on the basis of broad international cooperation. Moreover, weather and climate management requires, among other things, global harmonization of behavioral norms of business entities in order to universally minimize the harmful impact of economic activity on the environment.
An independent problem on a planetary scale is the problem of man-made disasters that have nothing to do with natural disasters.
One of the most pressing global problems of our time in the scientific literature is identified with the process of urbanization.
According to many scientists, natural phenomena can be identified as an independent global problem of our time.
Another emerging global problem is the problem of suicide (voluntary death). According to open statistics, in most countries of the world the suicide curve is creeping up today, which indicates the global nature of this problem. There is a point of view according to which it is suicide (not drugs, AIDS or road accidents) that is becoming an increasingly common cause of death in peaceful conditions. This is an inevitable payment for the benefits of technological progress in all its manifestations: industrialization, urbanization, acceleration of the pace of life, complications of human relationships and, of course, lack of spirituality.
The concept, essence, classification and ways to solve global problems of our time are clearly shown in the Appendix.
2. Causes of global problems and ways to solve them
An objective prerequisite for the emergence of global problems is the internationalization of economic activity. The global development of labor has led to the interconnectedness of all states. The scale and degree of involvement of various countries and peoples in world economic relations have acquired unprecedented proportions, which has contributed to the development of local, specific problems of development of countries and regions into the category of global ones. All this indicates that there are objective reasons for the emergence of such problems in the modern world that affect the interests of all countries. Contradictions on a global scale are emerging, affecting the foundations of the existence of life on earth.
The UN appeals to all countries: if we want to take the best of globalization and avoid the worst, we must learn to govern better together. These appeals could work successfully if most countries were sufficiently high level economic development, and there would not be such a significant differentiation in per capita income between countries. The vast inequality in the distribution of wealth in today's world, the miserable conditions in which more than a billion people live, the prevalence of ethnic conflicts in some regions of the world and the rapid deterioration of the natural environment - all these factors combine to make the current development model unsustainable. We can rightfully say that in order to reduce tension on a number of global problems, it is necessary to completely discard the factors of class and political confrontation social systems and groups of people, and use the principle of spatial institutionality when considering global problems affecting the formation of the world economy.
Thus, the reasons for the emergence of global problems: on the one hand, are the enormous scale of human activity, which has radically changed nature, society, and people’s way of life; on the other hand, it is a person’s inability to rationally manage this power.
The following ways to solve global problems of our time are identified:
preventing a world war with the use of thermonuclear weapons and other means of mass destruction that threaten the destruction of civilization. This involves curbing the arms race, prohibiting the creation and use of weapons systems of mass destruction, human and material resources, the elimination of nuclear weapons, etc.;
overcoming economic and cultural inequality between the peoples inhabiting the industrialized countries of the West and East and the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America;
overcoming the crisis state of interaction between humanity and nature, which is characterized by catastrophic consequences in the form of unprecedented environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources. This makes it necessary to develop measures aimed at the economical use of natural resources and the reduction of pollution of soil, water and air by waste from material production;
reducing population growth rates in developing countries and overcoming the demographic crisis in developed capitalist countries;
prevention negative consequences modern scientific and technological revolution;
overcoming the downward trend in social health, which involves combating alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer, AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.
Therefore, the priority global goals of humanity are as follows:
in the political sphere - reducing the likelihood and, in the future, completely eliminating military conflicts, preventing violence in international relations;
in the economic and environmental spheres - the development and implementation of resource- and energy-saving technologies, the transition to non-traditional energy sources, the development and widespread use of environmental technologies;
V social sphere- improving living standards, global efforts to preserve people's health, creating a global food supply system;
in the cultural and spiritual sphere - the restructuring of mass moral consciousness in accordance with today's realities.
Solving these problems is an urgent task for all of humanity today. The survival of people depends on when and how they begin to be resolved.
Thus, summarizing the above, we note that the global problems of our time are a set of key problems that affect the vital interests of all humanity and require coordinated solutions for their resolution. international action on a global scale.
Global problems include the problems of preventing thermonuclear war and ensuring peaceful conditions for the development of all peoples, overcoming the growing gap in economic levels and per capita income between developed and developing countries, problems of eliminating hunger, poverty and illiteracy on the globe, demographic and environmental problems.
A distinctive feature of modern civilization is the increase in global threats and problems. We are talking about the threat of thermonuclear war, the growth of armaments, the unreasonable waste of natural resources, diseases, hunger, poverty, etc.
All global problems of our time can be reduced to three main ones:
the possibility of the destruction of humanity in a global thermonuclear war;
the possibility of a worldwide environmental disaster;
spiritual and moral crisis of humanity.
It is important to note that when solving the third problem, the first two are solved almost automatically. After all, a spiritually and morally developed person will never accept violence either towards another person or towards nature. Even a simply cultured person does not offend others and will never throw garbage on the sidewalk. From little things, from incorrect individual behavior of a person, global problems grow. We can say that global problems are rooted in human consciousness, and until he transforms it, they will not disappear in the outside world.
Conclusion
Thus, global problems are the key problems that confronted all of humanity in the second half of the twentieth century, on the solution of which its existence, preservation and development of civilization depend. These problems, which previously existed as local and regional, have acquired a planetary character in the modern era. Thus, the time of the emergence of global problems coincides with the achievement of the apogee of industrial civilization in its development. This happened approximately in the middle of the 20th century.
Global problems emerged under the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution in the second half of the twentieth century; they are interconnected, cover all aspects of people’s lives and affect all countries of the world without exception.
Many problems are considered global; in the scientific literature their number varies from 8-10 to 40-45. This is explained by the fact that, along with the main, priority global problems (which will be discussed further in the textbook), there are also a number of more specific, but also very important problems: crime, drug addiction, separatism, democratic deficit, man-made disasters, natural disasters.
There are various classifications of global problems, usually distinguished: problems of the most “universal” nature, problems of a natural-economic nature, problems of a social nature, problems of a mixed nature. There are also “older” and “newer” global problems. Their priority may also change over time. So, at the end of the twentieth century. Environmental and demographic problems came to the fore, while the problem of preventing a third world war became less pressing.
Among modern global problems, the main groups are distinguished:
Problems of a socio-political nature. These include: preventing global thermonuclear war, creating a nuclear-free, non-violent world, bridging the growing gap in the level of economic and cultural development between the advanced industrial countries of the West and the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Problems related to the relationship between humanity and society. We are talking about eliminating poverty, hunger and illiteracy, fighting disease, stopping population growth, anticipating and preventing the negative consequences of the scientific and technological revolution and rationally using its achievements for the benefit of society and the individual.
Ecological problems. They arise in the sphere of relations between society and nature. These include: protection and restoration of the environment, atmosphere, soil, water; providing humanity with the necessary natural resources, including food, raw materials and energy sources.
The problem of international terrorism has recently acquired particular relevance and, in fact, has become one of the highest priorities.
The causes of global problems are:
the integrity of the modern world, which is ensured by deep political and economic ties, for example - war;
the crisis of world civilization is associated with the increased economic power of man: the impact of man on nature in its consequences is comparable to the most formidable natural forces;
uneven development of countries and cultures: people living in different countries, with different political systems, according to the achieved level of development, they live in historically different cultural eras.
Global problems of humanity cannot be solved by the efforts of one country; jointly developed regulations on environmental protection, coordinated economic policies, assistance to backward countries, etc. are needed.
In general, the global problems of humanity can be schematically represented as a tangle of contradictions, where from each problem various threads stretch to all other problems.
Solving global problems is only possible through the joint efforts of all countries coordinating their actions at the international level. Self-isolation and development features will not allow individual countries to remain aloof from the economic crisis, nuclear war, the threat of terrorism or the AIDS epidemic. To solve global problems and overcome the danger that threatens all of humanity, it is necessary to further strengthen the interconnection of the diverse modern world, change the interaction with the environment, abandon the cult of consumption, and develop new values.
globalization economic growth crisis
Bibliography
1.Bulatov A.S. World economy / A.S. Bulatov. - M.: Economy, 2005. 734 p. P.381-420.
2.Golubintsev V.O. Philosophy. Textbook / V.O. Golubintsev, A.A. Dantsev, V.S. Lyubchenko. - Taganrog: SRSTU, 2001. - 560 p.
.Maksakovsky V.P. Geography. Economic and social geography of the world. 10th grade / V.P.Maksakovsky. - M.: Education, 2009. - 397 p.
.Nizhnikov S.A. Philosophy: course of lectures: textbook / S.A. Nizhnikov. - M.: Publishing house "Exam", 2006. - 383 p.
.Nikolaikin N.I. Ecology: Textbook. for universities / N.I. Nikolaikin, N.E. Nikolaikina, O.P. Melekhova. - M.: Bustard, 2004. - 624 p.
.Rostoshinsky E.N. Formation of the disciplinary space of cultural studies / E.N. Rostoshinsky // Materials of the scientific and methodological conference 01/16/2001. - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Philosophical Society. - No. 11. - 2001. - P.140-144.
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Interrelation of global problems of humanity
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INTRODUCTION
Global problems of humanity are problems and situations that cover many countries, the Earth's atmosphere, the World Ocean and near-Earth space and affect the entire population of the Earth.
Global problems of humanity cannot be solved by the efforts of one country; jointly developed regulations on environmental protection, coordinated economic policies, assistance to backward countries, etc. are needed.
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.
Global problems of our time are a set of problems of humanity, the solution of which determines social progress and the preservation of civilization.
What are global problems? It would seem that the question has long been clear, and their range was determined back in the early 70s, when the term “global studies” itself began to be used, and the first models of global development appeared.
One of the definitions refers to global as “problems that arise as a result of the objective development of society, create threats to all of humanity and require the united efforts of the entire world community to be solved.”
The correctness of this definition depends on which problems are classified as global. If this is a narrow circle of higher, planetary problems, then it is entirely true. If we add here problems such as natural disasters(it is global only in the sense of the possibility of manifestation in the region), then this definition turns out to be narrow and limiting, which is its meaning.
Firstly, global problems are problems that affect not only the interests of individual people, but can affect the fate of all humanity. The important word here is “fate”, which refers to the prospects for the future development of the world.
Secondly, global problems cannot be solved on their own or even through the efforts of individual countries. They require focused and organized efforts of the entire global community. Unresolved global problems may lead in the future to serious, possibly irreversible consequences for humans and their environment.
Thirdly, global problems are closely related to one another. That is why it is so difficult to even theoretically isolate and systematize them, let alone develop a system of successive steps to solve them. Generally recognized global problems include: environmental pollution, resource problems, population problems, nuclear weapons and a number of others.
Yuri Gladky made an interesting attempt to classify global problems, identifying three main groups:
1. Problems of a political and socio-economic nature.
2. Problems of natural and economic nature
3. Problems of a social nature.
Awareness of global problems and the urgency of revising many habitual stereotypes came to us late, much later than the publication in the West of the first global models and calls to stop economic growth. Meanwhile, all global problems are closely interconnected.
Nature conservation until recently was a matter for individuals and societies, and ecology initially had nothing to do with nature conservation. With this name, Ernest Haeckel in 1866, in his monograph “General Morphology,” christened the science of the interrelations of animals and plants living in a certain territory, their relationships with each other and with living conditions.
Who eats what or whom, and how it adapts to seasonal climate changes are the main questions of primary ecology. With the exception of a narrow circle of specialists, no one knew anything about it. And now the word “ecology” is on everyone’s lips.
Such a dramatic change over the course of 30 years occurred due to two interrelated circumstances characteristic of the second half of the century: the growth of the Earth's population and the scientific and technological revolution.
The rapid growth of the Earth's population is called the population explosion.
It was accompanied by the seizure of vast territories from nature for residential buildings and public institutions, roads and railways, airports and marinas, crops and pastures.
Simultaneously with the demographic explosion, a scientific and technological revolution occurred. Man mastered nuclear energy, rocket technology and went into space. He invented the computer, created electronics and the synthetic materials industry.
The demographic explosion and the scientific and technological revolution have led to a colossal increase in the consumption of natural resources. At such rates of consumption, it has become obvious that many natural resources will be depleted in the near future. At the same time, waste from giant industries began to increasingly pollute the environment, destroying the health of the population. In all industrialized countries, cancer, chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases are widespread.
Scientists were the first to sound the alarm. Beginning in 1968, the Italian economist Aurelio Peccien began annually gathering prominent experts from different countries in Rome to discuss issues about the future of civilization. These meetings were called the Club of Rome. In the spring of 1972, the first book prepared by the Club of Rome was published, with the characteristic title “Limits to Growth.” They appealed to the governments of all countries of the world to create special government agencies. In different countries, ministries, departments and committees on ecology began to be created, and their main goal was monitoring the natural environment and combating its pollution to preserve public health.
Research into human ecology required a theoretical framework. First Russian and then foreign researchers recognized the teachings of V.I. as such a basis. Vernadsky about the biosphere and the inevitability of its evolutionary transformation into the environment of the human mind - the noosphere.
However, the anthropogenic impact on nature has reached such proportions that global problems have arisen that no one could even suspect about at the beginning of the 20th century.
Classification
The development of a classification of global problems was the result of long-term research and generalization of the experience of several decades of their study.
Researchers have proposed many classification options. Let us consider here a version of the classification developed by domestic scientists I.T. Frolov and V.V. Zagladin. According to this option, all global problems are divided into three large groups.
The first group consists of those problems that are associated with relations between the main social communities of humanity, i.e. between groups of states with similar political, economic and other interests: “East-West”, rich and poor countries, etc. These problems should be called intersocial. These include the problem of preventing war and ensuring peace, as well as establishing a fair international economic order. Environmental problems are particularly acute here, as are countless others. Underdeveloped and moderately developed countries make up the vast majority of the planet's population - about five billion out of six. The general trend of modern development, unfortunately, is such that the gap between the “golden billion” and the rest of humanity is not decreasing, but increasing.
The second group unites those problems that are generated by the interaction of society and nature. They are associated with the limited ability of the environment to withstand anthropogenic loads. These are problems such as the provision of energy, fuel, raw materials, fresh water, etc. The environmental problem also belongs to this group, i.e. the problem of protecting nature from irreversible changes negative character, as well as the task of intelligent development of the World Ocean and outer space.
These are, firstly, environmental problems; secondly, problems associated with the development of nature by society, i.e. problems of raw materials and energy resources; thirdly, problems associated with relatively new global objects - outer space and the World Ocean.
The third group of global problems consists of those associated with the “individual-society” system. They directly concern the individual and depend on the ability of society to provide real opportunities for personal development. These include health and education issues, as well as population control issues.
The third large group of problems is directly related to man, to his individual existence. These are problems of “human qualities” - the development of moral, intellectual and other inclinations of a person, ensuring a healthy lifestyle, normal mental development. Particular attention to these problems has become a characteristic feature of global studies since the second half of the 70s.
2.1 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.
The growing population of the planet requires an ever greater increase in the pace of economic development in order 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 demographic 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, countries in Africa, Latin America, and 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. 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.
A significant feature of the modern demographic picture of the world is that 90%2 of population growth occurs in developing countries. To present a real picture of the world, you need to know how the majority of humanity lives.
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 is how it closes vicious circle: poverty
Rapid population growth means 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 Rolf 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 in
75 times more meat products than an Indian. A more equitable distribution of the earth's resources could first of all be expressed in the fact that the wealthy fourth part of the planet's population - at least out of an instinct for self-preservation - would refuse direct
2.2. ECOLOGICAL
Ecology was born as a purely biological science of relationships
"organism - environment". With increasing anthropogenic and technogenic pressure on the environment, the insufficiency of this approach has become obvious. Currently, there are no phenomena, processes or territories unaffected by this powerful pressure. The range of sciences involved in environmental issues has expanded enormously.
Environmental problems of our time, in terms of their scale, can be divided into local, regional and global and require different means of solution and scientific developments of different nature for their solution.
To solve such problems, scientific research is already needed. The anthropogenic impact on nature has reached such proportions that global problems have arisen.
Air pollution
The most common air pollutants enter the atmosphere mainly in two forms: either in the form of suspended particles or in the form of gases. Carbon dioxide. As a result of fuel combustion and cement production, huge amounts of this gas are released into the atmosphere. This gas itself is not poisonous. Carbon monoxide. The combustion of fuel, which creates most of the gaseous and aerosol pollution in the atmosphere, serves as a source of another carbon compound - carbon monoxide. It is poisonous and its danger is aggravated by the fact that it has neither color nor smell, and poisoning with it can occur unnoticed.
Hydrocarbons entering the atmosphere as a result of human activities make up a small proportion of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, but their pollution is very important. Their release into the atmosphere can occur at any stage of production, processing, storage, transportation and use of substances and materials containing hydrocarbons. More than half of the hydrocarbons produced by humans enter the air as a result of incomplete combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel during the operation of cars and other vehicles. Sulphur dioxide. Atmospheric pollution with sulfur compounds has important environmental consequences. The main sources of sulfur dioxide are volcanic activity, as well as the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds.
Soil pollution
Almost all pollutants that are initially released into the atmosphere eventually end up on the surface of land and water. Settling aerosols may contain toxic heavy metals - lead, mercury, copper, vanadium, cobalt, nickel. Acids also enter the soil with rain. By combining with it, metals can transform into soluble compounds available to plants. Substances that are constantly present in the soil also turn into soluble forms, which sometimes leads to the death of plants.
Water pollution
Water used by humans ultimately returns to the natural environment. But, apart from the evaporated water, this is no longer pure water, but domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater, usually not treated or not treated sufficiently. Thus, freshwater bodies of water - rivers, lakes, land and coastal areas of the seas - are polluted. There are three types of water pollution – biological, chemical and physical.
2.3. WARMING
The sharp climate warming that began in the second half of the 20th century is a reliable fact. We feel it in winters that are milder than before. The average temperature of the surface layer of air compared to 1956-1957, when the First International Geophysical Year was held, increased by 0.7 (C). There is no warming at the equator, but the closer to the poles, the more noticeable it is. At the North Pole, the subglacial water warmed by 1(C2) and the ice cover began to melt from below.
Some scientists believe that this is the result of burning a huge mass of organic fuel and the release of large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas, that is, it makes it difficult for heat to transfer from the Earth's surface.
So what is the greenhouse effect? Billions of tons of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere every hour as a result of the combustion of coal and oil, natural gas and firewood, millions of tons of methane rise into the atmosphere from gas development, from the rice fields of Asia, water vapor and chlorofluorocarbons are released there. All of these are “greenhouse gases.” Just as in a greenhouse, a glass roof and walls allow solar radiation to pass through, but do not allow heat to escape, so carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” are almost transparent to the sun’s rays, but they retain long-wave thermal radiation from the Earth and do not allow it to escape into space.
The forecast for the future (2040) suggests a possible temperature increase of 1.5 - 4.5.
A warming climate raises a number of related questions.
What are the prospects for its further development? How will warming affect the increase in evaporation from the surface of the World Ocean and how will this affect the amount of precipitation? How will this precipitation be distributed over the area?
All these questions can be answered accurately.
2.4. Ozone holes
The environmental problem of the ozone layer is no less scientifically complex. As is known, life on Earth appeared only after the protective ozone layer of the planet was formed, covering it from harsh ultraviolet radiation. For many centuries there were no signs of trouble. However, in recent decades, intensive destruction of this layer has been noticed.
The problem of the ozone layer arose in 1982, when a probe launched from a British station in Antarctica discovered a sharp decrease in ozone levels at an altitude of 25 - 30 kilometers. Since then, an ozone “hole” of varying shapes and sizes has been continuously recorded over Antarctica. According to the latest data for 1992, it is equal to 23 million square kilometers, that is, an area equal to all of North America. Later, the same “hole” was discovered over the Canadian Arctic archipelago, over Spitsbergen, and then in different places in Eurasia, in particular over Voronezh.
The depletion of the ozone layer is a much more dangerous reality for all life on Earth than the fall of some super-large meteorite, because ozone prevents dangerous radiation from reaching the Earth’s surface. If ozone decreases, humanity faces, at a minimum, an outbreak of skin cancer and eye diseases. In general, increasing the dose of ultraviolet rays can weaken the human immune system, and at the same time reduce the yield of fields, reducing the already narrow food supply base of the Earth.
“It is quite possible that by 2100 the protective ozone blanket will disappear, ultraviolet rays will dry out the Earth, animals and plants will die. People will seek salvation under giant domes of artificial glass and feed on the food of astronauts.”
The depletion of the ozone layer has worried not only scientists, but also the governments of many countries. The search for reasons began. At first, suspicion fell on chloro- and fluorocarbons used in refrigeration units, the so-called freons. They are indeed easily oxidized by ozone, thereby destroying it. Large sums were allocated to find their replacements. However, refrigeration units are used mainly in countries with warm and hot climates, and for some reason ozone holes are most pronounced in the polar regions. This caused confusion. Then it was found that a lot of ozone is destroyed by the rocket engines of modern aircraft flying at high altitudes, as well as during the launches of spacecraft and satellites.
To finally resolve the issue of the causes of ozone layer depletion, detailed scientific research is needed.
2.5 The greenhouse effect problem
Carbon dioxide is one of the main culprits of the “greenhouse effect”, which is why other known “greenhouse gases” (and there are about 40 of them) determine only about half of global warming. Just as in a greenhouse the glass roof and walls allow solar radiation to pass through, but do not allow heat to escape, so do carbon dioxide along with other “greenhouse gases”. They are practically transparent to the sun's rays, but they retain the Earth's thermal radiation and prevent it from escaping into space. A rise in average global air temperature should inevitably lead to an even more significant reduction in continental glaciers. Climate warming is leading to the melting of polar ice and rising sea levels.
Global warming can cause major agricultural zones to shift in temperature, major floods, persistent droughts, and forest fires. Following the upcoming climate changes, changes in the position of natural zones will inevitably occur: a) reduction in coal consumption, replacement of its natural gases, b) development of nuclear energy, c) development of alternative types of energy (wind, solar, geothermal) d) global energy saving. But the problem of global warming, to some extent, is currently being compensated for by the fact that another problem has developed on its basis. Global dimming problem! At the moment, the planet's temperature has risen only one degree in a hundred years. But according to scientists’ calculations, it should have risen to higher values. But due to global dimming, the effect was reduced. The mechanism of the problem is based on the fact that: rays of sunlight that should pass through the clouds and reach the surface and consequently increase the temperature of the planet and increase the effect of global warming cannot pass through the clouds and are reflected from them as a result of never reaching the surface of the planet. And it is precisely thanks to this effect that the planet’s atmosphere does not heat up rapidly. It would seem easier to do nothing and leave both factors alone, but if this happens, then the person’s health will be in danger.
2.6. DEATH AND DEFORESTATION
One of the reasons for the death of forests in many regions of the world is acid rain, the main culprits of which are power plants. Emissions of sulfur dioxide and their transport over long distances result in such rain falling far from the sources of emissions. Over the past 20 years (1970 - 1990), the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forestland, which is equal to the area of the United States east of the Mississippi.
A particularly great environmental threat is posed by the depletion of tropical forests - the “lungs of the planet” and the main source of biological diversity planets. There, approximately 200 thousand square kilometers are cut down or burned annually, which means 100 thousand species of plants and animals disappear. This process is especially fast in the regions richest in tropical forests - the Amazon and Indonesia.
British ecologist N. Meyers concluded that ten small areas in the tropics contain at least 27% of the total species composition of this class of plant formations, later this list was expanded to 15 tropical forest “hot spots” that should be preserved at all costs. no matter what.
In developed countries, acid rain caused damage to large parts of the forest.
The current situation with forests varies greatly across continents. While in Europe and Asia forested areas increased slightly between 1974 and 1989, in Australia they decreased by 2.6% in one year. Even greater forest degradation is taking place in certain countries: in Côte d'Et and Ivoire, forest areas decreased by 5.4% over the year, in Thailand - by 4.3%, in Paraguay by 3.4%.
2.7. Desertification
Under the influence of living organisms, water and air, the most important ecosystem, thin and fragile, is gradually formed on the surface layers of the lithosphere - soil, which is called the “skin of the Earth”. This is the guardian of fertility and life. A handful of good soil contains millions of microorganisms that maintain fertility. It takes a century for a layer of soil 1 centimeter thick to form. It can be lost in one field season. According to geologists, before people began to engage in agricultural activities, graze livestock and plow land, rivers annually carried about 9 billion tons of soil into the World Ocean. Nowadays this amount is estimated at approximately 25 billion tons.
Soil erosion, a purely local phenomenon, has now become universal. In the United States, for example, about 44% of cultivated land is susceptible to erosion. In Russia, unique rich chernozems with a humus content (organic matter that determines soil fertility) of 14–16%, which were called the citadel of Russian agriculture, disappeared. In Russia, the area of the most fertile lands with a humus content of 10–13% has decreased by almost 5 times.
A particularly difficult situation arises when not only the soil layer is demolished, but also the parent rock on which it develops. Then the threshold of irreversible destruction comes, and an anthropogenic (that is, man-made) desert arises.
One of the most formidable, global and fleeting processes of our time is the expansion of desertification, the decline and, in the most extreme cases, the complete destruction of the biological potential of the Earth, which leads to conditions similar to those of a natural desert.
Natural deserts and semi-deserts occupy more than 1/3 of the earth's surface. These lands are home to about 15% of the world's population. Deserts are natural formations that play a certain role in the overall ecological balance of the planet’s landscapes.
As a result of human activity, by the last quarter of the twentieth century, over 9 million square kilometers of deserts appeared, and in total they already covered 43% of the total land area.
In the 1990s, desertification began to threaten 3.6 million hectares of drylands. This represents 70% of the potentially productive drylands, or total land surface area, and does not include the area of natural deserts.
According to UN experts, current losses of productive land will lead to the fact that by the end of the century the world could lose almost 1/3 of its arable land. Such a loss, at a time of unprecedented population growth and increasing food demand, could be truly disastrous.
Causes of land degradation in different regions of the world.
Deforestation, Overexploitation, Over-ploughing, Industrialization
2.8. Pure water
People have been polluting water since time immemorial. Paradoxical as it may seem, harmful emissions into the atmosphere ultimately end up in water, and the territories of city landfills for solid waste and garbage after each rain and after snowmelt contribute to the pollution of surface and groundwater.
So, clean water is also becoming scarce, and water scarcity can affect itself faster than the consequences of the “greenhouse effect”: 1.2 billion people live without clean drinking water, 2.3 billion without treatment facilities to use contaminated water. Water consumption for irrigation is growing, now it is 3,300 cubic kilometers per year, 6 times more than the flow of one of the most abundant rivers in the world - the Mississippi. Widespread use of groundwater leads to a decrease in its level. In Beijing, for example, in recent years it has fallen by 4 meters...
Water can also become the subject of internecine conflicts, since 200 of the world's largest rivers flow through the territory of two or more countries. For example, the water of the Niger is used by 10 countries, the Nile by 9, and the Amazon by 7 countries.
Our civilization is already called the “civilization of waste” or the Age of disposable things. The wastefulness of industrialized countries is manifested in the huge and growing amount of raw material waste; mountains of garbage are a characteristic feature of all industrial countries in the world. The United States, with 600 kilograms of garbage per capita per year, is the largest producer of household waste in the world; Western Europe and Japan produce half as much, but the growth rate of household waste is growing everywhere. In our country, this increase is 2–5% per year2.
Many new products contain toxic substances - lead, mercury and cadmium - in batteries, toxic chemicals in household detergents, solvents and dyes. Therefore, garbage dumps near the largest cities pose a serious environmental threat - the threat of groundwater pollution, a threat to public health. Disposing of industrial waste to these landfills will create even greater dangers.
Waste recycling plants are not a radical solution to the waste problem - sulfur and nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere, and the ash contains toxic substances; the ash ultimately ends up in these same landfills.
Such an ordinary substance as water does not often attract our attention, although we encounter it every day, rather even hourly: during the morning toilet, at breakfast, when we drink tea or coffee, when leaving the house in the rain or snow, while preparing lunch and washing dishes, during laundry... In general, very, very often. Think for a minute about water..., imagine that it suddenly disappeared..., well, for example, there was a water supply network failure. Or perhaps this has already happened to you? In such a situation, it becomes very clear that “there is no water, neither here nor there.”
2.9. Energy problem
As we have already seen, it is closely connected with the environmental problem. Environmental well-being greatly depends on the reasonable development of the Earth's energy sector, since half of all gases that cause the "greenhouse effect" are created in the energy sector.
The fuel and energy balance of the planet consists mainly of
"pollutants" - oil (40.3%), coal (31.2%), gas (23.7%). In total, they account for the overwhelming majority of energy resource use – 95.2%. "Clean" types - hydropower and atomic Energy– give a total of less than 5%, and the “softest” (non-polluting) – wind, solar, geothermal – account for fractions of a percent.
It is clear that the global task is to increase the share of “clean” and especially “soft” types of energy.
In the coming years, “soft” types of energy will not be able to significantly change the fuel and energy balance of the Earth. It will take some time until their economic indicators become close to “traditional” types of energy.
In addition to the gigantic area that is necessary for the development of solar and wind energy, one must also take into account the fact that their environmental “purity” is taken without taking into account the metal, glass and other materials necessary to create such “clean” installations, and even in huge quantities.
Hydropower is also conditionally “clean” - large losses of flooded areas in river floodplains, which are usually valuable agricultural lands. Hydroelectric power plants now provide 17% of all electricity in developed countries and 31% in developing countries, where the world's largest hydroelectric power stations have been built in recent years.
Apparently, in these conditions, only nuclear energy can be a way out, capable of sharply and quite short time reduce the greenhouse effect.
Replacing coal, oil and gas with nuclear power has already produced some reductions in CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases.
2.10. Raw material problem
Issues of providing raw materials and energy are the most important and multifaceted global problem. The most important because even in the age of scientific and technological revolution, minerals remain the fundamental basis for almost the rest of the economy, and fuel is its circulatory system. Multifaceted because here a whole knot of “sub-problems” is woven together:
Availability of resources on a global and regional scale;
Economic aspects of the problem (increasing production costs, fluctuations in world prices for raw materials and fuel, dependence on imports);
Geopolitical aspects of the problem (struggle for sources of raw materials and fuel;
Environmental aspects of the problem (damage from the mining industry itself, energy supply issues, recovery of raw materials, choice of energy strategies, and so on).
The scale of resource use has increased dramatically in recent decades.
Only since 1950, the volume of mineral extraction has increased 3 times; all minerals mined in the 20th century were mined after 1960.
One of the key issues of any global models has become the provision of resources and energy. And many of the things that until recently were considered endless, inexhaustible and “free” - territory, water, oxygen - have become resources.
Problems of the world's oceans
The world ocean, covering 2/3 of the earth's surface, is a huge water reservoir, the mass of water in which is 1.4 (1021 kilograms or 1.4 billion cubic kilometers. Ocean water is 97% of all water on the planet. Being the largest supplier of food products, the World Ocean provides, according to various estimates, 1/6 of all animal proteins consumed by the planet's population as food.The ocean, and especially its coastal zone, plays a leading role in supporting life on Earth.
After all, about 70% of the oxygen entering the planet’s atmosphere is produced during photosynthesis by plankton (phytoplankton). Blue-green algae that live in the world's oceans serve as a giant filter that purifies water as it circulates. It receives polluted river and rainwater and, through evaporation, returns moisture to the continent in the form of clean precipitation.
The oceans are one of the most important objects of environmental protection. The peculiarity of this object of environmental protection is that currents in the seas and oceans quickly carry pollutants over long distances from the places of their release. Therefore, the problem of protecting the cleanliness of the ocean is of a clearly international nature.
Intensive human activity has led to the fact that the Baltic,
The North and Irish Seas are heavily polluted by detergent runoff. Water
The Baltic and North Seas are fraught with other dangers.
Successful restoration of water resources while simultaneously involving them in economic circulation, that is, the reproduction of water resources and the prevention of possible new pollution is possible only through a set of measures, including the treatment of wastewater and reservoirs, the introduction of recycled water supply and low-waste technologies.
Waste-free technology is developing in several directions:
1. Creation of drainless technological systems and water circulation cycles based on existing introduced and promising methods of wastewater treatment.
2. Development and implementation of systems for recycling production and consumption waste as a secondary material resource, which prevents their entry into the aquatic environment.
3. Creation and implementation of fundamentally new processes for obtaining traditional types of products, which make it possible to eliminate or reduce technological stages that produce the bulk of liquid waste pollutants.
The most common substances that pollute water bodies are oil and its derivatives.
Shipping is the oldest branch of transport, connecting continents and cultures in the very distant past. But only in the second half of our century did it take on modern grandiose proportions. Tanker disasters pose a great danger to the open ocean, and nuclear submarines pose an even greater danger.
The impact of military conflicts on the World Ocean is especially dangerous. "War in
Gulf" led to the fact that almost 2/3 of the western coast of the Persian Gulf was covered with a layer of oil and a huge number of marine animals and birds died.
More obscure problems may arise from a warming climate
Earth. There is another type of contamination - radioactive contamination from the disposal of radioactive waste. Pollution of seas and oceans with radioactive waste is one of the most important problems of our time.
In recent years, a number of important international agreements have been adopted to protect the seas and oceans from pollution. In accordance with these agreements, tanker washing and waste ship water discharge must be carried out in special port facilities.
Problems of space exploration
Before the start of the first space flights, all near-Earth space, and even more so the “distant” space, the universe, was considered something unknown. And only later did they begin to recognize that between the Universe and the Earth - this smallest particle of it - there is an inextricable relationship and unity.
The close interaction of the Earth's biosphere with the cosmic environment gives grounds to assert that the processes occurring in the Universe have an impact on our planet.
It should be noted that already at the birth of the foundations of theoretical cosmonautics, environmental aspects played an important role, and, above all, in the works of K.E. Tsiolkovsky. In his opinion, the very entry of man into space represents the development of a completely new ecological “niche”, different from the earthly one.
Near space (or near-Earth space) is the gaseous envelope of the Earth, which is located above the surface atmosphere, and whose behavior is determined by the direct influence of solar ultraviolet radiation, while the state of the atmosphere is influenced mainly by the Earth's surface.
Until recently, scientists believed that near space exploration had almost no effect on the weather, climate and other living conditions on Earth. The appearance of ozone holes has given scientists pause. But the problem of preserving the ozone layer is only a small part of the much more general problem of protecting and rationally using near-Earth space, and above all that part of it that is formed by the upper atmosphere and for which ozone is only one of its components. In terms of the relative force of impact on the upper atmosphere, the launch of a space rocket is similar to the explosion of an atomic bomb in the surface atmosphere.
Space is a new environment for humans, not yet inhabited. But here, too, the eternal problem of contamination of the environment, this time in space, arose.
There is also a problem of pollution near-Earth space debris from spacecraft. Space debris appears during the operation of orbital spacecraft and their subsequent deliberate destruction. It also includes spent spacecraft, upper stages, detachable structural elements such as pyrobolt adapters, covers, last stages of launch vehicles, and the like.
According to modern data, there are 3000 tons of space debris in near space, which is about 1% of the mass of the entire upper atmosphere above 200 kilometers. Growing space debris poses a serious threat to space stations and human missions. Space debris is dangerous not only for astronauts and space technology, but also for earthlings. Experts have calculated that out of 150 spacecraft debris that reaches the surface of the planet, one is likely to seriously injure or even kill a person.
Outer space is not under the jurisdiction of any state. This is in its purest form an international object of protection. Thus, one of the important problems arising in the process of industrial space exploration is the determination of specific factors of the permissible limits of anthropogenic impact on the environment and near-Earth space.
It must be admitted that today there is a negative impact of space technology on the environment (destruction of the ozone layer, contamination of the atmosphere with oxides of metals, carbon, nitrogen, and near space
– parts of spent spacecraft). Therefore, it is very important to study the consequences of its influence from an environmental point of view.
2.13 The problem of AIDS and drug addiction.
Fifteen years ago, it was hardly possible to foresee that the media would pay so much attention to the disease, which received the short name AIDS - “acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.” Now the geography of the disease is striking. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 100,000 cases of AIDS have been detected worldwide since the outbreak began. The disease has been detected in 124 countries. The largest number of them are in the USA. No less evil is the international mafia and especially drug addiction, which poisons the health of tens of millions of people and creates a breeding ground for crime and disease. Already today, even in developed countries, there are countless diseases, including mental ones. In theory, hemp fields should be protected by workers of the state farm - the owner of the plantation.
2.14 The problem of thermonuclear war.
No matter how serious the dangers for humanity are that accompany all other global problems, they are not even in the aggregate comparable to the catastrophic demographic, environmental and other consequences of a global thermonuclear war, which threatens the very existence of civilization and life on our planet. Back in the late 70s, scientists believed that a global thermonuclear war would be accompanied by the death of many hundreds of millions of people and the resolution of world civilization. Studies on the likely consequences of thermonuclear war have revealed that even 5% of the currently accumulated nuclear arsenal of the great powers will be enough to plunge our planet into an irreversible environmental catastrophe: the soot rising into the atmosphere from incinerated cities and forest fires will create a screen impenetrable to sunlight and will lead to a drop in temperature by tens of degrees, so that even in the tropical zone there will be a long polar night. The priority of preventing a global thermonuclear war is determined not only by its consequences, but also by the fact that a non-violent world without nuclear weapons creates the need for prerequisites and guarantees for the scientific and practical solution of all other global problems in the conditions of international cooperation.
3. Interrelation of global problems.
All global problems of our time are closely related to each other and mutually conditioned, so that an isolated solution to them is practically impossible. Thus, ensuring the further economic development of mankind with natural resources obviously presupposes the prevention of increasing environmental pollution, otherwise this will lead to an environmental disaster on a planetary scale in the foreseeable future. This environmental problem can only be solved along the path of a new type of environmental development, fruitfully using the potential of the scientific and technological revolution, while simultaneously preventing its negative consequences. The inability of humanity to develop at least one of the global problems will most negatively affect the ability to solve all the others. In the view of some Western scientists, the interconnection and interdependence of global problems form a kind of “vicious circle” of disasters insoluble for humanity, from which there is either no way out at all, or the only salvation is the immediate cessation of environmental growth and population growth. This approach to global problems is accompanied by various alarmist, pessimistic forecasts for the future of humanity.
4. Ways and possibilities for solving global problems.
The aggravation of global contradictions puts on the agenda the common problem of human survival. Different specialists have different meanings for the concept of survival.
To optimally solve global problems at the current stage of social development, two groups of prerequisites are needed: scientific, technical and socio-political. The content of the first is to ensure scientific and technological progress to the extent necessary to regulate natural processes; secondly, in creating such socio-political conditions that will make it possible to practically solve global problems. The most complete solution to global problems obviously requires a radical transformation of social relations on the scale of the world community. This means that for the nearest foreseeable period, the only way to solve global problems is the deployment of mutually beneficial, broad international cooperation.
It is necessary to rethink the entire system of value orientations and change life attitudes, shifting the emphasis from the means of life with which people have been occupied for so long, to the goals of life. Perhaps these great trials will lead not only to a transformation of existence, but also to a spiritual transformation.
The aggravation of global problems has created fundamentally new conditions for the development of humanity, conditions of a constant, real threat to life on Earth.
In objective reality, we are dealing not with a totality, but with a system of global problems. Its characteristic feature is that it is extremely complex and multifactorial. And this is manifested, first of all, in the fact that the essential basis of the system of global contradictions are social relationships determined by the fundamental laws of social development. There are no purely social or purely socio-natural global problems. All of them express one or another aspect of a single process of socio-natural development. Characteristic feature global problems of our time, is that they, having arisen for social reasons, lead to consequences that are more than social, affecting the biological and physical foundations of human existence.
The central link in the strategy for solving global problems is the development of comprehensive international cooperation, the unification of the diverse efforts of all mankind. So, the world community has an objective opportunity to save itself and life on the planet. The problem is: will it be able to take advantage of this opportunity?
Ways to solve environmental problems
The main thing, however, is not in the completeness of the list of these problems, but in understanding the reasons for their occurrence, nature and, most importantly, in identifying effective ways and ways to resolve them.
The true prospect of overcoming the environmental crisis lies in changing human production activities, his lifestyle, and his consciousness.
Scientific and technological progress not only creates “overloads” for nature; In the most advanced technologies, it provides a means of preventing negative impacts and creates opportunities for environmentally friendly production. Not only an urgent need has arisen, but also an opportunity to change the essence of technological civilization and give it an environmental character.
One of the directions of such development is the creation of safe production facilities.
Using the achievements of science, technological progress can be organized in such a way that production waste does not pollute the environment, but returns to the production cycle as secondary raw materials. An example is provided by nature itself: carbon dioxide released by animals is absorbed by plants, which release oxygen necessary for animal respiration.
Waste-free production is a production in which all raw materials are ultimately transformed into one or another product. Considering that
98% raw materials modern industry transforms into waste, then the need for the task of creating waste-free production will become clear.
Calculations show that 80% of waste from the thermal power, mining, and coke-chemical industries is suitable for use. At the same time, the products obtained from them often surpass in quality products made from primary raw materials. For example, ash from thermal power plants, used as an additive in the production of aerated concrete, approximately doubles the strength of building panels and blocks. Great importance has the development of environmental restoration industries (forestry, water, fisheries), the development and implementation of material-saving and energy-saving technologies.
F. Joliot-Curie also warned: “We cannot allow people to direct to their own destruction those forces of nature that they were able to discover and conquer.”
Time doesn't wait. Our task is to stimulate, using all available methods, every initiative and entrepreneurship aimed at creating and implementing the latest technologies that help solve any environmental problems.
Promote the creation of a large number of control bodies consisting of highly qualified specialists, based on clearly developed legislation in accordance with international agreements on environmental issues. Constantly convey information to all states and peoples on ecology through radio, television and the press, thereby raising the environmental consciousness of people and promoting their spiritual and moral revival in accordance with the requirements of the era.
Humanism
Humanism (from Lat. humanitas - humanity, Lat. humanus - humane, Lat. homo - man) is a worldview centered on the idea of man as the highest value; arose as a philosophical movement during the Renaissance
According to the definition of the ancient Roman politician and philosopher Cicero, humanism is the highest cultural and moral development human abilities into an aesthetically complete form combined with gentleness and humanity.
Humanism today
Yuri Cherny in his work “Modern Humanism” offers the following periodization of the development of the modern humanistic movement:
Origin (mid-19th century - early 1930s);
The formation and development of the organized humanistic movement (early 1930s - early 1980s);
The identification of secular (secular) humanism as an independent ideological movement, its final demarcation from religious humanism (early 1980s - present).
Modern humanism represents diverse ideological movements, the process of organizational formation of which began in the period between the two world wars and continues intensively today. The concept of “humanism” as a definition of their own views on life is used by agnostics, freethinkers, rationalists, atheists, members of ethical societies (seeking to separate moral ideals from religious doctrines, metaphysical systems and ethical theories in order to give them independent force in personal life and public relations ).
Organizations of supporters of humanistic movements, existing in many countries of the world, are united in the International Humanistic and Ethical Union (IHEU). Their activities are based on program documents - declarations, charters and manifestos, the most famous of which are:
Humanist Manifesto I (1933),
Humanist Manifesto II (1973),
Declaration of Secular Humanism (1980),
Humanist Manifesto 2000 (1999),
Amsterdam Declaration 2002,
Humanism and Its Aspirations (2003),
Other international and regional humanist organizations (World Union of Freethinkers, International Academy of Humanism, American Humanist Association, Dutch Humanist League, Russian Humanist Society, Indian Radical Humanist Association, International Coalition) also play a significant role in the development of humanistic views, the promotion of humanistic values and the coordination of the efforts of humanists “For Humanism!”, etc.)
At first glance, the phrase “humanism and ecology” looks quite natural and consonant. However, upon a more rigorous examination of these concepts, it is not possible to find almost anything in common between them. And yet, the main direction of modern human development is most accurately expressed by the unification of the ideas of ecology and humanism.
Ecology arose in the middle of the 19th century in the depths of biological science, which by that time had become interested not only in the classification of all living things and the structure of organisms, but also in the reaction of animals and plants to the conditions of existence. Gradually, ecology took shape into an independent biological discipline with several main sections examining the peculiarities of the existence of organisms, populations and communities. In none of them is there even a hint of the priority of humane relations between species, much less of ensuring the beneficial existence of only one of the many species, namely Homo sapience.
Humanism as a cultural trend arose in the 14th century in Italy and spread to Western Europe from the 15th century. At first, humanism manifested itself in the form of a defense of secular values against oppression by the ascetic medieval church. Some Italian universities have returned to the half-forgotten and rejected ancient cultural and scientific heritage of the Middle Ages. The humanism of that time was initially prone to politicization and reorganization of society, which manifested itself over time in revolutions.
The Renaissance, which replaced the Middle Ages, “built on” Christian ethics and contributed to the further development of humanism. Without initially denying the foundations of Christian morality, the reformers introduced, in the form of studying ancient works, recognition of the intrinsic value of the human person and earthly life.
Humanism as a phenomenon turned out to be a historically changing system of views. Originating in art, it opened the way to science, the scientific and technological revolution, and contributed to an economic boom, enlightenment, social transformations and revolutions. Its consequences include both modern fantastic achievements of science, which have completely transformed our way of life, and numerous troubles caused by the excessive arrogance of people seeking to reshape the world according to their own understanding. In this sense, humanism has given rise to an anti-ecological worldview of consumerism and the priority of human interests on Earth, thereby contributing to the approach of an environmental crisis.
Ecology has also undergone a striking metamorphosis. From a private biological discipline, in just the last half century, it has turned into a colossal interdisciplinary field of science in its scope - megascience, studying the effects on living things not only natural factors environments that have always existed in nature, but also numerous processes generated by human activity. Applied ecology began to study ways to prevent undesirable consequences of anthropogenic impact on nature and on the health of people themselves.
Ecology has opened the world's eyes to processes of global significance, and at the same time, it is with these processes that the most unpleasant expectations, and perhaps the troubles of humanity, are associated.
Any species of living beings can theoretically multiply without limit. This does not happen in real life, and surges in the numbers of individual populations occur quite rarely. This is explained by the fact that the number of any species is limited by the limited resources necessary for its life, and above all food. Every ecology textbook provides examples of such “waves of life.” However, gradually people became less and less dependent on natural limitations. They learned to grow their own food, store it, buy it in other countries and transport it to places of deprivation. Humanity has learned to look for new resources, i.e. take more and more from nature. There has never been anything like this before in the history of the biosphere. While remaining one of the species of living beings, humanity has escaped the control of natural regulations.
It is no longer possible to rely on the omnipotence of nature. Natural mechanisms are insufficient to preserve the biosphere and prevent its destruction from the inside. Natural regulations are blind - they are “oscillations of a pendulum” with going off scale at the edges: a cataclysm is often necessary to switch processes. Anthropogenic regulation is the anticipation of cataclysms, it is a timely reduction in the speed of the process, it is a choice between immediate benefits and long-term sustainability. Hence the priority of “sustainable development”. Modern strategies should be based on a choice between short-term and long-term benefits in environmental management.
Now people are obliged to live by different rules - not natural ones at all. This is the essence of the “ecological imperative” - a concept that has recently become widely known thanks to the works of Nikita Nikolaevich Moiseev. A new worldview of humanity must be formulated taking into account the fact that one living species assumes full responsibility for observing the “safety rules on the planet”, for maintaining a stable balance of energy and material flows.
Such laws did not exist in nature, although the rudiments of them appeared long ago in the history of mankind and were reflected in the evolution of the humanistic worldview, either in the form of religious teachings, then in the form of social utopias and theories, or in various manifestations of secular culture. However, there can be no doubt about the fact that humanity has already begun to live according to laws different from natural ones, and its participation in the regulation of natural processes has no analogues in the entire history of the Earth.
In the famous first report of the Club of Rome, “The Limits to Growth,” it was proven that the development of humanity according to existing rules must inevitably lead soon to global collapse. Cosmopolitanism and concerns about the fate of all humanity have ceased to be the lot of individual moralists and thinkers.
Christian humanism turned out to be dual: while preaching love for one's neighbor, the church at the same time propagated asceticism, the extreme forms of which were inhuman. In addition, there was no place for nature in Christian teaching. Humanity harmed nature even outside of Christianity, but Christianity not only did not resist this, but actually blessed such a policy of people. Fighting against paganism, with veneration and deification natural forces, the great religion simultaneously destroyed the centuries-old traditions of the unity of man with nature. Christianity sought to separate man from nature, to contrast the spiritualized creature with other creatures, and especially with inanimate nature. Man was torn out of the biological world by religion, and nature was given over to him for consumption. This is the reason for the fact that environmental movements began and grew outside the church.
The practical implementation of the ideas of humanism was the spread of accessible and universal secular education throughout the world, the recognition of equal rights of women with men, the emergence of a social security (support) system for the population, including, in particular, the regulation of working hours, vacations, and benefits. In many countries, for humane reasons, they have abandoned the use of the death penalty as capital punishment.
The modern ecological worldview represents the next step in the development of humanistic ethics. Now we are talking not only about mutual respect between contemporaries, but also about concern for the well-being of future generations, about the preservation of the biosphere - the “common home” in which we all live together with many other species of living beings inhabiting it.
The United Nations has put a lot of effort into finding ways to prevent global environmental catastrophe since the mid-1960s. First in Stockholm in 1972, and then in Rio de Janeiro 20 years later, they were expressed in the most general form recommendations for overcoming the environmental crisis that did not fit into the stereotypes of either the capitalist or socialist systems. Gradually and independently of government efforts, the concerned public of different countries formulated new, still scattered rules for a different, third way of development, which is associated with the concept of sustainable development of humanity. Now, at the turn of the millennium, the world is beginning to recognize itself as a single community, doomed first of all to take care of the safety of its “spaceship”, from which it has nowhere to escape.
The role of gradually transforming humanism turns out to be leading in solving global environmental problems: if ecology as a science has gone far beyond the boundaries of its originally occupied field of knowledge and now we are talking about “environmental protection”, or more precisely about eco-culture, then humanism has undergone an impressive evolution. The time has come to admit that the world is learning to live according to new rules that correspond to the logical continuation of the evolution of humanism - its noospheric phase of development. Scattered principles, representing a treasury of humanity, which have been found and successfully tested by different peoples, thinkers, and religions, can be united into a single humanistic “code of life.” It mutually complements each other: the Christian “thou shalt not kill”, the desire of humanists for education, philanthropy and creativity, the affirmation of the principles of equality and freedom, citizenship and spirituality, current globalism and concern for the future of the entire planet.
Conclusion
The global problems of our time are of a universal nature in the broadest sense of the word, because they affect the interests of all mankind, influence the future of human civilization, and most immediately, without any temporary delays.
The universal are those prerequisite factors, those values that really contribute to the survival, preservation and development of humanity, the creation of favorable conditions for its existence, for the disclosure of its potential.
At the present stage of development, humanity is faced with perhaps the most pressing problem - how to preserve nature, since no one knows when and in what form an environmental catastrophe can occur. And humanity has not yet even come close to creating a global mechanism for regulating the use of natural resources, but continues to destroy the colossal gifts of nature. There is no doubt that the inventive human mind will eventually find a replacement for them. Man cannot exist without nature, not only physically (bodily), which goes without saying, but also spiritually. The meaning of modern environmental ethics is to place the highest moral values of man above the value of nature-transforming activities. At the same time, the principle of value equality of all living things (equivalence) appears as the basis of environmental ethics.
If humanity continues to follow the current path of development, then its death, according to the world's leading ecologists, is inevitable in two to three generations.
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RF
Federal state budget educational institution higher professional education
discipline: Social global studies
GLOBAL PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY AND WAYS TO SOLUTION THEM
Completed:
D.M. Neighbor
Krasnodar, 2014
Introduction
1. Development of globalization
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
In the process of historical development of human activity, outdated technological methods are broken down, and with them outdated social mechanisms of human interaction with nature. At the beginning of human history, predominantly adaptive (adaptive) interaction mechanisms operated.
Man obeyed the forces of nature, adapted to the changes occurring in it, changing his own nature in the process. Then, as the productive forces developed, man’s utilitarian attitude towards nature and other people prevailed.
The global situation in which humanity finds itself reflects and expresses the general crisis of human consumerism towards natural and social resources. Reason pushes humanity to realize the vital need to harmonize connections and relationships in the global system "Man - Technology - Nature". In this regard, understanding the global problems of our time, their causes, relationships, and ways to solve them is of particular importance. Thus, global problems are those that are of a universal human nature and affect the interests of humanity as a whole and of each individual person almost anywhere on the planet. For example, the threat of a thermonuclear catastrophe, the threat of degradation of the natural environment and ecological suicide of humanity, the food problem, the problem of combating diseases dangerous to humanity, etc.
All these problems are generated by the disunity of humanity and the unevenness of its development.
Their solution involves combining the efforts of a large number of states and organizations at the international level.
1. Development of globalization
The global problems of our time should be understood as a set of problems on the solution of which the further existence of civilization depends.
Global problems are generated by the uneven development of different areas of life of modern humanity and the contradictions generated in the socio-economic, political-ideological, socio-natural and other relations of people. These problems affect the life of humanity as a whole.
Global problems of humanity are problems that affect the vital interests of the entire population of the planet and require the joint efforts of all states of the world to be solved.
Scientists identify two main sources of global problems of our time:
1) deepening contradictions between man and nature, which lead to the emergence of environmental, food, energy, natural and raw materials problems;
2) expansion of the zone of contradictions between peoples, people in general, which entails the emergence of problems of war and peace, protection and development of the spiritual environment, demographic development, the fight against international terrorism, and the spread of dangerous diseases.
One of the first, back in the 20s of the 20th century, was the scientist Vladimir Vernadsky, who pointed out the threat of global problems of our time.
In the second half of the 20th century, among the global problems of mankind, the subject of consideration was the theory of global studies - a system of scientific knowledge about the origin and current state of global problems, their classification and justification of practical socio-economic and political ways to solve them. The theory of global studies includes conclusions made by famous scientists Niels Bohr, Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, as well as theses from the speeches of the Delhi Six countries and the Club of Rome, which has been in force since 1968. In general, the theory of global studies as a separate scientific discipline was formed in the second half of the 60s of the 20th century and went through three stages in its development:
1) the stage of the late 60s - early 70s, when attention was focused on the study of two global problems of our time: space exploration and environmental protection;
2) the stage of the second half of the 70s, when global modeling of the state and prospects for the development of world politics and world economic relations began in the context of global contradictions. It was during this period that the first attempts were made to create a hierarchy of world problems;
3) the stage that began during the 80s of the 20th century, when political and government figures in many countries around the world began to show great interest in solving global problems, and the first international documents were being developed aimed at their practical solution.
Modern global studies studies, first of all, complex problems, the solution of which will make it possible to find a practical way to solve the global problems of humanity, namely:
1) comparative analysis the basic sociocultural values of modern civilizations, the formation of a new universalism through awareness of the complexity of planetary existence;
2) comparative analysis of strategies for interaction between civilizations;
3) substantiation of the concept of humanitarian consensus, the process of harmonizing the values of different civilizations;
4) comparative analysis of possible alternative ways of globalization.
2. Classifications of global problems of our time and humanity
There are many classifications of global problems of our time. One of the most popular is that proposed by the Norwegian sociologist J. Galtung, who identified four critical situations in the second half of the 20th century:
1) a crisis of violence and the threat of violence, which now manifests itself in the threat of international terrorism;
2) the poverty crisis and the threat of poverty;
3) a crisis of rejection of individuals and social groups and the threat of general suppression of human rights;
4) environmental crisis and the threat of local disruption of the ecological balance.
A more traditional classification is proposed by the Polish political scientist Arthur Wodnar, who identifies:
1) nuclear threat of destruction of civilization;
2) the problem of depletion of natural resources, in particular energy;
3) environmental problems;
4) the food problem, i.e., the problem of providing food to the world’s population, which is constantly growing;
5) a demographic problem, i.e., the problem of reproduction and migration of the population, the formation of its educational potential, employment;
6) health problem;
7) the problem of using space for peaceful purposes.
It would also be advisable to classify global problems of humanity according to their nature:
1) problems of a predominantly socio-political nature (preventing nuclear war, stopping the arms race, etc.);
2) problems of a predominantly socio-economic nature (overcoming economic and cultural backwardness, solving the problem of poverty, ensuring efficient production, solving the global energy, ethical, raw material and food crises, optimizing the demographic situation, especially in the developing development of space and the oceans for peaceful purposes);
3) socio-ecological problems (environmental pollution, the need for rational use of the Earth's natural resources);
4) human problems (ensuring his fundamental rights and freedoms, overcoming alienation from nature and politics, the state).
3. Global problems of humanity
Range of interests related to ensuring peace and international security. For a long period, the international security system was based on the nuclear deterrence of military powers. However, over time, the understanding came that nuclear war cannot be a means of achieving foreign policy goals in conditions where the global interdependence of states has increased. The end of the confrontation between East and West gave rise to certain hopes for a secure world. However, further developments revealed new sources of instability and tension in the world.
The growth of international terrorism, the spread of Islamic fundamentalism, the increase in the number of local conflicts and “hot spots” on the planet - all this indicates the emergence of new dangers, threats and risks for the world community.
The problem of disarmament, especially nuclear missile disarmament, remains acute. Today, the weapons stockpiles accumulated in the world make it possible to destroy all of humanity many times over. Global military spending annually amounts to about one trillion dollars. Currently, the world spends 60 times more on each soldier than on the education of one child. In developing countries, the rate of military spending is twice the rate of economic growth, which makes it much more difficult to solve social problems.
The uncontrolled proliferation of weapons in the world expands areas of terrorism and crime, contributes to the “militarization” of people’s consciousness, and gives rise to violence in everyday life.
Solving the problem of disarmament would make it possible to avert the danger of nuclear war from humanity and free up colossal human, material and financial resources for the needs of sustainable economic and social development of peoples and countries. However, there are still numerous difficulties and obstacles on the path to disarmament, including the enormous inertia of the arms race, the resistance of military-industrial complexes, the large scale of international arms trade, local wars and armed conflicts, the growth of terrorist and criminal organizations, etc.
Among the global socio-economic problems, three can be distinguished - the problem of economic backwardness, demographic and food problems.
The first of these three problems is manifested in the enormous backwardness of developing countries, their inability to establish efficient production, provide themselves with food, eliminate poverty, and solve numerous social problems. The gap in all socio-economic indicators between these countries and highly developed countries reaches colossal proportions and continues to grow. This deepens the division of the world into rich and poor countries, creates tension in relations between them, and generally creates instability in the world system. The solution to this global problem requires, on the one hand, carrying out broad progressive reforms in the backward countries themselves and modernizing their national economies. And on the other hand, providing effective assistance to these countries from the international community, reviewing and writing off part of the external debts, providing gratuitous loans and preferential credits, restructuring international trade on fairer principles, creating and approving a new world economic order.
Two other global problems are closely related to the problem of economic backwardness - demographic and food. As a result of the “demographic explosion” in the second half of the 20th century. The world population more than doubled during this period and amounted to by the beginning of the 21st century. 6 billion people. Moreover, more than 80% of population growth occurs in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. According to some forecasts, in the near future more than 90% of the total world population will be concentrated in these countries.
Such a demographic situation entails a number of negative consequences: uneven distribution of the population in relation to life resources, increased destructive effects on the environment, overpopulation and growth of poverty in backward countries, the emergence of uncontrolled migration flows, deterioration of people’s living conditions, etc.
The “population explosion” has especially aggravated the food problem in developing countries. According to the UN, 800 million people here live on the brink of starvation, and 40 million die from exhaustion. It has been estimated that a 20-30% reduction in the world's food supply, coupled with continued population growth, would have catastrophic consequences for developing countries. Already, the global grain deficit annually amounts to 10-12 million tons.
The solution to this global problem is, first of all, associated with the creation of highly efficient agricultural production in developing countries. The implementation of the so-called “green revolution” in them (a sharp rise in agricultural production based on the widespread use of advanced technologies) would make it possible to feed a population 2-3 times larger than the current one. It should also be borne in mind that modern opportunities for obtaining food in the world as a whole are far from being fully realized. Thus, of all areas suitable for farming, only 40% is used for its intended purpose.
It is possible to significantly increase the production and extraction of food in the World Ocean. Finally, it is necessary to reconsider the largely unfair system of distribution of food supplies in the world and expand food assistance to economically backward countries.
Global socio-ecological problems are coming to the fore today due to the growing danger of destruction of the natural human environment. Modern environmental crisis is expressed in the pollution of the Earth's air and water basins, global climate change, destruction of forests, the disappearance of many species of plants and animals, soil erosion, reduction of fertile lands, etc.
Currently, about 1 billion tons of waste, including toxic waste, are released into the atmosphere, water and soil annually. Deforestation is 18 times greater than its growth.
One centimeter of black soil, which takes 300 years to accumulate, is now destroyed in three years. The greenhouse effect, “ozone holes”, “acid rain”, poisoned rivers and lakes, flooded vast territories, zones of environmental disaster - all these are the consequences of the destructive impact of humans on the environment.
Solving environmental problems involves the development and implementation of environmental programs at the national, regional and international levels.
Of particular importance are the joint activities of the countries of the world community to improve the composition of the atmosphere, preserve the ozone layer of the planet, rational use of natural resources, establish international environmental standards and control in the field of environmental protection, introduce waste-free and environmentally friendly technologies, create environmental protection systems, etc.
In modern conditions, environmental policy, the main content of which is the optimization of socio-natural processes and environmental protection, is becoming an integral part of the domestic and foreign policies of the states of the world community.
A necessary condition for the effectiveness of environmental policy is the creation of environmental legislation that provides for liability for its violation and a broad system of measures to encourage environmental protection (for example, the introduction tax benefits for environmentally friendly production).
An important task today is the development of environmental education, which is understood as the process of acquiring knowledge about environmental problems, the reasons for their occurrence, the need and possibility of solving them. Expansion of the environmental education system should contribute to the formation of environmental consciousness and environmental culture. It is also necessary to constantly and truthfully inform people about the state of their environment.
Global social and humanitarian problems cover a wide range of issues that are directly related to Man. This is material and spiritual insecurity of life, violation of individual rights and freedoms, physical and mental ill health of a person, grief and suffering from wars and violence, etc.
Natural disasters, local wars, bloody interethnic conflicts sometimes lead to real humanitarian disasters, the elimination of the consequences of which requires the united efforts of the countries of the world community. Growing flows of refugees, the total number of which reaches 50 million people per year worldwide, create serious difficulties for many countries (providing huge masses of people with food, housing, their employment, the danger of the spread of epidemics, crime, drug addiction, etc.). To a large extent, similar problems are caused by illegal migration, which is overwhelming the prosperous countries of the world.
Environmental pollution leads to an increase in serious human diseases, in particular cardiovascular and oncological diseases. A particular danger today is AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), from which about 6 million people have already died. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also concerned about unhealthy lifestyles, the spread of drug addiction, alcoholism, smoking, an increase in mental disorders, etc.
In Russia, the exacerbation of these and many other problems has led to a decrease in the average life expectancy of the population. If in 1987 it was 74.6 years for women and almost 65 years for men, then in the second half of the 1990s. - already about 72 years for women and only 58 years for men. Some researchers consider such a high difference in the life expectancy of men and women to be a specifically Russian phenomenon and explain it primarily by the spread of drunkenness and alcoholism. Thus, global problems are closely intertwined and ultimately they all “come out” to Man.
They are based on contradictions on a planetary scale that affect the very existence of modern civilization. Awareness of the growing threats to humanity has prompted many scientists around the world to join forces to study global problems and find ways to solve them. In 1968, the Club of Rome arose - an international non-governmental organization uniting scientists, political and public figures from many countries around the world.
The founder of this organization was a prominent Italian economist, businessman and public figure A. Peccei (1908-1984). The research projects of the Club of Rome “The Limits to Growth” (1972), “Humanity at a Turning Point” (1974), “Goals for Humanity” (1977), “The Third World: Three Quarters of the World” (1980), etc. became widely known.
They forced us to take a fresh look at many aspects of modern civilization and change traditional ideas about the possibilities of economic growth and the use of natural resources.
The conclusions and recommendations of the scientists of the Club of Rome, their forecasts and initiatives in the field of planetary modeling, the construction of the first computer “models of the world,” and the development of specific issues of the future society had a great influence on the world community and stimulated activities aimed at solving global problems of our time.
4. Ways to solve global problems of humanity
Solving these problems is an urgent task for all of humanity today. The survival of people depends on when and how they begin to be resolved. The following ways to solve global problems of our time are identified:
1) Prevention of world war with the use of thermonuclear weapons and other means of mass destruction that threaten the death of civilization. This involves curbing the arms race, prohibiting the creation and use of weapons systems of mass destruction, human and material resources, the elimination of nuclear weapons, etc.;
2) Overcoming economic and cultural inequality between the peoples inhabiting the industrialized countries of the West and East and the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America;
3) Overcoming the crisis state of interaction between humanity and nature, which is characterized by catastrophic consequences in the form of unprecedented environmental pollution and depletion of natural resources. This makes it necessary to develop measures aimed at the economical use of natural resources and the reduction of pollution of soil, water and air by waste from material production;
3) Reducing the rate of population growth in developing countries and overcoming the demographic crisis in developed capitalist countries;
4) Preventing the negative consequences of the modern scientific and technological revolution;
5) Overcoming the downward trend in social health, which involves combating alcoholism, drug addiction, cancer, AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases.
Experts place certain hopes on the restructuring of technologies, the use of clean energy sources, the use of resource-saving production cycles, and the transition to an ecological economy that involves spending on environmental protection and restoration.
Measures are also needed to optimize the demographic situation, establish a mechanism for rational environmental management, develop international cooperation in the field of environmental protection, and ensure the priority of universal human interests and values.
The development by the world community of a strategy for the survival of mankind will allow us to avoid a global catastrophe and continue the forward movement of modern civilization.
Conclusion
According to many social scientists, no matter what individual problem we take from the global system, it cannot be solved without first overcoming the spontaneity in the development of earthly civilization, without moving to coordinated and planned actions on a global scale. Only such actions, as emphasized in the futurological literature of recent decades, can and should save society, as well as its natural environment. globalization society universal
In the conditions that prevailed at the beginning of the 21st century, humanity can no longer function spontaneously without the risk of disaster for each country. The only way out is in the transition from self-regulating to controlled evolution of the world community and its natural environment.
Currently, to achieve this goal, humanity has the necessary economic and financial resources, scientific and technical capabilities and intellectual potential. But realizing this opportunity requires new political thinking, good will and international cooperation based on the priority of universal human interests and values.
Bibliography
1. Global problems, their essence and the search for solutions: Material for discussion
Modernity is a series of social problems of the development of civilization, which, however, are not limited exclusively to the social aspect, and affect almost all areas of society: economic, political, environmental, psychological. These problems have been formed over many years, which are characterized by the rapid development of various spheres of human life, and therefore the methods for solving them do not have clear options.
Philosophy and global problems of our time
Awareness of any problems is the first stage in solving them, because only understanding can lead to effective action. For the first time, the global problems of our time were comprehended by philosophers. Indeed, who else but philosophers will be engaged in understanding the dynamics of the development of civilization? After all, global problems require full analysis and consideration of different points of view.
The main global problems of our time
So, he studies global processes. They arise as an objective factor of human existence, i.e. arise due to human activities. Global problems of our time are not numerous:
- The so-called “neglectable aging”. This problem was first raised in 1990 by Caleb Finch. Here we are talking about expanding the boundaries of life expectancy. A lot has been devoted to this topic. scientific research, which were aimed at studying the causes of aging and methods that can slow it down or even reverse it. However, as practice shows, the solution to this issue is quite a long way off.
- The North-South problem. It includes understanding the large development gap between northern and southern countries. Thus, in most countries of the South, the concepts of “hunger” and “poverty” are still a pressing problem for large parts of the population.
- The problem of preventing thermonuclear war. It implies the damage that could be caused to all of humanity in the event of the use of nuclear or thermonuclear weapons. The problem of peace between peoples and political forces, the struggle for common prosperity, is also acute here.
- Preventing pollution and maintaining ecological balance.
- Global warming.
- The problem of diseases: AIDS, cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
- Demographic imbalance.
- Terrorism.
Global problems of our time: what are the solutions?
- Negligible aging. Modern science is taking steps towards studying aging, but the question of the feasibility of this still remains relevant. In the mythological legends of different peoples one can find the idea of eternal life, however, the elements that make up the concept of evolution today conflict with the idea of eternal life and prolongation of youth.
- The problem of the North and South, which is illiteracy and poverty of the population of southern countries, is solved with the help of charitable actions, but it cannot be solved until the countries lagging behind in development become developed in political and economic aspects.
- The problem of preventing the use of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, in fact, cannot be exhausted as long as the capitalist understanding of relations dominates in society. Only with a transition to another level of assessment of human life and peaceful coexistence can the problem be solved. Acts and agreements concluded between countries on non-use are not a 100% guarantee that war will not break out one day.
- The problem of maintaining the ecological balance of the planet today is being solved with the help of political forces that are concerned about this, as well as with the help of organizations that are trying to preserve endangered species of animals, are engaged in planting and organize events and campaigns that are aimed at attracting public attention to this problem . However, a technological society is unlikely to be able to preserve the environment 100%.
- Questions about global warming have long worried scientists, but the causes that cause warming cannot currently be eliminated.
- The problems of incurable diseases at the present stage find a partial solution offered by medicine. Fortunately, today this question is relevant for scientific knowledge and states allocate funds so that these problems are studied and effective medicines are invented by doctors.
- The demographic imbalance between the countries of the south and the north finds a solution in the form of legislative acts: for example, Russian legislation encourages high birth rates in the form of additional payments to large families, and, for example, Japanese legislation, on the contrary, limits the ability of families to have many children.
- Currently, the problem of terrorism is very acute after a number of high-profile tragic incidents. Domestic security services states are doing everything possible to counter terrorism on the territory of their country and prevent the unification of terrorist organizations on an international scale.
Global problems of humanity affect our planet as a whole. Therefore, all peoples and states are engaged in solving them. This term appeared in the late 60s of the XX century. Currently, there is a special scientific branch that studies and solves global problems of humanity. It is called global studies.
Scientific specialists from various fields work in this area: biologists, soil scientists, chemists, physicists, and geologists. And this is no coincidence, because the global problems of humanity are complex in nature and their emergence does not depend on any one factor. On the contrary, it is very important to take into account the economic, political, and social changes taking place in the world. Life on the planet in the future depends on how correctly the modern global problems of humanity are solved.
You need to know: some of them have existed for a long time, others, quite “young”, are associated with the fact that people began to negatively impact the world. Because of this, for example, environmental problems of mankind have arisen. They can be called the main difficulties of modern society. Although the problem of environmental pollution itself appeared a long time ago. All varieties interact with each other. Often one problem provokes another.
Sometimes it happens that global problems of humanity can be solved and completely gotten rid of them. First of all, this concerns epidemics that threatened the lives of people all over the planet and led to their mass death, but then they were stopped, for example, with the help of an invented vaccine. At the same time, completely new problems appear that were previously unknown to society, or existing ones grow to a global level, for example, depletion of the ozone layer. The cause of their occurrence is human activity. The problem of environmental pollution allows us to see this very clearly. But in other cases, the tendency of people to influence the misfortunes that happen to them and threaten their existence is clearly visible. So, what problems of humanity that have planetary significance exist?
Environmental disaster
It is caused by daily environmental pollution and depletion of earth and water reserves. All these factors together can accelerate the onset of environmental disaster. Man considers himself the king of nature, but at the same time does not strive to preserve it in its original form. This is also hampered by industrialization, which is proceeding at a rapid pace. Negatively affecting its habitat, humanity destroys it and does not think about it. It is not for nothing that pollution standards have been developed and are regularly exceeded. As a result, humanity's environmental problems may become irreversible. To avoid this, we must pay attention to the preservation of flora and fauna, and try to preserve the biosphere of our planet. And for this it is necessary to make production and other human activities more environmentally friendly so that the impact on the environment is less aggressive.
Demographic problem
The world's population is growing rapidly. And although the “population explosion” has already subsided, the problem still remains. The situation with food and natural resources is deteriorating. Their stocks are decreasing. At the same time, it increases Negative influence on the environment, it is impossible to cope with unemployment and poverty. Difficulties arise with education and healthcare. The UN has taken upon itself the solution to global problems of this nature. The organization created a special plan. One of its points is the family planning program.
Disarmament
After the creation of a nuclear bomb, the population tries to avoid the consequences of its use. For this purpose, non-aggression and disarmament treaties are signed between countries. Laws are being adopted to ban nuclear arsenals and stop the arms trade. The presidents of leading states hope in this way to avoid the outbreak of the Third World War, as a result of which, as they suspect, all life on Earth could be destroyed.
Food problem
In some countries, the population is experiencing food shortages. Residents of Africa and other third countries of the world suffer especially from hunger. To solve this problem, two options have been created. The first is aimed at ensuring that pastures, fields, and fishing areas gradually increase their area. If you follow the second option, you should not increase the territory, but increase the productivity of existing ones. For this purpose, the latest biotechnologies, methods of land reclamation, and mechanization are being developed. High-yielding plant varieties are being created.
Health
Despite the active development of medicine, the emergence of new vaccines and drugs, humanity continues to get sick. Moreover, many diseases threaten the lives of the population. Therefore, in our time, the development of treatment methods is actively underway. Modern substances are created in laboratories for effective immunization of the population. Unfortunately, the most dangerous diseases of the 21st century - oncology and AIDS - remain incurable.
Ocean problem
Recently, this resource has not only been actively researched, but also used for the needs of humanity. Experience shows that it can provide food, natural resources, and energy. The ocean is a trade route that helps restore communication between countries. At the same time, its reserves are used unevenly, and military operations are ongoing on its surface. In addition, it serves as a base for the disposal of waste, including radioactive waste. Humanity is obliged to preserve the riches of the World Ocean, avoid pollution, and rationally use its gifts.
Space exploration
This space belongs to all humanity, which means that all peoples must use their scientific and technical potential to explore it. For deep learning space are being created special programs, which use all modern achievements in this field.
People know that if these problems do not go away, the planet may die. But why do many people not want to do anything, hoping that everything will disappear and “dissolve” by itself? Although, in truth, such inaction is better than the active destruction of nature, pollution of forests, water bodies, destruction of animals and plants, especially rare species.
It is impossible to understand the behavior of such people. It would not hurt them to think about the fact that their children and grandchildren will have to live, if, of course, it is still possible, on a dying planet. You shouldn’t count on anyone being able to rid the world of difficulties in a short time. Global problems of humanity can only be solved together if all of humanity makes an effort. The threat of destruction in the near future should not be frightening. It is best if it can stimulate the potential inherent in each of us.
Don’t think that it’s difficult to cope with the world’s problems alone. This makes it seem like it is useless to act, and thoughts of powerlessness in the face of difficulties appear. The point is to join forces and help at least your city prosper. Solve small problems of your habitat. And when every person on Earth begins to have such responsibility towards themselves and their country, large-scale, global problems will also be solved.
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