Lecture 3. Natural conditions as a factor in the development of human society
Plan:
1. The concept of natural conditions and their characteristics
2. The influence of natural conditions on life and economic activity people
3. Adverse and dangerous natural phenomena
Natural conditions have played and continue to play a crucial role in the life and development of human society. Undoubtedly, scientific and technological progress has significantly influenced the growth of the power of man in relation to nature.
Natural fertility, texture and depth, among other characteristics, cause certain plants to adapt better to one type of soil or another. Coffee, for example, has adapted well to the purple soil of southeastern Brazil. With the right glue and fertilization, soils that were previously considered poor began to produce large yields. This is the case for the serrata soils, which are now considered to be large agricultural barns in Brazil. The wheat used today for bread production evolved from the accidental crossing of wild varieties.
Since 1992 - the year of the UN Conference on the Environment in Rio de Janeiro - it has become a generally accepted idea that the primary condition for the sustainable development of individual countries and all mankind as a whole is the totality of natural factors.
Consideration and adequate understanding of the role and place of natural factors of development in modern conditions are of vital importance in the field of management at almost all territorial levels. Natural factors usually include the following categories: natural conditions, natural resources, landscape sustainability and ecological situation.
V modern world development of new technologies applied in agriculture, such as modern equipment, crops, no processing, proper use of fertilizers and agricultural machinery, irrigation, greenhouse planting, hydroponics, proper storage and transportation conditions, financing, etc. allowed to get large yields.
It should be noted that humans have the technology to provide adequate nutrition for all of humanity. The hunger that now affects millions of people around the world is much more political and economic than food shortages. Today, the hungry shortage is money to buy food, since the technical capacity to supply food already exists. It is also important to note that it is possible to produce typical plants of warmer climates in temperate climates because the vegetative cycle of these plants is short, which allows their development in the spring and summer, as in the case of soybeans and corn, among others.
Natural conditions- a set of the most important natural characteristics of the territory, reflecting the main features of the components of the natural environment or local natural phenomena.
They affect the life and economic activities of the population, the settlement of the population, the development and placement of productive forces, their specialization. They determine the cost price, and, consequently, the competitiveness of the manufactured products, which is especially important for countries with a significant prevalence of extreme natural features, including Russia.
Classification of agricultural activities. Among the various criteria by which agricultural activities can be classified are income and purpose. Subsistence farmer: Subsistence farms are practiced essentially to feed the farmer and his family. Through this practice, several products are grown and the surplus is sold or exchanged for other products. This type of agriculture is still widely practiced in poor countries.
Commercial farming: Commercial farming is market oriented. This is a business activity and is usually devoted to monoculture. A typical example is the cultivation of soybeans in Brazil. Commercial farming is more practiced in Russia.
Among the components of the natural environment, the characteristics of natural conditions are, as a rule, considered climate, geological environment, surface and underground waters, soils, biota, landscape or landscape conditions in general.
The specific nature of the natural conditions of the area depends on its location in a particular natural zone, the presence in it of a certain combination of natural landscapes.
According to the harvest, agriculture can be intense and extensive. Intensive farming: Intensive farming uses adequate technology and produces high yields. It is practiced mainly in developed countries and in areas with high density population. In Asia, river valleys and deltas outside the terraces are intensively cultivated.
Extensive farming: Extensive farming uses little technology, mostly uses natural potential... This type of agriculture is an agricultural activity carried out in areas with a low population density.
Natural areas- large divisions geographic envelope expressed as wide belts earth surface, united by the similarity of characteristics such as the number solar radiation, moisture, type of soil, vegetation and fauna.
Natural landscapes- These are relatively homogeneous areas of the geographic envelope, characterized by a natural combination of its components and phenomena, the nature of their interrelationships. Along with natural, anthropogenic, or cultural, landscapes are also distinguished, characterized by one or another degree of purposeful or spontaneous transformation of the original natural complexes.
Purpose: According to the purpose, agriculture can be classified as subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture. It is practiced especially in countries with tropical and equatorial climate, uses the coyvara method. This type of agriculture is known as because when the soil is weakened due to the lack of technology, it is necessary to clear new forest for planting.
Typical of river valleys or terraces, typical of Asia for growing rice, this form of agriculture is also practiced in arid or semi-arid regions such as Israel or the Brazilian valley. A system introduced by European settlers in their colonies, plantation is still practiced in large areas of Africa, Asia and tropical America... The system is characterized by monoculture of tropical products destined for the foreign market and exploitation work force... The most famous examples in Brazil are the cultivation of sugar cane in the northeastern zone of Mata and the cultivation of cocoa in the south of Bahia.
Landscape- main category territorial division natural environment. The processes of exchange of matter and energy between landscape components (rocks, soils, vegetation, etc.) determine their structure. Both natural and anthropogenic landscapes are subject to rhythmic and irreversible changes, therefore both are objects of regulation in human activity.
Current agriculture is practiced commercially with large technological investments that generate high yields. Storage methods and fast transport led to a real revolution in agriculture. Increases in productivity and production are a consequence of the computerization of machines, better control of pests and diseases, and the development of more resilient plants and animals through biotechnology and genetic engineering.
A highly controversial topic, transgenes are plants that are genetically altered to resist pests, diseases and addictions, and can even increase their nutritional capacity. Lack of knowledge of long-term health effects has led Brazil and several countries around the world, especially Europeans, to delay the commercial planting of transgenic crops, requiring further research. Argentina and Canada are among the countries where the planting of GMOs is not restricted, with the exception of environmental groups and the scientific community.
Among the landscape-forming factors that form the most important properties of landscapes, there are external (cosmic and geodynamic) and internal (manifested in the processes of interaction of individual natural components) factors. All landscape-forming factors are also subdivided into zonal (climate, soil, vegetation) and azonal (relief, geological structure).
As a positive aspect of transgenic plants, one can single out an increase in productivity, a decrease in the use of pesticides and, as a result, a decrease in production costs and aggression in environment... One of the negative aspects widely reported in the media is the monopoly on seed control.
It also authorized the Biosafety Technical Commission to issue new approvals, subject to proper examination. On the other hand, there has been a significant increase in the number of consumer consumers, a production system that does not use pesticides, uses organic fertilizer and implements biological control of pests and diseases. Research from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that developed countries spend $ 360 billion a year on agricultural protectionism in the form of subsidies to their farmers.
In management in general and in regional politics in particular, landscapes are considered as the natural basis of life and economic activity of people. This takes into account such their features as genesis, type, resistance to anthropogenic influences, aesthetic advantages, the degree of disturbance or preservation, the nature of anthropogenic influences.
The European Union employs $ 125 billion in the area, meaning approximately 40% of European farmers' income comes from government support. The United States and Japan also apply large amounts of subsidies. Business forecasts of the future state of the business climate have a significant impact on investment in the economy. In theory, increased economic uncertainty invariably leads to a decrease in investment activity. However, quantifying it is difficult. Economic science uses a variety of techniques to analyze and predict economic uncertainty.
The selection of natural zones and landscapes is based on the climatic features of the territory, which are manifested primarily in the ratio of heat and moisture.
Climate- this is the average long-term weather regime in a particular area. As a result of various natural processes continuously occurring in the atmosphere, the climate of the Earth and its individual regions is constantly changing, noticeably affecting people's lives.
Some of these methods include increased volatility in standard stock prices, unexpected fluctuations in key macroeconomic indicators, significant differences in forecasts of various institutions, and the frequency of articles of economic uncertainty in the media. The term "economic uncertainty" itself includes a wide range of factors that can be grouped into the following main categories.
Uncertainty about the state of the world economy; Uncertainty associated with geopolitical factors; Political risk. All of the above factors have a significant impact on the process of creating any sound investment decision from both foreign and local investors. A number of empirical studies clearly support the view that economic uncertainty negatively affects investment in machinery and equipment, development costs and recruitment of new people.
The most important climatic factor is warmth. Thermal resources determine the vigor of plant growth. The amount of heat required for the complete completion of the growing cycle (growth period) is called the biological sum of temperatures. It should be emphasized that this directly affects the country's economy, economy, many aspects of the life of the population and politics.
The main reason for this is the likelihood of material deviations of the projected cash flows from actual ones. When negative factors, such as those listed above, systematically accumulate in the economy, this cannot lead to an increase in economic uncertainty in the economy and, as a consequence, to a logical reduction in investment.
Gross capital formation is one of the most important macroeconomic parameters affecting growth. Only through investments in new machinery, equipment, intangible assets and human capital can sustainable economic growth be achieved. This element of GDP is of great importance for a young market economy such as the Bulgarian one, as it affects exports and consumption. The use of modern and efficient machines in the production process reduces the operating costs of industrialists.
Consequence climatic conditions is permafrost, sometimes called permafrost, widespread in the states of the northern hemisphere. Specificity permafrost must be taken into account when creating engineering structures: pipelines, bridges, railways, etc.
Water(moisture), primarily in the form of precipitation, is the second most important climatic factor. The lack of water, as well as its excess, adversely affect the development of agriculture and the economy as a whole, bringing significant costs to the budget.
This leads to an increase in the competitiveness of our economy, which, in turn, leads to an increase in exports. On the other hand, investment in fixed assets also leads to an increase in the level of employment and income, which has a positive effect on final consumption and, therefore, on GDP.
What has been happening with investments over the past few years?
Speaking specifically about Bulgaria, there are all prerequisites for an increase in the level of economic uncertainty. Over the past few years, the government has led five different governments, each with its own vision of the country's future. Bulgaria is currently ruled by a coalition government supported by a number of parties that are mostly ideologically incompatible. More important laws are passed through a thematic parliamentary majority, and it is not generally known whether this coherent cabinet will have the political will, support, and governance capacity to implement much-needed structural reforms.
The most important factor the formation of natural specifics is relief... Influencing all components of the natural environment, it contributes to the emergence of various landscapes. Over the past centuries, the formation of anthropogenic relief has become widespread. A person influences the relief directly (mining and technical work, hydraulic construction, etc.) and indirectly - through other components of the natural environment. For example, deforestation in savannahs contributes to desertification and the development of aeolian landforms; overgrazing leads to increased water erosion, etc.
In the public space, exotic ideas for laws are constantly appearing, which, depending on the reaction of the public, are terminated or voted. One of the clearest examples in this aspect was the idea of the so-called tax on "harmful food", which puzzled both large foreign investors in Bulgaria and several ministries. Unfortunately, in this cabinet, the vicious practice of administrative removal of the minimum wages and minimum insurance thresholds, which will inevitably negatively affect the dynamics of the labor market in the long term.
For agriculture and a number of other spheres of the economy, soil conditions are of paramount importance. The soil Is a special natural body formed as a result of the transformation of the surface layer crust, air and biota and combines the properties of animate and inanimate nature. The value properties of the soil are reflected in its fertility - the ability to provide plants with assimilable nutrients and moisture and create conditions for harvesting. Natural and artificial fertility is distinguished. A comparative qualitative assessment of soils according to the developed scales in relation to a given area is carried out using appraisal.
Biota is understood as a historically formed aggregate of living organisms inhabiting any territory, i.e. flora and fauna of this area. The characterization of the natural conditions of the area also includes an assessment of flora and fauna.
Vegetation Is a set of plant communities (phytocenoses). This or that type of vegetation has a significant impact on the development of the economy - agriculture, forestry, and other opportunities.
Animal world Is a set of animal communities that live within a particular territory.
Natural conditions affect almost all aspects of the daily life of the population, especially its work, rest and life, people's health and the possibility of their adaptation to new, unusual conditions.
The total assessment of natural conditions is determined by the level of their comfort for a person. To measure it, up to 30 parameters are used (duration of climatic periods, temperature contrast, climate humidity, wind regime, the presence of natural foci of infectious diseases, etc.).
According to the level of comfort, there are:
Extreme territories (polar regions, high-altitude regions of high latitudes, etc.);
· Uncomfortable territories - areas with harsh natural conditions, unsuitable for the life of a non-indigenous, unadapted population; are subdivided into cold humid ( arctic deserts, tundra), arid areas (deserts and semi-deserts), as well as mountainous areas;
· Hypercomfortable territories - areas with limited favorable conditions for the resettlement population; subdivided into boreal (forests temperate zone) and semiarid (steppes of the temperate zone);
· Precomfortable territories - areas with slight deviations from the natural optimum for the formation of a permanent population;
· Comfortable territories - areas with almost ideal environmental conditions for the life of the population; typical for the southern part of the temperate zone, etc.
The concept of natural conditions in itself presupposes one or another type of economic activity. Natural conditions predetermine the economic diversity of human activity, the sectoral specialization of individual regions, the rate of economic and social development. At the same time, the influence of natural conditions on the national economy is ambiguous and largely depends on the level of development and economic situation country.
Natural conditions are paramount for those industries National economy that function under open air... First of all, this is agriculture, forestry and water management. Their specialization and development efficiency are directly related to soil fertility, climate, and water regime of the territory. Transport and many other sectors of the economy are also influenced by them.
For example, when organizing the extraction of minerals, not only reserves and quality characteristics are taken into account, but also the conditions of their occurrence, which directly affect the method, scale and cost of extraction. In practice, it often happens that the most economical are not the richest, but the relatively poor, but located in more favorable natural conditions, deposits.
Almost all types of construction are highly dependent on natural conditions. Its cost is predetermined by such terrain parameters as the strength and water content of soils, the degree of seismicity, waterloggedness of the territory, the presence of permafrost, mountainous terrain, etc.
The natural parameters of the territory have a significant impact on the organization of municipal utilities. So, the cost of heating, water supply, sewerage, lighting of dwellings, as well as their construction, also differ significantly depending on the climate and engineering-geological conditions. In the northern regions of Russia, the heating season lasts up to 10 months, and in the south of the country 4-5 months.
The question of natural conditions for agriculture deserves special attention. The specialization and efficiency of the agricultural sector of the economy are directly related to the natural fertility of soils, climate, and water regime of the territory.
The methods of growing various crops and breeding farm animals depend on agro-climatic conditions - climate resources in relation to the needs of agriculture.
Agroclimatic conditions differ significantly from place to place. Understanding the patterns of agroclimatic differentiation is necessary not only for management agricultural sector the national economy, but also for the purposes of political and economic analysis. It has been calculated, for example, that the agro-climatic potential of the United States is approximately 2.5 times higher than that of Russia. This implies that for equal costs, the productivity of US agriculture will always be higher.
When assessing agroclimatic conditions and for a number of other practical purposes, they use data on zonal differences in the country's territory.
A specific form of natural conditions are unfavorable and dangerous natural phenomena or natural disasters inherent in certain localities.Disaster Is dangerous a natural phenomenon causing emergency situations. Under emergency It means a critical situation in a certain territory, which has developed as a result of a natural disaster or a man-made accident and entailed human casualties, damage to human health or the environment, significant material losses and disruption of the normal living conditions of people.
The most common and at the same time dangerous for mankind natural disasters include earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes and storms, tornadoes, typhoons, landslides, landslides, mudflows, avalanches, forest and peat fires. Typical examples of unfavorable natural phenomena are droughts, frosts, severe frosts, thunderstorms, heavy or prolonged rains, hail and some others.
By genesis, all the main types of unfavorable and dangerous natural phenomena are subdivided into hydrometeorological and geological-geomorphological. Among the less common are solar-space (magnetic storms, falling meteorites), biogeochemical (soil salinization, biogeochemical corrosion) and biological (reproduction of agricultural pests, epizootics, etc.).
Floods are among the most common hazards. They threaten almost ¾ of the earth's surface. Typically, rivers experience seasonal floods associated with the manifestation of regular climatic factors, in particular with melting snow (for example, the Lena River). Heavy rain showers often cause catastrophic floods.
The largest Chinese river, the Yellow River, is especially famous for its catastrophic floods, in the valley of which more than 80 million people live. More victims are recorded here than in all other regions combined. She holds the most tragic record in the history of mankind: in the fall of 1987, the water level in the Yellow River rose by 20 m. 300 were flooded settlements, about 2 million people were left homeless, the death toll reached 1 million.
Floods were and continue to be a formidable and insidious element for man. According to UNESCO, 9 million people have died from them over the past century. The material damage caused by them is also colossal.
The most important prerequisite for effective flood protection is their accurate forecast. Flood protection can be active (construction of dams, dams, branch canals, regulation of river beds) or passive (warning and evacuation of people, their use of places that will probably not be flooded, etc.).
Earthquakes- the most significant geological element in its consequences. Every year around 10 thousand people die from them in the world, and material damage, according to far from complete data, reaches 400 million dollars.
Earthquakes are generated by seismic shock waves and elastic vibrations of the earth's crust. In addition to natural earthquakes, destructive earthquakes occur and can be caused by human activity - flooding of deep reservoirs, oil production, pumping industrial wastewater into the bowels, creating deep quarries, etc.
The destructive force of earthquakes is characterized in conditional intensity points. In Russia, a 12-point intensity scale is adopted, which describes the result of an earthquake.
The most catastrophic is the earthquake in the Chinese province of Shaanxi (1556) with the death toll of 830 thousand people.
Other widespread geological hazards of exogenous origin include landslides, landslides, mudflows, and coastal abrasion.
Despite the undoubted advances in science and technology, the vulnerability of modern society to natural disasters is constantly growing. The number of victims of adverse and dangerous natural phenomena annually increases by about 6%. This is due to rapid population growth and high urban concentration; environmental degradation causing hazardous natural processes.
The greatest economic damage in the world is caused by floods, tropical storms, droughts and earthquakes.
Book: Geography / Butter
Influence of human economic activity on natural conditions and natural resources
Under the influence of human economic activity, changes occur in the natural components of landscapes. During the construction of cities, roads, dams on rivers, the extraction of minerals, the relief is disturbed. Improper soil treatment leads to their water and wind erosion, flat washout. The plowing of steppes, meadows, deforestation, and drainage of bogs affect the species composition of vegetation, and, consequently, the animal world: natural groupings of plants are replaced by cultural ones (fields, gardens, vineyards), the species composition of animals is depleted. Changes in these landscape components affect climate and water.
The influence of the economic development of the territory of Ukraine on its natural conditions and resources was unequal in time and in different natural areas... Already the people of primitive society, who were engaged in hunting and gathering wild fruits and berries, influenced natural landscapes. Later, in the Neolithic period (VIII-IV millennium BC), the population increased, it could no longer be content with hunting wild animals and gathering plants. Agriculture and animal husbandry began to develop. Tripoli culture (IV-II millennium before
n. BC) agricultural influence spreads in the forest-steppe zone, where arable farming developed, as well as in the zone mixed forests where agriculture prevailed. Farming was preserved here yes late XIX Art. It led to the construction of forests on a large part of the Ukrainian Polesie. The development of crafts in the 17th-19th centuries also influenced the decrease in forest cover in Polesie and in the forest-steppe. (smelting of metal from bog ores, production of glass, potash).
Until the end of the 18th century. the meadow steppes of the forest-steppe zone were mainly plowed up and the agricultural development of the steppe landscapes of Ukraine began. It was accompanied by the construction of natural steppe vegetation, which led to a decrease in soil moisture and drying up of the steppes, and therefore, from the second half of the XIX v. in the steppe zone of Ukraine, droughts, dust storms, wind erosion, etc. are observed. Development of lands with steep slopes, improper plowing contributed to the formation of ravines, drying up of small rivers, silting of lakes, groundwater... The agricultural influence on the landscapes of Ukraine is predominant, and it is they that determine the radical transformations of natural landscapes. In their place, in the process of agricultural nature management, agricultural landscape complexes (natural agricultural, land reclamation, pasture) were formed. Agricultural use accounts for 80% of the land fund of Ukraine: forest-steppe, steppe landscapes are plowed up by 75-85%.
On arable land, water and wind erosion develops, which is accompanied by the washing away of the humus horizon, blowing out, backfilling of winter crops, orchards, vineyards, forest belts, canals, roads. Water erosion is currently manifested on an area of 12 million hectares. Every year up to 3 thousand hectares of land are destroyed by ravines. In steppe landscapes, through extensive farming technology, the loss of humus over the past 20 years is 1.5-2.5% in the arable layer.
In the mixed forest zone of Ukraine, arable land occupies about 40% of the land fund, there are few of them in mountainous areas Ukrainian Carpathians - 16.8, in Crimean mountains- 21.4% of the land fund.
The agricultural influence is most manifested through agricultural technology and land reclamation, which are responsible for the decrease (increase) in the level of groundwater. Significant factors of agricultural impact are watering, liming, cultivation and sanding of land, the introduction of a contour or strip farming system, the creation of forest plantations. The influence of drainage reclamation is noticeable in the zone of small forests, in some parts of the Forest-steppe. There drainage reclamation is combined with chemical, phyto-reclamation and cultural and technical measures (overseeding of grasses, replacing shrubs with meadows, etc.). In the forest-steppe and steppe landscapes of Ukraine, irrigation regulates their water
thermal and salt regimes, with accompanying unfavorable processes (rising of readily soluble salts, subsidence, flooding). Almost all eroded lands have been covered by lisomelorative measures, shelter, near-level and near-bank forest belts have been created, pasture slopes, mountainous and elevated slopes have been patched, continuous and solid afforestation of sands, areas along canals, around water bodies has been carried out. However, reclamation measures do not always give the desired effect. Thus, the drying up of lands in the zone of mixed forests is accompanied by a decrease in the level of groundwater in the territories adjacent to amelioration systems, negative changes in the hydrological regime - the shallowing of rivers and lakes.
In the steppe zone, excessive irrigation leads to secondary salinization of fertile lands, their flooding and waterlogging. Improper use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides disrupts the natural cycle of substances and degrades the quality of agricultural products. Due to the imperfect technology of fertilizing and cultivating the soil, plants are able to assimilate only 50% of their amount, the rest are washed off by surface runoff, enters underground and surface waters, increases their mineralization. The toxic chemicals used during the cultivation of crops are mostly toxic to living organisms, harmful to human health. Pesticides are a potential source of pollution of soil, surface and ground waters, air. They can be the cause of pathological changes in the human body.
Large livestock complexes have a noticeable effect on the environment, their waste due to imperfect storage technology gets along with wastewater into rivers, lakes, and soils.
Industrial enterprises, construction and operation of power plants, mining, etc. have a great influence on natural conditions. The result of this impact is primarily chemical pollution, which accounts for more than 80% of the total volume of pollution. The main pollutants are enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, metallurgy, chemical industry, mechanical engineering, military-industrial complex, building materials industry, Food Industry, utilities, transport.
The concentration of enterprises of the fuel and energy complex in certain regions of Ukraine is very high. This leads to significant air pollution in large cities where they are located, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, their average annual content in many industrial cities is 2 or more times higher than the maximum permissible concentration (MPC). Among the emissions from thermal energy, the main ones are: sulfur dioxide - 63%, nitrogen oxide - 33, particulate matter - 30%.
The influence of metallurgical production on natural conditions and the state of the environment is clear in areas
where mining and processing enterprises are combined with metal production enterprises. A technogenic overload of the environment is observed here. This is, for example, the Donetsk-Pridneprovsk region, in which there are about 5 thousand metallurgical, chemical, energy, machine-building, mining and other industrial enterprises... Due to this, more than 70% of carbon and nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and sulfur dioxide get into the atmosphere. That is why the surrounding middle of the cities of the Donetsk-Dnieper region is the most polluted among the cities of Ukraine. In Donetsk, Gorlovka, Yenakiyevo, Dnepropetrovsk, Alchevsk, Krivoy Rog, Dzerzhinsk, Kramatorsk, Zaporozhye, Lugansk, Mariupol, the level of pollution exceeds the average in Ukraine. V atmospheric precipitation In this region, sulfates, nitrates, nitrogen, chlorine, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium bicarbonates have been identified. Metallurgical production affects the quality of surface and ground water, domestic and industrial water supply.
Chemical plants emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds, etc. into the atmosphere. Enterprises for the extraction and processing of sulfur, potash (Carpathian region) and table salt (Donbass), brine Sivash (Crimea), as well as those that produce nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers (the cities of Donbass, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Odessa) pollute the environment.
The atmosphere, surface and ground waters significantly pollute enterprises machine-building complex in the cities of Donbass and Dnieper (Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Krivoy Rog, Kramatorsk, Mariupol). Particularly dangerous for humans are carcinogenic substances of enterprises of the electrical industry, machine tool and instrument making, Vehicle and etc.
The military-industrial complex has a negative impact on the environment. This applies, first of all, to the basing areas and a large concentration of missile, aviation, tank and other military units (the Black Sea region, Crimea, the Black Sea, etc.). Thus, the content of oil products in the Sevastopol Bay is 180 times higher than their maximum permissible concentration, and the Black Sea Fleet is capable of dumping 9 thousand cubic meters of untreated wastewater into the sea per day. In some areas of military locations, the environment and people especially suffer from the pollution of soil and groundwater with oil products (Belaya Tserkov, Vasilkov, Uzin, Dubno, Velikaya Krucha, Ozernoe, Chuguev). Radiation from powerful radar stations has a negative impact on human health. In the process of training, military maneuvers, the landscapes allocated for training ranges, shooting ranges, training centers, tank training grounds, etc. change significantly.
The relief, soil, vegetation cover, the level of groundwater, the state of the atmospheric air change under the influence of the extraction and production of building materials. Landscapes are disturbed in places of extraction of granite, diabase, labradorite, rubble stone, crushed stone, sand, clay in Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk and other regions. The enterprises of the cement industry, which are especially numerous in Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, and Kharkov regions, pollute the environment with dust, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide. At the same time, the content of dust in the air exceeds the maximum permissible concentration by 5-10 times. Imperfect technology for the production of bricks, slate, expanded clay and other building materials significantly degrades the environment.
The existing system of urban and rural settlements in Ukraine has a significant impact on landscapes. The area occupied by settlements, industrial and transport buildings, is more than 5% of its territory. The construction of cities is accompanied by a radical transformation of natural landscapes, pollution of the atmosphere by emissions from industrial and municipal enterprises, and changes in the quality of surface and ground waters. In the course of construction work, hillocks are removed and low relief forms are filled in, soil is often washed over for construction sites. During urban development, soil and vegetation cover, surface runoff conditions, and the microclimate of the area change. Urban and road construction can intensify erosion and landslide processes. This causes the need for protective measures: the creation of retaining walls, gentle turf slopes, forest plantations, etc.
Utilities are also one of the factors that affect the state of the environment and human health. There is a problem with the disposal of household waste. Under the influence of natural factors, they decompose, and toxic ingredients pollute surface and ground waters, air, and soil. The most widespread method of processing household waste and still remains incineration, as a result of which the air is polluted with harmful substances. In economically developed countries, integrated waste processing technologies are used, which not only reduces the negative impact on the environment, but also provides economic profit and the ability to preserve valuable natural resources.
One of the most important problems is the treatment of domestic and industrial wastewater. 3.9 billion cubic meters are discharged into water bodies annually. Unfortunately, existing methods provide 95-96% wastewater treatment. However, this is often not enough. And an increase in the degree of purification dramatically increases the cost of treatment facilities. In most industries
the cost of treatment facilities is very high and ranges from 5 to 30% of the cost of equipment and facilities. According to observations, most of the wastewater is discharged without treatment in cities such as Mariupol, Zaporozhye, Kiev. With wastewater, thousands of tons of organic matter, oil products, suspended solids, as well as a lot of phosphorus, ammonium nitrogen, and iron get into the environment.
The state of the environment in Ukraine is greatly influenced by transport. 70% of total air emissions major cities accounted for by vehicles. So, each car, and in Ukraine more than 1 million trucks and 2.5 million cars, consumes annually from 12 to 30 tons of high-octane gasoline mainly Russian production... In this gasoline, the lead content reaches 0.36 g / l (in Great Britain and Germany - 0.15, USA - 0.013 g / l). Diesel fuel of Russian and domestic production has a large percentage of sulfur - 0.5% (in the USA - 0.05%). In addition, when 1 ton of diesel fuel is burned, 16-18 kg of soot is released into the atmospheric air.
Rail transport is more environmentally friendly, especially when electric traction is used. During accidents, a significant negative impact can be railroad when many toxic substances enter the environment at the same time.
Water transport threatens the environment if the technology for the transportation of environmentally hazardous substances is not followed. So, a tanker accident can lead to significant pollution of the water area and coast. Vessels with nuclear power plants pose a great danger. With regard to air transport, the greatest danger is posed by military aircraft and ground handling systems. Fuel residues with toxic impurities enter the soil and groundwater. Oil pipelines and gas pipelines, which stretch across the entire territory of Ukraine, are environmentally hazardous in case of accidents on them.
They affect landscapes and structures of waterworks, canals, amelioration irrigation and drainage systems. They regulate river flows, redistribute water resources, and improve conditions for growing crops. In Ukraine, drained land is 2.9, irrigated - 2.3 million hectares. Large tracts of irrigated land in Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolaev, Odessa, Kherson regions, Crimea, drained - in Kiev, Zhitomir, Rivne, Volyn, Lvov regions (Fig. 119). In the zone of mixed forests, it is necessary to prevent overdrying of peatlands and bogs by regulating the level of groundwater and the water regime in the fields. In the irrigated fields of the Steppe, it is important to prevent secondary land salinization. To do this, it is necessary to carry out drainage work everywhere, to standardize watering depending on the state of the soils and plants that are grown on them.
The creation and operation of hydraulic structures (reservoirs, canals), deep quarries not only changes natural systems, but also affects the state of the natural environment in large regions. So, about 690 thousand hectares of land were flooded by the reservoirs of the Dnieper cascade, and ZO% of their area is shallow water with a depth of up to 2 m. This leads to the loss of agricultural land, affects the ecological conditions of reservoirs (their hydrochemical and thermal regimes change, blue-green algae, which take oxygen from the water, which leads to the death of fish) and adjacent territories (an increase in groundwater causes salinization of lands in the steppe regions).
Man is trying to improve the environment. To do this, she plants eroded lands, mountain slopes, sandy areas with forests, creates plantings along roads and canals, around settlements. The afforestation of the Oleshkovsky sands, which stretch along the Dnieper from Kakhovka to the Black Sea, was effective. Thanks to this, it became possible to place gardens and vineyards there. They also take care of the forest, carry out clear and selective felling of the forest, as well as its planting.
The integrated use of forest resources is based on improving the species composition and age structure of forests, enhancing their environmental and protective functions, and increasing the area of nature conservation objects. Silvicultural, suburban forest landscapes and forest parks are being created.
In areas for recreation and recreation of people, natural CONDITIONS are significantly affected by soil compaction, replacement of natural vegetation with cultural, construction of recreation facilities. This influence is especially noticeable on the Azov-Black Sea coast, in the Ukrainian Carpathians and the Crimean mountains, in the suburban areas of large cities (Kiev, Kharkov, Donetsk, Lvov, etc.).
| 1. | Geography / Maslyak |
| 2. | Local time, standard time, daylight saving time |
| 3. | Section ІІ. PHYSICAL-GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS. NATURAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL Section II. PHYSICAL-GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS. NATURAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL Research of the territory of Ukraine |
| 4. | Relief |
| 5. | Paleogeographic conditions |
| 6. | Minerals |
| 7. | Seas, surface and ground waters. Water resources |
| 8. | Soil cover, land resources |
| 9. | Vegetation and fauna |
| 10. | Unfavorable physical and geographical processes and phenomena |
| 11. | Section III. NATURAL COMPLEXES (LANDSCAPES) AND PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AREA Section III. NATURAL COMPLEXES (LANDSCAPES) AND PHYSICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL AREA |
| 12. | Physico-geographical zoning |
| 13. | Section IV POPULATION OF UKRAINE Section IV POPULATION OF UKRAINE Number and density of population |
| 14. | Natural growth. Age and gender composition |
| 15. | Settlement system. Urban and rural population |
| 16. | Population migration |
| 17. | National composition |
| 18. | Ukrainian diaspora |
| 19. | Ukrainian culture |
| 20. | Labor resources |
| 21. | Section V. TOPONIMIKA OF UKRAINE Section V. TOPONIMICA OF UKRAINE Toponymy of natural conditions and resources of Ukraine |
| 22. |
