In order for all the systems created by man to work correctly, he must constantly solve certain problems, use energy and information flows. But man is able to make mistakes and thereby harm nature. This is called anthropogenic hazards. The article discusses their types, causes and consequences.
The concept of the threat caused by man, and its causes
Anthropogenic hazards are certain negative conditions created with the participation of man, which affect the environment and public health. They are mainly explained by the insufficient attention of workers and managers to safety problems and production risks.
Environmental hazards caused by humans are largely related to waste emissions that are unavoidable in production, agriculture, the transport industry and other areas of life. Waste and emissions, mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic energy enter the environment, water bodies and affect the state of all living things.
There is a concept of the level and zone of danger. The first determines the qualitative indicators of harmful substances, and the second - quantitative, that is, the affected area. Waste management standards are established for each level.
Studies show that the causes of anthropogenic hazards are mainly associated with erroneous human decisions. The statistics of incidents due to human fault are as follows:
- emergency situations at nuclear power plants and plants - 45%;
- objects with increased risk (places of storage, transportation, manufacture or use of substances that may cause an emergency) - 60%;
- plane crashes and maritime transport accidents - 80%;
- car accidents - 90%.
A person can make such mistakes that lead to technological disasters:
- In designing - low quality of project creation and incorrect calculations. For example, far located control devices. For this reason, the operator has difficulty in using them simultaneously.
- In the manufacture or repair - it can be low-quality or incorrectly selected materials, improper welding, skipping products that do not comply with the design documentation.
- In the use and maintenance of facilities. For example, insufficient training of personnel, lack of skills and tools for maintenance.
- Poor storage or transportation of products, deviation from the conditions recommended by the manufacturer.
- In the organization of the workplace. For example, crowded rooms, increased noise, temperature, poor lighting.
- Mistakes of management personnel. For example, insufficient incentive for employees, inconsistency in the team.
Classification of anthropogenic hazards
In the native nature of planet Earth, man can be considered the most volatile component. Technological progress and constant innovations are proof of this. Thus, the effect of people's actions on the environment is constantly changing.
Threats created with human participation can be classified as follows:
1. In accordance with the intensity of flows in the living space:
- hazardous effects;
- extremely dangerous effects.
2. According to the duration of exposure, hazardous and harmful factors are divided into:
- impulsive - actions that are of a short-term nature (for example, noise when a rocket takes off);
- variables - actions that are temporary in nature (for example, noise on the runway, vehicle vibration);
- permanent - actions that continue throughout the day (for example, a working day in an industrial zone).
3. According to the zone of influence, there are dangers:
- in production;
- in the town;
- at home.
4. Depending on the degree of completion of the process:
- real dangers, for example, transportation of flammable substances along a public highway;
- potential, for example, harm to noise pollution;
- realized, that is, those that have already happened.
5. By origin:
- physical - noise, vibration, radiation;
- chemical - actions with harmful and dangerous substances;
- mechanical - waste of human life;
- biological - the creation of viruses and biological weapons.
Anthropogenic factors
Anthropogenic factors are those that are caused by human influence and actions.
There are such types of them:
- Primary (direct), for example, extermination, introduction.
- Secondary (indirect), for example, deforestation, plowing, drainage of swamps.
Modern human activity is not limited to the influence only on the surface and bowels of the planet, it covers the biosphere and near-Earth space. Vivid examples of the influence of dangerous anthropogenic factors are: global temperature rise (warming), melting glaciers, the appearance of "ozone holes" or the drying up of the Aral Sea and its subsequent transformation into a desert.
Man appeared on Earth relatively recently, but has already managed to adapt to the environment and began to change it. The system of interaction "man - nature" is studied by such a science as ecology. In the process of studying the environment, people understood a simple rule: you do not need to take more from nature than it can give.
Sometimes there is an excessive influence of man on nature. Arguments about the dangers of such activities can lead a lot:
- Natural resources are gradually depleted. That is, they are slowly decreasing, fossils lose their qualities and properties, soil fertility decreases, and biodiversity of animals and plants is also significantly reduced.
- The environment is polluted. Because of man, chemicals unusual for her come into the natural environment, which leads to the loss of natural properties and a decrease in air quality. The consequences of changes in the composition of the gas that all organisms breathe are fatal to them. As examples, you can bring smoke, smog.
- The degradation of landscapes created in a natural way. A person affects the self-regulation of the level of land rocks, which can lead to irreversible consequences. For example, anthropogenic desertification, in which the biological potential of the landscape is destroyed forever.
Types of anthropogenic hazards
Man and the environment interact every day. Everyone goes outside, breathing, working and resting. Anthropogenic environmental pollution can be divided into the following types:
- Mechanical pollution. This is the name of the process of increasing domestic and industrial waste in the environment. For example, the release of construction waste, packaging materials. They can be in liquid or solid form. New technologies provide for the recycling of waste. But research shows that the annual increase in solid waste is 3%, while in overpopulated regions this figure reaches 10%. Waste processing today is carried out in two ways: incineration (thermal method) or disposal. Scientists believe that the use of biotechnological waste processing (aerobic processing, the use of activated sludge) is promising.
- Physical pollution. This type includes noise, electromagnetic, radioactive, thermal and similar types of effects on nature. Any pollution of the environment adversely affects the health and lives of animals and people. When overheating, all organisms have a faster heartbeat, breathing, and a disturbed blood supply to tissues. With noise pollution, hearing suffers, and the brain does not perceive sound vibrations. An electromagnetic field created by power lines, electric vehicles or radio and television stations affects the performance of the nervous system and the perception of information.
- Physical and chemical pollution. This group includes hazardous substances such as aerosols. For example, inhalations in medicine, emissions of powder metallurgy, spraying pesticides in agriculture, the use of deodorants, varnishes, paints or disinfectants in everyday life. Small particles entering the air also affect the life of all organisms. This is reflected in an increase in dustiness of the atmosphere, a decrease in the amount of solar energy, and dustiness of plant leaves, which slows down photosynthesis and reduces the amount of yield. Because of aerosols, smogs form, and emissions from industries contribute to asthma.
- Chemical pollution. The results of human activities in the manufacturing sector contribute to the appearance of xenobiotics in nature. These are substances that were previously absent in the environment and change living conditions to unnatural indicators. This type of pollution is due to the toxic effects of chemicals. They accumulate in food products, are contained in household chemicals and many products that every child uses. Cosmetic products are considered hazardous to life and health, which include elements: hexachlorophene, vinyl chloride, salts of highly toxic mercury, sulfur dioxide, benzapyrene, petroleum products, heavy metals.
- Biological pollution. This type of danger was identified relatively recently - at the end of the 20th century. Anthropogenic danger is the introduction into the environment of undesirable organisms, their reproduction or penetration into ecosystems. For example, human-created viruses. Organisms capable of reproduction are considered pollutants. Since the research and preparation of many drugs, including vaccines and antibiotics, takes place with the participation of microorganisms, the emissions of pharmacological enterprises into the atmosphere include their particles - a breeding ground for other microorganisms. Biological pollution is not only unwanted waste, but also a bacterial weapon. Prohibitions on its use are spelled out in the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972. After September 11, 2001, when a plane with people crashed into US skyscrapers, scientists began to use the term “bioterrorism”.
The source of man-made hazards is the person himself and his activities, his mistakes and shortcomings in his work, ignorance and low qualifications. The presence of such dangers leads to wars and conflicts, man-made disasters, explosions and damage to the natural environment.
The degree of impact on nature
Anthropogenic load is a quantitative measure of a person’s impact on nature and ecosystems, which manifests itself in the removal, introduction or movement of energy and substances.
The following types are distinguished:
- optimal when the human impact on nature is practically not, and the resources have time to renew;
- maximum (or maximum permissible) when there is a slow expenditure of resources, and nature does not have time to renew its potential;
- Destructive (destructive), when a person by his actions destroys the natural environment irretrievably.
Indicators of anthropogenic load are:
- For the industrial sector: a certain amount and composition of air emissions, waste water, the amount of industrial waste.
- For the transport sector: volume and composition of air emissions.
- For the demographic sphere: the volume of discharges of domestic wastewater, emissions from the operation of housing and communal services and other household wastes.
- For the agricultural sector: the amount of fertilizers, pesticides used, calculation of soil erosion and other indicators.
- For the recreational sector: calculation of man-days per unit area or use of a recreational facility per unit time.
Also distinguish the concept of "load standards." This is an indicator of anthropogenic impact, which does not lead to violations in the self-healing of nature. The indicator can reach the limit at which the destruction of the natural habitat occurs.
The complexity of calculating the anthropogenic load significantly complicates the calculations. This is because dangers may overlap. As a result of the reactions, new pollutants appear. Therefore, the collision of different species is extremely dangerous for nature.
The degree of anthropogenic load is calculated in points starting from 1 or in the form of a coefficient according to a special formula. The calculation is based on the recommendations of Roshydromet and Sanitary Inspection.
Changes in the atmosphere
In the modern world, there are many pollutants that pose a threat to the atmosphere of the planet. For example, industrial emissions, transport exhausts, aerosols, smogs and so on. All this reduces the stability of the biosphere, that is, its ability to renew.
Studies show that recently the pH of rainwater reaches 5.6 at a pH of 7. And at a rate of 4-4.5, fish begin to die. If the acid-base balance of seawater changes, then the ecological balance in the oceans is disturbed.
Industrial emissions are mostly dust, which changes the transparency of the atmosphere, contributes to smog and acid rain. Should I give any more arguments? Man's influence on nature and atmosphere today is truly fatal!
Changes in soil and water
Soil and water are the most important natural resources on the planet. A man uses them for food, home improvement, and for his needs.
If the stability of the biosphere is violated, then the soil and water resources will change. The earth absorbs more and more toxic waste and becomes unsuitable for sowing and propagating plants. When mining, the topsoil is significantly disturbed, and waste associated with the process is generated.
Ponds are usually contaminated by sewage. Recent studies show that the planet’s water resources are not able to fully meet production and human needs. The main sources of water pollution are industry and agriculture.
Implications for water and soil:
- decrease in land fertility due to landfill and the use of chemicals;
- copious saturation with toxic components of the plant world, which leads to contamination of food;
- violation of the biocenosis due to the death of animals and plants;
- water pollution by sewage, garbage, landfills and discharges.
Changes in the plant, animal world and human life
Environmental change affects all living organisms. For humans and animals, this translates into an increase in the number of diseases. An increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to the development of respiratory failure, respiratory diseases, chest pain and lung cancer in people. A change in the composition of water affects the condition of the skin. And noise, vibration leads to hearing loss, stress and nervous tension.
Plants also suffer greatly from environmental pollution. Emissions and landfill lead to the appearance of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide, which is fraught with acid precipitation. They can be deadly to wild animals and plants.
The consequences of anthropogenic impact on living organisms:
- shortened life span;
- acceleration of the development cycle;
- inhibition of the processes of reproduction and growth;
- permanent genetic mutations to adapt to a new environment;
- reduction in living space;
- increase in incidence;
- the appearance of deformation of the internal organs and skeleton in newborns.
Human life protection
To prevent man-made and man-made hazards, people are taught the rules of work and safety at the workplace. Managers conduct explanatory conversations, training situations, check the physical and psychological readiness of employees for emergency situations.
To properly assess the situation and make a decision, a person must learn to adequately assess the situation and not panic.
Anthropogenic hazards can also be called technogenic - in the event of a threat by technical means. To eliminate dangerous and harmful factors of anthropogenic nature, it is necessary:
- improving the source of the danger - timely updating of equipment and installation of filters;
- the use of protective mechanisms and means - specialized suits, masks and providing a comfortable workplace;
- staff development - staff training and retraining;
- selection of employees taking into account the psychophysical qualities necessary for the performance of specific duties;
- stimulation of safety of activities - carrying out explanations on labor protection issues and the consequences of non-compliance with the rules.
To summarize
We can say that anthropogenic hazards are an inevitable risk due to human activities. But only the fate of all living things and the person himself depends only on people and their decisions.
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