From time immemorial, the role of man in the ecosystem implied his active intervention in the natural chain of nature with the aim of thorough study. At the same time, the constant evolution of the ecosystem, which took place regardless of human activity, constantly fueled interest, which sometimes led to irreversible consequences both for the environment and for people.
Human and nature
Today, human influence on the ecosystem has become almost absolute. Over the past few centuries, due to the significant development of technological progress, environmental pollution has reached a critical point and began to pose a serious danger.
A significant effect on atmospheric changes is exerted by the carbon cycle in nature, since it is found in significant amounts in most minerals on earth. When burning mineral fuel at enterprises, dioxide (carbon dioxide) is emitted from it, which has the property of accumulating in the air, because as a result of large-scale deforestation, the remaining plants do not have time to cope with its cleaning.
As a result of a steady increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide on Earth, an increase in the global greenhouse effect is observed, namely that the dioxide retains heat on the surface, causing excessive heating, the effect of which is increasing every day.
Analysis and assessment of human activities in the ecosystem allow us to properly judge that if decisive measures are not taken to normalize the environmental situation, the immune system will not be able to properly cope with contaminants that have a detrimental effect on the human body, which in the future can lead to irreversible consequences . The thing is that the pollutant can affect the body both directly and indirectly, easily moving through various elements of the ecosystem.
Deserts
All terrestrial ecosystems can be conditionally divided according to climatic and plant characteristics, while each ecosystem is characterized by individual characteristics associated mainly not with the rare animals and plants that live there, but with climatic factors. First of all, this category of ecosystems includes deserts.
The main feature of this area is that the evaporation force in it is much higher than the level of precipitation. As a result of such conditions, the vegetation in the desert is very scarce. This area is characterized by clear weather and the predominance of stunted plants, as a result of which the soil begins to intensively lose heat accumulated during the day at night. It should be borne in mind that deserts occupy more than 15% of the land surface and are located in almost all latitudes of the earth.
Deserts can be:
Plants and animals living in them, regardless of climatic conditions, are able to accumulate and retain deficient moisture in the body. The destruction of vegetation in a given area leads to the fact that its restoration will require a huge amount of time and effort.
Savannahs
Natural ecosystems also include the savannah region, whose territories are, in fact, grassy ecosystems. This category includes areas in which several long dry periods are observed, and when they are completed, excessive rainfall occurs. It is this category of ecosystem that occupies wide areas on both sides of the equator, occurring even in areas adjacent to the Arctic deserts.
Despite the fact that people are extremely rare in such an area, the oil and gas reserves discovered in these territories provoked a high anthropogenic impact, because as a result of low levels of decomposition of organic substances, the growth rate of vegetation is minimal, due to which this ecological region is one of the most vulnerable.
Forest ecosystems
All forests, regardless of species, also belong to the category of terrestrial ecosystems.
They are represented by:
- Deciduous forests. The main feature is the rapid restoration of vegetation after felling. Therefore, this area is best able to counteract the negative impact that people have on it.
- Conifers. Basically, these forests are represented in taiga regions. It is in this area that most of the timber is mined for industrial needs.
- Tropical. Trees in these forests retain foliage almost throughout the year, due to which a stable purification of the atmosphere from carbon dioxide is ensured. As a result of human destruction of vegetation, the topsoil is completely washed away due to prolonged exposure to rain, and it is almost impossible to restore forests after deforestation.
Artificially created ecosystems
Artificial ecosystems, or agrocenosis, include ecosystems artificially created by humans, the main task of which is to maintain and stabilize the ecological situation in the world, as well as to provide people and animals with stable food. This category includes:
- Fields.
- Hayfields.
- Parks.
- Gardens
- Gardens.
- Forest planting.
In most cases, artificial ecosystems are required for human production of agricultural products for their normal life. Despite the fact that they are not very reliable in environmental terms, high productivity allows using the minimum amount of land to provide food to the whole world. The main criteria that a person invests in creating them are the preservation of cultures that have maximum performance.
The population in the agrocenosis is mainly due to the care that a person can provide to increase the level of fertility that the artificial ecosystem so needs. Man, whose nature is associated with constant discoveries in the areas most important for life, has long understood that this particular type of ecosystem constantly needs useful elements. Among them, water and mineral fertilizers play a decisive role , some of which constantly disappear from the soil as a result of the water cycle in nature. Only in this way it is possible to maintain productivity and prevent hunger in constantly deteriorating environmental conditions.
Moreover, in the agrocenosis, as in any other field, food chains of the ecosystem are observed, of which man is an obligatory component. Moreover, it is he who plays a decisive role, because without him, no artificial ecosystem could exist. The fact is that without proper care, it retains its properties for a maximum of a year in the form of grain fields and up to a quarter century in the form of fruit and berry crops.
Soil reclamation remains the best way to increase and maintain the productivity of these ecosystems, which helps to clear the earth of extraneous elements and stabilize the natural growth of plants.
Impact on natural ecosystems
Natural ecosystems include both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. At the same time, mankind must take substantial measures to protect water bodies from the penetration of harmful substances. The number of living organisms for which water is the main source of life depends on the content of salts and temperature factors in it. Unlike terrestrial ecosystems, animals living underwater need constant access to oxygen, as a result of which they try to stay on the surface of the water.
Terrestrial ecosystems differ from aquatic ones not only by the root system of vegetation, but also by the main components of nutrition. At the same time, depending on the depth of water, food sources become much less. Even if waste emissions from enterprises are not produced in water sources, but on the surface of the Earth, due to precipitation, pollution penetrates into groundwater. And already with them it reaches the main sources, destroying in them most of the living organisms and exerting a harmful effect on the human body during the use of water by people.
Varieties of air pollution
The effects of human activities in ecosystems have primarily affected air pollution. Until recently, it was considered the largest environmental problem in all large cities, however, thanks to a thorough study of the problem, scientists were able to find out that atmospheric pollutants can travel considerable distances from a direct source of release. Consequently, we can conclude that even living in an extremely favorable environmental environment, people are insured against harmful influences as little as those who live in close proximity to industrial sources.
The most common air pollutants, from which the environment suffers, are:
- Increase in the concentration of air of its main element - carbon dioxide.
- Nitrogen oxides.
- Hydrocarbons.
- Sulphur dioxide.
- A gas mixture of chlorine, fluorine and carbon compounds, called CFCs.
Such a human impact on the ecosystem has led to the fact that the fight against environmental pollution has become global, becoming the most important task for all countries without exception. Only in conditions of close international cooperation can optimally fast stabilization of the environmental situation be achieved.
Negative consequences
Negative human activity in the ecosystem has led to the fact that the concentration of natural atmospheric components in the air decreases annually, and the upper atmospheric layer, in which the ozone concentration sometimes reaches a critical level, suffers the most. Moreover, the main difficulty in restoring its stable performance lies precisely in the fact that ozone itself can significantly increase air pollution on the earth's surface, exerting a detrimental effect on most crops. In addition, when ozone is mixed with hydrocarbon and nitric oxide, photochemical smog is formed , which is the most harmful mixture that has a detrimental effect on the environment.
To date, the best minds in the world are working on the problem of reducing the negative consequences of human activity. Of course, ecosystems created by humans partially normalize indicators, but there is a steady increase in harmful emissions from industrial enterprises accumulating in the atmosphere.
In addition, there are also secondary factors in the form of dust, noise, amplification of electromagnetic fields and climate change, as a result of which the ambient temperature has increased significantly in recent years, thereby causing irreversible climate change.
Environmental Support Measures
Since human influence on the ecosystem has led to serious climatic changes, and in particular to global warming, humanity must develop serious measures to combat pollution, increasing the number of ecosystems on Earth, regardless of whether they are natural or artificial. Due to the accumulation of various gases in the atmosphere, of which only an insignificant part is scattered in outer space, and the rest cause a greenhouse effect on the earth, scientists suggest a significant increase in temperature on the planet in the future, which is detrimental to all living things. However, it must be borne in mind that without such an impact, which has undergone few changes over millions of years, modern ecosystems aimed at supporting the environmental situation by humans could not exist.
Nevertheless, mankind must seriously reduce emissions of harmful elements into the air, and at least stabilize the process of deforestation with the formation of new green spaces, because a stable increase in the greenhouse effect in the future will lead to evaporation of water and worsen weather systems. It is important that certain measures in this area have already been taken. First of all, this concerns the creation of the Intergovernmental Group, whose task is to monitor climate change and identify the location of powerful gas emissions, throwing all its efforts to correct the environmental situation in this area.
In addition, the World Ecological Congress, better known as the Earth Summit, was created. He carries out full-scale work aimed at concluding an international agreement between all countries in order to reduce emissions of gas and other harmful elements into the atmosphere.
Despite the fact that convincing evidence of modern anthropogenic warming does not exist today, most scientists believe that the irreversible process has already begun. That is why it is so important that the whole world come together to stabilize the ecological situation on Earth.
Human influence on the ecosystem can be partially eliminated through the development and further implementation of powerful plants that will be used for thorough air purification. Today, such designs are installed only at the most progressive enterprises, but their number is so insignificant that the reduction in emissions is almost imperceptible against a global background.
No less important is the development of alternative energy sources that do not have an adverse effect on the environment. In addition, industrial production should reach a new level of work using non-waste industrial technology, and measures to control the exhaust gases produced by cars should be maximized. Only after the situation is stabilized as much as possible, global environmental organizations will be able to properly identify and combat all violations.
Steps to stabilize the situation
The negative impact of man on the ecosystem can be observed not only in the pollution of nature with chemical waste, as, for example, in the case of Chernobyl, but also in the widespread extinction of the rarest species of animals and plants. All these factors contribute to the deterioration of human health, regardless of age groups. In addition, environmental disruptions affect even unborn children, significantly worsening the general condition of the global gene pool and affecting the mortality rate.
A detailed analysis and assessment of human consequences in ecosystems allows us to judge that the main environmental degradation on Earth is associated mainly with intentionally directed human activity. This area includes poaching and an increase in the number of chemical enterprises whose emissions have a strong impact on the environment. If in the near future mankind does not realize what result its actions will result in and does not begin to actively use cleaning technologies, including an increase in the number of green spaces, especially in large industrial cities, this can lead to irreversible consequences all over the world.