Man-made impact is a complex effect of the agro-industrial, industrial, transport sectors, as well as buildings and communications on the environment. This can cause a deterioration in its condition and the appearance of various problems for the economy and the population.
Technogenic negative impacts vary in duration, size, degree of acceptability, controllability. The most powerful and harmful effect occurs during an emergency of technogenic nature, the causes of which can be both natural and anthropogenic factors. The most important of them during anthropogenic impact are its strength and intensity. In some cases, such as during accidents at nuclear power plants, duration is also of great importance. Payments for negative environmental impacts can be very high.
Types of anthropogenic impact of anthropogenic nature
- Air pollution by dust, soot and harmful substances.
- Pollution of water bodies, including seas and oceans.
- Soil and groundwater pollution.
- Nuclear pollution.
- An increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- The consequences of urbanization.
- Mining.
- Military operations and tests.
- The destruction of the ozone layer during space launches, as well as the influence of some anthropogenic compounds.
- Construction of hydraulic structures.
Consider each of the sources of technological impact on the environment in more detail.
Air pollution problem
Most of humanity suffers from air pollution. This problem is especially relevant for large cities, industrial zones, for countries such as India and China, where the harmful effects are observed almost everywhere.
The main pollutants are sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, ozone, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, organochlorine compounds, heavy metals, soot, dust, asbestos particles. The release of sulfur oxides leads to acid rain. Nitrogen oxides enhance urban smog. Carbon dioxide in high concentrations leads to drowsiness and headache. Ground-level ozone is considered a compound toxic to humans. Hydrocarbons can increase the risk of cancer and other health problems. Carbon monoxide causes breathing problems. Organochlorine compounds can be toxic and carcinogenic, accumulate in the body.
The dust content in large cities often exceeds the MPC by 5–7 times, carbon monoxide by 20–30 times, and sulfur compounds by 4–8 times.
To the greatest extent, air pollution depends on the technogenic impact of transport, coal burning, industrial enterprises, and fires.
In order to reduce pollution, many countries have emission regulations. Reducing the problem of air pollution will help the transition of transport to electric and / or hydrogen traction.
Water pollution
The technogenic impact on the hydrosphere is one of the main environmental problems of our time. Water bodies are subject to this process to varying degrees. The most dangerous are oil spills on the surface of the seas and oceans during accidents on tankers. Oil film causes the death of birds and pollution of the coastal zone. In addition, the film reduces the evaporation of water, which negatively affects the natural circulation.
The cause of river pollution are drains from industrial enterprises, agricultural complexes, landfills, highways and city streets. As a result, river waters are saturated with harmful compounds, the number of which reaches up to a thousand. In the seas, polluted waters dissolve, so sea water is much cleaner, and marine fish is more environmentally friendly than river fish.
Soil pollution
The causes of soil pollution are almost the same as water bodies. They can accumulate heavy metals, degradation products of plastics, pesticides, fertilizers, industrial pollutants, etc. Mushrooms actively absorb toxins, so you should not collect them near routes and other sources of pollution.
Nuclear pollution
This problem is more relevant for countries actively developing nuclear energy. The greatest danger is long-lived isotopes. Other reasons for the spread of radioactive contaminants are radiochemical enterprises, uranium mines. Recently, many countries began to abandon the construction of new nuclear power plants. Among them are Germany and South Korea. This decision was largely due to the notorious accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima (Japan).
Greenhouse gas emissions
In terms of the magnitude of the impact on the biosphere, this factor is the most significant. Greenhouse gases are very stable and persist in the atmosphere from tens to thousands of years, so this form of exposure manifests itself everywhere and about the same in strength. By 2/3, the anthropogenic increase in the greenhouse effect is associated with carbon dioxide emissions.
In second place in importance - methane. Although global warming is still relatively small, it leads to increased instability and inertia of meteorological processes, which are associated with increased droughts, hurricanes, floods, waves of abnormal heat and (less often) cold, and frequent freezing of a certain type of weather.
The source of greenhouse gas emissions is industry, energy, agriculture, transport, that is, emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are anthropogenic impact.
In order to prevent further climate change in many countries, measures are being taken to increase energy efficiency and develop alternative (carbon-free) energy sources. A critical value is considered to be 2 ° C warming, which is significantly higher than the current level.
Urbanization
The construction of cities creates an additional burden on the earth's crust, increasing its unevenness. Another undesirable effect may be an increase in groundwater levels and a higher risk of flooding. The impact on the weather is that peculiar thermal domes can form over the cities, contributing to more intense convection and an increased risk of adverse meteorological phenomena.
The increase in temperature over megacities is associated with increased energy release, greater absorption of sunlight due to soot, asphalt, dark roofs, low transpiration and the release of greenhouse gases. Basically, this effect is noticeable in clear weather.
Mining
Most strongly this form of activity affects the state of the lithosphere. For example, underground coal mining can cause soil subsidence and house damage. Oil and gas production sometimes leads to earthquakes.
The effect on the atmosphere is the emission of dust, harmful gases and radioactive compounds. Large quarries alter the landscape and destroy ecosystems.
Warfare and Trials
Underground tests of nuclear weapons can cause seismic shocks, and ground - can cause radioactive pollution of the atmosphere. At the same time, a large amount of dust and smoke is emitted into the air, which rise to a great height and can cause a short-term cooling. There is an assumption that a slight decrease in global temperature in the 60-70s of the twentieth century amid general warming was the result of ground-based tests of hydrogen bombs at that time.
Wars in the Persian Gulf more than once led to fire in oil wells, which became the cause of large-scale air pollution. The fees for the negative environmental impact of warfare and testing turned out to be quite high.
Earth ozone depletion
This problem was relevant in the late twentieth century due to the massive use of chlorine-containing artificial compounds and missile flights. Now the passions around this topic have faded, and the ozone content has returned to background values. It can be argued that the destruction of the ozone layer is an anthropogenic impact.
Operation of hydraulic structures
Large reservoirs lead to flooding of agricultural land and a change in the hydrological regime, contribute to climate mitigation, which is quite favorable for agriculture.
Thus, anthropogenic impact is a complex interaction of various anthropogenic disturbances of anthropogenic nature. Both nature and man suffer from it. An environmental impact assessment should be carried out by the competent authorities, and information should be available to the public.