By the second half of the twentieth century, the economic impact of mankind on its environment has reached such devastating proportions that it has practically lost the ability to self-repair.
Global problems of ecology and sustainable development - the problems of stopping the harmful effects of humanity on the environment.
In the middle of the last century, ecology was an internal affair of a particular country, since the effects of pollution due to industrial activity were manifested only in areas with an excessively high concentration of harmful industries. In the eighties, environmental problems acquired a regional level, as emissions began to reach neighboring countries, coming along with precipitation, wind.
In the nineties, the global environmental problems of mankind entered the arena. They are manifested in such negative trends as the destruction of the global ecosystem, the loss of self-healing ability of resources, and the expansion of ecological disaster zones. But the most serious danger of our time is climate change. The average annual temperature rises, respectively, the frequency and intensity of extreme natural phenomena: floods, droughts, tornadoes, sudden frosts and thaws increases. In addition, warming can lead to sea level rise, flooding of large areas, and exacerbation of fresh water shortages . All this causes serious damage to nature and humanity.
Climate change is associated with an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, that is, an increase in the “greenhouse effect”. Harmful gases enter the atmosphere from burning fuel, deforestation, and so on. However, there is another opinion according to which the cause of everything is not global environmental problems, but age-old rhythms of solar activity and climatic cycles.
Effects of pollution
The main consequences of pollution are that irreparable harm is caused to the health of animals and humans, too polluted territories become unsuitable for people to live and normal economic activity. The main environmental problems of our time, if not solved, can ultimately lead to the fact that the biosphere will completely lose its ability to cleanse itself and collapse.
Public policy
The aggravation of global environmental problems has led to a change in the state policy of many countries regarding environmental protection. The authorities began to establish environmental standards, spend large sums on environmental measures.
In the eighties, the world community realized that global environmental problems could not be resolved within individual states. The concept of sustainable development was developed , according to which it is necessary to ensure the development of countries taking into account the needs of not only the present, but also the future generation. As a result, a contradiction arose: how to ensure sustainable development and at the same time reduce the negative impact on the environment. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted, which determines the maximum emissions of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The main objective of the Protocol is to reduce emissions by 5.2% compared to 1990 levels.
Today, many developed countries have already been able to significantly reduce pollution levels, or at least stabilize it. It should be noted that reducing emissions will be very expensive for developed countries, and the benefits will be obvious only in the long run. However, global environmental problems need to be resolved, but all the costs will have to be borne now, so that later it will not be too late.