The scientific and technological revolution allowed humanity to unload its muscles, but it pulled the nerves and widened the gap with nature. An increasing number of people on the planet and an increase in consumption are increasingly using natural resources and loading the planet’s resource base. And recreational and agro-climatic resources go to the forefront of priorities . These are the basic components that will satisfy the needs of people and not tear them away from nature. Conservation of nature and care for it in this vein are becoming increasingly relevant.
Agroclimatic and recreational resources
Since the inception of human civilization, we have been using in our activities all the opportunities that have formed on our planet over billions of years. The development of science and technology has led to global depletion of reserves of exhaustible natural resources, and agroclimatic resources are no exception . This is a human ecocide of nature, which led to the emergence of man-made earthquakes and huge tsunamis, the loss of millions of square kilometers of fertile soils and unique biogeocenoses. Mankind turned out to be for nature not a child caring for its parent, but a destroyer and even a pest. The entire diversity of the planet’s recreational resources is in jeopardy, and the need to provide food needs makes us increasingly careful about the existing agro-climatic resources.
Nature for us
Speaking about recreational resources, we mean everything that can be used to meet a person’s need for recreation, both active and passive. This group includes natural components (landscape, aquatic, flora and fauna), sights of a cultural and historical nature and the corresponding related infrastructure. Man is a child of nature, and in conditions of increasing emotional and social burden on citizens, we are increasingly attracted to touch the origins - the pristine islets of nature. The theme of the development of the tourism industry and its environmental friendliness is extensive and multifaceted. But its problems are inseparable from the general problems of the ecological state of the planet.
World agroclimatic resources
Today, the problem of providing food to the world's population is no less acute than a century ago. In this case, the provision of needs is entrusted to the structures of the agro-industrial complex, which has long become the basis of the global economy. Agro-industrial resources - this is the whole range of indicators that affect the productivity of agricultural farming and provide the capacity and potential of rural production. The duration of the light period, the average daily temperature and humidity are the main components of the agro-climatic resource of the planet.
A separate environmental science - agroclimatology - is engaged in assessing climatic features and the potential for their use, studying agricultural land as a single biogeocenosis, monitoring and developing ways to reduce adverse factors, agroclimatic zoning, and developing solutions to the problem of agroclimatic resources.
Farmer's main wealth
The optimal amount of sunlight, a warm climate and an acceptable level of humidity are the most important indicators of successful agriculture. Let's try to specify the concept of "agroclimatic resources". The definition of components may be as follows:
- The average daily vegetative period. For all crops, there is a biological zero (minimum and maximum temperatures). For each zone of ecological zoning, methods have been developed that evaluate the potential effectiveness of growing a particular crop.
- The vegetative period and biomass accumulation provide photosynthesis processes. Its light and dark periods play a life-determining function for plants. Photoperiodism - the duration of daylight hours for a given area of ecological zoning.
- The formation of 1 gram of dry matter by plants provides the cost of up to 1 thousand grams of water. Humidity indicators are an important component of the agroclimatic resource of the area.
- Snow cover, its quantity and quality, is important as a factor in the supply of moisture and ensuring the experience of the non-vegetative period with perennial crops.
These are the main, although not the only indicators characterizing agro-climatic resources.
It is important
All resources on the planet are distributed unevenly. And agroclimatic here is no exception. The zone assessment includes about 70 indicators unique to the area. Although this set of resources is classified as renewable natural resources, their quality and quantity are affected by both natural factors (global warming on the planet) and anthropogenic (pollution, merciless use). Technogenic catastrophes generally take entire regions out of circulation along with their agricultural resources.
The tasks of mankind
Since the 90s of the last century, the world community has adopted the concept of sustainable development, which implies combining economic and environmental approaches to using the planet’s resource base and its component, such as agro-climatic resources. This is the only true way that will ensure the safety of the planet for future generations. The concept of sustainable development includes many points; in the context of our topic, we highlight the following priority tasks:
- ensuring through the rational use of the stability of natural resources;
- development of green agriculture and increasing its productivity;
- development of technologies that reduce the load on the planet’s climate;
- optimization of energy saving technologies and alternative energy sources.