Environmental safety is an important concept on which the health of the population and the welfare of the state depend. The term "ecology" was coined by the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel more than 100 years ago. Translated from the Greek language, “oikos” means home, and “logos” means science.
Ecology has a systemic interdisciplinary scientific direction. Having appeared on the basis of biology, it includes the basic laws of chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Despite this, ecology can also be attributed to the humanities. After all, environmental safety affects the fate of the biosphere, that is, the existence of the entire human civilization.
Directions
Depending on what specific environmental problems need to be addressed, certain applied areas are distinguished:
- chemical;
- medical;
- engineering;
- space;
- human ecology.
The subject of this science is the organization and functioning of living systems. Ecological safety of the world is a task, the solution of which involves the joint actions of all countries.
Types of environmental pollution
To ensure its existence, humanity needs water, food, shelter, clothing. The production of all products and goods is associated with the receipt of various kinds of waste entering the environment. In order to prevent serious and irreparable damage to the environment, it is important to take a responsible approach to industrial planning.
It is important to combine the satisfaction of human needs at the expense of natural resources with the protection of the environment from the destructive actions of human civilization.
Ensuring environmental safety is a chance to avoid environmental pollution, preserving its original appearance for future generations.
For example, every day water enters the city sewer, which contains fly ash, organic pollutants, and solid waste. In order to protect citizens, it is possible to purify wastewater, releasing sludge from it for growing agricultural products.
Any activity of human civilization has an impact on earthly resources. Due to the fact that our planet receives new energy from the Sun, the resources of the Earth do not run out. Human activities are associated with environmental damage, so environmental safety is associated with minimizing these harmful effects.
There is a classification of environmental pollution, consisting of several groups:
- physical, associated with different types of radiation, vibration;
- chemical, in which toxic fumes and gases appear in air, soil, water.
Sustainable development concept
Environmental safety involves a system of measures to ensure the protection of humanity and the biosphere. At the state level, certain laws are being developed that protect the state from threats arising from the anthropogenic and natural impacts on the environment.
The environmental safety of Russia presupposes a system of regulation and management, which makes it possible to foresee, prevent, and, when it appears, eliminate the further development of dangerous situations.
Such actions should be implemented at the regional, global, local levels.
Modern tendencies
Environmental safety rules appeared only in the second half of the last century. It was during this time period that global climate change was observed, the greenhouse effect began to be felt, the ozone screen was destroyed, and the World Ocean was polluted.
The essence of global management and control is to restore and preserve the natural mechanism of reproduction of the biosphere by the environment. All actions are associated with the functioning of living organisms entering the biosphere.
Defense Management
Environmental and industrial safety is the prerogative of interstate relations at the level of international states: UNESCO, UN, UNEP.
Management methods at this level involve the development of special acts to protect nature on a biosphere scale, the implementation of international environmental programs, the creation of interstate structures specializing in eliminating the consequences of environmental disasters of anthropogenic and natural character.
For example, the international community has succeeded in banning nuclear weapons tests in any environment, excluding only underground activities. Thanks to the amicable agreement to ban the fishing of whales, as well as the creation of legal interstate regulation of the catch of seafood and valuable fish, it was possible to save the rare inhabitants of the water element.
Together, the world community is studying the Antarctic and the Arctic, its biosphere natural zones that are not affected by humans, comparing them with zones that are transformed by human activity.
The international community developed and adopted in 1972 a declaration banning the production of freon refrigerants, which lead to the destruction of the ozone layer.
At the regional level, environmental safety classes consider large economic or geographical areas. In some cases, the territories of several states are analyzed.
Management and control of compliance with environmental safety rules is carried out at the level of the government of the country, as well as through international relations.
Management system specifics
Certain signs for environmental safety rules are being developed to create a legislative framework for environmental protection. At this level, it includes:
- innovative environmentally friendly processes;
- greening the economy;
- the search for economic growth rates that do not impede the restoration of environmental quality and contribute to the rational use of natural resources.
The local level of environmental safety is associated with districts, cities, oil refining, chemical, metallurgical, and defense industries. They also include control of effluents, emissions.
In this case, environmental safety management is carried out at the level of the administration of the district, city, enterprise with the involvement of those services that are responsible for environmental activities and sanitary conditions.
By solving specific local problems, one can achieve the set goal, manage such a situation at the regional as well as at the global level.
The developed symbols for environmental safety rules significantly simplify the control procedure.
The management of emerging problems at any level contains an analysis of resources, finances, economics, administrative measures, culture and education.
What is an emergency?
Various environmental safety signs are used to identify an emergency. It is customary to mean a violation of the normal life and activities of the human community associated with an epidemic, environmental disaster, catastrophe, accident, military action that led to material and human losses.
An emergency can also be imagined as an unexpected, sudden situation characterized by uncertainty, economic and environmental damage, human casualties, serious human and material costs for evacuation and rescue operations, and minimization of consequences.
Certain environmental safety signs are used to determine the level of danger.
Emergency Classification
There are certain criteria by which an emergency situation is determined. The classification is based on the nature of its occurrence. The whole set of analyzed situations is divided into two large groups:
- intentional situations;
- unintentional cases.
A different approach is also used, according to which emergencies are divided by the type of occurrence:
- artificial (man-made);
- natural (natural);
- mixed.
By intentionality, situations are divided into several groups:
- intentional, including socio-political conflicts;
- unintended: earthquakes, floods, etc.
An important characteristic of any emergency is the pace of its development. Depending on the interval - from occurrence to a climax, at present “explosive” and “smooth” options are distinguished. In the first type, the duration ranges from a few seconds to a couple of hours. Such situations include technological disasters: accidents at oil pipelines, nuclear plants, chemical plants.
The duration of the second type can reach several decades. For example, due to the activities of petrochemical corporations, toxic substances can enter water bodies for decades.
For example, in the United States, there was a situation where residues from oil refining containing dioxin, as well as other poisons, were buried in the area of the Love Canal (Niagara Falls). After 25 years, they got inside the soil, ended up in tap water. As a result, a serious threat to the life and health of the population arose.
In August 1978, US President D. Carter declared a national emergency and the entire city was urgently evacuated.
Modern furnishings
By virtue of its nature, a person strives for security, tries to create the most convenient living conditions around him.
But at the same time, humanity is at risk due to numerous criminogenic elements, at risk of contracting fatal infectious diseases, and suffering from accidents.
To resolve such situations, numerous preventive measures are carried out.
It is the unfavorable state of the environment that has become the main threat to the comfortable and safe existence of mankind. The main criterion of environmental safety is the average life expectancy of people. And this figure is not so great.
Symbols of environmental safety are used for mathematical calculations, the development of effective measures to eliminate sources of pollution.
This term is firmly embedded in human life, and its relevance is growing from year to year.
Conclusion
The concept of "environmental safety" applies to various realities. For example, it analyzes a separate city, district, enterprise, service sector, and the field of international relations. The company is planning environmental design, during which the development of special documentation on the use of industrial wastes, as well as on their consumption. For example, a waste passport, its limits are compiled, and a procedure for controlling emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, an estimate of the amount of discharges into water bodies is developed.
Environmental safety is being implemented at the regional, global, local level. It includes a system of regulation and management, which allows us to assume, and in case of occurrence, to eliminate the development of an emergency.
The problem is to strike a balance between nature and human activity. A significant reduction in fertile land is observed, which is caused by the construction of transport, industrial facilities, the growth of large cities.
About 20% of land is currently under threat of complete desertification, and almost half of the rainforests are destroyed.
Every year, the issue associated with fresh water escalates, and "water hunger" is gradually increasing. For example, in Africa, people die from a lack of drinking water.
In our country, there is also a tendency towards environmental degradation. For example, biologists and ecologists are sounding the alarm about the state of the Ob, Volga, and Don. In large cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, MPC by the level of harmful substances in the atmosphere is 10 times higher than the norm. The danger is associated with enterprises associated with the extraction and processing of natural resources.
The number of large settlements is growing much faster than food resources. The demographic problem is associated with the constant movement of the population, as well as with its migration.
Environmental safety includes issues related to reducing child mortality, increasing life expectancy, and combating illiteracy. All of them will be included in a special program implemented with the support of departmental structures.
Only with the integrated approach of state bodies, large companies and individual citizens can one count on improving the environmental situation in a particular country and around the world.