“The childhood of mankind is over, when mother nature walked and cleaned up after us. The period of maturity has come. Now we have to clean up ourselves, or rather learn to live in such a way as not to litter. From now on, the full responsibility for the preservation of life on Earth lies with us” (Oldak, 1979).

At present, humanity is experiencing perhaps the most critical moment in the entire history of its existence. Modern society is in a deep crisis, although this cannot be said if limited to some external manifestations. We see that the economies of developed countries continue to grow, even if not at such a rapid pace as it was quite recently. Accordingly, the volume of mining continues to increase, which is stimulated by the growth of consumer demand. This is most noticeable again in developed countries. At the same time, social contrasts in modern world between economically developed and developing countries are becoming more pronounced and in some cases reach a 60-fold gap in the income of the population of these countries.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization, a sharp increase in the population of the planet, intensive chemicalization of agriculture, and other types of anthropogenic pressure on nature have significantly disrupted the circulation of substances and natural energy processes in the biosphere, damaged the mechanisms of its self-healing. This endangered the health and life of the present and future generations of people and, in general, the continued existence of civilization.

Analyzing the current situation, many experts come to the conclusion that at present humanity is threatened by two deadly danger:

1) relatively quick death in the fire of a global missile nuclear war and

2) slow extinction due to the deterioration of the quality of the living environment, which is caused by the destruction of the biosphere due to irrational economic activity.

The second danger, apparently, is more real and more formidable, since diplomatic efforts alone are not enough to prevent it. It is necessary to revise all the traditional principles of nature management and radically restructure the entire economic mechanism in most countries of the world.

Therefore, speaking about the current situation, everyone should understand that the current crisis has engulfed not only the economy and nature. First of all, the person himself is in crisis, with his centuries-old way of thinking, needs, habits, way of life and behavior. The crisis of man lies in the fact that his whole way of life is opposed to nature. It is possible to get out of this crisis only if a person is transformed into a being friendly with nature, understanding it and able to be in harmony with it. But for this, people must learn to live in harmony with each other and take care of future generations. Every person must learn all this, no matter where he has to work and no matter what tasks he has to solve.

So, in the conditions of the progressive destruction of the Earth's biosphere, in order to resolve the contradictions between society and nature, it is necessary to transform human activity on new principles. These principles provide for the achievement of a reasonable compromise between the social and economic needs of society and the ability of the biosphere to satisfy them without threatening its normal functioning. Thus, the time has come for a critical review of all areas of human activity, as well as areas of knowledge and spiritual culture that form a person's worldview.

Humanity is now taking the test of true intelligence. It will be able to pass this test only if it fulfills the requirements that the biosphere makes for it. These requirements are:

1) biosphere compatibility based on the knowledge and use of the laws of conservation of the biosphere;

2) moderation in the consumption of natural resources, overcoming the extravagance of the consumer structure of society;

3) mutual tolerance and peacefulness of the peoples of the planet in relations with each other;

4) adherence to generally significant, environmentally thoughtful and consciously set global goals of social development.

All these requirements presuppose the movement of mankind towards a single global integrity based on the joint formation and maintenance of a new planetary shell, which Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky called the noosphere.

The scientific basis for such activities should be a new branch of knowledge - social ecology.

Fortunately, textbooks and teaching aids, both in general ecology and social ecology currently there are quite a few, and all of them are worthy of being diligently studied (Akimova, Khaskin, 1998; Baklanov, 2001; Voronkov, 1999; Girusov, 1998; Gorelov, 2000; Dorst, 1968; Itogi i perspektivy…, 1986 ; Kartashev, 1998; Kotlyakov, 1997; Krasilov, 1992; Lee, 1995; Losev, Provadkin, 1998; Malofeev, 2002; Minakova, 2000; Our future ..., 1989; Natural resource potential ..., 1998; Nature management ..., 1997; Rakhilin, 1989; Reimers, 1994; Romanov et al., 2001; Saint-Marc, 1977; Sitarov, Pustovoitov, 2000; Sokolov et al., 1997; Urusov, 2000; Urusov et al., 2002; Khristoforova, 1999; Evolution ..., 1999; Ecological essays ..., 1988, etc.). At the same time, it seems important to reflect the existing social and environmental problems in the light of regional characteristics, traditions and development prospects. In this regard, in this study guide, much attention is paid to the factual material that reflects the current social and environmental problems of the Russian Far East.

Currently, many aspects of the current environmental situation are under active scientific discussions, and on a number of issues there have not yet been developed common views on the problem and ways to solve it. In describing such problems, we tried to bring different points of view. The future will show who is right. Our main goal was to show students that social ecology is not an abstract academic scientific discipline, but a vast area of ​​interaction between different ideologies, cultures, lifestyles; it is not only a global field of knowledge, but also a vital field of activity. To show the necessity, attractiveness and prospects of this activity was one of the tasks of the authors of this tutorial.

Subject of social ecology, ecological problems, ecological view of the world

Social ecology is the science of harmonizing the interactions between society and nature. The subject of social ecology is the noosphere, that is, the system of socio-natural relations, which is formed and functions as a result of conscious human activity. In other words, the subject of social ecology is the processes of formation and functioning of the noosphere.

Problems related to the interaction of society and its environment are called environmental problems. Initially, ecology was a branch of biology (the term was introduced by Ernst Haeckel in 1866). Environmental biologists study the relationship of animals, plants, and entire communities with their environment. An ecological view of the world is such a ranking of the values ​​and priorities of human activity, when the most important is the preservation of a human-friendly environment.

For social ecology, the term "ecology" means a special point of view, a special worldview, a special system of values ​​and priorities of human activity, focused on harmonizing the relationship between society and nature. In other sciences, “ecology” means something different: in biology, a section of biological research on the relationship between organisms and the environment, in philosophy, the most general patterns interaction of man, society and the Universe, in geography - the structure and functioning of natural complexes and natural economic systems. Social ecology is also called human ecology or modern ecology. In recent years, a scientific direction has begun to actively develop, called "globalistics", which develops models of a controlled, scientifically and spiritually organized world in order to preserve earthly civilization.

The prehistory of social ecology begins with the appearance of man on Earth. The English theologian Thomas Malthus is considered the herald of the new science. He was one of the first to point out that there are natural limits to economic growth, and demanded that population growth be limited: “The law in question consists in the constant desire, inherent in all living beings, to multiply faster than is allowed by the number at their disposal. food” (Malthus, 1868, p. 96); "... to improve the situation of the poor, it is necessary to reduce the relative number of births" (Malthus, 1868, p. 378). This idea is not new. In Plato's "ideal republic", the number of families should be regulated by the government. Aristotle went further and proposed to determine the number of children for each family.

Another forerunner of social ecology is the geographical school in sociology: adherents of this scientific school pointed out that the mental characteristics of people, their way of life are directly dependent on natural conditions this locality. Let's remember that S. Montesquieu claimed that "the power of the climate is the first power in the world." Our compatriot L.I. Mechnikov pointed out that world civilizations developed in the basins of the great rivers, on the shores of the seas and oceans. K. Marx believed that a temperate climate is most suitable for the development of capitalism. K. Marx and F. Engels developed the concept of the unity of man and nature, the main idea of ​​which was: to know the laws of nature and apply them correctly.

Social ecology was officially recognized at the state level in the first quarter of the twentieth century. In 1922, H. Burroughs addressed the American Association of Geographers with a presidential address called Geography as Human Ecology. The main idea of ​​this appeal is to bring ecology closer to man. The Chicago school of human ecology has gained worldwide fame: the study of the mutual relations of man as a holistic organism with his holistic environment. It was then that ecology and sociology first came into close interaction. Ecological techniques began to be applied to the analysis of the social system.

World recognition and the first stages of the development of social ecology

The worldwide recognition of social ecology as an independent science dates back to the 60s of the twentieth century. One of the brightest events of those years was the publication in 1962 of R. Carson's book "Silent Spring" on the environmental consequences of the use of the pesticide DDT. The Swiss chemist Müller synthesized DDT and in 1947 received the Nobel Prize for it. Later it turned out that DDT accumulates in living tissues and has a detrimental effect on all living things, including the human body. Through air and water transport, this substance has spread throughout the planet and has even been found in the liver of Antarctic penguins.

Like any other scientific discipline, social ecology developed gradually. There are three main stages in the development of this science.

First stage- empirical, associated with the accumulation of various data on the negative environmental consequences of the scientific and technological revolution. The result of this area of ​​environmental research was the formation of a network of global environmental monitoring all components of the biosphere.

The second stage is the "model". In 1972, the book by D. Meadows et al., The Limits to Growth, was published. She was a huge success. For the first time, data on various aspects of human activity were included in a mathematical model and studied using a computer. For the first time, a complex dynamic model of interaction between society and nature was studied at the global level.

Criticism of The Limits to Growth has been comprehensive and thorough. The results of criticism can be reduced to two provisions:

1) computer modeling of socio-economic systems at the global and regional levels is promising;

2) Meadows' "models of the world" are far from being adequate to reality.

Currently, there is a significant variety of global models: the Meadows model is a lace of direct and feedback loops, the Mesarovic and Pestel model is a pyramid cut into many relatively independent parts, the J. Tinbergen model is a “tree” of organic growth, the model of V. Leontiev - also a tree.

The beginning of the third - global political - stage of social ecology is considered to be 1992, when the International Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro. The heads of 179 states adopted an agreed strategy based on the concept of sustainable development.

The main directions of development of social ecology

To date, three main areas have emerged in social ecology.

The first direction is the study of the relationship of society with the natural environment at the global level - global ecology. The scientific foundations of this direction were laid by V.I. Vernadsky in the fundamental work "Biosphere", published in 1928. In 1977, a monograph by M.I. Budyko "Global Ecology", but it mainly deals with climatic aspects. Topics such as resources, global pollution, global cycles have not received adequate coverage. chemical elements, the influence of the Cosmos, the functioning of the Earth as a whole, etc.

The second direction is the study of the relationship with the natural environment of various groups of the population and society as a whole from the point of view of understanding a person as a social being. Human relations to the social and natural environment are interconnected. K. Marx and F. Engels pointed out that the limited relationship of people to nature determines their limited relationship to each other, and their limited relationship to each other - their limited relationship to nature. This is social ecology in the narrow sense of the word.

The third direction is human ecology. Its subject is a system of relationships with the natural environment of a person as a biological being. The main problem is the purposeful management of the preservation and development of human health, the population, the improvement of Man as a biological species. Here and forecasts of changes in health under the influence of changes in the environment, and the development of standards in life support systems.

Western researchers also distinguish between the ecology of human society - social ecology and human ecology. Social ecology considers the impact on society as a dependent and manageable subsystem of the "nature - society" system. Human ecology - focuses on the person himself as a biological unit.

Nature is studied by the natural sciences, such as biology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc., using a natural science (nomological) approach. Society studies the humanities - sociology, demography, ethics, economics, etc. - and uses a humanitarian (ideographic) approach. Social ecology as an interdisciplinary science is based on three types of methods: 1) natural sciences, 2) humanities, and 3) systemic research, combining natural sciences and the humanities.

An important place in the methodology of social ecology is occupied by the methodology of global modeling.

The main stages of global modeling are as follows:

1) a list of causal relationships between variables is compiled and a feedback structure is outlined;

2) after studying the literature and consulting demographers, economists, ecologists, geologists, etc., a general structure is revealed that reflects the main relationships between levels.

After the global model has been created in general terms, it is necessary to work with this model, which includes the following steps: 1) quantitative assessment of each connection - global data are used, and if there are no global data, then characteristic local data are used; 2) with the help of a computer, the effect of the simultaneous action of all these connections in time is determined; 3) the number of changes in the underlying assumptions is checked to find the most critical determinants of the system's behavior.

The global model uses the most important relationships between population, food, investment, resources, and output. The model contains dynamic statements about the physical aspects of human activity. It contains assumptions that the nature of social variables (income distribution, family size regulation, etc.) will not change.

The main task is to understand the system in its elementary form. Only then can the model be improved on the basis of other, more detailed data. The model, once it has emerged, is usually constantly criticized and updated with data.

The value of the global model is that it allows you to show the point on the chart where growth is expected to stop and the beginning of a global catastrophe is most likely. To date, various private methods of the global modeling method have been developed. For example, the Meadows group uses the principle of system dynamics. The peculiarity of this technique is that: 1) the state of the system is completely described by a small set of values; 2) the evolution of the system in time is described by differential equations of the 1st order. It should be kept in mind that system dynamics deals only with exponential growth and equilibrium.

Methodological potential of the theory hierarchical systems, applied by Mesarovic and Pestel, is much wider than that of the Meadows group. It becomes possible to create multi-level systems.

Wassily Leontiev's input-output method is a matrix reflecting the structure of intersectoral flows, production, exchange and consumption. Leontiev himself studied structural relationships in the economy in conditions where "a multitude of seemingly unrelated interdependent flows of production, distribution, consumption and investment constantly influence each other and, ultimately, are determined by a number of basic characteristics of the system" (Leontiev, 1958 , p. 8).

The real system can be used as a model. So, for example, agrocenosis is an experimental model of biocenosis.

All activities to transform nature are modeling, which accelerates the formation of theory. Since the organization of production must take into account the risk, the simulation allows you to calculate the likelihood and severity of the risk. Thus, modeling contributes to optimization, i.e. choosing the best ways to transform the natural environment.

The goal of social ecology is to create a theory of the evolution of the relationship between man and nature, the logic and methodology for transforming the natural environment.

Social ecology reveals the patterns of relationships between nature and society, it is designed to understand and help bridge the gap between the humanities and natural sciences.

The laws of social ecology are as fundamental as the laws of physics. However, the subject of social ecology is very complex: three qualitatively different subsystems - inanimate nature, wildlife, human society. At present, social ecology is predominantly an empirical science, and its laws often look like extremely general aphoristic statements (“Commoner's laws”*).

The concept of law is interpreted by most methodologists in the sense of an unambiguous causal relationship. In cybernetics, a broader interpretation has been adopted: the law is the restriction of diversity. This interpretation is more suitable for social ecology.

Social ecology reveals the fundamental limitations of human activity. The adaptive possibilities of the biosphere are not unlimited. Hence the "environmental imperative": human activity should in no case exceed the adaptive capacity of the biosphere.

As the basic law of social ecology, the law of the correspondence of productive forces and production relations to the state of the natural environment is recognized.

SOCIAL ECOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL WORLD

“The childhood of mankind is over, when mother nature walked and cleaned up after us. The period of maturity has come. Now we have to clean up ourselves, or rather learn to live in such a way as not to litter. From now on, the full responsibility for the preservation of life on Earth lies with us” (Oldak, 1979).

At present, humanity is experiencing perhaps the most critical moment in the entire history of its existence. Modern society is in a deep crisis, although this cannot be said if we limit ourselves to some external manifestations. We see that the economies of developed countries continue to grow, even if not at such a rapid pace as it was quite recently. Accordingly, the volume of mining continues to increase, which is stimulated by the growth of consumer demand. This is most noticeable again in developed countries. At the same time, social contrasts in the modern world between economically developed and developing states are becoming more pronounced and in some cases reach a 60-fold gap in the income of the population of these countries.

Rapid industrialization and urbanization, a sharp increase in the population of the planet, intensive chemicalization of agriculture, and other types of anthropogenic pressure on nature significantly disrupted the circulation and natural energy processes in the biosphere, damaged its mechanisms self-healing . This endangered the health and life of the present and future generations of people and, in general, the continued existence of civilization.

Analyzing the current situation, many experts come to the conclusion that humanity is currently threatened two deadly dangers:

1) relatively fast death in the fire of a global nuclear missile war and

2) slow extinction due to the deterioration of the quality of the living environment, which is caused by the destruction of the biosphere due to irrational economic activity.

The second danger, apparently, is more real and more formidable, since diplomatic efforts alone are not enough to prevent it. It is necessary to revise all the traditional principles of nature management and radically restructure the entire economic mechanism in most countries of the world.

Therefore, speaking about the current situation, everyone should understand that the current crisis has engulfed not only the economy and nature. First of all, the person himself is in crisis, with his centuries-old way of thinking, needs, habits, way of life and behavior. The crisis situation of a person lies in the fact that his whole way of life opposes nature. The only way out of this crisis is if man is transformed into a being friendly with nature who understands it and knows how to be in agreement with it. But for this, people must learn to live in harmony with each other and take care of future generations. Every person must learn all this, no matter where he has to work and no matter what tasks he has to solve.

So, in the conditions of the progressive destruction of the Earth's biosphere, in order to resolve the contradictions between society and nature, it is necessary to transform human activity on new principles. These principles provide achieving a reasonable compromise between the social and economic needs of society and the ability of the biosphere to satisfy them without threatening its normal functioning. Thus, the time has come for a critical review of all areas of human activity, as well as areas of knowledge and spiritual culture that form a person's worldview.

Mankind is now taking the test of genuine reasonableness . It will be able to pass this test only if it fulfills the requirements that the biosphere makes for it. These requirements are:

1) biosphere compatibility based on the knowledge and use of the laws of conservation of the biosphere;

2) moderation in the consumption of natural resources, overcoming the extravagance of the consumer structure of society;

3) mutual tolerance and peacefulness of the peoples of the planet in relations with each other;

4) adherence to generally significant, environmentally thoughtful and consciously set global goals of social development.

All these requirements presuppose the movement of mankind towards a single global integrity based on the joint formation and maintenance of a new planetary shell, which Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky called noosphere .

The scientific basis for such activities should be a new branch of knowledge - social ecology .

Prehistory of social ecology. Reasons for the emergence of social ecology as an independent scientific discipline

The problems associated with the interaction of society and its environment are called environmental problems. Initially, ecology was a branch of biology (the term was introduced by Ernst Haeckel in 1866). Environmental biologists study the relationship of animals, plants, and entire communities with their environment. Ecological view of the world- such a ranking of values ​​and priorities of human activity, when the most important is the preservation of a human-friendly environment.

The prehistory of social ecology begins with the appearance of man on Earth. The English theologian Thomas Malthus is considered the herald of the new science. He was one of the first to point out that there are natural limits to economic growth, and demanded that population growth be limited: “The law in question consists in the constant desire, inherent in all living beings, to multiply faster than is allowed by the number at their disposal. food” (Malthus, 1868, p. 96); "... to improve the situation of the poor, it is necessary to reduce the relative number of births" (Malthus, 1868, p. 378). This idea is not new. In Plato's "ideal republic", the number of families should be regulated by the government. Aristotle went further and proposed to determine the number of children for each family.

Another forerunner of social ecology is geographical school in sociology: adherents of this scientific school pointed out that the mental characteristics of people, their way of life are directly dependent on the natural conditions of the area. Let's remember that S. Montesquieu claimed that "the power of the climate is the first power in the world." Our compatriot L.I. Mechnikov pointed out that world civilizations developed in the basins of the great rivers, on the shores of the seas and oceans. K. Marx believed that a temperate climate is most suitable for the development of capitalism. K. Marx and F. Engels developed the concept of the unity of man and nature, the main idea of ​​which was: to know the laws of nature and apply them correctly.

The emergence and subsequent development of social ecology was a natural consequence of the ever-increasing interest of representatives of various humanitarian disciplines (such as sociology, economics, political science, psychology, etc.) in the problem of harmonizing the relationship between society and nature, man and the environment. And this is possible only when the basis of the socio-economic development of society becomes rational nature management .

Initially, the scientific principles of rational nature management tried to develop many existing sciences - biology, geography, medicine, economics. Recently, ecology has become increasingly involved in these issues. Medical-biological and medical-demographic aspects of the relationship between society and nature were considered in medical geography, hygiene environment and later in a new field of ecology - human ecology. In general, a lot of new sections have appeared in the traditional sciences. For example, the protection and rational use of the geological environment began to deal with engineering geology. In jurisprudence, socioecological law began to take shape. In economic science, such a section as the economics of environmental management has arisen.

Representatives of various scientific disciplines began to assert that the problem of rational nature management is only their domain. But it turned out that each science, when studying the problem of rational nature management, focused on those moments that were closer to it. Chemists, for example, were not concerned with studying a problem from a social or economic point of view, and vice versa.

It became obvious that an isolated study of all aspects of this problem - medical, biological, social, economic, etc., does not allow creating a general theory of balanced interaction between society and nature and effectively solving practical problems of rational nature management. This required a new interdisciplinary science .

Such a science began to take shape almost simultaneously in many countries of the world. In our country, different names were used to designate it - natural sociology, sozology, environmental science, applied ecology, global ecology, socio-economic ecology, modern ecology, big ecology, etc. However, these terms are not widely used.

1.2. Stages of development of social ecology.
Subject of social ecology

The very term "social ecology" appeared thanks to social psychologists - American researchers R. Park and E. Burgess. They first used this term in 1921 in their work on the theory of the behavior of the population in the urban environment. Using the concept of "social ecology", they wanted to emphasize that in this context we are not talking about a biological, but about a social phenomenon, which, however, also has biological characteristics. Thus, in America, initially social ecology was more of a sociology of the city or urban sociology.

In 1922 H. Burroughs addressed the American Geographic Association with a presidential address called "Geography as human ecology » . The main idea of ​​this appeal is to bring ecology closer to man. The Chicago school of human ecology has gained worldwide fame: the study of the mutual relations of man as a holistic organism with his holistic environment. It was then that ecology and sociology first came into close interaction. Ecological techniques began to be applied to the analysis of the social system.

One of the first definitions of social ecology was given in his work in 1927 by Dr. R. McKenzil, characterizing it as a science of territorial and temporal relations of people, which are influenced by selective (selective), distributive (distributive) and accommodative (adaptive) forces of the environment. Such a definition of the subject of social ecology was intended to become the basis for the study of the territorial division of the population within urban agglomerations.

It should be noted, however, that the term "social ecology", apparently best suited to designate a specific direction of research into the relationship of a person as a social being with the environment of his existence, has not taken root in Western science, in which preference from the very beginning began to be given to the concept of "human ecology" (human ecology). This created certain difficulties for the formation of social ecology as an independent, humanitarian in its main focus, discipline. The fact is that in parallel with the development of the socio-ecological problems proper, within the framework of human ecology, bioecological aspects of human life were developed in it. Having passed by this time a long period of formation and, due to this, having more weight in science, having a more developed categorical and methodological apparatus, human biological ecology for a long time “shielded” humanitarian social ecology from the eyes of the progressive scientific community. Nevertheless, social ecology existed for some time and developed relatively independently as the ecology (sociology) of the city.

Despite the obvious desire of representatives of the humanitarian branches of knowledge to free social ecology from the "yoke" of bioecology, it continued to experience a significant influence from the latter for many decades. As a result, social ecology borrowed most of the concepts, its categorical apparatus from the ecology of plants and animals, as well as from general ecology. At the same time, as D. Zh. Markovich notes, social ecology gradually improved its methodological apparatus with the development of the spatio-temporal approach of social geography, the economic theory of distribution, etc.

Significant progress in the development of social ecology and the process of its separation from bioecology occurred in the 60s of the current century. The 1966 World Congress of Sociologists played a special role in this. Fast development social ecology in subsequent years led to the fact that at the next congress of sociologists, held in Varna in 1970, it was decided to create a Research Committee of the World Association of Sociologists on the problems of social ecology. Thus, as noted by D. Zh. Markovich, the existence of social ecology as an independent scientific branch was, in fact, recognized and an impetus was given to its faster development and a more accurate definition of its subject.

During the period under review, the list of tasks that this branch of scientific knowledge, which was gradually gaining independence, was called upon to solve, significantly expanded. If at the dawn of the formation of social ecology, the efforts of researchers were mainly reduced to searching in the behavior of a territorially localized human population for analogues of laws and environmental relations characteristic of biological communities, then from the second half of the 60s, the range of issues under consideration was supplemented by the problems of determining the place and role of man in the biosphere. , working out ways to determine the optimal conditions for its life and development, harmonization of relationships with other components of the biosphere. The process of its humanitarization that has engulfed social ecology in the last two decades has led to the fact that, in addition to the above tasks, the range of issues it develops includes the problems of identifying the general laws of the functioning and development of social systems, studying the influence of natural factors on the processes of socio-economic development and finding ways to control the action. these factors.

In our country, by the end of the 1970s, conditions had also developed for separating social and environmental issues into an independent area of ​​interdisciplinary research. A significant contribution to the development of domestic social ecology was made by E.V. Girusov, A. N. Kochergin, Yu. G. Markov, N. F. Reimers, S. N. Solomina and others.

One of the most important problems facing researchers in present stage formation of social ecology is the development of a unified approach to understanding its subject. Despite the obvious progress made in the study of various aspects of the relationship between man, society and nature, as well as a significant number of publications on social and environmental issues that have appeared in the last two or three decades in our country and abroad, on the issue of what exactly this branch of scientific knowledge studies, there are still different opinions. In the school reference book "Ecology" by A.P. Oshmarin and V.I. Oshmarina, two options for defining social ecology are given: in the narrow sense, it is understood as the science of "the interaction of human society with the natural environment", and in the broad sense - the science of "the interaction individual and human society with natural, social and cultural environments”. It is quite obvious that in each of the presented cases of interpretation we are talking about different sciences that claim the right to be called “social ecology”. No less revealing is the comparison between the definitions of social ecology and human ecology. According to the same source, the latter is defined as: “I) the science of the interaction of human society with nature; 2) ecology of the human personality; 3) the ecology of human populations, including the doctrine of ethnic groups. One can clearly see the almost complete identity of the definition of social ecology, understood "in the narrow sense", and the first version of the interpretation of human ecology. The desire for the actual identification of these two branches of scientific knowledge, indeed, is still characteristic of foreign science, but it is quite often subjected to well-reasoned criticism by domestic scientists. S.N. Solomina, in particular, pointing out the expediency of breeding social ecology and human ecology, limits the subject of the latter to consideration of the socio-hygienic and medical-genetic aspects of the relationship between man, society and nature. V.A. Bukhvalov, L.V. Bogdanova and some other researchers agree with such an interpretation of the subject of human ecology, but N.A. Agadzhanyan, V.P. Kaznacheev and N.F. the discipline covers a much wider range of issues of the interaction of the anthroposystem (considered at all levels of its organization - from the individual to humanity as a whole) with the biosphere, as well as with the internal biosocial organization of human society. It is easy to see that such an interpretation of the subject of human ecology actually equates it with social ecology, understood in a broad sense. This situation is largely due to the fact that at present there has been a steady trend of convergence of these two disciplines, when there is an interpenetration of the subjects of the two sciences and their mutual enrichment through the joint use of the empirical material accumulated in each of them, as well as methods and technologies of socio-ecological and anthropoecological research.

Everything today more researchers tend to broaden the interpretation of the subject of social ecology. So, according to D.Zh.Markovich, the subject of study of modern social ecology, understood by him as a private sociology, are specific links between man and his environment. Based on this, the main tasks of social ecology can be defined as follows: the study of the influence of the environment as a combination of natural and social factors on a person, as well as the influence of a person on the environment, perceived as the framework of human life.

A somewhat different, but not contradictory to the previous, interpretation of the subject of social ecology is given by T.A. Akimova and V.V. Khaskin. From their point of view, social ecology as part of human ecology is a complex of scientific branches that study the relationship of social structures (starting with the family and other small social groups), as well as the relationship of a person with the natural and social environment of their habitat. This approach seems to us more correct, because it does not limit the subject of social ecology to the framework of sociology or any other separate humanitarian discipline, but emphasizes its interdisciplinary nature.

Some researchers, when defining the subject of social ecology, tend to emphasize the role that this young science is called upon to play in harmonizing the relationship of mankind with its environment. According to E.V. Girusova, social ecology must first of all study the laws of society and nature, by which he understands the laws of self-regulation of the biosphere, implemented by man in his life.

Like any other scientific discipline, social ecology developed gradually. There are three main stages in the development of this science.

The initial stage is empirical, associated with the accumulation of various data on the negative environmental consequences of the scientific and technological revolution. The result of this area of ​​environmental research was the formation of a network of global environmental monitoring of all components of the biosphere.

The second stage is the "model". In 1972, the book by D. Meadows et al., The Limits to Growth, was published. She was a huge success. For the first time, data on various aspects of human activity were included in a mathematical model and studied using a computer. For the first time, a complex dynamic model of interaction between society and nature was studied at the global level.

Criticism of The Limits to Growth has been comprehensive and thorough. The results of criticism can be reduced to two provisions:

1) modeling on the computer of socio-economic systems at the global and regional levels promising;

2) "models of the world" Meadows is still far from adequate to reality.

Currently, there is a significant variety of global models: the Meadows model is a lace of direct and feedback loops, the Mesarovic and Pestel model is a pyramid cut into many relatively independent parts, the J. Tinbergen model is a “tree” of organic growth, the model of V. Leontiev - also a tree.

The beginning of the third - global political - stage of social ecology is considered to be 1992, when the International Conference on Environment and Development was held in Rio de Janeiro. Heads of 179 states adopted an agreed strategy based on the concept of sustainable development.

1.3. The place of social ecology in the system of sciences.
Social ecology is a complex scientific discipline

social ecology originated at the intersection of sociology, ecology, philosophy and other branches of science, with each of which it closely interacts. In order to determine the position of social ecology in the system of sciences, it must be borne in mind that the word "ecology" means in some cases one of the ecological scientific disciplines, in others - all scientific ecological disciplines. Ecological sciences should be approached in a differentiated way (Fig. 1).

Social ecology is a link between the technical sciences (hydraulic engineering, etc.) and the social sciences (history, jurisprudence, etc.).

The following argumentation is given in favor of the proposed system. There is an urgent need to replace the concept of the hierarchy of sciences with the idea of ​​a circle of sciences. The classification of sciences is usually built on the principle of hierarchy (subordination of some sciences to others) and successive fragmentation (separation, not combination of sciences). Classification is best built according to the type of circle (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Place of ecological disciplines in the integral system of sciences (Gorelov, 2002)

This diagram does not claim to be complete. Transitional sciences (geochemistry, geophysics, biophysics, biochemistry, etc.) are not noted on it, the role of which for solving environmental problem extremely important. These sciences contribute to the differentiation of knowledge, cement the entire system, embodying the inconsistency of the processes of "differentiation - integration" of knowledge. The scheme shows the importance of the "connecting" sciences, including social ecology. In contrast to the sciences of the centrifugal type (physics, etc.), they can be called centripetal. These sciences have not yet reached the proper level of development, because in the past insufficient attention was paid to the connections between the sciences, and it is very difficult to study them.

When the knowledge system is built on the principle of hierarchy, there is a danger that some sciences will hinder the development of others, and this is dangerous from an environmental point of view. It is important that the prestige of the sciences of the natural environment should not be lower than the prestige of the sciences of the physicochemical and technical cycles. Biologists and ecologists have accumulated a lot of data that testify to the need for a much more careful, careful attitude to the biosphere than is the case at present. But such an argument weighs only from the standpoint of a separate consideration of branches of knowledge. Science is a connected mechanism, the use of data from some sciences depends on others. If the data of the sciences are in conflict with each other, preference is given to sciences that enjoy great prestige, i.e. at present, the sciences of the physicochemical cycle.

Science should approach the degree of a harmonious system. Such a science will help create a harmonious system of relationships between man and nature and ensure the harmonious development of man himself. Science contributes to the progress of society not in isolation, but together with other branches of culture. Such a synthesis is no less important than the greening of science. Value reorientation is an integral part of the reorientation of the whole society. The attitude to the natural environment as integrity presupposes the integrity of culture, the harmonious connection of science with art, philosophy, etc. Moving in this direction, science will move away from focusing solely on technical progress, responding to the deepest demands of society - ethical, aesthetic, as well as those that affect the definition of the meaning of life and the goals of society's development (Gorelov, 2000).

The place of social ecology among the sciences of the ecological cycle is shown in fig. 2.

Rice. 2. The relationship of social ecology with other sciences (Gorelov, 2002)

social ecology

Social ecology is one of the oldest sciences. Interest in it was shown by such thinkers as the ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer Anaxagoras (500-428 BC), the ancient Greek philosopher and physician Empedocles (487-424 BC), the greatest philosopher and encyclopedist Aristotle (384-322 BC). The main problem that worried them was the problem of the relationship between nature and man.

Also, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 BC), the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 BC), the famous scientist in the field of geography Eratosthenes (276- 194 BC) and the idealist philosopher Plato (428-348 BC). It is worth noting that the works and reflections of these ancient thinkers formed the basis of the modern understanding of social ecology.

Definition 1

Social ecology is a complex scientific discipline that considers the interaction in the "society-nature" system. In addition, a complex subject of study of social ecology is the relationship of human society with the natural environment.

Being a science about the interests of various social groups in the field of nature management, social ecology is structured into several main types:

• Economic social ecology - explores the relationship between nature and society in terms of the economic use of available resources;
• Demographic social ecology - studies the various strata of the population and settlements that simultaneously live throughout the globe;
• Futurological social ecology - highlights environmental forecasting in the social sphere as a sphere of its interests.

Functions and key tasks of social ecology

As a scientific direction, social ecology performs a number of key functions.

First, this theoretical function. It is aimed at developing the most important and relevant conceptual paradigms that explain the development of society in terms of environmental processes and phenomena.

Secondly, a pragmatic function in which social ecology implements the dissemination of multiple environmental knowledge, as well as information about the ecological situation and the state of society. Within the framework of this function, some concern about the state of the environment is manifested, its main problems are highlighted.

Thirdly, the prognostic function - it means that within the framework of social ecology, both immediate and long-term prospects for the development of society, the ecological sphere are determined, and it is also possible to control changes in the biological sphere.

Fourthly, the function of nature protection. It involves the study of the influence of environmental factors on the environment and its elements.

Environmental factors can be of several types:

• Abiotic environmental factors - factors related to influences from inanimate nature;
• Biotic environmental factors - the influence of one species of living organisms on other species. Such influence can take place within one species or between several different species;
• Anthropogenic environmental factors - their essence lies in the impact of human economic activity on the environment. Such impact often leads to negative problems, such as excessive depletion of natural resources and pollution of the natural environment.

Remark 1

The main task of social ecology is to study the actual and key mechanisms of human impact on the environment. It is also very important to take into account those transformations that act as a result of such an impact and, in general, human activity in the natural environment.

Problems of social ecology and safety

The problem of social ecology is quite extensive. Today, the problems come down to three key groups.

Firstly, these are social problems of ecology on a planetary scale. Their meaning lies in the need for a global forecast in relation to the population, as well as to resources in the conditions of intensively developing production. Thus, the depletion of natural resources occurs, which calls into question the further development of civilization.

Secondly, social problems of ecology on a regional scale. They consist in the study of the state of individual parts of the ecosystem at the regional and district level. The so-called "regional ecology" plays an important role here. Thus, by collecting information about local ecosystems and their state, it is possible to get a general idea of ​​the state of the modern ecological sphere.

Thirdly, the social problems of microscale ecology. Here importance is devoted to the study of the main characteristics and various parameters of the urban conditions of human life. For example, it is the ecology of the city or the sociology of the city. Thus, the condition of a person in a rapidly developing city, and his direct personal impact on this development, is explored.

Remark 2

As we can see, the most basic problem lies in the active development of industrial and practical practices in human activities. This led to an increase in his intervention in the natural environment, as well as to an increase in his influence on it. This led to the growth of cities, industrial enterprises. But reverse side are such consequences in the form of soil, water and air pollution. All this directly affects the state of a person, his health. Life expectancy has also declined in many countries, which is a rather urgent social problem.

Prevention of these problems can only be done by prohibiting the buildup of technical power. Or a person needs to abandon certain activities that are associated with uncontrolled and harmful use of resources (deforestation, drainage of lakes). Such decisions must be made at the global level, because only by joint efforts is it possible to eliminate negative consequences.

- (from other Greek οἶκος dwelling, dwelling, house, property and λόγος concept, teaching, science) the science of the interactions of living organisms and their communities with each other and with the environment. The term was first proposed by the German biologist Ernst ... ... Wikipedia

The branch of science that studies the relationship between human beings. communities and the surrounding geography. spaces., social and cultural environment, direct and side effects of production, activities on the composition and properties of the environment, environmental ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

- [Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Ecology- (from eco ... and ... ology), a synthetic biological science about the relationship between living organisms and their environment. Ecology is one of the fundamental (functional) subdivisions of biology that investigates the fundamental properties ... ... Ecological dictionary

ECOLOGY- the science of the relationship between organisms and their environment (existence conditions). The term "ecology" was introduced into scientific use by E. Haeckel in 1866. At the first stages, ecology developed as a branch of biology: animal ecology (A.F. Middendorf, K. Möbius), ... ... Philosophy of Science: Glossary of Basic Terms

Ecology- (from the Greek oikos house, dwelling, residence and ... ology), the science of the relationship of organisms and their communities with each other and with the environment. The term "ecology" was proposed in 1866 by the German biologist E. Haeckel. From the middle of the 20th century in connection with…… Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

A science that studies the conditions and patterns of interaction between society and nature. Social ecology is subdivided into economic, demographic, urban, futurological and legal ecology Dictionary of business terms. Akademik.ru. 2001 ... Glossary of business terms

- (from the Greek oikos house, dwelling place and ... ology), the science of the relationship of living organisms and the communities they form with each other and with the environment. the term ecology was proposed in 1866 by E. Haeckel. Populations can be objects of ecology ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The science of organisms and the communities they form with each other and with the environment. E. deals with the study of all living organisms and all the functional processes that make the environment suitable for life. The objects of E. can be populations of organisms ... Emergencies Dictionary

Social work is a professional activity in organizing assistance and mutual assistance to people and groups in difficult life situations, their psychosocial rehabilitation and integration. In the most general way social work represents ... ... Wikipedia

Books

• Geoecology. Textbook, Sturman Vladimir Itzhakovich. The training manual has been prepared in accordance with the state educational standard in the direction of "Ecology and Nature Management" and is intended for students of higher educational institutions, ...
• Germany. Linguistic and regional dictionary. Over 5000 units , Muravleva N. V., Muravleva E. N., Nazarova T. Yu .. The dictionary contains more than 5 thousand dictionary entries from cultural, socio-political and Everyday life Germany. Each German word or phrase is accompanied by a translation and ...

The goal of social ecology is to create a theory of the evolution of the relationship between man and nature, the logic and methodology for transforming the natural environment.

Social ecology reveals the patterns of relationships between nature and society, it is designed to understand and help bridge the gap between the humanities and natural sciences.

The laws of social ecology are as fundamental as the laws of physics. However, the subject of social ecology is very complex: three qualitatively different subsystems - inanimate nature, wildlife, human society. At present, social ecology is predominantly an empirical science, and its laws often look like extremely general aphoristic statements (“Commoner's laws”*).

The concept of law is interpreted by most methodologists in the sense of an unambiguous causal relationship. In cybernetics, a broader interpretation has been adopted: the law is the restriction of diversity. This interpretation is more suitable for social ecology.

Social ecology reveals the fundamental limitations of human activity. The adaptive possibilities of the biosphere are not unlimited. Hence the "environmental imperative": human activity should in no case exceed the adaptive capacity of the biosphere.

As the basic law of social ecology, the law of the correspondence of productive forces and production relations to the state of the natural environment is recognized.

12.Functions of social ecology.

Functions of social ecology:

1. theoretical - the development of the main conceptual paradigms that explain the nature of the ecological development of society, man and nature (the concept of the noosphere, the concept of zero growth, the limits of growth, sustainable development, co-evolution);

2. pragmatic - dissemination of environmental knowledge, environmental information, environmental concerns, advanced training of managers and managers;

3. prognostic - determining the immediate and distant prospects for the development of society and changes in the biosphere;

4. environmental - study of the impact of environmental factors on the environment; environmental factors are divided into:

a) abiotic - factors of inanimate nature ( sunlight, radiation, temperature, humidity, relief, climate, soil composition, atmospheric air composition);

c) anthropogenic factors - the impact of human economic activity and the size of the human population on the environment, manifested in excessive depletion of natural resources and pollution of the natural environment.

13.Methods of social ecology.

Nature is studied by the natural sciences, such as biology, chemistry, physics, geology, etc., using a natural science (nomological) approach. Society studies the humanities - sociology, demography, ethics, economics, etc. - and uses a humanitarian (ideographic) approach. social ecology as an interdisciplinary science, it is based on three types of methods: 1) natural sciences, 2) humanities, and 3) systemic research that combines natural sciences and the humanities.

An important place in the methodology of social ecology is occupied by the methodology of global modeling.

Main steps global simulation come down to the following:

1) a list of causal relationships between variables is compiled and a feedback structure is outlined;

2) after studying the literature and consulting demographers, economists, ecologists, geologists, etc., a general structure is revealed that reflects the main relationships between levels.

After the global model has been created in general terms, it is necessary to work with this model, which includes the following steps: 1) quantitative assessment of each connection - global data are used, and if there are no global data, then characteristic local data are used; 2) with the help of a computer, the effect of the simultaneous action of all these connections in time is determined; 3) the number of changes in the underlying assumptions is checked to find the most critical determinants of the system's behavior.

The global model uses the most important relationships between population, food, investment, resources, and output. The model contains dynamic statements about the physical aspects of human activity. It contains assumptions that the nature of social variables (income distribution, family size regulation, etc.) will not change.

The main task is to understand the system in its elementary form. Only then can the model be improved on the basis of other, more detailed data. The model, once it has emerged, is usually constantly criticized and updated with data.

The value of the global model is that it allows you to show the point on the chart where growth is expected to stop and the beginning of a global catastrophe is most likely. To date, various private methods of the global modeling method have been developed. For example, the Meadows group uses the principle of system dynamics. The peculiarity of this technique is that: 1) the state of the system is completely described by a small set of values; 2) the evolution of the system in time is described by differential equations of the 1st order. It should be kept in mind that system dynamics deals only with exponential growth and equilibrium.

The methodological potential of the theory of hierarchical systems applied by Mesarovic and Pestel is much wider than that of the Meadows group. It becomes possible to create multi-level systems.

Wassily Leontiev's input-output method is a matrix reflecting the structure of intersectoral flows, production, exchange and consumption. Leontiev himself studied structural relationships in the economy in conditions where "a multitude of seemingly unrelated interdependent flows of production, distribution, consumption and investment constantly influence each other and, ultimately, are determined by a number of basic characteristics of the system" (Leontiev, 1958 , p. 8).

The real system can be used as a model. So, for example, agrocenosis is an experimental model of biocenosis.

All activities to transform nature are modeling, which accelerates the formation of theory. Since the organization of production must take into account the risk, the simulation allows you to calculate the likelihood and severity of the risk. Thus, modeling contributes to optimization, i.e. choosing the best ways to transform the natural environment.

14.The structure of social ecology.

The term "ecology" (from the Greek oikos- home, dwelling, habitat and logos- science) was introduced into scientific circulation by the German scientist E. Haeckel in 1869. He also gave one of the first definitions of ecology as a science, although some of its elements are contained in the works of many scientists, starting with the thinkers of Ancient Greece. The biologist E. Haeckel considered the relationship of the animal with the environment as a subject of ecology, and, initially, ecology developed as a biological science. However, the ever-increasing anthropogenic factor, the sharp aggravation of relations between nature and human society, the emergence of the need to protect the environment immeasurably expanded the scope of the subject of ecology.

At the moment, ecology must be considered as a complex scientific direction that generalizes and synthesizes data from the natural and social sciences about the natural environment and its interaction with man and human society. It has truly become the science of "home", where "home" (oikos) is our entire planet Earth.

Among the environmental sciences, a special place is occupied by social Ecology, considering the relationship in the global system "human society-environment" and studying the interaction of human society with the natural and man-made environment created by it. Social ecology develops the scientific foundations of nature management, which involves improving the quality of human life in its environment while ensuring the conservation of nature.

human ecology includes the ecology of the city, the ecology of population, the ecology of the human personality, the ecology of human populations (the doctrine of ethnic groups), etc.

At the intersection of human ecology and building ecology, a architectural Ecology, which studies methods of creating a comfortable, durable and expressive environment for people. It is ecologically unacceptable to destroy the architectural environment of the city, which often occurs in the absence of a compositional and artistic connection between new and old objects, etc., since architectural disharmony causes a decrease in working capacity and deterioration in human health.

A new scientific direction is directly adjacent to architectural ecology - videoecology, studying the interaction of man with the visible environment. Video ecologists consider the so-called homogeneous and aggressive visual fields dangerous for humans at the physiological level. The first are bare walls, glass showcases, blank fences, flat roofs of buildings, etc., the second are all kinds of surfaces, dotted with identical, evenly spaced elements, from which ripples in the eyes (flat facades of houses with identical windows, large surfaces lined with rectangular tiles , etc.).

15.Man and society as subjects of socio-ecological interaction.

Human ecology and social ecology have as their subject the study of man (society) as a central object at the heart of a large, multi-level system called the environment.

Modern science sees in Man, first of all, a biosocial being that has gone through a long path of evolution in its development and developed a complex social organization.

Coming out of the animal kingdom, Man still remains one of its members. Kingdom Animals, subkingdom Multicellular, section Bilaterally symmetrical, type Chordata, subtype Vertebrates, group Jaws, class Mammals, order Primates, suborder Monkeys, section Narrow-nosed, superfamily Higher narrow-nosed (hominoids), family Hominids, genus Man, species Homo sapiens - such its position in the system of the organic world.

According to the ideas prevailing in science, modern man descended from an ape-like ancestor. The reason for the departure of human ancestors from the general line of evolution, which predetermined an unprecedented leap in improving its physical organization and expanding the possibilities of functioning, was the change in the conditions of existence that occurred as a result of the development of natural processes. The general cooling, which caused a reduction in the areas of forests - natural ecological niches inhabited by human ancestors, made it necessary for him to adapt to new, extremely unfavorable circumstances of life. One of the features of the specific strategy of adaptation of human ancestors to new conditions was that they "stake" mainly on the mechanisms of behavioral rather than morphophysiological adaptation. This made it possible to respond more flexibly to current changes in the external environment and thus more successfully adapt to them.

The most important factor that determined the survival and subsequent progressive development of man was his ability to create viable, extremely functional social communities. Gradually, as a person mastered the skills of creating and using tools, creating a developed material culture, and, most importantly, developing intellect, he actually moved from passive adaptation to the conditions of existence to their active and conscious transformation. Thus, the origin and evolution of man not only depended on the evolution of living nature, but also largely predetermined serious environmental changes on Earth.

The level (individual, population, society, etc.) corresponds to its own environment and its own ways of adapting to it.

This model-matrix emphasizes the complexity of man and the diversity of human communities. Even at the level of an individual person, an individual in each of the subsystems, one has to deal with an innumerable variety of traits, signs, properties, because there are no two genetically identical people. Also, obviously, no two personalities are the same, etc. etc. This is also true for associations of people, the diversity of which increases with the growth of the hierarchical level, up to the unique - humanity, represented by an infinite variety of people and human communities.

The most important characteristics of a person are his properties, among which are the presence of needs and the ability to adapt.

One of the first positions in this series of properties is occupied by needs, considered as a need for something necessary for human life and development. Reflecting its dependence on environmental conditions, they at the same time act as a source of human activity in its relations with the environment, a regulator of its behavior, direction of thinking, feelings and will.

One of the key properties of a person in his relationship with the environment is adaptability, ability to active device to the environment and its changes.

concept adaptation mechanisms reflects ideas about how a person and society adapt to changes in the environment. The entire set of such mechanisms can be conditionally divided into two large groups: biological and extrabiological mechanisms. The first includes the mechanisms of morphological, physiological, immunological, genetic and behavioral adaptation, the second - social behavior and mechanisms of cultural adaptation.

As indicators of the degree of human adaptation to specific conditions of existence, studies on human ecology and social ecology use such characteristics as social and labor potential and health.

16.The human environment and its elements as subjects of socio-ecological interaction.

The human environment is a complex formation that integrates many different components, which makes it possible to talk about a large number of environments, in relation to which the “human environment” is a generic concept. The diversity, the multiplicity of heterogeneous environments that make up a single human environment, ultimately determine the diversity of its influence on him.
The human environment in its most general form can be defined as a set of natural and artificial conditions in which a person realizes himself as a natural and social being. The human environment consists of two interrelated parts: natural and social.

1. The natural component of the environment is the total space directly or indirectly accessible to a person. This is, first of all, the planet Earth with its diverse shells. The public part of the human environment is made up of society and social relations, thanks to which a person realizes himself as a social active being.
The atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, plants, animals and microorganisms are considered as elements of the natural environment.
The atmosphere is called the gas, air shell that surrounds the globe and the force of gravity associated with it.

The hydrosphere is the water shell of the Earth, which includes the World Ocean, land waters (rivers, lakes, glaciers), as well as groundwater.

The lithosphere (or the earth's crust) is the upper solid stone shell of the Earth, bounded from above by the atmosphere and hydrosphere, and from below by the surface of the mantle substrate, established by seismic data.
Plants, animals and microorganisms make up the living natural environment of man.

2. The natural environment transformed by people (“second nature”), otherwise the environment is quasi-natural (from Latin quasi - “as if”). She is incapable of self-maintenance for a long time. These are various types of "cultural landscapes" (pastures, gardens, arable land, vineyards, parks, lawns, domestic animals, indoor and cultivated plants).

3. Man-made environment (“third nature”), artenatural environment (from Latin arte – “artificial”). It includes residential premises, industrial complexes, urban developments, etc. This environment can only exist if it is constantly maintained by a person. Otherwise, it is inevitably doomed to destruction. Within its boundaries, the cycles of substances are sharply disturbed. This environment is characterized by the accumulation of waste and pollution.

4. Social environment. It has a great influence on a person. This environment includes the relationship between people, the degree of material security, the psychological climate, health care, general cultural values, etc.

17.Socio-environmental consequences of population growth.

The interaction of society and nature is the key problem of the political and socio-economic development of society. Expanding and strengthening anthropogenic and technogenic pressure on nature, society is faced with a repeatedly reproduced "boomerang effect": the destruction of nature turns into economic damage and social damage. The processes of ecological degradation acquire the character of a deep ecological crisis. The question of the conservation of nature is turning into a question of the survival of mankind. And there is no political system in the world that in itself would guarantee the ecological well-being of the country.

Many environmental problems of relationships in the "society-nature" system have now stepped over the boundaries of national economies and have acquired a global dimension. Soon, not ideological, but ecological problems will come to the fore all over the world, not relations between nations, but relations between nations and nature will dominate.

The only way to survive is to maximize the strategy of frugality in relation to the outside world. All members of the world community must participate in this process.

Factors contributing to the emergence and exacerbation of global problems were:

· a sharp increase in the consumption of natural resources;

negative anthropogenic impact on the natural environment, deterioration of the environmental conditions of people's lives;

· increased unevenness in the levels of socio-economic development between industrialized and developing countries;

creation of weapons of mass destruction.

Already now there is a threat of irreversible changes in the ecological properties of the geo-environment, a threat of violation of the emerging integrity of the world community and a threat of self-destruction of civilization.

Now man is faced with the solution of two major problems: the prevention of nuclear war and environmental catastrophe. The comparison is not accidental: anthropogenic pressure on the natural environment threatens the same as the use of atomic weapons - the destruction of life on Earth.

A feature of our time is the intensive and global human impact on the environment, which is accompanied by intense and global negative consequences. The contradictions between man and nature can become aggravated due to the fact that there is no limit to the growth of human material needs, while the ability of the natural environment to satisfy them is limited. Contradictions in the system "man - society - nature" have acquired a planetary character.

There are two aspects of the environmental problem:

– environmental crises arising as a result of natural processes;

– crises caused by anthropogenic impact and irrational nature management.

The main problem is the inability of the planet to cope with the waste of human activity, with the function of self-purification and repair. The biosphere is being destroyed. Therefore, the risk of self-destruction of humanity as a result of its own life activity is great.

Nature is influenced in the following ways:

– use of environmental components as a resource base for production;

– the impact of human production activities on the environment;

– demographic pressure on nature (agricultural land use, population growth, growth of large cities).

Here, many global problems of mankind are intertwined - resource, food, demographic - all of them have access to environmental issues.

The current situation on the planet is characterized by a sharp deterioration in the quality of the environment - air pollution, rivers, lakes, seas, unification and even complete disappearance of many species of flora and fauna, soil degradation, desertification, etc. This conflict creates a threat of irreversible changes in natural systems, undermining the natural conditions and resources of the existence of generations of the inhabitants of the planet. The growth of the productive forces of society, population growth, urbanization, scientific and technological progress are the catalysts for these processes.

The depletion of the ozone layer is a much more dangerous reality for all life on Earth than the fall of some super-large meteorite. Ozone prevents dangerous cosmic radiation from reaching the Earth's surface. If not for ozone, these rays would destroy all life. Studies of the causes of the depletion of the ozone layer of the planet have not yet given definitive answers to all questions. Observations from artificial satellites have shown a decrease in ozone levels. With an increase in the intensity of ultraviolet radiation, scientists associate an increase in the incidence of eye diseases and oncological diseases, the occurrence of mutations. Man, the oceans, climate, flora and fauna were under attack.

18. Socio-ecological consequences of the resource crisis.

Energy resource problem. The rapid growth of industry, accompanied by global pollution of the natural environment, has posed an unprecedentedly acute problem of raw materials. Now a person in his economic activity has mastered almost all types of resources available and known to him, both renewable and non-renewable.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, wood was the main energy resource, followed by coal. It was replaced by the extraction and consumption of other types of fuel - oil and gas. The era of oil gave impetus to the intensive development of the economy, which in turn required an increase in the production and consumption of fossil fuels. If we follow the forecasts of optimists, then the world's oil reserves should be enough for 2-3 centuries. Pessimists, on the other hand, believe that the available oil reserves can meet the needs of civilization for only a few decades.

The main directions of the economy of energy resources are: improvement of technological processes, improvement of equipment, reduction of direct losses of fuel and energy processes, improvement of equipment, reduction of direct losses of fuel and energy resources, structural changes in production technology, structural changes in products, improvement of the quality of fuel and energy, organizational and technical measures. Carrying out these activities is caused not only by the need to save energy resources, but also by the importance of taking into account environmental issues when solving energy problems. Of great importance is the replacement of fossil fuels with other sources (solar energy, wave energy, tide energy, earth energy, wind energy). These sources of energy resources are environmentally friendly. By replacing fossil fuels with them, we reduce the harmful impact on nature and save organic energy resources. .

Land resources, soil cover is the basis of all living nature. Only 30% of the world's land fund is agricultural land used by mankind for food production, the rest is mountains, deserts, glaciers, swamps, forests, etc.

Throughout the history of civilization, population growth has been accompanied by an expansion of cultivated land. Over the past 100 years, more have been cleared land areas for settled agriculture than in all previous centuries.

Now in the world there is practically no land left for agricultural development, only forests and extreme territories. In addition, in many countries of the world, land resources are rapidly declining (growth of cities, industry, etc.).

Land degradation is a serious problem. The fight against the reduction of land resources is the most important task of mankind.

Of all types of resources, fresh water is in the first place in terms of the growth of demand for it and the increase in the deficit. 71% of the entire surface of the planet is occupied by water, but fresh water makes up only 2% of the total, and almost 80% of fresh water is in the Earth's ice cover. About 60% of the total land area is in areas where there is not enough fresh water. A quarter of humanity feels the lack of it, and more than 500 million people suffer from lack and poor quality.

The situation is complicated by the fact that a large amount of natural water is polluted by industrial and household waste. All this eventually ends up in the ocean, which is already heavily polluted.

Water is a prerequisite for the existence of all living organisms on Earth.

The ocean is the main reservoir of the most valuable and increasingly scarce resource - water (the production of which by desalination is increasing every year). Scientists believe that the biological resources of the ocean are enough to feed 30 billion people.

The main reasons for the depletion of biological resources include: irrational management of the world's fisheries, pollution of ocean waters.

In the future, the situation with another natural resource that was previously considered inexhaustible - the oxygen of the atmosphere - is alarming. When the products of photosynthesis of past eras - combustible fossils - are burned, free oxygen is bound into compounds. Long before fossil fuels are depleted, people must stop burning them, so as not to suffocate themselves and destroy all life.

The population explosion and the scientific and technological revolution have led to a colossal increase in the consumption of natural resources. At such a rate of consumption, it became obvious that many natural resources would be depleted in the near future. At the same time, waste from giant industries began to pollute the environment more and more, destroying the health of the population.

The danger of an ecological - resource crisis with the scientific and technological revolution is not accidental. The scientific and technological revolution creates conditions for the removal of technical restrictions on the development of production. A new contradiction has taken an exceptionally sharp form - between the internally unlimited possibilities for the development of production and the naturally limited possibilities of the natural environment.

19.Socio-ecological consequences of changes in the gene pool.

Habitat change resulting from human activities has an impact on human populations that is mostly harmful, resulting in increased morbidity and reduced life expectancy. However, in developed countries, life expectancy is steadily - by about 2.5 years per decade - approaching its biological limit (95 years), within which a specific cause of death is of no fundamental importance. Impacts that do not seem to lead to premature death, however, often reduce the quality of life, but the deeper problem lies in the imperceptible gradual change in the gene pool, which is becoming global.

The gene pool is usually defined as the totality of genes present in individuals of a given population, group of populations, or species, within which they are characterized by a certain frequency of occurrence.

The impact on the gene pool is most often talked about in connection with radiation pollution, although this is by no means the only factor affecting the gene pool. According to VA Krasilov, there is a big gap between everyday and scientific ideas about the effect of radiation on the gene pool. For example, they often talk about the loss of the gene pool, although it is quite clear that the gene pool of the human species can be lost only if people are practically completely destroyed. The loss of genes or their variants in the foreseeable time scale is likely only in relation to very rare variants. In any case, the emergence of new gene variants, changes in gene frequencies and, accordingly, the frequencies of heterozygous and homozygous genotypes are no less possible.

VA Krasilov notes that not everyone evaluates the change in the gene pool as a negative phenomenon. Supporters of eugenics programs believe that it is possible to get rid of unwanted genes through physical destruction or exclusion of their carriers from the reproduction process. However, the action of a gene depends on its environment, interaction with other genes. At the level of personality, defects are often compensated by the development of special abilities (Homer was blind, Aesop was ugly, Byron and Pasternak were lame). And the methods of gene therapy available today open up the possibility of correcting birth defects without interfering with the gene pool.

The desire of most people to preserve the gene pool as nature created it has quite natural grounds. Historically, the gene pool has developed as a result of a long evolution and has ensured the adaptation of human populations to a wide range of natural conditions. The genetic diversity of people at the population and individual levels is sometimes obviously adaptive (for example, dark skin color in low latitudes associated with resistance to ultraviolet radiation), while in other cases it is neutral with respect to environmental factors. Regardless of this, genetic diversity predetermined the diversity and dynamism of the development of human culture. The highest achievement of this culture - the humanistic principle of the equivalence of all people - translated into biological language means the preservation of the gene pool, which is not subject to artificial selection.

At the same time, the action of natural factors of change in the gene pool continues - mutations, genetic drift and natural selection. Environmental pollution affects each of them. Although these factors act together, it makes sense for analytical purposes to consider them separately.

20.The natural movement of the population.

Vital movement of the population is the change in population due to births and deaths.

The study of natural movement is carried out using absolute and relative indicators.

Absolute indicators

1. Number of births for the period(R)

2. Number of deaths per period(U)

3. Natural increase (decrease) population, which is defined as the difference between the number of births and deaths for the period: SP \u003d P - Y

Relative indicators

Among the indicators of population movement, there are: the birth rate, the death rate, the natural increase rate and the vitality rate.