Global problems of the modern world and ways to solve them. Global problems of our time

INTRODUCTION

Global problems humanity - problems and situations that cover many countries, the Earth's atmosphere, the World Ocean and near-Earth space and affect the entire population of the Earth.

The global problems of mankind cannot be solved by the efforts of one country; jointly developed provisions on environmental protection, a coordinated economic policy, assistance to backward countries, etc. are needed.

Everything is interconnected with everything - says the first ecological law. This means that one cannot take a step without hitting, and sometimes without violating, something from the environment. Each step of a person on an ordinary lawn is dozens of destroyed microorganisms, frightened off insects, changing migration routes, and perhaps even reducing their natural productivity.

Already in the last century, a person's concern for the fate of the planet arose, and in the current century it has come to a crisis in the world ecological system due to the resumption of pressure on the natural environment.

The global problems of our time are a set of problems of mankind, on the solution of which social progress and the preservation of civilization depend.

What are global issues? It would seem that the question has been clear for a long time, and their range was determined back in the early 70s, when the term "globalistics" itself began to be used, the first models appeared global development.

One of the definitions refers to the global "problems arising as a result of the objective development of society, creating threats to all mankind and requiring the combined efforts of the entire world community for their solution."

The correctness of this definition depends on which problems are classified as global. If this is a narrow circle of higher, planetary problems, then it is fully consistent with the truth. If we add here such problems as natural disasters (it is global only in the sense of the possibility of manifestation in the region), then this definition turns out to be narrow, limiting, which is its meaning.

First, global problems are such problems that affect the interests of not only individuals, but can affect the fate of all mankind. Here the word “fate” is important, which means the prospects for the future development of the world.

Secondly, global problems are not solved by themselves and even by the efforts of individual countries. They require purposeful and organized efforts of the entire world community. Unresolved global problems may lead in the future to serious, possibly irreversible, consequences for humans and their environment.

Thirdly, global problems are closely related to each other. Therefore, it is so difficult even theoretically to isolate and systematize them, not to mention developing a system of successive steps to solve them. Generally recognized global problems are such as: environmental pollution, problems of resources, population, nuclear weapons and a number of others.


Yuri Gladky made an interesting attempt to classify global problems, identifying three main groups:

1. Problems of a political and socio-economic nature.

2. Problems of natural and economic nature

3. Problems of a social nature.

Awareness of global problems, the urgency of revising many of the usual stereotypes came to us late, much later than the publication in the West of the first global models, calls to stop the growth of the economy. Meanwhile, all global problems are closely interconnected.

Until recently, nature conservation was a matter for individuals and societies, and ecology initially had nothing to do with nature conservation. This name Ernest Haeckel in 1866 in the monograph "General Morphology" christened the science of the relationship of animals and plants living in a certain area, their relationship to each other and to living conditions.

Who eats what or whom, how it adapts to seasonal climate changes - the main questions of the original ecology. With the exception of a narrow circle of specialists, no one knew anything about it. And now the word "ecology" is on everyone's lips.

Such a dramatic change over the course of 30 years occurred due to two interrelated circumstances characteristic of the second half of the century: the growth of the world's population and the scientific and technological revolution.

The rapid growth of the world's population is called the population explosion.

It was accompanied by the seizure of vast territories from nature for residential buildings and public institutions, roads and railways, airports and marinas, crops and pastures.

Simultaneously with the population explosion, there was also a scientific and technological revolution. Man mastered nuclear energy, rocket technology and went into space. He invented the computer, created electronic technology and the industry of synthetic materials.

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, the waste from giant industries began to pollute the environment more and more, destroying the health of the population. In all industrial developed countries widespread received cancer, chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases.

Scientists were the first to sound the alarm. Beginning in 1968, the Italian economist Aurelio Pecchen began to annually gather in Rome major experts from different countries to discuss issues about the future of civilization. These meetings were called the Club of Rome. In the spring of 1972, the first book prepared by the Club of Rome was published, with the characteristic title "Limits to Growth". They appealed to the governments of all countries of the world with an appeal to create special state institutions for these purposes. In different countries, ministries, departments and committees on ecology began to be created, and their main goal was to monitor the natural environment and combat its pollution in order to preserve public health.

To conduct research on human ecology, a theoretical basis was required. First, Russian and then foreign researchers recognized the teachings of V.I. Vernadsky about the biosphere and the inevitability of its evolutionary transformation into the environment of the human mind - the noosphere.

However, the anthropogenic impact on nature has reached such proportions that global problems have arisen that no one could even suspect at the beginning of the 20th century.

Classification

The development of a classification of global problems was the result of long-term research and generalization of the experience of several decades of studying them.

Researchers have proposed many classification options. Let us consider here a variant of the classification developed by domestic scientists I.T. Frolov and V.V. Zagladin. According to this option, all global problems are divided into three large groups.

The first group consists of those problems that are associated with relations between the main social communities of mankind, i.e. between groups of states with similar political, economic and other interests: “East-West”, rich and poor countries, etc. These problems should be called intersocial. These include the problem of preventing war and ensuring peace, as well as establishing a fair international economic order. Environmental problems are especially acute here, like a huge number of others. The backward and moderately developed countries make up the vast majority of the world's population - about five billion out of six. The general trend of modern development, unfortunately, is such that the gap between the "golden billion" and the rest of humanity is not shrinking, but growing.

The second group combines those problems that are generated by the interaction of society and nature. They are associated with the limited capacity of the environment to endure anthropogenic loads. These are such problems as the provision of energy, fuel, raw materials, fresh water, etc. The environmental problem also belongs to this group, i.e. the problem of protecting nature from irreversible changes of a negative nature, as well as the task of the reasonable development of the World Ocean and outer space.

These are, firstly, environmental problems; secondly, the problems associated with the development of nature by society, i.e. problems of raw materials and energy resources; thirdly, the problems associated with relatively new global objects - outer space and the oceans.

The third group of global problems are those associated with the "individual-society" system. They directly concern the individual and depend on the ability of society to provide real opportunities for the development of the individual. These include health and education issues, as well as population control issues.

The third large group of problems is directly related to man, to his individual being. These are the problems of "human qualities" - the development of moral, intellectual and other inclinations of a person, ensuring a healthy lifestyle, normal mental development. Special attention to these problems has become a characteristic sign of global studies since the second half of the 70s.

2.1 DEMOGRAPHIC PROBLEM

People have always been crowded on the planet. Aristotle and other philosophers of antiquity were also concerned about the overpopulation of the Earth. But this tightness also served as an incentive for people to strive to develop new earthly spaces. This was the impetus for the great geographical discoveries, technical inventions, the scientific process itself.

The growing population of the planet requires an ever-increasing increase in the pace of economic development in order to maintain balance. However, if we take into account the current state of technology, then such growth will cause more and more environmental pollution and may even lead to the irretrievable death of nature, which provides food for all of us and supports all life.

It is difficult to judge the phenomenon of a population explosion in Russia, where the population began to decrease since 1993, and even Western Europe, where it grows very slowly, but it is well illustrated by the demographic statistics of China, African countries, Latin America, and southern Asia, where the population is growing at a gigantic pace.

At the beginning of the century, 1.5 billion people lived on Earth. In 1950, despite the losses in the two world wars, the population increased to 2.5 billion, and then began to increase annually by 70-100 million people. In 1993, the world's population reached 5.5 billion people, that is, doubled compared to 1950, and in 2000 it will exceed 6 billion.

In a finite space, growth cannot be infinite. In all likelihood, the current number of people on Earth will double. Perhaps it will stabilize at the level of 10-12, maybe 14 billion people by the end of the century. The conclusion follows from this: we must hurry today in order to stop the slide into irreversible situations in the future.

An essential feature of the modern demographic picture of the world is that 90%2 of population growth is in developing countries. In order to present a real picture of the world, one must know how this majority of humanity lives.

The direct link between poverty and the population explosion is visible on global, continental and regional scales. Africa, the continent in the most difficult ecological and economic crisis, has the highest population growth rates in the world, and unlike other continents, they are not declining there yet. Thus the vicious circle closes: poverty

Rapid population growth - degradation of natural life support systems.

The gap between accelerated population growth and insufficient industrial development is further exacerbated by the widespread decline in production, which makes it difficult to solve the huge problem of unemployment in developing countries Oh. Almost a third of their working-age population is fully or partially unemployed. Poverty does not reduce but increases incentives to have more children. Children are an important part of the family workforce. From childhood, they collect firewood, prepare fuel for cooking, graze livestock, nurse younger children, and do many other household chores.

So, in reality, the danger to our planet is poverty, in which the vast majority of the world's population lives. The population explosion and the forced destruction of the natural basis of existence are largely the consequences of poverty.

The notion that the rapidly growing population of developing countries is the main cause of growing global resource and environmental shortages is as simple as it is false. The Swedish environmental scientist Rolf Edberg wrote: "Two-thirds of the world's population is forced to be content with a standard of living that is 5-10% of the level in the richest countries. A Swede, a Swiss, an American consume 40 times more Earth's resources than a Somali, eat in

75 times more meat products than an Indian. A more equitable distribution of earth's resources could first of all be expressed in the fact that a well-to-do quarter of the planet's population - if only from the instinct of self-preservation - would refuse direct

2.2. ENVIRONMENTAL

Ecology was born as a purely biological science of relationships

"organism - environment". With the intensification of anthropogenic and technogenic pressure on the environment, the insufficiency of such an approach became obvious. Currently, there are no phenomena, processes and territories unaffected by this powerful pressure. The range of sciences involved in environmental issues has expanded enormously.

The environmental problems of our time can be divided into local, regional and global in scale and require different means of solution and scientific developments of different nature for their solution.

To solve such problems, scientific research is already needed. Anthropogenic impact on nature has reached such proportions that global problems have arisen.

Air pollution

The most common atmospheric pollutants enter it mainly in two forms: either in the form of suspended particles or in the form of gases. Carbon dioxide. As a result of fuel combustion, as well as the production of cement, a huge amount of this gas enters the atmosphere. This gas itself is not poisonous. Carbon monoxide. Combustion of fuel, which creates most of the gaseous and aerosol pollution of the atmosphere, serves as a source of another carbon compound - carbon monoxide. It is poisonous and its danger is aggravated by the fact that it has neither color nor smell, and poisoning with it can occur imperceptibly.

Hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities are a small fraction of naturally occurring hydrocarbons, but their pollution is very important. Their entry into the atmosphere can occur at any stage of production, processing, storage, transportation and use of substances and materials containing hydrocarbons. More than half of the hydrocarbons produced by humans enter the air as a result of the incomplete combustion of gasoline and diesel fuel during the operation of cars and other means of transport. Sulphur dioxide. Atmospheric pollution with sulfur compounds has important environmental consequences. The main sources of sulfur dioxide are volcanic activity, as well as the processes of oxidation of hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds.

Soil pollution

Almost all pollutants that are initially released into the atmosphere end up on land and water. Settling aerosols may contain toxic heavy metals - lead, mercury, copper, vanadium, cobalt, nickel. Acid also enters the soil with rain. By combining with it, metals can turn into soluble compounds available to plants. Substances that are constantly present in the soil also pass into soluble forms, which sometimes leads to the death of plants.

Water pollution

The water used by man is eventually returned to the natural environment. But, apart from evaporated water, it is no longer pure water, but domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater, usually not treated or treated insufficiently. Thus, there is pollution of freshwater reservoirs - rivers, lakes, land and coastal areas of the seas. There are three types of water pollution - biological, chemical and physical.

2.3. WARMING

The sharp warming of the climate that began in the second half of the 20th century is a reliable fact. We feel it in milder than before winters. The average temperature of the surface layer of air, compared with 1956-1957, when the First International Geophysical Year was held, increased by 0.7 (C). There is no warming at the equator, but the closer to the poles, the more noticeable it is. At the North Pole, the under-ice water warmed by 1(C2) and the ice cover began to melt from below.

Some scientists believe that this is the result of burning a huge amount of organic fuel and releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is a greenhouse gas, that is, it makes it difficult to transfer heat from the Earth's surface.

So what is the greenhouse effect? Billions of tons of carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere every hour as a result of burning coal and oil, natural gas and firewood, millions of tons of methane rise into the atmosphere from gas developments, from the rice fields of Asia, water vapor and fluorochlorocarbons are emitted there. All of these are "greenhouse gases". Just as a glass roof and walls in a greenhouse allow solar radiation to pass through, but do not allow heat to escape, so carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" are practically transparent to sunlight, but retain the Earth's long-wave thermal radiation, preventing it from escaping into space.

The forecast for the future (2040) assumes a possible increase in temperature by 1.5 - 4.5.

A warming climate raises a number of related issues.

What are the prospects for its further development? How will warming affect the increase in evaporation from the surface of the oceans and how will this affect the amount of precipitation? How will this precipitation be distributed over the area?

All these questions can be answered accurately.

2.4. Ozone holes

The ecological problem of the ozone layer is no less complex in scientific terms. As you know, life on Earth appeared only after the protective ozone layer of the planet was formed, covering it from cruel ultraviolet radiation. For many centuries, nothing foreshadowed trouble. However, in recent decades, intensive destruction of this layer has been noticed.

The problem of the ozone layer arose in 1982, when a probe launched from a British station in Antarctica, at an altitude of 25 - 30 kilometers, discovered a sharp decline ozone content. Since then, an ozone "hole" of varying shapes and sizes has been recorded over Antarctica all the time. According to the latest data for 1992, it is equal to 23 million square kilometers, that is, an area equal to the entire North America. Later, the same "hole" was discovered over the Canadian Arctic archipelago, over Svalbard, and then in different places in Eurasia, in particular, over Voronezh.

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, because ozone does not allow dangerous radiation to reach the Earth's surface. In the event of a decrease in ozone, humanity is threatened, at a minimum, with an outbreak of skin cancer and eye diseases. In general, an increase in the dose of ultraviolet rays can weaken the human immune system, and at the same time reduce the yield of fields, reduce the already narrow base of the Earth's food supply.

"It is quite possible that by the year 2100 the protective ozone blanket will disappear, ultraviolet rays will dry up the Earth, animals and plants will die. Man will seek salvation under giant domes of artificial glass, and feed on the food of astronauts."

The depletion of the ozone layer has excited not only scientists, but also the governments of many countries. The search for reasons began. At first, suspicion fell on chlorine and fluorocarbons used in refrigeration, the so-called freons. They are really easily oxidized by ozone, thereby destroying it. Large sums were allocated to search for their substitutes. However, refrigeration units are mainly used in countries with warm and hot climates, and for some reason, ozone holes are most pronounced in the polar regions. This caused confusion. Then it was found that a lot of ozone is destroyed by the rocket engines of modern aircraft flying at high altitudes, as well as during the launch of spacecraft and satellites.

Detailed scientific studies are needed to finally resolve the issue of the causes of ozone depletion.

2.5 The problem of the greenhouse effect

Carbon dioxide is one of the main culprits of the "greenhouse effect", which is why other known "greenhouse gases" (and there are about 40 of them) account for only about half of global warming. Just as in a greenhouse, a glass roof and walls allow solar radiation to pass through, but do not allow heat to escape, so does carbon dioxide, along with other "greenhouse gases". They are practically transparent to the sun's rays, but they delay the thermal radiation of the Earth and prevent it from escaping into space. The increase in the average global air temperature must inevitably lead to an even more significant decrease in continental glaciers. Climate warming leads to melting polar ice and rising sea levels.

Global warming can cause a shift in the main areas of agriculture to temperature, large floods, persistent droughts, forest fires. Changes in the situation will inevitably follow the coming climate changes natural areas a) reduction of coal consumption, replacement of its natural gases, b) development of atomic energy, c) development alternative species energy (wind, solar, geothermal) d) worldwide energy savings. But the problem of global warming is to some extent on this moment nevertheless, it is compensated due to the fact that another problem has developed on its basis. Global dimming problem! At the moment, the temperature of the planet has risen by only one degree in a hundred years. But according to the calculations of scientists, it should have risen to higher values. But due to global dimming, the effect was reduced. The mechanism of the problem is based on the fact that: rays sunlight which should pass through the clouds and reach the surface and, as a result, raise the temperature of the planet and increase the effect of global warming, cannot pass through the clouds and are reflected from them due to not reaching the surface of the planet. And it is thanks to this effect that the atmosphere of the planet does not heat up rapidly. It would seem easier to do nothing and leave both factors alone, but if this happens, then human health will be in danger.

2.6. DEATH AND DEFORESTATION

One of the causes of forest death in many regions of the world is acid rain, the main culprit of which is power plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions and long-range transport result in such rainfall far from emission sources. Over the past 20 years (1970 - 1990), the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forests, which is equal to the area of ​​the United States east of the Mississippi.

Especially great environmental threat is the depletion of tropical forests - the "lungs of the planet" and the main source of the planet's biological diversity. Approximately 200,000 square kilometers are cut down or burned there every year, which means that 100,000 species of plants and animals disappear. This process is especially fast in the regions richest in tropical forests - the Amazon and Indonesia.

British ecologist N. Meyers came to the conclusion that ten small areas in the tropics contain at least 27% of the total species composition of this class of plant formations, later this list was expanded to 15 "hot spots" of tropical forests that must be preserved in order to no matter what.

In developed countries, acid rain has damaged much of the forest.

The current situation with forests is very different across the continents. If in Europe and Asia the forest-covered areas slightly increased in 1974-1989, then in Australia they decreased by 2.6% in one year. Even greater forest degradation occurs in individual countries: in Côte d, Ivoire in a year forest areas decreased by 5.4%, in Thailand - by 4.3%, in Paraguay by 3.4%.

2.7. desertification

Under the influence of living organisms, water and air, the most important ecosystem, thin and fragile, is gradually formed on the surface layers of the lithosphere - the soil, which is called the "skin of the Earth". It is the keeper of fertility and life. A handful of good soil contains millions of microorganisms that support fertility. It takes a century to form a layer of soil with a thickness (thickness) of 1 centimeter. It can be lost in one field season. According to geologists, before people began to engage in agricultural economic activity, to graze livestock and plow land, rivers annually carried about 9 billion tons of soil into the oceans. Now this amount is estimated at about 25 billion tons.

Soil erosion - a purely local phenomenon - has now become universal. In the US, for example, about 44% of cultivated land is subject to erosion. Unique rich chernozems with humus content have disappeared in Russia ( organic matter, which determines the fertility of the soil) in 14–16%, which was called the citadel of Russian agriculture. In Russia, the areas of the most fertile lands with a humus content of 10–13% have decreased by almost 5 times.

A particularly difficult situation arises when not only the soil layer is demolished, but also the parent rock on which it develops. Then the threshold of irreversible destruction sets in, an anthropogenic (that is, man-made) desert arises.

One of the most formidable, global and fleeting processes of our time is the expansion of desertification, the fall and, in the most extreme cases, the complete destruction of the biological potential of the Earth, which leads to conditions similar to those of a natural desert.

Natural deserts and semi-deserts occupy more than 1/3 of the earth's surface. About 15% of the world's population lives on these lands. Deserts are natural formations that play a certain role in the overall ecological balance of the planet's landscapes.

As a result of human activity, by the last quarter of the 20th century, more than 9 million square kilometers of deserts appeared, and in total they already covered 43% of the total land area.

In the 1990s, desertification began to threaten 3.6 million hectares of drylands. This represents 70% of the potentially productive drylands, or total land area, and this figure does not include the area of ​​natural deserts.

According to UN experts, the current loss of productive land will lead to the fact that by the end of the century the world may lose almost 1/3 of its arable land. Such a loss, at a time of unprecedented population growth and increased food demand, could be truly disastrous.

Causes of land degradation in different regions of the world.

Deforestation, Over-exploitation, Over-plowing Agriculture, Industrialization

2.8. Pure water

Humans have been polluting water since time immemorial. Paradoxically, but harmful emissions into the atmosphere eventually end up in water, and the territories of urban solid waste and garbage dumps after each rain and after snowmelt contribute to the pollution of surface and groundwater.

So, clean water is also becoming scarce, and water scarcity can affect faster than the consequences of the "greenhouse effect": 1.2 billion people live without clean drinking water, 2.3 billion without treatment facilities to use polluted water. Water consumption for irrigation is growing, now it is 3300 cubic kilometers per year, 6 times more than the flow of one of the most abundant rivers in the world - the Mississippi. The widespread use of groundwater leads to a decrease in their level. In Beijing, for example, in recent years it has fallen by 4 meters ...

Water can also become the subject of internecine conflicts, as the 200 largest rivers in the world flow through the territory of two or more countries. The water of the Niger, for example, is used by 10 countries, the Nile - by 9, and the Amazon - by 7 countries.

Our civilization is already called the "civilization of waste" or the Era of disposable things. The wastefulness of the industrialized countries is manifested in the vast and growing waste of raw materials; mountains of garbage are a characteristic feature of all industrial countries of the world. The United States, with 600 kilograms of garbage per capita per year, is the largest producer of household waste in the world, in Western Europe and Japan they produce half as much, but the growth rate of household waste is growing everywhere. In our country, this increase is 2-5% per year2.

Many new products contain toxic substances - lead, mercury and cadmium - in batteries, toxic chemicals in household detergents, solvents and dyes. Therefore, garbage dumps near the largest cities pose a serious environmental threat - the threat of groundwater pollution, a threat to public health. The disposal of industrial waste to these landfills will create even greater dangers.

Waste processing plants are not a radical solution to the problem of waste - sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide are emitted into the atmosphere, and ash contains toxic substances, the ash ends up in the same landfills.

Such an ordinary substance as water rarely attracts our attention, although we encounter it every day, rather even hourly: during the morning toilet, at breakfast, when we drink tea or coffee, when leaving the house in rain or snow, while preparing dinner. and washing dishes, during washing ... In general, very, very often. Think for a moment about water... imagine that it suddenly disappeared... well, for example, there was an accident in the water supply network. Perhaps this has happened to you before? With all the evidence in such a situation, it becomes clear that "without water, neither there nor here."

2.9. energy problem

As we have seen, it is closely related to the environmental problem. Ecological well-being also depends to the strongest degree on the reasonable development of the Earth's energy, because half of all gases that cause " the greenhouse effect", is created in the energy sector.

The fuel and energy balance of the planet consists mainly of

"pollutants" - oil (40.3%), coal (31.2%), gas (23.7%). In total, they account for the vast majority of the use of energy resources - 95.2%. "Pure" species - hydropower and atomic Energy- give in total less than 5%, and the "softest" (not polluting the atmosphere) - wind, solar, geothermal - account for fractions of a percent.

It is clear that the global task is to increase the share of "clean" and especially "soft" types of energy.

In the coming years, "soft" types of energy will not be able to significantly change the fuel and energy balance of the Earth. It will take some time until their economic indicators become close to "traditional" forms of energy.

In addition to the gigantic area that is necessary for the development of solar and wind energy, one must also take into account the fact that their ecological "cleanliness" is taken without taking into account metal, glass and other materials necessary to create such "clean" installations, and even in huge quantities.

Conditionally "clean" is also hydropower - large losses of the area of ​​flooding in floodplains, which are usually valuable agricultural lands. Hydroelectric power plants now provide 17% of all electricity in developed countries and 31% in developing countries, where the world's largest hydroelectric power plants have been built in recent years.

Apparently, under these conditions, only nuclear energy can be a way out, able to sharply and in a fairly short time to weaken the "greenhouse effect".

Replacement of coal, oil and gas nuclear power has already yielded some reductions in CO2 and other "greenhouse gases".

2.10. Raw material problem

The issues of providing raw materials and energy are the most important and multifaceted global problem. The most important because, even in the age of scientific and technological revolution, minerals remain the fundamental basis for almost the rest of the economy, and fuel is its circulatory system. Multifaceted because a whole knot of "sub-problems" is woven together here:

Resource availability on a global and regional scale;

Economic aspects of the problem (higher production costs, fluctuations in world prices for raw materials and fuel, dependence on imports);

Geopolitical aspects of the problem (struggle for sources of raw materials and fuel;

Environmental aspects of the problem (damage from the mining industry itself, energy supply issues, regeneration of raw materials, choice of energy strategies, and so on).

Resource use has increased dramatically in recent decades.

Since 1950 alone, the volume of mineral extraction has increased 3 times, ¾ of all minerals extracted in the 20th century were mined after 1960.

One of key issues of any global models was the provision of resources and energy. And much of what until recently was considered endless, inexhaustible and “free” has become resources - territory, water, oxygen.

Problems of the world ocean

The world ocean, covering 2/3 of the earth's surface, is a huge water reservoir, the mass of water in which is 1.4 (1021 kilograms or 1.4 billion cubic kilometers. Ocean water is 97% of all water on the planet. Being the largest supplier food products, The World Ocean provides, according to various estimates, from 1/6 of all proteins of animal origin consumed by the population of the planet for food. The ocean, and especially its coastal zone, plays a leading role in maintaining life on Earth.

After all, about 70% of the oxygen entering the planet's atmosphere is produced in the process of photosynthesis by plankton (phytoplankton). The blue-green algae that live in the oceans serve as a giant filter that purifies the water in the process of its circulation. It receives polluted river and rainwater and returns moisture to the continent in the form of pure atmospheric precipitation through evaporation.

The World Ocean is one of the most important objects of environmental protection. The peculiarity of this object of environmental protection is that the current in the seas and oceans quickly carries pollutants over long distances from the places of their release. Therefore, the problem of protecting the cleanliness of the ocean has a pronounced international character.

Intensive human activity has led to the fact that the Baltic,

The North and Irish Seas are heavily polluted with detergent runoff. Water

The Baltic and North Seas are fraught with another danger.

Successful Recovery water resources with their simultaneous involvement in economic circulation, that is, the reproduction of water resources, the prevention of probable new pollution is possible only when carrying out a set of measures, including cleaning Wastewater and reservoirs, introduction of recycling water supply and low-waste technologies.

Wasteless technology is developing in several directions:

1. Creation of drainless technological systems and water circulation cycles based on existing implemented and promising methods of wastewater treatment.

2. Development and implementation of systems for the disposal of production waste and their consumption as a secondary material resource, which excludes their entry into the aquatic environment.

3. Creation and implementation of fundamentally new processes for the production of traditional types of products, which make it possible to eliminate or reduce the technological stages that produce the main amount of liquid pollutant waste.

The most massive substances polluting water bodies are oil and its products.

Shipping is the oldest branch of transport, linking continents and cultures even in the most distant past. But only in the second half of our century did it take on modern grandiose proportions. A great danger to the open ocean is the catastrophe of tankers and even more - nuclear submarines.

The impact of military conflicts on the World Ocean is especially dangerous. "War in

Gulf" led to the fact that almost 2/3 west coast The Persian Gulf was covered with a layer of oil and a huge number of marine animals and birds died.

More obscure problems may arise due to climate warming

Earth. There is another type of contamination - radioactive contamination during the disposal of radioactive waste. Pollution of the seas and oceans with radioactive waste is one of the most important problems of our time.

In recent years, a number of important international agreements have been adopted to protect the seas and oceans from pollution. In accordance with these agreements, the washing of tankers and the discharge of waste ship waters must be carried out in special port facilities.

Problems of space exploration

Before the beginning of the first space flights, all near-Earth space, and even more so "distant" space, the universe, were considered something unknown. And only later they began to recognize that between the Universe and the Earth - this smallest particle of it - there is an inextricable relationship and unity.

The close interaction of the Earth's biosphere with the space environment gives grounds to assert that the processes occurring in the Universe have an impact on our planet.

It should be noted that already at the birth of the foundations of theoretical astronautics, environmental aspects played an important role, and, above all, in the works of K.E. Tsiolkovsky. In his opinion, the very exit of man into space is the development of a completely new ecological "niche", different from the earthly one.

Near space (or near-Earth space) is the gaseous envelope of the Earth, which is located above the surface atmosphere, and whose behavior is determined by the direct influence of solar ultraviolet radiation, while the state of the atmosphere is mainly influenced by the Earth's surface.

Until recently, scientists believed that the exploration of near space has almost no effect on the weather, climate and other living conditions on Earth. The emergence of ozone holes made scientists think. But the problem of preserving the ozone layer is only a small part of a much more general problem of protecting and rational use near-Earth outer space, and above all that part of it, which forms the upper atmosphere and for which ozone is only one of its components. By relative strength impact on the upper atmosphere, the launch of a space rocket is similar to the explosion of an atomic bomb in the surface atmosphere.

Space is a new environment for man, not yet inhabited. But here, too, the age-old problem of clogging the environment arose, this time the space one.

There is also the problem of pollution of near-Earth space by debris from spacecraft. Space debris appears during the operation of orbital spacecraft, their subsequent deliberate elimination. It also includes spent spacecraft, upper stages, separable structural elements such as pyrobolt adapters, covers, last stages of launch vehicles, and the like.

According to modern data, there are 3,000 tons of space debris in near space, which is about 1% of the mass of the entire upper atmosphere above 200 kilometers. Growing space debris poses a serious threat to space stations and manned flights. Space debris is dangerous not only for astronauts and space technology, but also for earthlings. Experts have calculated that out of 150 pieces of spacecraft that have reached the surface of the planet, one is very likely to seriously injure or even kill a person.

Outer space is not under the jurisdiction of any state. This is in its purest form an international object of protection. Thus, one of the important problems that arise in the process of industrial space exploration is to determine the specific factors of the permissible limits of anthropogenic impact on the environment and near-Earth space.

It must be admitted that today there is a negative impact of space technology on the environment (destruction of the ozone layer, contamination of the atmosphere with oxides of metals, carbon, nitrogen, and near space

- parts of used spacecraft). Therefore, it is very important to study the consequences of its influence from the point of view of ecology.

2.13 The problem of AIDS and drug addiction.

Fifteen years ago, one could hardly have foreseen that the media would receive so much attention for a disease that received short title AIDS stands for "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome". Now the geography of the disease is striking. Estimated World Organization health care, at least 100,000 cases of AIDS have been detected worldwide since the start of the epidemic. The disease was found in 124 countries. Most of them are in the USA. No less evil is the international mafia and especially drug addiction, which poisons the health of tens of millions of people and creates a fertile environment for crime and disease. Even today, even in developed countries, there are countless diseases, including mental ones. In theory, hemp fields should be guarded by workers of the state farm - the owner of the plantation.

2.14 The problem of thermonuclear war.

No matter how serious dangers for humanity are accompanied by all other global problems, they are even remotely incomparable in the aggregate with the catastrophic demographic, ecological and other consequences of the world thermonuclear war, which threatens the very existence of civilization and life on our planet. Back in the late 70s, scientists believed that a world thermonuclear war would be accompanied by the death of many hundreds of millions of people and the resolution of world civilization. Studies on the likely consequences of a thermonuclear war have revealed that even 5% of the nuclear arsenal of the great powers accumulated to date will be enough to plunge our planet into an irreversible environmental catastrophe: the soot rising into the atmosphere from incinerated cities and forest fires will create a screen impenetrable to sunlight and will lead to a drop in temperature by tens of degrees, so that even in the tropical zone a long polar night will come. The priority of preventing a world thermonuclear war is determined not only by its consequences, but also by the fact that a non-violent world without nuclear weapons creates the need for prerequisites and guarantees for the scientific and practical solution of all other global problems in conditions international cooperation.

3. The relationship of global problems.

All global problems of our time are closely connected with each other and mutually determined, so that their isolated solution is practically impossible. Thus, ensuring the further economic development of mankind with natural resources obviously presupposes the prevention of increasing environmental pollution, otherwise this will lead to an environmental catastrophe on a planetary scale in the foreseeable future. This environmental problem can be solved only on the path of a new type of environmental development, fruitfully using the potential of the scientific and technological revolution, while preventing it. negative consequences. The inability of mankind to develop at least one of the global problems will most negatively affect the possibility of solving all the others. In the view of some Western scientists, the interconnection and interdependence of global problems form a kind of “vicious circle” of disasters insoluble for humanity, from which there is either no way out at all, or the only salvation lies in the immediate cessation of ecological growth and population growth. Such an approach to global problems is accompanied by various alarmist, pessimistic forecasts of the future of mankind.

4. Ways and opportunities for solving global problems.

The aggravation of global contradictions puts on the agenda the common problem of the survival of mankind. Different specialists invest different content of the concept of survival.

For the optimal solution of global problems of the current stage of social development, two groups of prerequisites are necessary: ​​scientific and technical and socio-political. The content of the first is to ensure scientific and technological progress to the extent necessary for the regulation of natural processes; secondly, in the creation of such socio-political conditions that will make it possible to practically solve global problems. The most complete solution of global problems obviously requires a radical transformation of social relations on the scale of the world community. This means that for the next foreseeable period the only way to solve global problems is to develop mutually beneficial, broad international cooperation.

It is necessary to rethink the entire system of value orientations and change attitudes in life, shifting the emphasis from the means of life, which people have been busy with for so long, to the goals of life. Perhaps these great trials will lead not only to the transformation of being, but also to spiritual transformation.

The aggravation of global problems has created fundamentally new conditions for the development of mankind, the conditions of a constant, real threat to life on Earth.

In objective reality, we are dealing not with an aggregate, but with a system of global problems. Its characteristic feature is that it is extremely complex and multifactorial. And this is manifested, first of all, in the fact that the essential basis of the system of global contradictions are social relationships determined by the fundamental laws of social development. There are no purely social and purely socio-natural global problems. All of them express certain aspects of a single process of socio-natural development. A characteristic feature of the global problems of our time is that, having arisen for social reasons, they lead to consequences more than social, they affect the biological and physical foundations of human existence.

The central element of the strategy for solving global problems is the development of comprehensive international cooperation, the unification of the various efforts of all mankind. So, the world community has an objective opportunity to save itself and life on the planet. The problem is - will it be able to seize this opportunity?

Ways to solve environmental problems

The main thing, however, is not in the completeness of the list of these problems, but in understanding the causes of their occurrence, nature and, most importantly, in identifying effective ways and means of resolving them.

The real prospect of getting out ecological crisis- in changing the production activity of a person, his way of life, his consciousness.

Scientific and technological progress creates not only "overloads" for nature; in the most advanced technologies, it provides a means to prevent negative impacts, creates opportunities for environmentally friendly production. There was not only an urgent need, but also the opportunity to change the essence of technological civilization, to give it an environmental character.

One of the directions of such development is the creation of safe industries.

Using the achievements of science, technological progress can be organized in such a way that production waste does not pollute the environment, but re-enters the production cycle as a secondary raw material. Nature itself provides an example: the carbon dioxide emitted by animals is absorbed by plants, which release oxygen, which is necessary for the respiration of animals.

A waste-free production is one in which all raw materials eventually turn into one or another product. Considering that

Modern industry converts 98% of the feedstock into waste, then the need for the task of creating waste-free production will become clear.

Calculations show that 80% of the waste from the heat and power, mining, and coke industries are suitable for use. At the same time, the products obtained from them are often superior in quality to products made from primary raw materials. For example, ash from thermal power plants, used as an additive in the production of aerated concrete, approximately doubles the strength of building panels and blocks. Of great importance is the development of nature restoration industries (forestry, water, fisheries), the development and implementation of material-saving and energy-saving technologies.

Even F. Joliot-Curie warned: “We must not allow people to direct those forces of nature that they have managed to discover and conquer to their own destruction.”

Time does not wait. Our task is to stimulate by all available methods any initiative and entrepreneurship aimed at the creation and implementation of the latest technologies that contribute to the solution of any environmental problems.

Contribute to the creation of a large number of control bodies, consisting of highly qualified specialists, on the basis of clearly developed legislation in accordance with international agreements on environmental issues. To constantly convey information to all states and peoples on ecology through radio, television and the press, thereby raising the ecological consciousness of people and contributing to their spiritual and moral revival in accordance with the requirements of the era.

Humanism

Humanism (from lat. humanitas - humanity, lat. humanus - humane, lat. homo - man) - a worldview, in the center of which is the idea of ​​​​man as the highest value; emerged as a philosophical movement during the Renaissance

According to the definition of the ancient Roman politician and philosopher Cicero, humanism is the highest cultural and moral development of human abilities into an aesthetically complete form, combined with gentleness and humanity.

Humanism today

Yuri Cherny in his work "Modern Humanism" offers the following periodization of the development of the modern humanist movement:

Emergence (mid-19th century - early 1930s);

Formation and development of the organized humanistic movement (early 1930s - early 1980s);

Separation of secular (secular) humanism as an independent ideological movement, its final disengagement from religious humanism (early 1980s - present).

Modern humanism is a diverse ideological movement, the process of organizational formation of which began in the period between the two world wars and continues intensively today. The concept of "humanism" as a definition of their own views on life is used by agnostics, free-thinkers, rationalists, atheists, members of ethical societies (who seek to separate moral ideals from religious doctrines, metaphysical systems and ethical theories in order to give them independent power in personal life and social relations ).

Organizations of supporters of humanistic movements that exist in many countries of the world are united in the International Humanistic and Ethical Union (IHEU). Their activities are based on program documents - declarations, charters and manifestos, the most famous of which are:

Humanist Manifesto I (1933),

Humanist Manifesto II (1973),

Declaration of Secular Humanism (1980),

Humanist Manifesto 2000 (1999),

Amsterdam Declaration 2002,

Humanism and its aspirations (2003),

Other international and regional humanist organizations (World Union of Freethinkers, International Academy of Humanism, American Humanist Association, Dutch Humanist League, Russian Humanist Society, Indian Radical Humanist Association, International Coalition of "For Humanism!" etc.)

The phrase "humanism and ecology" at first glance looks quite natural and consonant. However, with a more rigorous examination of these concepts, almost nothing in common can be found between them. Nevertheless, the main direction of the modern development of mankind is most accurately expressed precisely by the unification of the ideas of ecology and humanism.

Ecology arose in the middle of the 19th century in the bowels of biological science, which by that time had become interested not only in the classification of all living things and the structure of organisms, but also in the reaction of animals and plants to the conditions of existence. Gradually, ecology took shape as an independent biological discipline with several main sections considering the features of the existence of organisms, populations and communities. In none of them is there even a hint of the priority of humane relations between species, and even more so of ensuring the fertile existence of only one of the many species, namely Homo sapience.

Humanism as a trend in culture arose in the 14th century in Italy and spread to Western Europe from the 15th century. Initially, humanism manifested itself in the form of a defense of secular values ​​against oppression by the ascetic medieval church. Some Italian universities have returned to the ancient cultural and scientific heritage, half-forgotten and rejected in the Middle Ages. The humanism of that time was initially inclined towards politicization and the reorganization of society, which eventually manifested itself in revolutions.

The Renaissance, which replaced the Middle Ages, “built on” Christian ethics and contributed to the further development of humanism. Without initially denying the foundations of Christian morality, the reformers brought in the form of studying ancient works the recognition of the intrinsic value of the human person and earthly life.

Humanism as a phenomenon turned out to be a historically changing system of views. Born in art, it paved the way for science, the scientific and technological revolution, contributed to the economic boom, education, social transformations and revolutions. Its consequences include both the modern fantastic achievements of science, which completely transformed our way of life, and the numerous troubles caused by the excessive arrogance of people seeking to reshape the world according to their own understanding. In this sense, humanism has given rise to an anti-ecological worldview of consumerism and the priority of human interests on Earth, thereby contributing to the approach of an ecological crisis.

Ecology has also undergone a striking metamorphosis. From a private biological discipline, in just the last half century, it has turned into an interdisciplinary field of science, colossal in its scope, a megascience that studies the impact on living things not only of natural environmental factors that have always existed in nature, but also of numerous processes generated by human activity. Applied ecology began to study ways to prevent undesirable consequences of anthropogenic impact on nature and on the health of people themselves.

Ecology has opened the eyes of the world to processes of global significance, and at the same time, it is these processes that are associated with the most unpleasant expectations, and possibly the misfortunes of mankind.

Any kind of living beings can theoretically multiply indefinitely. In real life, this does not happen, and bursts in the number of individual populations occur quite rarely. This is explained by the fact that the number of any species is constrained by the limited resources necessary for its life activity and, above all, food. Every ecology textbook gives examples of such "waves of life." Gradually, however, people became less and less dependent on natural limitations. They learned to grow their own food, store it, buy it in other countries and transport it to places of deprivation. Mankind has learned to look for new resources, i.e. take more and more from nature. There has never been anything like it before in the history of the biosphere. Remaining one of the species of living beings, humanity has gone out of control of natural regulations.

It is no longer possible to rely on the omnipotence of nature. Natural mechanisms are not sufficient to preserve the biosphere and prevent its destruction from within. Natural regulations are blind - these are “pendulum oscillations” with overshooting at the edges: a cataclysm is often necessary to switch processes. Anthropogenic regulation is the prediction of cataclysms, it is a timely reduction in the speed of the process, it is a choice between momentary benefit and long-term sustainability. Hence the priority sustainable development". Modern strategies should be based on the choice between short-term and long-term benefits in nature management.

Now people are obliged to live by other rules, not at all natural. This is the essence of the "environmental imperative" - ​​a concept that has become recent times widely known thanks to the works of Nikita Nikolaevich Moiseev. The new worldview of mankind must be formulated taking into account the fact that one kind of living thing assumes full responsibility for observing the "safety rules on the planet", for preserving stable equilibrium energy and material flows.

Such laws did not exist in nature, although their beginnings appeared long ago in the history of mankind and were reflected in the evolution of the humanistic worldview either in the form of religious teachings, or in the form of social utopias and theories, or in various manifestations of secular culture. Nevertheless, the very fact that mankind has already begun to live according to laws different from natural ones cannot be in doubt, and its participation in the regulation of natural processes has no analogues in the entire history of the Earth.

In the famous first report of the Club of Rome "Limits to Growth", it was proved that the development of mankind according to existing rules must inevitably lead to a global collapse in the near future. Cosmopolitanism and concerns about the fate of all mankind have ceased to be the lot of individual moralists and thinkers.

Christian humanism turned out to be ambivalent: while preaching love for one's neighbor, the church at the same time propagated asceticism, the extreme forms of which were inhuman. In addition, there was no place for nature in Christian teaching. Mankind harmed nature outside of Christianity, but Christianity not only did not resist this, but actually blessed such a policy of people. Struggling with paganism, with the veneration and deification of natural forces, the great religion at the same time destroyed the centuries-old traditions of the unity of man with nature. Christianity sought to separate man from nature, to oppose the spiritualized creation to other creatures, and even more so to inanimate nature. Man was torn out of the biological world by religion, and nature was given to him for consumption. This is the reason for the fact that environmental movements originated and grew outside the fold of the church.

The practical implementation of the ideas of humanism has become: the spread of accessible and universal secular education around the world, the recognition of equal rights for women and men, the emergence of a system of social security (support) for the population, including, in particular, the regulation of working hours, holidays, benefits. In many countries, for humane reasons, they have abandoned the use of the death penalty as the highest form of punishment.

The modern ecological outlook represents the next step in the development of humanistic ethics. Now we are talking not only about mutual respect between contemporaries, but also about caring for the well-being of future generations, about preserving the biosphere, the “common home” in which we all live together with many other species of living beings inhabiting it.

Since the mid-1960s, the United Nations has made great efforts to find ways to prevent a global environmental catastrophe. First in Stockholm in 1972, and then in Rio de Janeiro 20 years later, recommendations were made in the most general form for overcoming the ecological crisis, which did not fit into the stereotypes of either the capitalist or socialist systems. Gradually and independently of state efforts, the concerned public of different countries formulated new, as yet disparate rules for a different, third, path of development, which is associated with the concept of sustainable development of mankind. Now, at the turn of the millennium, the world is beginning to recognize itself as a single community, doomed primarily to take care of the safety of its "spaceship", from which it has nowhere to run.

The role of gradually transforming humanism turns out to be leading in solving global environmental problems: if ecology as a science has gone far beyond the field of knowledge it originally occupied and now we are talking about “environmental protection”, or rather about eco-culture, then humanism has undergone an impressive evolution. The time has come to recognize that the world is learning to live according to new rules, corresponding to the logical continuation of the evolution of humanism - its noospheric phase of development. Disparate principles, which are the treasury of mankind, which have been found and successfully tested by different peoples, thinkers, religions, can be combined into a single humanistic "code of life". It complements each other: the Christian “Thou shalt not kill”, the desire of humanists for education, philanthropy and creativity, the assertion of the principles of equality and freedom, citizenship and spirituality, current globalism and concern for the future of the entire planet.

Conclusion

The global problems of our time are of a universal nature in the broadest sense of the word, because they affect the interests of all mankind, affect the future of human civilization, and the most direct, without making any temporary delays.

Universal - these are the precondition factors, those values ​​that really contribute to the survival, preservation and development of mankind, the creation of favorable conditions for its existence, for the disclosure of its potentials.

On the present stage development of mankind has faced, perhaps, with the hottest problem - how to preserve nature, since no one knows when and in what form it is possible to move towards an ecological catastrophe. And humanity has not even come close to creating a global mechanism for regulating the nature user, but continues to destroy the colossal gifts of nature. There is no doubt that the inventive human mind will eventually find a replacement for them. Man cannot exist without nature, not only physically (bodily), which goes without saying, but also spiritually. The meaning of modern environmental ethics is to place the highest moral values ​​of man over the value of nature-transforming activity. At the same time, the principle of value equality of all living things (equivalence) appears as the basis of environmental ethics.

If humanity continues to follow the current path of development, then its death, according to the leading ecologists of the world, is inevitable in two or three generations.

Throughout their existence, people face problems of a global scale. The growth of scientific and technological progress has influenced the fact that there are more negative processes affecting the planet as a whole. Modern Philosophy requires their in-depth understanding in order to predict the consequences of such influence. The global problems of our time and ways to solve them are of concern to all countries on earth. Therefore, not so long ago, a new concept appeared - globalistics, which is based on a scientific and philosophical strategy for eliminating unpleasant phenomena on an international scale.

Many specialists work in the field of global studies, and this is not accidental. The reasons that do not allow humanity to develop harmoniously and move forward are complex in nature, and do not depend on one factor. That is why it is necessary to analyze the slightest changes in the political, social, economic state of states and peoples. The life of all mankind depends on whether the world community can decide in time.

How problems are classified

The problems of mankind that have global character affect the lives of all people and lead to serious social and economic losses. When they escalate, they can threaten the existence of the world's population. To solve them, the governments of all countries must unite and act together.

There is a scientific and philosophical classification of problems, formed on the basis of a long study. It consists of three large groups.

  • The first includes problems that affect the political and economic interests of different countries. They can be conditionally divided into the confrontation of the "East with the West", into backward and developed countries, into the prevention of terrorism and war. It also includes the preservation of peace and the establishment of a fair economic order on the planet.
  • In the second group there are problems arising from the interaction of mankind with nature. This is a lack of raw materials, fuel and energy, a problem of preserving the World Ocean, flora and fauna of the earth.
  • The third group includes problems that may be associated with a person and society. The main ones are overpopulation of the earth, education and health care.

Globalistics carefully examines the problems of modernity, based on philosophy and scientific and technical base. Philosophy explains that their occurrence is not an accident, but a pattern associated with progress in society and affecting the development of mankind.

  • do everything to save the world;
  • reduce rapid population growth;
  • reduce the use of natural resources;
  • stop and reduce the pollution of the planet;
  • reduce the social gap between people;
  • eradicate poverty and hunger everywhere.

Scientific and philosophical theory requires not only stating problems, but also giving a clear answer on how to solve them.

Causes and solutions

Understanding global problems is very important for humanity. This is the first step towards eliminating them.

The main condition for the preservation of life is peace on earth, therefore it is necessary to eliminate the threat of a third world war. The scientific and technological revolution gave people thermonuclear weapons, the use of which is capable of destroying entire cities and countries. Ways to solve this problem can be as follows:

  • stop the arms race, a complete ban on the creation and use of weapons of mass destruction;
  • strict control over chemical and nuclear warheads;
  • cutting spending on the army and a ban on the arms trade.

To solve global environmental problems, humanity needs to try hard. A threat hung over the people. This is due to the expected warming that is caused by emissions. If it happens, it will be catastrophic for the earth. The planet's geosystem will begin to change. As a result of the melting of glaciers, the level of the World Ocean will rise, thousands of kilometers of the coastal zone will be flooded. The planet will be subjected to a flurry of hurricanes, earthquakes and other extreme events. This will lead to death and destruction.

The high concentration of harmful substances in the atmosphere leads to another global problem - the violation of the ozone layer and the appearance of ozone holes. They are the cause and detrimental effect on all living things. The concept "is not perfectly studied, but scientists have certain information.

  • These problems can be solved by reducing environmental pollution.
  • It is necessary to reduce industrial emissions into the atmosphere, using the novelties of scientific and technological progress, and make every effort to save forests.

The demographic problem has long been relevant for mankind. Today, in most developing countries, there is an explosion in the birth rate, and the population is growing rapidly. In developed countries, on the contrary, this indicator is falling and the nation is aging. Social philosophy suggests looking for a solution in a competent demographic policy, which should be pursued by the governments of all countries.

The fuel and raw material problem threatens the world community with a lack of various resources necessary to ensure the life of people in the modern world. Already, many countries are suffering from insufficient fuel and energy.

  • To eliminate this disaster, it is necessary to economically distribute natural resources.
  • Use non-traditional types of energy sources, for example, wind, solar power plants.
  • Develop nuclear energy and competently use the power of the oceans.

Food shortages have a profound effect on many countries. According to official figures, about 1.2 million people are undernourished in the modern world. There are two ways to solve this global problem of mankind.

  • The essence of the first method is that it is necessary to increase the area for pastures and sowing crops in order to produce more food for consumption.
  • The second method recommends not to increase the territory, but to modernize the existing ones. Productivity can be improved by using scientific and technological innovations. For example, biotechnologies, with the help of which frost-resistant and high-yielding plant varieties are created.

The global problem of underdevelopment of underdeveloped countries is carefully studied by social philosophy. Many experts believe that the reason for the slow development of states is the rapid population growth against the backdrop of the lack of a developed economy. This leads to total poverty of people. To support these states, the world community must provide financial assistance, build hospitals, schools, various industrial enterprises and promote the development of the economy of backward peoples.

Problems of the World Ocean and human health

Recently, the threat to the oceans has been acutely felt. Environmental pollution and the irrational use of its resources have led to the fact that it is on the verge of death. Today, the goal of mankind is to preserve the ecosystem, because without it the planet cannot survive. This requires a certain strategy:

  • prohibit the disposal of nuclear and other dangerous substances;
  • to improve the structure of the world economy by creating separate places for oil production and fishing;
  • protect recreational resources from destruction;
  • improve industrial complexes located on the ocean.

The health of the inhabitants of the earth is an important global problem of our time. Scientific and technological progress stimulates the emergence of new drugs for serious illnesses. invented latest equipment for diagnosis and treatment. But despite this, epidemics often occur that claim thousands of lives, so scientists continue to actively develop advanced methods of struggle.

However, medicine is not a panacea. By and large, the health of each individual person is in his own hands. First and foremost, it's about lifestyle. After all, the causes of terrible diseases, as a rule, are:

  • poor nutrition and overeating,
  • immobility,
  • smoking,
  • alcoholism,
  • stress,
  • bad ecology.

Without waiting for the solution of global world problems, everyone can take care of their own health and the well-being of their loved ones - and the population of the Earth will become much healthier and happier. Why not a huge success?

The action plan is simple and clear, and the main thing here is to move from theory to practice. Reconsider your diet in favor of natural products, fresh vegetables and fruits; if you smoke - as soon as possible, do the same with addiction to alcohol; if your life is full of stresses - identify their sources and deal with negative factors, eliminating them if possible. Be sure to move more. As for ecology, it also matters on the most local scale - your apartment, workplace. Try to create a healthy atmosphere around you and seriously consider moving to another area if your air is bad. Remember: what we breathe every day (including tobacco smoke) and what we eat every day has a key impact on our health.

Each problem has its own specifics and methods of elimination, but they all affect the common interests of mankind. Therefore, to resolve them, the efforts of all people will be required. Modern philosophy warns that any problems can become global, and our task is to notice and prevent their development in a timely manner.

GLOBAL PROBLEMS

GLOBAL PROBLEMS

(from Latin globus (terrae) - the globe) - a set of vital problems affecting in general and insoluble within individual states and even geographical regions. G.p. came to the fore in the 20th century. as a result of a significant increase in population and a sharp intensification of the production process in an industrial society. Attempts to solve G.p. are an indicator of the gradual formation of a single humanity and the formation of a truly world history. Among G.p. include: prevention of thermonuclear war; reduction of rapid population growth ("population explosion" in developing countries); prevention of catastrophic pollution of the environment, primarily the atmosphere and the oceans; ensuring further economic development with the necessary natural resources, especially non-renewable ones; bridging the gap in living standards between developed and developing countries; elimination of hunger, poverty and illiteracy, etc. Krug G.p. not sharply outlined, their peculiarity lies in the fact that they cannot be solved in isolation from one another, and humanity itself largely depends on their solution.
G.p. generated by the enormously increased impact of man on the environment, its nature-transforming economic activity, which has become comparable in scale with geological and other planetary natural processes. According to pessimistic forecasts, G.p. cannot be resolved at all and in the near future will lead humanity to an ecological catastrophe (R. Heilbroner). The optimistic one suggests that G.p. will turn out to be a natural consequence of scientific and technological progress (G. Kahn) or the result of the elimination of social antagonisms and the building of a perfect society (Marxism-Leninism). The intermediate one consists in the demand for a slowdown or even zero growth of the economy and the world's population (D. Meadows and others).

Philosophy: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M.: Gardariki. Edited by A.A. Ivina. 2004 .

GLOBAL PROBLEMS

[French] global - universal, from lat. globe (terrae)- the globe], a set of vital problems of mankind, the solution of which depends on further progress in modern era - the prevention of a world thermonuclear war and the provision of peaceful conditions for the development of all peoples; overcoming the growing gap in economic level and per capita income between developed and developing countries by eliminating their backwardness, as well as eliminating hunger, poverty and illiteracy on the globe; cessation tends. population growth ("population explosion" in developing countries) and elimination of the danger of "depopulation" in the developed capitalist. countries; catastrophic prevention. environmental pollution, including the atmosphere, the oceans and t. d.; ensuring further economic human development with essential natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable, including food, prom. raw materials and sources of energy; prevention of direct and distant deny. the consequences of scientific.technical. revolution. Some researchers also include problems of health care, education, social values ​​and t. P.

These vital important issues although they existed before in one way or another as local and regional contradictions, acquired in modern an era of planetary and unprecedented scale due to the specific historical development on the globe. situation, namely, a sharp exacerbation of the uneven socio-economic. and scientific and technical. progress, as well as the increasing process of internationalization of all societies. activities. Contrary to opinion pl. scientists and societies. figures in the West, in particular representatives of the Club of Rome, G. p. (to scale) his household activity, which has become comparable to the geological. and others planetary nature. processes, and above all the spontaneity of societies. development and anarchy of production under capitalism, the legacy of colonialism and the continued exploitation of the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Lat. America multinational. corporations, as well others antagonistic contradictions, the pursuit of profit and current benefits to the detriment of the long-term, fundamental interests of society as a whole. The global nature of these problems stems not from their "ubiquity" and, moreover, not from "predatory nature of man”, allegedly equally inherent in any social system, as they say bourgeois ideologists, but from the fact that they somehow affect humanity as a whole and cannot be fully resolved within the framework of otd. states and even geographies. regions. They also cannot be successfully solved in isolation from one another.

Universal. The character of G. p. does not at all endow them with a supra-class and non-ideological character. content is believed bourgeois scientists, considering them from the standpoint of abstract humanism and liberal reformist philanthropy. The global nature of these problems does not negate the class approach to their study and the fundamental differences in the methods and ways of solving them in various social systems. Marxists reject the pessimistic views common in the West. and pseudo-optimistic. concepts of G. p., according to which they either cannot be resolved at all and will inevitably plunge humanity into a catastrophe ( . Heilbroner), or can be solved only by the price t. and. zero growth of the economy and population of the globe (D. Meadows and others) , or to solve them, it is enough just one scientific and technical. progress (G. Kahn). The Marxist approach to G. p. differs from the non-Marxist one also in regard to their hierarchy. (priority in their decision): in the bourgeoisie, ideologists, nominating for the first or ecological. problems, or "demographic. explosion" or the contrast between "poor and rich nations" (advanced North and backward South), Marxists consider the most insist. problem of preventing a world thermonuclear war, ending the arms race and ensuring intl. security, believing that this will create not only favorable peace for socio-economic. progress of all peoples, but will also free up huge material resources for the solution of the remaining G. p. Consistent. resolution of emerging G. and. possible only after the elimination of social antagonisms and the establishment of relations between society and nature on a global scale, i.e. in the communist society. However, already in modern conditions pl. G. p. can be successfully solved not only in the socialist. society, but also n the rest of the world in the course of obschedemokra-tich. struggle for and relaxation of tension, against egoistic. politics state-mono-politic. capital, by deploying mutually beneficial intl. cooperation, the establishment of a new world economic. order in relations between developed and developing countries.

Mutual conditioning and the complex nature of G. p. suggest that their scientific research can be successfully carried out only through the cooperation of scientists different specialties, representatives of societies., natural. and tech. sciences, on the basis of dialectic. method and use of such methods scientific knowledge social reality, as well as global .

Materials of the XXVI Congress CPSU, M., 1981; Brezhnev L. I., Great October and the progress of mankind, M., 1977; Commoner B., The Closing Circle, per. with English, L., 1974; Biola G., Marxism and the Environment. per. about French, M., 1975; Buddyko about M.I., Global ecology, M., 1977; Shiman M., Towards the third millennium, per. with hung., M., 1977; G in and sh and and n and D. M., Methodological. problems of modeling global development, "VF", 1978, ? "2; Arab-Ogly 9. A., Demographic and environmental forecasts, M., 1978; Forrester J. V., Mirovaya, per. with English, M., 1978; Zagladin V., Frolov I., G. p. and the future of mankind, Kommunist, 1979, No. 7; their own, G. p. of modernity: scientific and social aspects, M., 1981; Frolov I. T., Perspectives of a person, M., 1979; Sociological aspects of global modeling, M., 1979; The Future of the World Economy (Report of the UN group of experts headed by V. Leontiev), per. with English, M., 1979; Future. real problems and bourgeois speculation, Sofia, 1979; ? e h h e and A., Chelovech. quality, per. with English, M., 1980; G. p. of modernity, M., 1981; Leibin V. M., “Models of the world” and “human”: Critical. ideas of the Club of Rome, M., 1981; F a l k R., The study of future worlds, N.Y., ; Kahn H., Brown W., Martel L., The next 200 years, L., 1977.

Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ch. editors: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. 1983 .


See what "GLOBAL PROBLEMS" is in other dictionaries:

    Modernity is a set of socio-natural problems, on the solution of which the social progress of mankind and the preservation of civilization depend. These problems are characterized by dynamism, arise as an objective factor in the development of society and for ... ... Wikipedia

    GLOBAL PROBLEMS, modern problems of mankind as a whole, on the solution of which its development depends: prevention of a world thermonuclear war; bridging the gap in the level of socio-economic development between developed and developing ... ... Modern Encyclopedia

    Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Modern problems of the existence and development of mankind as a whole; prevention of a world thermonuclear war and ensuring peace for all peoples; bridging the gap in the level of socio-economic development between developed and developing ... ... Political science. Vocabulary.

    A set of interconnected problems of a planetary nature that affect the vital interests of mankind and require the joint efforts of all states and peoples for their solution. The system of modern G.p. includes two main groups ... ... Emergencies Dictionary

    Modern problems of the existence and development of mankind as a whole: prevention of a world thermonuclear war and ensuring peace for all peoples; bridging the gap in the level of socio-economic development between developed and developing ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    GLOBAL PROBLEMS- the field of philosophical research, which determines the prerequisites for solving global problems of our time, analyzes the philosophical aspects of social, demographic, environmental forecasting, the search for ways to restructure the world ... ... Modern Western Philosophy. encyclopedic Dictionary

    Global problems- problems of our time on a planetary scale as a whole: the threat of war (due to the intensifying arms race); destruction of human habitat and depletion of natural resources (as a consequence of unmanaged ... ... Terminological dictionary of a librarian on socio-economic topics

    GLOBAL PROBLEMS- problems affecting the existence of modern humanity as a whole, all countries and peoples, regardless of their civilizational specificity and level of development. Their solution requires so much money and concerted efforts that only ... ... Philosophy of Science: Glossary of Basic Terms

The problems of modernity and the future of mankind - these are the questions that concern all modern politicians and scientists. This is quite understandable. After all, from the decision contemporary problems the future of the Earth and all mankind really depends.

Origin of the term

The term "global problems" began to appear in the scientific literature in the late 60s of the last century. This is how scientists characterized both the new problems that appeared at the junction of the industrial and information eras, and the old ones that existed in the system "man - nature - society", which have worsened and aggravated in modern conditions.

Fig 1. Environmental pollution

Global problems are problems that cannot be solved by the forces of one country or one people, but, at the same time, the fate of the entire human civilization depends on their solution.

Causes

Scientists identify two large groups of reasons that led to the emergence of global problems.

  • The development of local problems, conflicts and contradictions into global ones (this is due to the process of globalization, unification and generalization of mankind).
  • Active transformative human activity that affects nature, the political situation and society.

Types of global problems

The global problems facing humanity include three large groups of problems (modern classification).

Table"List of global problems of mankind"

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Group The essence of the problems (characteristic) Examples of major global issues included in the group
Intersocial global problems Problems existing in the “society-society” system related to maintaining security and peace on the planet 1. The problem of preventing a global nuclear catastrophe.

2. The problem of war and peace.

3. The problem of overcoming the backwardness of developing countries.

4. Creation of optimal conditions for the social progress of all peoples.

Ecological problems Problems existing in the "society - nature" system associated with overcoming various environmental problems 1. Raw material problem.

2. Food problem.

3. Energy problem.

4. Prevention of environmental pollution.

5. Preventing the extinction of various animals and plants.

Social problems Problems existing in the "man-society" system associated with overcoming complex social problems 1. Demographic problem.

2. The problem of maintaining human health.

3. The problem of the spread of education.

4. Overcoming the negative impacts of scientific and technological revolution (scientific and technological revolution).

All global problems are interconnected and affect each other. It is impossible to solve them separately, an integrated approach is needed. That is why priority global problems were identified, the essence of which is similar, and the solution of which depends on the near future of the Earth.

Let us represent the dependence of problems on each other schematically and name the global problems of mankind in order of their importance.

Fig 2. Relationship of global problems with each other

  • Peace problem (disarmament of countries and prevention of a new world global conflict) is connected with the problem (hereinafter referred to as “-”) of overcoming the backwardness of developing countries.
  • Ecological problem is a demographic problem.
  • energy problem - resource problem.
  • food problem - use of the oceans.

It is interesting that the solution of all global problems is possible if we try to solve the most important and urgent problem at the moment - the world's space exploration.

Common features (signs) of global problems

Despite the fact that there are many global problems at the present stage of human development, they all have common features:

  • they affect the vital activity of all mankind at once;
  • they are an objective factor in the development of mankind;
  • they require an urgent decision;
  • they involve international cooperation;
  • the fate of the entire human civilization depends on their decision.

Figure 3. Hunger in Africa

Main Directions for Resolving World Problems and Threats

To solve global problems, the efforts of all mankind are needed, and not only material and physical, but also psychological. In order for the work to be successful, it is necessary

  • form a new planetary consciousness, constantly inform people about threats, give them only up-to-date information, and educate;
  • develop an effective system of cooperation between countries in solving global problems: studying, monitoring the state, preventing aggravation of the situation, creating a forecasting system;
  • concentrate a large number of power to solve global problems.

Social predictions of the existence of mankind

Based on the fact that at the moment there is an aggravation and expansion of the list of global problems, scientists make social forecasts for the existence of mankind:

  • pessimistic forecast or environmental pessimism(in short, the essence of the forecast boils down to the fact that humanity is waiting for a large-scale environmental catastrophe and inevitable death);
  • optimistic forecast or scientific and technical optimism(scientists hope that scientific and technological progress will lead to the fact that global problems are resolved).

What have we learned?

The term "global problems" is not new, and it does not refer only to those problems that appeared at the end of the 20th century. All global problems have both their own characteristics and similarities. They are interrelated and the solution of one problem depends on the timely resolution of another.

The topic "Global problems of our time" is one of the main topics in social science lessons at school. On the topic "Global problems, threats and challenges" they make reports and write abstracts, and it is necessary not only to give examples of problems, but also to show their connection, and explain how it is possible to cope with a particular problem.

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Introduction

The growing role of world politics and relations between countries,

relationship and scale between world processes in economic, political, social and cultural life. As well as the inclusion in international life and communication of increasing masses of the population are objective prerequisites for the emergence of global, worldwide problems. In fact, this problem is really relevant in recent times. At the moment, humanity is seriously faced with very serious problems covering the whole world, moreover threatening civilization and even the very life of people on this earth.

Since the 70-80s of the 20th century, a system of problems associated with the growth of production, political and socio-cultural processes taking place in different countries, regions and in the world as a whole has clearly emerged in society. These problems, which received the name global in the second half of the 20th century, in one way or another accompanied the formation and development of modern civilization.

The problems of world development are characterized by extreme diversity, due to regional and local characteristics, socio-cultural specifics.

Studies of global problems in our country were launched with a certain delay in the period of their significant exacerbation, much later than similar studies in the West.

At present, human efforts are aimed at preventing a world military catastrophe and ending the arms race; creation of prerequisites for the effective development of the world economy and the elimination of socio-economic backwardness; rationalization of nature management, prevention of changes natural environment human habitation and improvement of the biosphere; pursuing an active demographic policy and solving energy, raw material and food problems; effective use of scientific achievements and development of international cooperation. Expansion of research in the field of space exploration and the oceans; elimination of the most dangerous and widespread diseases.

1 The concept of a global problem

The term “global” itself originates from the Latin word “globe”, that is, the Earth, the globe, and since the end of the 60s of the XX century it has become widespread to refer to the most important and serious planetary problems of the modern era affecting humanity as a whole. . This is a set of such important vital problems, on the solution of which the further social progress of mankind depends and which, in turn, can be resolved only thanks to this progress. In order to unite different approaches to global problems, in order to understand the results obtained, there was a need for a new science - the theory of global problems, or globalistics. It is intended to develop practical recommendations for solving global problems. Effective recommendations must take into account many social, economic and political factors

The global problems of mankind are the problems of all mankind, affecting the relationship between society and nature, the issues of joint solution of resource provision, the relationship between the countries of the world community. Global problems have no boundaries. Not a single country and not a single state is able to solve these problems on its own. Only with the help of joint large-scale, international cooperation is it possible to solve them. It is very important to realize the universal interdependence and highlight the tasks of society. This will prevent social and economic catastrophes. Global problems differ from each other in their characteristics.

Of all the totality of the problems of today's world, global issues vital for mankind, the qualitative criterion acquires significant significance. The qualitative side of the definition of global problems is expressed in the following main characteristics:

1) problems that affect the interests of all mankind and each person individually;

2) act as an objective factor in the further development of the world, the existence of modern civilization;

3) their solution requires the efforts of all peoples, or at least the majority of the world's population;

4) unresolved global problems may lead in the future to irreparable consequences for all mankind and each individual.

Thus, the qualitative and quantitative factors in their unity and interconnection make it possible to isolate those problems of social development that are global or vital for all mankind and each individual.

All global problems of social development are characterized by mobility, because none of these problems is in a static state, each of them is constantly changing, acquiring different intensity and, consequently, significance in a particular historical era. As some of the global problems are solved, the latter may lose their relevance on a global scale, moving to another, for example, local level, or disappear altogether (an example of smallpox, which in the past was a truly global problem, has practically disappeared today).

Aggravation traditional problems(food, energy, raw materials, demographic, environmental, etc.) that arose at different times and different peoples now forms a new social phenomenon - a set of global problems of our time.

In general, it is customary to refer to the global public problems. Which, affecting the vital interests of mankind, require the efforts of the entire world community for their resolution.

At the same time, global, universal, and regional problems can be distinguished.

The global problems facing society can be grouped as follows: 1) those that can become aggravated, and appropriate actions are required. To prevent this from happening; 2) those that, in the absence of a solution, can already now lead to a catastrophe; 3) those whose severity has been removed, but they require constant monitoring

1.2 Causes of global problems

Scientists and philosophers put forward hypotheses about the relationship between human activity and the state of the biosphere. Russian scientist V.I. Vernandsky in 1944 said that human activity is acquiring a scale comparable to the power of natural forces. This allowed him to raise the question of the restructuring of the biosphere into the noosphere (the sphere of activity of the mind).

What gave rise to global problems? These reasons include a sharp increase in the number of mankind, and the scientific and technological revolution, and the use of space, and the emergence of a unified world information system, and many others.

The industrial revolution of the 18th-19th centuries, interstate contradictions, scientific and technological revolution of the middle of the 20th century, integration aggravated the situation. Problems grew like a snowball as humanity moved along the path of progress. World War II marked the beginning of the transformation of local problems into global ones.

Global problems are the result of the confrontation between natural nature and human culture, as well as the inconsistency or incompatibility of multidirectional trends in the course of the development of human culture itself. natural nature exists on the principle of negative feedback, while human culture - on the principle of positive feedback. On the one hand, it is the huge scale of human activity, which has radically changed nature, society, and the way of life of people. On the other hand, it is the inability of a person to rationally dispose of this power.

So, we can name the causes of global problems:

globalization of the world;

catastrophic consequences of human activity, the inability of mankind to rationally dispose of its mighty power.

1.3 The main global problems of our time

Researchers offer several options for classifying global problems. The tasks facing humanity at the present stage of development relate to both the technical and moral spheres.

The most pressing global problems can be divided into three groups:

1. Demographic problem;

2. Food problem;

3. Deficit of energy and raw materials.

demographic problem.

In the past 30 years, the world has experienced an unprecedented population explosion. While the birth rate remained high and as a result of the decrease in the death rate, the population growth rate increased significantly. However, the world demographic situation in the field of population is by no means unambiguous. If in 1800 there were up to 1 billion in the world. man in 1930 - already 2 billion; in the 70s of the 20th century, the world population approached the value of 3 billion, and in the early 80s it was about 4.7 billion. Human. By the end of the 1990s, the world population was over 5 billion. Human. If the vast majority of countries are characterized by relatively high population growth rates, then for Russia and some other countries, demographic trends are of a different nature. So, on the face of the demographic crisis in the former socialist world.

Some countries are experiencing absolute population declines; in others, quite high rates of population growth are typical. One of the features of the socio-demographic situation in the countries of the post-Soviet space is the persistence of relatively high mortality rates in most of them, especially among children. In the early 1980s, the world as a whole saw a decline in the birth rate. For example, if in the mid-1970s 32 children were born for every 1,000 people, then at the beginning of the 1980s and 1990s, 29. At the end of the 1990s, the corresponding processes tend to persist.

Changes in birth and death rates affect not only the growth rate of the population, its structure, including the sex composition. So in the mid-80s in Western countries there were 94 men per 100 women, while in different regions the ratio of the male and female population is by no means the same. For example, in America, the sex ratio of the population is approximately equal. In Asia, the male is slightly larger than the average; Africa has more women.

As we age, the gender disproportion changes in favor of the female population. The fact is that the average life expectancy of women is longer than that of men. In European countries, the average life expectancy is about 70 years, and for women -78, the highest life expectancy for women in Japan, Switzerland and Iceland (over 80 years). Men live longer in Japan (about 75 years).

The growth of childhood and youth ages of the population, on the one hand, the increase in average life expectancy and the reduction in the birth rate, on the other hand, determine the trend of population aging, that is, an increase in its structure of the proportion of elderly people aged 60 years and older. In the early 1990s, this category included up to 10% of the world's population. Currently, this figure is 16%.

Food problem.

To solve the most acute global problems arising in the interaction of society and nature, collective actions of the entire world community are needed. It is precisely such a problem that the global food situation is aggravating in the world.

According to some estimates, the total number of people suffering from hunger at the beginning of the 80s was 400 million, and in the 90s half a billion. This figure fluctuated between 700 and 800 million people. The most acute food problem is facing the Asian African countries, for which the priority is the elimination of hunger. Over 450 million people in these countries are reported to be suffering from hunger, malnutrition or malnutrition. The aggravation of the food problem cannot but be affected by the destruction as a result of modern economic development of the most important natural life-support systems: oceanic fauna, forests, cultivated lands. The impact on the food supply of the population of our planet is exerted by: the energy problem, the nature and characteristics of climatic conditions; chronic food shortages and poverty in some regions of the world, instability in food production and distribution; fluctuations in world prices, insecurity of food supplies to the poorest countries from abroad, low productivity of agricultural production.

Lack of energy and raw materials.

It is widely believed that modern civilization has already used a significant, if not most, of its energy and raw materials resources. For a long time, the energy supply of the planet was based on the use of predominantly living energy, that is, the energy resources of humans and animals. If you follow the forecasts of an optimist, then the world's oil reserves will last for 2-3 centuries. Pessimists, on the other hand, argue that the available oil reserves can meet the needs of civilization for only a few more decades. However, such calculations do not take into account the existing discoveries of new deposits of raw materials, as well as new opportunities for discovering alternative energy sources. Somewhere similar estimates are made for other traditional fossil fuels. These figures are rather arbitrary, but one thing is clear: the scale of use of industrial power plants of direct resources is becoming such that one should take into account their limitations, due to the level of development of science, engineering and technology, the need to maintain the dynamic balance of ecosystems. In this case, if there are no surprises, there is, apparently, every reason to assert that in the predicted future for the needs of mankind there should be enough industrial, energy and raw materials resources.

It is also necessary to take into account a high degree of probability, the discovery of new sources of energy resources.

2. Ways to solve global problems

Solving global problems is a task of extreme importance and complexity, and so far it cannot be said with certainty that ways to overcome them have been found. According to many social scientists, no matter what individual problem we take from the global system, it cannot be solved without first overcoming spontaneity in the development of earthly civilization, without a transition to coordinated and planned actions on a global scale. Only such actions can save society, as well as its natural environment.

Conditions for solving modern global problems:

    The efforts of states aimed at solving major and socially significant problems are being stepped up.

    New technological processes based on the principles of rational use of natural materials are being created and developed. Saving energy and raw materials, the use of secondary raw materials and resource-saving technologies.

    The progress of scientific technologies, including the development of biotechnology based on the efficient use of chemical, biological and microbiological processes, is becoming all-encompassing.

    The orientation towards an integrated approach in the development of fundamental and applied developments, production and science prevails.

Globalist scientists offer various options for solving the global problems of our time:

Changing the nature of production activities - the creation of waste-free production, heat and energy resource-saving technologies, the use of alternative energy sources (sun, wind, etc.);

Creation of a new world order, development of a new formula for global governance of the world community based on the principles of understanding modern world as an integral and interconnected community of people;

Recognition of universal human values, attitude to life, man and the world as the highest values ​​of mankind;

Rejection of war as a means of solution contentious issues, search for ways of peaceful resolution of international problems and conflicts.

Only together humanity can solve the problem of overcoming the ecological crisis.

One of the most popular points of view for solving this problem is to instill in people new moral and ethical values. So in one of the reports to the Club of Rome, it is written that the new ethical education should be aimed at:

1) the development of global consciousness, thanks to which a person realizes himself as a member of the global community;

2) formation of a more thrifty attitude to the use of natural resources;

3) the development of such an attitude towards nature, which would be based on harmony, and not on subordination;

4) fostering a sense of belonging to future generations and readiness to give up some of their own benefits in their favor.

It is possible and necessary now to successfully fight for the solution of global problems on the basis of constructive and mutually acceptable cooperation of all countries and peoples, regardless of the differences in the social systems to which they belong.

The solution of global problems is possible only through the joint efforts of all countries coordinating their actions at the international level. Self-isolation and peculiarities of development will not allow individual countries to stay away from the economic crisis, nuclear war, the threat of terrorism or the AIDS epidemic. To solve global problems, overcome the danger that threatens all of humanity, it is necessary to further strengthen the interconnection of the diverse modern world, change interaction with the environment, abandon the cult of consumption, and develop new values.

Conclusion

Summing up, we can say that the global problem is the result of a huge human activity, which leads to a change in the way of life of people, society and the essence of nature.

Global problems threaten all mankind.

And accordingly, without certain human qualities, without the global responsibility of each person, it is impossible to solve any of the global problems.

Let's hope that an important function of all countries in the 21st century will be the preservation of natural resources and the cultural and educational level of people. Because, at the present time, we are seeing significant gaps in these areas. It may be that the formation of a new - informational - world community with humane goals will become that necessary link in the development of mankind, which will lead it to the solution and elimination of the main global problems.

Bibliography

1. Social science - a textbook for grade 10 - profile level - Bogolyubov L.N., Lazebnikova A. Yu., Smirnova N. M. Social science, grade 11, Vishnevsky M.I., 2010

2. Social science - Textbook - Grade 11 - Bogolyubov L.N., Lazebnikova A.Yu., Kholodkovsky K.G. - 2008

3. Social science. Klimenko A.V., Rumynina V.V. Textbook for high school students and students entering universities