Statistics of cataclysms allows you to track the number of events in the world, the severity of their consequences and the causes of occurrence. Main motives for collecting statistics: search effective ways disaster prevention, disaster prevention, forecasting and timely preparation for them.

Types of disasters

Cataclysms (natural disasters) are phenomena and processes occurring on earth (or in space), which cause environmental destruction, destruction of material values, threaten lives and health. They can arise for various reasons. Many of them can be formed as a result of a person. Natural cataclysms and disasters can be short-term (from a few seconds) and long-term (several days or even months).

Catastrophes are divided into local and global cataclysms. The former have a devastating effect on the area where they occurred. Global - have an impact on the biosphere, leading to the disappearance of any plant species or. They can threaten the earth with climate change, large-scale migration, death, and humanity with complete or partial extinction.

On our planet, global cataclysms that led to climate change and the development of civilization have occurred more than once. The table below shows different kinds cataclysms.

Kinds	What are
Environmental disasters	Ozone holes, air and water pollution, mutations, epidemics
Natural disasters	Tornado, flood, flood,
Weather disasters	Abnormal heat, thaw in winter, snow in summer, showers
Tectonic cataclysms	Earthquakes, mudflows, displacement of the earth's core
Political upheavals	Interstate conflicts, coups, crisis
Climate cataclysms	global warming, ice age
Historical cataclysms	and other events that changed the course of the history of a state
Space cataclysms	Collision of planets, meteor showers, falling asteroids, explosions in the sun. Some space disasters can destroy planets

The most destructive cataclysms in the history of mankind

According to statistics, cataclysms that have changed the course of history have occurred many times during the existence of mankind. Some of them are still considered the most terrible. Top 5 destructive cataclysms:

• flood in China in 1931 (the catastrophe of the 20th century claimed the lives of 4 million people);
• eruption Krakatoa in 1883 (40 thousand people died. And destroyed about three hundred cities);
• earthquake in Shaanxi in 1556 of 11 points (about 1 thousand people died, the province was destroyed and on long years empty);
• the last day of Pompeii in 79 BC (the eruption of Mount Vesuvius lasted about a day, led to the death of several cities and thousands of people);
• And eruption of the Santorini volcano in 1645–1600. BC. (leading to the death of an entire civilization).

World indicators

The statistics of cataclysms in the world over the past 20 years has more than 7 thousand cases. More than a million people died as a result of these elements. The damage that has been done is estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars. The picture clearly shows which of the cataclysms that occurred during the period from 1996 to 2016. became the deadliest.

In the news of the planet, it is regularly said that the number of natural disasters around the world is steadily increasing. For 50 years the number of accidents has increased several times. Tsunamis alone occur about 30 times a year.

The graph shows which continents are most often the epicenter of natural disasters. Asia is the most prone to cataclysms. The US is in second place. According to geologists, North America may soon disappear from the face of the earth due to.

Natural disasters

Cataclysm statistics natural origin over the past 5 years shows their 3-fold increase. According to scientists, more than 2 billion people have suffered from natural disasters during this time. This is every third inhabitant of our planet. Tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts, epidemics, famine and other disasters are increasingly happening on earth. Scientists call the following causes of natural disasters:

• human impact;
• military, social and political conflicts;
• release of energy into geological layers.

Often the cause of disasters are the consequences of cataclysms that happened before. For example, after a large-scale flood, famine may occur or an epidemic may begin. Types of natural disasters:

• geological (landslides, dust storms, mudflows);
• meteorological (cold, drought, heat, hail);
• lithospheric (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes);
• atmospheric (tornadoes, hurricanes, storms);
• hydrospheric (typhoons, cyclones, floods);

natural disaster statistics hydrospheric nature (namely floods) today in the world shows the highest rates:

The chart below provides data on how many cataclysms occur, and how many people from each of them suffered or died during Lately.

On average, about 50 thousand people per year die due to natural disasters. In 2010, the figure exceeded the threshold of 300 thousand people.

The following natural disasters occurred in 2016:

date	Place	Cataclysm	Affected	dead
06.02	Taiwan	Earthquake	422	166
14–17.04	Japan	Earthquake	1100	148
16.04	Ecuador	Earthquake	50 000	692
14–20.05	Sri Lanka	Flooding, landslides, rain	450 000	200
18.06	Karelia	Storm	14	14
June	China	Flood	32 000 000	186
23.06	America	Flood	24	24
6–7.08	Macedonia	Flooding and landslides	Dozens of people	20
24.08	Italy	Earthquake	n/a	295

The BBC is constantly creating documentaries about natural disasters. They vividly and clearly demonstrate what is happening in the world, what disasters threaten humanity and the planet.

If the government of each country takes measures to provide for the population and prevent some disasters that can be predicted in advance, then cataclysms will occur less frequently. At the very least, the number of negative consequences, human casualties and material losses will be much less.

Data for Russia and Ukraine

Cataclysms occurred in Russia often. As a rule, they marked the end of the previous era and the beginning of a new one.

For example, in the 17th century there were major disasters, after which the new era, more violent. Then there were locust raids that destroyed crops, a great eclipse of the sun, the winter was very mild - the rivers were not covered with ice, which caused them to burst their banks in the spring and floods occurred. Also, the summer was cold, and the autumn was hot, as a result, in mid-December, the steppes and meadows were covered with greenery. All this led to the fact that there were prophecies about the coming end of the world.

As the statistics of cataclysms show, thousands of people die and suffer from them every year in Russia. Disasters cause losses to the country in the amount of up to 60 billion rubles. in year. Most of all cataclysms are floods. Second place is occupied by tornadoes and hurricanes. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of natural disasters in Russia increased by 6%.

Most of the disasters in Ukraine are landslides, floods and mudflows. Since there are a huge number of rivers in the country. In second place in terms of destructiveness are fires of forests and steppes, strong winds.

In April 2017, the last cataclysm in the country occurred. A snow cyclone passed from Kharkov to Odessa. Because of him, more than three hundred settlements were de-energized.

in the world has been increasing in recent years. Some disasters are impossible to predict. But there are those that can be predicted and prevented. It is only a matter of ensuring that the leadership of each country takes adequate measures in time.

It is striking that the gap between the Bond 4 event and the Bond 5 event is too long, 2,300 years, which apparently suggests the presence of some intermediate event that has not been noticed by modern geologists and paleoclimatologists.

It is interesting to compare the Bond events with the list of Great Solar Minimums:
690AD, 360BC, 770 B.C., 1390 BC, 2860 BC, 3340 BC, 3500 BC, 3630 BC, 3940 BC, 4230 BC, 4330 BC, 5260 BC, 5460 BC, 5620 BC, 5710 BC, 5990 BC, 6220 BC, 6400 BC, 7040 BC, 7310 BC, 7520 BC, 8220 BC, 9170 BC.

Approximately coincide Bond 2 event and 770 SC Grand Low, Bond 4 event and 3,940 SC Grand Low, Bond 5 and 6,220 SC Grand Low event, Bond 7 event and 8,220 SC Grand Low, Bond 8 and 9,170 SC Grand Low event .

It would also be interesting to compare these events with . There were no mega-eruptions during this period of time. The catastrophic eruptions of the Santorini volcano occurred between Bond events 2 and 3, at approximately 1628 AU and 1380 AU. Large eruptions occurred in Kamchatka at 6,000 AU (Avachinsky volcano), at 6,500 EC (Kuril Lake-Ilyinskaya caldera), and at 6,600 EC (Karymskaya caldera), which is relatively close to the Bond 5 event.

The Baltic glacial lake was formed about 12,600 years ago due to the melting of glaciers and connected with the ocean about 10,300 years ago, becoming the Yoldian Sea. Then, about 9,500 years ago, thanks to the uplift of the land freed from the glacier, the Yoldian Sea turned into Lake Ancylus, which existed for about one and a half to two thousand years. Then, due to the rise in the level of the world's oceans, Lake Antsylovoe again connected with the ocean and became known to scientists as Mastogloev, and then Littorina Sea. This sea about 4,500 years ago was about a quarter larger than the current Baltic and contained twice as much water. The level of the Littorina Sea was at its peak 7-9 meters higher than the modern level of the Baltic. Since the coastline, salinity and other parameters of the Littorina Sea have approached modern values The Baltic, and this happened about 4000 years ago, this sea is usually called the Baltic.

In America, about 13,000 years ago, Lake Agassiz was formed in a similar way due to the melting of glaciers. Its maximum size was 440,000 sq. km, which is larger than the current Black Sea. Scientists suggest that the global cooling 8,200 years ago was caused by the breakthrough of the waters of Lake Agassiz and other neighboring ones into the Atlantic. The entry of a large mass of cold fresh water disrupted the circulation of currents in the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 8,000 years ago, waters also entered the Atlantic from the Mastogloev Sea.

About 10,000 years ago, Britain joined continental Europe. A large land mass stretched from the current Dogger Bank to the current coast of Belgium and the Netherlands. Scientists now call this territory Doggerland. The gradual rise in the level of the world's oceans due to the melting of glaciers caused the gradual flooding of Doggerland. But about 8,200 years ago, an event took place, now referred to as Sturegga, which destroyed Doggerland. Enormous chunks, the size of present-day Iceland, have broken off from the edge of the Norwegian continental shelf. Geologists consider Sturegga the largest known landslide to date. The catastrophic tsunami caused by this landslide greatly accelerated the disappearance of Doggerland. It is interesting to note that this coincides in time with the global cooling 8,200 years ago.

Approximately 15,000 years ago, a warming called Allerodsky began on the planet. The temperature, humidity and CO 2 concentration increased sharply. Perhaps it was this warming that led to the formation of the Baltic and Lake / Agassiz. But about 13,000 years ago, a meteorite fell in Mexico, which, according to some scientists, caused a sharp cooling that lasted more than a thousand years.

There is one more interesting event in the geological history of the planet - Meltwater pulse 1A. In less than 500 years (and theoretically even in 200 years) the level of the world's seas has risen by 20 meters. It turns out from 4 to 10 cm per year! This sudden rise in the water level occurred between 13,000 and 14,600 years ago. This is close to the time of the fall of the meteorite and to the time of the formation of the Baltic glacial lake and Lake Agassiz.

Approximately 14,500 years ago, a humid climate was established in North Africa. This coincides with the beginning of the Allerød warming and, according to various sources, continued either until a drought 5,900 years ago or until a drought 4,200 years ago. Then, as if on cue, the humid climate is replaced by a dry one, and the fertile plain with trees and lakes quickly or slowly (scientists have not yet come to a consensus on this issue) turns into the Sahara desert.

Here is an incomplete list of climatic disasters over the past 15 thousand years. They are connected in some way. Perhaps this connection is of a global nature, such as Milankovitch cycles. Perhaps the whole thing is in the peculiarities of the circulation of air and water on the planet. We can remember that we are living now. But, in my opinion, without understanding the intricacies of climate change over the past 15 thousand years, it is somehow silly to talk about some kind of global warming. That. that in the last 4 thousand years there have not been such sharp climatic catastrophes as in the previous 10,000 years (the Little Ice Age against their background is a very smooth and insignificant change in temperature), does not at all mean that such a state of things favorable for mankind will continue and further.

During its existence, and especially in the 20th century, humanity has managed to destroy about 70 percent of all natural ecological (biological) systems on the planet that are capable of processing human waste, and continues their "successful" destruction. The amount of permissible impact on the biosphere as a whole has now been exceeded by several times. Moreover, a person releases into the environment thousands of tons of substances that have never been contained in it and which are often not amenable or poorly recyclable. All this leads to the fact that biological microorganisms that act as a regulator of the environment are no longer able to perform this function.

According to experts, in 30 - 50 years an irreversible process will begin, which at the turn of the 21st - 22nd centuries will lead to a global environmental catastrophe. A particularly alarming situation has developed on the European continent. Western Europe has basically exhausted its ecological resources and, accordingly, uses others.

It seems that all environmental problems can be attributed, first of all, to two main factors related to each other: climate change and environmental pollution. According to the scale of distribution, environmental problems can be divided into:

– local: pollution of groundwater with toxic substances,

– regional: damage to forests and degradation of lakes as a result of atmospheric deposition of pollutants,

- global: possible climate change due to an increase in the content of carbon dioxide and other gaseous substances in the atmosphere, as well as the depletion of the ozone layer.

This essay will consider the problem of climate change, which belongs to the category of global catastrophes.

1. The nature of climate change

According to experts, the undesirable consequences of such a warming are already beginning to affect, leading to unusual warm winters and unprecedented summer heat, an increase in the scope and duration of droughts, an increase in the number and intensity of devastating climate disasters. If urgent and decisive measures are not taken, then global warming in the near future may lead to the melting of polar ice caps, rising sea levels and flooding of large areas currently inhabited.

The greenhouse effect for the Earth's biosphere has both negative (rise of the ocean level, degradation of permafrost, coastal ecosystems, etc.) and positive environmental consequences (an increase in the productivity of natural forest formations, an increase in the yield of cultivated plants, etc. In addition to the impact on natural ecosystems, global warming will also lead to significant socio-economic consequences associated with various human activities (energy, agriculture and forestry, health and HR).Among the priority global problems, the rise in the level of the World Ocean and its impact on sea coasts are highlighted.

2. Forecasts of geoecological consequences of global warming of the Earth's climate

2.1. The World Ocean and Coastal Zones in the 21st Century

The expected global warming will cause an increase in the ocean level by 0.5 m by 2050 and by 1-1.5 m by 2100, with a simultaneous increase in the temperature of the surface layer of the ocean up to 2.5 ° C by the end of the 21st century. The main reasons are: melting of continental and mountain glaciers, sea ice, thermal expansion: of the ocean, etc. Currently, sea level rise is about 25 cm per century. All this will ultimately lead to the emergence of complex problems: flooding of coastal plains, intensification of abrasion processes, deterioration of water supply to coastal cities, etc. Moreover, densely populated and developed coastal areas will be the first to be flooded. For example, if the ocean level rises by 1 m, up to 15% of the arable land in Egypt and 14% of the cultivated area in Bangladesh will be flooded, which will cause the resettlement of millions of people.) source of fresh water.

China, which is one of the main suppliers of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, at the same time will feel the negative consequences of warming in the 21st century to the maximum. According to forecasts, even a sea level rise of 0.5 m will lead to the flooding of about 40 thousand km2 of fertile ratins. The most vulnerable will be the vast low alluvial and deltaic plains, lower reaches major rivers Huang He, Yangtze, etc., where the average population density sometimes reaches 800 people / km2. In addition, coast erosion and abrasion are significantly activated, which will lead to serious socio-economic consequences, especially in large cities located on the sea coasts.

This problem will also affect the coastal territories of Russia. Thus, when the ocean level rises by 1 m per century, a strong transformation of sea coasts will occur, in particular, about 40% of the coasts of the European part of Russia will recede by 100 m or more. Residential and industrial buildings will be destroyed in cities such as Nakhodka, St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, and others.

Changes can be extremely intense on well-developed shores, for example, the Black and Azov Seas, where natural development will be combined with intense anthropogenic impact, i.e. the removal of sediment from the beaches, the construction of dams and dams on rivers, the creation of bank protection structures, etc. The sandy bay-bars separating the estuaries in the North-Western Black Sea region and the Sea of ​​Azov, as well as the spits of the Northern Azov region, will be destroyed most intensively. In the Kuban Delta and on the Perekop Isthmus, coastal lowlands are expected to be flooded. Coastal slopes composed of unstable loess will begin to recede faster. In the area of ​​Odessa, Mariupol, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, in addition to the erosion of the ledges, landslide and landslide processes will intensify, and the destruction of the coast can reach catastrophic proportions.

Ice shores in conditions of rising air temperature and surface water will be subject to rapid destruction due to the melting of ice and the collapse of overhanging ice blocks. It is possible that the areas of their distribution (Svalbard, Franz Josef Land, New Earth, Severnaya Zemlya), the number of icebergs will increase in the waters of the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas. In the case of a small thickness of sheet glaciers, their area under the conditions of climate warming will be significantly reduced, and in the end they may disappear.

The warming of the surface waters of the World Ocean and the Earth's climate as a whole will apparently lead to a restructuring of atmospheric processes and an increase in storm activity in temperate and tropical latitudes.

Global warming poses a significant threat to coral reefs, as when the water temperature rises above a certain limit, coral bleaching will begin, which has now become a fairly common phenomenon in the ocean. Prolonged increases in seawater temperatures can lead to significant degradation of the entire coral reef ecosystem. Possible destruction of coral atolls, which serve as an ecological habitat for living organisms characterized by high biological diversity.

However, coastal changes Arctic seas can have not only a negative character, but also lead to positive socio-economic consequences. Among them is the improvement of the ice situation along the Northern Sea Route, i.e. the possibility of a longer navigation of ships in the Arctic seas throughout the year.

2.2. Permafrost and modern climate

In recent times, climate warming has been especially acutely felt by the inhabitants of the middle zone of our country. Here hot and dry summers and mild winters followed each other. Most scientists associate the rise in surface air temperature with the ever-increasing industrial emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Just a few years ago, a number of prominent climatologists predicted an increase in air temperature in the north of Eurasia at the beginning of the 21st century. at 10-15°C. With such a sharp warming, a sharp rise in the level of the World Ocean, accompanied by the flooding of vast low-lying areas, the melting of terrestrial and ground ice, the release of gases (especially methane) buried in permafrost and their additional entry into the atmosphere. Not accidentally in the newspapers recent years there have even been warning headlines like "Methane bomb in the permafrost." Fortunately for northerners, predictions of significant climate change at high latitudes have not yet come true. But what can be expected in the future?

It is known that the climate is constantly undergoing natural changes. In 1625, Sir Francis Bacon drew attention to the fact that in addition to daily and seasonal variations of meteorological elements, there are long-term cycles. In 1957, J.K. Charlesworth had already identified about 150 such cycles of various durations. In the 70s, A.S. Monin and Yu.A. Shishkov singled out numerous cycles with a period from a billion to tens of years. Short-period fluctuations of meteorological elements are well known: 5-6-year, 9-14-year, etc. All cycles, superimposed on each other, create a complex integral course of change in meteorological elements. In the last two or three decades, fluctuations associated with anthropogenic impact have been increasingly affecting natural climatic cycles.

When studying long-term changes in the modern climate, in order to exclude random variations, meteorological data are averaged over a period of time, most often over ten years. The analysis of such "sliding" values ​​for air temperature was carried out for a number of countries of the Northern Hemisphere - Russia. Canada. USA (Alaska). China. - and he showed that in most continental regions during the period of instrumental meteorological observations, as a whole, a noticeable increase in air temperature is indeed observed (up to 2.4 ° C in Yakutsk in 1830-1495). However, in areas adjacent to the northern seas, there is practically no increase in air temperature over the entire period of meteorological measurements, despite its fluctuations in individual years. This gives reason to believe that in the Arctic and some adjacent regions, due to the proximity of the seas and the weak technogenic impact, modern warming-cooling periods do not go beyond the natural secular climate cyclicity.

Two periods can be distinguished with a clearly pronounced increase in air temperature in the north: from late XIX V. to the 40s of the XX century. (this period is called the "warming of the Arctic") and from the mid-1960s to the present. The latest warming has not yet reached the size of the first. Moreover, in the early 1990s, a noticeable cooling was observed at a number of Arctic meteorological stations. However, subsequent years turned out to be quite warm, which was the reason for maintaining the general trend of climate warming today.

Average annual air temperature in the north of Russia for 1965 - 1995 increased at various meteorological stations from 0.4 to 1.8°С. The trend of these values ​​in the indicated 30 years is 0.02-0.03°C/year under the conditions of the European North. 0.03-0.07 - in the north of Western Siberia and 0.01 - 0.08°С/year - in Yakutia. At the same time, warming is mainly due to an increase in winter air temperature. Will this trend continue or will it change? This question should be of particular interest to us - more than 65% of the vast territory of Russia is occupied by permafrost, which is sensitive to the slightest climate change and therefore is by no means eternal.

Permafrost scientists are able to quantify future changes in permafrost for any period, but only if the initial climatic parameters are reliably known. The catch is that long-range meteorological forecasts are far from perfect, and their reliability and justification leave much to be desired. As a result, different permafrost forecasts are obtained on the basis of conflicting climate forecasts.

There are scenarios of significant and moderate climate warming in the area of ​​permafrost in the 21st century, there is even a variant of cooling. So, according to the calculations of M.K. Gavrilova, by the middle of the coming century, the average annual air temperature in Siberia and the Far East will increase by 4-10 ° C, as a result of which the permafrost will thaw and eventually remain only in the high mountains and on the plains of the north of Eastern Siberia and Far East. O.A. Anisimov and F.E. Nelson believe that an increase in global air temperature by 2 ° C will lead to complete thawing of frozen rocks on 15 - 20% of the permafrost zone. However, as we have already noted, meteorological data over the past 10-15 years show that extreme scenarios of climate change are not justified, warming is on the way, but at a more modest pace.

Forecasts of moderate climate warming are largely based on the analysis of current trends in meteorological characteristics and their extension into the near future. The longer the series and the greater the number of observation points, the greater the confidence in the correctness of the forecast. If the warming trend continues in the first half of the 21st century, we can expect an increase in the average annual air temperature by 0.9–1.5°C by 2020 and by 2.5–3°C by 2050. Atmospheric precipitation by this time will increase by 5 and 10-15%, respectively.

If the above predicted estimates of moderate (and even more abrupt) climate warming in the northern regions are justified, then by the middle of the new century, the appearance of permafrost in Russia will change significantly.

The negative consequences of climate warming are likely to be exacerbated by a simultaneous increase in precipitation. Although the trends of change are difficult to trace, it has been noted that over the past millennium, during periods of warming, the paths of cyclones from west to east have shifted northward, which caused an increase in precipitation at high latitudes and a decrease in them at low latitudes. Numerous paleogeographic studies also show that during Pleistocene and Holocene warming at high latitudes was accompanied by an increase in climate humidity.It can be assumed that in most of Russia the expected warming of the XXI century will also be accompanied by an increase in precipitation.This general assumption is confirmed by the results of the analysis of modern trends in meteorological characteristics, which indicate 10-15- percentage increase precipitation by 2050

At global warming climate, there will be an increase in evaporation from the surface of the ocean waters and an increase in climate humidity associated with it. As a result of the combined action of these two factors, it is possible to expect a significant increase in river flow, by about 10%, especially in Europe and Africa. In our country, an increase in precipitation is possible in arid areas (Kalmykia, the Lower Volga region). At the same time, due to the increase in evaporation, desertification will occur in the arid zones of the Mediterranean.

An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the atmosphere can increase the intensity of the photosynthesis process and, therefore, will increase the productivity of both natural forest formations (Australian rainforests and eucalyptus forests) and cultivated plants. For example, in China, the direct effects of an increase in CO 2 in the atmosphere will lead to an increase in the productivity of monsoon forests by 9.5-14%. It has been calculated that a doubling of the CO 2 concentration is expected to significantly increase the productivity of C3 plants (more than 90% of the terrestrial flora), in which the photosynthetic apparatus, without adaptation, is ready to increase the carbon dioxide content. This process will have a slightly lesser effect on C4 plants (gadget, cereals, Compositae, cruciferous, etc.), but morphological changes will be recorded in them: an increase in growth, leaf surface, etc.

Global climate warming by the middle of the XXI century. can lead to shifting boundaries vegetation zones(tundra, forests temperate zone, steppes, etc.) potentially for hundreds of kilometers. So, in the northern regions of Eurasia, the boundaries of vegetation zones will move north by 500-600 km, and the tundra zone will significantly decrease in size. According to UNEP, the forecast of climate change will appear in the accelerated decline in areas rainforest and savannas in Africa.

3. Prospects for the development and solution of environmental problems of climate change

Recently, attention to greenhouse gas research has increased due to the problems of ratification and implementation by various countries of the United Nations Framework Agreement on Climate Change of 1997, abbreviated as the "Kyoto Protocol". The importance of such studies was specifically indicated in the resolution of the Summit of the Heads of the 8 leading powers in Genoa in July 2001.

Mankind is too slow to understand the extent of the danger that a frivolous attitude towards the environment creates. Meanwhile, the solution (if it is still possible) of such formidable global problems as environmental ones requires urgent energetic joint efforts of international organizations, states, regions, and the public.

Speaking about the possible options for the development of the ecological situation on the planet, it seems most meaningful to talk about some of the current areas of environmental protection. Otherwise, one would have to speak exclusively of the horrors of the depletion of natural resources.

In 1982, the UN adopted a special document - the World Charter for Conservation of Nature, and then created a special commission on environment and development. In 1983, the UN Commission on Environment and Development was established, which published the report "Our Common Future" in 1987. The keynote of the report was the famous phrase: "Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable - to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." Although it was not explained how to do it.

Characteristically, in 1989 the Council of the Club of Rome also qualified sustainable development as a utopia, but "deserving to strive for it." international action for the 21st century. According to the club, these actions should lead to "the first global revolution". However, the content and mechanisms of this socio-ecological revolution were not disclosed either in the wills of A. Peccei or in the book of the new leaders of the club.

Despite the fact that each of the discussed global problems has its own options for a partial or more complete solution, there is a certain set of common approaches to solving problems. environment. In addition, over the past century, mankind has developed a number of original ways to deal with their own, nature-destroying shortcomings.

Among such methods (or possible ways of solving the problem) can be attributed the emergence and activities of various kinds of "green" movements and organizations. In addition to the notorious "Green Peace", which differs not only in the scope of its activities, but also, at times, in the noticeable extremism of actions, as well as similar organizations that directly conduct environmental actions, there is another type of environmental organizations - structures that stimulate and sponsor environmental activities - such as Wildlife Fund. All environmental organizations exist in one of the forms: public, private state or mixed type organizations.

In addition to various kinds of associations that defend the rights of civilization gradually destroying nature, in the sphere of solving environmental issues there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives. For example, environmental legislation in Russia and other countries of the world, various international agreements or the system of "Red Books".

International "Red Book" - a list of rare and endangered species of animals and plants - currently includes 5 volumes of materials. In addition, there are national and even regional "Red Books".

Among the most important ways to solve environmental problems, most researchers also highlight the introduction of environmentally friendly, low-waste and waste-free technologies, the construction of treatment facilities, the rational distribution of production and the use of natural resources.

Although, undoubtedly - and this proves the whole course human history- the most important direction in solving the environmental problems facing civilization is the increase in human environmental culture, serious environmental education and upbringing, everything that eradicates the main environmental conflict - the conflict between the savage consumer and the intelligent inhabitant of the fragile world that exists in the human mind.

Conclusion

Let us sum up the main results of the work.

Ecologists of all countries note a sharp warming of the Earth's climate. This climate change is called the "greenhouse effect".

The main cause of the greenhouse effect is called human production activity accompanied by an ever-increasing amount of carbon dioxide, methane and other optically active gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Although climate change, whether natural or caused by human activities (so-called anthropogenic), occurs relatively slowly, it covers vast regions and therefore can represent serious problem for humanity.

The acuteness of modern environmental problems requires the participation of the broad masses of the population in their solution. Any technological, organizational and economic measures can give the proper effect only if the ecological idea takes hold of the masses. Mass ecological education is called upon to form an ecological worldview, morality and ecological culture of people. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to integrate all knowledge, both about the natural and social laws of the functioning of the environment.

The catastrophic consequences of climate change on Earth are practically inevitable, and we can only talk about their mitigation.

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If global carbon emissions do not start to decline over the next three years, the planet will face dangerous level climate change, and the goals set by the Paris climate agreement will be unattainable. In a letter published in the journal Nature, experts including former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres set out what goals need to be achieved by 2020 to protect the planet so that we have hope to tackle climate change.

climate catastrophe

Experts write that even with a 1°C (1.8°F) increase in global temperatures, sea ice continues to melt, corals die, and ecosystems collapse. Although we have stopped increasing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions, they still remain in the atmosphere, so the air temperature continues to rise. The next three years can be called a turning point in this situation.

But you shouldn't be disheartened. Sure, the news that we may have as little as three years to get things under control may seem pessimistic in the current political climate, but there are good signs that we have a chance to turn things around. The authors of the letter say that there are already procedures that can be put in place to limit this warming. However, action must be taken as early as possible.

“These goals can be idealistic at best, unrealistic at worst,” the authors write. “However, we are living in an era of exponential transformation and we believe that by focusing on these issues, we will be able to be inventive.” The authors of the letter tell how the world should be in 2020 so that we can avoid destructive and dangerous climate change.

Renewable energy sources

They say that renewables should account for at least 30 percent of the world's electricity supply, up 6.5 percent from 2015. Building and infrastructure must be fully decarbonized by 2050, while heavy industry will have to increase its efficiency and reduce emissions.

Transport

Transport is a serious problem. Electric cars will need to make up at least 15 percent of new vehicle sales worldwide, well above the current 1 percent. Plans should also be in place to further reduce emissions from public transport and a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft.

Forest restoration

Do not forget about the problems of land use. If land-use change and deforestation are fully halted within a decade and reforestation begins by 2030, this will not only reduce all emissions to zero, but also protect water security and biodiversity.

Financing

Governments need to step up when it comes to funding, as the authors of the article predict that most of the money mobilized for climate action will come from the private sector. It may seem like this list of must-haves is too long, but if we don't cut our emissions, we'll be among the first to suffer.

How to prevent disaster

The letter goes on to outline how these goals can be achieved. Experts state the need to develop policies and actions based on sound scientific evidence. This means scientists need to know how best to communicate their ideas, and politicians need to listen carefully. Then, existing solutions need to be scaled up, and this should be done as quickly as possible. All countries must develop plans to get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.

Finally, we need to be optimistic. All our efforts and plans may seem pointless, and it is depressing, but we should remember the existing solutions and success stories that are worth sharing with each other.

“We must remember that nothing is impossible, and it’s all about our attitude to the problem,” the authors conclude. “There will always be those who hide their heads in the sand and ignore the global risks of climate change. But many of us are determined to overcome this inertia. Let's stay optimistic and act together."

In 1315, there was a severe famine in Europe, the worst in its entire history. At the current level Agriculture famine was not uncommon, but crop failure lasted three years in a row, from 1315 to 1317. Several million people died in Europe (up to a quarter of the population died out in cities, and traditionally no one counted the victims in rural areas). On top of all the misfortunes, the population, weakened by hunger, began to be mowed down by epidemics.

To many, it seemed that the end of the world had come. As has always been the case in history in times of severe trials, the witch hunt intensified - this time in the truest sense of the word. The main accusation is damage to the weather, which led to the death of the crop.

Extreme savagery occurred among people, moral norms were sacrificed to the animal survival instinct.

These are the horrors brought to us by medieval chronicles.

“1315 year. There was a high cost and hunger in Livonia, so people killed their children from hunger, pulled out the corpses of the dead from the graves, removed the hanged from the gallows, boiled and devoured them ”(Herman of Wartberg,“ Livonian Chronicle ”).

“1315 year. There was a severe famine in Livonia and Estonia, and mothers ate their children” (Canon of Sambia, Extract from Prussian Affairs).

In addition to historical chronicles, the memory of this terrible time has been preserved in fairy tales, now known to everyone. For example, about cannibals, about children abandoned in the forest, who had nothing to feed, is told in the fairy tales “Hansel and Gretel”, “Thumb Boy” (in them, parents who have nothing to feed their children leave them in the forest, where they are trying to eat a witch or an ogre) and many others.

In the same dark times, the legend of the Pied Piper appeared. When all the cats were eaten from hunger in many cities, rats bred there. According to a famous legend, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, having drowned rats in the river with the help of his magic pipe and not having received a reward, takes away the children of ungrateful citizens with the help of the same pipe into the mountains.

Violins from the cold

In the years 1645-1715, the Maunder minimum happened on Earth - the coldest period in the last 3 thousand years. Frosts led to famine, which led to a decrease in the population of Europe by 20%. (As if ironically, the Maunder Low exactly coincided with the reign of the Sun King, King Louis XIV of France.)

But, in addition to a significant decrease in the population, the cooling of the Maunder minimum unexpectedly did a good service to music. This dark period saw the life and fruitful activity of the famous Antonio Stradivari. The violins of the famous Italian master owe their magical sound to global cooling. Stradivari created his most valuable instruments from 1700 to 1720. The trees then grew extremely tight: on the saw cuts of alpine firs, from which Stradivarius made his violins, very dense and narrow growth rings are visible. A dense tree, as experiments have shown, sounds better.

Baroque from the earthquake

On January 11, 1693, Sicily was hit by the largest earthquake in Italian history with a magnitude of 7.4. Between 60,000 and 100,000 people died. 54 cities and about 300 villages were destroyed. In short, a full blown tragedy. But it was after this earthquake that a new architectural style was born on the ruins of the dead cities - "Sicilian Baroque".

The earthquake seemed to have cleared a gigantic construction site for architectural experiments, giving architects greater freedom to implement a wide variety of projects. And the architects, as if trying to forget the horrors of the recent catastrophe, created a style full of Mediterranean zest for life, especially magnificent even for the Baroque, saturated with all sorts of smiling masks and plump cupids.

New buildings were built taking into account the seismicity of the territory, thanks to which architectural masterpieces have survived to our time, having withstood subsequent (however, not so powerful) earthquakes.

Frankenstein from volcano

On April 5, 1815, the Tambora volcano erupted on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, considered the largest eruption in human history: as a result, about 70 thousand people died.

After the eruption of Tambora, a "volcanic winter" was established on Earth: ash and gases, having risen into the stratosphere, spread like a blanket throughout the globe, making it difficult for sunlight to reach its surface, which caused the global climate to cool. 1816 became known as "the year without a summer" because of the unprecedented low temperatures: even in the summer in Europe and North America there were snowfalls. Until today, 1816 remains the coldest year since the beginning of meteorological observations. In America, this year was called "thousand eight hundred frozen to death."

The extreme cold led to a catastrophic crop failure. In the spring of 1817, grain prices rose tenfold, and a famine broke out among the population, the strongest in the 19th century. The epidemics that arose as a result of the famine claimed many lives from Indonesia to the Mediterranean. All these disasters that befell Europe, which had not yet recovered from the destruction of the Napoleonic Wars, forced tens of thousands of inhabitants of the Old World to emigrate to America.

But, as it happened more than once in history, natural troubles did a good service to art, in this case, literature.

In the summer of 1816, a company of friends rested in a villa by Lake Geneva, or rather, because of bad weather, a group of friends sat within four walls. Having nothing to do, they decided that everyone would write scary story. As a result, world literature was enriched by the novel "Frankenstein" by the English writer Mary Shelley and the story "The Vampire" by John Polidori, Byron's doctor, the first story about vampires.