The biosphere is a natural part of cosmic organization. Organization and stability of the biosphere

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

VLADIVOSTOK STATE UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND

SERVICE

INSTITUTE OF INFORMATICS OF INNOVATION AND BUSINESS SYSTEMS

DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY AND NATURE MANAGEMENT

020801.65 "Ecology"

Vladivostok

VSUES publishing house

The working program of the academic discipline "Teaching about the biosphere" is compiled in accordance with the requirements of the State Educational Standard of the Higher Professional Education.

Compiled by: , Associate Professor of the Department of Ecology

Approved at a meeting of the EPP department on 01/01/2001, protocol No. 6, edition 2014

© Vladivostok Publishing House

State University

economy and service, 2014

INTRODUCTION

The doctrine of the biosphere is a natural science discipline aimed at developing a biocentric worldview and the ability to evaluate professional activities in students of ecologists from the standpoint of the rational use of natural resources and environmental protection. The natural environment of the biosphere provides a person with raw materials, energy, various materials. The doctrine of the biosphere helps to understand the relationship of organisms, populations with habitats, the relationship of natural and anthropogenic ecosystems, the conditions for the sustainable state of ecosystems, the causes of the ecological crisis, the environmental principles of environmental management that ensure the sustainable development of mankind. Studying the discipline "Teaching about the biosphere", students of ecologists consider the biosphere as a global ecosystem, its composition, structure, internal connections that ensure its functioning and sustainability. They give an assessment of the main sources of pollution, analyze the environmental problems of urban areas. They study ways to protect the biosphere from technogenic impact, consider problems and ways to preserve biodiversity. Particular attention is paid to the problems of human influence on global processes and the climate of the biosphere. The study of various processes of the biosphere allows educating students' environmentally oriented consciousness and forming an "ecological" stereotype of behavior in them. The discipline "Teaching about the Biosphere" is aimed at studying the basic patterns of functioning of natural systems at various levels of the biosphere, the factors that determine its stability, productivity, and energy. The role of living matter in biogeochemical cycles is revealed, a logical connection is shown between traditional studies of the problems of interaction between nature - society - economy and the concept of sustainable development of mankind, striving for constructive solutions to environmental problems. The state of the global ecosystem and ways of stabilizing and improving the modern biosphere are assessed. The study of this course is closely related to such disciplines as "Biology", "Chemistry", "Geography", "Geology", "Soil Science".

A feature of the study of the discipline "The doctrine of the biosphere" is an integrated approach to environmental problems, which makes it possible for students of ecologists to acquire the necessary erudition, to understand the relationship of biogeochemical processes in the biosphere. To master the discipline, basic knowledge of geography, biology, chemistry, geology, ecology, and soil science is necessary.

1. ORGANIZATIONAL AND METHODOLOGICAL INSTRUCTIONS

1.1. Goals and objectives of the discipline

The purpose of discipline is to familiarize students with the basic concepts, problems and methods of science "Teaching about the biosphere". The discipline is intended for students in the specialty 020801.65 - Ecology. The main tasks of the discipline– formation of skills and abilities in the following areas of activity:

· study of the foundations of the “Teaching about the biosphere”, its boundaries and evolution;

· characteristics of biogenic migration, biogeochemical cycles of substances, spatial and temporal cyclicity of chemical elements;

· familiarization with the planetary-space organization of the biosphere;

· consideration of the thermodynamic orientation of the development of the biosphere, the transformation of energy by living matter;

· study of the noospheric concept as the basis of scientific management;

formation of professional competencies.

1.2. The list of competencies acquired while studying the discipline

The discipline forms a professional view of the geochemical, biogeochemical and biological aspects of the biosphere. The concept of the biosphere is aimed at forming a holistic view of the processes and phenomena in the global ecosystem, the mechanisms and patterns of sustainable existence of biological systems of different levels in a complex and dynamic environment. The knowledge gained in the process of studying the discipline forms the ecological, noospheric worldview of the student and develops logical thinking at all levels of the organization of living matter (organismic, population, ecosystem, biospheric).

1.3. The main types of classes and features of their conduct

The total amount of discipline for the specialty 020801.65 Ecology is 200 hours, of which 68 hours of classroom work (34 hours of lectures, 34 hours of practical classes) and 132 hours of independent work. The discipline "The Doctrine of the Biosphere" is studied in the 5th semester, 4 hours a week, of which 2 hours are lectures, 2 hours are practical classes. The course ends with an exam. Main types of occupations: - lectures, which give the main systematized material on the structure, organization, properties and functions of the biosphere; - practical classes contribute to the formation of environmental students' understanding of the relationship of organisms with the environment, the structure of the biosphere, its evolution, global environmental problems. Seminars and practical classes develop the ability to predict the results of professional activity, taking into account direct and indirect consequences for the biosphere; - consultations include assistance in self-learning of the material; - independent work includes: work with educational and scientific literature in preparation for practical seminars, tests and writing term papers. In the course of studying this discipline, students of environmentalists listen to lectures, gain practical skills in practical classes, study independently using scientific literature, library electronic databases and the Internet in preparation for the exam and in defending term papers.

1.4. Types of control and reporting by discipline

The study of the discipline ends with an exam in the 5th semester. The student must show in the exam the actual knowledge base of the planetary-space organization of the biosphere, the ability to establish cause-and-effect relationships, and formulate conclusions. The following types of control are used: - current certification, including the student's performance of written control tasks, oral questioning, reports at seminars, attending lectures, testing.

1.5 Types of control and reporting by discipline

Control of student progress is carried out in accordance with the rating system of knowledge assessment.

The current progress control contains tasks that contribute to the development of the competencies of the professional activity for which the student is preparing and includes:

Checking the level of independent preparation of the bachelor when performing an individual task, in preparation for lectures and practical work;

Participation of the bachelor in discussions on the main points of the topic being studied;

Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Power Point, Acrobat Reader), Internet explorer, or similar.

b) technical and laboratory support

Lectures and practical classes are held in classrooms using multimedia equipment

7. GLOSSARY OF BASIC TERMS

Anthropogenesis is the process of historical and evolutionary formation of the physical type of a person, the initial development of his labor activity, speech, and society.

Biosphere- a kind of shell of the Earth, containing the totality of living organisms and that part of the planet's substance that is in continuous exchange with these organisms

biocentrism- a scientific approach to environmental protection, which puts the interests of wildlife (as they appear to man) above all else.

Sustainable development- harmonious (correct, even, balanced) development is a process of change in which the exploitation of natural resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of scientific and technological development, the development of the individual and institutional changes are coordinated with each other and strengthen the current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.

Ecological catastrophy - this is a sudden event, a fast-moving process that entails serious consequences for ecosystems, their destruction, victims. The reason for such changes can be both an external impact on the system and the discharge of its internal stresses that have exceeded the strength of the structure.

Ecological crisis- a significant regional or local disturbance of environmental conditions, which leads to a complete or partial violation of local ecological systems.

Living organisms enrich the environment with oxygen, regulate the amount of carbon dioxide, salts of various metals and a number of other compounds - in a word, they maintain the composition of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and soil necessary for life. Largely due to living organisms, the biosphere has the property of self-regulation - the ability to maintain the conditions on the planet created by the Creator.

The huge environmental role of living organisms allowed scientists to put forward a hypothesis that the atmospheric air and soil were created by living organisms themselves over hundreds of millions of years of evolution. According to Scripture, both soil and air were already present on Earth on the day the first living creatures were created.

Academician Vernadsky, based on the similarity of the structure of geological rocks lying deeper than the Cambrian, with later ones, suggested that life in the form of simple organisms was present on the planet "almost from the beginning." The fallacy of these scientific constructions later became apparent to geologists.

The undoubted merit of V.I. Vernadsky is the firm conviction that life appears only from living organisms, but the scientist, rejecting the biblical doctrine of the creation of the world, believed that "life is eternal, as the cosmos is eternal", and came to Earth from other planets . Vernadsky's fantastic idea was not confirmed. The hypothesis of the evolutionary origin of the planet's organisms from the simplest forms is even more controversial today than at the time of Vernadsky.

The energy basis for the existence of life on Earth is the Sun, so the biosphere can be defined as a shell of the Earth permeated with life, the composition and structure of which is formed by the joint activity of living organisms and is determined by the constant influx of solar energy.

Vernadsky pointed out the main difference between the biosphere and other shells of the planet - the manifestation in it of the geological activity of living beings. According to the scientist, "the entire existence of the earth's crust, at least in terms of the weight of the mass of its substance, in its essential, from a geochemical point of view, features, is conditioned by life." Vernadsky considered living organisms as a system for converting the energy of sunlight into the energy of geochemical processes.

The composition of the biosphere distinguishes between living and non-living matter - living organisms and inert matter. The bulk of living matter is concentrated in the zone of intersection of the three geological shells of the planet: the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (oceans, seas, rivers, etc.) and the lithosphere (the surface layer of rocks). The inanimate matter of the biosphere includes a component of these shells, connected with the living matter by the circulation of matter and energy.

In the non-living component of the biosphere, there are: biogenic substance, which is the result of the vital activity of organisms (oil, coal, peat, natural gas, biogenic limestones, etc.); bioinert substance, formed jointly by organisms and non-biological processes (soils, silts, natural water of rivers, lakes, etc.); an inert substance that is not a product of the vital activity of organisms, but is included in the biological cycle (water, atmospheric nitrogen, metal salts, etc.).

The boundaries of the biosphere can only be determined approximately. Although the facts of detection of bacteria and spores at altitudes up to 85 km are known, the concentration of living matter at high altitudes is so negligible that the biosphere is considered to be limited at an altitude of 20-25 km by the ozone layer, which protects living beings from the destructive effects of hard radiation.

In the hydrosphere, life is ubiquitous. In the Mariana Trench at a depth of 11 km, where the pressure is 1100 atm and the temperature is 2.4°C, the French scientist J. Picard observed holothurians, other invertebrates and even fish through the window. Bacteria, diatoms and blue-green algae, foraminifera, and crustaceans live under a thickness of more than 400 m of Antarctic ice. The bacterium is found under a layer of sea silt at a depth of 1 km, in oil wells at a depth of up to 1.7 km, in groundwater at a depth of 3.5 km. Depths of 2-3 km are considered the lower boundary of the biosphere. The total thickness of the biosphere, therefore, in different parts of the planet varies from 12-15 to 30-35 km.

The atmosphere is mainly composed of nitrogen and oxygen. Small amounts include argon (1%), carbon dioxide (0.03%) and ozone. The state of the atmosphere depends on the vital activity of both terrestrial organisms and aquatic creatures. Oxygen is mainly used for respiration and mineralization (oxidation) of dying organic matter. Carbon dioxide is essential for photosynthesis.

Hydrosphere. Water is one of the most essential components of the biosphere. About 90% of the water is in the world ocean, which occupies 70% of the surface of our planet and contains 1.3 billion km3 of water. Rivers and lakes include only 0.2 million km3 of water, and living organisms - about 0.001 million km3. The concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in water is essential for the life of organisms. The content of carbon dioxide in water is 660 times greater than in air. In the seas and oceans, five types of condensations of life are distinguished:

1. Offshore coastal. This zone is rich in oxygen, organics and other nutrients coming from the land (for example, with river water). Here, at a depth of up to 100 m, plankton and its bottom "partner" benthos flourishes, processing dying plankton organisms.

Oceanic plankton is made up of two communities:

a) phytoplankton - algae (70% of them are microscopic diatoms) and bacteria;

b) zooplankton - the primary consumers of phytoplankton (mollusks, crustaceans, protozoa, tunicates, various invertebrates).

The life of zooplankton proceeds in constant motion, it either rises or falls to a depth of 1 km, avoiding its eaters (hence the name: Greek plankton wandering). Zooplankton is the main food of baleen whales. Phytoplankton make up only 8% of the mass of zooplankton, but, multiplying rapidly, produce 10 times more biomass than the rest of ocean life. Phytoplankton provide 50% of oxygen (the remaining 50% is produced by forests).

Benthic organisms - crabs, cephalopods and bivalves, worms, starfish and hedgehogs, holothurians ("sea cucumbers" or another name - trepangs), foraminifera (sea rhizomes), algae and bacteria are adapted to life almost without light. Processing organic matter and turning it into minerals, which are delivered to the upper layers by ascending flows, benthos feeds plankton. The richer the benthos, the richer the plankton, and vice versa. Outside the shelf, the number of both drops sharply.

Plankton and benthos form a thick layer of calcareous and silica silts in the ocean, which form sedimentary rocks. Carbonate sediments can turn into stone in just a few decades.

2. Upwelling thickenings are formed at the sites of ascending flows carrying benthos products to the surface. Californian, Somali, Bengal, Canarian and especially Peruvian upwelling are known, which gives about 20% of the world fishery.

3. Reef - known to all coral reefs, abundant in algae and molluscs, echinoderms, blue-greens, corals and fish. Reefs grow unusually fast (up to 20-30 cm per year) not only due to coral polyps, but also due to the vital activity of mollusks and echinoderms, which concentrate calcium, as well as green and red algae with a calcareous skeleton.

The main producer of reef ecosystems is microscopic phototrophic algae, therefore reefs are located at depths of no more than 50 m, they require clear warm water with a certain salinity. Reefs are one of the most productive systems in the biosphere, producing annually up to 2 t/ha of biomass.

4. Sargas thickening - fields of brown and purple algae floating on the surface with many air bubbles. Distributed in the Sargas and Black Seas.

5. Abyssal rift near-bottom concentrations are formed at a depth of up to 3 km around hot springs on faults in the oceanic crust (rifts). In these places, hydrogen sulfide, iron and manganese ions, nitrogen compounds (ammonia, oxides) are removed from the earth's interior, feeding chemotrophic bacteria - producers consumed by more complex organisms - mollusks, crabs, crayfish, fish and huge sessile worm-like animal rifts. These organisms do not need sunlight. In rift zones, creatures grow about 500 times faster and reach impressive sizes. Bivalves grow up to 30 cm in diameter, bacteria - up to 0.11 mm! Galapagos rift clusters are known, as well as near Easter Island.

In the sea, a variety of animals prevails, and on land - plants. Only angiosperms make up 50% of the species, and seaweeds only 5%. The total biomass on land is represented by 92% green plants, and in the ocean 94% are animals and microorganisms.

The biomass of the planet is updated on average every 8 years, land plants - in 14 years, ocean - in 33 days (phytoplankton - daily). All water passes through living organisms in 3 thousand years, oxygen in 2-5 thousand years, and atmospheric carbon dioxide in just 6 years. Cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are much longer. The biological cycle is not closed, about 10% of the substance leaves in the form of sedimentary deposits and burials in the lithosphere.

The mass of the biosphere is only 0.05% of the mass of the Earth, and its volume is about 0.4%. The total mass of living matter is 0.01-0.02% of the inert matter of the biosphere, but the role of living organisms in geochemical processes is very significant. The annual production of living matter is about 200 billion tons of dry weight of organic matter, in the process of photosynthesis 70 billion tons of water reacts with 170 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Every year, the vital activity of organisms involves 6 billion tons of nitrogen, 2 billion tons of phosphorus, iron, sulfur, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and other elements in the biogenic cycle. Mankind, using numerous techniques, extracts about 100 billion tons of minerals per year.

The vital activity of organisms makes a significant contribution to the planetary circulation of substances, carrying out its regulation, life serves as a powerful geological factor that stabilizes and transforms the biosphere.

LIVING SUBSTANCE (LIVING ORGANISMS). BIOMASS

Living matter - the totality and biomass of living organisms in the biosphere.

The concept of "living matter" was introduced into science by V.I. Vernadsky. It is characterized by the total mass, chemical composition, energy.

Living organisms are a powerful geological factor that transforms the face of the Earth. IN AND. Vernadsky emphasized that on the earth's surface there is no force more powerful in its final results than living organisms as a whole. Both the atmosphere (air shell), and the hydrosphere (water shell), and the lithosphere (solid shell) owe their current state and inherent properties to the influence that organisms have had on them over billions of years of their existence due to the continuous flow of elements in the biogenic metabolism. Influencing the surrounding world and changing it, living matter acts as an active factor that determines its own existence.

The idea of ​​the planetary geochemical role of living matter is one of the main provisions in V.I. Vernadsky. Another important position in his theory is the idea of ​​the biosphere as an organized entity, a product of complex transformations by living matter of the material, energy and informational possibilities of the environment.

The biosphere from modern positions is considered as the largest ecosystem of the planet participating in the global cycle of substances. Under the systems of the biosphere are ecosystems of a lower level. Biogeocenosis is a structural unit of the active part of the modern biosphere.

The biosphere is a product of the long-term evolution of living things and ecosystems of varying complexity, which are in interaction and dynamic balance with each other and with the inert environment.

The amount of living matter of organisms per unit area or volume, expressed in units of mass, is called biomass. The organisms that make up the biomass have the ability to reproduce - multiply and spread around the planet.

A feature of any living organism and biomass in general is the constant exchange of matter and energy with the environment.

Currently, there are more than two million species of organisms on Earth. Of these, about 500 thousand species fall on the share of plants, and more than 1.5 million species fall on the share of animals. The most numerous group in terms of the number of species is insects (about 1 million species).

BIOGENIC CYCLE

Biochemical circulation is the movement and transformation of chemical elements through inert and organic nature with the active participation of living matter. Chemical elements circulate in the biosphere along various paths of the biological cycle: they are absorbed by living matter and charged with energy, then they leave the living matter, giving the accumulated energy to the external environment. Such cycles Vernadsky called biochemical. They can be divided into two main types:

1) circulation of gaseous substances with a reserve fund in the atmosphere and hydrosphere;

2) sedimentary cycle with a reserve fund in the earth's crust.

Living matter plays an active role in all biochemical cycles. The main cycles include the cycle of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus.

FUNCTIONS OF THE BIOSPHERE

Thanks to the biotic cycle, the biosphere performs certain functions.

1. Gas function - carried out by green plants in the process of photosynthesis and by all animals and plants, microorganisms as a result of the biological cycle of substances. Most gases are generated by life. Underground combustible gases are decomposition products of organic substances of plant origin buried in sedimentary rocks.

2. Concentration function - associated with the accumulation of various chemical elements in living matter.

3. Redox function (oxidation of substances in the process of life). Oxides and salts are formed in the soil. Bacteria create limestone, ores, etc.

4. Biochemical function - metabolism in living organisms (nutrition, respiration, excretion) and destruction, decomposition of dead organisms are carried out.

5. Biochemical activity of mankind. It covers an ever-increasing amount of the substance of the earth's crust for the needs of industry, transport, and agriculture.

ORGANIZATION AND STABILITY OF THE BIOSPHERE

The biosphere is a complex organized system functioning as a single entity capable of self-regulation. Its structural unit is biogeocenosis - one of the most complex natural systems, which is a complex of living organisms and an inert environment, which are in constant interaction with each other and are interconnected by the metabolism and energy. The stability of the biosphere is determined by the stability of biogeocenosis - the products of a long natural-historical development of the organic world.

An important property of biogeocenosis is its ability to self-regulate, which manifests itself in its stable dynamic balance. The latter is achieved by the coordination and complexity of those interactions that develop between its components - living and non-living parts. The consumption of the created organic matter occurs in parallel with its production and should not exceed the latter in scale. The more diverse the physical and chemical qualities of the environment, the living conditions within the biotope, the more diverse the species composition of the cenosis, the more stable it is. Deviations of the conditions of existence from the optimum lead to its species impoverishment. The stable state of the cenosis is also determined by the output of gross production, which ensures the flow of energy through the trophic levels and the preservation of all living components connected to each other in the food chain and participating in the general circulation of substances. A balanced relationship between organisms of different trophic levels is one of the conditions for the stability of biogeocenosis.

Under the conditions of the inconstancy of the physical and chemical environment, the reliability of biogeocenosis is ensured by the total redistribution of living matter between its constituent species that can replace each other (or duplicate) within the same level of the ecological pyramid. Under certain conditions, some species feel more comfortable (in connection with which the number of their populations increases) and worse - others close to them, but occupying a subordinate position in the biogeocenosis. A change in conditions can negatively affect the former and, on the contrary, contribute to the prosperity of the latter. Depending on the strength and duration of the action of a new natural factor, more or less significant changes in its organization occur within the biogeocenosis. One of the mechanisms that ensure the safety of biocenoses is manifested in the ability to form a different structure under the pressure of external factors with the strengthening of “elements of duplication”.

Separate biogeocenoses are not isolated from each other; they are interdependent and are in constant interaction. Vivid proof of this can be examples of the global circulation of biogenic elements, in which not only individual subsystems, but the entire biosphere and other geospheres of the Earth take part. The balance of the cycles of elements and substances on the planet, especially the cycles of biogenic elements, without which life is impossible, is ensured by the constancy of the entire mass of living matter. A large number of elements pass through living organisms. Photoautotrophs determine the speed of fixing solar energy and providing it to other inhabitants of the planet. Green plants supply the molecular oxygen necessary for the existence of almost all living organisms on Earth; the only exception is anaerobic forms. To ensure the stability of the circulation, in addition to the constancy of the mass of living matter, constancy between producers, consumers and decomposers is necessary. All together they create and stabilize the conditions for the existence of the biosphere as an integral and harmonious entity.

Ecological duplication at the level of species in the biogeocenosis is supplemented in nature by ecological duplication at the level of the cenosis, which manifests itself in the replacement of one biocenosis by another under changing conditions within the integral biosphere.

The total amount of living matter in the biosphere changes markedly within a sufficiently long geological time (V.I. Vernadsky's law of constancy of the amount of living matter). Its quantitative stability is maintained by the constancy of the number of species, which determines the overall species diversity in the biosphere.

Thus, biogeocenoses are an environment in which various life processes take place on our planet, the cycles of matter and energy caused by the vital activity of organisms and, in total, making up a large biospheric cycle.

Biogeocenosis is a relatively stable and open system that has material-energy "inputs" and "outputs" that connect adjacent biocenoses.

NOOSPHERE

The noosphere (Greek noos - mind + sphere) is the highest stage of development of the biosphere, the sphere of influence of the human mind, the interaction of nature and society. Appearing on Earth, man gradually became a powerful geological force influencing the world around him.

The concept of the noosphere as an ideally thinking shell of the Earth was introduced into science at the beginning of the 20th century. French scientists and philosophers P. Teilhard de Chardin and E. Leroy. P. Teilhard de Chardin considered man as the pinnacle of evolution and the transformer of matter through the inclusion of evolution in creativity. The scientist attached the main importance in evolutionary constructions to the team and the spiritual factor, without belittling the role of technological progress and economic development.

IN AND. Vernadsky, speaking about the noosphere (1944), emphasized the need for a reasonable organization of the interaction between society and nature, which meets the interests of every person, all of humanity and the world around him. The scientist wrote: “Humanity, taken as a whole, becomes a powerful geological force. And before him, before his thought and work, the question of the restructuring of the biosphere in the interests of free-thinking humanity as a single whole was raised. This new state of the biosphere, to which we are approaching without noticing it, is the noosphere.”

Nature bears the traces of human activity in the conditions of different socio-economic formations that succeeded each other. The forms of influence are varied. Its results over the last 100-150 (200) years, especially in the territories of Europe and North America, surpass those for the entire previous history of mankind. With the growth of the population and the increase in its well-being, the pressure on nature became more and more. It is believed that at the beginning of our era there were about 200 million people on Earth. By the millennium, this figure had risen to 275 million; by the middle of the twentieth century. The world's population has almost doubled (500 million). Over 200 years, the figure increased to 1.3 billion, and another 300 million were added in half a century (1.6 billion in 1900). In 1950, there were already 2.5 billion people on Earth, in 1970 - 3.6 billion, by 2025 the figure is expected to be 8.5 billion. Of this number, 83% of the world's population will live in developing countries - in Asia , Africa, South America, where even now the population growth is noticeable. It is necessary to have an idea about the possibilities for the livelihood of the population in order to avoid the catastrophic consequences of the population explosion.

The rapid growth of the planet's population makes the question of the limits of the biological productivity of the Earth's biosphere acute. As a result of active human activity during the period of scientific and technological progress, aimed at raising the material and spiritual level of all mankind, the reserves of non-renewable natural resources have been largely depleted. Self-renewable resources have undergone a global disturbance over vast areas, some of them have lost the ability to self-renewal. Many inland reservoirs have become dead or are on the verge between life and death. The world's oceans are polluted with production waste, oil spills, radioactive substances, and the natural circulation - global and especially local - of a number of vital biogenic elements has been disrupted. Often, the consumers end up with environmentally "dirty" food and poor-quality drinking water.

Environmental pollution and disturbance of the natural habitats of many plant and animal species has led to a reduction in the number of populations or their extinction, and, consequently, to the loss of the gene pool created over millions of years. Under the influence of mutagens that pollute the environment, not only new forms of pests of agrocenoses and natural biocenoses have appeared, but also pathogenic organisms against which protective properties have not been developed either in humans or other inhabitants of the planet.

The ruthless exploitation of nature, subordinated to the satisfaction of momentary needs, does not solve the pressing problems of even today, creating unfavorable prospects for the future. Part of the world's population is malnourished and starving (25% of the total crop is lost annually due to agricultural pests). Many people, among whom children predominate, die every year from diseases caused by the use of poor-quality water. Human health suffers from increased environmental pollution, especially in large industrial cities. Many people are negatively affected not only by the degradation of ecological systems, but also by poverty, the growing disparity between the rich and the poor.

In order to avoid the negative consequences caused by human economic activity and natural disasters, it is necessary to take into account the laws that operate in the nature around us and support its self-renewal. The task of protecting nature and its rational use has become not only a state one, but also an international one, and its solution should be based on knowledge of the laws of life and development of the world around us.

Not only the well-being of people, but also their life depends on the degree of public awareness of the crisis situation in the biosphere and on the speed of its reaction.

The doctrine of the biosphere