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GLOBAL SOCIAL AND NATURAL CHARACTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OF MODERNITY
I.P.Makeenko
Technological institute Branch of Don state technical university. Stavropol, Russia [email protected]
The global situation, in which there is a mankind, reflects and expresses general crisis of a person consumer attitude to natural and social resources. At the end of the XX century mankind faced the problems from solving of which its future depends. These are so-called global difficulties including problems of war and peace, ecology, health care, energy resources. Their essence lies in the fact that, at first, they concern all countries independent from their social system and a level of development; secondly, they can be solved by efforts not of only one country, but at least, of the majority of the countries; thirdly, they are closely interconnected and therefore the solution of one of them, anyway, concerns also others.
Key words: ecology, person, technique, nature, global problems, sociotechnosphere, ecological crisis, globalization, environmental problem.
Breakage of outdated technological approaches and also outdated social mechanisms of a person and nature interaction occurred in the process of historical development. Mainly adaptive mechanisms of interaction operated in the beginning of human history. A person conformed to the natural forces, adapted to the changes taking place in it, changing his own nature according to it. Then according to the development of productive forces the utilitarian relation of the person to the nature and other person prevailed. A modern era raises a question of transition to a new way of social mechanisms which one should call coevolution or harmonious. The reason pushes mankind to understanding of vital need of harmonization of communications and relations in global system "the person - the technique - the nature". In this regard the understanding of global problems of a modern civilization, their reasons, interrelations, and ways of their solving acquire a particular importance.
Problems which have universal character affect the interests of mankind in general and of each person separately, practically in every spot on the globe, are called global. Global problems are the whole complex of problems of all mankind from solving of which decision preservation of civilization depends. They are varied. For instance, threat of hydrogen catastrophe, threat of natural environment degradation and ecological suicide of mankind, a food problem, a problem of fight against diseases dangerous to mankind. All these problems are generated by disunity of mankind, inequality of its development. The conscious inception has not become the most important prerequisite of mankind as whole yet. Negative results and consequences of incoordinate, ill-conceived actions of the countries, people, certain people, accumulating in global scales, became a powerful objective factor of world economic and social development. They have more and more essential impact on development of the certain countries and regions. Integrating efforts of a large number of the states and organizations at the international level presuppose to their decision.
Not so long ago the problem of war and peace was considered as the main problem. Presently immediate nuclear threat of a human civilization disappeared according to the sharp change of the international political and economic climate though so far there are atomic weapons, all types of arms are improved and it is impossible to say that the global military conflicts once and for all disappeared. Today environmental problems take first place. Still during the analysis of the relations in society -nature system special attention was paid to revelation of dependence of society from nature, on their organic interrelation. At the same time society and nature interact with each other as society can't exist without constant exchange, with the nature, with a mankind native habitat. Society has an opposite effect on Earth nature during this exchange acquiring with the course of time more increasing scope. Nature is in the broadest sense too large-scale that influence of mankind could be a little noticeable.
Impact of society on the nature is realized through a sociotechnosphere which is understood as not society in general, but its manifestations acting as factors of impact on the nature. It first of all, material production systems; the diverse types of non-productive activity of people influencing environment; it is artificial technicalize habitat and vital activity; the cultivated biocenoses; the environment modified by the person. In other words, sociotechnosphere is something that is accepted to call "second nature" which is artificially created. Already today sociotechnosphere is vastly superior to the productive force of the biosphere. There has never been full harmony in the history of relationship of society and the nature. The lower is the level of development of productive forces, the higher is the role of natural environment in functioning of society and the less people are free from influence of spontaneous forces of the nature. Nature according to K. Marx and F. Engels stood against people as absolutely alien and unapproachable force in primitive society where labor had primitive character and the level of productive forces was extremely low.
In the past scales of society impact on the nature didn't reach modern level [1]. It belongs both how to primitive public forms, so to the era of slave ownership and feudalism when manual skills of the handicraftsman and farmer dominated. Results of their impact on the nature were rather easily neutralized, and balance of natural systems was restored. If ecological disasters arose, firstly they most of all were caused by nature spontaneous forces, and secondly, had local character. Primitive people depended on nature, but in the sense that they didn't know its laws and therefore couldn't exploit them. They understood any natural phenomenon (drought, flood) as a certain external force which invested with supernatural attributes. In principle primitive people satisfied the requirements. However, it is necessary to remember one very important circumstance: their requirements corresponded to a level of development of their productive forces. Requirements are generated by production, and the last had very limited character therefore requirements were also very limited. People widely used ready-made products of the nature which were quite enough to collect their necessary quantity for a tribe for a small interval of time (some hours in a day).
A man of the primitive era in his practical activities without having any idea of nature laws, nevertheless aspired to change natural conditions for its own benefit. He changed flora of the cultivated area, created new sorts of plant, domesticated some animal species. One can say that in this area a man made revolution: took some animals for service, many of which constituted a threat for his life. Person practical activity taught him to act in the best direction for material benefits production that, eventually, led to growth of labor productivity and increment of products quantity.
A person receives more from nature in the conditions of slave-owning society, because he produces more than in the era of a patrimonial system [2]. During the feudalism era nature is used even more. The question of careful attitude to natural resources, to an animal and flora didn't arise. Hunting for animals constantly reduced their number. Besides, internal and interstate wars promoted to deterioration of surrounding environment. Cultivation of the earth was also exposed to considerable changes as more perfect instruments of production appeared. "In the second half of the VII century after Christmas northern peasants (in Europe) following the unknown initiator began even more often using absolutely new type of the plow equipped with a vertical edge for line furrow cutting, a horizontal ploughshare for cutting of the soil at its depth and a dump to overturn it. The friction of such plow about the soil was so hard that for normal work it was necessary to use eight oxen instead of two. Cross plowing was not already necessary, and fields covered with long furrows. Using a former plow, peasants divided the land between themselves so that each family received the field sufficient for its providing. It also was the prerequisite of production. But none of the peasants had eight oxen and peasants began to unite the oxen in big teams, receiving such number of the plowed strips on a share of everyone which corresponded to its contribution. As a result distribution of the land was based not on needs of each family, but more likely on power opportunities of the earth processing technology. The relation of the person to the soil thoroughly changed. Before he was a part of the nature, and now he became her exploiter".
The situation began to change not for the better with approach of a capitalist way of the production which caused industrialization of society as a result of transition to mechanical production, with inclusion of the new forceful power sources and technologies in a production turn breaking
natural balance. The mankind received such levers on the nature which on the power are comparable to geological and space factors. It with a special force was found in the second half of the XX century -in the course of scientific and technical revolution expansion. Due to growth of natural resources exploitation and further environmental pollution of resources there emerged a threat of terrestrial civilization death. A person unreasonably interferes with all spheres of the nature that leads to sharp deterioration of the earth landscape, many animals either absolutely disappeared, or are on the verge of disappearance. Emergence of ozone holes testifies that not only biosphere, but also the atmosphere of Earth can change. Modern society endures deep ecological crisis.
The extensive damage is caused to environment during tests of new types of arms, first of all the nuclear weapon. Tens of thousands of the most valuable minerals which peaceful use would give huge benefit to all people and the states are directed to its production. Besides, test of the nuclear weapon harmfully affects on animal and flora. "At explosion of nuclear warheads the substances possessing a high-level radioactivity are formed. Immediately after the explosion radioactive products direct upward in the form of the heated gases. While rising they cool down and condensate. Their particles settle on drops of moisture or dust. Then process of gradual radioactive fallout on an earth surface in the form of a rain or snow begins... In some weeks or even years the radioactive materials carried by air currents will appear on thousands of kilometers from a place of their formation". In brief, life completely perishes where the nuclear weapon is tested, and it appears under the threat in other parts of the globe. We live during an era of the globalization which captured all parties of public life - economic, social, political and spiritual. Globalization aggravates ecological crisis as it doesn't recognize political borders [3] even more. Multinational corporations work everywhere where there is an opportunity to get huge profit. Thus they practically do not care of preservation of surrounding environment.
The nature acts as a unit, and causing damage it in this or that region of the globe affects all planet. We break the nature integrity demanding from it so much that it can't give. In the last decades negative consequences on the nature started developing with special intensity of more and more amplifying sociotechnosphere pressure. Thus, society came into an antagonistic conflict with environment.
The sense and essence of current situation find the expression in one of the most acute global issues of the present - in an environmental problem. The heart is the main content of this problem, it consists in an extreme aggravation of contradictions between society and the nature, and these contradictions become qualitatively complicated and expand in spatial scales, acquiring global character. We will define real overcoming ways of ecological crisis, the solution of an environmental problem. Radical turn concerning society to the nature is necessary. The main thing - is formation of a technological way of ecological production at which person activity for natural substances and energy transformation occur under the control and management with help of natural processes and mechanisms as it takes place when using biotechnology and genetic engineering in agriculture.
The new technological way of production presupposes profound changes in technical policy, in requirements to scientific and technical progress. The first requirement consists in the ecologization of all main groups of equipment and technology connected with extraction of substances and energy from environment with their primary and subsequent processing. It is about that the assessment of equipment and technology will be carried out with use of not only technical and technological, economic, social [4], but also ecological criteria. Besides, creation of habitat protection and resource-saving technique and technology and also means and ways of refinement and enrichment of the nature, expanded reproduction of its riches and properties is necessary on a new scientific and engineering basis. Following task consists in formation and development of essentially new technologies which allow to widely use natural means in the course of production, to copy or imitate them, achieving harmonization of a public and natural circulation of substance and energy, their optimum commissure. A special link responsible for society and nature optimum connections supporting, for giving of possible restrain to circulation of substance and energy between nature and society, for natural environment reproduction with the best quality characteristics should become the main element of ecologization production method for the complete ecologization of all economy sectors.
Besides, it is necessary to solve two more problems: 1) to increase the level of regulation and management in the sphere of the relation of the nature and society; 2) to raise the level of ecological culture, ecological consciousness and behavior of masses. Therefore ecological education [5] and upbringing [6] have to become priority in training of each person for life and work. Really, the new relation to the nature presupposes management of processes in system society - nature, based on complex, strictly scientific and planetary approach, on overall assessment of impact on the nature of human projects in the present and the future [7]. But effectively operating system of ecological education and upbringing is necessary for this purpose [8]. The task consists in preparation for the solution of administrative tasks, in formation of the ecological thinking capable to adequate true reflection of deep connections in the system of person - nature, to penetration into regularities of development of this system [9], to identification of conditions and ways of its harmonious, esthetic and moral development and functioning [10]. Thus, one of global problems of the present - is environmental problem - it is multidimensional according to its significance and content, but the major measurement in it is ecological welfare of mankind and preservation of the biosphere. Dialogue of reason and the nature is really necessary [11]. Only reasonable development of society providing not only preservation, but also purposeful development of the biosphere, is capable to assure its own harmonious development [12]. It is absolutely clear that the future of mankind and wildlife is possible only in the form of noosphere and depends on the success realization of the biosphere to a noosphere transition in foreseeable prospect [13].
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March, 19, 2015
