The main problems of forests and their causes. Deforestation: facts, causes and consequences. Radiation exposure is a consequence of the death of forests

Scientists have long been talking about the harmful effects of technological progress on nature. Climate change, melting ice, and a decrease in the quality of drinking water have a very negative impact on people’s lives. Environmentalists around the world have long sounded the alarm about pollution and destruction of nature. One of the most important is deforestation. Forest problems are visible especially in civilized countries. Environmentalists believe that deforestation leads to many negative consequences for the Earth and humans. Without forests there will be no life on Earth, this needs to be understood by those on whom their preservation depends. However, wood has long been a commodity that is expensive. And that is why the problem of forest destruction is so difficult to solve. Perhaps people simply don’t realize that their entire lives depend on this ecosystem. Although everyone has long revered the forest, often giving it magical functions. He was a breadwinner and personified the life-giving power of nature. They loved him, they treated the trees with care, and they responded to our ancestors in the same way.

Forests of the planet

In all countries, in every corner of the world, massive deforestation is taking place. The problem with the forest is that with the destruction of trees, many more species of plants and animals die. Violated in nature. After all, a forest is not only trees. This is a well-coordinated ecosystem based on the interaction of many representatives of flora and fauna. Besides the trees great importance in its existence have bushes, herbaceous plants, lichens, insects, animals and even microorganisms. Despite massive deforestation, forests still occupy about 30% of the land area. This is more than 4 billion hectares of land. More than half of them are rainforests. However, the northern, especially coniferous, massifs also play a great role in the ecology of the planet. The countries richest in greenery in the world are Finland and Canada. Russia contains about 25% of the world's forest reserves. The fewest trees left in Europe. Nowadays forests occupy only a third of its territory, although in ancient times it was completely covered with trees. And, for example, in England there are almost none left; only 6% of the land is given over to parks and forest plantations.

Rainforests

They occupy more than half of the entire green area. Scientists have calculated that about 80% of animal species live there, which could die without their usual ecosystem. However, felling tropical forests it's on now at an accelerated pace. In some regions, such as West Africa or Madagascar, about 90% of the forest has already disappeared. A catastrophic situation has also developed in the countries of South America, where more than 40% of trees have been cut down. The problems of tropical forests are not just a matter for the countries in which they are located. The destruction of such a huge array will lead to environmental disaster. After all, it is difficult to assess the role that forests play in the life of humanity. Therefore, scientists around the world are sounding the alarm.

Meaning of forest

Using forests for the benefit of people

Green spaces are important for humans not only because they regulate the water cycle and provide all living things with oxygen. About a hundred fruit and berry trees and shrubs, as well as nuts, and more than 200 species of edible and medicinal herbs and mushrooms grow in the forest. Many animals are hunted there, such as sable, marten, squirrel or black grouse. But most of all, man needs wood. This is why deforestation occurs. The problem with forests is that without trees the entire ecosystem dies. So why does a person need wood?

Deforestation

Forest problems arise when this happens uncontrollably, often illegally. After all, forests have been cut down for a long time. And over the 10 thousand years of human existence, about two-thirds of all trees have already disappeared from the face of the Earth. Forests began to be cut down especially a lot in the Middle Ages, when everything was needed more space for construction and farmland. And now every year about 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed, and almost half of them are places where no one has ever set foot before. Why are forests cut down?

• to free up space for construction (after all, the growing population of the Earth requires the construction of new cities);
• as in ancient times, the forest is cut down during slash-and-burn agriculture, making way for arable land;
• the development of livestock farming requires more and more space for pastures;
• forests often interfere with the extraction of minerals so necessary for technological progress;
• and finally, wood is now a very valuable commodity used in many industries.

What kind of forest can be cut down?

The disappearance of forests has long attracted the attention of scientists. Different states They are trying to somehow regulate this process. All forested areas were divided into three groups:

Types of deforestation

In most countries, forest problems concern many scientists and government representatives. Therefore on legislative level There is limited cutting there. However, the fact is that it is often carried out illegally. And although this is considered poaching and is punishable by heavy fines or imprisonment, mass destruction forests are growing for profit. For example, almost 80% of deforestation in Russia is carried out illegally. Moreover, the wood is mainly sold abroad. What official types of logging exist?

What damage does deforestation cause?

The environmental problem of the disappearance of the so-called “lungs” of the planet is already worrying many. Most people believe that this threatens to reduce oxygen supplies. It is true, but it is not the main problem. The scale that deforestation has now reached is astounding. Satellite photos of former forest areas help to visualize the situation. What can this lead to:

• the forest ecosystem is destroyed, many representatives of flora and fauna disappear;
• a decrease in the amount of wood and plant diversity leads to a deterioration in the quality of life of most people;
• the amount of carbon dioxide increases, which leads to the formation greenhouse effect;
• trees no longer protect the soil (washing out the top layer leads to the formation of ravines, and lowering the level groundwater is the cause of deserts);
• soil moisture increases, causing swamps to form;
• Scientists believe that the disappearance of trees on mountain slopes leads to the rapid melting of glaciers.

Researchers estimate that deforestation causes damage to the global economy worth up to $5 trillion a year.

How are forests removed?

How does deforestation happen? A photo of the area where recent logging took place is an unsightly sight: a bare area, almost devoid of vegetation, tree stumps, patches of fire pits and stripes of bare soil. How does this happen? The name “cutting down” has been preserved from the times when trees were felled with an axe. Nowadays they use chainsaws for this. After the tree has fallen to the ground, the branches are cut off and burned. The bare trunk is taken away almost immediately. And they move it to the place of transportation by dragging it to a tractor. Therefore, a strip of bare land remains with torn out vegetation and destroyed undergrowth. In this way, young growth that could revive the forest is destroyed. At this place, the ecological balance is completely disrupted and other conditions for vegetation are created.

What happens after cutting down

On open space completely different conditions are created. Therefore it grows new forest only where the deforestation area is not very large. What prevents young plants from growing stronger:

• The light level changes. Those undergrowth plants that are accustomed to living in the shade die.
• Another temperature regime. Without tree protection, sharper temperature fluctuations and frequent night frosts occur. This also leads to the death of many plants.
• An increase in soil moisture can lead to waterlogging. And the wind blowing moisture from the leaves of young shoots does not allow them to develop normally.
• The dying of roots and the decomposition of the forest floor release many nitrogenous compounds that enrich the soil. However, those plants that need just such minerals feel better on it. Raspberries or fireweed grow fastest in clearings; birch or willow shoots develop well. Therefore, restoration of deciduous the forest is coming quickly if a person does not interfere with this process. And here coniferous trees after cutting down they grow very poorly, since they reproduce by seeds for which there are no normal development conditions. Deforestation has such negative consequences. The solution to the problem - what is it?

Solving deforestation

Environmentalists offer many ways to preserve forests. Here are just a few of them:

• the transition from paper to electronic media, waste paper collection and separate waste collection will reduce the use of wood for paper production;
• creation of forest farms on which crops with the shortest maturation periods will be grown;
• a ban on logging in environmental protection zones and tougher penalties for this;
• increasing the state duty on the export of wood abroad to make it unprofitable.

The disappearance of forests is not yet a concern ordinary person. However, many problems are associated with this. When all people understand that it is forests that provide them with a normal existence, perhaps they will treat trees more carefully. Each person can contribute to the revival of the planet's forests by planting at least one tree.

According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), fires are the leading cause of forest loss on the planet. At the same time, Russia is the world leader in reducing the area of ​​forest areas.

The World Resources Institute, together with a team from the University of Maryland and Google, conducted a study of global forest cover loss from 2011 to 2013. Scientists have found that main reason The destruction of forests in the world still remains fires, and in the vast majority of cases they arise due to human fault.

Human activity has also caused other reasons for the decrease in the area of ​​the “green lungs” of our planet: industrial timber harvesting, forest clearing for agricultural use, construction and mining, as well as death from industrial emissions and deforestation during the construction of hydroelectric power stations.

The leader in the reduction of forest areas is Russia, where more than 4.3 million hectares of forests per year (7.3% of global losses) are lost mainly due to fires. Overall, between 2001 and 2013, the forest area in Russia decreased by 37.2 million hectares.

To restore forests in Russian conditions it will take at least 100 years, and often clearings and burnt areas are restored with less economically valuable species. For example, small-leaved species usually take the place of dead conifers. In addition, fires, logging and pollution environment caused by man, destroy rare plants and animals, leading to catastrophic losses for the planet's biodiversity.

According to official statistics alone, in our country every year from 1.5 to 3 million hectares of forests burn. However, scientists and environmentalists insist that this figure is underestimated by at least 2-3 times, and in some years by an order of magnitude. For example, in 2010, according to RAS scientists, about 6 million hectares of forests were burned by fires, at the same time the Ministry of Emergency Situations estimated given area in 1 million hectares, and Rosleskhoz - in 2.1 million hectares.

« Data on the area of ​​fires and the damage they cause are deliberately underestimated by several times. This makes it difficult to take the right action locally and state levels, both in preparation for the fire season and conducting a full-fledged operational fire fight, and in assessing the damage from fire to the economy and nature of the country,” - notes the expert of the forest program of WWF Russia Alexander Bryukhanov. IN Lately efforts have been made in the fight against distortion of data on forest fires, but much remains to be done to completely solve the problem.

WWF warns: the fire season has already begun in most regions of the Russian Federation. The Ministry of Emergency Situations and employees of forestry and environmental structures are fighting forest, steppe and peat fires in the Southern, Central, Volga, Siberian and Far Eastern regions federal districts. A state of emergency is in effect in the Trans-Baikal Territory. A special fire regime has been introduced in 7 regions Russian Federation: Bryansk, Kurgan, Smolensk, Amur, Volgograd regions, as well as in the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory. The area covered by fire is measured in tens of thousands of hectares; there were the first cases of fire threatening populated areas.

« Huge annual fire areas are an indicator of the overall low level forestry management, due, among other things, to underfunding by the government and the lack of conditions for investment by private companies. Problem forest fires will only increase in the coming years due to climate change and poor quality of forest management", - speaks Nikolay Shmatkov, head of the forest program of WWF Russia.

In the absence of full-fledged forest protection in the forests of Russia, the main responsibility for preventing a forest fire disaster, as in previous years, will depend mainly on the environmental awareness of the population and weather conditions.

WWF urges: if you find yourself outside the city, be extremely careful with fire! The cause of almost every forest, steppe and peat fire is man. If you notice a forest fire or grass has burned, report it to the Ministry of Emergency Situations by calling 112 or call the forest protection direct line: 8-800-100-94-00.

Term deforestation appeared in the world scientific literature only in last decades, but is used as widely as desertification or soil degradation. Deforestation means the complete destruction of forest vegetation, the curtailment of forestry and the transfer of land to another type of management.

Experts include industrial timber harvesting, pollution, recreation, and forest fires as the most important causes of this problem.

Deforestation. Deforestation is one of the most ancient forms human activity. At first, people cut down individual trees or small groups, then they moved on to cutting down entire areas of the forest. Now powerful technology makes it possible to cut down trees over a huge area in a few days. TO beginning of XXI V. forested area accounted for about 22% of the land surface.

One of the main consequences of timber harvesting is the replacement of primary forests with secondary forests, which are usually less valuable and often less productive. But this is only the first step... Deforestation leads to deep environmental changes in the region where the disappearance of woody vegetation has been noted. These changes affect all components of nature. Experts believe that our planet is dominated by cutting down the forest- more is cut down than grows during the year. However, the condition is negative forest resources affects undercut of a mature forest when felling lags behind the growth rate of wood. The forest is aging, its productivity is decreasing, and the incidence of disease in old trees is increasing.

Emergence environmental problem deforestation is associated not only with the scale, but also with the methods of logging. The bulk of wood is harvested using clear cuttings. With this in mind, we are releasing most of logging equipment, which destroys trees and shrubs, makes deep ruts in the soil, contributing to the development of erosion processes.

Causes the greatest harm skidding- transportation of wood by dragging. Heavy trees pulled behind a tractor are destroyed above soil cover. Following this, a rut forms, which often fills with water. All the young growth on the tractor trails dies.

As a result of logging, soil cover is disturbed and growing trees are damaged. This is especially noticeable in summer, when the soil, ground cover, and young tree stand are not protected by snow.

Environmental pollution. IN last years Deforestation processes are significantly influenced by environmental pollution, primarily the atmosphere. Air pollution often leads to forest degradation. Forest communities are sensitive to an increase in the content of sulfur dioxide in the environment, which manifests itself in the occurrence of destructive acid rain. In Canada precipitation became 30-40 times more acidic than in the pre-industrial period ( late XIX c.), due to which growth sharply decreased and natural reforestation deteriorated.

Particularly affected by acid precipitation forests of Europe, and primarily the most vulnerable coniferous plantations. As emissions of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere increased in Europe, the area of ​​damaged forests naturally increased: from 1000 hectares in 1860 to 150 thousand hectares in 1956, and by now this figure has increased to almost 50 million hectares. It makes up about 35% of the total forest area in this part of the world.

In countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Great Britain, etc., the share of degraded forests reaches 49-71% of the total forest area. The highest proportion of degraded forests is in those countries that, due to their geographical location(neighborhoods of countries where sulfur emissions into the atmosphere are particularly significant) are on the path of transboundary transfers of acid precipitation.

The UK, the main exporter of acid precipitation to Europe, finds itself in a special position: it supplies 11 times more sulfur compounds than it receives itself.

In Russia, forests in the Urals, in some areas of Siberia and the Far East, especially near large industrial enterprises, were damaged by acid rain.

Modern human economic activities lead to environmental pollution. Humans annually burn about 9 billion tons of standard fuel, resulting in more than 700 million tons of various compounds entering the environment, many of which have a detrimental effect on forests. For normal existence, the forest requires fresh air and water, mineral and organic nutrients. Like any living organism, the forest does not tolerate excessive interference in its life. However, in modern conditions Forest ecosystems are often influenced by external factors that worsen the condition of the forest. For many forests on our planet, especially in developed countries, air pollution poses an increasing threat. Forests located in the path of winds blowing from cities and industrial centers are exposed to a variety of pollutants that damage trees, primarily conifers. In addition to the immediate damage, prolonged exposure to a variety of pollutants makes trees more susceptible to pests, diseases and droughts.

Pollution called the introduction into the environment or the formation in it of new, usually previously uncharacteristic substances or an increase in the concentration of existing ones. There are natural (natural) pollution caused by the entry into the atmosphere of cosmic particles, dust generated by the movement of soil, pollen, etc., and anthropogenic pollution resulting from human activity.

Types of pollution. Anthropogenic pollution is divided into material(dust, ash, etc.) and physical, or energy (thermal energy, noise, electrical and electromagnetic fields etc.). Material pollution, in turn, is divided into mechanical, chemical, and biological.

TO mechanical contamination refer to solid particles in the soil. In the forest you can find household industrial waste- landfills. Consider their impact on the forest system. What is their impact on forest inhabitants and human health?

Chemical pollution name all kinds of gaseous, liquid and solid chemical compounds and elements that enter the atmosphere and hydrosphere and interact with the environment (acids, alkalis, sulfur dioxide, emulsions). For example, the combination of negligible amounts of ethylene with carbon monoxide makes it difficult for plants to breathe, causes the loss of leaves and buds and can lead to their death.

Posing a serious danger to the forest acid rain. They affect the processes of photosynthesis and the respiration of plants, and therefore growth and quality slow down. forest plantations. Coniferous plants are especially severely damaged.

In the role biological contaminants There are all kinds of organisms that cause forest diseases and cause significant damage to it.

Energy pollution is of a physical nature. These include all types of emitted energy: thermal, mechanical, ionizing radiation, electromagnetic waves, sound waves.

Environmental pollution often becomes a tragic consequence of industrial accidents. It has a huge scale in our country and noise pollution, caused by the work of industries directly near the forest, roads, and railways. Negative Impact Vacationers also have an impact on the ecosystem: mushroom pickers, hunters and simply vacationers who do not observe basic environmental regulations behavior in the forest.

Anthropogenic impact. Has a significant impact on the development of degradation processes in forest communities recreation(stay in them large mass of people). Why does the oppression and death of forest plants occur?

The main harm caused to the forest by the presence of large number of people, - compaction of the top layer of soil. It is in this layer of trees that the bulk of thin roots are concentrated, absorbing water with mineral nutrients dissolved in it. These roots are vital to trees. Soil compaction sharply suppresses their activity, as they “suffocate” from lack of air. In dense soil there are almost no air gaps and therefore very little oxygen.

Compacted soil freezes deeper in winter, contains less humus, etc. Soil compaction worsens the conditions for water and mineral nutrition of the tree, which affects its growth: the height and diameter of growth decrease, the crown thins out, and the needles shorten. Dry branches appear in the crown, the top dries up. Trees become weakened and are easily affected by diseases and pests.

Fires, which vacationers often light under the treetops, are very dangerous for the forest. In the place of the fire pit high temperatures thin suction roots of trees located close to the soil surface die.

The environmental consequences of deforestation are obvious: a decrease in the amount of organic matter, the loss of “channels” for the absorption of carbon dioxide by plants; disruption of the cycle of matter and energy flows in the biosphere and, as a result, changes in climatic conditions and biological diversity at local, regional and global levels.

Forest fires. Forest fires have been occurring on Earth for millions of years. Fire has no less influence on the formation process vegetation cover and the nature of forests than climate and soil. Influenced fire element plant communities, living conditions of people, animals and birds are changing, which are forced to constantly adapt to environmental changes. They are dying large areas forests and their inhabitants.

Nowadays, the predominant number of forest fires are caused by human activity, and only a small part of them (about 10%) is associated with natural phenomena. For example, in Russia in 2003 alone, there were 33 thousand forest fires, of which 72% were caused by people.

A forest fire is a spontaneous, uncontrolled spread of fire through an area occupied by forests. When a fire spreads over an area covered with another type of vegetation, such fires are called steppe, field, meadow, tundra, shrub, reed, etc. Forest fires have the most destructive effect on nature and humans, causing enormous damage to forest resources, destroying trees and fauna , damaging the organic layer of soil and causing its erosion, pollute the atmosphere with combustion products. Due to fires, the natural regulating properties of the forest are reduced or even reduced to zero, which affects the deterioration of the environment.

Forestry pyrologists (people who study the effect of fire on the forest to develop measures to prevent its destructive consequences and use positive role fire for economic purposes) among the numerous factors that determine fire danger, especially natural fire hazard, depending on the composition and structure of plantings, category forest areas, their growing conditions, as well as fire danger due to weather conditions.

To determine the degree of natural fire danger, a special forest area rating scale. According to this scale, the first class includes young coniferous plantations, lichen pine forests and littered forest areas; to the second - pine-lingonberry and cedar-elfin forest types; to the third - pine sorrel and lingonberry, cedar trees; to the fourth - sphagnum pine forests (swampy), plantings hardwood, spruce-blueberry forests, cedar forests along the river, to the fifth - spruce forests, birch forests and aspen forests, as well as alder forests. In the fourth and fifth classes, fires are possible only during prolonged droughts.

Each forestry enterprise has a forest plan, in which the territory is colored different colors according to the degree of danger of forest fires (from the first to the fifth class).

Fire safety based on weather conditions is also determined using a special scale, divided into fire hazard classes. When calculating this scale, they take into account what the air temperature and dew point temperature were at 12 o’clock each day, which makes it possible to determine the degree of dryness of combustible materials in the ground cover, i.e., the possibility of their ignition. According to this scale, fire danger (FDA) is also divided into five classes: 1 - virtually no fire danger, 2 - low fire danger, 3 - medium, 4 - high, 5 - extreme fire danger.

In forestry enterprises, lesnichestvos and other forest organizations, depending on what fire hazard class a particular forest area belongs to and what fire hazard class has been established based on weather conditions, they daily plan and carry out the necessary measures to protect it from fire.

The causes of forest fires are listed and table 1. (Appendix)

About 85-90% of forest fires occur in areas of intensive farming, and the area covered by them is 15-20% of the total area covered by fire in a year. This is due to the presence here large quantity sources of Fire, but at the same time, forest fires in them are usually extinguished quickly. In remote, taiga areas, the number of forest fires is only 10-15%, but the area covered by them reaches 80-85% of the total area covered by the fire.

Forest fires are usually divided into three types: ground fires, crown fires and underground (peat) fires.

At ground fire the fire spreads across the ground cover. Forest litter is burning, consisting of small twigs and branches, bark, needles, leaves, dry herbs, forming forest floor, as well as living ground cover of grasses, mosses, small undergrowth and bark in the lower part of tree trunks.

Ground fires in terms of the number of cases account for 97-98%, and in terms of the area covered by them - about 87-89% of all registered cases of forest fires.

At horse fire the fire spreads through the tree crowns, the entire tree stand burns from the litter to the crowns. Young coniferous forests and thickets of dwarf cedar are most susceptible to crown fires. The occurrence of crown fires is greatly facilitated by strong winds and drought. The number of crown fires is about 1.5-2.0%, and the area covered by them is about 10-12% of the area of ​​all fires.

At underground fire The fire spreads through the peat layer of soil, tree roots burn and trees fall. The number of underground fires is 0.5-1.0%, and the area is less than 1% of all fires. However, in some dry years these figures may be higher.

Depending on the type of fire and the degree of its intensity, areas of forests through which a forest fire occurred are called burners(with a partially dead forest stand) or burning(with a completely dead forest stand).

A forest is not just a collection of trees, but a complex ecosystem that unites plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms and affects the climate, the state of drinking water, and the purity of the air.

Millennia ago, a huge part of the Earth's surface was covered with forests. They extended to North America, occupied a significant share Western Europe. Vast areas of Africa, South America and Asia were dense forests.

But with the growth in the number of people, their active development of lands under economic needs the process of deforestation began.

People take a lot from the forest: materials for construction, food, medicine, raw materials for the paper industry. Wood, pine needles and tree bark serve as raw materials for many industries chemical industry. About half of the extracted wood is used for fuel needs, and a third is used for construction. A quarter of all medicines used are obtained from tropical forest plants.

Thanks to photosynthesis, forests give us oxygen to breathe while absorbing carbon dioxide. Trees protect the air from toxic gases, soot and other pollutants and noise. Phytoncides produced by most coniferous plants, destroy pathogenic microorganisms.

Forests are habitats for many animals and are real treasure troves of biological diversity. They participate in creating a microclimate favorable for agricultural plants.

Forest areas protect the soil from erosion processes, preventing surface runoff of precipitation. The forest is like a sponge, which first accumulates and then releases water to streams and rivers, regulates the flow of water from the mountains to the plains, and prevents floods. , the forests included in its basin are considered the lungs of the Earth.

The damage caused to the planet by deforestation

Despite the fact that forests are a renewable resource, the rate of deforestation is too high and is not covered by the rate of reproduction. Millions of hectares of deciduous and coniferous forests.

Tropical forests, home to more than 50% of Earth's species, once covered 14% of the planet but now cover only 6%. India's forest area has shrunk from 22% to 10% over the last half century. Destroyed coniferous forests central regions Russia, forest tracts on Far East and in Siberia, and swamps appear at the site of clearings. Valuable pine and cedar forests are being cut down.