How I am affected by global issues. Global problems of our time and methods for their solution

Modern global problems are a consequence of today's global situation. One of the main problems today is the depletion of minerals, pollution and, as a result, the destruction of the environment. The issues of ecology and natural resources make many think today. Transport and production are the main causes of contamination of the world's oceans, seas and soil. In addition, emissions of harmful substances also play an important role in the death of various terrestrial organisms.

Deterioration of the landscape, climate and water regime change can lead to climate change (warming). This will lead to the melting of the glaciers. As a result, many populated areas of the earth may be under water. In addition, people's health is affected by radio waves, exhaust gases, electricity, and the like. The Red Book lists many species of animals that have disappeared, and they have been replaced by other dangerous microorganisms.

Soil pollution often leads to the death of not only plants, but also the accumulation of various metals. Acid rain causes environmental, economic and aesthetic damage. This phenomenon leads to the destruction of various structures, monuments, soil pollution, etc. In addition, species and genetic changes in plants are associated with acid rain. Dying lichens, which are considered indicators of air purity, make us think about environmental pollution and the possibility of reducing such risks not only for human life, but also for animals and plants.

Another global problem today is the greenhouse effect, one of the main problems of which is carbon dioxide. Greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide allow the sun's rays to penetrate, but trap the planet's thermal radiation, preventing it from escaping into space. This has an even greater impact on climate warming, melting glaciers and rising sea levels.

The problem of overpopulation of the planets is also urgent. The number of people on Earth is growing very fast, while consuming a huge amount of fossils and energy. Economic development, information technology and much more can cause our planet to simply not withstand. There is only one way out of this situation: "birth control with a simultaneous decrease in mortality and an increase in the quality of life."

However, this goal is practically unattainable due to social relations, religion, forms of management and many other obstacles.

The most urgent problem is the problem of consumption of energy resources. An energy crisis is on the way. The state of the environment is getting worse and worse. The biosphere can no longer cope with the restoration of the environment. In order to artificially restore it, about 99 percent of labor and energy resources are needed. Consequently, only one percent of such resources will remain for the inhabitants of the earth. There is a way out: hydropower, solar, wind energy, etc. But… they are still under development.

AIDS and drug addiction - from a social problem has become a global one. This disease is found in more than 124 countries. The largest number of HIV-infected people is in the USA. Most crime and mental illness comes from them. Drugs are a global disaster for many young people.

The drug mafia always makes sure that in difficult times drugs are always at hand.

It should be noted that in comparison with the other seven global problems, the probability of a thermonuclear war occupies a leading position. According to scientists, in order to plunge the whole world into an extraordinary ecological catastrophe, even five percent of the arsenal that the great powers have accumulated today is enough. When put into action, the soot from burned cities and forest fires forms such an impenetrable veil for the sun's rays that the temperature on the earth will drop by as much as tens of degrees. Even the tropical belt will be overtaken by a long polar night.

Today, all mankind is faced with such a problem as the preservation of the environment. Ecological catastrophe makes itself felt. There is no doubt that someone will find a way out of this situation, but when? Every day we all continue to destroy various "gifts" of nature without thinking about it. However, if the end of the normal conditions of life nevertheless overtakes, then will the human body be able to adapt to another, abnormal life.

Man and nature are one. Their existence separately is impossible. Therefore, today every person should think about environmental ethics.

Egoism is the primary source of all the problems of modern society

Selfishness is an integral human part. Man is an element of a complex system, which is the universe and nature, which have their own laws. All systems are interconnected and complementary. Take, for example, a house of cards: it is worth getting at least one element out of it and the whole structure collapses. So it is in nature. Harmony can only be achieved if all its elements are useful. All systems are aimed at the successful development of the whole organism, and, consequently, the entire system.

Each person is a single organism. Today, this organism is depleting our planet: it consumes a huge amount of resources, there are wars and civil strife. The imposition of Christianity earlier was also a good intention. Murders, outrages, power, money - this is an integral attribute of the whole people in the past. What about today? Let's take such countries as Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc. and everything becomes clear. In these countries, the issue of morality is not raised, there is the problem of conquest of resources.

Human selfishness and worthless wars are not able to lead anywhere in the future. Perhaps someday society will understand this. Today, there are still full-fledged families that everyone strives to bring into the family. However, those times are not far off when even among the family there will be division and appropriation. Already today, the problems of various families are raised every day more and more often. Often, it is the inability to share rights between husband and wife, which leads to bad consequences. Less and less young couples want to have children, and more often they want to get a divorce. There are many such examples.

The cause of all problems is just human selfishness. Today, people are driven by self-interest and envy, not love and respect. Most do not even care what state the environment is in and what global problems exist today. There is no need to look further than your nose.

But what is the reason for selfishness? How could he even gain a foothold in society? This is influenced by a number of factors such as education, religion, social structure, upbringing and many others. Getting into a certain social environment, each person tries to become like it. Often, the choice is in the wrong direction.

A mother who abandoned or killed her child because she did not need him, a son who killed his parents because of an apartment or money ... These and many horrific examples of selfishness play their role today. The worst thing is that many take an example from this. Instead of reading Dostoevsky, young people prefer Paulo Coelho or various crazy fantasy. Why are various old films still watched today and they don't "die"? Because these works show pure and open people, without lies and betrayal, without flattery, envy and selfishness. What is cinema today? I don't even think it's worth answering.

Selfishness is not only self-destruction, but also pain for others. The one who treats selflessly, and receives in return only pathos cries of "I", cannot help but remain very offended, humiliated and upset. Often, unable to stand it, many people become like those with whom they spend their time.

Let us imagine: if an egoist is admitted to the highest power, what will happen to the country?

No matter what the world is like now and what kind of people, kindness and responsiveness are the best ornaments of any person. So it was a long time ago, so it is now, even if it is somewhat less pronounced.

Social problems of modern society

Social problems of modern society: do they exist at all?

The answer is obvious. Bad habits, alcohol, drugs, various kinds of diseases, social stratification, racism, homelessness, crime, bribery, corruption, etc. It seems that this list can be listed for a very long time and stubbornly.

Take, for example, our "golden" youth. Remember the last time we saw a non-smoking woman? What about a non-smoking woman with a baby? Or when a boy of about five asked for a light? How long have drunk, clingy individuals or "hucksters" appeared on the streets?

There are a lot of questions, but there are not very many answers why things are like this today. The most terrible, probably, is the issue of juvenile delinquency and homelessness. Cause? Unfavorable families, social environment, character laid down at the gene level, etc. Often, the most cruel are abandoned children who are offended by the whole world for the reigning chaos in their lives. Accustomed to surviving in shelters and on the streets, they learn not from curricula, but from street laws that change their views and priorities. Families and friends cannot be blamed for crime and immorality. Here it is worth paying attention to politics, as well as monetary relations. In our country, everything can be paid for with money: power, respect, family, after all. Everything is bought and sold. Why does a person strive for something better and purer in his soul, if having committed a couple of crimes, he can buy it for himself? You can go on discussing this topic for a long time. However, do not forget that crime can turn a country into a place where only crime rules and where the strongest survive. Homelessness is a threat to future generations.

Employment... Perhaps the eternal problem of mankind. There are many such people in our country. Often, problems with finding a job lead to very detrimental consequences.

Modern problems of youth and the whole society as a whole are not a problem of today, but of tomorrow. After all, every day the situation will only worsen. Today it's bad habits like nicotine and alcohol, tomorrow it's theft and murder, and after tomorrow it's drugs and AIDS.

Maybe it's time to think?

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

Origin of the term

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

Fig 1. Environmental pollution

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

Causes

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

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

Types of global problems

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

Table"List of global problems of mankind"

TOP 3 articleswho read along with this

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

2. The problem of war and peace.

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

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

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

2. Food problem.

3. Energy problem.

4. Prevention of environmental pollution.

5. Preventing the extinction of various animals and plants.

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

2. The problem of maintaining human health.

3. The problem of the spread of education.

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

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

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

Fig 2. Relationship of global problems with each other

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

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

Common features (signs) of global problems

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

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

Figure 3. Hunger in Africa

Main Directions for Resolving World Problems and Threats

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

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

Social predictions of the existence of mankind

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

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

What have we learned?

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

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

Topic quiz

Report Evaluation

Average rating: 4.3. Total ratings received: 195.

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….3

1. The concept of global problems of modern society…………………….5

2. Ways to solve global problems…………………………………………….15

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….20

List of used literature…………………………………………...23

Introduction.

The control work in sociology is presented on the topic: "Global problems of modern society: the causes of their occurrence and aggravation at the present stage of human development."

The purpose of the control work will be the following - to consider the causes of global problems of modern society and their aggravation.

Tasks control work :

1. Expand the concept of global problems of modern society, their causes.

2. To characterize the ways of solving global problems at the present stage of human development.

It should be noted that sociology studies the social.

social in our life - this is a combination of certain properties and features of social relations, integrated by individuals or communities in the process of joint activity (interaction) in specific conditions and manifested in their relationship to each other, to their position in society, to the phenomena and processes of social life .

Any system of social relations (economic, political, cultural and spiritual) concerns the relationship of people to each other and to society, and therefore has its own social aspect.

A social phenomenon or process occurs when the behavior of even one individual is influenced by another or a group (community), regardless of their physical presence.

Sociology is designed to study just that.

On the one hand, the social is a direct expression of social practice, on the other hand, it is subject to constant change due to the impact of this very social practice on it.

Sociology is faced with the task of cognition in the socially stable, essential and at the same time constantly changing, analysis of the relationship between constant and variable in a particular state of a social object.

In reality, a specific situation acts as an unknown social fact that must be recognized in the interests of practice.

A social fact is a single socially significant event typical of a given sphere of social life.

Humanity has survived the tragedy of two of the most destructive and bloody world wars.

New means of labor and household appliances; the development of education and culture, the assertion of the priority of human rights, etc., provide opportunities for human improvement and a new quality of life.

But there are a number of problems to which it is necessary to find an answer, a way, that solution, that way out of a disastrous situation.

That's why relevance control work is that now global problems - this is a multidimensional series of negative phenomena that you need to know and understand how to get out of them.

The control work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of references.

We were greatly helped in writing the control work by such authors as V.E. Ermolaev, Yu.V. Irkhin, Maltsev V.A.

1. The concept of global problems of our time

It is believed that the global problems of our time are generated precisely by the all-penetrating uneven development of world civilization, when the technical power of mankind has immeasurably exceeded the level of social organization it has achieved and political thinking has clearly lagged behind political reality.

Also, the motives of human activity and its moral values ​​are very far from the social, environmental and demographic foundations of the era.

Global (from French Global) is universal, (lat. Globus) is a ball.

Based on this, the meaning of the word "global" can be defined as:

1) covering the entire globe, worldwide;

2) comprehensive, complete, universal.

The present time is the boundary of the change of epochs, the entry of the modern world into a qualitatively new phase of development.

Therefore, the most characteristic features of the modern world will be:

information revolution;

acceleration of modernization processes;

compaction of space;

acceleration of historical and social time;

the end of the bipolar world (confrontation between the US and Russia);

revision of the Eurocentric point of view on the world;

the growth of the influence of the Eastern states;

integration (rapprochement, interpenetration);

globalization (strengthening interconnection, interdependence of countries and peoples);

strengthening of national cultural values ​​and traditions.

So, global problems- this is a set of problems of mankind, on the solution of which the existence of civilization depends and, therefore, requiring concerted international action to solve them.

Now let's try to find out what they have in common.

These problems are characterized by dynamism, they arise as an objective factor in the development of society, and for their solution they require the combined efforts of all mankind. Global problems are interconnected, cover all aspects of people's lives and concern all countries of the world. It has become obvious that global problems not only concern all of humanity, but are also vital to it. The complex problems facing humanity can be considered global, because:

firstly, they affect all mankind, touching the interests and destinies of all countries, peoples and social strata;

secondly, global problems do not recognize borders;

thirdly, they lead to significant losses of an economic and social nature, and sometimes to a threat to the existence of civilization itself;

fourthly, they require broad international cooperation to solve these problems, since no state, no matter how powerful it may be, is not able to solve them on its own.

The relevance of the global problems of mankind is due to the action of a number of factors, the main of which include:
1. A sharp acceleration of the processes of social development.

Such an acceleration clearly revealed itself already in the first decades of the 20th century. It became even more evident in the second half of the century. The reason for the accelerated development of socio-economic processes is scientific and technological progress.

In just a few decades of scientific and technological revolution, more changes have occurred in the development of productive forces and social relations than in any similar period of time in the past.

Moreover, each subsequent change in the ways of human activity occurs at shorter intervals.

In the course of scientific and technological progress, the earth's biosphere has been powerfully affected by various types of human activity. The anthropogenic impact of society on nature has increased dramatically.
2. Population Growth. He posed a number of problems for mankind, first of all, the problem of providing food and other means of subsistence. At the same time, environmental problems associated with the conditions of human society have become aggravated.
3. The problem of nuclear weapons and nuclear catastrophe.
These and some other problems affect not only individual regions or countries, but humanity as a whole. For example, the effects of a nuclear test are felt everywhere. The depletion of the ozone layer, caused largely by the violation of the hydrocarbon balance, is felt by all the inhabitants of the planet. The use of chemicals used to control pests in fields can cause mass poisoning in regions and countries geographically distant from the place where contaminated products are produced.
Thus, the global problems of our time are a complex of the most acute socio-natural contradictions affecting the world as a whole, and with it local regions and countries.

Global problems must be distinguished from regional, local and local.
Regional problems include a range of acute issues that arise within individual continents, large socio-economic regions of the world or in large states.

The concept of "local" refers to the problems of either individual states, or large areas of one or two states (for example, earthquakes, floods, other natural disasters and their consequences, local military conflicts, the collapse of the Soviet Union, etc.).

Local problems arise in certain regions of states, cities (for example, conflicts between the population and the administration, temporary difficulties with water supply, heating, etc.). However, one should not forget that unresolved regional, local and local problems can acquire a global character. For example, the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant directly affected only a number of regions of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia (a regional problem), but if the necessary security measures are not taken, its consequences may in one way or another affect other countries, and even acquire a global character. Any local military conflict can gradually turn into a global one if in its course the interests of a number of countries other than its participants are affected, as evidenced by the history of the emergence of the first and second world wars, etc.
On the other hand, since global problems, as a rule, are not solved on their own, and even with targeted efforts, a positive result is not always achieved, in the practice of the world community, they are trying, if possible, to transfer them into local ones (for example, to legally limit the birth rate in a number of individual countries with population explosion), which, of course, does not exhaustively solve the global problem, but gives a certain gain in time before the onset of catastrophic consequences.
Thus, global problems affect the interests not only of individuals, nations, countries, continents, but may affect the prospects for the future development of the world; they are not solved by themselves and even by the efforts of individual countries, but require purposeful and organized efforts of the entire world community. Unresolved global problems can lead in the future to serious, even irreversible consequences for humans and their environment. Generally recognized global problems are: environmental pollution, the problem of resources, demography and nuclear weapons; a number of other problems.
The development of a classification of global problems was the result of long-term research and generalization of the experience of several decades of studying them.

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

Many specialists work in the field of global studies, and this is no coincidence. The reasons that do not allow humanity to develop harmoniously and move forward are complex in nature, and do not depend on one factor. That is why it is necessary to analyze the slightest changes in the political, social, economic state of states and peoples. The life of all mankind depends on whether the world community can decide in time.

How problems are classified

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

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

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

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

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

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

Causes and solutions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Problems of the World Ocean and human health

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay. Global problems of our time

In the modern world, a person faces a huge number of problems, the solution of which determines the fate of mankind. These are the so-called global problems of our time, that is, a set of social and natural problems, on the solution of which the social progress of mankind and the preservation of civilization depend. In my opinion, the global problems that jeopardize all of humanity are the result of the confrontation between nature and human activity. It was a man with all the variety of his activities that provoked the emergence of many global problems.

Today, the following global problems are distinguished:

    the problem of "North-South" - the gap in development between rich and poor countries, poverty, hunger and illiteracy;

    the threat of thermonuclear war and ensuring peace for all peoples, the prevention by the world community of unauthorized proliferation of nuclear technologies, radioactive contamination of the environment;

    catastrophic environmental pollution;

    providing mankind with resources, exhaustion of oil, natural gas, coal, fresh water, wood, non-ferrous metals;

    global warming;

    ozone holes;

    terrorism;

    violence and organized crime.

    Greenhouse effect;

    acid rain;

    pollution of the seas and oceans;

    air pollution and many other problems.

These problems are characterized by dynamism, arise as an objective factor in the development of society, and for their solution require the combined efforts of all mankind. Global problems are interconnected, cover all aspects of people's lives and concern all countries. In my opinion, one of the most dangerous problems is the possibility of the destruction of mankind in the third world thermonuclear war - a hypothetical military conflict between states or military-political blocs that possess nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Measures to prevent war and hostilities were already developed by I. Kant at the end of the 18th century. The measures he proposed were: non-financing of military operations; rejection of hostile relations, respect; the conclusion of relevant international treaties and the creation of an international union striving to implement a policy of peace, etc.

Another major problem is terrorism. In modern conditions, terrorists have a huge amount of lethal means or weapons capable of destroying a huge number of innocent people.

Terrorism is a phenomenon, a form of crime directed directly against a person, threatening his life and thereby striving to achieve its goals. Terrorism is absolutely unacceptable from the point of view of humanism, and from the point of view of law it is the gravest crime.

Environmental problems are another type of global problems. It includes: pollution of the lithosphere; pollution of the hydrosphere; pollution of the atmosphere.

Thus, today a real threat hangs over the world. Humanity must take measures as quickly as possible to resolve existing problems and prevent new problems from arising.

Trends in the development of human culture are contradictory, the level of social organization, political and environmental consciousness often does not correspond to the active transforming activity of man. The formation of a global human community, a single socio-cultural space has led to the fact that local contradictions and conflicts have acquired a global scale.

The main causes and prerequisites for global problems:

  • accelerating the pace of social development;
  • constantly increasing anthropogenic impact on the biosphere;
  • increase in population;
  • strengthening the interconnection and interdependence between different countries and regions.

Researchers offer several options for classifying global problems.

The tasks facing humanity at the present stage of development relate to both the technical and moral spheres.

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

  • natural and economic problems;
  • social problems;
  • problems of a political and socio-economic nature.

1. Environmental problem. Intensive human economic activity and consumer attitude to nature have a negative impact on the environment: soil, water, air are polluted; the flora and fauna of the planet is becoming impoverished, its forest cover has been largely destroyed. Together, these processes constitute the threat of a global ecological catastrophe for mankind.

2. Energy problem. In recent decades, energy-intensive industries have been actively developing in the world economy, in connection with this, the problem of non-renewable reserves of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) is exacerbating. Traditional energy increases human pressure on the biosphere.

3. Raw material problem. Natural mineral resources, which are a source of raw materials for industry, are exhaustible and non-renewable. The stock of minerals is rapidly declining.

4. Problems of using the World Ocean. Mankind is faced with the task of rational and careful use of the World Ocean as a source of bioresources, minerals, fresh water, as well as the use of waters as natural means of communication.

5. Space exploration. Space exploration contains great potential for the scientific, technical and economic development of society, especially in the field of energy and geophysics.

Problems of a social nature

1. Demographic and food problems. The population of the Earth is constantly increasing, which entails an increase in consumption. Two trends stand out clearly in this area: the first is a demographic explosion (a sharp increase in population) in the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; the second is low birth rates and the associated aging of the population in the countries of Western Europe.
Population growth increases the need for food, industrial goods, fuel, which leads to an increase in the load on the biosphere.
The development of the food sector of the economy and the efficiency of the food distribution system lag behind the growth rate of the world's population, as a result of which the problem of hunger is exacerbating.

2. The problem of poverty and low living standards.

It is in the poor countries with underdeveloped economies that the population grows most rapidly, as a result of which the standard of living here is extremely low. Poverty and illiteracy of the general population, lack of medical care is one of the main problems in developing countries.

Problems of a political and socio-economic nature

1. The problem of peace and disarmament. At the present stage of human development, it has become clear that war cannot be a way to solve international problems. Military operations not only lead to massive destruction and death of people, but also generate retaliatory aggression. The threat of nuclear war made it necessary to limit nuclear tests and armaments at the international level, but this problem has not yet been finally resolved by the world community.

2. Overcoming the backwardness of underdeveloped countries. The problem of eliminating the gap in the level of economic development between the countries of the West and the countries of the "third world" cannot be solved by the forces of lagging countries. The states of the "third world", many of which remained colonially dependent until the middle of the 20th century, embarked on the path of catching up economic development, but they still cannot provide normal living conditions for the vast majority of the population and political stability in society.

3. The problem of interethnic relations. Along with the processes of cultural integration and unification, the desire of individual countries and peoples to assert national identity and sovereignty is growing. Manifestations of these aspirations often take the form of aggressive nationalism, religious and cultural intolerance.

4. The problem of international crime and terrorism. The development of means of communication and transport, the mobility of the population, the transparency of interstate borders contributed not only to the mutual enrichment of cultures and economic growth, but also to the development of international crime, drug trafficking, illegal arms business, etc. The problem of international terrorism became especially acute at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Terrorism is the use of force or the threat of its use to intimidate and suppress political opponents. Terrorism is no longer the problem of one single state. The scale of the terrorist threat in the modern world requires the joint efforts of different countries to overcome it.

Ways to overcome global problems have not yet been found, but it is obvious that in order to solve them, it is necessary to subordinate the activities of mankind to the interests of human survival, the preservation of the natural environment and the creation of favorable living conditions for future generations.

The main ways to solve global problems:

1. Formation of humanistic consciousness, a sense of responsibility of all people for their actions;

2. A comprehensive study of the causes and prerequisites leading to the emergence and aggravation of conflicts and contradictions in human society and its interaction with nature, informing the population about global problems, monitoring global processes, their control and forecasting;

3. Development of the latest technologies and ways of interacting with the environment: waste-free production, resource-saving technologies, alternative energy sources (sun, wind, etc.);

4. Active international cooperation to ensure peaceful and sustainable development, exchange of experience in solving problems, creation of international centers for the exchange of information and coordination of joint efforts.

  • Commoner B. Closing circle. Nature, man, technology. L., 1974.
  • Pechchen A. Human qualities. M., 1980.
  • Global problems and universal values. M., 1990.
  • Sidorina T.Yu. Mankind is between death and prosperity. M., 1997.

Global problems of the world - a breakthrough into the future world order

global studies, global forecasting and modeling has been emerging and rapidly developing since the middle of our century. This is due to the awareness and study of the global problems of the modern world.

The concept of "global" comes from lat. globus is the globe and is used to fix the most important, planetary problems of the modern era facing humanity.

Problems before people, before humanity have always been and will continue to be.

Which of the totality of problems is called global?

When and why do they occur?

Global issues highlight by object , in terms of the breadth of coverage of reality, these are such social contradictions that embrace humanity as a whole as well as every person. Global problems affect the fundamental conditions of being; this is such a stage in the development of contradictions that poses the Hamlet question to humanity: “to be or not to be?” – touches upon the problems of the meaning of life, the meaning of human existence.

Different global problems and methods for their solution. They can be solved only by joint efforts of the world community and by complex methods. Here, private technical and economic measures can no longer be dispensed with. To solve today's global problems, it is necessary a new type of thinking, where moral and humanistic criteria are the main ones.

The emergence of global problems in the twentieth century is due to the fact that, as V.I. Vernadsky predicted, human activity has acquired a planetary character. There has been a transition from a thousand-year spontaneous development of successive local civilizations to a world civilization.

The founder and president of the Club of Rome (the Club of Rome is an international non-governmental organization that brings together about 100 scientists, public figures, businessmen, established in 1968 in Rome to discuss and research global problems, to promote the formation of public opinion regarding these problems) A. Peccei wrote: “The diagnosis of these difficulties is as yet unknown, and no effective remedy can be prescribed for them; at the same time, they are aggravated by the close interdependence that now binds everything in the human system ... In our artificially created world, literally everything has reached unprecedented sizes and scales: dynamics, speed, energy, complexity - and our problems too. They are now both psychological, and social, and economic, and technical, and, in addition, political.”

In the modern literature on globalistics, several main blocks of problems are distinguished. The main problem is the problem of the survival of human civilization.

What is the first threat to humanity?

Production and stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction that could get out of control.

Strengthening anthropogenic pressure on nature. Ecological problem.

Raw material, energy and food problems associated with the first two.

Demographic problems (uncontrolled, rapid population growth, uncontrolled urbanization, excessive concentration of the population in large and largest cities).

Overcoming by developing countries of comprehensive backwardness.

Fight against dangerous diseases.

Problems of exploration of Space and the World Ocean.

The problem of overcoming the crisis of culture, the decline of spiritual, primarily moral values, the formation and development of a new social consciousness with the priority of universal human values.

Let us characterize the last of these problems in more detail.

The problem of the decline of spiritual culture has long been named among the main global problems, but right now, at the end of the twentieth century, scientists and public figures are increasingly defining it as a key one, on which the solution of all the others depends. The most terrible of the catastrophes threatening us is not so much atomic, thermal and similar variants of the physical destruction of mankind as anthropological - the destruction of the human in man.

Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov wrote in his article “The World Through Man”: “Strong and conflicting feelings embrace everyone who thinks about the future of the world in 50 years - about the future in which our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will live. These feelings are dejection and horror before the tangle of tragic dangers and difficulties of the immensely complex future of mankind, but at the same time hope for the power of reason and humanity in the souls of billions of people, which alone can withstand the impending chaos. Further, A.D. Sakharov warns that… “even if the main danger is eliminated — the death of civilization in the fire of a big thermonuclear war — the situation of mankind will remain critical.

Humanity is threatened by the decline of personal and state morality, which is already manifesting itself in the deep disintegration in many countries of the basic ideals of law and legality, in consumer egoism, in the general growth of criminal tendencies, in international nationalist and political terrorism, in the destructive spread of alcoholism and drug addiction. In different countries, the causes of these phenomena are somewhat different. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the deepest, primary reason lies in the inner lack of spirituality, in which the personal morality and responsibility of a person are supplanted and suppressed by an abstract and inhuman in its essence, an authority alienated from the individual.

Aurelio Peccei, reflecting on various options for solving global problems, also calls the “Human Revolution” the main one - that is, the change of the person himself. “Man has subjugated the planet,” he writes, “and now he must learn to manage it, comprehend the difficult art of being a leader on Earth. If he finds the strength in himself to fully and completely realize the complexity and instability of his current situation and accept certain responsibility, if he can reach the level of cultural maturity that will allow him to fulfill this difficult mission, then the future belongs to him. If he falls victim to his own internal crisis and fails to cope with the high role of the protector and chief arbiter of life on the planet, well, then a person is destined to become a witness to how the number of such people will sharply decrease, and the standard of living will again slide to the mark that has been passed for several centuries. back. And only New Humanism is able to ensure the transformation of man, to raise his quality and capabilities to a level corresponding to the new increased responsibility of man in this world.” According to Peccei, three aspects characterize the New Humanism: a sense of globality, a love of justice, and intolerance of violence.

From the general characteristics of global problems, let's move on to the methodology of their analysis and forecast. In modern futurology, global studies, attempts are made to study global problems in a complex, in interconnection. The Limits to Growth model, developed by the MIT project team led by Dr. D. Meadows, is still considered a classic example of global predictive models. The results of the group's work were presented as the first report to the Club of Rome in 1972.

J. Forrester proposed (and the Meadows group implemented this proposal) to calculate from a complex set of global socio-economic processes several decisive ones for the fate of mankind, and then “play” their interaction on a cybernetic model using a computer. As such, they chose the growth of world population, as well as industrial production, food, a decrease in mineral resources and increased pollution of the natural environment.

Modeling showed that at the current growth rates of world population (over 2% per year, doubling in 33 years) and industrial production (in the 60s - 5-7% per year, doubling in about 10 years) during the first decades of the 21st century, mineral resources will be exhausted, production growth will stop, and environmental pollution will become irreversible.

To avoid such a catastrophe and create a global equilibrium, the authors recommended a sharp reduction in the rate of population growth and industrial production, reducing them to the level of simple reproduction of people and machines according to the principle: new only to replace the outgoing old (the concept of "zero growth").

Let us reproduce some elements of the methodology and methodology of predictive modeling.

1) Building a basic model.

The main indicators of the base model in our case were:

Population. In the D. Meadows model, population growth trends are extrapolated to the coming decade. Based on this, a number of conclusions are drawn: (1) there is no way to flatten the population growth curve before the year 2000; (2) most likely parents of 2000 have already been born; (3) it can be expected that in 30 years the world population will be about 7 billion people. In other words, if reducing mortality is as successful as before, and, as before, unsuccessfully trying to reduce fertility, then in 2030 the number of people in the world will increase 4 times compared to 1970.

Production. There was a conclusion that the growth of production outpaced the growth of population. This conclusion is inaccurate, because it is based on the hypothesis that the growing industrial production of the world is evenly distributed among all earthlings. In fact, most of the world's industrial growth occurs in industrialized countries, where population growth rates are very low.

Calculations show that in the process of economic growth, the gap between the rich and poor countries of the world is tirelessly widening.

Food. One third of the world's population (50-60% of the population in developing countries) suffers from malnutrition. And although the world's total agricultural production is increasing, per capita food production in developing countries is barely remaining at its current, rather low level.

Mineral resources. The ability to increase food production ultimately depends on the availability of non-renewable resources.

With current rates of consumption of natural resources and their further increase, according to D. Meadows, the vast majority of non-renewable resources will become extremely expensive in 100 years.

Nature. Will the biosphere survive? man has only recently begun to show concern about his activities on the natural environment. Attempts to quantify this phenomenon arose even later and are still imperfect. Since environmental pollution is intricately related to population size, industrialization, and specific technological processes, it is difficult to accurately estimate how fast the exponential curve of total pollution rises. However, if in 2000 there were 7 billion people in the world, and the gross national product per capita was the same as today in the United States, then the total environmental pollution would be at least 10 times higher than today's level.

Whether natural systems will be able to withstand this is still unknown. Most likely, the tolerable limit will be reached on a global scale with exponential growth in population and pollution produced by each person.

Model 1 “standard type”

Initial postings. It is assumed that there will be no fundamental changes in the physical, economic or social relationships that historically determined the development of the world system (for the period from 1900 to 1970).

Food and industrial output, as well as population, will grow exponentially until the rapid depletion of resources slows down industrial growth. After that, the population will continue to increase by inertia for some time, and at the same time, environmental pollution will continue. Eventually, population growth will be halved as a result of an increase in the death rate due to lack of food and medical care.

Model 2

Initial premises. It is assumed that "unlimited" sources of nuclear energy will double the available natural resources and implement an extensive program of resource recycling and replacement.

Forecasting the development of the world system. Since resources are not depleted as quickly, industrialization can reach a higher level than when implementing the standard type model. However, a large number of larger enterprises will pollute the environment very quickly, resulting in an increase in the death rate and a decrease in the amount of food. At the end of the corresponding period, resources will be heavily depleted, despite the doubling of the initial reserves.

Model 3

Initial postings. Natural resources are fully utilized and 75% of them are reused. The emission of pollutants is 4 times less than in 1970. The yield per unit of land area has been doubled. Effective birth control measures are available to the entire population of the world.

Projected development of the world system. It will be possible (albeit temporarily) to achieve a stable population with an average annual per capita income almost equal to the average income of the US population today. However, in the end, although industrial growth will be halved and the death rate will increase as a result of resource depletion, pollution will accumulate and food production will decline.

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….3

1. The concept of global problems of modern society…………………….5

2. Ways to solve global problems…………………………………………….15

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….20

List of used literature………………………………………………23

Introduction.

The control work in sociology is presented on the topic: "Global problems of modern society: the causes of their occurrence and aggravation at the present stage of human development."

The purpose of the control work will be the following - to consider the causes of global problems of modern society and their aggravation.

Tasks control work :

1. Expand the concept of global problems of modern society, their causes.

2. To characterize the ways of solving global problems at the present stage of human development.

It should be noted that sociology studies the social.

social in our life - this is a combination of certain properties and features of social relations, integrated by individuals or communities in the process of joint activity (interaction) in specific conditions and manifested in their relationship to each other, to their position in society, to the phenomena and processes of social life .

Any system of social relations (economic, political, cultural and spiritual) concerns the relationship of people to each other and to society, and therefore has its own social aspect.

A social phenomenon or process occurs when the behavior of even one individual is influenced by another or a group (community), regardless of their physical presence.

Sociology is designed to study just that.

On the one hand, the social is a direct expression of social practice, on the other hand, it is subject to constant change due to the impact of this very social practice on it.

Sociology is faced with the task of cognition in the socially stable, essential and at the same time constantly changing, analysis of the relationship between constant and variable in a particular state of a social object.

In reality, a specific situation acts as an unknown social fact that must be recognized in the interests of practice.

A social fact is a single socially significant event typical of a given sphere of social life.

Humanity has survived the tragedy of two of the most destructive and bloody world wars.

New means of labor and household appliances; the development of education and culture, the assertion of the priority of human rights, etc., provide opportunities for human improvement and a new quality of life.

But there are a number of problems to which it is necessary to find an answer, a way, that solution, that way out of a disastrous situation.

That's why relevance control work is that now global problems - this is a multidimensional series of negative phenomena that you need to know and understand how to get out of them.

The control work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of references.

We were greatly helped in writing the control work by such authors as V.E. Ermolaev, Yu.V. Irkhin, Maltsev V.A.

The concept of global problems of our time

It is believed that the global problems of our time are generated precisely by the all-penetrating uneven development of world civilization, when the technical power of mankind has immeasurably exceeded the level of social organization it has achieved and political thinking has clearly lagged behind political reality.

Also, the motives of human activity and its moral values ​​are very far from the social, environmental and demographic foundations of the era.

Global (from French Global) is universal, (lat. Globus) is a ball.

Based on this, the meaning of the word "global" can be defined as:

1) covering the entire globe, worldwide;

2) comprehensive, complete, universal.

The present time is the boundary of the change of epochs, the entry of the modern world into a qualitatively new phase of development.

Therefore, the most characteristic features of the modern world will be:

information revolution;

acceleration of modernization processes;

compaction of space;

acceleration of historical and social time;

the end of the bipolar world (confrontation between the US and Russia);

revision of the Eurocentric point of view on the world;

the growth of the influence of the Eastern states;

integration (rapprochement, interpenetration);

globalization (strengthening interconnection, interdependence of countries and peoples);

strengthening of national cultural values ​​and traditions.

So, global problems is a set of problems of mankind, on the solution of which the existence of civilization depends and, therefore, requiring concerted international action to solve them.

Now let's try to find out what they have in common.

These problems are characterized by dynamism, they arise as an objective factor in the development of society, and for their solution they require the combined efforts of all mankind. Global problems are interconnected, cover all aspects of people's lives and concern all countries of the world. It has become obvious that global problems not only concern all of humanity, but are also vital to it. The complex problems facing humanity can be considered global, because:

firstly, they affect all mankind, touching the interests and destinies of all countries, peoples and social strata;

secondly, global problems do not recognize borders;

thirdly, they lead to significant losses of an economic and social nature, and sometimes to a threat to the existence of civilization itself;

fourthly, they require broad international cooperation to solve these problems, since no state, no matter how powerful it may be, is not able to solve them on its own.

The relevance of the global problems of mankind is due to the action of a number of factors, the main of which include:
1. A sharp acceleration of the processes of social development.

Such an acceleration clearly revealed itself already in the first decades of the 20th century. It became even more evident in the second half of the century. The reason for the accelerated development of socio-economic processes is scientific and technological progress.

In just a few decades of scientific and technological revolution, more changes have occurred in the development of productive forces and social relations than in any similar period of time in the past.

Moreover, each subsequent change in the ways of human activity occurs at shorter intervals.

In the course of scientific and technological progress, the earth's biosphere has been powerfully affected by various types of human activity. The anthropogenic impact of society on nature has increased dramatically.
2. Population Growth. He posed a number of problems for mankind, first of all, the problem of providing food and other means of subsistence. At the same time, environmental problems associated with the conditions of human society have become aggravated.
3. The problem of nuclear weapons and nuclear catastrophe.
These and some other problems affect not only individual regions or countries, but humanity as a whole. For example, the effects of a nuclear test are felt everywhere. The depletion of the ozone layer, caused largely by the violation of the hydrocarbon balance, is felt by all the inhabitants of the planet. The use of chemicals used to control pests in fields can cause mass poisoning in regions and countries geographically distant from the place where contaminated products are produced.
Thus, the global problems of our time are a complex of the most acute socio-natural contradictions affecting the world as a whole, and with it local regions and countries.

Global problems must be distinguished from regional, local and local.
Regional problems include a range of acute issues that arise within individual continents, large socio-economic regions of the world or in large states.

The concept of "local" refers to the problems of either individual states, or large areas of one or two states (for example, earthquakes, floods, other natural disasters and their consequences, local military conflicts, the collapse of the Soviet Union, etc.).

Local problems arise in certain regions of states, cities (for example, conflicts between the population and the administration, temporary difficulties with water supply, heating, etc.). However, one should not forget that unresolved regional, local and local problems can acquire a global character. For example, the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant directly affected only a number of regions of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia (a regional problem), but if the necessary security measures are not taken, its consequences may in one way or another affect other countries, and even acquire a global character. Any local military conflict can gradually turn into a global one if in its course the interests of a number of countries other than its participants are affected, as evidenced by the history of the emergence of the first and second world wars, etc.
On the other hand, since global problems, as a rule, are not solved on their own, and even with targeted efforts, a positive result is not always achieved, in the practice of the world community, they are trying, if possible, to transfer them into local ones (for example, to legally limit the birth rate in a number of individual countries with population explosion), which, of course, does not exhaustively solve the global problem, but gives a certain gain in time before the onset of catastrophic consequences.
Thus, global problems affect the interests not only of individuals, nations, countries, continents, but may affect the prospects for the future development of the world; they are not solved by themselves and even by the efforts of individual countries, but require purposeful and organized efforts of the entire world community.

Unresolved global problems can lead in the future to serious, even irreversible consequences for humans and their environment. Generally recognized global problems are: environmental pollution, the problem of resources, demography and nuclear weapons; a number of other problems.
The development of a classification of global problems was the result of long-term research and generalization of the experience of several decades of studying them.

Other global problems are also emerging.

Classification of global problems

Exceptional difficulties and high costs for solving global problems require their reasonable classification.

According to their origin, nature and ways of solving global problems, according to the classification adopted by international organizations, they are divided into three groups. The first group consists of problems determined by the main socio-economic and political tasks of mankind. These include the preservation of peace, the cessation of the arms race and disarmament, the non-militarization of outer space, the creation of favorable conditions for world social progress, and overcoming the developmental lag in countries with low per capita incomes.

The second group covers a complex of problems that are revealed in the triad "man - society - technology". These problems should take into account the effectiveness of the use of scientific and technical progress in the interests of harmonious social development and the elimination of the negative impact of technology on humans, population growth, the establishment of human rights in the state, its release from the excessively increased control of state institutions, especially over personal freedom as an essential component of human rights.

The third group is represented by problems related to socio-economic processes and the environment, i.e. problems of relations along the lines of society - nature. This includes solving the raw materials, energy and food problems, overcoming the environmental crisis, covering more and more new areas and capable of destroying human life.

The end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI centuries. led to the development of a number of local, specific issues of development of countries and regions into the category of global ones. However, it should be recognized that internationalization played a decisive role in this process.

The number of global problems is growing, in some publications of recent years more than twenty problems of our time are named, but most authors identify four main global problems: environmental, peacekeeping and disarmament, demographic, fuel and raw materials.

The energy and raw material problem in the world economy

The energy and raw material problem as a global one was discussed after the energy (oil) crisis of 1972-1973, when, as a result of coordinated actions, the member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) simultaneously increased almost 10 times the prices for the crude oil they sell. A similar step, but on a more modest scale (OPEC countries were unable to overcome internal competitive contradictions), was taken in the early 1980s. This made it possible to talk about the second wave of the global energy crisis. As a result, for 1972-1981. oil prices rose 14.5 times. In the literature, this was called the "global oil shock", which marked the end of the era of cheap oil and set off a chain reaction of rising prices for various other raw materials. Some analysts of those years regarded such events as evidence of the depletion of the world's non-renewable natural resources and the entry of mankind into an era of prolonged energy and raw materials "hunger".

Energy and raw material crises of the 70s - early 80s. dealt a heavy blow to the existing system of world economic relations and caused severe consequences in many countries. First of all, this affected those countries that, in the development of their national economies, were largely oriented towards relatively cheap and stable imports of energy resources and mineral raw materials.

The most profound energy and raw material crises have affected the majority of developing countries, calling into question the possibility of implementing their national development strategy, and in some - the possibility of economic survival of the state. It is known that the vast majority of mineral resources located in the territory of developing countries are concentrated in about 30 of them. The rest of the developing countries, in order to ensure their economic development, which was based in many of them on the idea of ​​industrialization, are forced to import most of the necessary mineral raw materials and energy carriers.

Energy and raw material crises of the 70-80s. also contained positive elements. First, the cohesive actions of suppliers of natural resources from developing countries allowed outsider countries to pursue a more active foreign trade policy in relation to individual agreements and organizations of raw material exporting countries. Thus, the former USSR became one of the largest exporters of oil and other types of energy and mineral raw materials.

Secondly, the crises gave impetus to the development of energy-saving and material-saving technologies, the strengthening of the regime for saving raw materials, and the acceleration of the restructuring of the economy. These measures, taken primarily by developed countries, made it possible to mitigate the consequences of the energy and raw material crisis to a large extent.

Particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. energy intensity of production in developed countries decreased by 1/4.

Increased attention has been paid to the use of alternative materials and energy sources.

For example, in France in the 90s. Nuclear power plants produced about 80% of all electricity consumed. At present, the share of nuclear power plants in the global electricity production is 1/4.

Thirdly, under the influence of the crisis, large-scale geological exploration began to be carried out, which led to the discovery of new oil and gas fields, as well as economically viable reserves of other types of natural raw materials. Thus, the North Sea and Alaska became the new major areas for oil production, and Australia, Canada, and South Africa for mineral raw materials.

As a result, the pessimistic forecasts of the security of world needs in energy carriers and mineral raw materials were replaced by optimistic calculations based on new data. If in the 70s - early 80s. availability of the main types of energy carriers was estimated at 30-35 years, then in the late 90s. it increased: for oil - up to 42 years, for natural gas - up to 67 years, and for coal - up to 440 years.

Thus, the global energy and raw material problem in the former understanding as a danger of an absolute shortage of resources in the world does not exist now. But in itself the problem of reliable supply of mankind with raw materials and energy remains.

Ecological problem.

ECOLOGICAL PROBLEM

(from the Greek oikos - dwelling place, house and logos - teaching) - in a broad sense, the whole complex of issues caused by the contradictory dynamics of the internal self-development of nature. At the heart of the specific manifestation of E.p. At the biological level of the organization of matter, there is a contradiction between the needs of any living unit (organism, species, community) for matter, energy, information to ensure its own development, and the capabilities of the environment to satisfy these needs. In a narrower sense, E. p. understand a set of issues that arise in the interaction of nature and society and related to the preservation of the biosphere system, the rationalization of resource use, and the extension of ethical norms to the biological and inorganic levels of organization of matter.
E. p. is characteristic of all stages of social development, since it is a problem of normalizing living conditions. Definition of E.p. how the problem of the survival of mankind at the present stage simplifies the understanding of its content.
E. p. is pivotal in the system of global contradictions ( cm. GLOBAL PROBLEMS). The main factors destabilizing the world global situation are: the build-up of all types of weapons; lack of effective technological and legal support for the destruction of certain types of weapons (for example, chemical ones); development of nuclear weapons, operation of nuclear power plants in economically and politically unstable countries; local and regional military conflicts; attempts to use cheaper bacteriological weapons for the purposes of international terrorism; population growth and extensive urbanization, accompanied by a gap in the levels of resource consumption between "having" countries and "have-not" other countries; poor development of both alternative clean energy sources and decontamination technologies; industrial accidents; uncontrolled use of genetically modified crops and organisms in the food industry; ignoring the global consequences of the storage and disposal of toxic military and industrial waste, uncontrolled "buried" in the 20th century.
The main reasons for the emergence of the current environmental crisis include: the industrialization of society on the basis of multi-waste technologies; the predominance of anthropocentrism and technocracy in scientific support and socio-economic and political decisions in the field of nature management; the confrontation between the capitalist and socialist social systems, which determined the content of all global events of the 20th century. The modern ecological crisis is characterized by a sharp increase in all types of pollution of the biosphere with substances that are evolutionarily unusual for it; reduction of species diversity and degradation of stable biogeocenoses, undermining the ability of the biosphere to self-regulate; anti-ecological orientation of the cosmization of human activity. The deepening of these tendencies can lead to a global ecological catastrophe - the death of mankind and its culture, the disintegration of the evolutionarily established spatio-temporal relations of the living and non-living matter of the biosphere.
E. p. is complex, is in the center of attention of the entire system of knowledge, starting from the second. floor. 20th century In the works of the Club of Rome, the ecological prospects of mankind were studied by building models of the modern relationship between society and nature and futurological extrapolation of the dynamics of its trends. The results of the studies carried out revealed the fundamental insufficiency of private scientific methods and purely technical means for solving this problem.
From Ser. 1970s interdisciplinary study of socio-ecological contradictions, causes of exacerbation and alternatives for future development is carried out in the course of interaction between two relatively independent areas: general scientific and humanitarian. Within the framework of the general scientific approach, the ideas of V.I. Vernadsky, K.E. Tsiolkovsky, representatives of "constructive geography" (L. Fsvr, M. Sor) and "human geography" (P. Marsh, J. Brun, E. Martonne).
The beginning of the humanitarian approach to environmental sociology was laid by the Chicago school of environmental sociology, which studied various forms of human destruction of the environment and formulated the basic principles of environmental protection (R. Park, E. Burgess, R. D. Mackenzie). Within the framework of the humanitarian approach, regularities of abiogenic, biogenic and anthropogenically changed factors and their relationship with a combination of anthropological and sociocultural factors are revealed.
The general scientific and humanitarian areas are united by a qualitatively new task for the entire system of cognition to comprehend the nature of changes in the structure of life caused by the global expansion of modern man. In the process of sequential consideration of this task, in line with the greening of knowledge at the intersection of the humanities and natural sciences, a complex of environmental disciplines (human ecology, social ecology, global ecology, etc.) is being formed, the object of study of which is the specificity of the relationship between different levels of the fundamental life dichotomy "organism - Wednesday. Ecology as a set of new theoretical approaches and methodological orientations had a significant impact on the development of scientific thinking in the 20th century. and the formation of ecological consciousness.
Established in the second. floor. 20th century philosophy interpretations of the problem of interaction between nature and society (naturalistic, noospheric, technocratic) have undergone certain stylistic and content changes over the years of environmental alarmism, the development of the international environmental movement and interdisciplinary studies of this problem.
Representatives of modern naturalism are traditionally based on the ideas of the inherent value of nature, eternity and the binding nature of its laws for all living things and the predestination of nature as the only possible environment for human existence. But "return to nature" is understood as the continued existence of mankind only in conditions of stable biogeochemical cycles, which means the conservation of the existing natural balance by stopping large-scale technological and social changes in the environment, reducing population growth, ethical principles to all levels of life.
Within the framework of the "noospheric approach", the idea of ​​the noosphere, first expressed by Vernadsky in his theory of the biosphere, is being developed as the idea of ​​co-evolution. Vernadsky understood the noosphere as a regular stage of biospheric evolution, created by the thought and labor of a single humanity. At the present stage, co-evolution is interpreted as a further joint, dead-end development of society and nature as interrelated, but different ways of self-reproduction of life in the biosphere.

Humanity can develop, in terms of representatives of the noospheric approach, only in the self-developing biosphere. Human activity must be included in stable biogeochemical cycles. One of the main tasks of co-evolution is the management of human adaptation to changing environmental conditions. The project of co-evolutionary development provides for a radical restructuring of technologies and communication systems, large-scale waste disposal, the creation of closed production cycles, the introduction of environmental control over planning, and the dissemination of the principles of environmental ethics.
Representatives of the post-technocratic version of the future interaction between society and nature complement the basic idea of ​​removing any limits from the transformational activity of mankind through a radical technological restructuring of the biosphere with the idea of ​​a qualitative improvement in the mechanism of evolution of man himself as a biological species. As a result, humanity will supposedly be able to exist in environmentally uncharacteristic environments both outside the biosphere and in a completely artificial civilization within the biosphere, where social life will be provided by artificially reproduced biogeochemical cycles. In fact, we are talking about the development of the radical idea of ​​the autotrophy of mankind, expressed in his time by Tsiolkovsky.
Ontological and epistemological analysis of E.p. at the present stage, it makes it possible to avoid one-sided theoretical conclusions, the hasty implementation of which can drastically worsen the ecological situation of mankind.

Previous26272829303132333435363738394041Next

CATEGORIES

POPULAR ARTICLES

2023 "kingad.ru" - ultrasound examination of human organs