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The Global Ecological Situation

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The Biosphere and Civilization: In the Throes of a Global Crisis

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Abstract

Unprecedented rate of change to the atmosphere—Destruction of natural ecosystems—Origin of the ecological crisis—Chemicalization of Earth’s biosphere—Forty-eight tons of waste per capita—Global cost of local environmental cleanup.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Parentheses ours.

  2. 2.

    A dried up river and closed-basin salt lake in western China’s Xinjiang province.

  3. 3.

    Cyanobacteria. The two terms will be used interchangeably in the text. These prokaryotic organisms bear a superficial resemblance to algae, which leads to the layman’s term despite being unrelated. -Translator’s note.

  4. 4.

    Along with primary salinization of surface water, it’s worth noting secondary, anthropogenic salinization. This arises as the result of irrigation and drainage projects on dry grasslands situated over deep-lying groundwater that rests on saline bedrock. The application of water to the surface opens up previously defunct capillary connections to the aquifer below, drawing up highly-mineralized groundwater. After water has circulated from top to bottom and back, it evaporates, leaving behind a growing layer of salt on the farmland.

  5. 5.

    This data mainly characterizes the state of European and North American populations. Information concerning wildlife in Central Asia is hard to come by.

  6. 6.

    The following section of Chap. 1 was written using materials from K. S. Losev.

  7. 7.

    After the second World War, increasing pollution led to a shortage of oxygen in the waters of the Rhine. Levels hit a nadir in 1970, when practically all life in the river was eliminated. By 1980, after major financial investments in purification, things had improved. However, the purification equipment could not deal with toxic heavy metals. This improved only after all of the Rhine countries agreed to harsh laws against environmental pollution. As a result, heavy metals had largely disappeared from the river by 2000, though they remain in silt and riverbeds. A high concentration of chlorine remains, as well as nitrates from farm field runoff. Nonetheless, in 1996 the first salmon was discovered after disappearing 60 years earlier (Weber 2000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Correspondent Member of Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Water Problems Institute of RAS, Moscow, Russia

    Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan

  2. Freelance Journalist/Writer, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Igor E. Reyf

Authors
  1. Victor I. Danilov-Danil’yan
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  2. Igor E. Reyf
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Danilov-Danil’yan, V.I., Reyf, I.E. (2018). The Global Ecological Situation. In: The Biosphere and Civilization: In the Throes of a Global Crisis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67193-2_1

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