Reveal the essence of the global problems of mankind. Problems of modern society: what will be the consequences

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With the development of mankind and under the influence of the latest technologies, new problems appear that people did not even think about before.

They accumulate and over time begin to destroy modern society spiritually and physically. Everyone has heard about the global problems of modern society, such as the depletion of minerals, the greenhouse effect, overpopulation and the deterioration of the ecological state of our planet. In addition to global difficulties, any citizen can be affected, or are already being affected, by social, moral, economic and political problems. One of them can be attributed to various kinds of dependencies. Deteriorating living standards, job loss and lack of money for many lead to stress and depression. People want to forget and try to relieve nervous tension with alcohol or drugs. However, it is not only about bad habits, alcohol abuse or drug use. Modern society, like a virus, was struck by dependence on loans, computers and the Internet, as well as drugs imposed by advertising. At the same time, it is better to get rid of some modern problems or not have them at all, it remains only to adapt to others. After all, some of them are ordinary difficulties that can be overcome and gain invaluable life experience.

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The most common problems in society

Social inequality. Rich and poor citizens have always been and are. However, now there is a huge gap between these segments of the population: some people have bank accounts with fabulous sums, others do not have enough money even for meat. According to the level of income society can be divided into three groups:

• Rich people (presidents, kings, politicians, cultural and art figures, big businessmen)
• Middle class (employees, doctors, teachers, lawyers)
• The poor (unskilled workers, beggars, unemployed)

Market instability in the modern world has led to the fact that a significant part of citizens live below the poverty line. As a result, the society is criminalized: robberies, robberies, fraud. However, in the absence of strongly pronounced social inequality, the number of crimes is much less.

Credit cabal. Intrusive advertising slogans, calling to take now and pay later, are firmly planted in the minds of the people. Some people sign a loan agreement without looking, so they don’t know how dangerous fast loans are. Financial illiteracy does not allow you to assess your own solvency. Such citizens have several loans that they cannot repay in a timely manner. Penalties are added to the interest rate, which can become even more than the debt.

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Alcoholism and drug addiction. These diseases are a dangerous social problem. The main reasons why people drink are general insecurity, unemployment and poverty. Drugs are usually taken out of curiosity or in company with friends. The intake of these substances leads to the moral degradation of the individual, destroys the body and causes fatal diseases. Alcoholics and drug addicts often have sick children. Antisocial behavior for such citizens becomes the norm. Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, they commit various crimes, which negatively affects the life of society.

Breaking away from traditional family values. The family provides the necessary psychological support to each person. However, in modern society there is a departure from the traditional family, which is associated with the promotion of homosexual relationships, which are so popular in Western countries. And the legalization of same-sex marriages in some states destroys historically established gender roles. Indeed, even in the Stone Age, a man was the main earner, and a woman was the keeper of the hearth.

Imposed diseases and medicines. Drug manufacturers need unhealthy people, because the more sick people, the better the product is sold. In order for the pharmaceutical business to bring a stable income, diseases are imposed on citizens and a stir is created. For example, the recent mass hysteria surrounding bird and swine flu was accompanied by daily media reports of new victims of the disease. Panic broke out in the world. People began to buy all kinds of medicines, vitamins, gauze bandages, which increased in price by five or six times. So the pharmaceutical industry is constantly making huge profits. At the same time, some medications do not cure, but only eliminate the symptoms, while others are addictive and help only with constant use. If a person stops taking them, the symptoms return. Therefore, citizens are unlikely to ever be offered truly effective drugs.

Virtual world. Most children have free access to a computer from an early age. They spend a lot of time in the virtual world and move away from reality: they do not want to go out, communicate with peers, and do their homework with difficulty. Even during the holidays, schoolchildren are rarely seen on the streets. Sitting at computers, children can no longer do without a world of illusions in which they feel safe and comfortable. Computer addiction is an emerging problem in the modern world.

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Attacks. Terrorist acts in different parts of the world are a serious social problem. Hostage-taking, shootings, explosions in the metro and airports, undermining planes and trains claim millions of human lives. Terrorism can be global, like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, for example. These groups want to get their hands on weapons of mass destruction, so they use global means to achieve their goal. Acting all over the world, they arrange terrorist attacks in different states with numerous victims. Terrorists can also be loners who are dissatisfied with the policies of their state, such as the Norwegian nationalist Breivik. Both varieties are heinous crimes that result in the death of innocent people. It is impossible to predict a terrorist attack, and absolutely anyone can become its accidental victim.

Military conflicts and interference in the affairs of other states. In Ukraine, Western countries staged a coup d'etat, which they paid in advance, provided informational and political support. After that, the US and the EU ordered to go to war against the inhabitants of Donbass, who did not want to obey the Ukrainian authorities. At the same time, Western countries, which are so fond of shouting about human rights, remained silent in this situation. And the United States financially helped Kyiv and supplied military equipment. When Russia provided assistance to the Donbass with weapons and food, it was instantly criticized by the West and accused of interfering in the affairs of Ukraine. At the same time, it was possible to agree on a truce, but Kyiv, at the suggestion of the US and the EU, chose war. The victims of political games were the inhabitants of Donbass. Thousands of people lived safely and suddenly lost everything, left without a roof over their heads. This is not an isolated case, the United States has repeatedly interfered in the affairs of the countries of the Middle East and other states.

Typology of "images of the world order" by R. Robertson

Roland Robertson relatively recently proposed an interesting typology of "images of the world order". He identified four such types.

First type – "Global Gemeinschaft I", in which the world is represented as mosaics of either closed, limited communities, or equal and unique in their institutional and cultural order, or hierarchical, with separate leading communities.

Second type- "Global Gemeinschaft II", which reflects the unity of the human race and personifies the global community, or "global village", assuming a planetary consensus in matters relating to values ​​and ideas (the idea of ​​the Kingdom of God on Earth, the Christianization of various nations by the Roman Catholic Church, the movement for peace, the environmental movement, the movement for international security, etc.).

Third type- "Global Gesellschaft I" giving an idea of ​​the world like a mosaic of mutually open sovereign nation-states involved in the process of intensive economic, political and cultural exchange.

Fourth type - "Global Gesellschaft II", assuming unification (reduction to uniformity) of nation-states under the auspices of a certain world government(the idea of ​​creating a world communist republic, deepening integration within the European Union, etc.).

On the global space stand out postindustrial North, controlling trade and financial channels, highly industrial West- the totality of the national economies of the leading industrialized nations, rapidly developing new East, building life within the neo-industrial model, commodity South, living primarily on the exploitation of natural resources, and states in transition in the post-communist world.

Global problems- a set of problems, the solution of which depends on the preservation of civilization and the survival of mankind.

Their global nature is determined by the fact that, firstly, in terms of their scale, they affect the interests of the people of the entire planet, secondly, they are the result of the activities of mankind as a whole, and thirdly, their solution requires the combined efforts of all peoples and states.

The global problems of modernity arose, first of all, in the process of growing contradictions in the relationship between man and nature. In other words, the emergence of global problems was the result and consequence of the manifestation of the negative aspects of the scientific and technological revolution (scientific and technological progress).

The very concept of "scientific and technological revolution" entered the scientific circulation in the middle of the twentieth century, after the creation of the atomic bomb. The use of new weapons of mass destruction made a huge impression on the entire population of the planet. It became clear that a real revolution had taken place in the means of man's influence on other people and on his natural environment. Never before has it been possible for man to be able to destroy himself and almost all life on Earth, i.e. on a global scale. Gradually, the realization came that global problems are an inevitable side of the scientific and technological revolution, and as it develops, they will become aggravated.

To date, scientists and philosophers identify several of the most significant and acute global problems, the solution of which directly affects the future of human civilization. These include:

1) the problem of preventing thermonuclear war and local wars;

2) environmental problem;

3) demographic problem;

4) energy problem (the problem of shortage of natural resources);

5) the problem of overcoming the economic backwardness of developing countries;

6) the problem of terrorism.

We will reveal the essence of each of these problems.

The possibility of an "all-burning flame" and the subsequent "nuclear winter" ("nuclear night") is by no means abstract, although the active steps taken in the world to prevent an arms race in recent decades have led to a relative decrease in the danger of nuclear war. Another 38 session of the UN General Assembly declared the preparation and unleashing of a nuclear war the greatest crime against humanity. In the 1981 UN Declaration on the Prevention of Nuclear Catastrophe, it was stated that any actions pushing the world towards a nuclear catastrophe are incompatible with the laws of human morality and the lofty ideals of the UN Charter. However, nuclear weapons have not ceased. The moratorium on underground nuclear tests is violated every now and then, either by China, or by France, or by other members of the "nuclear club". In accordance with the signed treaties on the reduction of strategic nuclear arsenals, only a few percent of nuclear stocks have actually been destroyed. In addition, there is a “spread” of nuclear technologies. India, Pakistan are already producing nuclear weapons, while Israel, South Africa, Iran, North Korea and a number of other states are ready to produce them. At the same time, the threat of a blind technological accident of the “Chernobyl scenario” has not disappeared, but even increased, because there are more than 430 nuclear power plants operating on the planet. There is a growing danger that nuclear weapons will fall into the hands of irresponsible political adventurers, terrorist organizations or international criminal groups. Of course, one cannot fail to note the fact that nuclear weapons have been a serious deterrent for the past half century and, in the conditions of parity (balance) achieved, prevented a direct clash between the two main military-strategic blocs - NATO and the Warsaw Pact. And yet, it did not prevent the numerous hotbeds of local armed conflicts that have not been dying down so far, each of which can become a “fuse” for a world war in which there will no longer be winners.

The second threat hanging over humanity and a global problem - the impending proximity of ecological catastrophe. History decreed that the earthly nature, our ecological niche, comes into a state of increasing instability. The relationship between man and nature in its significance begins to overlap our economic concerns and political troubles.

What is the essence of the environmental threat? Its essence lies in the fact that the growing pressure of anthropogenic factors on the biosphere can lead to a landslide break in the natural cycles of reproduction of biological resources, self-purification of soil, atmospheric waters. All this gives rise to the possibility of a "collapse" - a sharp and rapid deterioration of the environmental situation, which can lead to a fleeting death of the planet's population.

They have been talking about the coming destructive processes for quite a long time. A considerable number of ominous facts, estimates, and figures have been cited and are being cited. They are not talking, but are already shouting about a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, an increase in the "greenhouse effect", the expansion of ozone holes, and the non-stop pollution of natural waters. It is estimated that at least 1 billion 200 million people live with acute shortage of drinking water. Biologists gloomily record that every day, as a result of human activities, the world loses 150 species of animals and plants. Intensive agriculture depletes soils 20 to 40 times faster than they can naturally recover. There was a sharp shortage of agricultural land. There is an acute problem of pollution of the living environment by xenobiotics, i.e. substances hostile to life. Chemical, radiation pollution is increasing. The spheres of our common human heritage have fallen into the danger zone: the World Ocean, outer space, Antarctica.

The power of man has clearly turned against him globally, and this is the main grain of the environmental problem. There is only one conclusion: it is necessary to speak with Nature in a language that she understands. The time has passed when in our country the motto of the breeder I.V. Michurin was famously proclaimed everywhere: “We cannot wait for favors from nature, it is our task to take them from her.” Now it is paraphrased with bitter wit: "We cannot expect favors from nature after what we have done to her."

One of the important indicators of the violation of the balance of the relationship "man - nature" is the growth of population, which today is up to 85 million people a year. Moreover, there is an intensive growth not of “working hands”, but at the beginning of “mouths”, requiring feeding, care and care. Uncontrolled population growth, which is taking place mainly in "developing" countries, is undermining the resource base, rapidly bringing us closer to the maximum allowable pressure on the natural environment. The process of irresistible growth of the Earth's population is uneven. In our country, against the background of social cataclysms of recent decades, the death rate still exceeds the birth rate. In developed countries, growth is minimal or non-existent. On the other hand, the "third world", despite restrictions imposed by the governments of a number of countries on population growth (India, China, etc.), continues to grow rapidly.

Therefore, philosophers and scientists have a question - will it become crowded on the globe? This is by no means an abstract or idle question. Demographers believe that the maximum population of the Earth can be no more than 10 billion people. And this figure will be reached by the 30s. XXI century Many argue that the figure is too high. So there is no getting away from thinking over global, coordinated measures to optimize the demographic surge.

The demographic problem is directly related to the no less acute global problem of our time - energy.

All energy sources are divided into renewable (wind, sea, sun, thermonuclear fusion, geothermal sources, etc.) and non-renewable (coal, gas, oil, timber, etc.). The essence of the problem is that non-renewable sources are not eternal, sooner or later they will exhaust themselves. In this regard, there are several development scenarios: pessimistic - traditional sources will disappear in 50-60 years and optimistic - 75 years and more. Nevertheless, humanity is obliged to solve this problem in a short time. Already, many regions of the planet are experiencing a serious "resource hunger", which leads to numerous local conflicts, including armed ones. Scientists should find a way out of the situation: it is necessary to create and master technologies for the use of alternative renewable energy sources (wind, sun, tides, etc.), as well as to produce synthetic substitutes for natural resources.

Problem economic backwardness and poverty manifests itself in the fact that a significant number of countries (where, according to some data, up to half of the world's population lives) are increasingly lagging behind prosperous states. The gap between them in terms of the degree of development of productive forces, the level and quality of life of people is measured dozens of times and continues to grow. This exacerbates the division of the world into rich and poor countries, increases international tension, and threatens global security (terrorism, international drug trafficking, illegal arms trade, etc.).

Thus, according to the UN, 1.5 billion people live below the poverty line in the world, and the number of the poorest countries over the past 30 years has almost doubled, increasing from 25 to 49. The real "hotbed of poverty" is concentrated in about two dozen countries of Africa south of from the Sahara.

The main factors of the plight of these countries can be summarized in four interrelated positions:

1) the backwardness of the production base (the agrarian nature of their economy and the weakness of industry);

2) inefficiency in the use of labor resources (high unemployment, insufficient education and skills of workers, low labor productivity);

3) inefficiency of state regulation of the economy (bureaucracy and corruption of officials, state monopoly, etc.);

4) unfavorable conditions for development (lack of natural resources, unfavorable climate, huge external debts, overpopulation, poverty, illiteracy, civil wars, etc.).

In the current situation, it is necessary to search for ways out of the "vicious circle of poverty" of backward countries, which can lie in two planes: progressive transformations in the countries themselves and assistance from the world community in solving the problems mentioned.

Problem terrorism today is one of the most relevant and difficult to solve due to the fact that its cause is an interweaving of deep socio-economic, political, legal, cultural, religious and foreign policy aspects. Terrorism has crossed the borders of national problems and acquired the features of a well-oiled mechanism operating on an international scale. The main goal of terrorist activity is to create a situation of fear, suspicion, political instability in society in order to exert serious pressure on the leadership of a particular country and address the interests of individual groups that run counter to public interests. It should be noted that one of the reasons for the development of international terrorism is the processes of globalization, the result of which was a sharp increase in the gap in the socio-economic development of the "rich North" (primarily the industrialized countries of Western Europe and the United States) and the "poor South" (backward Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America). Overcoming this gap is intended to contribute to the solution of this problem, and this requires the unification of the efforts of all states interested in the stable development of the international community and the exclusion of the policy of "double standards" on the part of a number of Western countries.

Thus, never before in its history has humanity faced so many and serious threats to its existence as at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. Their solution is vital in the near future, which implies a coordinated global strategy. And if humanity manages to unite its efforts, this, in fact, will be the first blessed global revolution.

Zelenogorsk 2010

Introduction

Conclusion

Applications

Introduction

Humanity does not stand still, it is constantly evolving and improving. In the course of development, complex problems constantly arose before mankind, many of which are of a global, planetary nature, which affect the interests of all countries and peoples. Humanity has survived the tragedy of two of the most destructive and bloody world wars. Done with colonial empires and colonialism; the collapse of totalitarian regimes opens up the prospect of a civilizational unity of the world; the scientific and technological revolution and the latest technologies have transformed the material and technical basis of modern society, which is acquiring the qualitative features of a post-industrial and information society; 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.

They manifested themselves in full measure in the last quarter of the 20th century, at the turn of two centuries and even millennia. As Gilbert Keith Chesterton, an outstanding English Christian thinker, journalist and writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, said: "Progress is the father of problems."

One of the reasons for the diversity of the world is the difference in natural conditions, the physical environment. These conditions affect many aspects of social life, but primarily on human economic activity. In the states of the world, the problems of people's lives, their well-being and human rights are solved within the framework of historical features. Each of the sovereign states has its own problems.

The purpose of this essay: to summarize knowledge about the global problems of our time, to highlight their characteristic features, to find out the necessary conditions for their solution. Let's try to determine which problems are of a global nature, into which groups they are divided. Let's discuss what measures people should take to solve these problems.

The work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references. The total amount of work ___ pages.

1. Global problems of our time

1.1 The concept of global problems

First of all, it is necessary to decide what problems we can call "global". Global (French Global) - universal, (lat. Globus) - 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. The most characteristic features of the modern world (Fig. 1):

information revolution;

acceleration of modernization processes;

"consolidation" of space;

acceleration of historical and social time;

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

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.

Figure 1 - Modern world

Thus, global problems are a set of problems of mankind that confronted him in the second half of the 20th century, and 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, since (Fig. 2):

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.

Figure 2 - Features of global problems

Until the middle of the 20th century, there was no concept of "global problems" in the political language as the general problems of world civilization. Their appearance was caused by a whole range of reasons that most clearly manifested themselves during this period. What are these reasons?

1.2 Causes of global problems

Scientists and philosophers at the level of generalizations put forward ideas about the relationship of human activity with the state of the biosphere (the environment that supports life on Earth). Russian scientist V.I. Vernandsky in 1944 expressed the idea that human activity is acquiring a scale comparable to the power of natural forces. This allowed him to raise the question of the restructuring of the biosphere into the noosphere (the sphere of activity of the mind).

What gave rise to global problems? These reasons include a sharp increase in the number of mankind, and the scientific and technological revolution, and the use of space, and the emergence of a unified world information system, and many others.

The first people who appeared on Earth, getting food for themselves, did not violate natural laws and natural circuits. With the development of tools, man increasingly increased his "pressure" on nature. So, even 400 thousand years ago, synanthropes destroyed significant areas of vegetation in northern China by fire; and in the once wooded Moscow region in the time of Ivan the Terrible there were fewer forests than now - due to the use of slash-and-burn agriculture since antiquity.

The industrial revolution of the 18th-19th centuries, interstate contradictions, scientific and technological revolution of the middle of the 20th century, integration aggravated the situation. Problems grew like a snowball as humanity moved along the path of progress. World War II marked the beginning of the transformation of local problems into global ones.

Global problems are the result of the confrontation between natural nature and human culture, as well as the inconsistency or incompatibility of multidirectional trends in the course of the development of human culture itself. Natural nature exists on the principle of negative feedback, while human culture - on the principle of positive feedback. On the one hand, it is the huge scale of human activity, which has radically changed nature, society, and the way of life of people. On the other hand, it is the inability of a person to rationally dispose of this power.

So, we can name the causes of global problems:

globalization of the world;

catastrophic consequences of human activity, the inability of mankind to rationally dispose of its mighty power.

1.3 The main global problems of our time

By their nature, global problems are different. These include, first of all, the problem of peace and disarmament, the prevention of a new world war; ecological; demographic; energy; raw materials; food; use of the oceans; peaceful exploration of outer space; overcoming the backwardness of developing countries (Fig. 3).

There are various approaches to the classification of global problems, but the classification according to the content and severity of the problems has received the greatest recognition. In accordance with this approach, the global problems of mankind are divided into three groups, expressing the essence of the general crisis of civilization:

universal problems (for example, the prevention of an arms race);

problems of human relations with nature (for example, the study and exploration of space);

problems of the relationship between society and man (for example, the elimination of the most dangerous diseases).

However, there is no stable list and unified classification of global problems, however, the most relevant are the following.

The problem of world thermonuclear war. The search for ways to prevent world conflicts began almost immediately after the end of World War II and the victory over Nazism. At the same time, a decision was made to create the UN, a universal international organization whose main goal was to develop interstate cooperation and, in the event of a conflict between countries, to assist the opposing parties in resolving disputes peacefully. However, the division of the world into two systems, capitalist and socialist, which soon followed, as well as the beginning of the Cold War and the arms race, more than once brought the world to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. A particularly real threat of the start of a third world war was during the so-called Caribbean crisis of 1962, caused by the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. But thanks to the reasonable position of the leaders of the USSR and the USA, the crisis was resolved peacefully. In the following decades, a number of nuclear arms limitation agreements were signed by the world's leading nuclear powers, and some of the nuclear powers committed themselves to ending nuclear testing. The decisions of governments were influenced by the public movement for peace, as well as the speeches of such an authoritative interstate association of scientists for general and complete disarmament as the Pugwash Movement.

Researchers from different countries came to a unanimous assessment that the third world war, if it breaks out, will be the tragic finale of the entire history of human civilization; the most disastrous consequence of the possible use of nuclear weapons, as well as global accidents as a result of the use of atomic energy, will be the death of all life and the onset of "nuclear winter"; 5 percent of accumulated nuclear stockpiles is enough to plunge the planet into an ecological catastrophe.

Scientists, using scientific models, have convincingly proved that the main consequence of a nuclear war will be an ecological catastrophe, as a result of which climate change will occur on Earth. The latter can lead to genetic changes in human nature and, possibly, to the complete extinction of mankind. Today we can state the fact that the likelihood of conflict between the leading powers of the world is much less than before. However, there is a possibility of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of totalitarian reactionary regimes or into the hands of individual terrorists. After the events in New York on September 11, 2001, the problem of combating international terrorism sharply escalated.

The problem of overcoming the ecological crisis. This issue is the most pressing. The level of human impact on the environment depends primarily on the technical equipment of society. It was extremely small at the initial stages of human development. However, with the development of society, the growth of its productive forces, the situation begins to change dramatically. The 20th century is the century of scientific and technological progress. Associated with a qualitatively new relationship between science, engineering and technology, it colossally increases the possible and real scale of society's impact on nature, poses a number of new, extremely acute problems for humanity, primarily environmental.

In the process of his economic activity, a person has long occupied the position of a consumer in relation to nature, mercilessly exploiting it, believing that natural resources are inexhaustible. One of the negative results of human activity was the depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution. As a result, substances hazardous to human life and health were emitted into the atmosphere, destroying it, and falling into the soil. Not only air and land were polluted, but also the waters of the oceans. This leads both to the destruction (extinction) of entire species of animals and plants, and to the deterioration of the gene pool of all mankind.

Today, the ecological situation in the world can be described as close to critical. Among the global environmental problems are the following:

thousands of species of plants and animals have been destroyed and continue to be destroyed;

the forest cover has been largely destroyed;

the available stock of minerals is rapidly declining;

the world ocean is not only depleted as a result of the destruction of living organisms, but also ceases to be a regulator of natural processes;

the atmosphere in many places is polluted to the maximum permissible extent, and clean air becomes scarce;

the ozone layer, which protects against destructive cosmic radiation for all living things, is partially broken;

surface pollution and disfigurement of natural landscapes: on Earth it is impossible to find a single square meter of the surface, where there are no elements artificially created by man.

The perniciousness of man's consumer attitude to nature has become quite obvious only as an object of obtaining certain wealth and benefits. For humanity, it becomes vital to change the very philosophy of attitude towards nature.

The demographic problem is becoming more and more important for humanity. It is associated with a continuous increase in the population living on the planet, but it is obvious that the Earth's resources (primarily food) are limited.

It is the number of people living on the planet, the territorial distribution and the scale of their economic activity that determine such important parameters as the provision of the population with resources, the state of the Earth's biosphere, and the global social and political environment.

At the same time, demographic processes at the turn of the XX - XXI centuries. define two trends:

the demographic "explosion", characterized by a sharp increase in the population in the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, starting from the 60s;

"zero growth" of the population in the countries of Western Europe.

The first leads to a sharp aggravation of socio-economic problems in developing countries, including hunger and illiteracy of tens of millions of people. The second is to a sharp aging of the population in developed countries, including a deterioration in the balance between working and retired people, and so on.

The food problem is also ranked as a global problem: over 500 million people suffer from malnutrition today, and several million die from malnutrition a year. Throughout human history, food production has generally not kept pace with population growth. Only during the 40 years of the 20th century (from 1950 to 1990) the situation was different: the population of the earth doubled during this time, while the world grain harvest tripled. However, in the late 80s - early 90s. growth in world food production began to slow down, while demand for them continued to grow. The latter is associated not only with an increase in the number of inhabitants on the planet, but with such a factor as the improvement in the well-being of a large mass of people due to the extensive industrialization of developing countries, primarily in Asia. It is believed that global demand for food will increase by 64% by 2020, including in developing countries - by almost 100%. Today, the development of agriculture is no longer keeping pace with changes in the volume and structure of world food demand. If this trend is not stopped, then in the next two to three decades the need to cover the missing food may increase several times.

Therefore, the roots of this problem lie not in the lack of food as such and not in the limitations of modern natural resources, but in their unfair redistribution and exploitation both within individual countries and on a global scale. The fact that in the modern world people can be malnourished, and even more so - die of hunger, is a completely immoral, criminal and unacceptable phenomenon. This is a disgrace to mankind and, above all, to the most developed countries.

The problem of the gap in the level of economic development between the developed countries of the West and the developing countries of the "third world" (the "North-South" problem) - the majority of those who were released in the second half of the 20th century. from the colonial dependence of countries, embarking on the path of catching up economic development, they could not, despite relative success, catch up with the developed countries in terms of basic economic indicators (primarily in terms of GNP per capita). This was largely due to the demographic situation: population growth in these countries actually leveled the successes achieved in the economy.

Of course, global problems are not limited to the above. In fact, there are more of them. These include the crisis of culture and spiritual values, the lack of democracy in the modern world, the spread of dangerous diseases, terrorism, bureaucracy, and many others (Appendix 1).

On the whole, all the global problems of mankind can be represented as a tangle of contradictions, where from each problem various threads stretch to all other problems.

2. Ways to solve global problems

Solving global problems is a task of extreme importance and complexity, and so far it cannot be said with certainty that ways to overcome them have been found. According to many social scientists, no matter what individual problem we take from the global system, it cannot be solved without first overcoming spontaneity in the development of earthly civilization, without a transition to coordinated and planned actions on a global scale. Only such actions can save society, as well as its natural environment.

In the conditions prevailing by the beginning of the 21st century, humanity can no longer function spontaneously without the risk of catastrophe for each of the countries. The only way out is in the transition from self-regulating to controlled evolution of the world community and its natural environment. It is necessary that the interests of all mankind - the prevention of nuclear war, the mitigation of the ecological crisis, the replenishment of resources - prevail over the private economic and political benefits of individual countries, corporations and parties. In the 1970s of the last century, various programs were put in place, local, national and transnational organizations began to work. At present, to achieve this goal, humanity has the necessary economic and financial resources, scientific and technical capabilities and intellectual potential. But to realize this opportunity, new political thinking, good will and international cooperation based on the priority of universal human interests and values ​​are needed.

Globalist scientists offer various options for solving the global problems of our time (Fig. 4):

changing the nature of production activities - the creation of waste-free production, heat and energy resource-saving technologies, the use of alternative energy sources (sun, wind, etc.);

creation of a new world order, development of a new formula for the global management of the world community based on the principles of understanding the modern world as an integral and interconnected community of people;

recognition of universal human values, attitude to life, man and the world as the highest values ​​of mankind;

rejection of war as a means of resolving contentious issues, the search for ways to peacefully resolve international problems and conflicts.

Figure 4 - Ways to solve the global problems of mankind

Only together humanity can solve the problem of overcoming the ecological crisis.

First of all, one should move from the consumer-technocratic approach to nature to the search for harmony with it. This, in particular, requires a number of targeted measures to green production: nature-saving technologies, mandatory environmental impact assessment of new projects, and the creation of non-waste closed-cycle technologies. Another measure aimed at improving the relationship between man and nature is reasonable self-limitation in the use of natural resources, especially energy sources (oil, coal), which are of paramount importance for human life. Calculations by international experts show that if we proceed from the current level of consumption (the end of the 20th century), then coal reserves will last for another 430 years, oil - for 35 years, natural gas - for 50 years. The term, especially in terms of oil reserves, is not so long. In this regard, reasonable structural changes are needed in the global energy balance towards expanding the use of atomic energy, as well as the search for new, efficient, safe and most environmentally friendly sources of energy, including space.

The planetary society today is taking specific measures to solve environmental problems and reduce their danger: they develop maximum allowable standards for emissions into the environment, create waste-free or low-waste technologies, use energy, land and water resources more rationally, save minerals, etc. However, all the above and other measures can give a tangible effect only if the efforts of all countries are combined to save nature. Back in 1982, the UN adopted a special document - the World Charter for Conservation of Nature, and then created a special commission on environment and development. In addition to the UN, a non-governmental organization such as the Club of Rome plays an important role in developing and ensuring the environmental safety of mankind. As for the governments of the world's leading powers, they are trying to combat environmental pollution by adopting special environmental legislation.

Global problems require the observance of certain moral norms that allow us to correlate the ever-increasing needs of man with the possibilities of the planet to satisfy them. A number of scientists rightly believe that the transition of the entire earthly community from a dead-end technogenic-consumer to a new spiritual-ecological, or noospheric, type of civilizational existence is necessary. Its essence is that "scientific and technological progress, the production of material goods and services, political and financial and economic interests should not be a goal, but only a means of harmonizing relations between society and nature, an aid to the establishment of the highest ideals of human existence: infinite knowledge , all-round creative development and moral perfection".

One of the most popular points of view for solving this problem is to instill in people new moral and ethical values. So in one of the reports to the Club of Rome, it is written that the new ethical education should be aimed at:

1) the development of global consciousness, thanks to which a person realizes himself as a member of the global community;

2) formation of a more thrifty attitude to the use of natural resources;

3) the development of such an attitude towards nature, which would be based on harmony, and not on subordination;

4) fostering a sense of belonging to future generations and readiness to give up some of their own benefits in their favor.

It is possible and necessary now to successfully fight for the solution of global problems on the basis of constructive and mutually acceptable cooperation of all countries and peoples, regardless of the differences in the social systems to which they belong.

The solution of global problems is possible only through the joint efforts of all countries coordinating their actions at the international level. Self-isolation and peculiarities of development will not allow individual countries to stay away from the economic crisis, nuclear war, the threat of terrorism or the AIDS epidemic. To solve global problems, overcome the danger that threatens all of humanity, it is necessary to further strengthen the interconnection of the diverse modern world, change interaction with the environment, abandon the cult of consumption, and develop new values.

Conclusion: Without appropriate human qualities, without the global responsibility of each person, it is impossible to solve any of the global problems. All problems are too large and complex for one country to cope with them, the leadership of one power cannot ensure a stable world order and solve global problems. Comprehensive interaction of the entire world community is necessary.

Let's hope that the main wealth of all countries in the 21st century will be the preserved resources of nature and the cultural and educational level of people living in harmony with this nature. It is quite likely that the formation of a new - informational - world community with humane goals will become the highway of human development, which will lead it to the solution and elimination of the main global problems.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let us briefly note the following.

The international community has started talking seriously about global problems since the mid-1960s. They immediately began to include environmental degradation and a population explosion, the threat of depletion of the world's natural resources and the lack of energy and food sources in the world, the growing gap between rich and poor countries. This sad list of problems was crowned by the danger of World War III and a thermonuclear catastrophe.

Thus, global problems are called problems that arose in the second half of the twentieth century before all mankind, on the solution of which its existence depends.

Features of global problems:

arose in the second half of the 20th century;

all global problems are interconnected;

cover all aspects of people's lives;

apply to all countries of the world without exception.

Main global problems:

a) overcoming the ecological crisis and its consequences: depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution;

b) the demographic problem (the problem of world population growth);

c) the problem of narrowing the gap in the level of economic development between countries;

d) the problem of preventing the threat of a third world (nuclear) war;

e) fight against international terrorism, drug mafia and drug addiction;

f) preventing the spread of AIDS.

All global problems are closely interconnected, while the problem of maintaining peace, preventing nuclear war, without exaggeration, can be considered the number one problem, since the existence of civilization itself depends on it.

The ecological problem can conditionally be put in second place, since neglect of nature also threatens the death of the civilization of the planet.

Among the social consequences of the scientific and technological revolution are: the growth of requirements for the training of specialists, an increase in the proportion of employees in the service sector, an increase in the duration of schooling, and an increase in the education of the population.

Causes of global problems:

resource exploitation,

arms race,

low culture people

population growth.

Conclusion: Global problems are diverse, complex, contradictory. They are closely intertwined and interconnected with each other, there is a complex of global problems. Global problems must be solved by all together.

Summing up the consideration of global problems of our time, we should name the main ways to solve them:

elimination of wars from the life of society;

the creation of effective international environmental control bodies;

rational limitation of scientific and technical progress;

humanization of the world community;

the formation of a non-aggressive personality of the XXI century;

increasing the reliability of scientific forecasts for the development of the planetary community;

joint solution of global problems and others.

I think that the expression: "We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our descendants" very well emphasizes the importance and necessity of solving global problems.

Bibliography

1. Bogolyubov, L.N. Man and society. Textbook on social studies for students in grade 11. general education institutions. / Under the editorship of L.N. Bogolyubova, A.Yu. Lazebnikova. - M.: Enlightenment, 2006. - 270 p.

2. Kishenkova O.V. Modern history grades 9 - 11: Methodological guide / O.V. Kishenkov. - M.: Bustard, 2001. - S.150-163.

3. Kravchenko A.I. Social science. Grade 10 / A.I. Kravchenko. - M.: Russian word, 2005.

4. Nizhnikov S.A. Global problems of the present. Philosophy: a course of lectures / S.A. Nizhnikov. - M.: publishing house "Exam", 2006. - 383 p.

5. Man and society. The Modern World: A Textbook for Grade 11 Students of General Educational Institutions / Ed. IN AND. Kuptsova. - M.: Enlightenment, 2000.

Applications

Attachment 1

Classification of global problems of our time

Having come close to the main directions of possible ways out of the global problems of our time, we will briefly characterize their main meaning and interrelation.

Global problems are problems that affect the existence of not only individuals, but, most importantly, can affect the fate of all mankind, affect its future development. Global problems cannot be solved by themselves and even by the efforts of individual countries. They require organized and purposeful efforts of the entire world community, since "the unresolved global problems may lead in the future to serious, possibly irreversible consequences for humans and their environment."

The global problems of our time are closely related to each other. Therefore, it is very difficult to systematize them, “let alone develop a system of successive steps to solve them. Generally recognized global problems are such as: environmental pollution, problems of resources, population, nuclear weapons and a number of others.

In order to combine different approaches to these global problems, it became necessary to form a new science or a special field of knowledge, which was called globalistics, which was called upon to develop practical recommendations for solving the tasks set to reduce global problems.

The problem of overcoming the ecological crisis is the most urgent. In the process of economic activity, a person, in relation to nature, took the position of a consumer, exploiting it, and believing that all natural resources are inexhaustible. Therefore, one of the negative results of human activity was the depletion of natural resources, as well as environmental pollution. As a result, substances hazardous to human health and life entered the atmosphere, destroying it. Not only land and air were polluted, but also the waters of the World Ocean, which led to "the destruction (extinction) of entire species of animals and plants, and to the deterioration of the gene pool of all mankind."

The solution of global problems would become possible only "together". Scientific understanding of global problems took place already in the 60s of the XX century. In 1965, the Institute for the Problems of the Future was organized in Vienna. In 1965, the international foundation "Humanity in 2000" was established in the Netherlands. In 1966, the Society for the Study of the Future World was formed in Washington. And in 1968, the "Club of Rome" appeared - a non-governmental international organization, headed by A. Peccei. “In 1982, the UN adopted a special document - the World Conservation Party, and then created a special commission on environment and development. In addition to the UN, a non-governmental organization such as the Club of Rome plays an important role in developing and ensuring the environmental safety of mankind.”

The "Club of Rome" became an organization that brought together natural scientists, economists, sociologists and representatives of other specialties (the Club of Rome included D. Meadows, M. Mesarovic, A. King, J. Tinbergen, etc.), the main goal of which was "attracting the attention of the world public to global problems and to search for ways to overcome them”. It was a set of social, psychological, economic, technical and political problems, to which A. Paccei “classified overpopulation and an uncontrolled increase in the number of inhabitants of the Earth, the stratification of society, social injustice and hunger, unemployment, inflation, energy crisis, depletion of natural resources, degradation of the external environment, imbalances in international trade and finance, illiteracy and an outdated education system, a decline in moral values ​​and a loss of faith, as well as a misunderstanding of these problems and their interrelationships.

The main goal of the Club of Rome was to disseminate the results of research among the world community, in scientific, political circles, among the intelligentsia, "to exert a possible influence on the conduct of affairs in the world in a more rational and humane direction."

In the book “Human Qualities” A. Peccei wrote: “Traveling a lot, I saw how people from all over the world are struggling - far from always successfully - to solve many complex problems, which, as I was more and more convinced, promised to become even more in the future. harder and more dangerous for humanity. I did not question the necessity and importance of such activities as, for example, the development of the desert, the construction of a factory in one of the corners of the planet or the construction of a dam in another, solving the problems of development of individual regions and countries. At the same time, it began to seem to me that it was impossible to concentrate almost all efforts on such narrow and private projects, while ignoring the steady deterioration of the general situation in the world. Moreover, such a clear emphasis on particular problems and complete inattention to the general context, against the background and within which they arise and develop, calls into question the expediency and ultimate effectiveness of the efforts that humanity spends on solving them. I felt that I could not be honest with myself if I did not at least try in one way or another to warn people that all their current efforts were not enough and that something else must be taken, some other measures, radically different from those that are being undertaken now.

Over the past century, several ingenious ways to deal with environmental problems have been developed. These include the activities of the "green" movements, "Green Peace", "Wildlife Fund" and others. “In addition to various kinds of associations in the field of solving environmental problems, there are a number of state or public environmental initiatives: environmental legislation in Russia and other countries of the world, various international agreements or the Red Book system.”

The main measures to improve the quality of the environment are: technological, economic, legal, engineering, organizational, architectural and planning activities. Where, for example, technological ones are engaged in the development of new technologies, the creation of treatment facilities, the electrification of everyday life, transport and production, as well as the replacement of fuel; architectural and planning measures - landscaping of populated areas, zoning of settlements, organization of sanitary protection zones, rationalization of the layout of residential areas; engineering and organizational - by reducing the number of parking lots at traffic lights and unloading highways; legal - the creation of legislative regulations to maintain the quality of the environment.

The demographic problem, on the one hand, is associated with a constant increase in the population on the planet. According to statistics for 1990, its number totaled 5.3 billion people. However, it is no secret that the Earth's resources are limited, and today some countries have had to face the problem of birth control. On the other hand, the demographic problem is associated with population decline. This is a situation that can develop in a country or region "when the birth rate falls below the level of simple reproduction of the population, and also below the death rate."

In 1969, within the framework of the UN Special Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), three World Population Conferences were held. “One of these main documents was the World Population Action Plan adopted in Bucharest in 1997 for 20 years.” In this plan, it was emphasized that "the basis for a real solution to the problems of population is, first of all, socio-economic transformations."

Philosophy can also help in assessing and understanding the essence of global problems. “The philosophical approach involves the consideration of global problems in their unity, integrity and interconnection, makes it possible to highlight the general trend of their change. The use of the ideological and methodological function of philosophy in the study of global problems contributes to the correct formulation of these issues, and considering them in a historical context contributes to their understanding as a natural phenomenon organically connected with the development of society.

Philosophy, considering the questions of the meaning of human life, focuses on the humanistic aspects of global problems. "Providing a comprehensive, systematic approach, integration of scientific research in the field of global problems, philosophy is thereby able to increase the effectiveness of the search for their solution, both in scientific and socio-political aspects."

To solve global problems, it is necessary to determine a number of priority tasks that need to be set for society and science.

The most important of them:

· The study of changes in the "quality" of the population and their relationship with the structure of society.

· Safe use of nuclear processes as the main energy resources of the future and, most importantly, the creation of controlled thermonuclear fusion.

· Creation of closed cycles, especially in agricultural technology.

· Study of the Earth's heat balance due to environmental pollution.

To date, this is a process of extreme importance and complexity, and so far it cannot be said with certainty that ways to overcome them have been found, although the time for solving all these problems is limited. “In order to solve these problems in time, we need great intellectual strength and material resources. For this, research aimed at solving these problems needs to be developed on an international scale. In order to effectively implement the results obtained, an authoritative international apparatus must be created.”

Therefore, the consolidation of international forces in resolving the most pressing issues, the coherence of actions, their coordination is necessary. In this regard, it is the states that should be entrusted with certain responsibilities in ensuring the implementation of the solution of global problems, on which the future of mankind will depend.

Recently, you have been hearing more and more about globalization (from the English global world, worldwide), which means a sharp expansion and deepening of the relationships and interdependencies between countries, peoples and individuals. Globalization covers the areas politicians, economy, culture. And at the heart of its activities are political, economic unions, TNCs, the creation of a global information space, global financial capital. However, for the time being, only the “golden billion” can benefit the most from globalization, as residents of the highly developed post-industrial countries of the West, whose total population is approaching 1 billion, are called.

It is this inequality that brought to life the mass anti-globalization movement. The emergence of global problems of mankind, which have become the focus of attention of scientists, politicians and the general public, is closely connected with the process of globalization and is studied by many sciences, including geography. This is because each of them has its own geographical aspects and manifests itself differently in different regions of the world. Recall that even N. N. Baransky called on geographers to "think in terms of continents." However, today this approach is no longer enough. global problems cannot be solved only “globally” and even “regional”. Their solution must begin with countries and regions.

That's why scientists put forward the slogan: "Think globally, act locally!" Considering global problems, you will need to summarize the knowledge gained from studying all the topics of the textbook.

Therefore, it is a more complex, synthesizing material. However, it should not be treated as purely theoretical. After all, in essence, global problems directly concern each of you as a small “particle” of the entire single and many-sided humanity.

The concept of global problems.

The last decades of the twentieth century posed many acute and complex problems before the peoples of the world, which are called global.

Global problems are called problems that cover the whole world, all of humanity, pose a threat to its present and future and require joint efforts, joint actions of all states and peoples for their solution.

In the scientific literature, one can find various lists of global problems, where their number varies from 8-10 to 40-45. This is explained by the fact that along with the main, priority global problems (which will be discussed further in the textbook), there is also a number of more particular, but also very important problems: for example, crime. Drug addiction, separatism, lack of democracy, man-made disasters, natural disasters. As already noted, the problem of international terrorism has recently acquired particular urgency, which in fact has also become one of the highest priorities.

There are also various classifications of global problems. But usually among them are distinguished: 1) problems of the most "universal" nature, 2) problems of a natural and economic nature, 3) problems of a social nature, 4) problems of a mixed nature.

There are also more "old" and more "new" global problems. Their priority may also change over time. So, at the end of the twentieth century. Ecological and demographic problems came to the fore, while the problem of preventing a third world war became less acute.

Ecological problem

"There is only one earth!" Back in the 40s. Academician V. I. Vernadsky (1863-1945), the founder of the doctrine of the noosphere (the sphere of the mind), wrote that the economic activity of people began to have no less strong impact on the geographical environment than the geological processes occurring in nature itself. Since then, the "metabolism" between society and nature has increased many times over and acquired a global scale. However, by "conquering" nature, people have largely undermined the natural foundations of their own life.

The intensive way consists primarily in increasing the biological productivity of existing lands. Of decisive importance for him will be biotechnology, the use of new, high-yielding varieties and new methods of tillage, the further development of mechanization, chemicalization, and melioration, the history of which goes back several millennia, starting with Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and India.

Example. Only during the twentieth century the area of ​​irrigated land increased from 40 to 270 million hectares. Now these lands occupy about 20% of cultivated land, but provide up to 40% of agricultural products. Irrigated agriculture is used in 135 countries, with 3/5 of the irrigated land in Asia.

A new non-traditional way of food production is also being developed, which consists in the "design" of artificial food products based on protein from natural raw materials. Scientists have calculated that in order to provide the population of the Earth with food, it was necessary in the last quarter of the 20th century. to increase the volume of agricultural production by 2 times, and by the middle of the 21st century by 5 times. Calculations show that if the level of agriculture achieved so far in many developed countries were extended to all countries of the world, it would be possible to fully meet the food needs of 10 billion people and even more. . Consequently , the intensive way is the main way to solve the food problem of mankind. Even now it provides 9/10 of the total increase in agricultural production. (Creative task 4.)

Energy and raw material problems: causes and solutions

First of all, these are the problems of reliable supply of mankind with fuel and raw materials. And earlier it happened that the problem of resource provision acquired a certain acuteness. But usually this applied to certain regions and countries with an “incomplete” composition of natural resources. On a global scale, it first manifested itself, perhaps, in the 70s, which can be explained by several reasons.

Among them, a very rapid growth in production with a relatively limited proven reserves of oil, natural gas and some other types of fuel and raw materials, deterioration of mining and geological conditions for production, an increase in the territorial gap between production and consumption areas, promotion of production to areas of new development with extreme natural conditions, the negative impact industry for the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials on the ecological situation, etc. Therefore, in our era, more than ever before, it is necessary to rationally use mineral resources, which, as you know, belong to the category of exhaustible and non-renewable.

Enormous opportunities for this are opened up by the achievements of scientific and technological revolution, and at all stages of the technological chain. Thus, a more complete extraction of minerals from the bowels of the Earth is of great importance.

Example. With the existing methods of oil extraction, its recovery factor fluctuates between 0.25-0.45, which is clearly not enough and means that most of its geological reserves remain in the bowels of the earth. An increase in the oil recovery factor even by 1% gives a great economic effect.

Large reserves exist in increasing the efficiency of already extracted fuel and raw materials. Indeed, with existing equipment and technology, this coefficient is usually approximately 0.3. Therefore, in the literature one can come across the statement of one English physicist that the efficiency of modern power plants is approximately at the same level as if it were necessary to burn down a whole house in order to fry a pork carcass ... It is not surprising that in recent times especially great attention has been paid not so much to a further increase in production, but to energy and material saving. GDP growth in many countries of the North has long been taking place virtually without an increase in the consumption of fuel and raw materials. In connection with the rise in oil prices, many countries are increasingly using non-traditional renewable energy sources (NRES) wind, solar, geothermal, biomass energy. NRES are inexhaustible and environmentally friendly. Work continues to increase the efficiency and reliability of nuclear power. The use of MHD generators, hydrogen energy and fuel cells has already begun. . And ahead is the mastery of controlled thermonuclear fusion, which is comparable to the invention of a steam engine or a computer. (Creative task 8.)

The problem of human health: a global aspect

Recently, in the world practice, when assessing the quality of life of people, the state of their health has been put forward in the first place. And this is no coincidence: after all, it is it that serves as the basis for the full life and activity of each person, and society as a whole.

In the second half of the twentieth century. great successes were achieved in the fight against many diseases - plague, cholera, smallpox, yellow fever, poliomyelitis, etc.

Example. In the 60-70s. The World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out a wide range of smallpox medical interventions that have covered more than 50 countries with a population of over 2 billion people. As a result, this disease on our planet has been virtually eliminated. .

Nevertheless, many diseases still continue to threaten people's lives, often acquiring a truly global distribution. . Among them are cardiovascular diseases, from which 15 million people die every year in the world, malignant tumors, sexually transmitted diseases, drug addiction, malaria. .

Smoking continues to cause great harm to the health of hundreds of millions of people. . But a very special threat to all mankind is AIDS.

Example. This disease, the appearance of which was noted only in the early 80s, is now called the plague of the twentieth century. According to the WHO, at the end of 2005, the total number of people infected with AIDS had already exceeded 45 million, and millions of people had already died from this disease. At the initiative of the United Nations, World AIDS Day is held annually.

When considering this topic, you should keep in mind that when assessing a person's health, one should not be limited only to his physiological health. This concept also includes moral (spiritual), mental health, with which the situation is also unfavorable, including in Russia. That's why human health continues to be one of the priority global problems(Creative task 6.)

The problem of using the oceans: a new stage

The world ocean, which occupies 71% of the Earth's surface, has always played an important role in the communication of countries and peoples. However, until the middle of the twentieth century. all human activities in the ocean gave only 1-2% of world income. But as the scientific and technological revolution developed, the comprehensive exploration and development of the World Ocean took on completely different scales.

Firstly, the aggravation of global energy and raw material problems has led to the emergence of the offshore mining and chemical industries, and offshore energy. The achievements of scientific and technological revolution open up prospects for a further increase in the production of oil and gas, ferromanganese nodules, for the extraction of the hydrogen isotope of deuterium from sea water, for the construction of giant tidal power plants, for desalination of sea water.

Secondly, the aggravation of the global food problem has increased interest in the biological resources of the ocean, which so far provide only 2% of the food "ration" of mankind (but 12-15% of animal protein). Of course, the production of fish and seafood can and should be increased. The potential for their removal without the threat of disturbing the existing balance is estimated by scientists from different countries from 100 to 150 million tons. An additional reserve is the development mariculture. . No wonder they say that fish, containing little fat and cholesterol, can be "the chicken of the XXI century."

Thirdly, the deepening of the international geographical division of labor, the rapid growth of world trade are accompanied by an increase in maritime transport. This, in turn, caused a shift in production and population to the sea and the rapid development of a number of coastal areas. Thus, many large seaports have turned into industrial port complexes, for which such industries as shipbuilding, oil refining, petrochemistry, metallurgy are most characteristic, and some of the newest industries have recently begun to develop. Coastal urbanization has taken on a huge scale.

The “population” of the Ocean itself has also increased (crews, personnel of drilling platforms, passengers and tourists), which now reaches 2-3 million people. It is possible that in the future it will increase even more in connection with projects for the creation of stationary or floating islands, as in Jules Verne's novel "The Floating Island" - islands. . It must not be forgotten that the Ocean serves as an important means of telegraph and telephone communication; Numerous cable lines are laid along its bottom. .

As a result of all industrial and scientific activities within the oceans of the world and the contact zone of the ocean, a special component of the world economy arose. maritime industry. It includes mining and manufacturing, energy, fisheries, transport, trade, recreation and tourism. Overall, the maritime industry employs at least 100 million people.

But such activity simultaneously gave rise to the global problem of the oceans. Its essence lies in the extremely uneven development of the resources of the Ocean, in the increasing pollution of the marine environment, in its use as an arena of military activity. As a result, over the past decades, the intensity of life in the World Ocean has decreased by 1/3. That is why the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982, which is called the "Charter of the Seas", is of great importance. It established economic zones 200 nautical miles from the coast, within which the coastal state can also exercise sovereign rights to exploit biological and mineral resources. The main way to solve the problem of using the World Ocean is rational oceanic nature management, a balanced, integrated approach to its riches, based on the combined efforts of the entire world community. (Creative task 5.)

Peaceful exploration of space: new horizons

Space is a global environment, the common property of mankind. Now that space programs have become much more complex, their implementation requires the concentration of technical, economic, and intellectual efforts of many countries and peoples. Therefore, space exploration has become one of the most important international, global problems.

In the second half of the twentieth century. two main directions in the study and use of outer space were identified: space geography and space production. Both of them from the very beginning became the arena of both bilateral and, in particular, multilateral cooperation.

Example 1 The international organization Intersputnik, headquartered in Moscow, was established in the early 1970s. Nowadays, more than 100 public and private companies in many countries of the world use space communications through the Intersputnik system.

Example 2 The work on the creation of the International Space Station (ISS) "Alte", carried out by the USA, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan, Canada, has been completed. . In its final form, the ISS consists of 36 block modules. International crews work at the station. And communication with the Earth is carried out with the help of American space shuttles and Russian Soyuz.

The peaceful exploration of outer space, which provides for the abandonment of military programs, is based on the use of the latest achievements in science and technology, production and management. It already provides tremendous space-based information about the Earth and its resources. The features of the future space industry, space technology, the use of space energy resources with the help of giant solar power plants, which will be placed in a heliocentric orbit at an altitude of 36 km, are becoming more and more distinct.

The relationship of global problems. Overcoming the backwardness of developing countries is the biggest global problem

As you have seen, each of the global problems of mankind has its own specific content. But all of them are closely interconnected: energy and raw materials with environmental, environmental with demographic, demographic with food, etc. The problem of peace and disarmament directly affects all other problems. However, now that the transition from an armaments economy to a disarmament economy has begun, the focus of most global problems is increasingly shifting to the countries of the developing world. . The scale of their backwardness is truly enormous (see Table 10).

The main manifestation and at the same time the cause of this backwardness is poverty, misery. More than 1.2 billion people, or 22% of the total population in these regions, live in extreme poverty in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Half of the poor people exist on $1 a day, the other half on $2. Poverty and poverty are especially characteristic of the countries of Tropical Africa, where almost half of the entire population lives on $1-2 a day. Residents of urban slums and rural hinterland are forced to be content with a standard of living that is 5-10% of the standard of living in the richest countries.

Perhaps the food problem has acquired the most dramatic even catastrophic character in the developing countries. Of course, hunger and malnutrition have existed in the world since the very beginning of human development. Already in the XIX - XX centuries. many millions of lives were taken away by outbreaks of famine in China, India, Ireland, many African countries and the Soviet Union. But the existence of famine in the era of scientific and technological revolution and overproduction of food in the economically developed countries of the West is truly one of the paradoxes of our time. It is also generated by the general backwardness and poverty of the developing countries, which have led to a huge backlog of agricultural production from the needs for its products.

Today, the “geography of hunger” in the world is determined primarily by the most backward countries of Africa and Asia, not affected by the “green revolution”, where a significant part of the population lives literally on the verge of starvation. More than 70 developing countries are forced to import food.

Due to diseases associated with malnutrition and hunger, lack of clean water, 40 million people die in developing countries every year (which is comparable to the human losses during the entire Second World War), including 13 million children. It is no coincidence that the African girl depicted on the poster of the UN Children's Fund answered the question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” answers with only one word: "Alive!"

The demographic problem of developing countries is closely related to food . The population explosion has a contradictory effect on them. On the one hand, it provides a constant influx of fresh forces, the growth of labor resources, and on the other hand, it creates additional difficulties in the struggle to overcome economic backwardness, complicates the solution of many social issues, "eats" a significant part of their achievements, increases the "load" on the territory. In most countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, the rate of population growth outstrips the rate of food production.

You already know that recently the population explosion in developing countries has taken the form of an "urban explosion". But, despite this, the number of rural population in most of them not only does not decrease, but increases. Accordingly, the already huge agrarian overpopulation is increasing, which continues to support a wave of migration both to the “poverty belts” of large cities and abroad, to richer countries. Not surprisingly, the bulk of the refugees are in developing countries. Recently, more and more environmental refugees have joined the stream of economic refugees.

The specific age composition of the population of developing countries, already known to you, is directly related to the population explosion, where there are two dependents for every able-bodied person. [go]. The high proportion of young people exacerbates many social problems to the extreme. The ecological problem also has a direct connection with the food and demographic problems. Back in 1972, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called poverty the worst environmental pollution. Indeed, many of the developing countries are so poor, and the terms of international trade are so unfavorable for them, that often they have no choice but to continue to cut down rare forests, allow livestock to trample pastures, allow the transfer of "dirty" industries, etc., without caring. about future. This is the root cause of such processes as desertification, deforestation, soil degradation, reduction in the species composition of fauna and flora, water and air pollution. The special vulnerability of the nature of the tropics only exacerbates their consequences.

The plight of most developing countries has become a major human, global problem. Back in 1974, the UN adopted a program stipulating that in 1984 not a single person in the world would go to bed hungry.

That is why overcoming the backwardness of developing countries remains an extremely urgent task. . (Creative task 8.)

Global problems of mankind in the 21st century and possible solutions

Problems of a planetary scale are related to the global problems of mankind, and the fate of all mankind depends on their balanced solution. These problems are not isolated, they are interconnected and concern all aspects of the life of the people of our planet, regardless of their economic, social and cultural levels.

In modern society, it is necessary to clearly separate well-known problems from global ones in order to understand their cause and the whole world to begin to eliminate it.

After all, if we consider the problem of overpopulation, then humanity needs to understand that it can be easily dealt with if you do not spend a lot of money on wars and advertising, but provide access to the necessary resources, and throw all your efforts into the formation of material and cultural wealth.

Here the question arises, what are the true global problems that concern humanity in the twenty-first century?

The world society stepped into the 21st century with the same problems and threats to life on earth as before. Let's take a closer look at some of the problems of our time. Threats to humanity in the 21st century include:

Environmental problems

Much has already been said about such a negative phenomenon for life on Earth as global warming. Scientists to this day find it difficult to give an accurate answer about the future of the climate, and what may follow the increase in temperature on the planet. After all, the consequences may be such that the temperature will rise until the winters disappear altogether, or it may be the other way around, and global cooling will come.

And since the point of no return in this matter has already been passed, and it is impossible to stop it, it is necessary to look for ways to control and adapt to this problem.

Such catastrophic consequences were caused by the rash activities of people who, for the sake of profit, were engaged in the robbery of natural resources, lived one day and did not think about what this could lead to.

Of course, the international community is trying to start solving this problem, but so far somehow not as actively as we would like. And in the future, the climate will definitely continue to change, but in which direction, it is still difficult to predict.

The threat of war

Also, one of the main global problems is the threat of various kinds of military conflicts. And, unfortunately, the trend towards its disappearance is not yet foreseen, but on the contrary, it only sharpens.

At all times, there have been confrontations between central and peripheral countries, where the former tried to make the latter dependent and, naturally, the latter tried to get away from it, also with the help of wars.

The main ways and means of solving global problems

Unfortunately, the ways to overcome all the global problems of mankind have not yet been found. But in order for a positive shift to occur in their solution, it is necessary that mankind direct its activities towards the preservation of the natural environment, peaceful existence and the creation of favorable living conditions for future generations.

Therefore, the main methods for solving global problems remain, first of all, the formation of consciousness and a sense of responsibility of all citizens of the planet without exception for their actions.

It is necessary to continue a comprehensive study of the causes of various internal and international conflicts and the search for ways to resolve them.

It will not be superfluous to constantly inform citizens about global problems, involving the public in their control and further forecasting.

Ultimately, each person must take responsibility for the future of our planet and take care of it. To do this, it is necessary to look for ways to interact with the outside world, develop new technologies, conserve resources, look for alternative energy sources, etc.

Maksakovskiy V.P., Geography. Economic and social geography of the world 10 cells. : studies. for general education institutions