Anthropogenic factors: examples. What is anthropogenic factor?

The scale of human activity has increased immeasurably in the past several hundred years, which means that new anthropogenic factors also appeared. Examples of the impact, the place and role of mankind in changing habitat - about all this later in the article.

What is the environment of life?

Part of the nature of the Earth, in which organisms live, is their habitat. The resulting relationships, lifestyle, productivity, number of creatures are studied by ecology. The main components of nature are distinguished: soil, water and air. There are organisms that are adapted to live in one environment or in three, for example coastal plants.

Individual elements interacting with living beings and among themselves are environmental factors. Each of them is irreplaceable. But in recent decades, anthropogenic factors have become planetary. Although half a century ago, the influence of society on nature was not given enough attention, and 150 years ago the very science of ecology was in its infancy.

What are environmental factors?

The conditions of the natural environment can be very diverse: space, information, energy, chemical, and climatic. Any natural components of physical, chemical or biological origin are environmental factors. They directly or indirectly affect the individual biological species, the population, the entire biocenosis. There are no fewer phenomena related to human activities, for example, the factor of anxiety. Many anthropogenic factors affect the vital activity of organisms, the state of biocenoses and the geographical envelope . Examples:

• The increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to climate change;
• Monoculture in agriculture causes outbreaks of the number of individual harmful organisms;
• Fires lead to a change in the plant community;
• The reduction of forests and the construction of a hydroelectric power station changes the regime of rivers.

What are the environmental factors?

The conditions affecting living organisms and their habitat, by properties, can be attributed to one of three groups:

• Inorganic, or abiotic factors (solar radiation, air, temperature, water, wind, salinity);
• Biotic conditions that are associated with the coexistence of microorganisms, animals, plants, affecting each other, on inanimate nature;
• Anthropogenic environmental factors - the combined effect of the Earth's population on nature.

All these groups are important. Every ecological factor is irreplaceable. For example, the abundance of water does not make up for the amount of mineral elements and light necessary for plant nutrition.

What is anthropogenic factor?

The main sciences that study the environment are global ecology, human ecology and nature protection. They are based on the data of theoretical ecology, widely use the notion of "anthropogenic factors". Anthropos in Greek means "person", genos is translated as "origin". The word "factor" comes from the Latin factor ("doing, producing"). So the conditions influencing processes, their driving force are called.

Any human impact on living organisms, the entire environment - is anthropogenic factors. Examples exist both positive and negative. There are cases of favorable changes in nature due to environmental protection. But more often the society has a negative, sometimes destructive effect on the biosphere.

The place and role of the anthropogenic factor in changing the appearance of the Earth

Any kind of economic activity of the population affects the links between living organisms and the natural habitat, often leads to their violation. Anthropogenic ones appear on the site of natural complexes and landscapes:

• Fields, gardens and orchards;
• Reservoirs, ponds, canals;
• Parks, forest belts;
• Cultural pastures.

The human-like similarities of natural complexes are further influenced by anthropogenic, biotic and abiotic environmental factors . Examples: the formation of deserts - on agricultural plantations; Overgrowing of ponds.

How does a person affect nature?

Humanity - part of the Earth's biosphere - for a long period of time completely depended on the surrounding natural conditions. With the development of the nervous system, in particular the brain, thanks to the improvement of the tools of labor, man himself became a factor in evolutionary and other processes on the Earth. First of all, we must mention the mastery of mechanical, electrical and atomic energy. As a result, the upper part of the earth's crust has significantly changed, the biogenic migration of atoms has increased.

All the diversity of the impact of society on the environment - this is the anthropogenic factors. Examples of negative impact:

• Reduction of mineral resources;
• Reduction of forests;
• Soil pollution;
• Hunting and fishing;
• Extermination of wild species.

The positive influence of man on the biosphere is connected with environmental measures. There is reforestation and afforestation, landscaping and improvement of settlements, acclimatization of animals (mammals, birds, fish).

What is being done to improve the relationship between man and the biosphere?

The above examples of anthropogenic environmental factors, human intervention in nature indicate that the impact can be positive and negative. These characteristics are conditional, because a positive influence under changed conditions often becomes its opposite, that is, it acquires a negative color. The activities of the population are more likely to harm nature than good. This fact is explained by a violation of natural laws that have been in force for millions of years.

As early as 1971, the International Biological Program "Man and the Biosphere" was approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Its main task was to study and prevent adverse changes in the habitat. In recent years, adult and children's environmental organizations, scientific institutions are very concerned about the conservation of biological diversity.

How to improve the health of the environment?

We found out what anthropogenic factor is in ecology, biology, geography and other sciences. It should be noted that the well-being of human society, the life of present and future generations of people depend on the quality and degree of influence of economic activity on the environment. It is necessary to reduce the environmental risk associated with the increasing negative role of anthropogenic factors.

According to the researchers, even the conservation of biological diversity is not enough to ensure the health of the environment. It may be unfavorable for human life under its former biodiversity, but strong radiation, chemical and other types of pollution.

The connection between the health of nature, man and the degree of influence of anthropogenic factors is obvious. To reduce their negative impact requires the formation of a new attitude to the environment, the responsibility for the safe existence of wildlife and biodiversity conservation.