General system laws of ecology. Ecological Laws of Barry Commoner The meaning of the principle everything is connected with everything
Barry Commoner is a famous American environmental scientist. He is also the author of several books and a well-known social and political activist.
Commoner was born in 1917. He attended Harvard University and received his Ph.D. in biology in 1941. The main theme of his work, Commoner as a biologist, chose - the problem of the destruction of the ozone layer.
In 1950, Commoner, being an opponent of atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, tried to draw public attention to this problem. In 1960 he took part in solving other environmental issues, including security issues environment and research on energy sources. He has written many books: Science and Survival (1967), The Closing Circle (1971), Energy and Human Welfare (1975), The Poverty of Power (1976), The Politics of Energy (1979), and Making Peace with the Planet ( 1990).
According to Commoner, today's industrial methods and the extraction of fossil fuels lead to active environmental pollution. He firmly believes that the pursuit of maximum profit, at present, takes precedence over the ecology of the planet. According to Commoner, only compensation for the damage caused to nature is meaningless. We must, first of all, focus on preventing the destruction of nature in the future; for the most part, the solution to environmental problems lies in the preservation of the environment.
It took humanity almost 5 million years until its population reached 1 billion. Then it took only 50 years (in 1920-1970) until it doubled, that is, it grew from 1.8 billion to 3.5 billion people. In 1987, the population of the Earth was 5 billion people. By the middle of the next century, it may reach 12-14 billion people. Over the entire history of human existence, almost 150 species of mammals have disappeared, of which more than 40 species have disappeared over the past 50 years. Over the past 30 years, more than 40 species and 40 subspecies of birds have disappeared.
Ecology as a science is theoretical basis environmental protection and rational nature management. The laws of ecology were formulated in 1974 by B. Commoner. They come down to four basic principles that explain the sustainable development of nature and encourage humanity to be guided by them in their impact on the environment.
3. Nature knows best - the law has a double meaning - at the same time a call to get closer to nature and a call to be extremely careful with natural systems. This law is based on the results of the emergence and development of life on earth, on natural selection in the process of life evolution. So, for any organic substance produced by organisms, there is an enzyme in nature that can decompose this substance. In nature, no organic substance will be synthesized if there are no means for its decomposition.
Contrary to this law, man has created (and continues to create) chemical compounds that, when released into the natural environment, do not decompose, accumulate and pollute it (polyethylene, DDT, etc.). This law warns us about the need for a reasonable transformation of natural systems (the construction of dams, the transfer of river flow, land reclamation, and much more).
4. Nothing is free (free translation - in the original, something like “There are no free meals”) The global ecological system, that is, the biosphere, is a single whole, within which any gain is associated with losses, but, with on the other hand, everything that is extracted from nature must be replaced. Payments on this bill cannot be avoided, they can only be deferred.
First law
Everything is connected to everything
1. Everything is connected to everything. This law reflects the existence of a colossal network of connections in the biosphere between living organisms and the natural environment. Any change in the quality of the natural environment through existing links is transmitted both within biogeocenoses and between them, affecting their development.
Barry Commoner's first law of ecology draws our attention to the general connection between processes and phenomena in nature and is very close in meaning to the law of internal dynamic equilibrium: a change in one of the system indicators causes functional and structural quantitative and qualitative changes, while the system itself leaves a total amount of material and energetic qualities. The rabbit eats grass, the wolf eats the rabbit, but both the rabbit and the wolf have the same goal - to provide their bodies with food and, most importantly, energy.
Energy in various forms connects all organisms on Earth with each other and with the environment.
Almost all the energy, due to which all life on Earth exists, comes to Earth in the form of solar radiation. At different groups organisms their sources of energy and substances. All of these are irreplaceable resources.
In nature, any organism is affected immediately by a huge number (tens and hundreds) of various factors. In order for a living being to successfully exist and reproduce, these factors must fit into a certain range. This range is called the limit of tolerance (endurance) of a given type of organism. What unites living beings in a forest or a meadow - trees, flowers, butterflies flying above them? Butterfly caterpillars feed on plant leaves; Butterflies and bees need the nectar that flowers give them, and seeds in plants can only be set after the flowers have been pollinated by insects.
There is a well-known story about Darwin, who, when asked by his fellow countrymen about what to do to increase the buckwheat harvest, answered: “Dilute the cats.” And in vain fellow countrymen were offended. Darwin, knowing that in nature "everything is connected with everything", reasoned as follows - cats will catch all mice, mice will stop destroying bumblebee nests, bumblebees will pollinate buckwheat and the peasants will get a good harvest of it.
For example, the destruction of forests and the subsequent decrease in oxygen, as well as the release of nitrogen oxide and freon into the atmosphere, led to the depletion of the ozone layer in the atmosphere, which, in turn, increased the intensity of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the earth and has a detrimental effect on living organisms. For example, over the past 40 years, 50 percent of the forests in the Nepalese Himalayas have been cut down, which are used either as fuel or for wood products. But as soon as the trees were cut down, the falling monsoon rains washed away the soil from the slopes of the mountains. Since it is impossible for young trees to take root without topsoil, many mountains are now devoid of vegetation. Every year Nepal loses millions of tons of topsoil due to deforestation.
Similar problems exist in other countries.
In Bangladesh, heavy rains used to be held up by trees; now torrents of water flow unhindered from the devoid of vegetation mountains to the coast, causing catastrophic floods there. In the past, floods of enormous destructive power occurred in Bangladesh once every 50 years, but now every four years or more often.
In other parts of the world, deforestation has led to desertification and climate change in certain areas. In addition to forests, there are other Natural resources, which a person ruthlessly spends. Ecologists still know relatively little about how the parts of our giant ecosystem are interconnected, and the problem can only be noticed when serious damage has already been done. Confirmation of this is the problem of waste disposal, which clearly explains the second law of ecology.
So, everything in nature is interconnected!
Second Law
Everything has to go somewhere (nothing disappears without a trace)
2. Everything has to go somewhere. Nothing disappears without a trace, this or that substance simply moves from place to place, passes from one molecular form to another, while affecting the life processes of living organisms. The operation of this law is one of the main causes of the environmental crisis. Huge amounts of matter such as oil and ores are extracted from the earth, converted into new compounds and dispersed in the environment.
Commoner's second law is also close to the one discussed above, as well as the law of the development of a natural system at the expense of its environment, especially its first consequence. Now in industrial ecology a rule of the so-called life cycle of things has been developed: giving consent to the release of a product, society must clearly understand what will happen to it in the future, where its existence will end and what will have to be done with its “remains”. Therefore, we can only rely on low-waste production. In this regard, with the development of technologies, it is necessary:
a) low energy and resource intensity,
b) the creation of production, in which the waste of one production is the raw material of another production,
c) organization of reasonable disposal of imminent waste
Imagine what an ordinary house would look like if there were no waste thrown out of it. Our planet is the same closed system: everything that we throw away, in the end, must accumulate somewhere within our home - the Earth. Partial destruction of the ozone layer shows that even such seemingly harmless gases as chlorofluorocarbons (freons) do not disappear without a trace, dissolving in the air. In addition to freons, there are hundreds of other potentially hazardous substances that are released into the atmosphere, rivers and oceans.
True, some wastes, which are called "biodegradable", can be split over time and included in natural processes, while others cannot. Many beaches around the world are strewn with plastic packaging that will lie in this form for several decades.
Barry Commoner became a well-known environmentalist through his widely circulated books. He succeeded in explaining to American society the danger of a frivolous attitude to the environment in popular science language. The famous Commoner's laws are a generalization of the conclusions that the researcher made over the long years of his professional career.
Biography of Commoner
The future scientist Barry Commoner was born in 1917 in New York, in a family of emigrants from Russian Empire. He decided to devote his life to science. The young man entered which he graduated in 1941. The young specialist received a doctorate in biology. While still at university, he became interested in studying the problem of the destruction of the ozone layer.
The scientist's research formed the basis of several of his books on ecology. In them, among other things, Commoner's laws were published, which became the hallmark of the researcher. Some of the scientist's books were published even in the Soviet Union. At first glance, it may seem strange, but the Commoner was great for the USSR. The fact was that the American ecologist adhered to socialist views. A combination of leftist ideology and environmental studies became the foundation for his books The Closing Circle and The Technology of Profit. They also have Commoner's laws.
Capitalism harms the environment
Commoner believed that modern industrial technologies, as well as intensive fuel extraction, were a threat to all mankind. everything grows because of the desire of entrepreneurs and the state to extract maximum profit. Commoner criticize the capitalist system, in which it is nature that suffers the most.
The scientist also tried to convey to his readers the idea that the damage caused can no longer be compensated. Man has no opportunity to restore the lost ecosystem. Therefore, Commoner's laws were based on the need to prevent possible harm rather than heal the wounds already inflicted by society.
Alternative energy sources
The American ecologist not only pointed out the shortcomings of modern production. He also offered solutions to get out of the current situation. Commoner has been a strong advocate for the use of renewable energy sources. The first is, of course, sunlight.
Commoner's ideas were expressed in the 70s. Today, you can see the implementation of many of his projects with your own eyes. Solar panels, windmills - all this has already become a common source of energy for rich countries. These technologies are used not only in large enterprises, but even in the homes of ordinary citizens. The market for solar panels in the US and Europe is growing at the fastest pace today.
Redistribution of benefits
Commoner's famous laws of ecology also refer to the social problems that have caused environmental pollution. The twentieth century widened the gap between rich and poor countries even further. In some states there is a rapid technical progress, in others, life changes very slowly.
These gave rise to the term "Third World countries". Mostly it's Africa. On the other hand, Asia has a huge problem of overpopulation. Giant Chinese cities are world leaders in the emission of smog and other harmful substances into the Earth's atmosphere.
Barry Commoner's laws are based on socialist ideas. The scientist proposed to distribute the world's wealth. According to his idea, the extra funds of wealthy societies should have been used to improve the lives of countries with a low standard of living. This would have avoided colossal environmental problems in these regions. Due to overpopulation, rivers become shallow, subsoil resources become scarce, and stable natural ties and chains are destroyed.
"Everything is connected to everything"
There are 4 Commoner's laws in total. The first of them is called "Everything is connected with everything." What is its logic? Commoner in his books tried to explain that everything that happens in nature is closely interconnected. If a person harms one part of the environment, then he naturally harms the rest.
Commoner's Law "Everything is related to everything" is also called the law of dynamic internal balance. This principle says that even small changes made by a person to the world around him, over time, develop into a catastrophe.
Consider an example. A company specializing in the sale of timber is cutting down the forest intensively. How can this affect the rest of nature? As the number of trees decreases, the amount of free oxygen also decreases. In addition, there are additional emissions of nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere, which depletes the ozone layer. Finally, the last link in this chain will be the increase in ultraviolet radiation, which is harmful to all living organisms.
Darwin and buckwheat
It should be noted that Commoner's basic laws of ecology were formulated by him thanks to his knowledge of the work of his predecessors. As you know, the scientist in his specialized education was a biologist. He studied Darwinian theory a lot and was familiar with the biography of his famous predecessor in detail.
In one of his books, Commoner recounted a curious fact from the life of the founder of the idea of evolution. One day, farmers approached Darwin with a request for advice on how to increase the buckwheat crop. The scientist answered quite unexpectedly. He suggested that the peasants get more cats. Darwin, like Commoner, was well aware of the interconnectedness of everything that happens in nature. He understood that the new cats would exterminate the peasants who regularly spoiled the buckwheat crop. This story is a perfect illustration of what Barry Commoner wanted to say. The laws of ecology, as this example shows, are proved empirically.
"Everything has to go somewhere"
Commoner's second law affects the phenomenon of redistribution of substances in the environment. This principle, formulated is called "Everything has to go somewhere." In the natural state of nature, each substance has its own cycle of "life". Only that which can disappear in the future is synthesized in the environment.
Barry Commoner's laws state that this is a natural process. And it's hard to disagree with that. However, since humanity entered the modern era, it has been systematically producing artificial substances that are extremely difficult to destroy without consequences for nature. For example, these are DDT, polyethylene, etc. The same list can include resources extracted from the bowels of the earth. Refined and used oil leaves an indelible mark on the environment. B. Commoner's laws and his whole theory criticize such production. Oil, ore and other substances are converted into new compounds that cannot be dispersed in the environment.
Waste management
Man can no longer abandon modern industry. At the same time, it is also not possible to make it completely waste-free. Therefore, the scientist suggested at least minimizing the damage that production causes to nature.
The environmental laws of Barry Commoner state that, firstly, new technologies should be as resource-intensive as possible. Secondly, it is necessary to create such a production in which the waste of human activity could be used as a raw material. Finally, thirdly, if the release of harmful products is inevitable, then society is obliged to create a reasonable system for their disposal and disposal.
"Nature knows best"
Commoner's third law concerns the complexity of the world around us. Even modern man, with all his technologies, cannot know all the relationships within nature. The biosphere is made up of millions of different beings. It is divided into many zones. The flora and fauna of the world have evolved over billions of years. If a person intervenes in these processes, even if he wants to improve the situation around him, he will only cause additional harm.
Commoner's environmental laws urge people to be careful. Active transformations of nature can lead to the fact that our entire world will be unsuitable for normal life. Human interventions are represented by hundreds of illustrative cases just for recent times. For example, the shooting of wolves in some northern forests has led to the fact that this natural area has lost its natural "orderlies". Sparrows were massacred in China. The inhabitants of the country believed that huge flocks of these birds harm crops. When the sparrows disappeared, insects took their place, and there was no one to eat them. Changes in the biological chain have led to even greater crop losses in China.
"Nothing comes for free"
This is Commoner's last law. He has another interpretation, which says that "you have to pay for everything." The law is based on the principle that the natural system always develops at the expense of the environment. A single biosphere consists of many parts. If something new appears in it, then it will surely replace something old.
The same can be said about the technological achievements of mankind. If we create something that affects nature, then this will lead to some losses in the environment. B. Commoner's laws of ecology are connected with the principle of internal dynamic balance, which was already mentioned in the description of the first law.
The scientist compared the transformation of nature with the payment of a bill. A person will have to destroy something old in order to get something new. At the same time, he can delay the inevitable payment "on a bill", but sooner or later he will still have to pay. The fourth law has a vivid example. This is agriculture. With the annual cultivation of vegetables in the same place, the level of nutrients in the soil (phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, etc.) decreases. Each time the harvest is getting smaller and smaller. In the end, a person has to either leave this area or treat it with fertilizers.
Ecotechnologies
Commoner proposed to create a new type of production that would work in harmony with nature. These are the so-called eco-technologies. The scientist believed that such projects could well be implemented if, by their logic, they coincide with the processes taking place in the biosphere or even continue them. Therefore, mankind should find out those principles, thanks to which nature maintains its balance. Already relying on these rules, society will be able to create environmentally friendly production.
An example is the situation with the processing of substances. In nature, they decompose only with the help of microorganisms. But some human waste only harms the environment. Therefore, according to Commoner, humanity should throw into the biosphere only what it can absorb itself. The rest must be processed artificially with the help of modern technologies. This is a matter of environmental feasibility.
COMMONER'S LAWS OF ECOLOGY
COMMONER'S ECOLOGY LAWS formulated by the American ecologist B. Commoner (1974) in a free fictional form laws (not in the strict sense, as is customary in natural science): 1) “Everything is connected with everything”; this means that the living dynamics of complex and branched ecological chains eventually forms a single highly connected system; in an abstract version, this statement repeats the well-known dialectical-materialist position about the universal connection of things and phenomena; at a more concrete level, it acts as a generalization of a cybernetic character; 2) “Everything has to go somewhere”; this is an informal paraphrase of the fundamental physical law of the conservation of matter; here Commoner poses one of the most difficult problems of applied ecology - the problem of assimilation by the biosphere of the waste of human civilization; 3) “Nature knows best”; this law causes the greatest criticism in the literature; this proposition breaks down into two relatively independent theses: the first one, in solidarity with the well-known neo-Russoist slogan “Back to nature”, which today cannot be accepted as unrealistic; the second, related to the call for caution in dealing with natural ecosystems, is important and constructive; 4) “Nothing is given for free”; this environmental law combines the three previous laws; according to Commoner, “the global ecosystem is a single whole within which nothing can be gained or lost and which cannot be the object of general improvement; everything that has been extracted from it by human labor must be replaced. Payment on this bill cannot be avoided; it can only be delayed.”
Ecological encyclopedic dictionary. - Chisinau: Main edition of the Moldavian Soviet Encyclopedia. I.I. Grandpa. 1989
COMMONER'S LAWS OF ECOLOGY were formulated in the early 1970s. American scientist B. Commoner.
First law. Everything is connected to everything. This is the law on ecosystems and the biosphere, which draws attention to the universal connection of processes and phenomena in nature. It is designed to warn a person against rash impact on certain parts of ecosystems, which can lead to unforeseen consequences. (for example, draining swamps leads to shallowing of rivers).
Second law. Everything has to go somewhere. This is a law on human economic activity, the waste from which is inevitable, and therefore it is necessary to think both about reducing their number and about their subsequent use.
Third law. Nature "knows" better. This is the law of reasonable, conscious nature management. We must not forget that man is also a biological species, that he is part of nature, and not its master. This means that one should not try to conquer nature, but should cooperate with it. While we do not have complete information about the mechanisms and functions of nature, and without an accurate knowledge of the consequences of the transformation of nature, no "improvements" of it are allowed.
Fourth Law. Nothing is given for free. This is the law of rational use of natural resources. "... The global ecosystem is an integral whole within which nothing can be gained or lost, and which cannot be subject to universal improvement." You need to pay with energy for additional waste treatment, fertilizer - for increasing the yield, sanatoriums and medicines - for the deterioration of human health, etc.
Ecological dictionary, 2001
A prominent American ecologist and conservationist Barry Commoner formulated four "laws of ecology", which he successfully applied to explain the current ecological situation. Think carefully about their content.
1. Everything is connected to everything(or "everything affects everything"). This is a very laconic paraphrase of the law of materialistic dialectics about the universal interconnection and interdependence of objects and phenomena in nature and society. F. Engels wrote: “After all, nothing happens in nature in isolation. Each phenomenon affects the other, and vice versa.
This "law" reflects the colossal number of connections between the billions of living beings inhabiting the biosphere and their environment, between the biosphere and society, between the components different ecosystems, the biosphere and the sun. Unexpected chains of connections are known. Let's give examples. Unmoderate deforestation causes forests causes: decrease in forest cover - increase in surface runoff - decrease in stock ground water– soil erosion – shallowing and siltation of rivers and lakes – reduction of the area of floodplains – reduction in the productivity of land, fodder lands – decrease in livestock productivity – shortage of food products.
2. Everything has to go somewhere. This is a paraphrase of the law of conservation of matter and energy: nothing disappears without a trace. Once in the environment, the substance (garbage) passes from one form to another, moves from place to place, from one ecosystem to another, from area to area, often concentrated along food chains. Everything that a person throws out into the environment during the production process sooner or later enters the human body through food, air and water, causing numerous diseases, premature aging and death.
4. Nothing comes for free. All good things have to be paid for. The global system is one. A gain in one place is followed by a loss in another. In every specific case the ratio of gain and loss will be different, there may be very large deviations in one direction or another. Thus, the flooding of floodplain meadows during the construction of a hydroelectric power station makes it necessary to spend a large number of energy for fodder production on irrigated lands. The immoderate intake of water from rivers during land irrigation reduces the flow of these rivers, causes shallowing and drying up of them, as well as those inland water bodies into which these rivers flow. As a result, desertification of landscapes around shallowed or disappeared water bodies often occurs. Nature is so complex and perfect that "almost every step we take forward brings both benefit and harm."
Thus, the skillful use of the most general laws of philosophy, physics, and ecology makes it possible not only to explain modern ecological situation but also helps to change, regulate it.
Conversation "How to behave in nature?" (for students in grades 6–7)
Target: evoke a sense of belonging of each student to the state of the environment, nature, an inner need to work on solving its problems.
Guidelines: The room where the conversation is held should be appropriately designed: it can be an exhibition of protected plants and animals listed in the Red Book, herbariums of poisonous plants, an exhibition indoor plants, colorful posters.
Dear Guys! There is probably no person on Earth who would not be interested in the life of animals, would not admire the beauty of rivers, flowering meadows and would not strive to learn as much as possible about nature. After all, man himself is a part of nature, he must take care of nature, preserve it and increase it. However, in our technological age, millions of people live in an environmentally harmful environment. The Chernobyl tragedy created huge zones of radiation contamination. Water and air contain many toxic substances, especially in large industrial cities. Soils are polluted and destroyed; food products contain chemical compounds harmful to the human body; degradation of the biosphere continues, many species of plants and animals die out.
It is time for every person to think about how to preserve and preserve our nature. To begin with, every student must master environmental knowledge, learn how to behave correctly in nature, know the laws of nature and remember that life is now a universal value. Now let's get acquainted with the rules of behavior in nature:
1. Do not litter in the forest! Know that the paper you left in the forest will only rot in a few years, and broken glass can cause a fire, a plastic bag breaks down within 226 years.
2. Do not tear flowers in large armfuls! This leads to a decrease in their number.
Remember, it takes 7-8 years for a plant to grow from lily of the valley seeds!
3. Don't make noise in the forest! Do not turn on the tape recorder at full power; bumblebees, bees, wasps, beetles and other insects will not be able to take off from the large vibration of the air. Noise also frightens birds and animals.
4. You can't tame wild animals without knowing how to take care of them.
5. Birds - winged protection of forests, gardens, parks. Don't touch the bird's nests, chicks; Birds don't like being disturbed. In one day, a titmouse can destroy more than five hundred insects.
6. Protect anthills, make special fences. The forest cannot live without ants!
7. Do not leave unburned fires in the forest! Remember that one tree can make a million matches, and one match can destroy a million trees.
8. Remember that it is currently forbidden to collect insect collections. Such beautiful butterflies as a dead head, black Apollo, blue sash, admiral and others are included in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus. Protect them!
9. Remember that the following plants are included in the Red Book of Belarus: white water lily, forest anemone, European bathing suit, small egg-cap, high primrose, valerian dioecious, rapunzel bell and other species. Study them and protect them, they are on the verge of extinction!
10. Remember poisonous plants: henbane, dope, hemlock, crow's eye, wolf's bast. They must be handled with care!
11. Remember this poem by P. Brovka and think about its content:
Everything is so wounded in the forest,
As after the days of the war.
Here, neither spruce nor pine can be found surviving.
A birch was stabbed with a knife by a live-eater.
It seems to me that from under the bark my tear flows.
From this human callousness
My soul hurts
Under the crippled oak tree, it's not the wind that moans - it's me.
Here the anthill is set on fire
blasphemous hand,
It seems to me that it’s not him, but my house is on fire,
They left, offending beauty, confusing the forest comfort,
Not hearing that all the leaves are shedding tears behind their backs.
In the second part of the conversation, the teacher invites students to get acquainted with the theses of environmental morality and decipher their meaning:
P every person has the right to a favorable living environment;
P nature must be loved and protected, it is our mother and breadwinner;
P even the most advanced technology cannot replace nature;
P violating the coherence and beauty of nature, it is difficult to hope for its full restoration;
P took from nature - compensate three times, cut down a tree - plant three;
P measure seven times and do not do that, the consequences of which for nature you do not know;
P in a sick nature one cannot remain healthy;
P just talking about nature conservation is not enough , need to act;
P do not kill the living;
P don't pick the flowers - the plants need them.
At the end of the conversation, a summary of the significance of nature for each person is summed up.
The man who decided to run for president of the United States, the author of many books (some of them were published even in the USSR) and an active fighter for environmental production is Barry Commoner. The laws of the existence of mankind, proposed by him, are simple and understandable even to a younger student. about him, him life path and laws, as well as the future of mankind, this article tells.
The same age as the revolution
This political figure and the ecologist is a descendant of Russian emigrants. He was born in 1917 in Brooklyn. A descendant of a Chisinau tailor who went blind when he was a child, he managed to get a bachelor's degree from Columbia University and a master's and doctoral degree in biology from Harvard. A lieutenant in the Navy during World War II, he spent 34 years as an instructor at St. Louis University upon graduation. He died in 2012 in New York, where he directed the Center for Biology at Queens College since 1980.
Path to fame
The world first heard this name (Barry Commoner) in the 50s of the last century. He was recognized as an active fighter against nuclear weapons testing. And no wonder, because his specialization is the study of the occurrence of ozone holes and the worldwide thinning of the planet's ozone layer. And by 1980, a scientist from the US Civil Party was running for president of the United States of America. He won too few (0.27%) votes - America was not yet ready for his radical socialist views on the development of industry and the use of the planet's resources, increasing energy sources using a renewable resource. He writes books, the most famous of which are: Science and Survival (1967), The Closing Circle (1971), Energy and Human Welfare (1975), The Poverty of Power (1976), The Politics of Energy (1979). After the failure in the elections, the scientist moves away from big politics and becomes an active educator.
Barry Commoner's laws
The author of many books, an active fighter against nuclear tests and a well-known biologist. But he became known to the world thanks to the environmental laws of Barry Commoner. The frivolous attitude of society towards nature, the consumer concept of life and extensive industry - these are just a small fraction of the factors that the scientist considered and studied. It was the analysis of the general disregard for the environmental friendliness of the use of available resources that led to the birth in the head of Barry Commoner of the laws of ecology (1974), which every student of the relevant profile knows today. But they are simple and understandable to everyone. Commoner's environmental laws are studied at institutes and schools, but preschoolers are also introduced to them. Do not be surprised - these postulates are clear even to them.
B. Commoner's laws in ecology
Like any science, ecology has its own rules and laws. And there are many ecologists who formulate rules and laws, proving their correctness, in this science. But Commoner's laws of ecology are just a set of four almost comic statements that do not require proof and calculations. They stand alone in the methodology of science, and yet they only confirm scientific calculations. And we will move on to a consideration of the almost socialist laws of Commoner - with examples and explanations.
Academic Approach
- Everything is connected to everything.
- Everything has to go somewhere.
- Nature still knows best.
- Nothing is given for free.
That, in fact, is all. Is there something that is not clear? Let me explain though.
Commoner's first law
This is the law of dynamic balance. Everyone who watched the Hollywood blockbuster The Butterfly Effect (2004) understands what it is about. Even the smallest change in nature, introduced from the outside, leads to catastrophic consequences. Modern ecologists have such examples in their arsenal. In particular, the film does have truthful grounds. It was at this time that ecologists published materials telling how the disappearance of one species of moth in the Amazon floodplain led to changes in the ecotope, up to changes in relief. This law was voiced by Commoner, but Charles Darwin spoke about it. There is a fairly well-known case when peasants turned to Charles Darwin with the problem of reducing the buckwheat harvest. When asked about how to increase productivity, Charles replied that all peasants need to ... get a cat. A wonderful illustration of the interconnection of everything and everything, isn't it?
Law of the cycle
Commoner's second law is the law of redistribution and circulation of substances. In an ecosystem, it must have a vicious circle (producers, decomposers, consumers). Everyone was taught food pyramids and the cycle of elements at school. But man has created substances that did not exist in nature (DDT, polypropylene and polyethylene). And these compounds do not enter into the natural process of redistribution. With the development of technology, humanity is faced with the problem of waste disposal, and today it is on everyone's lips. There are many examples - they are known to everyone. And Barry Commoner's idea of zero-waste production today finds its practical confirmation in subsistence agriculture and the greening of industry.
Nature is perfect
The variety of relationships in nature is amazing. The third law calls us to be careful in our actions in the transformation of the environment. There are enough examples: shooting sparrows in China, bringing rabbits to Australia, mass extermination of wolves in northern countries... One can go on, but any unnatural changes in the ecosystem will inevitably lead to sometimes irreversible changes in the ecosystem of the entire planet.
You have to pay for everything
This is how you can paraphrase the fourth and last law of Barry Commoner. Einstein said that if something arrived somewhere, then it left somewhere. In a biosystem, something new is sure to supplant the old. This is the price nature pays for evolution. But human activity disrupts the natural course of events and development, making adjustments to it that are unusual for the ecosystem. The scientist called it payments "on bills of exchange." The transition to new agricultural land is a vivid and illustrative example of this. Or applying genetically modified products We pay for their consumption with our health and the health of our children. And in this case, the ideas of the scientist about the biotechnologies of production, again, today find their confirmation. natural leading Agriculture and natural products today - a fetish of mankind.
There is an exit
The scientist's pessimistic statement: "If we want to survive, we must understand the causes of the approaching catastrophe" - found an optimistic reflection in the concept of sustainable development as the path along which our civilization should move. In 2002, at the UN summit in Johannesburg, all 27 postulates of the concept of sustainable development, formulated in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, were documented. Barry Commoner's laws have played an important role in the work of the UN Commission on these issues. It is this commission that introduces the concept of Sustainable Development, which in translation into Russian sounds like "sustainable development". Thanks to her work, today's humanity has hope.
A light in the end of a tunnel
The concept of sustainable development is the subject of a separate article. We only note that this strategy implies that only the efforts of all states in the greening of industry and agriculture make it possible to stop the growth of crisis tendencies in the planet's ecosystem. This concept is based on the postulates of the symbiosis of economic (resource conservation, ecological agro-complex) and social (ecological consciousness of the population) development of society, its sustainability in harmony with nature. On an intuitive level, this is understandable to everyone, and we will leave the development of paths and methodology to specialists.
What do we have today
At the UN summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, 135 countries signed documents on sustainable development, including Russia. This summit is called Rio Plus Twenty. The United Nations continues to work in this direction. Recommendations and corresponding declarations on international cooperation and globalization of processes, development of the green agro-industrial complex have been developed. All countries agree that the lack of steps in the greening of the planet will cost humanity much more than the overall economic well-being in the future. Ecocide of the planet (destruction by man) is a concept known to all. These are the loss of arable land, and man-made earthquakes, and unprecedented tsunamis and floods, and the development of deposits in the shelf zone, and oil spills in the ocean, and the disastrous melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice. It must be remembered that biological bonds, broken once, will never be restored.
The level of states is understandable, but sustainable development is the path of every inhabitant of the planet. And this path is made up of simple components: individual energy saving, economical use of resources, separate waste collection, respect for nature and its riches. The laws of Barry Commoner must work in every home and in every family - and then nature will repay us with the singing of nightingales during a clean and clear dawn, the beauty of a forest landscape and the clear water of a cool lake.
