Environment, sustainable development and quality of life

Some writers define the environment as the environment that affects and especially conditions the life circumstances of people or society as a whole. It includes the set of natural, social and cultural values existing in a place and at a specific time, which influence the life of man and future generations. That is to say, it is not only about the space in which life develops, but also includes living beings, objects, water, soil, air and the relationships between them, as well as elements as intangible as culture.

INTRODUCTION

According to Chapter II article 8 of our Law 81 dated July 11, 1997, Environment is considered: a system of abiotic, biotic and socioeconomic elements with which man interacts, while adapting to, transforming and using it to satisfy your needs

Delving a little deeper into the particularities of the Concept, we can define the set of abiotic elements such as (solar energy, soil, water and air) and biotic (living organisms) that make up the thin layer of the Earth called the biosphere, sustenance and home of living beings.

The expression environment can be replaced by other more specific or ambiguous expressions such as environment or environment. The word middle can be a noun and also an adjective, with the meaning of the middle.

Historical development of the concept of environment

Hippocrates (460-375 years before Christ), in his work Aires, aguas y places, highlights the importance of the environment as a cause of disease. Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689) and Giovanni Maria Lancisi (1654-1720), formulate the miasmatic theory, in which the miasma is a set of fetid emanations from impure soils and waters that cause disease. In the 19th century with Chadwick, William Farr (1807-1883) with the mortality of the miners, John Snow (1813-1858) with "On the mode of transmission of cholera", the importance of the environment in epidemiology and the need to use numerical methods are consolidated.

World Environment Day

On June 5 of each year, World Environment Day is celebrated around the world. This was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1972. World Environment Day is one of the main vehicles through which the United Nations Organization stimulates global awareness of the Environment and intensifies attention and political action

Environment is everything that surrounds us and that we must take care of to keep our city, school, home, etc. clean, in short, everything where we can be, for this we have carried out the following research on the Environment. For the present work we have proposed the following summary:

Etymological origin Concept of environment The soil Homo sapiens Impacts caused to the environment by the use of fossil fuels The ozone layer Soil erosion and other forms of land degradation Progressive decline in water quality and availability United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development

Etymological origin

As a noun, the word medium comes from the Latin medium (neutral form); as an adjective, from the Latin medius (masculine form). The word environment comes from the Latin ambiens, -ambientis, and this one from ambere, "surround", "be on both sides."

The expression environment is for some writers partially redundant because; According to them, the two nouns have a coincident meaning, which is precisely what they have when they go together, in the case of the use of the term environment with a different meaning, as for example, when it is said "this cafeteria has a very pleasant atmosphere", or when referring to "environment", a term now used with some frequency in conferences and events of an Environmental nature.

And the use of two nouns with an equivalent meaning is justified in this case to achieve greater precision of the language, something that, in this and in many other cases, is extremely important to avoid ambiguities. And the word environment comes from the words 'in' and 'around', meaning 'around', 'contour'.

Environment concept

An environment could be considered as a super set, in which the given system is a subset. An environment can have one or more parameters, physical or otherwise. The environment of a given system must necessarily interact with the animal.

In epidemiology. The environment is the set of factors called extrinsic, which influence the existence, exposure and susceptibility of the agent to cause disease in the host. The atmosphere, which protects the Earth from excess ultraviolet radiation and allows life to exist, is a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, other elements and compounds, and dust particles. Heated by the Sun and the radiant energy of the Earth, the atmosphere circulates around the planet and modifies the thermal differences. Regarding water, 97% is found in the oceans, 2% is ice and the remaining 1% is fresh water from rivers, lakes, groundwater and atmospheric and soil moisture.

Soil

Soil is the thin blanket of matter that sustains life on Earth. It is the product of the interaction of the climate and the rocky substrate or bedrock, such as glacial moraines and sedimentary rocks, and vegetation. Plants use water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to convert raw materials into carbohydrates through photosynthesis; animal life, in turn, depends on plants in a sequence of interconnected links known as a food web.

The Earth has slowly changed during its long history. Continental drift (the result of plate tectonics) separated the continental masses, the oceans invaded and retreated from the mainland, and mountains rose and eroded, depositing sediments along the coasts (see Geology). Climates warmed and cooled, and life forms appeared and disappeared as the environment changed.

In our country, the substantive environmental norm Law 81 of the Environment dated July 11, 1997 in its article 108 where the preventive principle of the norm is reflected and in its precept it is stated: For the purposes of the prevention and control of pollution of The competent soils, bodies and agencies shall act in accordance with the following provisions:

The duty of all natural and legal persons to use correct practices in the generation, management and treatment of domestic, industrial and agricultural waste and in the use of any type of chemical and hormonal substances that can contaminate soils or crops. care to avoid and control soil contamination and to guarantee an adequate final disposal of household, industrial and hospital waste The prohibition of the disposal of waste in urban and rural vacant lands and areas adjacent to land communication routes, without prior authorization from the competent authorities.

It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture to direct and control the application of the provisions relating to the administration, conservation and improvement of agricultural and forest soils and to control their compliance, in coordination with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of the Basic Industry, the Ministry of Sugar and other competent bodies and agencies. In accordance with the provisions of Article 109 of the aforementioned Law 81/97.

In the aforementioned Law 81 in its article 106 it establishes that the natural or legal persons who are in charge of the use or exploitation of the land shall comply with the following provisions:

Make their activity compatible with the natural conditions of these and with the requirement to maintain their physical integrity and their productive capacity and not alter the balance of the ecosystems Adopt the corresponding measures, aimed at avoiding and correcting actions that favor erosion, salinization and Other forms of degradation or modification of their topographic and geomorphological characteristics Collaborate with the competent authorities in their proper conservation and management Carry out the conservation and rehabilitation practices that are determined according to the characteristics of the soils and their current and prospective uses Carry out actions of soil regeneration in the development of activities that may, directly or indirectly, cause environmental damage.Comply with the other provisions established in the basic soil legislation of the country and others that the competent bodies dictate under its protection.

Although, apparently, humans made their appearance in Africa, it was not long before they dispersed throughout the world. Thanks to their peculiar mental and physical abilities, they managed to escape the environmental constraints that limited other species and alter the environment to suit their needs. Living organisms, including humans, depend on all of them.

Homo Sapiens,

Homo sapiens, as a species that is to say, the human being, appeared late in the history of the Earth, but it has been able to modify the environment with its activities.

The first humans lived more or less in harmony with the environment, like other animals, their distance from the wild began in prehistory, with the first agricultural revolution. The ability to control and use fire allowed them to modify or eliminate natural vegetation, and the domestication and grazing of herbivorous animals led to overgrazing and soil erosion. The cultivation of plants also caused the destruction of natural vegetation to make room for crops and the demand for firewood led to the denudation of mountains and the depletion of entire forests. Wild animals were hunted for their meat and were destroyed if they were considered pests or predators.

While human populations remained small and their technology modest, their impact on the environment was only local. However, as the population grew and technology improved and increased, more significant and widespread problems appeared. The rapid technological advance produced after the Middle Ages culminated in the Industrial Revolution, which brought with it the discovery, use, and exploitation of fossil fuels, as well as the intensive exploitation of Earth's mineral resources.

With the Industrial Revolution, human beings really began to change the face of the planet, the nature of its atmosphere and the quality of its water. Today, the unprecedented demands placed on the environment by rapid human population growth and technological development is producing an increasingly accelerated decline in its quality and its ability to support life.

Impact caused to the environment by the use of fossil fuels

One of the most significant impacts has been the use of fossil fuels has produced on the terrestrial environment such as:

Increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The amount of atmospheric CO2 had been stable, apparently for centuries, but since 1750 it has increased by about 30%. What is significant about this change is that it can cause an increase in the Earth's temperature through a process known as the greenhouse effect. Atmospheric carbon dioxide tends to prevent long-wave radiation from escaping into outer space; Since more heat is produced and less can escape, the Earth's global temperature rises.

Our Environmental Law establishes in its article 126 that: The natural or legal persons in charge of energy use and its infrastructure, as well as the transport, transformation, distribution, storage and final use of energy, are obliged not to cause damage to the soil, water or atmosphere and to use technologies that guarantee compliance with current environmental regulations.

Significant global warming of the atmosphere would have serious effects on the environment. It would accelerate the melting of the polar ice caps, raise the sea level, change the climate regionally and globally, alter natural vegetation and affect crops. These changes, in turn, would have a huge impact on human civilization. In the 20th century, the planet's average temperature increased 0.6 ºC and scientists predict that the Earth's average temperature will rise between 1.4 and 5.8 ºC between 1990 and 2100.

Acidification is due to the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from thermal power plants and from motor vehicle exhausts. These products interact with sunlight, humidity and oxidants producing sulfuric and nitric acid, which are transported by atmospheric circulation and fall to the ground, carried away by rain and snow in the so-called acid rain, or in the form of deposits. dry, atmospheric particles and gases.

In the aforementioned Law 81 in its article 125 it is established that: The use of energy resources by any natural or legal person will preferably tend, whenever feasible, to the use of renewable sources of energy and equipment, technologies and measures technical and organizational techniques that stimulate the conservation and efficient use of energy.

In the 1970s and 1980s, scientists began to discover that human activity was having a negative impact on the ozone layer, a region of the atmosphere that protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays. If that gaseous layer did not exist, life would be impossible on our planet.

Acid rain is a major global problem. The acidity of some precipitation is equivalent to that of vinegar. Causing devastating consequences such as:

Corrodes metals Wears away stone buildings and monuments Damages and kills vegetation and acidifies lakes, streams and soils It can also retard the growth of forests.

Lake acidification has killed fish populations. Today it is also a problem in the southeastern United States and central North Africa.

Studies showed that the ozone layer was being affected by the increasing use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs, fluorine compounds), which are used in refrigeration, air conditioning, cleaning solvents, packaging materials and aerosols. Chlorine, a secondary chemical in CFCs, attacks ozone, which is made up of three oxygen atoms, robbing one of them to form chlorine monoxide. It then reacts with oxygen atoms to form oxygen molecules, releasing chlorine molecules that break down more ozone molecules.

The Ozone Layer

In 2003, the maximum size reached by the hole in the ozone layer over the south pole was about 28 million square kilometers. In the first instance, it was believed that the ozone layer was shrinking evenly across the planet. However, subsequent investigations revealed, in 1985, the existence of a large hole centered on Antarctica; 50% or more of the ozone over this area disappeared seasonally.

Due to the growing threat posed by these dangerous effects on the environment, many countries are trying to join forces to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, CFCs can remain in the atmosphere for more than 100 years, so ozone destruction will continue for decades. A thinning of the ozone layer exposes terrestrial life to an excess of ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin cancer and cataracts, reduce the response of the immune system, interfere with the photosynthesis process of plants and affect the growth of phytoplankton oceanic.

In our country, the Environment Law establishes in its article 156 that: The Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, in coordination with the competent bodies and agencies, will establish the provisions relating to the classification, production, storage, conservation, control, handling, exporting and importing of toxic industrial chemicals and those for the population's consumption, without prejudice to the attributions of the Ministry of the Interior and the National Civil Defense General Staff in relation to certain categories of toxic chemical products.

The aforementioned Law 81 continues in its article 157, that the Ministry of Public Health in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture and in coordination with other competent bodies and agencies, will establish the provisions referred to in the previous article, with respect to toxic chemicals pesticides. In our country, the person responsible for the protection of the Ozone Layer is the Ozone Technical Office, subordinate to the CITMA Environment Agency, which within its functions has: Organize, coordinate and control the national program for the reduction systematic and elimination of ozone-depleting substances.

For this, it uses a set of legal regulations that we explain below that have allowed Cuba to occupy a leading place in the protection of the Ozone Layer, such as:

Laws and Resolutions approved at different levels on the care of the Ozone Layer.

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RESOLUTION No. 116/2005

WHEREAS: By Agreement of the Council of State dated July 9, 2004, who resolves was appointed First Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Environment.

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RESOLUTION No. 114/2003

It establishes in the National Environment a Recognition system, granted by this Ministry.

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RESOLUTION NO. 1 FROM THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR

Regulates the import of Halons and establishes measures for substitutions

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RESOLUTION No. 107/2004

It prohibits the deliberate emission into the atmosphere of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in the refrigeration sector.

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RESOLUTION No. 116/2005

Establishes the National Schedule for the control of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, in products, equipment and technologies that use it.

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RESOLUTION No. 108/2004

It establishes the freezing of imports of Methyl Bromide, as has been established in the National schedule for the control of Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

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RESOLUTION No. 29/2004

It establishes in the National Environment the Voluntary Declaration Program for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

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RESOLUTION No. 287 of 1999

It withdraws the import license for Ozone Depleting Substances and establishes a minimum number of authorized importers.

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JOINT RESOLUTION CITMA-MINCIN

It establishes the quota system in the country granted by CITMA, the quota for Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, is established by the MINCIN, being themselves its balance sheet.

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COUNCIL OF STATE DECREE LAW No. 200.

Establishes the system of Contraventions in Environmental Matters.

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RESOLUTION No. 384 of 2003 Foreign Trade

It provides for the definitive cancellation of the import authority to the entities that are listed in Annex No. 1, which is an integral part of this Resolution, for halogenated hydrocarbon derivatives.

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LAW 81 OF THE ENVIRONMENT Chapter VII Atmosphere.

It controls and reduces the emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere so that it does not exceed the levels of foreign substances, allowed by the established standards.

Synthetic pesticides derived from hydrocarbons

The extensive use of synthetic pesticides derived from chlorinated hydrocarbons in pest control has had disastrous side effects for the environment. These organochlorine pesticides are very persistent and resistant to biological degradation. Very poorly soluble in water, they adhere to plant tissues and accumulate in soils, the substrate at the bottom of streams and ponds, and the atmosphere. Once volatilized, pesticides are distributed throughout the world, contaminating wild areas far away from agricultural regions, and even in the Arctic and Antarctic areas.

Pesticides are ingested by herbivores or penetrate directly through the skin of aquatic organisms such as fish and various invertebrates. Although these synthetic chemicals do not exist in nature, they do penetrate the food chain. The pesticide becomes even more concentrated when going from herbivores to carnivores. It reaches high concentrations in the tissues of animals that occupy the highest links in the food chain, such as the peregrine falcon, eagle and bearded vulture.

As a result, some large predatory and piscivorous birds are on the brink of extinction. Chlorinated hydrocarbons interfere with the calcium metabolism of birds, producing a thinning of the egg shells and consequent reproductive failure.

Due to the danger that pesticides pose to wildlife and humans, and also because insects have developed resistance to them, the use of halogenated hydrocarbons such as DDT is declining rapidly throughout the Western world, although they continue to be used in large quantities in developing countries. In the early 1980s, EDB or dibromoethane, a halogenated pesticide, also aroused great alarm due to its potentially carcinogenic nature, and was eventually banned.

There is another group of compounds closely linked to DDT: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). They have been used for years in industrial production, eventually penetrating the environment. Its impact on humans and wildlife has been similar to that of pesticides. Due to its extreme toxicity, the use of PCBs has been restricted to the insulators of electrical transformers and capacitors.

TCDD is the most toxic of another related group of highly toxic compounds, the dioxins or dibenzo-para-dioxins. The degree of toxicity to humans of these carcinogens has not yet been proven. TCDD can be found as an impurity in wood and paper preservatives and herbicides. Agent Orange, a widely used defoliant, contains traces of dioxin.

Toxic substances are chemical products whose manufacture, processing, distribution, use and disposal represent an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. Most of these toxic substances are synthetic chemicals that enter the environment and persist for long periods of time. Significant concentrations of toxic substances occur in chemical dumps.

Recently, more than 4 million new synthetic chemicals have been manufactured in a 15-year period, and 500 to 1,000 more new products are created each year. Despite the known risks, the problem is not on track. If they seep into soil or water, they can contaminate water supplies, air, crops, and pets, and have been linked to human birth defects, abortions, and organic diseases.

Nuclear radiation remains an environmental problem, although atmospheric nuclear testing has been banned by most countries, eliminating a major source of radioactive fallout. Power plants always release small amounts of nuclear waste into the water and atmosphere, but the main danger is the possibility of nuclear accidents, which release huge amounts of radiation into the environment, as happened in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986.

Radioactive waste accumulates safe storage over geological periods of time is, at the very least, problematic; threatening the integrity of the environment. A serious problem faced by the nuclear industry is the storage of nuclear waste, which remains toxic for 700 to 1 million years.

Increasing numbers of humans are beginning to encircle the remaining wilderness, even in areas considered more or less safe from exploitation. The insatiable demand for energy has imposed the need to exploit the gas and oil of the Arctic regions, jeopardizing the delicate ecological balance of the tundra ecosystems and their wildlife. Rainforests and tropical forests, especially in Southeast Asia and the Amazon, are being destroyed at an alarming rate to obtain wood, clear land for pastures and crops, for pine plantations and for human settlements.

In the 1980s it was estimated that forest stands were being destroyed at a rate of 20 ha per minute. Another estimate gave a destruction rate of more than 200,000 km2 per year. In 1993, satellite data made it possible to determine a rate of destruction of almost 15,000 km2 per year, only in the Amazon basin. This tropical deforestation could lead to the extinction of up to 750,000 species, which would represent the loss of a whole multiplicity of products: food, fibers, drugs, dyes, gums and resins.

Furthermore, the expansion of farmland and grazing land for domestic livestock in Africa, as well as the illegal trade in endangered species and animal products, could spell the end of large African mammals.

Soil erosion and other forms of land degradation

Every year, soil erosion and other forms of land degradation cause the loss of between 5 and 7 million hectares of arable land. In the Third World, the increasing need for food and firewood has resulted in deforestation and cultivation of steep slopes, which has produced severe erosion of the slopes.

To further complicate the problem, one must take into account the loss of prime farmland due to industry, swamps, the expansion of cities and roads. Soil erosion and loss of farmland and forests further reduce the moisture-holding capacity of soils and add sediment to streams, lakes and reservoirs.

The erosion problems described above are compounding the growing global water supply problem. Most of the problems in this field occur in the semi-arid and coastal regions of the world. Expanding human populations require irrigation and water systems for industry; This is depleting underground aquifers to such an extent that salt water is beginning to enter them along coastal areas in the United States, Israel, Syria, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and some areas of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Italy and Greece mainly).

Progressive decline in water quality and availability

Some of the largest cities in the world are depleting their water supplies and in metropolises like New Delhi or Mexico DF water is being pumped from increasingly remote places. In inland areas, porous rocks and sediments compact as they lose water, causing problems due to the progressive sinking of the surface; this phenomenon is already a serious problem in Texas, Florida and California.

The world is also experiencing a progressive decline in the quality and availability of water. In 2000, 508 million people lived in 31 countries affected by water scarcity and, according to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.1 billion people lacked access to clean water. In many regions, water supplies are contaminated with toxic chemicals and nitrates. Waterborne diseases affect a third of humanity and kill 10 million people a year.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, some industrialized countries improved their air quality by reducing the amount of airborne particles as well as toxic chemicals such as lead, but emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides, precursors of acid deposition, are still important.

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

In June 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Earth Summit, met for 12 days in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This summit developed and legitimized an agenda of measures related to environmental, economic and political change. The purpose of the conference was to determine what environmental reforms needed to be undertaken in the long term, and to initiate processes for their implementation and international supervision. Conventions were held to discuss and approve documents on the environment.

The main topics addressed at these conventions included:

Climate change;

The Biodiversity;

forest protection;

Agenda 21 (a 900-page environmental development project) and;

the Rio Declaration (a six-page document calling for the integration of environment and economic development).

The Earth Summit was a historical event of great significance. Not only did it make the environment a global priority, it was attended by delegates from 178 countries, making it the largest conference ever held.

United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development

Between August 26 and September 4, 2002, ten years after the first Earth Summit took place, the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio, was held in the city of Johannesburg. +10.

Representatives from 191 countries attended and an Action Plan was agreed that included a commitment to reduce the number of people who do not have access to drinking water and sewage sanitation networks, the defense of biodiversity or the recovery of fish stocks. depleted.

If coordinated efforts are not made to save habitats and reduce poaching and illegal international trafficking in wildlife, many of them will become extinct. Despite our knowledge of how to reduce soil erosion, it continues to be a global problem.

To reduce environmental degradation, societies must recognize that the environment is finite. Specialists believe that, as populations and their demands grow, the idea of continued growth should make way for a more rational use of the environment, but that this can only be achieved with a spectacular change in attitude on the part of the human species.

The impact of the human species on the environment has been compared to the great catastrophes of the Earth's geological past; Regardless of society's attitude to continued growth, humanity must recognize that attacking the environment endangers the survival of its own species.

CONCLUSIONS

The future prospects, as far as the environment is concerned are unclear. Despite economic and political changes, interest and concern for the environment is still important. Air quality has improved, but they are pending The problems of acid rain, chlorofluorocarbons, ozone loss and massive air pollution require coordinated action as long as acid rain does not abate, loss of life will continue in northern lakes and streams, and may be affected forest growth Water pollution will remain a problem as long as population growth continues to increase pressure on the environment Infiltration of toxic wastein underground aquifers and the intrusion of salt water in coastal freshwater aquifers has not been interrupted. The duty of all natural and legal persons is to use correct practices in the generation, management and treatment of domestic, industrial and agriculture and in the use of any type of chemical and hormonal substances that can contaminate soils or crops Rapid technological advance brought with it the discovery, use and exploitation of fossil fuels, as well as the intensive exploitation of the Earth's mineral resources. In environmental degradation, societies must recognize that the environment is finite. Humanity must recognize that attacking the environment endangers the survival of its own species.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MICROSOFT REFERENCE LIBRARY Encarta 2003

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- Gribbin, John. The threatened planet. Madrid: Ediciones Pirámide, 1987. Meeting of articles on the different environmental problems of the planet.