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Changing Trends in the Biosphere and in Biogeochemical Cycles*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Viktor A. Kovda
Viktor A. Kovda
Affiliation:
Professor, Subfaculty of Pedology, Moscow State University, Moscow V-234, and Director, Institute of Agrochemistry and Soil Science of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Puschino-on-Oka, Moscow Region, USSR; sometime President of the International Society of Soil Science.
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Extract

The examples discussed here show how closely connected are purely natural biogeochemical processes with the consequences of Man's impact on Nature in the present-day biosphere—especially if this impact takes the form of deforestation, largearea irrigation without drainage, or massive introduction into the biosphere of complex compounds utilized in industry, farming, and other branches of economy and life. Reconstruction of Man's economic activities on a planned scientific basis is becoming imperative now. We need implementation of the principles of science-based, waste-free technology, maximum reutilization and recycling of the rejects and by-products, and adoption of an extremely delicate approach to Nature and its links. Regular observations of the status of Nature (monitoring) at suitable biospheric stations are necessary. This means that a lot of various technological, field, and laboratory studies, with experiments and modelling, have to be done. They will help us to unravel further the mysteries of the biosphere-man system, and to use with greater effect all available mineral wealth, energy, soils, water, plants, and other natural resources. Then we shall better understand the aridization and other depletion phenomena with which we are confronted, and be able to devise methods of fighting them and of multiplying the productivity of land and water.

Our environment and natural resources should be used and controlled in such a way as to maintain normal biospheric functions and efficiently prevent cases of functional disorganization of this complicated system. We must also try to reduce the possible negative after-effects of any disruptive processes in order to protect Man and his health and also Nature.

We have to preserve the biosphere of our beautiful and unique planet Earth for ourselves and for future generations.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1976 , pp. 161 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1976

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Footnotes

*

Substance of Presidential Address delivered to the Third General Assembly of SCOPE, at UNESCO House, Paris, France, 17–19 May 1976. SCOPE is the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), which constitutes the world's summit body of its kind, and President Kovda asked us to adapt his Address for publication. As explained in his preamble, it ‘is based on the manuscripts and publications both in Russian and English which were written specifically for this Assembly’ about ‘the several most important generalizations concerning the global environmental trends and changes.’ Further details and references will be given in a forthcoming SCOPE Report on the State of the Environment, edited by Gilbert F. White & Martin W. Holdgate, to be published probably by Pergamon Press, Oxford, England. We might add that Professor Kovda is our Advisory Editor on matters pertaining to Soils and Erosion, and in the present context refer to his ‘SCOPE in Questions and Answers’ which was published in our Winter issue of last year (Environmental Conservation, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 273–4, 1975).—Ed.

References

* Substance of Presidential Address delivered to the Third General Assembly of SCOPE, at UNESCO House, Paris, France, 17–19 May 1976. SCOPE is the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), which constitutes the world's summit body of its kind, and President Kovda asked us to adapt his Address for publication. As explained in his preamble, it ‘is based on the manuscripts and publications both in Russian and English which were written specifically for this Assembly’ about ‘the several most important generalizations concerning the global environmental trends and changes.’ Further details and references will be given in a forthcoming SCOPE Report on the State of the Environment, edited by Gilbert F. White & Martin W. Holdgate, to be published probably by Pergamon Press, Oxford, England. We might add that Professor Kovda is our Advisory Editor on matters pertaining to Soils and Erosion, and in the present context refer to his ‘SCOPE in Questions and Answers’ which was published in our Winter issue of last year (Environmental Conservation, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 273–4, 1975).—Ed.