We are writing a mini-essay. Writing a mini-essay Love for nature

Nature accompanies man throughout his entire existence as a species and humanity as a cultural and social community as a whole. According to many scientists and philosophers, people themselves are fully products of nature and its evolutionary development. Of course, the religious context of the issue cannot be ruled out. After all, according to the majority of inhabitants of planet Earth, man was created by God (and some identify the Creator with Nature). Whether it’s a temple or a workshop, we’ll try to figure it out in this article. But first, a little about the terms.

The concept of "Nature"

This is what surrounds us. It is divided into non-living and living. Inanimate things include subsoil and rivers, lands and waters, stones and sand - inanimate objects. Everything that moves, grows, is born and dies is living nature. It consists of plants and animals, and man himself as a biological species. The biosphere and everything connected with it is nature. Is a temple or a workshop for a person, what is his role in the relationship with the Blue Planet, as with a living being?

Nature - workshop

"Man is a worker in it." These famous words of Turgenev, spoken through the mouth of Bazarov, excited the minds of young scientific revolutionaries for a long time. The hero of the novel is a rather contradictory personality. He is a secret romantic and a secret nihilist at the same time. This explosive mixture determines his concepts: there is nothing mysterious or secret in the surrounding nature. Everything is subject to man and his rational activity. In Bazarov’s understanding, nature should be beneficial - this is its only purpose! Of course, every person (and even a character in a novel) has the right to his own point of view, and to choose for himself: is nature a temple or a workshop? It may seem to everyone who shares that everything around can be remade, corrected to suit themselves. After all, man, in their opinion, is the King of Nature, who has the right to these actions that bring him good. But look how the hero himself ended his life. According to some modern interpretations of the work, the young scientist is killed by Nature itself (in the figurative sense of the word). Only the reason itself is prosaic - a scratch on the finger of the hero, who with a rough scalpel invades the established order of life and death and dies! The insignificance of the reason should only emphasize the inequality of power before death, no matter how you deny it.

Destructive activities of people

The consequences of a certain (the development of scientific and technological progress, the development of subsoil and thoughtless use are sometimes catastrophic. This is especially evident in recent decades. Nature simply cannot withstand such influence and begins to slowly die. And with it, many species of plants and animals, including man, as a species of mammals. The problem of the survival of humanity and all living things is becoming more and more tragic. And if you do not stop in time, all this can lead to global, already inevitable consequences.

Where is the road to the temple?

These events make us think seriously: what should relationships be like? What is Nature: a temple or a workshop? The arguments in favor of the first point of view are quite weighty. After all, if humanity treated Mother Nature as a temple, the Earth today would not know those environmental problems that the entire progressive community of scientists is spending their efforts on solving. And, according to some experts, there is less and less time left!

Of course, nature is a temple first and foremost. And you need to go there with a feeling of deep faith and behave there without violating established customs.

Is nature a temple or a workshop?

The arguments in favor of harmony are undeniable. itself is a fundamental part of nature. And man and nature should not even be considered separately from each other. They are one. Secondly, the relationship must include a special responsibility, as a rational being, of man to Nature, his caring attitude towards it. From childhood it is necessary to instill in people the guardianship of those whom we have tamed. And the activities of society have literally “tamed” the entire environment.

Noosphere concept

In such a question as “nature - a temple or a workshop”, studying the works of brilliant scientists who are significantly ahead in their views of the existing understanding of the world can help.

Academician Vernadsky, for example, was one of those who first pointed out the unity of nature and man. The biosphere, changed by the intelligent activity of people, in his understanding, corresponds to the concept of the noosphere. This is a new sphere of the mind, where human activity becomes the determining factor of development. It, in turn, has a huge impact on natural processes, even to the point of destruction and the possibility of self-destruction. In the doctrine of the noosphere, man is represented as deeply rooted in nature, and humanity is represented as a powerful geological force that transforms the appearance of the planet, its appearance. The developed noosphere is formed by the efforts of the entire society in the interests of mutual enrichment and comprehensive development.

Nature can affect people in different ways. Sometimes it delights, sometimes it suppresses with its greatness, it can be affectionate and formidable, it amazes with the diversity of life forms and the inexorability of its harsh laws, before which man has trembled in fear for centuries.

As N. Zabolotsky wrote:

So here it is, the harmony of nature;

So this is what they are talking about in the darkness of the water,

What are the forests whispering about as they sigh!..

The beetle ate the grass, the bird pecked the beetle,

The ferret drank the brain from the bird's head,

And faces twisted with fear

Night creatures watched from the grass.

Nature's eternal winepress

Connected death and existence

In one ball, but the thought was powerless,

Combine her two sacraments.

Once upon a time, primitive people animated nature, peopled it with gods and demons who ruled over the elements. Over time, science overthrew the deities from their pedestal and convincingly proved that nature has neither evil nor good feelings towards humans.

The “eternal beauty” of nature, as Pushkin wrote, truly deserves admiration. However, man was born not only to contemplate, but also to create, transform the world, comprehend its laws and master them.

“Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man is a worker in it,” said I. S. Turgenev.

A similar idea was expressed, although he approached the question of nature from a different end, by the English writer James Aldridge in his novel “The Hunter”: “Nature and everything in it is hostile to man. Nature would have destroyed people if they had not jointly achieved victory over it and began to control it.” And although the power of the elements over man is somewhat exaggerated, the idea of his victory over the forces of nature is still quite correct.

“We cannot expect favors from nature; taking them from her is our task,” wrote I. V. Michurin.

By revealing the secrets of nature, man uses them for his own purposes. This is also evident from the way it fights pests, given the complex relationships in the animal and plant worlds.

Plant protection specialists and practical agronomists often argue about what is more important: a chemical or biological method of pest control. This is caused by enthusiastic praise for the chemical method of the destructive effect of poisons on harmful insects and an underestimation of the role of biological protection. And, in fact, there is no particular need to argue. Simply, depending on the specific conditions, you need to apply a set of measures with a reasonable, harmonious combination of all known and publicly available methods. But at the same time, we must never forget one condition: chemicals should not harm our many helpers, useful animals.

The irrational use of pesticides often leads to the death of not only harmful insects, but also all other insects and even birds and mammals, natural enemies of pests. After all, poisonous drugs are not magic bullets aimed only at enemies. They beat both the right and the wrong, enemies and friends. Foreign entomologists have long been convinced of this through bitter experience.

The practice of using pesticides in the USA, England and Canada is especially rich in such observations. Here, the production of pesticides and, of course, the scale of their use increased from year to year. In the USA, for example, in 1947, 120 tons of pesticides were produced, and in 1960 - already 320,000 tons. And here are examples of the consequences of the massive use of these drugs. In the state of Illinois (USA), large areas of tree plantations were treated with dieldrin against pests. As a result, the Ornithological Society reported, 80 percent of the birds there died. Insects - both harmful and beneficial - crawled to the surface of the earth, birds ate them and died. The birds were also poisoned by the water they drank from streams and puddles. In the treated area, an almost complete destruction of starlings, pheasants, quails, blackbirds and other birds was noted. The birds that survived in most cases became disabled. Many of them stopped nesting and laying eggs. And those that laid eggs did not hatch chicks or, if they hatched, they developed poorly, were defective and soon died.

American researcher R. Carson reports that, according to data from 1963, the soil of US apple orchards already contained up to 125 centners per hectare of pure DDT. And this threatens the livelihoods of beneficial soil inhabitants.

Experts write that the sea waters around England and the countries of north-western Europe are largely polluted by insecticides, which are partially washed off from cultivated lands and carried by rivers to the sea. It has also been established that the eggs of 52 species of seabirds contain residues of poisons. This is a consequence of their pollution of the sea.

Similar instructive examples are described in Canada. Thus, in order to exterminate pests, over three million hectares of forests adjacent to the Miramishi River were treated with insecticides - DDT in the form of an oil suspension. After two or three days, fish began to die in the river. She floated to the surface and washed ashore. Birds flocked here, ate the fish and poisoned themselves. Crayfish, crayfish, bugs and other inhabitants - fish food - died in the river. This disrupted the nutrition of ocean salmon that swam into the river to spawn, as well as their fry that rolled into the ocean. After treating the forests with pesticides, everything changed both in the river and in the forest. There was a massive death of insects - harmful and beneficial - both terrestrial and those living in the soil. Grass and soil became the source of death. Falling leaves, branches, and twigs introduced poison into the soil. The treatment of seven million hectares of forests in the province of Quebec had the same consequences.

Unfortunately, we also accumulate such “experience”. According to the observations of employees of the Kazakh Institute of Plant Protection, when pollinating the fruit forests of the Trans-Ili Alatau with the drug DDT, directed against the apple moth, not only all forest insects died, but also all insectivorous birds. It is now common knowledge that the destruction of beneficial animals is often accompanied by an outbreak of mass reproduction of the pest, which feels at ease, having lost its natural enemies. This happened when plants were treated to kill spider mites. It turned out that some drugs act on him... as growth stimulants. Observations also helped establish the following fact: when mulberries are sprayed with poisons against the Comstock bug, the solution completely kills and washes away Pseudaficus, the insect's enemy, from the trees, and the pest itself dies only by 80–90 percent.

Many insect pests that feed on plants that are often treated with toxic substances gradually become accustomed to them and pass this immunity on to their offspring. In a number of European countries, after 5–6 years, flies, for example, became resistant to the drug DDT.

When fields and gardens are continuously treated with pesticides, insects that pollinate plants also die: wasps, bees, bumblebees, flies, and riders.

Consequently, the formulaic use of a particular tool or method may give the opposite result.

Undoubtedly, chemical control is a very effective, reliable and often almost the only way to quickly save a crop from a pest that has multiplied in masses. It's all a matter of how, where and when to use chemicals.

Here is an example of the successful use of chemistry in the fight against rodents. We have already told how in the fall, field mice run from the fields into stacks of straw, hide in it and turn it into dust. It’s not always possible to expect ferrets, weasels or cats to come there. And this is where chemistry helps. In recent years, in the fall, at the first frost, ammonia water is introduced into the stacks, the air is saturated with ammonia vapor, and the rodents die. But this does not harm the straw - on the contrary, it becomes more edible and nutritious for livestock.

Chemical control methods are not so simple and cheap. To cultivate 1.2 million hectares of fields in the Stavropol Territory alone, 3,600 tons of grain, 108 tons of vegetable oil and at least 140 tons of scarce zinc phosphide were required!

How can we not remember with a kind word our helpers - birds and animals, who, by hunting rodents, reduce their numbers and reduce the losses they cause. After all, biological methods are 10–20 times cheaper than chemical ones and at the same time provide more reliable protection of plants from harmful insects.

Various animals, birds, toads, lizards, entomophagous insects, acting together, constantly destroy a lot of harmful animals and thereby maintain the balance of forces in nature necessary for humans and reduce losses. All of them are voluntary, permanent and almost always free helpers. If you help them with housing, feeding, and reproduction in the laboratory, there will be more of these helpers, their help will be greater, and the harvest in the fields, vegetable gardens, orchards and forests will be higher.

True, not always one useful species is able to defeat many different enemies, even such universal fighters as ants. It is necessary to combine the efforts of birds, ants, bats, shrews, hedgehogs, badgers and beneficial insects, and only such a general offensive on all fronts will lead to success.

But to do this, we must first help our allies and friends. Artificial nesting places should be created for birds, birdhouses, titmouses, nest boxes, and houses should be hung, taking into account the different inclinations of birds to be close to their fellows.

In those areas where new forests and shelterbelts are being created, it is very important to populate them with useful birds and animals. They also need protection from harmful insects and rodents. Of course, this work should be organized by knowledgeable people, zoologists, in order to avoid mistakes and not introduce animals that could do more harm than good.

It is easier to populate forests with different animals. Transported to new forests and released there, they settle, migrate, choose suitable places to live and give birth to offspring. It is more difficult to relocate birds that are very attached to their native places, where they grew up and where hundreds of generations of their ancestors lived.

After all, if a bird is taken far from the nest and released in a new place, it will not stay to live here, but will fly back, regardless of hundreds and thousands of kilometers. Scientists, however, managed to find out that this instinct in birds is not innate, but develops after the chicks fly out of the nest. Gradually, studying the nesting territory, they master it and get used to it. The conditioned reflex of attachment to housing develops over a relatively long period of time. This means that in order for the birds to remain living in new places, it is necessary to transport not adult birds, but small chicks. There they will grow up, get comfortable, and next year in the spring they will fly in and return to breed. The first mass experiments confirmed this.

Settlers need special care. There are birds that you can’t tempt with a nesting box or a birdhouse. They make their own nests. These are nightingales, warblers, warblers, blackbirds, and orioles. They need dense undergrowth, bushes, the “ground floor of the forest”, where they can calmly settle, build nests and raise their chicks in complete safety from falcons and hawks. Therefore, shrubs are planted for them in forest belts: yellow acacia, rowan, hawthorn, honeysuckle, elderberry, thorn, sea buckthorn, viburnum, bird cherry.

Of course, relocating animals and plants to new places requires a serious approach to the matter. Otherwise, something similar to what happened with rabbits in Australia or deer in New Zealand could happen. There used to be no deer in New Zealand. While exploring these islands, Europeans brought 10 species of deer there. The deer quickly acclimatized, and since nothing threatened them, they multiplied in such numbers that they became a threat to forests and pastures. We had to limit their numbers. Since 1930, 3 million animals have been shot in New Zealand. However, this was not enough, and in recent years the deer there were exterminated with toxic substances.

Many species of animals, such as saigas and sables, require protection. But it also happens that animals are awarded privileges that clearly do not deserve it.

In India, for example, there are 43 million monkeys, mostly rhesus macaques, for a population of 430 million. They cause incredible harm: they devastate fields, vegetable gardens and orchards, destroy a lot of fruits, fruits, vegetables, and grain crops. In villages and towns, monkeys break into houses and apartments, steal everything that is in bad shape, misbehave, spoil things - in a word, they behave as if everything is allowed to them. Alas, this is how it is: their impunity is explained by the fact that monkeys in India are considered sacred and inviolable.

Pest control methods are varied and far from being fully studied. But even what is known can be of great benefit to the country. If the fight is carried out on a strict scientific basis, taking into account all local conditions, our country alone will additionally receive various agricultural products, vegetables, industrial crops, fruits and berries worth 6 billion rubles annually. And the costs will be only 500 million rubles. The game is worth the candle!

Biological control also includes the development of methods for increasing plant resistance to harmful insects and diseases. An example of this would be the development of plant varieties that are immune to diseases or resist harmful insects. Scientists have already done something in this regard: they have developed cancer-resistant potato varieties, blight-resistant sunflower varieties, phylloxera-resistant grape varieties, potato and tomato varieties resistant to the fungal disease late blight, etc. But this is just the beginning.

Although man’s enemies in nature are numerous, he is able to cope with them by wisely using biological protection, chemicals, and agricultural techniques. You just need to roll up your sleeves and work. As the English philosopher Francis Bacon rightly argued three and a half centuries ago: “Do not complain about nature, she has done her job; Now it’s the person’s turn.”

Without any introduction, I say in response to this tirade of Bazarov, the hero of the novel “Fathers and Sons” by I. S. Turgenev: no, no, and no again! What did this nihilist who lived in the 19th century come up with! These words of his could be followed by others, which until recently were almost our slogan: “we cannot wait for favors from nature, our task is to take them from her.”

These are the ideological origins of what our planet has now come to. And our country as well. They took from nature, thinking that its reserves were inexhaustible. They built, erected, changed river beds, cut down forests, without thinking about the consequences. They didn’t understand that nature is just a temple, where there are no unnecessary details, where everything is interconnected. Forests were cut down - rivers dried up, cascades of dams with artificial seas were created - villages and sources of water contamination - cattle burial grounds - were under water. The rivers and seas were contaminated with industrial waste and fish stocks decreased. Chernobyl became a big environmental disaster. This is what people have come to, considering nature not a temple, but a workshop. But all this was built, created, mined in the name of man and his well-being.

Of course, I understand perfectly well that humanity cannot live and feed itself without using natural resources. But only when trouble struck, they thought of it and learned to use nature without harming it, or to reduce this harm to a minimum. I don’t believe that half a century ago our scientists could not solve these problems. They launched satellites into orbit, were the first to send man into space, but did not think about reasonable relationships with nature, did not consider it necessary to calculate them for many years to come. Will we never eradicate from our mentality the concept enshrined in folk wisdom: “Until thunder strikes, a man will not cross himself”?

Now we have learned everything: to restore the “lungs of the planet,” that is, forests, and to purify waters discharged into seas and rivers. We even thought about alternative energy sources. Just don't expect quick results. Another popular wisdom says: “To break is not to build.” Now the main thing is not to inflict new wounds on nature. Material from the site

Nature is precisely a temple, a beautiful, miraculous temple that everyone, young and old, should protect. Don’t break bushes, don’t hurt a cat, don’t leave trash in the forest or on the shore - all this should be taught from childhood. These are the first lessons in nature conservation. Do not pick wildflowers to no avail, do not extinguish the fire to the last spark - this should become a law for those vacationing in nature. And if you are an employee of an industrial enterprise, then remember: workshops are your workshops, your construction sites, and not nature. Then those who come after us will not need to correct our mistakes, cursing us and our irresponsibility.

Without any introduction, I say in response to this tirade of Bazarov, the hero of the novel “Fathers and Sons” by I. S. Turgenev: no, no, and no again! What did this nihilist who lived in the 19th century come up with! These words of his could be followed by others, which until recently were almost our slogan: “We cannot wait for favors from nature, our task is to take them from her.”

These are the ideological origins of what our country has now come to. planet. And our country as well. They took from nature, thinking that its reserves were inexhaustible. They built, erected, changed river beds, cut down forests, without thinking about the consequences. They didn’t understand that nature is just a temple, where there are no unnecessary details, where everything is interconnected. Forests were cut down - rivers dried up, cascades of dams with artificial seas were created - villages and sources of water contamination - cattle burial grounds - were under water. The rivers and seas were contaminated with industrial drains and fish stocks decreased. Chernobyl became a big environmental disaster. This is what people have come to, considering nature not a temple, but a workshop. But all this was built, created, mined in the name of man and his well-being.

Now we have learned everything: and to restore the “lungs” plan. you,” that is, forests, and purify the waters discharged into the seas and rivers. We even thought about alternative energy sources. Just don't expect quick results. Another popular wisdom says: “To break is not to build.” Now the main thing is not to inflict new wounds on nature.

“Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man in it is a worker,” these are the words of the hero of the novel I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons" by Evgeny Bazarov. Can we agree with his statement?

I think not really. Nature is undoubtedly a temple that must be treated with care, protected and preserved for its beauty. There are so many magnificent places on our Earth: majestic mountains, deep rivers, deep seas, dense forests and much more.

Any creation of nature requires a reverent attitude towards itself, because it is given to man for life and for the soul. This is also reflected in fiction. The works of M. Prishvin, K. Paustovsky, poems by S. Yesenin, I. Bunin, K. Rylenkov and many others glorify the beauty of the surrounding world and enrich the human soul.

But people should not only admire the temple of nature, but also live in it. Therefore, nature can be called a workshop, and man can be called a master. The rest depends on what kind of master. This problem has always interested writers and poets.

V. Rasputin’s story “Farewell to Matera” talks about the flooding of fertile lands during the construction of a hydroelectric power station. People have lived on this land for centuries. They grew bread, used the gifts of forests and rivers, gave birth and raised children. And now they are burning huts and destroying cemeteries. The village where people are being resettled from Matera is poorly suited for rural residents. There is nowhere to keep livestock, there are no hayfields nearby, cellars are flooded. Of course, people, cities, and enterprises need the electricity that a hydroelectric power plant will provide. But isn't it coming at too high a price?

The writer emphasized the power of nature by creating the image of a larch that grew on the island. And the workers tried to burn it and cut it down. But the strong tree did not give in to people. I think that this larch is a symbol of the power and immortality of nature. The author of the story makes the reader think about his attitude towards the world around him and that if nature is a workshop, then a person must be a good master who does not destroy the living world, but lives in harmony with it.

It is precisely such a master that we can call the hero of B. Vasiliev’s story “Don’t Shoot White Swans” by Yegor Polushkin. His wife calls him “Poor Bearer.” Kind, impractical, penniless, it is unlikely that the modern young reader will like him. But, undoubtedly, it is this hero of the story that will make everyone think about their attitude to the beauty of the world around them and teach them to love their native nature.

Egor lived the life of Mother Nature. With pain in my heart I looked at the anthill engulfed in flames, at the linden tree with its bark completely torn off. He felt sorry for every little animal, every blade of grass and twig. And he also dreamed that Black Lake would become Swan Lake again. With all the money given to him for purchases by his fellow countrymen, he bought swans in Moscow and brought them home, to the forest lake. I thought that no one would raise their hand to such beauty. Got up! The swans were killed, Yegor died. But his son, Kolka, is growing up, in whose soul his father managed to instill a love for Mother Nature. Closing Vasiliev’s book, the reader will think about the questions posed in the story by the writer, and about his attitude to the world.