The Timeless Value of Observations by Folk Estimators
Modern Weather Reports and Forecasts
Simple yet accurate experiments and systematic observations have been conducted by the people for a long time, gradually supplemented, refined, supported, and passed down from generation to generation, helping people understand the world.
In the times of folk observers, there were not such significant changes in the environment as are occurring today due to industrial development, urbanization, chemicalization of agriculture, etc., particularly such as the destruction of the integrity of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, the consequences of nuclear and hydrogen bomb explosions in the atmosphere, high-altitude flights, and freon leaks from cans and refrigeration units — that is, everything that disrupts and destroys the natural ecological balance established over millennia, the natural regulation by the internal mechanisms of the biosphere.
It is known that ozone — a "relative" of oxygen (an ozone molecule consists of three oxygen atoms) — is found in large quantities in the stratosphere and, by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, protects all living organisms (flora and fauna) from it. The meteorological commission for the study of the Earth's climate, which convened in early January 1962 in Geneva, concluded that the amount of ozone in the atmosphere has sharply decreased in recent years. Recently, "ozone holes" have been discovered in the Antarctic region, equal in size to the territory of the USA. The main cause of the destruction of the ozone layer is the increased emissions of freons and chlorine compounds into the atmosphere in recent years, which actively "devour" ozone.
According to scientists, if the population growth on Earth, as well as the increase in industrial production and deforestation, continue at today's rates, then in the 21st century, the amount of ozone will decrease by 5-10 percent or more, which will lead to an increase in the Earth's temperature. The consequences of the destruction of the ozone layer are already affecting human health: in the resorts of Australia, New Zealand, and Haiti, the incidence of skin cancer has significantly increased after sunbathing, while North Americans are horrified at the prospect of a 10-centimeter rise in sea level in the next 25 years. All these circumstances prompted scientists to adopt the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in March 1985; more than 50 countries signed protocols to freeze production and subsequently reduce the release of ozone-depleting substances at an international conference in Montreal in September 1987. They were joined by the countries of the European Economic Community (EEC). American scientists established at the end of May 1988 that the ozone layer has decreased by 6 percent or more over the past 10 years, and this process is accelerating.
The problem is so serious for all humanity that its solution cannot be delayed, and therefore scientists, politicians, and industrialists from 118 countries gathered again on March 5, 1989, in London to comprehensively discuss this issue.
Residents of industrial centers know that winter in cities arrives one to two weeks later than in the suburbs, while spring, naturally, comes earlier. The air temperature in the city center is 1-2 degrees higher than in the outskirts, and in spring, it is harder to clean the windows of an urban apartment than in a rural house. Air pollution in the city is two orders of magnitude higher than over the sea in Antarctica.
The outbreak of asthma, a sharp increase in heart attacks in Angarsk, children's baldness in Chernivtsi, mutant children with severe physiological deviations from the norm in Moscow — all of this is evidence of the increased concentration of exhaust gases, dust, and soot from thermal power plants, etc.
Each car emits about 600 kilograms of carbon monoxide and other toxic substances into the air each year. Exhaust gases contain about 200 toxic components.
In the Arctic and Antarctic, the atmosphere can no longer be called clean. Progressive urbanization is now capable of influencing the climate not only in specific areas but also on a planetary scale.
