Natural Resources. Cycle of substances in nature. Implementation of ecological education and formation of ecological culture in the studies of “Man and Nature” and “Chemistry and Environmental Protection”

Abstract Throughout a long historical period, the natural resources of the world have been managed by different human communities. Living within the boundaries of their own ecosystems forces people to develop a deep knowledge of managing their natural resources. Whether they and their children will survive directly depends on their behavior. People have given the land and natural resources a social and symbolic value that goes beyond their immediate use value. This symbolism is based on ecological principles and supports a system of ethical, social and economic rules that are adaptive. This means that these principles and rules help human communities prevent the overexploitation of natural resources, preserve their connections with the surrounding ecosystems, so that people can live within the limits imposed by the availability of resources and technology. Over the course of the last few generations, however, the world's diversity of cultures, along with their adaptations to local environmental conditions, has been rapidly disintegrating under the influence of a new, global culture characterized by extremely high levels of consumption. Economic growth based on fossil fuel energy led to the rapid development of industry and international trade, and improved lifestyles as well as advances in health care led to rapid growth in human population and consumption. As a consequence, the search for new ways of extracting resources, involving powerful machines and efficient technologies, which absorb the traditions of conservation of nature built by local human communities during their long historical experience of survival, is intensified. Mechanisms developed as adaptations to the environment over hundreds of years are rapidly breaking down as a result of globalization, thereby freeing humans from their traditional environmental constraints.