Physical and Biological Bases of Life Stability : Man, Biota, Environment

It is well known that the biochemical processes of life on Earth are maintained by the external solar radiation and can be reduced to the synthesis and decomposition of organic matter. Man has added the synthesis and decomposition of various in­ dustrial products to these natural processes. On one hand, biological synthesis may only be conducted within the rather narrow margins of parameters of the environ­ ment, including temperature, humidity, concentrations of the inorganic substances used by life (such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc.) On the other hand, the physical and chemical composition of the environment suffers significant changes during those processes of synthesis and decomposition. The maximum possible rate of such change due to the activity of living beings can exceed the average geophysical rates of change of the environment due to activity ofterrestrial depths and cosmic processes by a factor often thousand. In the absence of a rigid correlation between the biological synthesis and decomposition, the environment would be greatly disturbed within a decade and driven into a state unfit for life. A lifeless Earth, however would suffer similar changes only after about a hundred thousand years. Preservation of the existing state of the environment is only possible with strict equality between the rates of biological synthesis and decomposition, that is, when the biochemical cycles of matter are virtually closed. The stability of the global environment is controlled and maintained to a large extent by the activities of the Earth's plant and animal species. Conversely, this stability is necessary to ensure the future survival of these same species. In this wide-ranging work, the author discusses the physical, chemical and biological factors that threaten to perturb the environment beyond the point where the biological stabilization processes can react to preserve equilibrium. Important aspects include industrial pollution, the CO2 problem, energy consumption, population growth, genetic diversity and the Gaia hypothesis. Front Matter....Pages I-XI Ecological Stability....Pages 1-24 Solar Energy and Ordered Processes in Inanimate Nature....Pages 25-62 Stability of Life Organization....Pages 63-143 Stability of the Biosphere’s Organization....Pages 144-213 The Energetics of Biota....Pages 214-258 The Ecology of Man....Pages 259-287 Conclusion....Pages 288-290 Back Matter....Pages 291-340 This study surveys the physical, chemical and biological factors that threaten to perturb the environment beyond the point where the biological stabilization processes can react to preserve equilibrium. Topics discussed include energy consumption, industrial pollution and much more.