Abstract

In this review article, an attempt is made to analyze the problem of gradual though accelerating degradation ofthe environment in the Russian Federation, its reasons and outcomes. The factors aggravating the problem areclassified, and their impact is assessed. Intensive industrial development, enormous gas and oil consumption, ahuge number of cars and other vehicles in urban and rural areas are among the most substantial factors. Theco-authors insist that if the humankind follows this path, it will lead the Earth to the ecological catastrophe. Theco-authors also try to find out why the humankind took this path, and conclude that the present-day consumptivetreatment of the nature is the outcome of the technology-intensive trend of the western civilization. However thisdevelopment pattern may be reversed by the green building efforts, including Masdar City designed by NormanFoster in Abu Dhabi, Tianjin municipality in China, and other projects implemented worldwide. Moreover, theco-authors address the research works written by V.I. Vernadsky, a prominent Russian scholar, and developed byV.A. Ilyichev, member of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, who believes thatthe rational correlation between the biosphere and the technosphere is a must. The authors believe that the theorydeveloped by V.A. Ilyichev may serve as a means for the reasonable and rational preservation and developmentof the natural environment.

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