Paradigm shift in technical hydrobiology: from local impact, to a new techno-ecosystem concept for thermal and nuclear plant water

Abstract

Based on analysis of F.D. Mordukhai-Boltovskoy’s publications, this paper examines the history of studies of the impact of thermal and nuclear power plants, which were originally performed under the classical “Haeckelian” ecological paradigm: the external effect of technogenic factors on aquatic ecosystems and biota. The decline in interest in the problem was not associated with a decrease in the technogenic impact or changes in the energy industry. However, the paradigm itself is changing in association with the emergence of the concept of a technoecosystem. The cooling ponds of thermal power plants (TPPs) and nuclear power plants (NPPs) can be used as models of climate change, particularly climate warming. The materials obtained in studies of the effects of technogenic temperature rise are still underused by hydrobiologists studying climate change and its potential consequences.