10 most polluted cities 2018 in terms of ecology, list of the Ministry of Natural Resources
Contents:
• What distinguishes a "dirty" city from a "clean" city? No, we are not talking about the work of public utilities and the ability of janitors to wave a broom – this time let's talk about ecology. It is no secret that many of the inhabitants of cities, especially large ones and those where large industrial enterprises are located nearby, complain about the environment. And these complaints are not made up – according to statistics, up to 140 thousand inhabitants of the Russian Federation die every year from diseases associated with "bad ecology" – about 5% of the total number of deaths.
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This year, the Ministry of Natural Resources decided to show the cards – list of the dirtiest cities , the ecology of which can be hazardous to health.
10. Chita
For many years now, Chita has been among the most polluted cities (the list, in addition to Chita, includes nine more sufferers). Paradoxically for such a small city (the population of Chita does not even reach 350 thousand people), one of the reasons is the number of cars per capita. It is ahead of the Chita people in love for iron friends – no, not even Moscow and not St. Petersburg, but Vladivostok. The city is located in a hollow, fenced with hills, built up crowded and high-rise buildings – as a result, there is almost no air circulation and, although strong winds often blow there, in winter Chita is covered with a dense cap of smog.
Adds "flavors" to the infernal mixture is also the ancient heating system of the city – the thermal power plant, both the first and the second, as well as the boiler houses of the city, use coal and fuel oil as fuel. As the people of Chita say, one has only to drive a few kilometers away from the city – and one can see how a dirty brown fog hangs over the city, and only black smoke from the state district power station cuts through it. True, they say that boiler houses are being converted to more modern types of fuel, but the results are not yet visible – Chita is still one of the most "dirty" cities.
9. Chelyabinsk
The rating of the dirtiest cities would be incomplete without the "city of harsh men." Historically, the concentration of large industrial enterprises is greatest beyond the Urals. Therefore, Siberians suffer the most from bad ecology. Chelyabinsk was no exception. Both in the city itself and outside it there are many industrial enterprises. As a result, Chelyabinsk residents breathe air with a high content of various harmful chemicals – for example, phenol, hydrogen sulfide, formaldehyde, and so on. Smog in the city hangs almost around the clock.
The location of the city also adds problems – most often (from a third to half of the days a year) there is calm or a weak breeze will blow at most. In the absence of air movement, air masses do not mix, and emissions accumulate in the lower part of the atmosphere. And Chelyabinsk residents are forced to breathe it. The city was also included the worst in terms of living.
• Another reason for the unfavorable environmental situation in the city is that there is nowhere to dump garbage. The main city dump was completely filled a quarter of a century ago, and this giant mountain of garbage in the summer months from time to time begins to blaze – adding problems to Chelyabinsk residents. Oh yes, and swimming in the reservoirs near Chelyabinsk is highly discouraged.
8. Omsk
Best of all, the situation with the ecology in the city is characterized by the presence in the city of the largest cancer center in Siberia. For many years Omsk has been among the top five Russian cities, the population of which suffers most from cancer. The reason for the unfavorable environmental situation is the multitude of industrial enterprises located in the city. The poultry farm also adds aromas – thanks to it, residents of nearby microdistricts do not dare to open the windows to ventilate the apartment. And although there are no enterprises in the city center, their absence is more than made up for by cars.
The Irtysh, on the banks of which the city stands, although fairly shallow, is capable of bringing many problems to those who dare to swim in it. Here and E. coli, and staphylococcus, and other bacteria that are not averse to settling in a person.
• However, since the city is trying to reduce the amount of emissions. For this, filters are being installed at the CHP plant to trap particles from the smoke, and factory equipment is being modernized. It remains only to solve the problem of garbage, which is critical in Omsk – two of the three landfills are closed, and the third cannot cope with the gigantic volumes of rubbish that the million-plus city spews out of itself every day.
7. Norilsk
The main cause of pollution in Norilsk is the work of the local metallurgical plant Norilsk Nickel. Every year, he, without stint, throws two and a half million tons of sulfur dioxide into the air, which cover the city.
• As a result of the operation of the enterprise and the poor condition of the treatment facilities, the water in Norilsk has a unique turquoise-green color due to the high content of copper sulphate. The surrounding coniferous forests are leafless – their needles were burned by acid rain. Sewage emissions destroyed all flora and fauna in the lakes near the city. Well, at least thanks to strong winds, the smog in Norilsk almost does not hold.
It is not surprising that Norilsk is included in the list of the most environmentally polluted cities. Norilsk residents are consoled only by the fact that Norilsk is not yet a leader in the world ranking of the dirtiest cities in the world. It is confidently overtaken by Chinese and Indian cities: there, with industrial emissions into the air, the situation is even worse.
6. Novokuznetsk
Another large industrial Siberian city with an extremely unfortunate location – its territory is bordered by mountains that prevent the winds from blowing through the city. As a result, smog, consisting of automobile and industrial emissions, stagnates over the city.
• And there are many enterprises in Novokuznetsk – these are ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy plants, and coal plants, as well as thermal power plants, without which not a single large city can do. As usual, zealous owners are not in a hurry to upgrade equipment – as a result, more than 80% of harmful substances easily pass through the filters. Therefore, every year up to 300 tons of harmful substances enter the atmosphere of the city, which, due to low air circulation, are inhaled by the inhabitants of Novokuznetsk.
There is also a problem in the city with landfills – the existing ones cannot cope with the volume of garbage. Therefore, random landfills are growing, where citizens dump their waste, which adds unique notes to the atmosphere of the city.
5. Nizhny Tagil
Nizhny Tagil received a special mention in the May presidential decree as the only city in the Sverdlovsk region – the highest will was ordered to reduce the amount of emissions into the city's air by at least 20%. The party said: "We must!" The bourgeois replied: "Yes!" Ecological organizations of the city note the increased activity of plant owners in fulfilling the decree. Despite the fact that this will hit their wallets hard, because ecology is an expensive business. According to calculations, at least 3% of the funds should be allocated from the budget to maintain the ecological situation of the city in an acceptable form. In reality, of course, no more than 0,02% is released.
There are several large industrial enterprises in Nizhny Tagil, contributing their share to pollution; among them is the famous Uralvagonzavod from YouTube videos. Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works is the leader among them in terms of emissions. In addition to air, enterprises also poison water by pouring wastewater into water sources. True, the situation is no longer as catastrophic as it once was in the early 90s – many "dirty" enterprises went bankrupt and collapsed, and the rest at least somehow observe decorum.
4. Magnitogorsk
Magnitogorsk is also included in the list of the dirtiest cities in terms of ecology. The local smelter is one of the largest iron ore refineries in the country. As a result, the concentration of harmful substances in the atmosphere was exceeded by 10-20 times, despite all the efforts of the plant management.
• The waters of the Urals, which flowed to its own misfortune, also underwent changes – for the sake of the plant, the river was fenced with a dam, from where water is taken for the needs of the enterprise. However, the used water, although having passed through the filters, is drained there. As a result, eating fish caught from there is literally life-threatening.
The inhabitants of the left bank of the Urals, where production is concentrated, suffer the most. The city government decided to build only on the right bank of the Urals, where the environmental situation is more or less favorable (and to relocate the “left-bankers” there). In the future, it is planned (someday, when there is enough money) to build several small satellite towns of Magnitogorsk, place them in forests and build roads to the city. Rumor has it that it will be cheaper than trying to modernize the city as it is now.
3. Lipetsk
Like Norilsk, Lipetsk suffers from the consequences of being a large industrial enterprise within the city. The Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works generously “gifts” 290 tons of harmful emissions per year to the residents of Lipetsk. And although it is located on the left, low bank of the Voronezh River, and residential buildings are on the higher right bank, the characteristic smells of a large industrial enterprise, including the hydrogen sulfide stench, penetrate into the apartments of the city residents.
• The city is also regularly shaken by scandals – at night someone quietly releases harmful substances into the air in quantities that are much higher than the norm. But who does it is a mystery shrouded in darkness.
In addition to the enterprise, they add their own unique notes to the atmosphere of the city and cars. Approximately one third of the harmful substances in the air are their cause. Concerned residents of Lipov have introduced continuous monitoring of air quality (by the way, Lipetsk is the only city to have such a system) and are trying to modernize traffic in the city to reduce emissions. True, as evil tongues say, this was done primarily to cut the budget – as the results are somehow not visible.
• The townspeople were lucky only with water – underground sources have not yet been affected by industrial damage.
2. Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk has long and firmly been below the red line of environmental safety. Scientists believe that if everything continues to go its own way, in 70 years it will be impossible for anyone to live in the city. Except cockroaches – these will survive everywhere.
• In February, the city was filled with yellow fog, almost like in a Stephen King novel. And residents, especially those suffering from diseases of the respiratory system, were not recommended to go out at all. The concentration of harmful substances in this yellow fog is much higher than the norm. And the townspeople regularly observe the phenomenon, which they called the “black sky”. It is not jet black yet, more of a dark grey, but we suspect it is still ahead.
As usual, industrial enterprises are to blame (especially the aluminum plant, which is constantly increasing its capacity) and thermal power plants; the amount of car exhausts is no more than 35% of the unique atmosphere of the city. And most of all, human greed is to blame – both large enterprises and private ones use very cheap low-quality coal as fuel. Electric boilers are not available to everyone due to high prices. Here they are stoked. So soot settles on windows, walls and the ground.
1. Bratsk
Bratsk closes the top 10 most polluted cities. According to scientists, the environmental situation is to blame for the increased number of oncological diseases among city residents. If the air remains the same degree of pollution, it will only get worse in the future. The reason, as usual, is a number of large industrial enterprises located within the city, including a pulp and paper mill, an aluminum plant and a hydroelectric power station. It is especially unpleasant for residents of the central region, where all the unique industrial flavors are carried by the winds.
In addition to emissions from enterprises, in the summer the atmosphere of Bratsk is poisoned by regular forest fires, burning huge areas every year.
• Fortunately, the residents of the city have an outlet – the "Brotherly Sea", or a reservoir where no one drains sewage and on the shore of which you can safely and safely swim and sunbathe.
Factors of air pollution and NMU formation
First of all, smog is to blame for human diseases – a poisonous fog, which includes many harmful substances that can harm the respiratory system. And not only for her – dirty air can cause disorders of the immune system, causes an increase in blood pressure, the occurrence of pathologies in infants, and can also exacerbate the course of cardiovascular diseases.
• Smog arises due to automobile exhausts (the more cars there are in the city, the harder it is to breathe in it), as well as from harmful emissions if industrial enterprises are located within the city or in its immediate vicinity.
• An important role is played by the location and layout of the city – if it is located in a poorly ventilated lowland, then the chances of residents to get sick with diseases of the respiratory system become higher
How will "correct" the environment
• In addition to compiling this list, the Ministry of Natural Resources also proposed a draft law on environmental information to the State Duma. A month after the report, Vladimir Vladimirovich himself conferred with members of the Government, who enlightened the head of government on measures designed to alleviate the situation.
• According to officials, we will live better in terms of environmental safety. It is then that the system of environmental regulation will begin to work.
• It consists in the fact that "dirty" and not very enterprises will switch to more modern and less environmentally hazardous production methods.
• First of all, the changes will affect those 300 plants that are responsible for more than half of all industrial emissions.
• True, skeptics report that funds for "clean" production will be produced itself, and in order to establish their mass production, at least 9 trillion rubles are needed. rub. investment and at least two years of time.
• So for now, you have to breathe with what you have, dear readers. Or look for another place to live.
