Today, the whole world is preoccupied with the problem of environmental degradation, regularly making attempts to maintain the situation and prevent new natural disasters, although this is not always possible. Environmentalists are sounding the alarm, fearing for the safety of our forests, lakes, rivers, representatives of flora and fauna.
Unfortunately, most of the world's cities recognized as environmentally unfavorable are precisely Russian megacities.
The main criteria for pollution are harmful emissions from industrial facilities, coal mining enterprises and, naturally, toxic exhaust gases of modern cars.
Of course, experts, appealing the information of the Federal State Statistics Service, regularly prepare reports that name the dirtiest cities in Russia for a certain period of time. And, in fairness, it should be noted that some of them maintain a stable dynamics of stability, that is, the situation has not changed for the better for many years.
According to experts, the dirtiest cities in Russia are, of course, Moscow and St. Petersburg, although they do not occupy the top line of the rating. Also included in the list of environmentally disadvantaged Volgograd, Tomsk, Nizhny Novgorod.
The dirtiest cities in Russia are also populated areas where oil refining, chemical, metallurgical industries are developed. These primarily include Cherepovets, Lipetsk, Asbest, Magnitogorsk, Omsk and Angarsk. In all the above geographical points, experts noted an increased concentration of harmful impurities in the atmosphere, which leads to air pollution.
There is nothing to breathe in Norilsk
Of course, a person who breathes disgusting air can not boast of good health, and his life expectancy, of course, is reduced.
The dirtiest city in Russia in 2014 is Norilsk, where only 201 thousand people live. The well-known city-forming structure, Norilsk Nickel, works in this geographical point of our country.
Thanks to this, this locality is the central link for the extraction of copper, cobalt, nickel, palladium, cobalt, gold, platinum and other metals. The company supplies the world market with 35% palladium, 25% platinum, 20% nickel and 10% cobalt. Among other things, Norilsk Nickel produces selenium, sulfuric acid, tellurium and industrial sulfur. Naturally, Norilsk cannot but top the list of the dirtiest cities in Russia. Almost in this city almost half of the elements included in the periodic table are taken from the bowels of the earth.
On the verge of environmental disaster
Environmentalists are convinced that if the situation does not change for the better, then a real environmental disaster awaits Norilsk . The facts speak for themselves. The share of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere here is 2% of the world. And all this happens against the background of the fact that industrial facilities of Norilsk daily release toxic substances into the atmosphere, and wind squalls often transfer them directly to the city. As a result, its inhabitants breathe unhealthy air.
The fact that Norilsk rightfully leads the dirtiest cities in Russia is also confirmed by data on the state of the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide in the air is 36 times, formaldehyde is 120, and nitrogen dioxide is 28 times more than the permissible values. At the same time, harm is caused not only to human health, but to the environment, namely soil and plants.
The experts analyzed the condition of the flora, growing near local dispensaries and sanatoriums, and came to the disappointing conclusions: the concentration of heavy metal impurities in plants and mushrooms just rolls over. Especially a lot of them turned out to be copper, zinc and lead.
Potentially dangerous
Dzerzhinsk located in the Nizhny Novgorod region was also included in the rating of the dirtiest cities in Russia. In this village there are a huge number of chemical industry enterprises. Four decades ago, chemical weapons were made here , as a result of which the city was "infected" with such harmful substances as phenol, sarin and lead.
As a result of the operation of industrial facilities, a huge amount of heavy metal impurities got into the air, which was felt not only by the residents of Dzerzhinsk, but also by the townspeople living in the regional capital.
Another threat
The most environmentally dirty cities of Russia were found in the Far Eastern region. We are talking about the Ore Quay and Dalnegorsk. Locals are primarily affected by lead poisoning. The blame for the work of the metallurgical plant, as well as the way of transporting lead concentrate, which is far from safe for human health.
Additional risk factors
At the same time, experts see the risks of an environmental disaster not only in the harmful emissions of industrial enterprises into the atmosphere. Negative on the health of people are reflected in the emissions of toxic substances by road. Its share of the total emissions is about 40%.
According to representatives of Rospotrebnadzor, annually about 12 million tons of toxic substances enter the atmosphere, which subsequently settle in the lungs of people.
According to statistics, about 58% of the population of our country is very affected by the deterioration of atmospheric air.
In a number of regions, in particular, the Samara, Novosibirsk, Astrakhan, Omsk, Orenburg regions, Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk territories, the above figure was already 75%.
Well, the residents of the metropolitan metropolis and St. Petersburg certainly suffer the most from dirty air.
Regions with the best environmental conditions
Of course, in our vast country there are regions where the human impact on the environment is not large-scale (compared to others). Here, the air is clean, and the environment is not contaminated. We are talking about the Murmansk, Novgorod, Pskov, Yaroslavl, Smolensk, Tambov regions, the republics of North Ossetia, Karelia, Karachay-Cherkessia, and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.