The dirtiest country in the world: ranking of the worst states. List of the most polluted cities in Russia The three most polluted cities in the world
At the beginning of July 2013, Rosstat released a bulletin entitled “Main indicators of environmental protection.” Among other information that related to the state of the environment and ecology in the country, comprehensive information was presented here about the dirtiest cities in Russia, which related to air pollution with harmful substances from emissions from cars and industrial facilities.
According to these data, a list of the most environmentally polluted cities in Russia was created. But this rating, according to some experts, does not reflect the actual picture of pollution, since in its compilation the main criterion was the total volume of emissions into the atmosphere, and not their chemical composition.
How are things in the capital?
That is why Moscow is in second place on the list, although approximately half of the harmful substances emitted into the city’s air are nitrogen dioxide. But Krasnoyarsk took only 11th place in the ranking, although about 80% of all harmful emissions here are sulfur dioxide, which is almost twice as toxic as nitrogen dioxide.
But still, information about pollution is presented quite fully and comprehensively. On our website we have already devoted several articles to the topic.
After all, it is this component that plays an increasingly important role every day when choosing a person’s place of residence. When moving, every person is faced with the question of whether it is advisable to purchase an apartment in this particular house (district, city). Once again, this pollution rating of Russian cities will help you weigh the pros and cons when buying a new building.
List of the most polluted cities in Russia
1.Norilsk
Over the course of a year, 1.959 million tons of harmful substances are released into the atmosphere. Only 0.5% of this amount is emissions from cars, and the rest is from factories, the lion's share of which is the enterprises of the Norilsk Nickel group of companies.
For example, the content of sulfur dioxide in the city’s atmosphere exceeds the maximum permissible norm by approximately 30 times, nitrogen dioxide by 24 times, and formaldehyde by almost 100 times. But thanks to environmental safety measures, compared to 2011, it was possible to reduce pollution by 1.4%.
2. Moscow
Unlike Norilsk, here the main part of emissions is produced by cars - they account for 92.8%. Cars produce the most pollution while stuck in traffic jams.
It is estimated that during an hour of standing in traffic jams, one car emits more than 30 kg of mixtures of various gases into the air: nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, etc.
3. St. Petersburg
Here the situation is similar to the capital - too a large number of cars and improper organization of road traffic lead to the fact that 92.8% of the total amount of emissions - and this is 488.2 thousand tons - comes from automobile exhaust gases.
4. Cherepovets
More than half of the 364.5 thousand tons of pollution comes from industrial enterprises, especially the large metallurgical plant Severstal.
5. Asbestos
In this city, located in the Sverdlovsk region, 98.6% of pollution is produced by asbestos mining and asbestos processing enterprises. The total amount of emissions is 330.4 thousand tons.
6. Lipetsk
The total amount of emissions is 322.9 thousand tons, 91.3% of which are stationary sources. The main “producer” of pollution in the city is the Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works.
7. Novokuznetsk
The total amount of annual emissions is 321,000 tons, of which 90.8% comes from energy and industrial facilities.
8. Omsk
In Omsk, 291.6 thousand tons of harmful substances enter the atmosphere per year and 71.7% of these emissions are produced by enterprises and stationary sources.
9. Angarsk
Of the 278.6 thousand tons of emissions per year, 95.4% comes from stationary sources and facilities.
10. Magnitogorsk
The annual emission of harmful substances here is 255.7 thousand tons. 89.9% of emissions are produced by the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and other stationary sources.
11. Krasnoyarsk
Despite the developed industry, only 62.6% of emissions in the city come from stationary objects - the rest is from cars. The annual amount of emissions into the atmosphere is 233.8 thousand tons.
12. Chelyabinsk
In Chelyabinsk the situation is similar - out of 233.4 thousand tons, industrial facilities account for only 62.8%.
13. Ufa
The amount of emissions per year is 205.5 thousand tons, stationary sources account for 65.4%.
14. Ekaterinburg
203.5 thousand tons. Stationary sources produce only 16.1% of harmful substances, the rest is automobile exhaust gases.
15. Vorkuta
City enterprises and cars produce 197.3 thousand tons of harmful substances per year, of which transport accounts for only 2.1%.
16. Nizhny Tagil
The amount of emissions per year is 149 thousand tons. 85.2% of emissions are produced by metallurgical and other industrial enterprises.
the most... cities in the world. List of the dirtiest TOP 10. For the first time, the rating of the dirtiest cities in the world was compiled in 2007 by specialists from the influential international consulting agency Mercer. The study was based on data on water and air quality, mortality rates, life expectancy and quality of medical care.
The American analytical organization Mercer Human has published a list of the ten most polluted industrial centers on the planet. Unfortunately, this list included 3 Russian cities at once: Norilsk, Dzerzhinsk and the village of Rudnaya Pristan. There are 35 cities on the full list. The most environmentally hazardous zones in Russia are Komi, Magnitogorsk, Karachay, Volgograd and the Kola Peninsula. One of the main criteria when choosing contaminated sites is the proximity of the contaminated site to large populated areas. Heavy metals are recognized as the main source of infection. According to Mercer Human research, environmental pollution negatively affects more than a billion people on the planet. Basically, the cities included in the first
1. , Chernobyl Ukraine Number of potentially infected people: about 5.5 million people. Type of pollutant: uranium, plutonium, strontium, heavy metals, radioactive iodine. The worst nuclear disaster in the history of the planet occurred on April 26, 1986, when the reactor core melted due to an explosion during tests at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Thirty people died on the spot, and more than 135,000 were evacuated. The explosion brought in a hundred times more radiation than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2. Dzerzhinsk, Russia. Number of potentially infected people: 300,000 people. Type of pollutant: Sarin, Lewisite, mustard gas, hydrocyanic acid, phosgene, lead, organic chemicals. Average life expectancy in Dzerzhinsk, the center of Russian chemical production, is 42 years for men and 47 years for women. Until the end of the Cold War, the city was a major center for the production of chemical weapons. According to the Environmental Protection Agency in Dzerzhinsk in the period from 1930 to 1998. Almost 300,000 tons of chemical waste were improperly disposed of. About 190 tons of these substances were illegally dumped into groundwater. In 2003, official statistics reported that in Dzerzhinsk the mortality rate exceeds the birth rate by 2.6 times.
3. Haina, Dominican Republic Number of potentially infected people: 85,000 people. Type of pollutant: lead. This densely populated area, known as Bajos de Haina, is heavily polluted with lead, waste from a closed car battery factory. Various studies indicate critical levels of lead in the blood of the population and in the soil - indicators exceed the norm by several thousand times! The most common disease in Haina is lead poisoning, which leads to congenital deformities, eye diseases, and mental disorders.
4. Kabwe, Zambia Number of potentially infected people: 250,000 people. Type of pollutant: lead, cadmium. Kabwe, the second largest city in Zambia, is located 150 kilometers north of the country's capital, Lusaka. In 1902, rich deposits of lead were discovered here. The level of heavy metal pollution exceeds the maximum permissible norm by 4 times. Residents of the city are characterized by symptoms of acute blood poisoning, which leads to vomiting, diarrhea, chronic kidney disease and muscle atrophy.
5. La Oroya, Peru Number of potentially infected people: 35,000 people. Type of pollutant: lead, zinc, copper. Beginning in 1922, residents of a mining town in the Peruvian Andes were exposed to toxic emissions from a local plant. Ninety-nine percent of children living in the La Oroya area are susceptible to severe illness due to high levels of lead in their blood. The vegetation in the vicinity of the city has long been destroyed by acid rain due to high emissions of sulfur dioxide.
6. Linfeng, China Number of potentially infected people: 200,000. Type of pollutant: ash, carbon, lead, organic chemicals. Description: Linfen is the most polluted city in China. The country's need for coal led to the creation of hundreds of often illegal and unregulated mines, one of which was the city of Linfen. Local clinics are seeing an increase in cases of bronchitis, pneumonia, and lung cancer. The level of sulfur dioxide and other particles in the air is several times higher than established standards World Organization health
7. Mailu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan Number of potentially infected people: 23,000 infected, potentially several million. Type of pollutant: radioactive uranium, heavy metals. The development of uranium mines in the Mailu-Suu river valley at an altitude of 2 thousand meters above sea level began in 1948 at the start of the Cold War. In 1968, the production of radium from uranium ores at two plants near the city of Mailu-Suu was discontinued. In the surrounding area - in a zone of constant seismic, landslide and mudflow activity - there are extensive burial sites of radioactive waste.
8. Norilsk, Russia Number of potentially infected people: 134,000 people. Type of pollutant: strontium, nickel, cobalt, copper, lead, selenium. It is considered one of the most polluted places in Russia - the snow is black and there is a hint of sulfur in the air. Life expectancy for factory workers is on average 10 years lower than in Russia. Norilsk is home to the world's largest heavy metal smelting complex, and over 4 million tons of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic, selenium and zinc are dispersed into the air throughout the year. Residents of the city suffer from respiratory diseases associated with air pollution as a result of the plant's activities. In addition, mortality from respiratory diseases is much higher than the national average.
9. Ranipet, India Number of potentially infected people: 3,500,000 people. Type of pollutant: emissions from the tanning industry, tanneries, chromium. Ranipet is approximately 100 miles upstream from Chennai and is the fourth largest city in India. The tannery uses sodium chromate, chromium salts and chromium sulfate for coloring in the leather tanning process. About 1,500,000 tons of solid waste pollute groundwater. Soil and groundwater pollution from wastewater has a detrimental effect on the health and lives of thousands of people. Drinking sources and agricultural lands are affected. Farmers cultivate contaminated soil and water their crops with contaminated water.
Rudnaya Pristan, 10. Russia Number of potentially infected people: 90,000 people. Type of pollutant: lead, cadmium, mercury. Drinking water, soil and fauna contain dangerous levels of lead. The lead content in the blood of children exceeds the norm by 8 to 20 times. Every year, 85 tons of particulate matter of lead and arsenic are released into the atmosphere.
List of the 10 most environmentally friendly cities in the world Mercer Human has identified the most environmentally friendly cities in the world. For this purpose, 221 megacities were studied. Important parameters for determining the cities with the most favorable ecosystem were: the availability and purity of water, the thoroughness of garbage collection, the condition of sewer networks, the level of air pollution and transport problems. In cities with the best ecology, renewable energy sources are used optimally. In addition, they regularly take measures to minimize air and water pollution. Another factor is the noise level in cities.
1. Calgary, Canada Population 1,100,000 inhabitants. Calgary is located 27 kilometers from the border of the Rocky Mountains, in the foothills area. The climate there is sharply continental: cold winters and warm summers.
2. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Population 377,000 inhabitants. It is located in a tropical oceanic climate. In the suburbs of Honolulu is the US Navy base Pearl Harbor.
3. Ottawa, Canada Population 1,174,000 inhabitants. The height of Ottawa is 114 meters. Located in North America near the Appalachian Mountains. The city is located on the northern border of the distribution of broad-leaved forests. The climate is temperate continental.
Helsinki Finland 4. and, i Population 1,299,000 inhabitants. The city is located in a rocky area. The climate of Helsinki is moderate, transitional between continental and maritime.
5. n, Wellingto New Zealand Population 431,400 people. Wellington is located in the southwestern part of the island on the shore of a volcanic bay. Wellington is often subject to strong storm winds. The climate is subtropical marine.
6. Minneapolis, USA state of Minnesota, Population 3,502,891 inhabitants. Minneapolis's climate is continental. Minneapolis is ranked #1 by Forbes magazine among American cities with the most affordable housing that still offer a high quality of life.
7. , i, Australia Adelaide South Australia i Population 1,138,800 people. The total area of Adelaide's urban area is 870 km², and is located at an average altitude of 50 meters above sea level. Adelaide is located in the Mediterranean climate zone.
8. Copenhagen, Denmark Population 548,443 people. The city's climate is temperate maritime.
9. Kobe, Japan Population 1,538,840 people. Stone tools and artifacts that were found in the west of Kobe indicate that human settlements were located in this territory from 12,000 to 300 BC. e. Major Japanese companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Daiei, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Shipbuilding Co., Mitsubishi Motors, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Rubber Industries and TOA Corporation.
10. Oslo, Norway Population 590,041 inhabitants. About half of the country's tertiary-educated residents live in the Oslo region, placing it third in Europe in terms of educational attainment. More than 73,000 students study in the capital. Oslo is located at the northernmost tip of the Oslofjord in southeastern Norway. Oslo includes 40 islands. Within the city there are 343 lakes, which are the most important source of drinking water.
10. m, Stockholm Sweden Population 861,010 people. World famous companies IBM, Ericsson and Electrolux are based here. The Royal High School of Music in Stockholm was founded in 1771 and is one of the oldest high schools of music in the world. In 1998 Stockholm was elected European Capital of Culture. Stockholm's climate is temperate maritime with mild winters and cool summers.
List of the 10 best cities in the world to live Baghdad was recognized as the worst city to live in, in the ranking it is located in 221st place. When assessing cities, they took into account the development of infrastructure, the level of service in social and medical institutions, and also took into account the opportunity to find a job with a competitive salary. Of course, political and economic stability was also assessed. Two Russian cities also made it into the ranking: St. Petersburg took 68th place, and Moscow took 70th place.
1. Vancouver, Canada It is the 3rd largest city in Canada with a population of 2,433,000 people and the largest population center in the province of British Columbia. Surrounded by dense coniferous forest, snow-capped mountains and fjords. There are 20 bridges across the city’s numerous rivers, 3 of which are drawbridges. Vancouver has a mild climate, being part of a unique ecosystem - temperate tropical forest, so summers here are mild and not hot, and in winter it rarely snows.
2. Vienna, Austria Vienna is the capital of Austria, located in the eastern part of the country. The population of Vienna and its suburbs is about 2.3 million. Vienna is a world-famous center of music, thanks to a long line of famous musicians who lived and worked in this city: Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert. Not far from the capital is the Vienna Woods, a mountain range in Austria. This is wonderful natural area recreation - a whole forest area with its own towns and hotels, resorts and thermal springs
3. Melbourne Australia, I Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia with a population of about 3.8 million and the capital of the state of Victoria. The city is considered one of the main commercial, industrial and cultural centers of Australia. It is also often called sports and cultural capital countries.
4. Toronto, Canada Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the administrative center of the province of Ontario. Toronto is also home to the longest street in the world - Young Street, listed in the Guinness Book of Records and having a length of 1896 km. The largest zoo in the world is located here. The area of the zoo is 283 hectares. The CN tower is the world's tallest television tower, built back in 1976. Its height with the spire is 553 meters, and at an altitude of 446 meters there is a closed observation deck. The main attraction of the Toronto area is Niagara Falls. It is located between lakes Ontario and Erie on the border with the United States, 140 km from Toronto
6. Helsinki Finland, I Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland with a population of 578 thousand people. Helsinki is the center of business, education, culture and science in Finland; 70% of foreign companies operating in Finland are located in this city. Built on the peninsulas and islands of the Baltic coastline, Helsinki is
Sydney, Australia 7. i The largest city of Australia on the southeast coast is Sydney. It is twice the size of another giant city - New York. The number of parks and green oases makes Sydney unlike other major cities on the planet: next to the skyscrapers in the City - 34 hectares of the Royal Botanic Garden.
10. Auckland, New Zealand This is New Zealand's largest city with a population of about 1.3 million people, accounting for a quarter of the country's total population. Today Auckland is the economic and cultural center of New Zealand. The city is not rich in historical sights, but with its picturesque beauty Auckland strikes many hearts of those who come here for the first time. Auckland is surrounded by three sea bays, within the city limits there are
In everyday life, we often encounter dirt on the streets of Moscow. Our city is truly not the cleanest on the planet, and we are not ashamed to constantly talk about it. You can often hear on TV that it is difficult to imagine a place dirtier than Moscow.
And the figurines! Moscow is only 14th on the “black” list.
Journalists from the American magazine took as a basis a 2007 report from the consulting company Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which described the environmental situation of 215 of the world's largest cities. All cities were compared to New York, whose scores were set to 100.
The indicators for the dirtiest city in the world, Baku, are 27.6. In many respects, analysts of the consulting company believe, this is due to the presence of many oil production and processing plants in the city. In addition, many of them have not been rebuilt since Soviet times.
According to the founder of the Blacksmith Institute of New York, Richard Fuller, “in cities with very polluted air, all environmentally hazardous enterprises should be closed immediately. This can really help restore the environment.
Almaty (Kazakhstan) is nine points behind Baku with a pollution level of 39.1.
Moscow index is 43.4. That is, we are more than twice as dirty as New York. As the publication's journalists note, the high level of pollution does not affect real estate prices in the Russian capital - housing prices here are slightly inferior to those in London.
Again, the fact that Moscow’s neighbors according to the rating are the capitals of far from the most developed countries in the world brings me to sad thoughts...
Oddly enough, not only people suffer from pollution, but also the economy. The costs of treating workers and reducing productivity are hitting businesses hard, says Slagin Parakatil, a senior researcher at Mercer Human Resource Consulting. According to his calculations, a dollar invested in protecting the environment on average brings a return of $9 by reducing the cost of protecting workers' health and increasing their productivity.
“There is such a pattern in sociology - the “20/80” law or the Pareto rule. In practice, this means that about 80% of the results obtained are achieved within 20% of the time spent on this work. Thus, by spending relatively little, we will save enough lives,” he said.
BY THE WAY
Calgary, Canada, is recognized as the cleanest city on the planet.
TOP 25: The dirtiest cities in the world
1. Baku, Azerbaijan. Pollution index: 27.6.
2. Dhaka, Bangladesh. Pollution index: 29.6.
3. Antananarivo, Madagascar. Pollution index: 30.1.
4. Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Pollution index: 34.
5. Mexico City, Mexico. Pollution index: 37.7.
6. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Pollution index: 37.9.
7. Mumbai, India. Pollution index: 38.2.
8. Baghdad, Iraq. Pollution index: 39.
9. Almaty, Kazakhstan. Pollution index: 39.1.
10. Brazzaville, Congo. Pollution index: 39.1.
11. N'Djamena, Chad. Pollution index: 39.7.
12. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Pollution index: 40.
13. Bangui, Central African Republic Pollution index: 42.1.
14. Moscow, Russia. Pollution index: 43.4.
15. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Pollution index: 43.4.
16. Bamako, Mali. Pollution index: 43.7.
17. Point Noire, Congo. Pollution index: 43.8.
18. Lome, Togo. Pollution index: 44.1.
19. Conakry, Republic of Guinea. Pollution index: 44.2.
20. Nouakchott, Mauritania. Pollution index: 44.7.
21. Niamey, Nigeria. Pollution index: 45.
22. Luanda, Angola. Pollution index: 45.2.
23. Maputo, Mozambique. Pollution index: 46.3.
24. New Delhi, India. Pollution index: 46.6.
25. Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Pollution index: 46.8.
Back in the 17th century, Peter I issued a decree monitoring cleanliness in the capital city and due punishment for polluting the streets. According to the document, it was forbidden to throw garbage into the street; on the contrary, full control over the cleanliness of streets and pavements was prescribed, as well as the removal of garbage outside of Moscow. I wonder which cities today need such a decree? Let's look at the most polluted cities in the world.
This city has been a major leather center for a long time. Over the years, the scale of production has become larger, but the technology for tanning leather has not changed for more than a hundred years. There are about three hundred leather industries in Bangladesh, more than 90% of them are concentrated in Hazaribagh. The leather tanning methods used in production are not only outdated, but are also very negative for the surrounding atmosphere.
How does the dirtiest city in the world live? Every day, more than 20,000 liters of industrial waste, which contains high concentrations of chromium, are discharged into the local Buriganga River. The air element also suffers, receiving a huge portion of toxic substances during the combustion of waste soaked in reagents. The ecological situation in Hazaribagh is the most unfavorable; everything in the city is in critical condition: air, water, plants and animals. The meat of local birds and animals is extremely hazardous to health.
An increased concentration of chromium in the air leads to local residents Chronic respiratory diseases develop, and the risk of cancer is increased. Currently, about 15 thousand people work in production, including women and children. They accept workers from an early age; upon reaching the age of eleven, children begin hard work. To process raw materials, a solution of hexavalent chromium is used in production; this is what has had such an impact on the environmental situation of Hazaribagh.
This Russian city is one of the largest centers of non-ferrous metallurgy. But this is not what brought glory to Norilsk; unfortunately, it is the dirtiest of all. Every year the air of Norilsk is “enriched” with huge amounts of copper, nickel oxide and sulfur dioxide. More than 2 million tons of harmful compounds are released into the atmosphere annually. Because of this, not only the air suffers, but also the soil and water. According to statistics, the local population lives 10 years less than the inhabitants of other cities.
In the modern world, all kinds of gadgets have become objects of mass use. It’s hard to imagine our life without them. But few people think about where a broken or outdated phone or microwave oven goes. But residents of Accra, the capital of Ghana, know this firsthand. There is an entire area in the city that houses electronic waste that flows from other countries to the largest landfill on the planet.
Ghana imports e-waste every year, most of it from Western Europe. The amount of waste entering the landfill is simply shocking - about 215 thousand tons per year, and this does not take into account our own waste, which reaches 130 thousand tons annually. Some of the waste is recycled by local enterprises that refurbish electrical appliances. But the part that is not suitable for recycling is burned, which became the reason for the pollution of the city.
Beijing is the most polluted city on the planet, this is exactly what representatives of the European Space Agency said. It was here that the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere were recorded. In the capital, and in other cities, more than four hundred thousand people die every year due to unfavorable ecology.
There are simply a huge number of cars in Beijing, about 2.5 million in total. Automobile emissions are a major contributor to greenhouse gases, the country's second-largest greenhouse gas emissions after the United States.
More than a century ago, lead deposits were discovered in Kabwe, Zambia's second largest city. Since then, lead has been mined here, whose waste leads to poisoning of the soil and everything around. The city has become extremely toxic; it is dangerous not only to drink water, but even to breathe. And this applies to lands within a radius of several kilometers from the city. The level of lead in the blood of the local population is tens of times higher than the permissible limit.
This city has long been considered one of the worst in terms of air pollution. And all this is explained by the fact that in the quarter of the poor, zaballin, garbage is recycled. The quarter was even called the city of garbage, since here poor people have to collect, sort and prepare various waste for further processing with their own hands. All this looks extremely unsightly.
The first floors of Egyptian slum shacks are reserved for sorting and packaging waste; people live on the upper floors simple people. The streets, staircases, even the roofs of the slums are buried under mountains of garbage, often already decomposed. It is customary to burn plastic directly on the streets; women and children do this, as well as sorting. Men are responsible for removal. Here, in the air poisoned by plastic, the poor cook, sell cakes and fruits, and generally live their lives to the fullest. East Cairo is awash in garbage, which has long been considered an environmental disaster zone.
The capital city is on the 9th line in the ranking of the most unfavorable cities in India from an environmental point of view, and in the world list New Delhi is not inferior to many industrial cities. Not surprising, because there are simply a huge number of cars polluting the air. Delhi is not inferior to megacities; there are more than 8 million cars in the city! Sewage, bypassing the treatment process, goes directly into the Jamna River. Among the poor people from slums, it is common practice to burn waste directly on the street. More than half the population lives in unsanitary conditions. Harvard Institute researchers estimate that two out of five local residents have lung disease.
In addition to the capital, India has similarly polluted cities. For example, industrial Lucknow ranks first in pollution, followed by Mumbai, and then Kolkata.
As you know, in the 86th year of the last century there was an explosion of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. More than 150,000 square kilometers were under the radioactive cloud. The epicenter of the explosion turned into an exclusion zone, local population was taken out. Chernobyl was literally empty before our eyes, turning into a ghost town. No one has lived here for more than thirty years. In the common sense, Chernobyl is a completely favorable place, because there are no industries here now, people who leave waste behind, and cars do not pollute the air. But radiation cannot be seen or “touched”. But, nevertheless, the city remains one of the most dangerous for humans on the planet.
The town located in Chelyabinsk region, became famous for its copper processing plant. It is because of the waste from this production that Karabash is in such a deplorable state. At the end of the last century, the city was declared an environmental disaster zone. Now about 15 thousand people live here, each of whom greatly risks their health.
Vegetation is almost completely absent here, and the territory itself is more like landscapes often seen in science fiction films. Scorched earth, mountains of waste, cracked orange earth, equally strange and unreal reservoirs, acid rain. Products from the processing of lead, arsenic, sulfur and copper are in the air. In 2009, the city was removed from the list of the most polluted, this is due to the start of modernization of the plant.
The dirtiest cities in the world, photos of which look more like scenes from the worst horror films, are dangerous for the entire planet. The water cycle in nature, soil migration, air currents carry toxic substances to huge territories in all directions, leaving no chance to isolate ourselves from this problem. Experts estimate that more than a billion people on Earth suffer from the harmful effects of toxins and hazardous chemicals. That is why the problem cannot be confined to one city; it must be solved promptly and on a global scale.
The problem of pollution in Russian cities, which has become especially acute in recent years, is inextricably linked with the global process of urbanization. The population growth of medium and large cities and agglomerations leads to increased anthropogenic impact on the atmosphere, water bodies, soil cover and living organisms. In Russia, this process has been most active since the end of the first half of the twentieth century; During this time, radical changes took place in the economy, the most famous Soviet industrial giants appeared, on the basis of which new vast industrial areas were formed. The same period includes the active development of those cities and territories in which the most difficult environmental situation is currently observed.
All more or less significant cities, where manufacturing enterprises operate and a developed transport network, require increased attention from environmental specialists. But there are also places on the map that over the past decades have actually become an environmental disaster zone. This is indicated not only by an analysis of the state of the environment, but also by direct statistics on morbidity and mortality of residents forced to stay in contaminated areas and consume local products. Below are the dirtiest cities in Russia, selected on the basis of environmental monitoring data.
1. Norilsk
Polar Norilsk, with a population of more than 170 thousand people, is the dirtiest city in Russia, the undisputed leader in terms of emissions into the atmosphere. Every year, city enterprises emit about two million tons of toxic substances into the air, while their concentration in the air periodically becomes tens and even hundreds of times higher than the maximum permissible level. Main source toxic emissions - mining and metallurgical plant "Norilsk Nickel".
The geographical and climatic features of Norilsk (the city is surrounded on three sides by mountains) do not allow emissions to dissipate, so many Norilsk residents periodically experience breathing problems. In general, Norilsk is characterized by extremely low life expectancy of people compared to the regional average, and its surroundings for many kilometers around are almost completely devoid of vegetation.
2. Dzerzhinsk
The list of the most polluted cities in Russia could not but include Dzerzhinsk - a satellite city of Nizhny Novgorod with a population of 230 thousand inhabitants, the center of the chemical industry. During the twentieth century, hundreds of tons of hydrocyanic acid, pesticides, cyanides and other highly toxic substances were buried and released into groundwater in Dzerzhinsk and its surroundings. In addition, during the Cold War, Dzerzhinsk was the most important place for the development of chemical weapons, traces of which - mustard gas and phosgene - still remain in the soil. A unique attraction of the city are chemical lakes with different colored waters and storage facilities for deadly poisons.
3. Magnitogorsk
Magnitogorsk is located on Southern Urals, its population is about 420 thousand people. The city operates the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, one of the main ferrous metallurgy enterprises and a major source of harmful emissions. After the collapse of the USSR, measures were repeatedly taken to reduce the amount of emissions, but monitoring results indicate that the threat remains: the concentration of various impurities in the atmosphere of Magnitogorsk is several times higher than the maximum permissible values, which makes it one of the dirtiest Russian cities.
4. Cherepovets
Cherepovets in the Vologda region, with about 320 thousand inhabitants and which became a city back in 1777, is now known as one of the centers of ferrous metallurgy. According to official statistics recent years Cherepovets ranks second in the Russian Federation after Norilsk in terms of air pollution. The main source of “dirt” is the metallurgical plant. Chemical production, which has been rapidly developing in the city since the 1970s, also has an adverse effect on the environmental situation.
5. Asbestos
Asbest is a small town near Yekaterinburg with a population of less than 65 thousand people, located on the edge of a huge asbestos quarry, the largest in the Urals. Asbestos has been mined open-pit since the end of the nineteenth century, and its processing is also carried out here. In the vicinity of the deposit, including the city itself, the air is characterized by a high concentration of asbestos dust, which, as researchers established at the end of the last century, provokes the development of cancer. Despite this, quarry development continues to this day. Asbestos ranks in the middle of our list of the dirtiest cities in Russia.
6. Lipetsk
Lipetsk - Big City in Central Russia, the second most populous city after Voronezh in the Central Black Earth economic region (more than 500 thousand inhabitants). Large environmental problem city is the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant; in unfavorable winds, when regularly occurring emissions from the enterprise cover the center of Lipetsk, the concentration of hazardous impurities turns out to be many times higher acceptable values. Additional load on the atmosphere is exerted by cement and machine tool factories. Over the past ten years, projects have been implemented to reduce pollution levels, allowing us to expect that in the near future the environmental situation will become close to the expected norm. Perhaps Lipetsk will leave the rankings of the most dangerous cities in Russia to live in.
7. Omsk
Omsk, with a population of 1.2 million people, is one of the largest cities RF. This is one of the main centers of oil refining, mechanical engineering, chemical and metallurgical industries in Siberia. The greatest growth of the urban economy occurred back in the 1940s - 50s, when many new enterprises arose and began to rapidly expand in Omsk, including the Omsk Oil Refinery and the Aircraft Manufacturing Plant (now the Polet aerospace enterprise).
In recent decades, when specialists became seriously concerned about ensuring environmental safety, technical renovation of production facilities began, the goal of which is to reduce the level of air pollution several times. However, the problem of chemical contamination of soil and water bodies remains far from being completely resolved. Another urgent task, typical for the south of Siberia, is the fight against drought and desertification of lands, which result in constant dustiness in the air and even large-scale dust storms.
8. Angarsk
Angarsk (more than 200 thousand inhabitants) is a young Siberian city, the construction of which began in the second half of the 1940s. Now it is a center of petrochemical production, one of the three cities in Siberia with the most polluted atmosphere. The production facilities of the Angarsk Electrolysis Plant pose a particular threat. chemical plant, where for decades (until the 1990s) installations for uranium enrichment and the production of uranium fluoride compounds operated; On the territory of the enterprise, along with the former workshops, abandoned and gradually collapsing radioactive waste storage facilities are being “disturbed”.
9. Novokuznetsk
The city of Novokuznetsk with a population of more than 550 thousand inhabitants is known as the center of the Kuznetsk coal basin (Kuzbass) and its own Novokuznetsk agglomeration with a total population of more than 1.3 million people. Facilities of the coal mining industry, metallurgy and a number of other industries are concentrated in the city; In total, there are more than forty enterprises in Novokuznetsk. At the same time, ensuring environmental safety remains at an insufficient level, which affects not only the atmosphere, but also soils and local water bodies. A big problem is related to the pollution of the Tom River in the Novokuznetsk region, which poses a threat to the quality of drinking water.
10. Moscow
Despite the absence of large hazardous industrial enterprises, Moscow is one of the dirtiest cities in Russia and the world. More than 90% of all harmful substances in the Moscow atmosphere originate from non-stationary sources, namely motor transport. When weather conditions do not allow gases to leave the city, the concentration of impurities can increase sharply, forming smog.
Over half a century, the number of cars in the city has increased 30-40 times. According to the traffic police, in 2017, about five million cars were registered in the capital of the Russian Federation, and taking into account the region’s vehicle fleet, it turns out to be more than 8 million in the Moscow region. These data indicate that ten Muscovites have an average of four cars. This number of vehicles annually provides the Moscow atmosphere with more than 1 million tons of exhaust gases, and this figure continues to increase every year.
As possible path To overcome the problem of transport pollution, experts call the use of electric transport, suggesting that residents of the largest cities use it as an alternative means, but the appropriate infrastructure for its widespread use is only being prepared.