What distinguishes a “dirty” city from a “clean” city? No, we are not talking about the work of 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 fictitious - according to statistics, up to 140 thousand inhabitants of the Russian Federation die every year from diseases related to "bad ecology" - about 5% of the total number of deaths.
This year, the Ministry of Natural Resources decided to reveal the cards - it was list of the dirtiest cities in Russia 2018, the ecology of which can be hazardous to health.
10. Chita
For many years already Chita has been among the most polluted cities in Russia (the list, in addition to Chita, has nine more sufferers). Paradoxically for such a small town (the population of Chita does not even reach 350 thousand people), one of the reasons is the number of cars per capita. He is ahead of the Chita people in his love for iron friends - no, not even Moscow or St. Petersburg, but Vladivostok. The city is located in a hollow, surrounded by hills, built up with 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.
The ancient heating system of the city - CHPP, both the first and the second, as well as the boiler houses of the city use coal and fuel oil as fuel - adds "aromas" to the hellish mixture. As Chita residents say, one has only to drive a few kilometers away from the city - and you can see a dirty brown fog hanging over the city, and only black smoke from the state district power station cuts through it. They say, however, that boiler houses are being transferred to more modern types of fuel, but the results are not yet visible - Chita is still one of the "dirtiest" cities in Russia.
9. Chelyabinsk
The rating of the dirtiest cities in Russia in 2018 would be incomplete without the "city of harsh men." Historically, the concentration of large industrial enterprises is most of all beyond the Urals. Therefore, Siberians suffer the most from poor ecology. Chelyabinsk was no exception. There are many industrial enterprises both in the city and outside it. As a result, residents of Chelyabinsk breathe air with an increased content of all kinds of harmful chemicals - for example, phenol, hydrogen sulfide, formaldehyde, and so on. Smog hangs in the city almost round the clock.
The location of the city also adds problems - most often (from a third to half of the days a year) calm reigns there, or at most a weak breeze will blow. 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 this. The city was also among the the worst in Russia according to the standard 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 up a quarter of a century ago, and this giant mountain of garbage in the summer months starts to blaze from time to time - adding problems to Chelyabinsk residents. Oh yes, and swimming in water bodies near Chelyabinsk is highly discouraged.
8. Omsk
Best of all, the environmental situation in the city is characterized by the presence in the city of the largest oncological center in Siberia. For many years now Omsk has been one of the five Russian cities, the population of which suffers most from cancer. The reason for the unfavorable environmental situation is the many industrial enterprises located in the city. The poultry farm also adds aromas - thanks to it, residents of nearby neighborhoods do not dare to open the windows in order 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 it is rather shallow, is capable of bringing a lot of 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 2010 the city has been trying to reduce emissions. For this, filters are installed at the CHP plant to capture particles from the smoke, and the plant 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 huge volumes of trash that the million-plus city spews out of itself every day.
7. Norilsk
The main reason for the pollution in Norilsk is the work of the local metallurgical plant "Norilsk Nickel". Every year, he is not stingy, throws into the air two and a half million tons of sulfur dioxide, 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 is of a unique turquoise-green color due to the increased content of copper sulfate. The surrounding coniferous forests are leafless - their needles were scorched by acid rain. Waste emissions have 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 last.
Not surprisingly, Norilsk is included in the list of the most environmentally polluted cities in Russia in 2018. The only consolation for Norilsk residents is the fact that Norilsk is not yet a leader in the world rating of the dirtiest cities in the world. It is confidently overtaken by Chinese and Indian cities: the situation there with industrial emissions into the air 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, coal plants, as well as thermal power plants, without which not a single large city can do. As usual, prudent owners are in no hurry to modernize equipment - as a result, more than 80% of harmful substances pass through the filters. Therefore, every year up to 300 tons of harmful substances enter the city's atmosphere, which, due to the low air circulation, are inhaled by residents of Novokuznetsk.
There is also a problem in the city with landfills - the existing ones cannot cope with the volume of garbage. Therefore, random dumps are growing, where citizens dump their waste, which adds a unique touch 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!" Environmental organizations of the city note the increased activity of plant owners in the implementation of 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 funds should be allocated from the budget to maintain the ecological situation of the city in an acceptable form. In reality, naturally, no more than 0.02% stands out.
In Nizhniy Tagil, there are several large industrial enterprises contributing to the pollution; among them is Uralvagonzavod, famous for its YouTube videos. Nizhniy Tagil Metallurgical Plant 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 are at least somehow respecting the decor.
4. Magnitogorsk
The list of the dirtiest cities in Russia in 2018 in terms of ecology includes Magnitogorsk. The local metallurgical plant is one of the largest iron ore processing plants 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 are passing unfortunately, have also undergone changes - for the sake of the plant, the river was fenced off 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 discharged there. As a result, eating fish caught from there is literally life-threatening.
Residents of the left bank of the Urals, where production is concentrated, suffer the most. The city government decided to conduct construction exclusively on the right bank of the Urals, where the ecological 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 lead roads to the city. Rumor has it that it will come out cheaper than trying to modernize the city as it is now.
3. Lipetsk
Like Norilsk, Lipetsk suffers from the consequences of finding a large industrial enterprise within the city. Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine with a generous hand "gives" the residents of Lipetsk 290 thousand tons of harmful emissions per year. And although it is located on the left, low bank of the Voronezh River, and the 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 in the southeast wind.
The city is also regularly shaken by scandals - someone secretly throws harmful substances into the air at night in quantities that are much higher than the norm. But who does it is a mystery covered in darkness.
In addition to the enterprise, they add their own unique notes to the atmosphere of the city and cars. About one third of the pollutants in the air are their wheels. Concerned residents of Lipov have introduced continuous monitoring of air quality (by the way, Lipetsk is the only city in Russia to have such a system) and are trying to modernize traffic in the city in order to reduce the amount of emissions. True, as evil tongues say, this was done primarily to cut the budget - since the results are somehow not visible.
The townspeople were lucky only with water - industrial damage has not yet affected underground springs.
2. Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk has long and firmly been behind the red line of environmental safety. Scientists believe: if everything goes its own way, in 70 years no one will be able to live in the city. Except for cockroaches - these will survive everywhere.
In February 2018, a yellow fog filled the city, much like in a Stephen King novel. And residents, especially those suffering from diseases of the respiratory system, were not recommended to go outside at all. The concentration of harmful substances in this yellow fog has far exceeded the norm. And the townspeople regularly observe the phenomenon they call "black sky". It is not yet charcoal black, rather dark gray, but, we suspect, is still ahead.
The blame, as usual, are industrial enterprises (especially the aluminum smelter, which is constantly increasing its capacity) and thermal power plants; the amount of car exhaust is no more than 35% of the city's unique atmosphere. 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. So they are drowning. So the soot settles on the windows, walls and the ground.
1. Bratsk
Bratsk closes the top 10 dirtiest cities in Russia. According to scientists, the ecological 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 cardboard mill, an aluminum plant and a hydroelectric power station. It is especially unpleasant for residents of the central region, where all the unique industrial aromas are carried away by the winds.
In addition to emissions from enterprises, in the summer the atmosphere of Bratsk is poisoned by regular forest fires, which burn huge areas every year.
Fortunately, the residents of the city have an outlet - the Bratskoe Sea, or a reservoir, where no one drains waste water and on the banks of which you can safely and safely swim and sunbathe.
Factors of air pollution and formation of NMU
First of all, smog is to blame for human diseases - a poisonous fog, which contains many harmful substances that can harm the respiratory system. And not only her - dirty air can cause disorders of the immune system, cause an increase in blood pressure, the occurrence of pathologies in infants, and can also exacerbate the course of cardiovascular diseases.
Smog occurs due to car emissions (the more cars 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 the 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 contract respiratory diseases become higher
How will they "fix" the ecology in Russia
In addition to compiling this list, the Ministry of Natural Resources also proposed a bill on environmental information to the State Duma. A month after the report, Vladimir Vladimirovich himself consulted with members of the Government, who enlightened the head of government about measures designed to alleviate the situation.
According to officials, from 2019 we will live better in terms of environmental safety. It is then that the environmental regulation system will start working.
It consists in the fact that "dirty" and not so enterprises will switch to more modern and less hazardous to the environment production methods.
First of all, the changes will affect those 300 plants that are responsible for more than half of all industrial emissions in Russia.
True, skeptics report that the means for "clean" production will be produced in Russia 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 of residence.