We feel bad about the planet that has given us life, feeds us and gives us all means of subsistence. A man very often with all his might tries to turn his habitat into a garbage dump. And usually he does it. Forests are cut down and animals destroyed, rivers are polluted by toxic effluents, and oceans turn into garbage dumps.
Some of the cities we inhabit resemble an illustration from a horror movie. They have colorful puddles, stunted trees and air saturated with toxic emissions. People in these cities do not live long, children get sick, and the smell of exhaust gases becomes a familiar odor.
In this respect, our country is no different from other industrial countries. Cities where chemical or any other harmful production is developed are a sad sight. We have compiled a list for you. the dirtiest cities in Russia. Some of them can be said to be in real ecological disaster. But the authorities do not care about this, and the locals seem to be used to living in such conditions.
For a long time the dirtiest city in Russia Dzerzhinsk was considered in the Novgorod region. In this village, chemical weapons were previously made; it was closed to the outside world. For decades of such activity, so much different chemical rubbish has accumulated in the soil that local residents rarely live to be 45 years old. However, we make our list based on the Russian counting system, and it takes into account only harmful substances in the atmosphere. Soil and water are not taken into account.
10. Magnitogorsk
Our city opens our list, which throughout its short history has been strongly associated with metallurgy, heavy industry and the exploits of the first five-year plans. The city has the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works - the largest such enterprise in Russia. It accounts for most of the harmful emissions that poison the lives of citizens. In total, about 255 thousand tons of harmful substances fall into urban air annually. Agree, a huge figure. Numerous filters are installed at the plant, but they do not help much, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the air and soot exceeds the norm several times.
9. Angarsk
In ninth place on our list is another Siberian city. Although Angarsk is considered quite prosperous, the ecological situation here is sad. The chemical industry is extremely developed in Angarsk. Oil is actively processed here, there are many machine-building enterprises, they also harm nature, and in addition, a plant is located in Angarsk that processes uranium and spent fuel from nuclear power plants. Neighborhood with such a plant has not added health to anyone. 280 thousand tons of toxic substances enter the city air every year.
8. Omsk
In eighth place is another Siberian city, into the atmosphere of which annually 290 thousand tons of harmful substances fall. Most of them are emitted by stationary sources. However, more than 30% of emissions come from automobiles. Do not forget that Omsk is a huge city with a population of more than 1.16 million people.
Industry began to develop rapidly in Omsk after the war, as dozens of enterprises from the European part of the USSR were evacuated here. Now the city has a large number of enterprises of ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry and mechanical engineering. All of them pollute the city air.
7. Novokuznetsk
This city is one of the centers of Russian metallurgy. Many of the enterprises have outdated equipment and seriously poison the air. The largest metallurgical enterprise in the city is the Novokuznetsk Metallurgical Plant, which is also the main air pollutant. In addition, the region has a fairly developed coal industry, which also gives a lot of harmful emissions. Residents of the city consider the poor environmental situation in the city to be one of their main problems.
6. Lipetsk
This city has the largest metallurgical plant in Europe (NLMK), which releases a huge amount of pollutants into the air. In addition to him, there are several large enterprises in Lipetsk that contribute to the deterioration of environmental conditions in the village.
Every year, 322 thousand tons of various harmful substances enter the city air. If the wind blows from the metallurgical plant, then a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide is felt in the air. True, it should be noted that in recent years, the company has taken certain steps to reduce harmful emissions, but there are no results yet.
5. Asbestos
In fifth place on our list. the dirtiest cities in Russia is the Ural settlement. As the name of this city becomes clear, asbestos is mined and processed in it, as well as silicate brick. Here is the world's largest plant that produces asbestos. And it was these enterprises that brought the city to the brink of ecological disaster.
Annually more than 330 thousand tons of substances hazardous to human health are released into the air, most of these emissions are from stationary sources. 99% of them are in one enterprise. You can also add that asbestos dust is very dangerous and can cause cancer.
4. Cherepovets
Giant chemical and metallurgical plants are located in this city: Cherepovets Nitrogen, Severstal, Severstal-metiz, Ammophos. Every year they emit about 364 thousand tons of substances hazardous to human health. The city has a very large number of diseases of the respiratory system, heart and cancer.
The situation is especially worsening in spring and autumn.
3. St. Petersburg
In third place on our list is the city of St. Petersburg, in which there are no large industrial enterprises or particularly harmful industries. However, the thing is different: in the city a very large number of cars and most of the emissions are the exhaust gases of cars.
The city is not properly organized traffic, cars often stand idle in traffic jams, poisoning the air. Road transport accounts for 92.8% of all harmful emissions into the city air. Annually, 488.2 thousand tons of harmful substances enter the air, and this is much more than in cities with developed industry.
2. Moscow
In second place in terms of environmental pollution is the capital of the Russian Federation - the city of Moscow. There are no large and hazardous industries, coal or heavy metals are not mined, but each year about 1000 thousand tons of substances harmful to humans are thrown into the air of a huge metropolis. Cars are the main source of these emissions, they account for 92.5% of all harmful substances in the Moscow air. Especially strongly pollute the air of the car during hours of standing in traffic jams.
The situation is getting worse every year. If the situation continues to develop, then soon it will be impossible to breathe in the capital.
1. Norilsk
In the first place of our list the most polluted cities in Russia, with a very large margin is the city of Norilsk. This settlement, which is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, has for many years been a leader among the most disadvantaged Russian cities in terms of ecology. This is recognized not only by domestic experts, but also by foreign ecologists. Many of them consider Norilsk a zone of ecological disaster. In the past few years, the city has been among the leaders of the most polluted territories on the planet.
The reason for this situation is quite simple: Norilsk Nickel is located in the city, which is the main polluter. In 2010, 1,923,900 tons of hazardous waste were thrown into the air.
Studies conducted several years ago showed that the level of heavy metals, hydrogen sulfide, sulfuric acid exceeds the safe level several times. In total, the researchers counted 31 harmful substances, the concentration of which exceeds the permissible norm. Plants and living things slowly die. In Norilsk, life expectancy is ten years less than the national average.