Greatest Threats to the Environment in Russia
Report
Greatest threats to the environment in Russia
Russia has major environmental problems left from the Soviet Union. Those ills have been developing for years and years. Air, water and soil are equally polluted.
Air quality
Russia’s air is among the most polluted in the world. According to the estimate only tiny percentage of urban population breathes the air that is not harmful. Level of air pollution is dangerous, especially for the inhabitants of large industrial cities such as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and many others. Every year there are more and more cars in large cities and their emissions worsen the quality of the air.
Water quality
Poor potable water quality is a major concern. Nearly all Russian rivers and lakes are polluted both by industrial and household sewage. Paper factories taint the water of the largest Russian lakes Ladojskoe and Baikal. Water in the river Volga is so dirty that it is now unsuitable even for irrigation.
Soil and forests
Land quality is declining. Considerable amount of agricultural land have been contaminated by industrial toxic agents, pesticides, and agricultural chemicals. Chernobyl disaster caused radioactive contamination of vast territory.
Coniferous forests in Siberia are disappearing because of acid rains, pollution and fires. Forests in Chernobyl area are polluted with radioactive element, therefore fires there are even more likely than in Siberia.
Solutions
Ecological problems are difficult to be solved. For example, forests in Chernobyl area cannot be decontaminated. Nevertheless if government understand the importance of ecology and invest large amounts of money into the solutions of environmental problems, lots of things can be done to make air, water and soil cleaner.
Greatest threats to the environment in Russia
Russia has major environmental problems left from the Soviet Union. Those ills have been developing for years and years. Air, water and soil are equally polluted.
Air quality
Russia’s air is among the most polluted in the world. According to the estimate only tiny percentage of urban population breathes the air that is not harmful. Level of air pollution is dangerous, especially for the inhabitants of large industrial cities such as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and many others. Every year there are more and more cars in large cities and their emissions worsen the quality of the air.
Water quality
Poor potable water quality is a major concern. Nearly all Russian rivers and lakes are polluted both by industrial and household sewage. Paper factories taint the water of the largest Russian lakes Ladojskoe and Baikal. Water in the river Volga is so dirty that it is now unsuitable even for irrigation.
Soil and forests
Land quality is declining. Considerable amount of agricultural land have been contaminated by industrial toxic agents, pesticides, and agricultural chemicals. Chernobyl disaster caused radioactive contamination of vast territory.
Coniferous forests in Siberia are disappearing because of acid rains, pollution and fires. Forests in Chernobyl area are polluted with radioactive element, therefore fires there are even more likely than in Siberia.
Solutions
Ecological problems are difficult to be solved. For example, forests in Chernobyl area cannot be decontaminated. Nevertheless if government understand the importance of ecology and invest large amounts of money into the solutions of environmental problems, lots of things can be done to make air, water and soil cleaner.