Botany

The most polluted atmosphere in the world. Ambient air pollution: main sources

Air records the volume of emissions into the atmosphere and the consequences of their impact on nature and humans. Data analysis makes it possible to make predictions and develop measures to prevent air pollution.

Objectives of Statistics

Air pollution statistics allow:

provide the government, ministries, local authorities authorities and the public with information about the state of the atmosphere;
monitor the timely execution of security tasks atmospheric air;
study how effectively funds allocated for environmental protection are used;
monitor pollution resulting from anthropogenic activities;
improve economic and methodological provisions for assessing air pollution;
monitor compliance with international agreements.

Sources and types of pollution

There are two types of air pollution - natural pollution (natural) and artificial (anthropogenic). Sources natural pollution air:

Sources of anthropogenic air pollution:

Air pollution indicators

The maximum permissible concentration of harmful substances is considered an indicator of the level of air pollution. In Russia, sanitary and hygienic standards MPC are in force (GN 2.1.6.3492-17). Air pollution standards contain more than 600 maximum permissible concentrations for atmospheric impurities. Some of them are presented in the table:

According to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, motor transport accounts for about 80% of air pollution in cities.

formaldehyde;
phenol;
ammonia;
hydrogen fluoride;
nitrogen dioxide;
carbon monoxide.

Air pollution statistics highlight the worst cities in the country:

The Russian Federation is in 106th place in the environmental rating. The country ranks 62nd in terms of the influence of air on human health.

only 15 can boast air that meets sanitary and hygienic standards;
in 206 cities there is an excess of the maximum permissible concentration for one or more harmful substances;
A 10-fold excess of the MPC is present annually in 125 cities;
in 2016, 31.61 million tons of harmful substances entered the atmosphere. Of this, 17.34 million tons (55%) come from industry. Another 14.3 million tons for road and railway transport;
in 2016, the volume of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere amounted to 1.5 billion tons.

Half of the volume of pollutants in Russia comes from emissions of carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide (CO). It enters the atmosphere as a result of forest fires, during the production of substances necessary for industry, and during combustion. natural gas, including household appliances. However, the majority of carbon monoxide emissions come from cars.

Economic damage from air pollution is calculated for settlements or within a certain period of time. The amount of damage depending on the method of air pollution per 1 conventional ton of substance (rub.):

The situation in the regions

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation studied the consequences of air pollution in the regions. The most unfavorable situation has developed in Krasnoyarsk, Norilsk and Blagoveshchensk. The highest rates of industrial air pollution are demonstrated by:

Krasnoyarsk region.
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
Kemerovo region.
Sverdlovsk region.

Here, about 75% of the population lives in conditions of man-made air pollution. The situation is not much better in the Khabarovsk Territory, Buryatia and Taimyr Autonomous Okrug. Air pollution statistics by county:

Today, in half of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, citizens have pathologies of the respiratory system. One of the reasons is air pollution with sulfur and its oxides (sulfur dioxide and trioxide), which are formed when burning coal and fuel oil.

The highest number of asthma cases per 100 thousand children is observed in the following regions:

Novosibirsk region – 483.
Novgorod region – 377.5.
Chelyabinsk region – 323.2.
St. Petersburg – 289.
Kaliningrad region – 283.2.

On disease statistics big influence causes air pollution from motor vehicles. total weight harmful substances in exhaust gases reach 21 million tons per year. Of them:

16.8 million tons of carbon dioxide;
3.2 million tons of other hydrocarbons;
1 million tons of nitrogen oxides.

In Moscow, the amount of air pollution caused by transport annually amounts to about 801 thousand tons. In St. Petersburg - 244 thousand tons. In Krasnodar - 150 thousand tons.

Air purity control

To preserve people's health and reduce economic damage, regular monitoring of the condition is carried out environment within the framework of the EGSEM.

There are 1,185 posts in Russia. They monitor the atmosphere in 334 cities. For example, in Moscow there are 23 posts.

Rules for combating air pollution are prescribed in state program“Environmental protection for 2012–2020.” However, some goals remain unachieved. For example, air pollution indicators from metallurgical plants and fuel energy enterprises in 2016 lagged behind plans by 10%. The increase in the number of cars led to a gap of another 11%.

The reasons for the failure to implement the program are underfunding and reductions against the backdrop of the unstable economic situation in the country.

Every year, air pollution kills 6.5 million people worldwide, from diseases ranging from heart disease to stroke to lung cancer. It's about about the very real health crisis. Recently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a paper on the causes of environmental pollution and how to combat it.

This report presents a very impressive chart showing which countries have the worst air pollution situation - it shows deaths per 100,000 people. In compiling the chart, experts took into account the number of deaths associated with exposure to sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and residential air pollution resulting from the burning of solid fuels. Experts did not take into account the impact of greenhouse gases and climate change.

Looking at this diagram, we can draw several conclusions:

1) We are talking about the mortality rate, and not about absolute numbers. Georgia and Bulgaria top the list, but countries such as China and India suffer many more deaths as a result of air pollution. more people, since the population there is much higher.

2) Such aggregate rankings hide from us a lot of information about variations within countries. For example, according to one study, in China, air pollution from coal combustion north of the Huai River is reducing average duration life by about 5.5 years compared to the south of the country.

3) The United States is undoubtedly still far from perfect, but this country is one of the cleanest in terms of air pollution. One reason the US has a lower death rate from pollution than, say, France or Germany is that it has fewer diesel cars. Diesel engines are generally more fuel efficient than gasoline engines, but they emit more soot, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. Currently, Europe is trying to reduce the number of such cars to a minimum, but rather lax testing procedures have led to the fact that many cars emit more harmful substances into the atmosphere than required by law.

4) How did it happen that Georgia took first place on this list? The IEA does not provide a detailed explanation. Air quality expert Tim Kovach, whom I contacted on Twitter, told me I should look to the Georgia State of the Environment Report for an explanation. In the last ten years, this country has seen a sharp increase in the number of old diesel cars on the roads, and virtually no pollution testing is carried out:

“In Georgia, the public transport system is not well developed, and therefore a significant proportion of the population uses cars, which are the preferred mode of transport in the country. As a result, the number of passenger cars has increased dramatically over the past decade and has nearly doubled in the last five years.

The vast majority of cars purchased are old cars imported from abroad, and the average age of passenger cars in Georgia is 10-15 years. Diesel fuel cars are extremely popular.

Vehicles are not currently tested for roadworthiness in Georgia, which is why many cars on the roads of this country are in unsatisfactory technical condition. Periodic exhaust gas checks are also not carried out. Low-quality fuel, which is now abundant on the Georgian market, quickly damages catalytic converters. As a rule, car owners remove damaged catalytic converters and do not replace them with new ones, which leads to an increase in the vehicle's harmful emissions. The organization of traffic in Georgian cities still leaves much to be desired, and traffic jams occur quite often there. All this leads to an increase in the volume of emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere.”

Kovach of Soviet industry: old manganese mines, for example, are still emitting into the atmosphere great amount harmful substances.

5) It is impossible to avoid air pollution! Over time, as countries become richer, they begin to invest more money in cleaning technologies that improve air quality - something China is currently actively doing. A fairly large section of the IEA report is devoted to describing measures and programs that will reduce total number deaths from air pollution by 3.3 million by 2040.

These measures include installing emissions controls on cars and power plants in developing countries, and giving people access to clean fuels for cooking and indoor heating (a major source of indoor air pollution).

Why is it so difficult to prevent indoor air pollution?

I've written before about the problem of residential air pollution, which is responsible for about half of pollution-related deaths each year. The problem is that 2.7 billion people, mostly poor rural people, still burn wood, dung and other solid fuels to light, heat their homes and cook food. Particulate pollution from kerosene lamps and wood stoves is deadly.

To prevent indoor air pollution and thereby save 3.5 million lives each year, people need access to cleaner stoves and fuels. This includes stoves with a more advanced ventilation system. Or stoves that use liquefied hydrocarbon gas, which when burned produces fewer harmful substances than wood. Or connect houses to electrical networks.

What obstacles prevent you from doing this? The IEA report details some of these. Currently, burning wood or coal in traditional stoves costs people much less than alternative ways heating, despite the extremely high level of emissions of harmful substances. Consider, for example, data on spending on different kinds fuel in India.

The cost of a traditional wood stove costs an Indian family less than 5% of their monthly income. A “better stove” with ventilation is cleaner, but its costs are already 15% of a family’s monthly income. An even cleaner stove, using liquefied petroleum gas, would cost 40% of a family's income. And electric stoves are even more expensive.

Context

Ukraine: fighting threatens the environment

The Washington Post 06/03/2016

Defense or ecology - what is more important?

Sveriges Radio 06/08/2015

Eco-fasting saves not only the soul, but also nature

Yle 04/03/2015
The Indian government has already launched a subsidy program for the purchase and maintenance of cleaner stoves, but this is not always enough, according to the IEA report. “Suppliers of stoves that use liquefied petroleum gas often face difficulties developing markets in areas with low population densities and poor road infrastructure,” the report says. “Until the infrastructure is in place to ensure uninterrupted supply, consumers will avoid switching to new types of stoves.”

Moreover, many people simply do not know about the dangers of burning wood or manure indoors, so they are reluctant to switch to more advanced types of stoves, even if they have the opportunity. The report states: “That is why campaigns to distribute better cookstoves tend to include an important educational component, educating people about not only the proper use of improved stoves, but also their impact on health.”

It is also worth considering a number of factors that have a positive impact on the environment. In 2013, Sunil Nautiyal wrote an amazing article for the Journal of Mountain Science about how the transition from wood-burning stoves to LPG stoves in some parts of India has reduced the rate of deforestation.

The IEA estimates that providing universal access to cleaner stoves could cost the world $55 billion by 2040. That's a pittance compared to the $1.1 trillion it would cost to provide access to electricity to the 1.2 billion people who currently don't have it. And cleaner cookstoves could save 3.5 million lives every year. Of course, we must move in both directions, but tackling indoor air pollution could pay significant dividends.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

Ecology

The day before, the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, with a population of 11 million, was virtually shut down due to air pollution.

The smog that enveloped the city was so thick that many people not seen at a distance of 9 meters. The situation is so serious that schools and airports have closed and some bus routes have been cancelled.

Pollution is measured using an index that identifies small particles in the air. Particle levels below 25 are considered safe for health, and above 300 are considered hazardous.

Pollution indicators in Harbin exceeded the international safety standard by 40 times, reaching more than 1000 in some parts.

Atmospheric pollutants

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced that air pollution leads to lung cancer. Air pollution is a carcinogen, along with hazards such as asbestos, tobacco and ultraviolet radiation.

"The air that most people breathe is contaminated with a complex mixture of substances that cause cancer," said Kurt Straif, a spokesman for the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In addition, he believes that air pollution is now " most serious environmental carcinogen", followed by secondhand smoke and cigar smoke.

This spring, WHO also compiled a list of the most polluted cities in the world. The first place on the list was taken by the city of Ahvaz in the western part of Iran with a population of more than 3 million inhabitants, which is the capital of the Khuzestan province.

The most polluted cities 2013

Here are the 10 most polluted cities, according to the amount of suspended particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter per cubic meter of ambient air (PM10):

1. Ahvaz, Iran - 372

2. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - 279

3. Sanandaj, Iran - 254

4. Ludhiana, India - 251

5. Quetta, Pakistan - 251

6. Kermanshah, Iran - 229

7. Peshawar, Pakistan - 219

8. Gaborone, Botswana - 216

9. Yasuj, Iran - 215

10. Kanpur, India - 209

As you can see, the cities with the worst air quality are not large capitals, but provincial cities with a predominance of heavy industry. Thus, the city of Ahwaz in Iran has overtaken cities such as New Delhi and Beijing, known for their pollution with a PM10 level of 372, while the world average is 71. Life expectancy in this city is the lowest in Iran.

1. Linfen, China - air pollution

2. Bhopal, India - industrial chemicals

3. Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia - mercury

4. Kasaragod, India - pesticides

5. Dzerzhinsk, Russia - chemicals, industrial waste

6. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan – organic chemicals

7. Tianying, China - lead

8. Sukinda, India – hexavalent chromium

9. Chernobyl, Ukraine - radiation

10. Arctic Canada - persistent organic pollutants

The most polluted cities in Russia

Norilsk, Moscow and St. Petersburg top the list of the most polluted cities in Russia, according to the Federal State Statistics Service.

Last year, the volume of pollutant emissions in Norilsk amounted to more than 1959 thousand tons. In Moscow this figure was 995 thousand tons, and in St. Petersburg – 448 thousand tons.

This took into account emissions from cars and stationary objects such as factories. Most of the cities included in the rating are centers of large metallurgical, oil and chemical industries.

Here 10 most polluted cities in Russia:

1. Norilsk

3. St. Petersburg

4. Cherepovets

7. Novokuznetsk

9. Angarsk

Canada: 557 million tons of CO 2 per year. The typical image of Canada is virgin forests, crystal clear lakes, mountains and rivers, nature and space. Despite this, Canada is one of the ten countries that emit the largest amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To change this situation, in October 2016, the Canadian government announced its intention to introduce a carbon tax.

South Korea: 592 million tons of CO 2 per year. Refugees from North Korea they say that life in the country of our southern neighbors is like a breath of fresh air. This metaphor may sound like a cruel irony: the air in South Korea is one of the most polluted in Asia, sometimes literally suffocating. Spring in Seoul is like being in the same room with a person who smokes 4 packs of cigarettes a day. South Korea has 50 coal plants (and more are planned), and Seoul is home to more than 10 million people, almost all of whom use cars. Unlike Canada, South Korea is not taking any measures that could improve the environmental situation.

Saudi Arabia: 601 million tons of CO 2 per year. According to WHO, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and even in Beijing, your lungs are not getting the same “periodic table” that poisons your breath in Riyadh. IN in this case the problem of industrial waste is aggravated by difficult natural conditions, in particular, frequent and sometimes terrifying sandstorms. Environmental issues in Saudi Arabia are considered secondary, and, like South Korea, the state does not intend to reduce oil and gas production and processing industries.

Iran: 648 million tons of CO 2 per year. The city of Ahvaz in Iran, which once served as a winter residence Persian kings, today a major metallurgical center and one of the cities with the most polluted air in the world. For example, in Moscow the average annual concentration of PM10 (fine particles that are an important component of air pollution) is 33 μg/m 3 , and in Ahvaz sometimes reaches 372 μg/m 3 . But problems with carbon dioxide emissions, alas, are typical for the entire territory of Iran. In November 2016, all the capital's schools were closed due to deadly fumes choking the city. “Deadly” is not a figure of speech here: in 23 days, more than 400 people died from air pollution. In addition to petrochemical production, which significantly worsens the environment, an important reason for this situation in Iran is sanctions. For the past 38 years since the end of the Islamic Revolution, Iranians have been driving old cars with low-quality fuel.

Germany: 798 million tons of CO 2 per year. The presence of Germany on this list is as surprising as the presence of Canada. But don’t be deceived: in addition to green fields, a good economy and eco-orientation, Germany has a lot major cities. Thus, Stuttgart is called the “German Beijing” - there is no smog here, but the level of concentration of dangerous particles is quite high. In 2014, particle concentrations exceeded the permissible limit for 64 days, making the air dirtier than Seoul and Los Angeles combined. In 28 regions of the country, the level of air pollution is considered dangerous. In 2013, more than 10 thousand German residents died from high levels of nitrogen oxides in the air.

Japan: 1237 million tons of CO 2 per year. Japan ranks 5th in the world in terms of pollution, emitting almost twice as much carbon dioxide into the air as South Korea. But all this is a giant step forward compared to what was happening on the island state literally 50 years ago. Horrible syndromes caused by pollution, such as Minamata disease (heavy metal poisoning), killed many Japanese people. It wasn't until the 1970s that Japanese authorities began to take steps towards living in a cleaner environment. The environmental situation in Japan worsened slightly after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011: the disaster led to the fact that almost all Japanese nuclear power plants were closed and replaced with coal ones.

Russia: 1617 million tons of CO 2 per year. Yes, Moscow sometimes exhibits particularly dangerous levels of air pollution, but Russia’s fourth position in the list of countries with the highest CO2 content in the air is still occupied by the Chelyabinsk region and the industrial cities of Siberia. Novokuznetsk, Angarsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk and Novosibirsk produce more emissions into the atmosphere than the multimillion-dollar city of Moscow. About 6% of all carbon monoxide emissions in Russia are due to Chelyabinsk region. The city of Karabash in the Chelyabinsk region was recognized as an environmental disaster zone in 1996, and in the media it is often called the most polluted city in the world.

India: 2274 million tons of CO 2 per year. According to some estimates, about 1.2 million people die every year from air pollution in India. Yes, India has claimed to strive for cleaner energy, but how realistic is it... big question. The country's economy is growing, yet hundreds of millions of Indians still lack electricity and live in squalid conditions. One of the largest economic achievements India for last years is to reduce the country’s dependence on coal imports: through the growth of its own coal production, which India is confidently increasing every year. If we stop this coal mining, the air will become cleaner, but the country will be poorer.

USA: 5414 million tons of CO 2 per year. Despite numerous environmental protection programs and developments in the field of green energy, the United States is still among the leaders in environmental pollution. According to a 2016 report by the American Lung Association, more than half of the country's population breathes air with extremely dangerous levels of pollution. It can be rephrased this way: 166 million Americans daily put themselves at risk of developing asthma, heart disease, and cancer due to the air they breathe. The most polluted cities are concentrated in sunny California.

China: 10,357 million tons of CO 2 per year. Japan, Russia, India and the USA occupy adjacent positions in this ranking, but even if these countries are combined into one, then in this case the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the air will not be comparable to what is happening in China: if air pollution were Olympic sport, China became the leader in the medal standings. "Red," the highest, level of air pollution is not uncommon in many Chinese cities, as are reports of millions of residents being confined to their homes by toxic smog. The air situation in China is not getting better - just in December 2016, the concentration of fine suspended particles PM10 (we talked about them above) exceeded 800 μg/m3. For comparison: the safe average annual concentration of PM10 from the WHO point of view is 20 μg/m 3 .

Most clean country in the world is Switzerland— a leading state in solving issues of environmental pollution control and problems with natural resources. The dirtiest country on the planet - Iraq. But this is only based on the state of the environment today. In the ranking of trends in the development of the environmental situation over the past 10 years, shameful last place takes Russia. While the leading country in terms of environmental improvement from 2000 to 2010 is Latvia. Rating of the cleanest and most dirty countries of the world, indicating the index of well-being of environmental trends in 2012 amounted to Yale and Columbia Universities.

Top ten environmentally friendly countries included, in addition to Switzerland, which took first place, small states and major European powers: Latvia (2nd place), Norway (3rd place), Luxembourg (4th place), Costa Rica (5th place), France (6th place), Austria (7th place), Italy (8th place), UK and Northern Ireland(9th place), Sweden (10th place). The ranking once again demonstrated the difference between the ecology of developed and developing countries (5th place for Costa Rica and 49th place for the USA - an exception to the rule). However, according to Western experts, the point is not at all that the largest European powers are transferring all their harmful production to the poor countries of the world. The point is the size of GDP per capita, as well as investments in basic environmental benefits (people's access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation). Developing countries are still on the way to ensuring high level life of its population, as well as the transition to more sustainable production and consumption processes.

To the top ten countries with the worst environment , in addition to Iraq, which took last place, included: Turkmenistan (131st place), Uzbekistan (130th place), Kazakhstan (129th place), South Africa (128th place), Yemen (127th place), Kuwait (126th place), India (125th place) , Bosnia and Herzegovina (124th place), Libya (123rd place). The greatest concern among health experts is the environmental situation in China (116th place) and India, since 1/3 of the planet's population lives in these countries. Already, air pollution in the Middle Kingdom is the biggest threat to the health of its residents. As the English newspaper writes The Guardian, « incidence of lung cancer in Chinese cities in 2-3 times higher than in rural areas, despite the fact that smoking is the same in both places" Health experts predict that by 2050, air pollution will kill every year. 3.6 million Human. And most of these deaths will occur in India and China.

Photo from the RIA Novosti website

6 of the dirtiest countries in the world are also included in the Top 10 countries with extremely negative environmental trends (right column in the general table). The worst results in changing the environmental situation from 2000 to 2010, as mentioned above, were shown by Russia. Kuwait is in second place on this black list, Saudi Arabia is in third, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iraq, South Africa, and Turkmenistan rounds out the top ten outsiders. According to the conclusion of Western experts, Russia has demonstrated the worst trends in changes in the environmental situation due to critically low indicators in the field of environmental protection. The population of the Russian Federation enjoys weak environmental legislation in the country, which results in problems such as fishing and deforestation exceeding all permissible norms. The only environmental indicator that has improved in Russia over the past 10 years is the volume of sulfur dioxide emissions. Oddly enough, it has shrunk.

The situation of our country and the nine countries that have joined it looks especially sad compared to the rest of the ranking participants. The vast majority of states improved their environmental performance over the period from 2000 to 2010. Top Trends showed Latvia, Azerbaijan in second place, Romania in third, followed by Albania, Egypt, Angola, Slovakia, Ireland, Belgium and Thailand.

Each of the 132 countries participating in the rating was assessed by 22 parameters, including: the harmful impact of the environment on public health, the impact of polluted air and polluted water on human health, the impact of polluted atmosphere and water resources on ecosystems, the state of forests, the scale of fishing and Agriculture, climate change and much more.