The state report "On Environmental Protection" named the cities of Russia with the dirtiest air. Krasnoyarsk, Magnitogorsk and Norilsk turned out to be the most dangerous cities for living. In total, there are 15 most polluted territories in Russia, which, according to environmentalists, are the most unfavorable in terms of, first of all, atmospheric air and waste accumulation.
The black list of the dirtiest cities included Norilsk, Lipetsk, Cherepovets, Novokuznetsk, Nizhny Tagil, Magnitogorsk, Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Bratsk, Novocherkassk, Chita, Dzerzhinsk, Mednogorsk and Asbest.
Krasnoyarsk called "a zone of ecological disaster"
Alas, today Krasnoyarsk residents are literally suffocating in emissions. The reason for this is the active work of industrial facilities, factories and vehicles.
Krasnoyarsk, being the center of the East Siberian economic region, is one of the major industrial and transport cities, its ecological situation is in an extremely tense state. Over the past year, the ecology of this million-plus city has deteriorated even more. Within the framework of the special project “Practical Ecology”, an analysis of the ecological situation was carried out in this Siberian city.
The study of pollution was carried out using air sampling. If in 2014 only 0.7% of these samples had an excess, then in 2017 this figure increased to 2.1% - that is, 3 times. Sounds scary. The same report, by the way, also speaks of an increase in the number of cancer patients in the city by about 2.5% per year. And by the end of 2017, this number may reach 373 patients per 100,000 inhabitants.
Magnitogorsk, the most environmentally unfavorable city in the Urals
The unfavorable state of the atmospheric air in the city is determined by the emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, the main source of which, of course, is the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. The city of Magnitogorsk, whose city-forming enterprise has become an industrial giant, is constantly included in the priority list of cities in the Russian Federation with the highest level of air pollution in terms of benzapyrene, nitrogen dioxide, carbon disulfide, and phenol.
Norilsk: ecological crisis in conditions of extreme cold
This city, which was built by Gulag prisoners in the 1930s, can be called a place for extreme sports. Norilsk, with a population of over 100,000, is located in the freezing Siberian Arctic. The maximum temperature in summer can reach 32 °C, and the minimum in winter can be below -50 °C. The city, whose economic basis is the mining industry, is completely dependent on imported food. The main industry is the extraction of precious metals. And it is precisely because of metal mining that Norilsk has become one of the most polluted cities in Russia.
Norilsk continues to be one of the three most polluted Russian cities, even despite the fact that after the closure of the Nickel Plant in June 2016, harmful emissions into the atmosphere were reduced by a third. This facility, located in the historic center, was Norilsk Nickel's oldest asset and accounted for 25% of the region's total pollution. The enterprise annually emitted about 400,000 tons of sulfur dioxide into the air. This made Norilsk the main polluter in the Arctic and one of the ten dirtiest cities on the planet according to Greenpeace.
Ecology in Lipetsk leaves much to be desired. A significant part of the residential development is located on the right bank of the Voronezh River, while the building of the metallurgical plant is on the gently sloping left bank. Due to the wind rose with a predominance of northeasterly winds, some areas of the city are experiencing discomfort.
Cherepovets
Cherepovets is a city with a developed industrial production, which, of course, directly affects the ecological situation. Moreover, here it is impossible to single out an area that would be relatively free from industrial pollution - absolutely all areas feel the influence of industrial zones.
Residents of the city often feel the unpleasant smell of industrial emissions, more often than others they clean their windows from black plaque and observe multi-colored smoke that comes out of the chimneys of factories every day. In spring and autumn, the ecological situation in the city deteriorates somewhat, which is associated with weather conditions that reduce the dispersion of harmful components, which contributes to their accumulation in the atmosphere.
Novokuznetsk
This is another industrial Russian city, in the center of which there is a metallurgical plant. It is not surprising that the ecological situation here is characterized as unfavorable: air pollution is especially serious. There are 145,000 vehicles registered in the city, the gross emissions of which amounted to 76.5 thousand tons.
Nizhny Tagil
Nizhny Tagil has long been on the list of cities with the most polluted air. The maximum allowable value of benzapyrene in the atmosphere of the city was exceeded 13 times.
In the past, the abundance of enterprises led to numerous emissions into the atmosphere. Now 58% of air pollution in the city is accounted for by motor vehicles. In addition to urban air pollution, the deplorable state of water in the Om and Irtysh rivers adds to the environmental problems in Omsk.
Chelyabinsk
In industrial Chelyabinsk, a fairly high level of air pollution is recorded. But this situation is further complicated by the fact that a third of the year in the city is calm. In hot weather, smog can be observed over Chelyabinsk, which is the result of the activities of the electrode plant, the Chelyabinsk State District Power Plant, the ChEMK and several Chelyabinsk thermal power plants. Power plants account for about 20% of all recorded emissions.
Dzerzhinsk
The real threat to the ecology of the city are deep burials of waste from hazardous industries and a sludge lake (nicknamed the "white sea") with waste from chemical production.
The main sources of air pollution in the city are the Bratsk aluminum plant, the ferroalloy plant, the thermal power plant and the Bratsk timber industry complex. In addition, every spring and summer there are regular forest fires that last from two weeks to four months.
For three years in a row, this city has been included in the anti-rating. The regional center ranks second in the country after Vladivostok in terms of the number of cars per capita, which is one of the sources of air pollution within the city. In addition, there is the problem of urban water pollution.
Mednogorsk
The main environmental pollutant is the Mednogorsk copper-sulphur plant, which emits a large amount of sulfur dioxide into the air, which forms sulfuric acid when it settles above the soil.
Novocherkassk
The city of Asbest produces 25% of the world's chrysotile asbestos. Known for its heat resistance and carcinogenic properties, this fibrous mineral is banned in most European countries. Around the clock, in a giant 12 km long quarry in Asbest, “stone flax” is mined for the production of asbestos-cement pipes, insulation and building materials, half of which is exported to 50 countries. Local residents do not believe in the harm of asbestos.
We all tend to complain about our own lives, the conditions and the place where we live. Have you ever thought that there are people who live much worse and more difficult than you? This is worth thinking about at least once in your life. Today we will share with you the top 10 dirtiest cities in the world. Not only is it unpleasant to be in these cities, but there is also a high risk to life. And people still live there. Now you will have the opportunity to see from the outside the living conditions of some people. This will help you understand how good it is to live clean and tidy.
We will tell you about the most polluted cities in the world and reveal to you the reasons why they have become so. Sometimes, it is even difficult to imagine that people can really exist in such conditions. These are not all places, but only a part of the most unsightly places on our planet. Well, it's time to start. The faint of heart, as they say, please leave.
10. Rudnaya Pristan, Russia
The Russian city opens the rating with the dirtiest cities in the world. An estimated 90,000 people are considered potentially infected. And all because of harmful substances such as mercury, lead and cadmium, which pollute everything around. These substances are contained in everything that a person needs so much: in drinking water, fauna and soil. As a result, local residents cannot fully obtain the necessary water, grow crops, it is simply dangerous for health. Even the blood of local children contains many dangerous substances that exceed the norm by an unacceptable number of times. But it doesn't get any better. Every year the scale of pollution is increasing.
In this area there is a large tannery engaged in leather tanning and dyeing. Chromium salts, sodium chromate and other harmful substances are used to work at the plant, and subsequently tons of hazardous waste, instead of being eliminated and disposed of, end up in groundwater. Drinking water, groundwater and soil become unusable, this not only makes people sick, there are many deaths. However, local farmers continue to toil on the contaminated land, watering their crops with polluted water.
Norilsk is a city with a huge number of plants and factories where heavy metals are smelted. As a result, harmful substances such as nickel, strontium, copper, etc. are constantly in the air. You will not envy the inhabitants of the city. Snow, more like mud, and the air tasting sulphurous. But this is not the worst. Mortality is increased, life expectancy is much less than the average for the country, and almost everyone here has illnesses. Foreign tourists no longer come to Norilsk, because even a short stay in this city can affect the state of health, which will then be very difficult to recover.
7. Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
In the immediate vicinity of this settlement there is a huge burial of radioactive substances. The level of radiation in these places exceeds the norm by dozens of times. Since landslides and floods due to earthquakes, as well as heavy rains and mudflows, are considered frequent phenomena in this area, hazardous substances will spread throughout the region at lightning speed. As a result, locals and residents of the surrounding area suffer from oncology.
Linfeng, although not the dirtiest city in the world, but in the country, perhaps, it is he who has the worst environmental situation. The air contains such harmful substances as lead, carbon, ash, etc. The content of these substances has long exceeded all permissible norms. We can say that the Chinese themselves are to blame for this. Everyone knows that the country is in dire need of coal, so hundreds of mines are being created throughout the territory, sometimes illegal and completely unregulated. Alas, Linfeng City has become a kind of mine. As a result, people suffer, getting severe and incurable diseases.
This small mining town has long been subject to emissions of toxic substances released into the atmosphere due to the work of a local factory. The blood of local children contains an amount of lead that has long exceeded all norms. As a result, children are forced to suffer from serious illnesses. And the vegetation in this city has long been forgotten. Everything that once grew here was destroyed by acid rain.
In the last century, rich deposits of lead were discovered in this city. The air is so polluted with heavy metals, the norms are exceeded by 4 times. Residents reap the most severe consequences of ingestion of hazardous substances: vomiting, diarrhea, blood poisoning, chronic kidney disease and even muscle atrophy.
3. Haina, Dominican Republic
In this area is a factory that produces car batteries. The waste from this plant is very dangerous because it contains a very high lead content. The amount of this substance is so critical that it exceeds the norm not at times and not even tens, but thousands of times! It's hard to even imagine. The most common diseases in this area are congenital malformations, mental disorders and eye diseases.
Once this city was the center where they were engaged in the production of chemical weapons. After illegally written off and dumped into groundwater were tons of chemical waste. People in this city don't live to old age. Men, at best, live up to 42 years, and women a little more - up to 47 years. According to estimates, the death rate in Dzerzhinsk has long exceeded the birth rate by 2.6 times. The forecast is not the most optimistic. It is sad that in the top ten dirtiest cities in the world, our country occupies 3 lines at once.
1.Chernobyl, Ukraine
Chernobyl takes 1st place in the ranking and receives the title dirtiest city in the world. There is probably no person on earth who has not heard about the catastrophe that occurred in Chernobyl. During the ongoing tests at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the core of the reactor melted, and a terrible explosion occurred. From this, 30 people died immediately on the spot. 135 thousand people were evacuated. Since then, no one has lived in the city. We also remember the bombs that were once dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and so the explosion that occurred in Chernobyl resulted in a hundred times greater release of radioactive substances. This tragedy will forever remain in the hearts and memory of people. And the consequences of this accident are visible to this day.
The dirtiest city in the world | Video
Progress gives the world innovative technologies. Opportunities and objects are constantly appearing that make life more convenient and dynamic. But there is a downside, a negative side - the most polluted cities in the world. Increasing the extraction of raw materials, increasing the scale of production and reducing its cost is detrimental to the environment. The ratings announced in this article will tell you where it is dangerous to live on earth.
Pollution Assessment Criteria
WHO, UNESCO are engaged in statistics of unfavorable ecology on the territory of the planet.
For this, the following criteria are used:
- the percentage of hazardous substances in the air, as well as in water and soil, among the most hazardous to health, such as mercury, arsenic, lead, hydrocyanic acid, mustard gas and phosgene;
- the duration of the decay period of toxic substances;
- number of population and births;
- the proximity of the city to the source of pollution;
- level of radioactive contamination;
- the impact of industrial emissions on the development of children.
Based on these factors, a rating of the most polluted places on the planet was compiled. The study of populated objects was carried out for each category. And then, according to a scale specially developed for this statistics, total indicators were determined.
Top 10 most environmentally polluted places on the planet
According to statistics from the analytical company MerserHuman from the USA, the list of the 10 most polluted cities in the world looks like this:
- Linfen is in China.
- Tien Yin is in China.
- Sukinda is in India.
- Vapi is in India.
- La Oroya is in Peru.
- Dzerzhinsk is in Russia.
- Norilsk is in Russia.
- Chernobyl is in Ukraine.
- Sumgayit is in Azerbaijan.
- Kabwe is in Zambia.
Settlements with a high level of environmental hazard:
- Bayos de Haina - in the Dominican Republic;
- Mailu Suu - in Kyrgyzstan;
- Ranipet - in India;
- Rudnaya Pristan - in Russia;
- Dalnegorsk - in Russia;
- Volgograd - in Russia;
- Magnitogorsk - in Russia;
- Karachay is in Russia.
The most environmentally polluted city in the world - Linfen
The population is 200,000 people. Leading in the world in all criteria of environmental pollution. This is the center of the coal mining industry, where, in addition to state, private and illegal mines operate.
Safety standards are ignored, which leads to a supersaturation of the air in the city and its environs with coal dust, organic chemicals, lead and carbon. The result of exposure to these substances is the progression of bronchopulmonary diseases - pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, malignant tumors.
Other polluted cities in the world
It will be interesting to get acquainted with the settlements, which have been awarded the title of the most polluted places on the planet.
Tianying
It is called the heart of China's metallurgy. On the territory of the city there are many large industrial enterprises that emit dust, gas and heavy metal oxides into the atmosphere. Large-scale lead mining operations are carried out in the vicinity. Due to the thick gray smoke, there is no visibility at a distance of 10 meters. Soil, air and water are impregnated with lead fumes. Vegetables and signs grown in the surrounding areas contain 20 times more lead than normal. Such a critical situation leads to the development of brain pathologies. A large number of children with symptoms of dementia are born in the region.
There are chromium mines near Sukinda. This metal, widespread in production, is recognized as one of the most dangerous carcinogens. It has an extremely adverse effect on local residents, provoking gene mutations and rapidly progressing oncological diseases.
The Government of India does not take effective measures to reduce the concentration of chromium in water and soil. Treatment facilities in this region are under development.
vapi
A heavily polluted city in India is Vapi, which has a population of 71,000. Its proximity to a large industrial zone makes it life-threatening. There are many factories and plants for chemical and metallurgical purposes in the vicinity, emitting tons of harmful substances into the atmosphere. The main one is mercury, the content of which in the soil exceeded the figure by 100 times. The current situation has become fatal for the inhabitants of the region.
The average life expectancy here is only 35-40 years.
La Oroya
A polymetallic plant has been operating in the Peruvian town of La Oroya since 1922. Its intermittent emissions contain high concentrations of lead, sulfur dioxide, copper and zinc. This has caused serious illness among the local residents, whose number is 35,000.
The fallout of acid rain has led to the fact that the entire area has become dry and lifeless, devoid of vegetation. In 2009, the government of Peru was proposed a plan for a radical reconstruction of enterprises with the suspension of production for five years.
Russian Dzerzhinsk with a population of 300,000 in 2003 was included in the Guinness Book of Records. Received the title of the dirtiest city in the world. The critical situation was caused by the disposal of chemicals, which lasted from 1938 to 1998. The total volume of deadly substances amounted to 300,000 tons, that is, one ton per inhabitant.
Soil and groundwater contain critical levels of phenol, 17 million times the upper limit of normal. At the moment, cleaning work in Dzerzhinsk is at the planning stage.
Norilsk
The population of this Russian city is 180 people. It is closed to foreigners. One of the largest metallurgical plants on the planet has been operating in Norilsk for several decades. Each year, up to 4 million tons of chemicals are released into the environment, including lead, arsenic, copper, selenium and zinc. In view of this, there is almost no vegetation and insects here.
Cleaning works have been carried out in Norilsk for 10 years. The ecological situation is gradually on the mend, however, the safe level of concentration of chemicals still exceeds the norm.
In the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl on April 26, 1986, the world's worst nuclear tragedy occurred - the explosion of a nuclear power plant. All residents were evacuated. Territory over 150,000 sq. m. was under the influence of a radioactive cloud, consisting of the evaporation of heavy metals, uranium, pluton, iodine and strontium.
The radiation level in the exclusion zone carries a mortal danger. This area is empty to this day.
Sumgayit
Under the Soviet Union, Azerbaijani Sumgayit occupied a central place in the chemical industry. Due to the constant emissions of mercury and oil products, the city of 285,000 people has become almost uninhabitable.
Kabwe
Large deposits of lead were discovered near the Zambian city of Kabwe more than a century ago. Since then, this mineral has been actively mined. The local population is 250,000 people. From the territories of lead mines, hazardous waste is constantly spreading into the air, soil and groundwater. This causes pathologies of internal organs, muscle atrophy and severe blood poisoning.
Baios de Haina
It is a small city in the Dominican Republic with a population of 85,000 people. The danger to health and life here is represented by a plant specializing in the production of car batteries. Lead emissions into the atmosphere are four times higher than the standard. The consequence of this are congenital mutations and mental disorders.
Mailu-Suu
In Mailu-Suu, located in Kyrgyzstan, during 1948-1968. mined uranium. Today, the level of radiation is 10 times higher than the normative indicators. The reason for the critical situation in the city and its environs are burial grounds with dangerous substances. Contrary to the warnings of scientists, they were built in areas of increased seismological danger. Due to earthquakes and landslides, burials are destroyed. The United States of America is involved in solving this problem. Work is underway.
The polluted cities considered in the article pose an environmental threat to the entire planet. Toxic components are spread due to air cyclones, soil migration and the natural water cycle. The problem requires an urgent solution at the global level.
Technological progress is inextricably linked with the extraction and use of minerals. Intensive development of the bowels of the earth, heavy industry and industrial waste - all this has an extremely negative impact on the ecological situation of the planet.
The Real Threat
The soil, ground and external waters, the atmosphere are polluted within a radius of tens of kilometers from the place of mining or a man-made object. Settlements also fall into the distribution area of toxic, and often deadly substances. The most environmentally polluted cities in the world pose a real threat not only to public health, but also to people's lives. Cancer diseases, gene mutations, high infant mortality, a significant reduction in the average life expectancy of the adult population - this is not the whole list of the terrible consequences of a thoughtless attitude towards the environment.
Criteria for selecting contaminated sites
Analytical organization MerserHuman (USA) took the trouble to study the situation and identified the dirtiest cities in the world. For this, environmentalists established criteria by which a number of environmental indicators of the settlement were evaluated:
- remoteness of the settlement from the source of pollution;
- Population;
- the impact of adverse factors on the child's body;
- the level of heavy metals and other pollutants in soil, water and air; especially dangerous are: lead, mercury, copper, zinc, sulfur dioxide, cadmium, arsenic, selenium, sarin, phosgene, mustard gas, hydrocyanic acid and some others;
- radiation level;
- the period of decay of harmful substances.
In order to compile a list of the dirtiest cities in the world, points were assigned to the places studied for each item. The total indicator was evaluated according to a specially developed scale. According to the results of the study by comparison, this list was compiled, consisting of 35 cities located in different parts of our planet.
TOP 10 dirtiest cities in the world
If we simply list the cities that are most heavily polluted, then the list will look like this:
- Linfen, China.
- Tianying, China.
- Sukinda, India.
- Vapi, India.
- La Oroya, Peru.
- Dzerzhinsk, Russia.
- Norilsk, Russia.
- Chernobyl, Ukraine.
- Sumgayit, Azerbaijan.
- Kabwe, Zambia.
Full list
These 10 dirtiest cities in the world should be supplemented with the following settlements, the level of environmental tension in which is extremely high:
- Baios de Haina, Dominican Republic.
- Mailu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan.
- Ranipet, India.
- Rudnaya Pristan, Russia.
- Dalnegorsk, Russia.
- Volgograd, Russia.
- Magnitogorsk, Russia.
- Karachay, Russia.
The full top of the dirtiest cities in the world consists of 35 places. Of these, 8 belong to Russia, 6 to India, followed by the Philippines, the United States, China, Romania and other countries.
To be able to analyze the situation, these cities should be considered in detail.
Linfen, China
This is the dirtiest city in the world. Moreover, the conclusion made by the American organization MerserHuman is confirmed by the results of a study by the Blacksmith Institute and other organizations concerned about the state of the environment on Earth.
Linfen is the center of China's coal mining industry. Its population exceeds 200 thousand people. Deposits of black fuel are extracted from the bowels of the earth not only by state mines, but also illegally, without observing safety standards. Because of this, coal dust completely enveloped the dirtiest city in the world. She was on clothes, and on skin, and on houses, dusted windows and roofs. Residents of the city do not even hang their bed linen outside to dry, because after a while it turns black ...
In addition, everything here is saturated with carbon, lead and organic chemicals. Such an unfavorable situation led to a progressive increase in bronchopulmonary diseases - bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and lung cancer.
Cleaning work is not carried out in the city, although the situation has long become critical.
Tianying, China
The rating of the dirtiest cities in the world is continued by the largest metallurgical center of China. In the vicinity of Tianying, large-scale lead mining operations have been launched. The gray smoke that has enveloped the city makes it difficult to see anything at a distance of ten meters! Everything around is impregnated with lead - soil, water and air. In wheat grown in fields near the city, the content of this heavy metal is 24 times higher than the maximum allowable level. A lot of demented children are born here.
There is no work to clean up the area from lead.
Sukinda, India
An open-pit chromium mine has been developed near the Indian city of Sukinda. This metal is widely used in various manufacturing industries. However, it is the strongest carcinogen and poisons the body, provoking cancer, gene mutations.
Total contamination with chromium has a very bad effect on the health of the population of Sukinda. But the state does not take any measures to reduce the level of the chemical element in water and soil.
Vapi, India
The town of Vapi in India with a population of 71 thousand people confidently continues the list of "The Dirtiest Cities in the World". It is located near the industrial zone, where many chemical factories and metallurgical plants have been built. Production facilities emit tons of harmful chemicals into the environment around the clock. This has led to the fact that the mercury content in soil and water is 100 times higher than the norm! This literally kills local residents, whose average life expectancy is very low - only 35-40 years.
La Oroya, Peru
A small town with a population of 35 thousand people since 1922 has been suffering from periodic toxic emissions from a local factory. Emissions contain concentrated doses of lead, zinc, copper and sulfur dioxide. This area is dry and lifeless, because all the vegetation has died due to acid rain. In the blood of local residents, the lead content is much higher than the critical level, which leads to serious illnesses.
La Oroya, just like other dirtiest cities in the world, does not bother the country's authorities, who do not pay any attention to either the environment or the health of local residents.
Dzerzhinsk, Russia
According to many experts, Dzerzhinsk with a population of 300 thousand people should top the list called "The dirtiest cities in the world." It was here that in the period from 1938 to 1998, 300,000 tons of deadly chemicals were buried, which turned out to be 1 ton for each inhabitant. The level of dioxides and phenol in groundwater and soil exceeds the upper limit of the norm by 17 million (!) times! Dzerzhinsk has a record high mortality rate: 26 dead per 10 newborns. The city would have died out long ago if it had not been replenished with visitors who are tempted by high salaries in hazardous industries.
In 2003, Dzerzhinsk entered the Guinness Book of Records with the title of the dirtiest city in the world.
Cleaning work at the planning stage.
Norilsk, Russia
It is called a branch of ecological hell. A giant metallurgical plant, one of the largest on the planet, has been operating here for many decades. Every year it emits 4 million tons of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, consisting of zinc, copper, cadmium, nickel, selenium, lead and arsenic. Vegetation is destroyed here, there are practically no insects, and black snow falls in winter. The city with a population of 180 thousand people is closed to foreigners.
Cleaning works have been carried out for the last 10 years. During this period, it was possible to somewhat improve the environmental situation, but the reduced concentrations of harmful substances still greatly exceed the level that is safe for health.
Chernobyl, Ukraine
A nuclear power plant exploded in the city. This tragedy happened on April 26, 1986. The nuclear accident is recognized as the worst in the history of the planet. A radioactive cloud of plutonium, uranium, strontium, iodine and heavy metals enveloped an area of more than 150 thousand square meters. km. All residents of the city were evacuated. Until now, Chernobyl is empty. In the exclusion zone, the level of radiation is deadly. The most common disease in people exposed to radiation from a nuclear explosion is thyroid cancer.
Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
In Soviet times, Sumgayit was the center of the chemical industry. Over the entire period of operation, more than 120,000 tons of toxic waste were released into the environment, mainly mercury, oil refinery products. As a result, the city of 285,000 has turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Today, most plants and factories are closed, but no one is carrying out serious disinfecting work, leaving nature to clean itself. Sumgayit is still one of the most uninhabitable places on the planet.
Kabwe, Zambia
More than 100 years ago, deposits of lead were discovered near the African city of Kabwe with a population of 250 thousand people. Since then, it has been continuously mined here. Numerous lead mines send hazardous waste into the air, soil and water. The high concentration of lead in the blood of aborigines leads to a huge number of severe poisonings.
Cleaning work under development.
Baios de Haina, Dominican Republic
In this town with a population of 85,000, a large factory for the production of batteries for cars has been built. His activities have caused severe lead pollution of the environment. The figures are four thousand times higher than the norm! It is incompatible with life.
Mental disorders and congenital deformities are widespread among local residents.
Cleaning work is not carried out.
Mailu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
Here, from 1948 to 1968, uranium was mined. Despite the cessation of mining, the situation in the city and its environs is critical. Burial grounds, which are destroyed by landslides, earthquakes and mudflows, are of great danger. Scientists warned that it was impossible to carry out the burial of radioactive substances in a seismically active zone. The radiation background in the areas of destruction exceeds the permissible norm by almost 10 times!
The United States is dealing with this issue. The work is financed by the World Bank and the Bank of the International Development Association.
General conclusions
The dirtiest cities in the world, whose photos show a very difficult environmental situation, are a potential danger to the whole world. The water cycle in nature, soil migration, air cyclones carry dangerous substances over long distances in all directions, infecting other areas.
Experts estimate that more than a billion people on the planet are exposed to the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals. This raises the problem to the world level and requires its prompt solution.
Technological progress is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, many things that seemed unbelievable a few years ago have become a reality every day for more and more people. On the other hand, in order to meet demand, industrial production and mining are growing exponentially, while in order to save money, they often do not pay any attention to the environment, literally destroying all life around. Meet the ten dirtiest cities in the world, where, sadly, China, India and Russia are in the lead.
10. Kabwe, Zambia
Near the second largest city of Zambia, Kabwe, which is located 150 kilometers from the country's capital, rich deposits of lead were found. For almost a hundred years, lead has been mined here at an accelerated pace, the waste from the production of which has been poisoning the soil, water and air for a century. Within a radius of ten kilometers from Kabwe, it is deadly to drink water and even breathe air. The content of lead in the blood of local residents is 10 times higher than the norm.
9. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
This city of 285,000 suffers from a heavy legacy of the Soviet past. At one time it was one of the largest centers of the chemical industry, created by Stalin's strong-willed decision, with one stroke of the pen. Approximately 120,000 tons of harmful toxic wastes have entered the environment, mainly mercury, oil production wastes and organic fertilizers. Now most of the factories are closed, but so far no one is seriously engaged in cleaning water bodies from harmful substances and recultivating the land. So far, the surroundings of the city are more like a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
8. Chernobyl, Ukraine
In 1986, the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, the radioactive cloud from which covered an area of more than 150 thousand square kilometers. Around the epicenter of the explosion, the authorities created an exclusion zone, from which all local residents were taken out. Chernobyl literally in a few days became a ghost town, where no one has lived for almost 30 years. In the usual sense, Chernobyl is a very ecologically clean place, people do not live here, there is no production, and incredibly clean air, except for the high level of radiation, with prolonged exposure to which, people, having earned a bunch of sores, die within a few years.
7. Norilsk, Russia
A branch of the ecological hell on earth is located beyond the Arctic Circle, in which 180 thousand people live. Initially, Norilsk was a labor camp, in which one of the world's largest metallurgical plants was built by the prisoners, from the pipe of which about 4 million tons of chemical compounds mixed with cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, arsenic and selenium are annually thrown into the air. The smell of sulfur is constantly felt in Norilsk, black snow has not surprised anyone for a long time, and the content of copper and zinc in the air exceeds the permissible limits by several times. The mortality of local residents from respiratory diseases is several times higher than the average for Russia. There is not a single living tree within a radius of 48 kilometers from the smelting furnaces. By the way, this is a closed city, foreigners are not allowed to leave here.
6. Dzerzhinsk, Russia
This 300,000-strong Russian city inherited from the Cold War received about 300,000 tons of deadly chemical compounds that were buried in the vicinity of the settlement from 1938 to 1998. The concentration of phenol and dioxides in the underground waters of Dzerzhinsk exceeds the norm by 17 million times. The city even got into the Guinness Book of Records in 2003 as the dirtiest city in the world, where the death rate exceeds the birth rate by 260%.
5. La Oroya, Peru
The small Peruvian town of La Oroya, which is located in the foothills of the Andes, at the beginning of the last century became the center of metallurgy, where copper, lead and zinc have been mined at an accelerated pace for many decades, without paying any attention to the environment. The content of heavy metals in the blood of local residents exceeds several times the norm, and the death rate of children is one of the highest in the world. The surroundings of the city are more reminiscent of a lunar landscape with bare scorched earth, without grass, trees and bushes.
4. Vapi, India
India cannot boast of such economic growth rates as China, however, there are also industrial centers where ecology and nature protection are an empty phrase, which no one has been paying attention to for a long time. The city of Vapi, with a population of 71 thousand people, was lucky, or rather unlucky, to be in the southern part of a 400-kilometer industrial zone, where all waste from metallurgical plants and chemical factories gets, flows and flies. Here, the level of mercury in groundwater is 96 times higher than the norm, and the high content of heavy metals in soil and air literally destroys local residents.
3. Sukinda, India
Chromium is one of the most important metals needed for stainless steel smelting, and it is also actively used for leather tanning. The only bad thing is that hexavalent chromium is the strongest carcinogen that enters the body through the air or along with water. One of the world's largest open-pit chromium mines is located near the Indian city of Sukinda, where 60% of drinking water contains hexavalent chromium twice the norm. Indian doctors confirmed that in 84.75% of cases of diseases of local residents, it is the high content of chromium in the body that is to blame.
2. Tianying, China
The city of Tianying, located in the northeastern part of China, is one of the largest metallurgical centers in the country, where approximately half of the lead in the country is mined. The city is constantly shrouded in gray smoke, and at a distance of ten meters, even during the day, it is difficult to see anything. However, this is not the worst thing, because of the disregard for ecology, the soil is literally saturated with lead, from where it enters the blood of children, destroying them from the inside, leading to dementia. Locals are very irritable, lethargic, forgetful and suffer from memory lapses due to the high content of heavy metals in the body. Wheat grown near Tianying contains 24 times more lead than is allowed under Chinese law, which is considered one of the most liberal in the world in terms of the content of harmful substances in products.
1. Linfen, China
The title of the dirtiest city in the world, unfortunately for the locals, is the center of the Chinese coal industry Linfen. Here people get up and go to bed with coal dust on their skin, clothes and bedding. Washed linen is pointless to hang outside to dry, after a few hours it becomes black.
