The list of the dirtiest cities in the world includes large settlements, the ecology of which suffers from excessive emissions ... This problem is the responsibility of the Blacksmith Institute - a research non-profit organization in the United States. So, let's find out which city turned out to be the dirtiest in the 2013 rating.
Top 10 dirtiest cities in the world
- On the first place on environmental pollution is the infamous Ukrainian Chernobyl . Radioactive substances thrown into the air as a result of the technogenic accident in 1986 still have a negative impact on the environment of this area. A zone of alienation stretched for 30 km around Chernobyl.
- In Norilsk is the largest metallurgical complex of the planet, which throws tons of toxic substances into the air. Cadmium, lead, nickel, zinc, arsenic and other wastes poison the air above the city, whose inhabitants are suffering from respiratory diseases. Moreover, no plant survives in a radius of 50 km around the Norilsk factory zone, which leads the list of the 10 dirtiest cities in Russia (in second place is Moscow ).
- Dzerzhinsk is a relatively small city in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia. Here there are factories of the chemical industry, highly polluting the atmosphere and local water bodies. The biggest unsolved problem of Dzerzhinsk is the utilization of industrial waste (phenol, sarin, dioxin), because, due to the prevailing ecological situation, the mortality rate in the city is much higher than the birth rate. It is noteworthy that Dniprodzerzhinsk is one of the dirtiest cities in Ukraine.
- Emissions of lead - the trouble of the mining town of La Oroya , which is in Peru. They are three times higher than the norm, which greatly affects the health of the inhabitants of the town. And, although in recent years the emissions have somewhat decreased, the amount of toxic substances in the vicinity of the plant will poison nature for many years to come. This is further exacerbated by the absence of any measures to clean up the area.
- The huge Chinese city of Tianjin is among other things an industrial metropolis specializing in the production of heavy metals. Lead wastes are so large that they are absorbed into the water and soil in large quantities, which is why even the cultural plants of this area contain a huge amount of lead, many times higher than the norm. But for the sake of justice it is worth noting that the state is making great efforts to combat environmental pollution.
- The atmosphere at Mount Linfien is heavily polluted with organic chemicals that are formed after burning coal. This is the fault of local legal and semi-legal mines located in the Linfyn region. By the way, one of the dirtiest cities in China is Beijing, around which constantly suffocating yellow smog.
- The largest quarry for the extraction of chrome ore in India is in Sukinda . Being extremely toxic, chrome penetrates even into the drinking water of this region, causing a dangerous intestinal infection in humans. And what is most sad, there is no struggle with pollution of the surrounding nature.
- Another Indian city, "famous" for its pollution, is Vapi . It is located in the industrial zone in the south of the country. Salts of heavy metals are a real scourge of this area, because the content of mercury in the water here is hundreds of times higher than the permissible limits.
- Third world countries also suffer from poor ecology - in particular, Zambia. The Kabwe region in this country contains large deposits of lead, active development of which causes irreparable harm to the local population. Nevertheless, the situation here is much better than in other cities, recognized as the dirtiest, because for the cleaning of Kabwe, the World Bank has allocated about $ 40 million.
- In Azerbaijan, around the city of Sumgait , a huge territory is occupied with industrial waste. These chemicals began to clog up the industrial zone even in the times of the Soviet Union. Today most of them are no longer functioning, but waste continues to poison the soil and water.
In addition to this ten, the dirtiest cities on the planet are also Cairo, New Delhi, Accra, Baku and others, and in Europe - Paris, London and Athens.