Contents
Specialists of the project “To Be Precise” studied the state of the environment in the Russian regions and found out how many people die due to environmental problems. We tell the most important
What’s going on
- The To Be Precise platform found out what are the main environmental problems affecting the life and health of our country in different regions. To assess the environmental situation in the regions, the project specialists used annual reports, reports and data published on the websites of Roshydromet (including the Institute of Global Climate and Ecology and the Hydrochemical Institute), the Ministry of Natural Resources of our country, Rospotrebnadzor and Rosprirodnadzor.
- According to the study, 17% of deaths are related to the state of the environment, and 46% of the urban population lives in cities with high and very high levels of air pollution.
- Due to the high level of air pollution, 1 people in our country in 093–647 faced diseases of the respiratory system, eyes, musculoskeletal system, nervous system, digestive organs, circulatory system, endocrine system, and genitourinary system.
- In 58 regions, water pollution is assessed as high or extremely high.
- Most people die because of contaminated drinking water, and 1 deaths and 752 cases of illness were due to soil contamination.
- The most favorable environmental situation in 2020-2021 has developed in the Kostroma and Oryol regions, Sevastopol, the republics of Adygea and Mari El.
- The most disadvantaged is in the Astrakhan, Irkutsk, Kurgan, Moscow, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk regions, the republics of Buryatia, Khakassia, the Trans-Baikal and Krasnoyarsk territories.
- The area around Norilsk became the most environmentally polluted area.
What does it mean
To improve the environmental situation in the country in 2018, the national project “Ecology” was launched. It is aimed at solving such problems as waste disposal and recycling, the elimination of landfills, the conservation of forests and water bodies, the reduction of emissions into the atmosphere, the development of environmental tourism and environmental education, and the conservation of biological diversity.
The project implements a number of initiatives aimed at improving the condition of soil, water and air. By 2024, it is planned to eliminate unauthorized landfills within cities, to master a new approach to waste disposal, including recycling, to neutralize hazardous waste, to reduce harmful emissions into the atmosphere, to clear the banks of the Volga from garbage, to build new wastewater treatment facilities for the Volga and Lake Baikal, to restore rare birds and animals, to plant new trees, the planting area of which will be equal to the area of cut down and dead forests.
However, the amount of harmful atmospheric emissions, the area of forests requiring restoration continues to grow, and the Volga remains one of the most polluted rivers.